Insider

'No problem,' his companion said. 'We can use an alternative approach and deflate his ego meanwhile.'

'Have you heard, what he said?'

'I heard it. I said — a totally alternative approach. Who finances this Bemish guy? Trevis…'

Bemish left the hotel for the city. He spent some time in the temple that he had visited with Kissur and descended to the tavern. A young man met him in the tavern.

The young man offered to sell him twenty thousand Assalah shares at six hundred a piece.

They bargained a bit and Bemish bought the shares for five hundred eighty.

Bemish silently pulled the checkbook out and tore of a check that was already filled with the correct number. The young man looked at him respectfully and said.

'How did you know what price we would agree on?'

Bemish grinned. He had three checkbooks in his pockets and all of them had the first check filled out — the other two checks Bemish would feed to the garbage burner in an hour.

Bemish signed the check and gave it to the youth.

'Would you like to eat?' Bemish asked.

'I'd rather go.'

'Hold on. How did you get the shares?'

'They are not mine, they belong to my uncle.'

'How did your uncle get them?'

'He bought them.'

'Why did he buy these shares in particular?'

'He bought a lot of securities.'

'Why did he decide to sell them?'

'He needs money urgently. He got sent to prison.'

'Why?'

The youth pointed at his basket.

'Because of the Assalah shares?'

'The investigator was asking him about these shares at the interrogation. He hinted my uncle that he would let him go if my uncle gives the shares to a higher official that would like to acquire them.'

'Shavash?'

'Don't say it out loud. It works this way, Mr. Earthman — while a word is in your mouth — you are its master, and when the word is out of your mouth — it is your master.'

'Why didn't your uncle give the shares to the official?'

'He went nuts, when he heard it,' the youth said. 'He said that he would give these shares to a man that can kick the official in the butt.'

'He could sell them cheaper, then.'

'No. The jailers take too much. Good food in the jail costs more than in the best restaurant, you know. Also, very strict orders concerning my uncle have been given and the jailers charge him a higher price for being benevolent.'

'Oh, well,' Bemish said. 'It could be worse, two million for half a percent.'

The youth hesitated.

'It's actually,' he said, 'no more than twenty five hundredth of a percent.'

'Whaaat?!'

'Don't you know that? Half a year ago, when the share price was lower than the moon in a well, Shavash secretly issued additional shares and distributed them among his friends.'

'Secret shares?!!'

'What's wrong with that?'

'Nothing, this is first time in my life when I stumbled upon this particular type of securities manipulation. And how many shares have been issued?'

'I don't know. Some people say that it was a million and a half, some people say that it was two million.'

'Who says that? Where could I find this out?'

'Promise not to refer to my uncle's name.'

'I don't know his name, how can I refer to it?'

'Still, promise it.'

'Ok.'

'I think that the Assalah district chief judge has these shares and knows a lot.'

X X X

Bemish returned to Kissur's villa late at night. He almost always stopped there now when he visited the capital. He wanted to see Idari more often.

A phone call woke Bemish in the middle of the night.

'Yes?'

'Terence?'

Bemish almost jumped up. The LSV director was talking to him from Earth.

'We have a great offer for you,' Trevis said, 'the Union Disk company. They make laser disks. Get here. It can be bought.'

'I am working on Assalah.'

'It's not a promising deal. We will not finance it.'

Bemish fell apart inside.

'Ronald! You guaranteed it…'

'We will pay you the forfeit.'

'I don't need the forfeit, I need Assalah.'

'Get back to Earth,' Trevis said, 'and we will talk about Union Disk.'

'What should I do with the Assalah shares? I bought 17 %!!!'

'Sell them. It's your profession.'

'If you don't finance this deal, I will find another company.'

'You will not find another company, Terence, because no other company lets you on their doorstep. You are nothing, Terence. You are a greenmailer with twenty million dollars in your pocket. We made you. Nobody else needs you. You are a financial pirate. I will be waiting for you tomorrow in my office, at fifteen thirty. If you don't get stuck in traffic, you will make it.'

And Ronald Trevis put the receiver down.

X X X

Bemish turned the light on, put the clothes on and sat at the table. He sat there for a while, till he heard the door creaking. Bemish turned around

— Kissur and Khanadar the Dried Date walked in. Khanadar looked quite dashing in black laced pants and a brocade barbarian jacket. Kissur had a grey suit and a tie on.

'Hey,' Kissur said, 'it's fantastic that you are not asleep. We decided to get some kicks in a pub. Let's go.'

Bemish was silent.

'What has happened to you, Terence? You look like a fly in insect spray!'

'I am screwed,' Bemish said. 'Trevis refuses to finance the deal.'

'Why?'

'I don't know. I don't know where Shavash got such powerful connections.'

'I see. What are you going to do?'

'I am going to sell the shares. I don't have any other choice.'

'Are you going to sell them at the higher price than you bought them at?'

'Naturally… I hold a large block. I can make IC's life hard if it doesn't buy it at the price I want. If I, for instance, appeal IC's actions in an international arbiter court, it will get into one hell of a trouble…'

'It's called greenmail, right?' Kissur specified.