not my first trip to the Belt, nor my firstattempt to deal with the official workings of the Confederated Cities."
Alhamid nodded gently. It was, as a matter of fact, Mr. Tarnhorst'ssecond trip beyond the Martian orbit, the first having taken place somethree years before. But the complaint was common enough; Earth, with itsstrong centralized government, simply could not understand thefunctioning of the Belt Confederacy. A man like Tarnhorst apparentlycouldn't distinguish between _government_ and _business_. Knowing that,Alhamid could confidently predict what the general sense of Tarnhorst'snext sentence would be.
"I am well aware," said Tarnhorst, "that the Belt Companies not onlyhave the various governors under their collective thumb, but have thusfar prevented the formation of any kind of centralized government. Letus not quibble, Mr. Alhamid; the Belt Companies run the Belt, and thatmeans that I must deal with officials of those companies--such asyourself."
Alhamid felt it necessary to make a mild speech in rebuttal. "I cannotagree with you, Mr. Tarnhorst. I have nothing to do with the governmentof Pallas or any of the other asteroids. I am neither an elected nor anappointed official of any government. Nor, for that matter, am I anadvisor in either an official or unofficial capacity to any government.I do not make the laws designed to keep the peace, nor do I enforcethem, except in so far as I am a registered voter and therefore havesome voice in those laws in that respect. Nor, again, do I serve anyjudiciary function in any Belt government, except inasmuch as I may becalled upon for jury duty.
"I am a business executive, Mr. Tarnhorst. Nothing more. If you havegovernmental problems to discuss, then I can't help you, since I'm notauthorized to make any decisions for any government."
Edway Tarnhorst closed his eyes and massaged the bridge of his thin nosebetween thumb and forefinger. "I understand that. I understand thatperfectly. But out here, the Companies have taken over certain functionsof government, shall we say?"
"Shall we say, rather, that on Earth the government has usurped certainfunctions which rightfully belong to private enterprise?" Alhamid saidgently. "Historically, I think, that is the correct view."
Tarnhorst opened his eyes and smiled. "You may be quite correct.Historically speaking, perhaps, the Earth government has usurped thefunctions that rightfully belong to kings, dictators, and warlords. Tosay nothing of local satraps and petty chieftains. Hm-m-m. Perhaps weshould return to that? Perhaps we should return to the human sufferingthat was endemic in those times?"
"You might try it," said Alhamid with a straight face. "Say, one yearout of every ten. It would give the people something to look forward towith anticipation and to look back upon with nostalgia." Then he changedhis tone. "If you wish to debate theories of government, Mr. Tarnhorst,possibly we could get up a couple of teams. Make a public affair of it.It could be taped and televised here and on Earth, and we could chargeroyalties on each--"
Peter Danley's blond, blank face became suddenly animated. He looked asthough he were trying to suppress a laugh. He almost succeeded. It cameout as a cough.
* * * * *
At the same time, Tarnhorst interrupted Alhamid. "You have made yourpoint, Mr. Alhamid," he said in a brittle voice. "Permit me to makemine. I have come to discuss business with you. But, as a member of theCongressional Committee for Industrial Welfare, I am also in search offacts. Proper legislation requires facts, and legislation passed by theCongress will depend to a great extent upon the report on my findingshere."
"I understand," said Alhamid. "I'll certainly be happy to provide youwith whatever data you want--with the exception of data on industrialprocesses, of course. That's not mine to give. But anything else--" Hegestured with one hand, opening it palm upwards, as though dispensing agift.
"I'm not interested in industrial secrets," said Tarnhorst, somewhatmollified. "It's a matter of the welfare of your workers. We feel thatwe should do something to help. As you know, there have been protestsfrom the Worker's Union Safety Control Board and from the Workingman'sCompensation Insurance Corporation."
Alhamid nodded. "I know. The insurance company is complaining about thehigh rate of claims for deaths. They've threatened to raise our premiumrates."
