Free Empire Builders by Ben Bova Page A

opposite his young friend’s. “It has.
    You’ve got the responsibility for the entire Yamagata empire now.” Nobo looked as if he wanted to say something, but stopped himself. Finally he asked, “Don’t you want something more than coffee?” “I’ll find something. Smoked salmon, maybe.”
    “In the freezer, I think. I doubt that there are any bagels, though.”
    He can make a joke, Dan thought. A weak one, but at least he’s trying. That’s a good sign.
    He got up from the table and rummaged through the floor-to-ceiling cupboards, the big restaurant-sized refrigerators and finally the walk-in freezer. When he returned to the table, Dan was carrying a tray laden with smoked salmon, cream cheese, a tin of caviar, a handful of thin crisp biscuits, a large glass of
    grapefruit juice and the entire pot of coffee.
    Nobo’s bowl was empty, his tea mug half drained. The younger man was plainly unhappy, and making no attempt to hide it. “Anything I can help with?” Dan asked as he sat down again.
    After a moment’s hesitation, Nobo replied, “Yes. There is.” “Tell me.” Dan slathered cream cheese on one of the crackers. “Your fusion fuel operation.”
    Surprised, Dan asked, “What about it?” as he forked a thin layer of pink salmon onto the cream cheese. “It’s going to cut into our solar power sales. You’re going to be competing against us.”
    The brittle cracker snapped in Dan’s hand. “Damn!” Crumbs and gobs of cheese and salmon spattered over his dish, the table, his slacks.
    “I’ve upset you,” Nobo said.
    “No, I’m just too double-damned clumsy.” Dan brushed at his slacks. “I don’t see fusion power competing against the solar satellites. They should complement each other.”
    “Our marketing department believes otherwise. Already, projected sales for solar power are showing a slight downward trend, for the first time since we built the original sunsat.”
    Dan took a deep breath. “Look, Nobo, it’s only natural for people making long-term energy commitments to hedge their bets when something as revolutionary as fusion power comes on the scene.” “Fusion power has been available for more than a decade. It was never a threat to our sunsats because it was much more expensive. But now, with helium-three from your lunar mining coming on-stream, the new fusion power plants will undercut the price of solar power.”
    “Hey, I’m your partner on the sunsats, remember? If any throats get cut, mine will be one of them.” “But you own the entire fusion fuel operation.”
    “You want to buy in? I’ll sell you as big a share of the helium-three business as I own of your sunsats. Okay?”
    Nobuhiko closed his eyes and bowed his head, as if deep in contemplation. Dan watched him, thinking, It’s less than ten hours since Sai was put away and already he’s acting like a captain of industry. Good for you, Nobo!
    “If current projections are accurate,” Nobuhiko said at last, “the long-range trend will be for the world to move toward fusion power and away from power delivered by solar satellites. That will be very bad for Yamagata Industries.”
    “Then buy into fusion,” Dan urged. “Do it now, while the price is still reasonable.”
    “Eventually,” Nobo continued as if he had not heard Dan’s words, “solar power satellites will find no markets on Earth. Fusion generators, fueled with helium-three from the Moon, will effectively take the
    entire market for large central-station electrical power production.”
    Dan waited several heartbeats to make certain Nobo had finished his little speech. He saw that his young friend was trying to keep his face impassive; the result of his effort was something like a scowl.
    Leaning his elbows in the mess on the tabletop and hunching toward Nobo, Dan said, “Listen for a minute. It’s always a mistake to try to hold on to a market in the face of radical changes. I think your marketing analysis is probably pretty close to being