"FWLS32" - читать интересную книгу автора (A Future We'd Like to See)

CORPORATION outpost. Big business. The guys that love to drive
us smalltime operators out of business. The people traders
originally were FLEEING when the A-Zones were settled!

"So Doc thinks we should leave. Well, his business has
sucked majorly, but the A-Zone isn't the greatest place for
medicine anyways. Everybody else has turned a profit, even if
that has declined lately. If the recession crushes any ports,
it'll be the others. We'll stand the test of time, not because
we're good, or because we're better, but because we were FIRST.
The one Port anybody can turn to."

Silence jumped back into the fray and happily assumed its
place, hanging over everything.

"I'm finished," I said, embarrassed. "Come on, I'm new at
spontaneous emotional speeches, bugger me if I don't have a
closing."

"Can we vote now?" Monk suggested. "I've got a backload of
work downstairs."

There was a consensus of nodding, and the little paper slips
were distributed.

*

I had pumped in a bit of extra smoke. Not really to conceal
anything, but because you had to tally votes in smoke-filled
rooms. It's tradition.

However, smoke tends to make me cough, so I wandered outside
after voting my NO SELL to get some fresh recycled air.

"Cute speech," Max said, wandering out to meet me. "I still
say my way would have worked better."

"You think it'll make any difference?" I asked him. "I
mean, I'm no debater."

"Coulda fooled me."

"Think it'll turn the vote? It's sort of corny, that the
last minute ditch speech will change everybody's minds."

"Frankly?" Max asked, raising an eyebrow. "I'm ready to
pack my bags. I told you, they follow profit, and that check
they're offering is more than a months profit each. I'd say we
failed miserably. It was a good speech, though."