Free Tales of the Flying Mountains by Poul Anderson Page A

hair frosty and glowed in her eyes. Blades poured the port with much ceremony and raised his glass. “Here’s to your frequent return,” he said.
    Her pleasure dwindled a bit. “I don’t know if I should drink to that. We aren’t likely to be back, ever.”
    â€œDrink anyway. Gling, glang, gloria!” The rims tinkled together. “After all,” said Blades, “this isn’t the whole universe. We’ll both be getting around. See you on Luna?”
    â€œMaybe.”
    He wondered if he was pushing matters too hard. She didn’t look at ease. “Oh, well,” he said, “if nothing else, this has been a grand break in the monotony for us. I don’t wish the Navy ill, but if trouble had to develop, I’m thankful it developed here.”
    â€œYes.…”
    â€œHow’s the repair work progressing? Slowly, I hope.”
    â€œI don’t know.”
    â€œYou should have some idea, being in QM.”
    â€œNo supplies have been drawn.”
    Blades stiffened.
    â€œWhat’s the matter?” Ellen sounded alarmed.
    â€œHuh?” A fine conspirator I make, if she can see my emotions on me in neon capitals! “Nothing. Nothing. It just seemed a little strange, you know. Not taking any replacement units.”
    â€œI understand the work is only a matter of making certain adjustments.”
    â€œThen they should’ve finished a lot quicker, shouldn’t they?”
    â€œPlease,” she said unhappily. “Let’s not talk about it. I mean, there are such things as security regulations.”
    Blades gave up on that tack. But Chung’s idea might be worth probing a little. “Sure,” he said. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to pry.” He took another sip as he hunted for suitable words. A beautiful girl, a golden wine … and vice versa.… Why couldn’t he simply relax and enjoy himself? Did he have to go fretting about what was probably a perfectly harmless conundrum? … Yes. However, recreation might still combine with business.
    â€œPermit me to daydream,” he said, leaning close to her. “The Navy’s going to establish a new base here, and the Altair will be assigned to it.”
    â€œDaydream indeed!” she laughed, relieved to get back to a mere flirtation. “Ever hear about the Convention of Vesta?”
    â€œTreaties can be renegotiated,” Blades plagiarized.
    â€œWhat do we need an extra base for? Especially since the government plans to spend such large sums on social welfare. They certainly don’t want to start an arms race besides.”
    Blades nodded. Jimmy’s notion did seem pretty thin , he thought with a slight chill, and now I guess it’s completely whiffed . Mostly to keep the conversation going, he shrugged and said, “My partner—and me, too, aside from the privilege of your company—wouldn’t have wanted it, anyhow. Not that we’re unpatriotic, but there are plenty of other potential bases, and we’d rather keep government agencies out of here.”
    â€œCan you, these days?”
    â€œPretty much. We’re under a new type of charter, as a private partnership. The first such charter in the Belt, as far as I know, though there’ll be more in the future. The Bank of Ceres financed us. We haven’t taken a nickel of federal money.”
    â€œIs that possible?”
    â€œJust barely. I’m no economist, but I can see how it works. Money represents goods and labor. Hitherto those have been in mighty short supply out here. Government subsidies made up the difference, enabling us to buy from Earth. But now the asterites have built up enough population and industry that they have some capital surplus of their own, to invest in projects like this.”
    â€œEven so, frankly, I’m surprised that two men by themselves could get such a loan. It must be huge. Wouldn’t the bank rather have