"Joe Haldeman - A Tangled Web" - читать интересную книгу автора (Haldeman Joe)

"Twenty months."
"I was rounding off," he said. "Yes, I did check. I wondered whether you might be in the
same position as I am. My retirement's less than two months away; this is my last big-money
job. So you must understand my enthusiasm."
I didn't answer. He wasn't called Rabbit for lack of "enthusiasm."
As we neared the bottom, he said, "Suppose you weren't to oppose me too vigorously.
Suppose I could bring in the contract at a good deal less thanтАФ"
"Don't be insulting."
In the dim light from the torches sputtering below, I couldn't read his expression. "Ten
percent of my commission wouldn't be insulting."
I stopped short; he climbed down another step. "I can't believe even youтАФ"
"Verdad. Just joking." He laughed unconvincingly. "Everyone knows how starchy you
are, Dick. I know better than most." I'd fined him several times during the years I was head
of the Standards Committee.
We walked automatically through the maze of streets, our guides evidently having taken
identical routes. Both of us had eidetic memories, of course, that being a minimum
prerequisite for the job of interpreter. I was thinking furiously. If I couldn't out-bargain the
Rabbit I'd have to somehow finesse him. Was there anything I knew about the !tang value
system that he didn't? Assuming that this council would decide that land was something that
could be bought and sold.
I did have a couple of interesting proposals in my portfolio, that I'd written up during the
two-week trip from Earth. I wondered whether Lafitte had seen them. The lock didn't appear
to have been tampered with, and it was the old-fashioned magnetic key type. You can pick it
but it won't close afterward.
We turned a corner and there was the Council Building at the end of the street, impressive
in the flickering light, its upper reaches lost in darkness. Lafitte put his hand on my arm,
stopping. "I've got a proposition."
"Not interested."
"Hear me out, now; this is straight. I'm empowered to take you on as a limited partner."
 "How generous. I don't think Starlodge would like it." "What I mean is Starlodge. You
hold their power of attorney, don't you?"
"Unlimited, on this planet. But don't waste your breath; we get an exclusive or nothing at
all." Actually, the possibility had never been discussed. They couldn't have known I was
going into a competitive bidding situation. If they had, they certainly wouldn't have sent me
here slow freight. For an extra fifty shares I could have gone first class and been here a week
before Peter Rabbit; could have sewn up the thing and been headed home before he got to
Armpit.
Starlodge had a knack for picking places that were about to become popularтАФalong with
impressive media power, to make sure they didтАФand on dozens of worlds they did have
literally exclusive rights to tourism. Hartford might own a spaceport hotel, but it wasn't
really competition, and they were usually glad to hand it over to Starlodge anyhow.
Hartford, with its ironclad lock on the tachyon drive, had no need to diversify.
There was no doubt in my mind that this was the pattern Starlodge had in mind for
Morocho III. It was a perfect setup, the beach being a geologic anomaly: there wasn't
another decent spot for a hotel within two thousand kilometers of the spaceport. Just bleak
mountaintops sprouting occasionally out of jungles full of large and hungry animals. But
maybe I could lead the Rabbit on. I leaned up against a post that supported a guttering torch.
"At any rate, I certainly couldn't consider entering into an agreement without knowing who
you represent."
He looked at me stone-faced for a second. "Outfit called A. W. Stoner Industries."