Part 16 (1/2)
”Well, we give this to Jersey, they submit the proposal, they walk away with the contract, right? That's our job, right?”
”No, Art, that's not our job. Our job is to see to it that V/DT submits a bad proposal, not that Jersey submits a good one. This is big. We roll this together and it's bigger than Ma.s.sPike. We can run this across every G.o.dd.a.m.ned toll road in the world! Jersey's not paying for this -- not yet, anyway -- and someone should.”
”You want to sell this to them?”
”Well, I want to sell this. Who to sell it to is another matter.”
Art waved his hands confusedly. ”You're joking, right?”
Fede crouched down beside Art and looked into his eyes. ”No, Art, I am serious as a funeral here. This is big, and it's not in the scope of work that we signed up for. You and me, we can score big on this, but not by handing it over to those s.h.i.+theads in Jersey and begging for a bonus.”
”What are you talking about? Who else would pay for this?”
”You have to ask? V/DT for starters. Anyone working on a bid for Ma.s.sPike, or TollPa.s.s, or FastPa.s.s, or EuroPa.s.s.”
”But we can't sell this to just *anyone*, Fede!”
”Why not?”
”Jesus. Why not? Because of the Tribes.”
Fede quirked him half a smile. ”Sure, the Tribes.”
”What does that mean?”
”Art, you know that stuff is four-fifths' horses.h.i.+t, right? It's just a game.
When it comes down to your personal welfare, you can't depend on time zones.
This is more job than calling, you know.”
Art squirmed and flushed. ”Lots of us take this stuff seriously, Fede. It's not just a mind-game. Doesn't loyalty mean anything to you?”
Fede laughed nastily. ”Loyalty! If you're doing all of this out of loyalty, then why are you drawing a paycheck? Look, I'd rather that this go to Jersey. They're basically decent sorts, and I've drawn a lot of pay from them over the years, but they haven't paid for this. They wouldn't give us a free ride, so why should we give them one? All I'm saying is, we can offer this to Jersey, of course, but they have to bid for it in a compet.i.tive marketplace. I don't want to gouge them, just collect a fair market price for our goods.”
”You're saying you don't feel any fundamental loyalty to anything, Fede?”
”That's what I'm saying.”
”And you're saying that I'm a sucker for putting loyalty ahead of personal gain -- after all, no one else is, right?”
”Exactly.”
”Then how did this idea become 'ours,' Fede? I came up with it.”
Fede lost his nasty smile. ”There's loyalty and then there's loyalty.”
”Uh-huh.”
”No, really. You and I are a team. I rely on you and you rely on me. We're loyal to something concrete -- each other. The Eastern Standard Tribe is an abstraction. It's a whole bunch of people, and neither of us like most of 'em.
It's useful and pleasant, but you can't put your trust in inst.i.tutions -- otherwise you get n.a.z.ism.”