growing, the individual won't matter any more than he does
on Earth."
Stone smiled. He sat back, crossing his arms. "I am in a
position to control Tejo's destiny. Possibly even the galaxy's!"
He stood and began pacing. He gestured excitedly with his
right hand as he spoke. "People choose to come to Tejo,
because it's a nice place. There are good working conditions,
good rates of pay. The cities are growing. There will be a
university there someday. There will be management
positions." Stone put his hands down on the table and looked
McClintlock in the eye. "Where will your son be in ten years?
Where will the son of your friend Mary Hill be?"
"Clyde's doing quite fine. He just made A-Com in the
Navy," said Floyd, weakly. He sat down heavily.
"After A-Com, what? Lieutenant, maybe. Captain, one in a
million chance. Face it, it takes the son of an admiral to make admiral in the modern military. One day your son will return to the only home he has and what will he do. A retired lieutenant wasting away as a farmer. A man with command
skills doing what—commanding corn."
McClintlock sighed. He knew—as every father of an officer
knew—that one day his son would be a captain or even an
admiral. Yet, as he thought about Stone's words, harsh as
they were, he saw the truth in them. There was little future
as a farmer in New Granada. "What must I do?" he asked, his
hands stretched out.
Stone smiled pleasantly. "When your term as governor
ends, retire to Tejo."
"That's all?" McClintlock sat, stunned.
Stone inclined his head, slightly. "It would be nice if you
had a chat with Mary Hill and had her talk to me." He winked. McClintlock was uncertain of Stone's motives. Still, he
promised. Stone heartily shook McClintlock's hand, turned
and strode from the office.
* * * *
Floyd McClintlock decided to pay a visit to Ellison Firebrandt. Years after their first meeting, the two still weren't fast friends, but Floyd had learned to trust Firebrandt's instincts. Floyd told the captain about his meeting with Stone. "What do you think he's up to?"
Firebrandt packed his pipe and lit it. "He wants something from New Granada."
"What?" asked Floyd, perplexed.
Firebrandt inhaled smoke and let it out slowly. "I'm almost afraid to find out, but I think you'll have to have that talk with Mary."
"If it's bad, I don't know if we have the power to stop him," said Floyd, wringing his hands.
"Even if you think it's bad, who are we to judge." Firebrandt stood and began pacing. "He has a right to do what he wants."
"But, where does that right end?" asked Floyd, standing to leave.
"I don't have an answer to that. At least, I haven't found one yet."
* * * *
About a week later Mary Hill arrived in Tejo City. She was surprised; steel and concrete buildings were already going up. Plastic streets were in place. The hovers lasted longer that way; dust didn't get into the intakes. Stone's office was still in the adobe house of Espedie Raton. Hill walked in and shook Stone's hand.
Stone motioned for her to take a seat. The chair was a little too plush to be comfortable. Stone told of his dream for Tejo, much as he had done in McClintlock's office. He showed Hill the papers that would legitimize Tejo's place in Gaean politics.
"I heard all that before," said Hill. "Skip the bullshit and tell me why you want me here."
"I want you to be the first governor of Tejo." Stone leaned across the elegant desk.
"What? Why me? Why not you or Espedie Raton?" asked Hill, suspiciously.
"Espedie and I have a business to run." Stone tapped his fingers on the desktop. "You are a respected citizen of Sufiro but you don't live under a legally recognized government. Seeing the right side of the fence to be on is not a bad idea. Think of it as a nest egg for your son, Rocky."
"I still don't get it." Hill rested her arms on the desk. "I understand what you're saying, but why me?"
"You're McClintlock's oldest and closest friend." Stone sat back folding his big arms. "People in New Granada trust you."
Hill pursed her lips. "Why do you need the trust of New Granadans? People are coming by the shipload to work in your mines. You don't need people from across the ocean."
Stone snickered slightly. "People don't cross space to mine Erdonium." Stone picked up an Erdonium rock from the desk and looked at it. "Oh, they may start by mining Erdonium, but they have much bigger plans."
