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CHAPTER 13

“You have a call from a Tim Gilhool who is a reference from Richard as a personal accountant.”

“Put him on,” Jason said as he stepped into the shuttle. The interstate shuttles were much more crowded than the intrastate ones. At least at this time of day.

“Mister Graham,” Gilhool said. “I understand you’re looking for an accountant?”

Gilhool had either never changed weight or had already found someone to refit a suit. He was a dry, spare man who looked as if he’d never had a childhood. He looked, in fact, like the picture of an accountant. You knew he had a change purse.

“I am, sir,” Jason replied. “Problem being my business partner is named Tim as well so I hope I don’t get confused.”

“I do business and private accountancy,” Gilhool said. “If you’re looking for a business accountant.”

“I leave that side up to Tim,” Jason said. “And there we go with the confusion. I’ve run a business before and it went tits up. Part of that was just bad luck, but mostly it was not being good with money. Which is why I need a personal accountant.”

“And I am extremely available,” Gilhool said. “Most people are not good with money. It’s good that you’re at least aware of that. Most people are also unaware.”

“I know my strengths and weaknesses,” Jason said. “I’m also getting a financial manager and an attorney. The way I look at those three things, accountant, financial manager and attorney: the accountant’s job is to keep you from losing your money, the financial manager’s job is to turn it into more, and the attorney’s job is to keep people from stealing it. Does that make sense?”

“It’s as good a description as any,” Gilhool replied. “Have you chosen the financial manager? The note from Richard said you were looking for one of those and I should offer input.”

“I have not and I would accept input, sir,” Jason said.

“I would recommend James R. Allen,” Gilhool said. “He’s a former partner with Morgan Stanley. He’s forming his own company at the moment and looking for clients. All of us castaways are looking for clients, to be honest.”

“What were you?” Jason asked.

“I had my own firm,” Gilhool replied. “And I’m rehiring as I have the hours.”

“Well, you can have some from me,” Jason said. “Here’s the thing. I hate money. I mean, I love having it, but I hate worrying about it and I’ve had to worry about it most of my life. It stresses me out to even think about it. So much that I just had dinner with my business partner and what I was wondering the whole time was: Do I get any cash out of this? And I couldn’t even ask him. I was afraid to. I know we’re making money but . . . I don’t really know if I have any.”

“You think of money as stuff you can spend,” Gilhool said.

“Yes,” Jason said. “I sort of get the concept of business capital but . . . This is asking a lot but could you sort of ask? For me?” Jason ended plaintively.

“That’s not normally the accountant’s job,” Gilhool said with a dry chuckle. “But . . . yes, of course.”

“I’d like to just give you the money and you figure it out,” Jason said. “How much to do in investments, what my budget is, the whole works. Just put some cash in my personal account every month. Because if I touch it, it’ll be gone before I know it.”

“What do you . . . do?” Gilhool asked. “What’s your business if I may ask?”

“Oh, I went down to the planet and brought back a bunch of raw foods,” Jason said. “Mostly shrimp, fish and game meat. One thing I’m going to need, though, and it is need, is a bigger rifle. I don’t know if you know anything about guns, but .30-06 will NOT do it.”

“On Bellerophon, I would think not,” Gilhool said. “It might be the Swiss Army knife of rounds, but Bellerophon is somewhere for a very big knife. You went down there with only a .30-06?”

“Garand,” Jason said. “I had my Savage as well but I never broke it out. It was the best I had. Wait. You know guns?”

“I’ve been on hunting trips all over the world,” Gilhool said. “Before the Transfer of course. I won’t say that half of the material in storage is trophies but there are quite a few. I’m looking forward to going down. But only with a professional guide and my Weatherby .460. Ought Six? Good Lord. We’ll see how long you last as a client.”

* * *

“I talked to Gil . . . ”

James R. Allen might as well have been Richard’s cousin. He had the same square-jawed look, the same sort of suit, the same overall demeanor that screamed “I’m a money guy.”

“He said you’re one of those clients who’s afraid of money.”

“Terrified,” Jason said. “I hate to even think about it except when I have enough to spend then I spend too much and wonder why I don’t have any.”

“Okay,” James said, chuckling.

“Gil,” Jason said. “Mr. Gilhool?”

“The same,” James said.

“That makes things easier,” Jason said. “My business partner is named Tim.”

“Gil doesn’t like to be called Tim,” James said. “He apparently grew up being called Tiny Tim and loathes it.”

“I hope I didn’t offend,” Jason said.

