That evening Mara joined us for dinner. I told her about the attempted removal and Karen's comment concerning reproduction. Mara looked concerned, though not for the reason I expected. She said uncontrolled spawning could alter the makeup of the breeding lines, and that putting tagged broodstock together with unknown fish could complicate both health management and pedigree verification. She wanted the program's owners involved before any commercial claims were made.
"Are we going to lose the genetic line if they stay here?" Ethan asked.
"Not necessarily," Mara said. "But keeping a line valuable requires more than keeping fish alive. We need to know which animals belong to which family, prevent accidental mixing where possible, and keep clean records. That's why Martin's cooperation matters."
The next day Martin called with a name he had been reluctant to discuss. Everett Pike, the caretaker responsible for the old Riverstone holding ponds, had left his position without submitting a final inventory. He had worked for Ridgewater Fisheries under a service agreement, and his last reported count did not match the estimated quantities removed by Mountain Aquatic Services. Some younger fish might have been in the HOA retention water, but the current tagged broodstock should have remained in fenced, controlled enclosures.
"I don't know whether Everett was negligent, frightened, paid, or deceived," Martin said. "I know we cannot reconstruct this honestly without his records."
Daniel arranged for the trust's counsel to join our discussions. He also asked Mara to document the practical costs of the relocation as they arose, not merely the expenses that looked impressive in a claim. A judge, he reminded me, would care about what was reasonably necessary to protect the pond and stock, not about how offended I felt by Karen's behavior.
I had no objection to that. I had never wanted a lawsuit large enough to buy another ranch. I wanted the person who made a decision about my property to understand she had made it without permission, and I wanted the damage repaired. At night, though, I found myself worrying less about money than about what would happen if the fish started dying in large numbers and nobody agreed who had to pay for removing them.
Mara came out before sunrise on Friday and found me sitting on the dock with my boots beside me. The mountains were blue with morning haze, and a heron stood in the reeds watching the same water I was watching. She sat a few feet away without speaking, which I appreciated more than I would have appreciated advice.
After a while she said, "The oxygen readings are better. The additional equipment helped."
"Good."
"You should know we're still in the early stages. We may have losses, and some of the smaller stock may need to move into controlled holding systems once we have the health approvals."
I nodded. "How much of this can the pond handle?"
"As a hobby pond? Not this much activity. As part of a managed operation, with permitted infrastructure and investment, maybe more than you think. But that's a different decision entirely."