166 The View From The Top (1/2)
Kirk Lander was standing at the window of his office located on the top floor of a small building that had previously been occupied by a bank. The bank in question didn't exist any more; only a handful of banks had survived into the third month of 2035. The building's owner was only to happy to lease it to the new colonial government at a rock-bottom rate.
The government would have gotten an even better deal in one of the monumental skyscrapers that dominated the San Francisco skyline. Offices located above the fifth floor were being given away free of charge! The only thing the owners asked for was that the new tenant pay a share of the utility bill. But strict electricity rationing meant the elevators weren't working, and no one felt like climbing endless flights of stairs.
The building Kirk was in had been built nearly a century earlier. It had a wide, central staircase that had been actually built for everyday use, and it was only three stories high. It had plenty of wide windows that let in a lot of light, and all of its walls were brick. It was warm in cold weather and would stay cool when the summer heat arrived. Kirk had selected it personally after a two-day search. He was permitted to do that as the governor of California.
He hadn't wanted to set up office in San Francisco's town hall. San Francisco's town hall was a fortress continuously besieged by a horde of supplicants. It required a couple of hundred cops and a similar amount of soldiers to be present at all times. Otherwise, the angry crowd would have started a riot.
”We need more people,” Adam Lander said again.
”I heard the first time,” Kirk said without turning around. ”We can't hire any more staff, and you know why.”
”Yes. We have to be self-sufficient, and make enough money to cover costs. And that's exactly why I think we have to increase the daily quota of licenses we sell. More licenses mean more money.”
”But they're all paying us with old money, Adam,” said Kirk. ”Wages and bills have to paid in the new currency.”
”We could put a premium on the extra licenses. It would be payable in the new currency only. No coin? Then you'll just have to wait your turn. It only makes sense.”
”We are not going to do that, Adam,” Kirk said firmly. ”One colonizer and twenty colonist licenses per day. That's the absolute maximum. We won't go beyond that. If we do, we'll be quickly faced with chaos we cannot control.”
Adam shook his head.
”I'm really surprised, Dad,” he said. ”Your views seem to have changed a lot. I mean, you were always for making everything available to everybody. No limits, no restrictions of any kind.”
”He likes you.”
”And I intend to keep things that way. He'll stop liking me pretty fast if bad shit happens, son. You heard about Maryland and New Jersey and Pennsylvania?”
Adam shrugged.
”Just a rumor there's trouble in some states,” he said.
”It's not just a rumor. And 'trouble' doesn't describe it. The National Guard in New Jersey ran out of ammunition, Adam. Doesn't that tell you something?”
”It tells me they were issued with a lousy couple of clips apiece,” said Adam. ”They'd use that much up firing warning shots into the air. But yeah, I did hear things are hairy.”
”Hairy? I was on the phone with Carlton this morning. Over a thousand dead just yesterday!”
”In the New World?”
”In our world, Adam. In the New World, it's tens of thousands every day. That's a major factor behind all the rioting. I don't want any of that happening here.”
Adam sighed.
”Well, in New World Frisco we do have a couple of dozen colonists coming in each day, and begging for help,” he said.
”You see? And you want to increase the daily license quota. Where is the sense in that?”
”But we need money. You know how much they're charging for a single kilowatt hour? A full dollar! In the new currency!”
”So we use less electricity. Work by daylight, manual typewriters, carbon copies whenever possible. That's why I chose this building. Plenty of light, and comfortable stairs.”
Adam still looked unconvinced. Kirk walked up to him and put his hand on Adam's shoulder, and added:
”We've just started minting coins. We're minting them left, right, and center. We control two government mints in the New World: one in your capital, one in mine. Debbie, Karen, and Bernard are building mints in the colonies, too. And we have yet another mint right at home. Karen and Hank are running it. Hank told me he got at least a couple of tons of good scrap. Give it time, Adam. Give it time. It's the sixth of March for chrissake, it hasn't even been a full week. Everything will get straightened out by the end of the month, you'll see.”