“First, you’re the client,” James replied. “If a client offends, you can drop the client but otherwise it just happens. And he didn’t say anything about it. I understand you know Richard Derren as well? And his lovely wife, Monica? Now I’ve spoken amiss, haven’t I?”

He’d spotted the slight grimace.

“Monica was my second wife,” Jason said. “She dumped me for Derren.”

“Ouch,” James replied. “Sorry.”

“I’m over it,” Jason said.

“And your work is as a business partner in a foods company,” James said, moving on. “Gil said you are so afraid of money, you asked him to speak to your partner about it.”

“Yeah,” Jason said, shamefaced.

“Okay,” James said, nodding. “Well, you gave Gil permission to discuss your finances with me and I can assure you you’re doing fine.”

“Okay?” Jason said.

“As the project officer for the project you were being paid a small amount per day,” James said. “Since you were mostly eating the food that was there, you really didn’t have any costs. Absent ammunition you will have to replace and that is currently going dear. And separate from being the majority partner, when the load has been primarily discharged, you’re up for a sizeable bonus as the project officer. Plus, any dividends that may be paid in the future.”

“Oh,” Jason said. “Okay.”

“So, when that comes in, we’ll look at investments,” James said. “But then there’s the question of units. One strategy is to trade one type of unit for another.”

“Been doing that from day one,” Jason said. “But I’m not sure you’ll like the strategy. I concentrated on three things: Fuel mines, carbon refineries and ten grands.”

“Ten thousand packs,” James said, raising an eyebrow.

Jason explained his disagreement with the report.

“Bottom line is I’m a science fiction fan,” Jason concluded. “And a problem solver. I figure stuff out. Also, to the extent I had a ‘career’ at any point, it was logistics. There’s going to be ways to use the ten grands. I may have to be the one who figures it out. Maybe somebody else will. But they’re eventually going to be useful and, in the meantime, they don’t cost anything. That’s one that I’m standing by.”

“Okay,” James said, nodding. “It’s a reasonable argument.”

“How do you get paid, by the way?” Jason asked.

“My firm will get one percent of what we manage for you per year,” James said. “There’s some discussion about units. What the SEC has concluded is that financial firms can draw upon what the units make. Same amount, one percent.”

“That’s it?” Jason asked.

“Over time it builds up,” James said, shrugging. “Especially if you have good clients. And from what Gil told me, you should be a very good client. Okay, your concentration is in fuel, refineries and large vessels. How much do you have in each?”

“Jewel, can you pass that over?” Jason asked. “I’ve got a sixteenth of Spaceship Four. I stopped concentrating on that but I also don’t want it traded away. Other than that, I haven’t really been paying attention.”

“It’s hard to pay attention to ten million units,” James said. “One reason to concentrate them.”

“One thing I’ve been thinking about since being on the planet, though, is drones,” Jason said. “We’re going to need more. Soon. Which means drone factories.”

“There are a hundred million drones in storage,” James said. “There are three drone factories but they’re regarded much the same as the ten grands. You have other thoughts?”

“Very much I have other thoughts,” Jason said. “Five million colony sets. Twenty drones per set, right?”

“Yes.”

“I lost two drones on the planet,” Jason said.

“How did you lose two drones?” James asked.

“One got swatted by an elephant the other got eaten by a vulture it was trying to chase off.”

“Okay.”

“And I needed fifty,” Jason said. “The math was obvious to the Cybers. Two percent of the population of the United States could feed the US plus half the rest of the world. One percent with the tech we have could feed the station. The rest stay in orbit. Each colony set uses twenty drones. The factories exist to replace the losses. Obvious.”

“And it will take at least two years to get all the sets on the ground,” James said. “Which will then use up the government drone storage. At which point the factories might have some value.”

“Yeah,” Jason said. “Except that assumes two years. That assumes people won’t figure out better ways. The ten grands for example. And it assumes that the people on the station don’t want to go to the planet. Gil’s a hunter. You interested in the outdoors?”

“We used to go hunting together,” James said. “And, yes, I’m interested in going to the planet.”

“There are more outdoor-oriented people on this station than the average, guaranteed,” Jason said. “We’re going to want more drones than the Cybers expected and sooner than most people expect. That’s my take on the subject. I don’t want you to bet the farm, but it’s something that I’d lean towards. Either as cash investments or trading units. Or both.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” James said. “Are you using your AI to trade units? That’s the usual fashion.”

“I am,” Jason said. “Jewel, add that now that we’re not going for Spaceship Four anymore.”

