Part 1 - Synopsis
"Big" Oliver Taylor, of Big O.T., as his friends called him, was looking at an early retirement if he didn't create some value for the new risk management division of the High Plains Underground Water Authority. The old security division had been revamped and reorganized, a new and improved one put in its place. His new boss wasn't a local. [Who is he?] He was a young Rice graduate put there to bring some new blood to the division. Some West Coast consultant sold the Board of Directors on refining the corporate culture in the water district. The recent droughts have caused a stir among the residents of the High Plains, primarily the cotton growers. Gone were the days of heroic cotton farmer trying to cultivate the land and hold the white Autumn fruit in his hands. The hero of the Llano Estacado today is not a farmer but a synthesized drought resistant seed, that requires an additionally synthesized chemical treatment. When it eventually matures into a plant, farmers will only be allowed to used a patented herbicide sold by a multinational corporation.
Nevertheless, Big O.T. was an old fashioned security man. He still thought in terms of the hard knuckle practices of the bracero program. Fancy synthesized seeds still needed water, just like the old The water levels within the Ogalala Aquifer were dangerously low and the only way to preserve them was an old-fashioned cattle herding program. [What does this mean?] If those Board folks wanted to change the weather around here it would have to be done the Biblical way. He would need a scapegoat. Someone who can take all the blame. Someone who was truly capable of channeling the flood of angry residents (over their water bills) from their offices. He knew just the people to call. His old buddies in the First Signal Brigade would be able to steer him in the right direction. He met with them in the unsuspecting environs of the of the National Ranching Heritage Center. [Start dialog between BOT and FSB member] is where the P.R. firm of Seavers & Majors