Gramenger told him. Harvey's jaw came out. "Cancer. Yes, I can see we
will have to fight this out."
The lawyer came in. He smiled a little when Gramenger explained. He
looked at the papers. He shook a sleek head. He handed the papers to
Harvey.
"You don't stand a chance, man. Have you looked into the definition of
what constitutes planetary farmlands?"
"What is the definition?" said Harvey.
"Planetary farmlands, legally and simply, are the natural surface or
portions of the surface of a planet of any size which could support
vegetative growths of any kind. Your mistake here is that this
planetoid, and every other such a body that has been discovered, _does
not have a soil surface_. Ergo, it cannot support plant life."
"If it _did_ have a soil surface," Harvey said.
The lawyer looked at him whimsically. "It couldn't," he said, in what
was meant as a kindly tone. "These odd-sized bodies that wander through
space have invariably been discovered to be crystallized, meteoric,
inorganic materials from top to bottom."
"But if it _did_ have soil, natural, original surface soil."
The lawyer spread his hands, shrugging. "It can't be. But if it were,
naturally, the company would--"
"Change the _Hermes'_ trajectory?" Harvey said.
Gramenger glared. "Gramenger & Lewis has changed neither a schedule nor
a trajectory in its career as the oldest shipping concern in the Solar
System," he snapped.
"Well," said Harvey, "what _would_ you do if it were proved that
Plymouth has a natural soil surface?" He took a flat paper bag out of
his pocket and emptied a pile of dirt onto Gramenger's desk.
The lawyer and Gramenger looked at the pile of dirt. Both men grew a
little pale.
The lawyer licked his lips. "If you show that that dirt comes from
Plymouth," he said, "Gramenger & Lewis will stand the expense of
transforming the planetoid into a free-mover."
"This means," said Harvey, "that you would be forced to install
gravitic machinery under Plymouth's surface, including plus and minus
grids and controls that would make it possible to move the planetoid
out of the _Hermes'_ way."
"Yes...."
"You would also install atmosphere-making machinery."
"If the claimant asked for it, it would be a simple matter."
"You would also provide a transmutator as an adjunct to the
atmosphere-machine so that water could be provided?"
Gramenger was being very silent and small behind the desk.
Unconsciously, he nodded his head. The lawyer, his amiable manner
somewhat shattered, nodded slowly. "These and other things could be
done and would be done in a hurry."
"Also," persisted Harvey, "there would be an inconsequential cash
settlement of perhaps ten thousand code credits?"
The lawyer was silent. He looked at Gramenger. Gramenger said slowly,
"That is a small matter, and would be agreed to. But there is a large
matter, and that is to prove that this soil comes from Plymouth. For my
money, it's still a hunk of rock--"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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