Meanwhile, I have something of interest to report. Remember that guy I mentioned, Lar Luk, the insurance salesman from Fomalhaut? I met him in Halcyon City before I took the monorail to Rmpldecroidesanspertxkle, and we had a long talk.
I said, "I hope you don't think I'm poaching on your territory, Mr. Luk." I then turned down the translator to soft obsequious. "I assure you, that's not the way Terran Insurance operates. We didn't know you were here."
"That's quite all right," Lar Luk told me. "You can have the whole planet for all I care."
"Are you going back to Fomalhaut?" I asked hopefully.
"Goodness, no. I had my savings shipped here to Halcyon and started a munitions plant. I'm making a fortune."
I next asked Lar Luk (translator on shocked voice) about his Company Loyalty. He said, "That's a lot of (CENSORED BY MY TRANSLATOR)! When in Rome, heh-heh...." It seems every civilized planet has an author who said something like "when in Rome, etc."
"You didn't happen to try the grass roots, did you?" I asked with my translator in indifferent because I didn't want Lar Luk to get the idea I was eager and maybe try it himself.
"Friend," admitted Lar Luk, "I tried everything. Without any success. Say, why don't you come into munitions with me? There's a whole colony of extra-halcyonian insurance salesmen going into munitions here. I could use a partner."
That ended our conversation. I'm going to cold-canvas Rmpldecroidesanspertxkle in the morning. I'll keep in touch.
Pessimistically,
Sammy Trumple