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wrath of your noble self when he hears evil tidings."
I said, "Shit." But I had to admit he had made me laugh, and that was one way
of making evil tidings easier to bear. "All right," I said, nodding to show
that I knew what the evil tidings were going to be. "Tell me about
Metchnikov. He was on the mission to the black hole, and now he's back. I just
figured out that that means he's entitled to a share of the science bonus I
got for the mission, right?"
Albert looked at me curiously. Then he said, unwinding the sweater from his
head, "That's right, Robin. It's not just him, either. When Klara went back to
the black hole with Harbin Eskladar-"
"Hold it! Who?"
"That's Harbin Eskladar," he said, pointing to the other man. "You told me you
knew about him."
"Albert," I sighed, rearranging the conjectures and misunderstandings inside
my mind to fit the new pattern, "you should know by now that when I
tell you I know anything, I'm lying."
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He looked at me seriously. "So I feared," he said. "That's the bad news, I'm
afraid."
-
He paused there, as though he hadn't quite made up his mind what to say next,
so I prompted him. "You said the two of them went back to the black hole where
I'd dumped them all."
He shook his head. "Oh, Robin," he sighed, but thankfully did not start
telling me about my guilt trips again. He just said, "Yes, that's right. He
and Klara went there together to rescue them, only they rescued the whole
crew: the two Dannys, Susie Hereira, the girls from Sierra Leone-"
"I know who was on the mission," I interrupted. "My God! They're all back!"
"They all are, yes, Robin." He nodded. "And they are all, in some sense,
entitled to full shares. That is what Dane Metchnikov saw a lawyer about.
Now," he said thoughtfully, reaching into a pocket and pulling out his pipe-
his complexion had unobtrusively returned to normal, his hair was white and
unruly again-"there are certainly some unusual ethical and legal questions
here. As you remember from previous litigaton, there is the principle that
lawyers refer to as 'the calf follows the cow,' which means that all your
subsequently accumulated fortune can be considered to be in some sense the
consequence of that original Science Bonus from that mission. In which, of
course, they would all have shared if they had returned with you."
"So I have to give them money?"
"'Have to' is putting it too strongly, but that's the general idea, Robin. As
you did with Klara when she first showed up; one hundred million dollars was
the amount you settled on her for a quitclaim. Since I
perceived this question would arise, I've taken the liberty of having your
legal program contact Mr. Metchnikov's. That figure seemed acceptable. Some
sort of settlement of the same order of magnitude would be appropriate for
each of the others, I believe. Of course, they could ask for more. But I don't
think they would get it; there is also a statute of limitations, naturally."
"Oh," I said, relieved. I never have any real idea how "rich" I am within
several dozen billion dollars, but a billion one way or another wouldn't make
much difference. "I thought you said you had bad news."
He lit the pipe. "I haven't given you the bad news yet, Robin," he said.
I looked at him. He was puffing at the pipe, peering at me through the smoke.
"Danm it, do it!"
He said, "That other man, Harbin Eskladar."
"What about him, damn you?"
"Kiara met him after leaving us on the True Love. He was a pilot too.
The two of them decided to go back to the black hole, so Klara rented Juan
Henriquette Santos-Schmitz's ship, which was capable of the mission. And
before they left-well-the thing is, Robin, Klara and Eskladar were married."
There are surprises that, as soon as you hear them, you know instinctively you
should have been prepared for. This one came out of nowhere.
"Thank you, Albert," I said hollowly, dismissing him. He was sighing as he
left, but he left.
I didn't have the heart to go on talldng to Klara. I instructed my doppel on
what to say next to her, and to Metchnikov, and even to this Harbin
Eskladar person. But I didn't stay around while it happened. I retreated into
gigabit space and wrapped it around me.
I know that Albert thinks I spend too much time in my own head. I won't deny
any of the things he says. I don't mean I agree with them. I don't. I'm not
any smarter than he thinks I am, but I'm not as weird, either. What I am,
basically, is, I'm human. I may really be only the digital transcription of a
human being, but when I was transcribed, all the human parts were transcribed,
too, and I still feel all the things that go with being meat. Both the good
and the bad.
I do the best I can-mostly-and that's about all I can do.
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