Man Who Used the Universe

Man Who Used the Universe by Alan Dean Foster Page A

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Authors: Alan Dean Foster
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lawyers and accountants."
    The slim old man leaned back in the chair fronting the wide computer screen, puffed on his dopestick and looked uncertain.
    "If you'll excuse my saying so, sir, I'd rather shoot than argue. It's cleaner. I've never had much use for lawyers, nor accountants."
    "That's because you've always handled the illegal analogs yourself. I'm not slighting you, Basright. I'm saying you're going to need their help. We have to go legal now. We have to deal with a new set of rules. It'll be hard at first, sure, but not impossible. I have confidence in you. The underworld wouldn't let us back in now even if we wanted in."
    "I can't imagine why not, sir," said Basright dryly.
    "Besides which it simply wouldn't do for my new public image."
    "Hardly, sir. You're quite the hero of the day." He frowned a moment, the wrinkles crinkling in his deceptively kind face. "It's a shame about Khryswhy, though. We go back a long ways."
    "Almost as far as I do." Loo-Macklin gave no evidence of sympathy for the indicted lady. "She had her chance to make a choice, just like you and a hundred other key people. She made it."
    "I know that, sir, but don't you think she might have chosen differently if you'd explained your plans to her? She was choosing sort of blind."
    "No." Loo-Macklin could take that simple, two-letter declaration of negativity and make it sound as final as the Last Judgment. "I couldn't take that risk. Not with her, not with anyone. You know that. She had the same chance everyone else did, yourself included."
    "Myself included," murmured Basright.
    "I trust no one. That keeps everyone equal in my eyes."
    Are we really? thought Basright. What do you really think of me, of anyone? Will I ever know?
    Not your business, old fool, said a cautionary part of his mind. The part that had kept him healthy during a long life in the underworld.
    Loo-Macklin's gaze fell from the ceiling, settled half-lidded on Basright. The younger man was wearing a dark umber suit with a high collar open at the neck. The vee ran down to his belt, exposing a chest of thick, golden curls. The computer screen filled the room with color-coded patterns and soft background music.
    "I have made a decision, Basright. Considering the length of our relationship, what we've been through together, you can call me Kees."
    Basright's answer did not surprise him. "If you don't mind, sir, I'd rather not."
    Loo-Macklin nodded to himself. "Why not?"
    "You ask people to call you by your first name in order to establish a false sense of camaraderie with them, sir. It's a psychological lever."
    "Not this time," was the reply. "Not in your case."
    "If it's all the same to you, sir, I'd rather continue our present relationship unchanged."
    "If it's all the same to you, Basright, I'd like to know why."
    "Personal reasons, sir." The old man glanced away.
    "Look, you're going to be my closest and most trusted business associate, Basright. I operate on a first-name basis with people who've worked for me for far fewer years than you."
    "I'm aware of that, sir. It's just that," he kept his eyes averted as he spoke, "I'd rather not be on a first-name basis with you, sir. I prefer keeping our relationship formal, strictly business. I admire you, sir, but . . ."
    "But you don't particularly like me, is that it? You enjoy working for me, but you've no desire to be a close friend." He did not sound in the least upset. "Very well. I'm used to that."
    "It's not just that, sir. You make it sound too simple. It's . . . well, you frighten me, sir. You've always frightened me, back from the time when Lal was running the Ninth Syndicate and you came to work for him as a runner up, until this very moment. You frighten me now, while we're sitting here talking in this comfortable room."
    "Twelve years," Loo-Macklin said somberly. "That's a long time to be afraid of somebody, Basright. If I scare you so much, why do you stick around?"
    "Because I've always had a knack for knowing a good

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