“Will do,” Jewel said. “Factories aren’t trading much. Most people are holding onto those credits. Which one?”

Jason thought about it for a moment.

“All three. Just whatever people want to get rid of.”

“People want to get rid of them for things that are more present day,” James said. “Ports are turning a heavy profit. So are the smaller ships. Those are working night and day.”

“People want some money more than two thousand credits right now,” Jason said. “If for no other reason than to get to the planet. To buy some fresh food. I’ve figured out a way to get paid to go and a way to get paid in part in fresh food. Efficiency of scale. Ten grands are efficiency of scale. Drones are going to be big based on my experience on the planet. Investments, for me, are about long term, not right now.”

“I’ll keep that in mind as well,” James said. “So . . . what’s it like?”

“The planet?” Jason said, wondering how to explain the sight of Chindia Mons rising over everything, the splash of bala . . . “Wonderful and terrible. Awe inspiring and butt puckering. All at once.”

“Sounds like fun,” James said, grinning. “I’ll admit to a longing to bag a mammoth.”

“Mammoth?” Jason said, laughing. “Mammoth? That’s just a big hairy elephant. Jewel, first kill.”

“Is that a Garand?” James asked after a moment.

“I know, I know . . . ”

“You need a bigger gun! Woof! How long is . . . Ouch! So . . . yeah . . . That explains Gil’s comment about how long you’re going to last as a client. I thought he meant you were hard to deal with.”

“People regularly tell me I’m going to die shortly after saying ‘Hey, y’all, watch this!’” Jason said, grinning. “As I told the pilot, it was the fifth craziest thing I’ve ever done. So far. But . . . that’s my job now. Clearing out crocs and other critters so I can bring fresh food to the station.”

“Now I’m wondering, again, if I should give up the finance gig and just become a professional hunter,” James said. “It’s a very devout hobby. I’d considered it on Earth more than once.”

“Don’t know how much time this ‘finance gig’ takes up,” Jason said. “But once things settle down a bit, you could probably combine. Honestly. I spent a good bit of time just sitting on top of containers. If I was the type to run the business, I could have run it from the ground. The connection is FTL, faster than light, which is cool. I mean, there’s no lag to the ground. And the AIs can probably digitize in that you’re wearing a suit or something.”

“It’s a thought,” James said, nodding. “But . . . I think, maybe, I’ll keep it as a hobby for now. This finance gig is quite exciting enough in this . . . very chaotic environment. May I have permission to look at your unit ownership?”

“Yes,” Jason said. “And control of trades with the exception of the previous statements. I’m interested in carbon converters, fuel and gas mines and Spaceship Four. Add drone production now.”

“The important thing in this environment is to do research into who is starting the business,” James replied. “All the businesses currently are start-ups and most of business is about people. People are the single biggest variable. The biggest problem for most of the companies is negotiating with the unit holders. You’re a major unit holder in Twelve Bravo?”

“Yes,” Jason said.

“Interesting,” James said.

“How?” Jason asked.

“None of the fuel mines are up and going yet,” James said. “Issues with the unit holders. And we’re going to need fuel. There’s a company that I’ve been looking at investing in. It’s got the best management group that I’ve seen for a fuel mine. Mix of space physicists and oil company people. Not traditional oil company executives. Things are too chaotic for your average Exxon guy right now. And the Big Oil group that’s negotiating left out space experts. Which was a huge mistake in my opinion.”

“Agreed there,” Jason said.

“There are . . . six major holders of Twelve Bravo,” James said distantly. It was apparent he was looking at data on his screen. “You’re the ninth largest. Combined they’d have plurality ownership which means they’d have functional control. Have you inputted on any of the facilities you have units in?”

“I put that off,” Jason admitted. “Except for Spaceship Four and I only sent out a video on that saying there’s going to be a use and it’s not costing anything. I was getting practically spammed on it for a while.”

“That has been the major issue with unit holders,” James said, frowning.

“When everyone owns everything, no one owns anything,” Jason said. “It seemed like a good idea . . . ”

“Oh, my God,” James said. “You have twenty-two percent of Carbon Charlie?”

“I do?” Jason asked.

“You do,” Jewel answered.

“How did that happen?” Jason asked.

“You told me to trade for it,” Jewel answered.

“Most people don’t know what a carbon converter is,” James said. “So, when asked, they’ll trade their credits. Research, again.”

“I researched it because of flexmet,” Jason said. “That stuff is the very basis of this economy.”

“It is useful,” James said.