"What you want is a constant base of workers who'll work for almost nothing." Mary Hill nodded, understanding the reason behind the plan. "But how does New Granada fit in?"
Stone replaced the Erdonium. "New Granada doesn't have a strong economy. People there will see the growth of Tejo. They'll see how good the standard of living is here as compared with there. After a while, it'll be impossible to keep them from coming. They'll work just to be here. They'll work for nearly nothing."
Hill nodded slowly, understanding. "Inexpensive—even free—labor."
Stone grinned. "It'll take time to set up, time to build up some friendly competition with Mao and time to build the New Granadans' trust."
Hill went home to think about it. Stone warned her not to mention the possibility of New Granadan labor to anyone else. Still, she talked to her old friend Floyd McClintlock. They both decided that Stone's plan was sound and being with him would have more long-term benefit than staying in New Granada. Hill moved to Tejo City and—with the support of Stone and Raton—ran for governor. Her name was known among the Sufiro natives who moved to Tejo. She also had the endorsement of the New Granadan governor. She ran unopposed and became Tejo's first governor. She invited the Gaean Alliance to open an embassy in Tejo City.
Gaea came happily. The Erdonium Trade had attracted a lot of attention on the mother planet. It had also attracted attention on many other worlds.
The Mao Corporation continued to open mines in Tejo. Bad press had only slowed them down; it hadn't stopped them. They had a steady base of customers who were quite content at the idea that the price had been driven down considerably. One of the most significant customers of the Mao Corporation was the Gaean Navy. For the first time in nearly two centuries they could afford to consider expanding their tiny fleet of ships.
The Stone-Raton Corporation's prices dropped in response to Mao's announcement of the naval contract. The Mao Corporation had to follow suit. Pleased by the development, the Gaean Navy bought large amounts of Erdonium from Mao as did other companies, but all of them had to pay tariffs. As a result, the Gaean Alliance wanted to talk about full recognition.
The Confederation of Homeworlds was talking about accepting Tejo of Sufiro as a member "world." There were, in fact, several planets that only had continents as members, so there was considerable precedent. There was also an outstanding economic incentive.
The Hill Administration moved quickly—at Stone's bidding—to accept both offers. Tejo was both a legitimate and powerful nation. Only the coastal city of Roanoke refused to ratify the Tejan constitution. To demonstrate her
understanding and compassion, Hill officially respected Roanoke's right to be independent.
"Who needs them anyway?" asked Stone, privately.
Once Tejo was a legitimate power, even more people came. Peter Stone was satisfied that inexpensive labor would wait for another decade while Tejo grew of its own accord. Houses were built and services came to the planet. Shopping centers opened. Hover dealerships arrived, including one run by Mary's son, Rocky. Prostitution was legalized.
* * * *
Peter Stone stood on plush carpet in an extravagant office overlooking a sea of buildings. His office stood high atop a great glass and plastic struct
ure. He smiled with pride at Tejo City. "Ten years," he said aloud to no one. "It's only taken ten years to build the galaxy's largest independently owned mining operation."
The buzzer on Stone's desk sounded. He moved his ponderous mass toward the desk and pushed the intercom button. "Sam Stone to see you, sir."
"Send him in," said Stone. Sam Stone swaggered into the office and threw himself into a chair opposite his father. "Dad, the Mao Corporation has just opened two new Erdonium mines. Rumor has it that they'll now be able to cut prices another two percent."
"Meaning their prices will be within a percent of our own." Peter shook his head and sat down. "What do you plan to do?"
"If we spread the word that there was work in Tejo for migrant laborers..." Sam leaned closer to his father.
"Migrant labor!" Stone's neck began to turn red. The color moved slowly from the collar to his forehead. "I will not resort to such methods!" His heavy fist slammed down on the desktop.
"You once told me that you discussed an 'inexpensive labor program' with our esteemed Governor Hill a few years ago. Isn't that the same thing as migrant labor?" He folded his arms.
