127 Its All About Money (1/2)
”Can you believe that guy,” Jake said to Li Yang the moment they were back inside their room. ”A fucking cigar and a cocktail and did you see all that ice? His glass was half full of ice.”
”No,” Li Yang said stupidly. ”I mean, I didn't notice that.” He wasn't capable of saying anything intelligent; he was shaken by everything he'd seen and heard in the last hour.
”Fuck, man,” said Jake. ”It's a real downer, all this local resident bullshit. I mean that whole thing about not being allowed to start a colony. If it's serious, we'll have to go back to New York to get started.”
”We can't go back to New York,” said Li Yang.
”Correct. We can't. There'll be at least a million people competing for every available bit of space. There were a million assholes competing for every available bit of scrap already, before we left.”
”You told that man we can get more precious metals,” said Li Yang. ”Can you?”
Jake shrugged.
”I'll have to think of something,” he said. ”I promise you that I'll think of something, sooner or later. Don't worry about it.”
”Maybe we should leave and try somewhere else.”
”Jesus,” said Jake. ”Try where? This whole peninsula is great farmland. Great fishing and great farmland. So it's going to pretty much the same, or better, in the New World. And the most precious currency in the near future is going to be food, not gold. People will be willing to pay a small fortune for some food. It's happened before, and it will happen again. It's due. It hasn't happened for a while.”
Li Yang had gone hungry often enough to know that Jake had a point. He said:
”What if they tell us they don't want us here?”
Jake shrugged.
”Then yeah, we'll have to go somewhere else,” he said. ”We'll go across into Delaware - that's the east coast, and it's not far - and see what gives. And if Delaware doesn't work out we'll go south. The southern tip of this peninsula belongs to Virginia. Different state, different governor.”
”Three different states have pieces of this peninsula?”
”Yes.”
”It's crazy.”
”It's because of historical stuff. Historical stuff is often crazy. Anyway... What we gotta do right now is do our best to convince this mayor guy to let us stay.”
”I think it would be a good idea if we had a proper wash,” said Li Yang. ”Maybe even trim our hair. I have scissors.”
”You're going to trim my hair? No fucking way.”
”You can do it yourself. And you should shave.”
”I'm growing a beard.”
”It makes you look like a rat hiding behind a toilet brush.”
”Fuck you.”
”It's true.”
Jake sighed heavily.
”Okay,” he said. He pointed at the bathroom door and added:
”You go first.”
”You still look like shit,” Jake told him, and disappeared into the bathroom. Li Yang examined himself in the mirror over the dresser and decided Jake was just getting back at him for that rat and toilet brush remark. He really looked a lot better.
He prepared and ate one of his MREs, with some misgivings: he had only seven left. Stealing food from a store was no longer a viable option. He was in the middle of farm country, but it was the last day of February; it would be a while before there would be any crops. He worried about where to get food, in one way or another, until a clean-shaven Jake emerged from the bathroom.
”You look amazing, man,” he said.
”I don't know,” said Jake. He examined himself in the mirror, and frowned.
”I don't know, man,” he repeated. ”I think I better put on a shirt and a tie.”
”You have a tie?”
”I've got several. I can lend you one. It would be a good move if you wore a shirt and a tie, too.”
”I don't have a shirt,” said Li Yang. ”I mean, not the kind of shirt you'd wear with a tie.”
”I can lend you that, too. I've brought a couple.”
”I don't have a jacket. I'll freeze wearing just a shirt.”
”Don't be stupid. The thermometer says it's fourteen degrees in here. It's practically like summer. You know what? You can wear that black V-neck sweater you got over the shirt. It looks good, looks brand new actually. Where did you get it?”
”I can't remember,” said Li Yang. It was true. He'd stolen stuff from so many stores in the last eight weeks he couldn't remember what he got where.
He was wearing the black sweater over Jake's blue shirt and tie and Jake was wearing a short jean jacket when Irina came to fetch them for the big meeting with the mayor. She smiled when she saw them and said:
”That's better. You actually look like human beings. Now listen to me. Don't open your mouth except to answer questions. And don't forget to thank Terry for letting you stay tonight. Let's go.”
Terence Morello, Director, and John Hardin, mayor and governor, were relaxing over drinks in Morello's room. Harding was a short, bald, fat man with a habit of raising his pinkie when he drank from his glass. He wore jeans and an expensive leather jacket and round wire-framed glasses with lenses that made his eyes seem huge.
He examined Jake and Li Yang for a while after Irina had led them inside. So did Morello, with an appreciative smile: he'd noticed the effort they'd put in improving their appearance.
”Terry tells me you want to start a mint, and actually have the resources to start one,” Hardin said. He had a husky voice, as if he was suffering from a hoarse throat.
”Yes,” said Jake. Li Yang nodded. Hardin's huge eyes made him feel uneasy. They were very intelligent, calculating eyes. He was sure the mayor will quickly succeed in trapping Jake in a lie.
”A couple of kilos of gold and silver, am I correct? I assume it's mostly silver.”
”We've got a quarter kilo of gold,” said Jake. ”And ten of copper. It was all we could carry, and we figured it's enough to get started.”
”You've got more?”
”We got a stash.”