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that into consideration, please. I humbly await your reply. Sincerely yours."
He punched the button to queue up the message as soon as there was a connect.
Suddenly restless, he got up to find himself a cup of coffee, wishing there
was something stronger to drink on board. There was no hope that the bank
would say yes to another extension. He wanted to take the shortest way back to
Poxt, to be with Shona when the axe fell. At least he could have his family
back together again. Maybe
Home could give him a job while he saved up to buy another ship. The thought
depressed him so much, he broke into a run toward the galley.
Lani appeared at the rear of the bridge and fixed her eyes silently on
Eblich's back. The co-pilot had a lapful of equip-ment that he was putting
together with a spanner and a soldering iron. She didn't dare tell him why she
was there, because Ivo was sitting close by, and she couldn't trust her voice.
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At last, the shuttle pilot got up from his position underneath the control
panel and saw her standing there. She nudged Eblich's knee and gestured toward
the back of the cabin. Eblich smiled at her and put his work aside at once.
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"Back in a moment," he told Ivo.
Ivo, who understood the laconic bookkeeper's office as unofficial
father-confessor to the orphaned girl, just grunted.
"It was there on the beacon," Lani said in a whisper as she led Eblich down
the corridor to her cubicle.
"You have to see it. I don't know what to do! I've never been so angry
. In my life
."
"Bad news?" Eblich asked, puzzled.
"They didn't respect me," Lani said.
She was too upset to sit down. She hit the command to replay the recorded
transmission for Eblich and paced around the small room while he viewed it.
Three steps took her to the wall. She kicked it. It would have been more
satisfying to kick her way through it. She wheeled on the ball of her foot and
counted three steps back to the other side. She didn't want to listen to the
hateful voice on the speakers. She already knew every word by heart. Never in
her whole life had she felt like this. How& how dare they?
The message wasn't from Uncle Harry at all. He must have passed her request on
up the ranks as she had asked, and someone was so upset by it that she replied
to it herself instead of just saying no to Uncle
Harry and letting him tell her.
"Ms. Leilani Taylor. I am Marca Katt, vice-president of MarsBank One. I have
been informed of your request to purchase an outstanding mortgage from the
bank, and I wish to inform you that that request is denied. In the
inexperience of your youth, you apparently do not understand how business is
transacted.
It would not be in the interests of MarsBank's shareholders to relinquish
assets at random. This is not a music store where you can buy the recordings
of one of your 'faves.' We maintain each contract in a stable manner so as to
give confidence to those who borrow from us. MarsBank, like all other
reputable financial institutions, runs its business in a dignified and
time-honored fashion. To sell off an obligation is not in keeping with our
practices. We appreciate your contact, and hope to continue to do business
with you in the future. We would be glad to offer our experience to help
educate you in these matters so that you can manage your own assets well. I am
sincerely yours, Marca Katt."
"Wondered if they mightn't go for it," Eblich said quietly, after a moment's
thought. He rubbed the side of his nose with his thumb. "Didn't have to be so
nasty, though. That came from the belly. That woman doesn't understand in her
head you're worth billions. No talent for public relations, either. So if we
can't work exactly within the system, we'll have to work from the outside." He
patted the seat of Lani's desk chair. "Sit down.
Here's what we'll do next. We're going to send another message to your uncle
Harry."
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"But they've said no!"
"Calm down, little one. You aren't beaten yet. You'll get your day."
Lani stared at him for a moment, panting. Then she focused, really focused on
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the narrow, neat-featured face and what he was saying. Eblich was her friend.
He was trying to help her, and Shona and Gershom.
She wasn't mad at him. The enemy was out there, at MarsBank. She sat down and
leaned in to listen.
13
"Confound it, Scarlet, leave me alone!" Governor Home protested, pushing away
the hypo Shona was brandishing.
She sighed. It had been only a few weeks since she'd arrived on Poxt, and Home
was looking seventy instead of fifty-five. He had become more cantankerous
every day. She glared up at him.
"Governor, I am not doing this for the amusement value. I have a dozen other
patients to see, and then I
have to go look at the ottles."
Home frowned. "What's in this one?"
"Vitamins, calcium and magnesium, boron, and zinc." [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]