"We talked about it—no longer necessary..." Peter began to rise, but fell back into the chair. He realized something was wrong and put his head down on the desk. "Even after ten years," he said weakly. "There's so much to worry about." His breath came in short, shuddering bursts.
"Dad!" shouted Sam. Peter stopped breathing; his eyes stared blankly at the wall. Sam stabbed at the intercom button. "Ms. Simmons, get me a doctor. Something's wrong with my dad."
"Right away, sir," was the secretary's infuriatingly calm reply.
Sam paced the floor nervously for anxious minutes. Finally the door flew open. Sam was shocked to see not a doctor, but Espedie Raton. Espedie checked Peter's pulse. "Damn," he whispered. "Help me get him to the floor."
Espedie and Sam worked at getting Peter to the floor. Espedie began chest compressions and breaths. He would stop periodically and check for a heart beat. It seemed an eternity before the doctor arrived.
The doctor finally arrived and examined Stone. "I'm afraid it's too late. It appears that he died of a cardiac arrest."
Sam Stone dropped into his father's chair, put his head down and began to sob. Espedie Raton stared at the body of his friend. He thought about the treasure map and the hunt for Erdonium. He remembered the time he successfully saved Stone's life from a wild animal. "Vaya con Dios, amigo," said Raton as he reached over and gently closed Peter Stone's eyes.
* * * *
A year after Peter Stone's death, Manuel Raton stepped out of the old adobe house onto a gray plastic street. He remembered the sweet smell of the grass and the flowers. Now there seemed no smell at all. The sky didn't seem as blue as it once was. He was twenty-nine years old and working as an aide to his father. Tejo had grown much faster than he ever dreamed possible. His father moved to a luxury house in the suburbs of Tejo City. Manuel insisted on keeping the old adobe house. It felt like an island of humanity in a sea of machines. He walked to the high rise building that was home to the Stone-Raton Corporation.
Manuel went inside the towering Stone-Raton building and took the elevator to the top floor. As he passed Sam Stone's office, he heard Sam heatedly talking to someone. It didn't take him long to realize that the person he was talking to was the governor, Mary Hill, now starting the third of a potentially endless number of terms in office. He paused to listen.
"Now's the time!" said Stone.
"I'm not sure it's right," said Hill.
"We must fix the price of Erdonium before it skyrockets too
high." There was an uncomfortable pause. Manuel thought of moving on, but lingered just a moment longer. "Level with me Stone," Hill finally said. "Erdonium is damn cheap as it is. What effect will price fixing really have?"
Manuel knew the historic answer. Price fixing usually meant that an industry was in trouble. Yet the Erdonium industry in Tejo had no troubles. Manuel couldn't quite put it together; price fixing normally meant holding prices at an artificially high level, negotiated between two companies. This sounded like the opposite.
"If we lower the cost of Erdonium even further we can undercut the Mao Corporation and drive them off Sufiro entirely," said Stone impatiently.
"That doesn't make any sense," said Hill, echoing Manuel's thoughts. "There's no way you can afford to cut the pay of your employees."
"I would never cut the pay of my employees," said Stone. "I would simply find new workers for the unopened mines."
"That only makes sense if you don't plan to pay the new workers." She paused. "Does this mean you're thinking about your father's old plan to bring in inexpensive labor from New Granada..."
Manuel did not need to hear any more. Suddenly a plot became clear. He walked quickly to his office and poured himself a glass of water. His mouth was dry. Stone's plan would work if the New Granadan laborers worked for nearly nothing. That meant migrant labor. He could work two mines with almost no cost at all and maintain the same profit levels with lower prices. That would then drive out the Mao Corporation, giving Stone control of all the mines in Tejo. It would, of course, make Stone fabulously wealthy. However, Espedie had not been in that meeting. The elder Raton was at home, working in his garden. Manuel called his father. They met in the center of the vast city and took a walk through the streets. Manuel knew all too well that the offices had ears.
"Slavery?" asked Espedie. "That's crazy! No one condones slavery in the Confederation."
"What about the Tzrn or the Alpha Centaurans?" asked Manuel.
