Businessmen -- Fiction; Human-alien encounters -- Fiction; Life on other planets -- Fiction; Science fiction
As his eyes swept the square, he knew something had gone wrong.
Castlebottom was still on the pillory, sweating in the muggy heat, but
the Uvans no longer crowded around him. The entire mass of resin-bodied
grape heads were clamoring around Bill's office.
Bill pushed through the crowd until he came to the door where Webster
stood, white faced and worried.
"They after the caviar already?" Bill grinned.
"Caviar!" Webster exclaimed. "No such thing. They've discovered that
you tampered with the etheroel well and dissolved one of their people.
They're working themselves up to a revolt. Give them a half hour and
they'll tear us apart. This is serious."
"The patrol will be here any minute," Kitty said tensely.
Webster shook his head helplessly. "They won't do us any good. You
don't know the Uvans."
The broad, heavy tones of an alarm gong vibrated across square. Uvans
milled about, pressing in closer upon Bill's office entrance. Dry,
high-pitched voices threw out angry cries. Hundreds of grape-cluster
Uvan heads flashed their cell-like lights. Some could be seen in the
daylight, some not.
Bill turned toward Olé whose own anger was slowly mounting a step
behind that of the crowd in the market-place. "Calm yourself," Bill
spoke sharply. "You and your people want caviar, eh? Well, behave and
you'll get it. All you want. I've got the company."
"You've got caviar?" Webster cut in.
Bill shouldered the government commissioner aside and spoke rapidly
with Olé. "Here's what you do, little man," he said. "Go out there and
sell them stock. Yeah. Stock in our Caviar Import Company. The real
stuff will be on its way here in a day or two. Now get going! Take
these sales contracts."
He gave the little Uvan a shove and sent him through the doorway. Olé
disappeared in the crowd, talking fast as he entered it. Bill watched
tensely, then after a minute he looked toward Webster and Kitty.
Webster's eyes shifted from the market-place and met Bill's glance. The
Commissioner's mouth opened, amazed. Out in the market, he had seen the
sudden, incredible change that occurred among the Uvans. Their anger
had turned to delighted excitement. They haggled, shouted and fought to
buy up the Caviar Company stocks Olé offered.
Kitty stared at Bill accusingly. "It was a nice trick," she said. "But
what makes you think they'll get any caviar?"
There was a grin on Bill's square face. "Simple," he said. "With your
money, Webster's transmitter and my brain, I cornered the Interworld
caviar market. Our company owns every speck of caviar that exists."
"But why?"
"Don't look so dazed, I organized the caviar to line up popular support
behind me. All that I needed was the confidence of the Uvans because
I've figured out a way of exploiting the etheroel wells without harming
the Uvans."
Bill looked around triumphantly. "You want to hear?" he added.
"It's wonderful, Bill," Kitty murmured.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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