"Considering the expense, don't you, as a businessman, think that a fairthing to do?"
"No," Alhamid said. "I have pointed out to them that the total amount ofthe claims is far less per capita than, for instance, the SteelConstruction Workers' Union of Earth. Granted, there are more deathclaims, but these are more than compensated for by the fact that theclaims for disability and hospitalization are almost negligible."
"That's another thing we don't understand," Tarnhorst said carefully."It appears that not only are the safety precautions insufficient, butthe post-accident care is ... er ... inefficient."
"I assure you that what post-accident care there is," Alhamid said, "isquite efficient. But there is a high mortality rate because of the verynature of the job. Do you know anything about anchor-placing, Mr.Tarnhorst?"
"Very little," Tarnhorst admitted. "That is one of the things I am hereto get information on. You used the phrase 'what post-accident carethere is'--just how do you mean that?"
"Mr. Tarnhorst, when a man is out in space, completely surrounded by ahard vacuum, _any_ accident is very likely to be fatal. On Earth, if aman sticks his thumb in a punch press, he loses his thumb. Out here, ifa man's thumb is crushed off while he's in space, he loses his air andhis life long before he can bleed to death. Anything that disables a manin space is deadly ninety-nine times out of a hundred.
"I can give you a parallel case. In the early days of oil drilling,wells occasionally caught fire. One of the ways to put them out was toliterally blow them out with a charge of nitroglycerine. Naturally, thenitroglycerine had to be transported from where it was made to where itwas to be used. Sensibly enough, it was not transported in tank-carlots; it was carried in small special containers by a single man in anautomobile, who used the back roads and avoided traffic and stayed awayfrom thickly populated areas--which was possible in those days. In manyplaces these carriers were required to paint their cars red, and havethe words _Danger Nitroglycerine_ painted on the vehicle in yellow.
"Now, the interesting thing about that situation is that, whereasinsurance companies in those days were reluctant to give policies tothose men, even at astronomical premium rates, disability insurance costpractically nothing--provided the insured would allow the insertion of aclause that restricted the covered period to those times when he wasactually engaged in transporting nitroglycerine. You can see why."
"I am not familiar with explosives," Tarnhorst said. "I take it that thesubstance is ... er ... easily detonated?"
"That's right," said Alhamid. "It's not only sensitive, but it'sunreliable. You might actually drop a jar of the stuff and do nothingbut shatter the jar. Another jar, apparently exactly similar, might gooff because it got jiggled by a seismic wave from a passing truck half amile away. But the latter was a great deal more likely than the former."
"Very well," said Tarnhorst after a moment, "I accept that analogy. I'dlike to know more about the work itself. What does the job entail,exactly? What safety precautions are taken?"
It required the better part of three hours to explain exactly what ananchor setter did and how he did it--and what safety precautions werebeing taken. Through it all, Peter Danley just sat there, listening,saying nothing.
Finally, Edway Tarnhorst said: "Well, thank you very much for yourinformation, Mr. Alhamid. I'd like to think this over. May I see you inthe morning?"
"Certainly, sir. You're welcome at any time."
"Thank you." The two Earthmen rose from their seats--Tarnhorstcarefully, Danley with the ease of long practice. "Would nine in themorning be convenient?"
"Quite convenient. I'll expect you."
Danley glided over to the door and held it open for Tarnhorst. He waswearing magnetic glide-shoes, the standard footwear of the Belt, whichhad three ball-bearings in the forward part o
f the sole, allowing thefoot to move smoothly in any direction, while the rubber heel could bebrought down to act as a brake when necessary. He didn't handle themwith the adeptness of a Belt man, but he wasn't too awkward. Tarnhorstwas wearing plain magnetic-soled boots--the lift-'em-up-and-lay-'em-downtype. He had no intention of having his dignity compromised by shoesthat might treacherously scoot out from under him.
* * * * *
As soon as the door had closed behind them, Georges Alhamid picked upthe telephone on his desk and punched a number.
When a
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