"But those are aliens," said Espedie waving his son's objections aside. "Certainly no one in the Gaean Alliance believes in slavery."
"No one openly objects to it, either. It's been nearly eight hundred years since it's been practiced on Earth. It's never really stopped if you look at it from the prospective of migrant labor on Mars."
"Migrant labor?" Espedie waved Manuel's comment aside. "That's different."
"Is it really?" asked Manuel. "Did you do it?" Espedie shook his head. "Why not?"
"Are you crazy?! They give you food, housing and enough money to get to the next migrant farm, what kind of a living is that?"
"Now, tell me how is that really different from slavery?" Manuel stopped and looked into his father's old, brown eyes.
"People choose to become migrants. People are abducted to become slaves," said Espedie. "I see your point. My point is we don't really know what Slippery Stone has in mind."
"No, we don't." Manuel put his hands on his father's shoulders. "But I think you should find out. After all, whether he calls it inexpensive labor or slavery, where will he find the people."
A cold chill ran down Espedie's spine. "New Granada," he whispered. "Home."
* * * *
Espedie Raton knew it would be dangerous to confront Sam Stone before any official announcement was made about price fixing. Instinctively he knew it would be dangerous anytime he brought the subject up. Yet to some degree he counted on the protection of Ellison Firebrandt. He and Carmen had both called him a no-good pirate. But Espedie knew he could rely on Firebrandt. Even if he could not protect them directly, Firebrandt would look after their children.
A week went by, and no announcement came from the official government. Espedie figured that either Hill had convinced Stone to wait or else something deeper was afoot. Manuel continued to try to convince his father to find out what was happening.
"What do I tell him?" asked Raton, angrily. "Do I tell him I heard this from my crazy son who was standing outside his office eaves dropping?"
The next week, Mary Hill made a surprise announcement. However, it was not the surprise Manuel and Espedie were expecting. She was forming a Tejan military. It would protect the interests of Tejo in the event of any domestic or international trouble.
"That's got to be phase one," said Manuel, one day at dinner at his parents' house.
"Phase one of what?
" Espedie looked up from a bowl of soup.
"Their plan," said Manuel.
"It's still not enough to go on," said Espedie. "They need to announce the price fixing itself before I can do anything. Even though this business with the military seems suspicious, I have no way of knowing that it has anything at all to do with our company."
Two weeks later the announcement came. The Mao Corporation reacted with outrage. Its chairman called Stone via teleholo. "I know you're behind this Stone!" he shouted. "Price fixing is illegal!"
"Only if we fixed the prices to rip off our consumers," said Stone sweetly and smiled. "You are right that I support Governor Hill's actions, but only because it's fair for the customer."
Stone had arranged for a few members of the Tejo Free Press to be in his office during the call. Stock in the StoneRaton Corporation skyrocketed overnight. People always loved corporations that seemed to work for the people's interests. Espedie knew it was time to move. Manuel cheered him on and gave him the courage to actually go into the office.
"All right," said Espedie as he burst into Stone's vast office unannounced.
A startled secretary leapt off Stone's lap and ran out the door. "What is the meaning of this, Espedie," said Stone hotly.
"This price fixing deal." Raton dropped himself in the padded leather chair across from Stone. "What's it all about? I've checked the books. We can't afford to drop prices any more than the Mao Corporation; especially not if we want to expand as we've talked about." Espedie lied. He had not checked the books, but he knew what he had said was true.
Stone shifted nervously. "True, we may have to cut some salaries here and there, trim off some of the fat, but look at what it's going to do to the Mao Corporation."
"So what?" Espedie threw his hands in the air.
"Competition's healthy. Not to mention the fact that there will be a lot of unemployed people from those mines."
"Those people will all return to their native planets or New Granada. They won't hurt our economy. Relax." Stone reached behind him, opening a liquor cabinet. He retrieved two crystal glasses and poured a glass of bourbon for each of them.
"Okay, so what about the mines themselves? All that potential, wasted." Espedie folded his arms.
The Pirates of Sufiro (Book 1) (Old Star New Earth) Page 15