Lawyers suck. The world sucks. I came up here to get away from all this happy horsecrap, and here I am stuck neck deep in lawyer horsecrap. This has been going on for, what?, four years now.
I got the goods on Lester two years ago, but he’s still my lawyer. He’s not my only lawyer, and he doesn’t know nearly as much about my rebuilt fortune as he thinks he does. But he’s still in charge of this Zed lawsuit and he’s still my point of contact with Phertipton, and I sure am uneasy about that.
Jack is on the TV screen. Suzanne and I are on the couch in her bungalow.
“Bull, it’s delicate. Lester knows so much that removing him is brain surgery. You now know enough to seriously damage his reputation, but he still knows enough to seriously damage your fortune, and Phertipton will continue his crying all the way to the bank.
“Don’t kid yourself, Bull, Phertipton’s made a lot of money off you already, and in spite of our best efforts here, he has you just where he wants you: He has the initiative, he can move this forward cheaply, it costs you a lot to respond.
“The weak link is Lester, and I think he’s the one behind last week’s offer. I think he senses personal risk and he senses the easy money is drying up. He’d like to get out of this clean, so we’re at a rare point when Lester’s interests and your interests are actually in line with each other. He screwed you, and he’s ready to leave money on the bed, if you’ll take it.
“It’s my feeling he pushed Phertipton to make this offer, and it’s the best we’re going to see for a long time, and if we squeeze Lester harder, he’ll turn on us and hurt us more.
“So, is this a question of making your enemies pay, or getting out with minimal damage? Your call, Bull.”
The TV screen fades to black.
Suzanne is twirling her fingers through my hair, “Sounds like a weighty problem. Should I stop distracting you?”
“Hardly, my dear,” I’m running my hand up and down her thigh, “I’ve seen this before. I’m just watching this one more time before I send back my choice.”
“And that is?”
I sighed, “The future is always more important than the past. These small-minded people can carve up my past. I will save my future.
“I’m bitter that I can’t have both. I’m bitter that my society has betrayed me by letting this happen.”
I look into Suzanne’s eyes, I love these moments when I can look deep into her eyes. But even as I love them I can’t help but wonder why can’t this be a real person who’s eyes I’m looking into?
“But I can live through that bitterness as long as I have my future. I’ll settle.”
I kiss her a long kiss and we move to the bedroom.
“Excuse me Bull, I have it.”
Honey knows better than interrupt me when I’m in the bedroom, so this is important.
“Have what, Honey?”
“The Honeycomb Comet.”
“What? I’ll be on the bridge.”
<<<*>>>
I read the screens: There’s an object a long way off, but very big. It’s bigger than Ceres, the largest asteroid, perhaps as big as Pluto.
“It’s big, Honey, big enough to name, but why are you sure it’s the Honeycomb?”
“Look at the density. It’s too far and too early to get a good calculation, but its probable range is dropping quickly the more observations I make.”
“And you said you couldn’t recognize patterns,” I grin. The future is definitely worth saving now!