"Sure. I like to do this. But Joe Doakes always wanted to run up a flagpole on a bosun's chair and paint it. We're exactly even. At least in Fabriville, we aren't going without anything. Eventually the rest of the worlds will fall in line and there will be enough of stuff for everyone, but until that time arrives, we'll be seeing trouble."
"The rest of the worlds?"
"There'll be riots and small-town wars. I only hope we can get our fence up before they decide to call on us."
"You've sort of created an oasis here," said Linna. "But how long will it last?"
"Until Channing and Franks come up with some substance that can not be run through their own duplicator. I hope it will not be too long."
Out in the Trojan Position ahead of Venus, the famous Relay Station better known as Venus Equilateral moved in its quiet way. Like Fabriville, Venus Equilateral was self-sufficient. Furthermore, Don Channing had declared a closed corporation, and the three thousand inhabitants of the relay station were all in accord.
Business was running low. Yet the salaries went on, even increased, while prices went dropping to ridiculously low levels.
With a closed system such as Venus Equilateral, such an artificial economy was possible by mere basic control. The crime angle was nil on Venus Equilateral. With three thousand people living in a cylinder of steel three miles long and a mile in diameter, crime and general nastiness were eradicated by the simple means of making it too hard to conduct anything illegal. The citizens of Venus Equilateral were patriotic to the nth degree.
So the situation was less strained than in Fabriville. Though work moved slowly, there was still more than plenty for everyone, and the people were satisfied.