“It is my turn to drily laugh,” Jason said. “You haven’t been to the planet yet. Also, it slowly wears out when being constantly flexed. And it can’t be recycled for all practical purposes. So, there’s going to be constant turnover.”

“You have enough units to force a vote on a leasing company,” James said. “Anyone who doesn’t vote, it’s an abstention and the voting units win. Since most people don’t vote, whatever you choose would probably win. You have functional complete control. There are companies who are interested in leasing the converters. I’ve looked at those as well. Not as deeply as the fuel mines. The problem is . . . ”

“The fuel mines are fuel and hydrocarbon mines,” Jason said. “We need the hydrocarbons for polycarbonates.”

“This is not precisely what a personal financial manager is supposed to do,” James said. “But if we can get the major unit holders of Twelve Bravo to agree on a company, preferably my preferred company, and get flow going . . . ”

“It means I can get Carbon Charlie up and going,” Jason said. “And since fuel is big loads . . . it’s a potential use for Four.”

“That’s . . . a possibility as well,” James said, nodding.

“I don’t know much about business but I sort of understand the concept of vertical integration,” Jason said. “It was what I was aiming for. Including drone production. Most of the mass of drones is flexmet including the propellers.”

Jason paused and looked thoughtful.

“People are mostly ignoring all the alerts regarding units right now,” Jason said. “I am. They’re like spam.”

“Which as noted is part of the problem,” James said.

“But what if we invited the major holders to dinner?” Jason said. “A real dinner with real food? There were a bunch of things I wanted to do that Tim and Richard weren’t too sure about. Put some good food in their stomachs and they were much more amenable.”

“Alcohol helps as well,” James said.

“Pretty hard to fake fine wines and hundred-and-twenty-year-old scotch,” Jason said.

“There was a news story quite a while back,” James said, smiling. “Criminals in New York were doing precisely that. With whiskey, it’s possible to do it starting from just ethanol. And there is ethanol production on the station. The formulas, because they were part of criminal records, are available to the AIs.” He leaned over and came back into view holding a highball with some dark liquid in it. “I’ve got some twenty-five-year-old Lucullan in my stores. It honestly tastes exactly the same. Wines are a little harder.”

“Now all we need is a golf course,” Jason said, chuckling. “One where you don’t have to worry about being eaten.”

“You golf?” James asked.

“I’ve had a couple of jobs where I sort of had to,” Jason said. “But it’s not a passion like some people. And I’m not good at it. Still got a set of dusty golf clubs in storage.” He looked thoughtful then shook his head. “I bet there’s a way to set up a golf course here in the station with enough capital. But it’s not worth it for this. Is there a this? And what do you call ‘this’ and what would I get out of it?”

“Besides capital flow from your units?” James said. “It’s called putting together a financial package and you generally get a piece of it. How much is negotiable.”

“I know nothing about putting together a business dinner,” Jason said. “Even when I was with Ruger, I’d just take clients out to dinner at a restaurant. We’d need a venue. One that was more than just flexmet. A kitchen. A cook or preferably chef . . . I can get the food . . . How soon would we be doing this? If there is a this?”

“Depends on how fast that can be put together,” James said. “And we would need what you would call ‘cash money’ to put all that together alone. The venue and such . . . One of my potential clients is a chef. Celebrity chef on Earth but he was made famous by being a chef in a safari park. He’s an expert in turning game meat into fine meals.”

“I’m headed back to the planet, soon,” Jason said. “But I can get Brandywine Foods to assist if there’s something in it for them. Hmmm . . . I agree to accept you as my personal financial manager under the conditions set. To be clear: In terms of units I intend to retain units in Spaceship Four, Fuel Mine Twelve Bravo, Carbon Converter Charlie and will begin moving into drone production facilities. Jewel, stop acquiring on Converter Charlie and Four and start moving into drones if you can.”

“Will do,” Jewel said.

“By the same token, I’m interested in companies that want to get those up and going,” Jason said. “But I won’t want all my eggs in one basket.”

“Definitely not,” James said.

“I’m interested in putting together a financial package, including units and capital, on those facilities. I’ll use my influence in Brandywine Foods to, at the least, provide food for a venue, to be determined, to have business dinners and possibly more. I’ll need to talk to my business partner and I’ll put him in contact with you if that’s okay.”

“I agree to that,” James said. “And it will help if we can get it set up. In return, as a favor to a client . . . I have an extensive gun collection. If you promise not to lose it or get it destroyed, would you like the loan of a .458?”


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