"Jesus. Why not? Because of the Tribes."
Fede quirked him half a smile. "Sure, the Tribes."
"What does that mean?"
"Art, you know that stuff is four-fifths' horseshit, right? It's just a game.
When it comes down to your personal welfare, you can't depend on time zones.
This is more job than calling, you know."
Art squirmed and flushed. "Lots of us take this stuff seriously, Fede. It's not just a mind-game. Doesn't loyalty mean anything to you?"
Fede laughed nastily. "Loyalty! If you're doing all of this out of loyalty, then why are you drawing a paycheck? Look, I'd rather that this go to Jersey. They're basically decent sorts, and I've drawn a lot of pay from them over the years, but they haven't paid for this. They wouldn't give us a free ride, so why should we give them one? All I'm saying is, we can offer this to Jersey, of course, but they have to bid for it in a competitive marketplace. I don't want to gouge them, just collect a fair market price for our goods."
"You're saying you don't feel any fundamental loyalty to anything, Fede?"
"That's what I'm saying."
"And you're saying that I'm a sucker for putting loyalty ahead of personal gain — after all, no one else is, right?"
"Exactly."