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BUYING TIME - Joe Haldeman
Note from Eric: This beauty has been on the market for 19 months, price
dropping from $300K. The Europas were disasters, but with the AMC plant it
should be a good machine.
Maria had not used the American tube system since the year it first opened,
when it was one of the great engineering marvels of the world. It gave the
Americans an actual freedom to travel that many of them thought was implicit
in their Constitution, since it made a trip across the country only a little
more expensive than a trip across town. Unfortunately, it soon became part of
the underworld, figuratively as well as literally. People could get to Denver
for ten dollars apiece but they had to hire two hundred-
dollar bodyguards before daring to go downstairs.
The guards were big men, black and white, in sleek black Pinkerton
bulletproofs, armed with saps and zaps, crowdpleasers, an assault rifle, and a
sawed-off shotgun.
The black man took the money and two return tickets. "We get on the other side
of Security, y'all stay between us all the time. Shootin' starts, you just get
down and cover your head. Carryin' a weapon?"
"Shattergun and a stinger," Dallas said. "Some other stuff in the suitcase."
He raised an eyebrow. "Don't wanna use the shattergun down there. Break
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somethin', they jus' put you down, I mean the feds. Wanna put it in your
suitcase anyway, get through Security."
"Stinger, too," the white man said. "Keep it on the outside, where you can get
to it, though."
"Had some trouble this station couple days ago. Buncha griefballs jumped us,
plastic knives. Hurt a customer. Hadda kill two."
"You get in trouble for that?" Dallas asked.
"Unh-unh," the black man said. "Save the rats some work. They like ta give us
a medal."
They went through the metal and explosive detector, which noted the weapons in
their luggage and bond-
locked it until Denver. Down the escalator into a brightly lit slum. A couple
of dozen idlers, dull eyes and bright, watched them descend. There were four
other bodyguards; they all exchanged nods.
"This don' look too bad," the black man said. "None of our favorites." There
was trash everywhere, bottles and needles.
In one corner an old man masturbated a handful of blood. The white guard
kicked a bottle at him. "Give it a rest, Pops. Ya broke it again." Pops
ignored the advice.
Five cars showed up right on time; the Atlanta shuttle, twenty-two minutes
after the hour. The cars were
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BUYING TIME - Joe Haldeman fairly clean, each with eight rows of three
overstuffed "seats," upended couches, half of them occupied.
They waited outside the Atlanta/ St. Louis car while most of the passengers
filed out, and then were admitted, one at a time, as the door read their
tickets, bodyguards last.
When they'd all backed into place, standing facing the direction of travel, a
holo woman floated high in front. "Please do not interfere with the seat
restraints." A cage of stiff belts snaked out to enclose each traveler as the
car rolled into darkness. They click-whirred through an air lock. "There will
be approximately one hundred seconds of acceleration now. For your comfort and
safety you may wish to remain facing straight ahead." In absolute silence an
invisible three-gee hand pressed down on them.
"Then, after four minutes' coasting, we will reverse the seats and decelerate
for another hundred seconds.
This will be Atlanta. Please remain in your seats for rerouting to St. Louis.
Thank you and have a nice day." She faded and was replaced by a holo extolling
the virtues of Atlanta.
MARIA
The whole trip to Denver took less than thirty minutes, though I wouldn't have
minded spending more time and traveling in less frightening surroundings. In
Denver we rented a floater and skimmed down to [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]