Page 22 - Psychoceramics and the Test of Fire

Black Pinhole Nanofurnace

carbonated water into them! An underground ocean of seltzer, stored
for future generations!”
My circuit to the only egress was complete. Aitkens was unaware
of the slow-motion pirouette he had executed in order to continue
facing me. He stopped to catch his breath.
“Very interesting, Dr. Aitkens,” I assured him, opening the door.
“And quite worthy of a hearing. After your nanofurnace goes into
production, I’m sure that Ishtar will be ready to entertain the
possibility of further investment in your new technologies. I have
another appointment, so we must leave it at that for the moment.
Please read our contract and let me know what you decide. Good
day.”
I slipped out of the loft and walked quickly but with dignity to the
stairs, leaving Lalo Aitkens frowning at the half-crumpled papers in
his hands. As I emerged into the smoky sunlight of Skid Row, I took
a deep breath and exhaled noisily. Ahead of me a panhandler,
startled, turned quickly in expectation of mooching a cigarette. But he
was disappointed: I was respiring nothing but city air. I gave him a
quarter, sharing my luck. I had made it over the first and biggest
hurdle. Now Ishtar Investments would have to do the rest, with me
as its human face.
The next day Aitkens called to arrange another meeting. I invited
him to lunch at a nearby hotel, hoping his haberdashery and habits
would not get us ejected. Indeed, he had cleaned himself up
adequately and regained a bit of his benign professorial persona. He
signed, I handed him the envelope and paid for the meal. We parted,
each preoccupied with what would come next. I hoped Al Magnus
would be pleased with my performance. Despite the few minutes of
tension and terror, it hadn’t been an impossible chore. I’d had time to
prepare, and as a fisher of men my hook was well-baited. I went
home and packed: it was time to move on to better digs and a bit of
splurging on luxuries. Ishtar itself would be dissolved as soon as
Aitkens had taken charge of the money; it had been set up by a shell
company to which Magnus could be linked only by a crew of very
determined investigators in several countries. He knew how to run a
semi-clandestine operation: I’ll say that for him.

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