"Portal-to-portal escort cost you two thousand C's," he said. "Guaranteed."
"Guaranteed how?" I asked.
He waved the cigar. "Guaranteed you get into the city and back out again in one piece." He studied his cigar. "If somebody don't plug you first," he added.
"How about a one-way trip?"
"My boy got to come back out, ain't he?"
I had spent my last brass ten-dollar piece on a cup of coffee eight hours before, but I had to get into the city. This was the only idea I had left.
"You've got me wrong," I said. "I'm not a customer. I want a job."
"Yeah?" He looked at me again, with a different expression, like a guy whose new-found girl friend has just mentioned a price.
"You know Gra'nyauk?"
"Sure," I said. "I grew up here."