“I’m sorry about that, Skeeve,” I said as we trudged along. “All that work for nothing.”
We had finally finished going over the contract with Quigley and were looking for a quiet spot to head back to Deva unobserved.
“Not really. We solved Quigley’s problem for him, and that new contract is a definite improvement over the old one.”
I had meant that he had done a lot of work for no pay, but decided not to push my luck by clarifying my statement.
“You kind of surprised me when we were talking outside,” I admitted. “I half expected you to be figuring on recruiting Quigley for our crew, once he got free of his contract.”
The Kid gave a harsh bark of laughter.
“Throw money at it again? Don’t worry, Aahz. I’m not that crazy. I might have been willing to spot him a loan, but hire him? A no-talent, do-nothing like that? I run a tight ship at M.Y.T.H. Inc, and there’s no room for deadwood . . . even if they are old friends. Speaking of the company, I wonder if there’s any word about…”
He rambled on, talking about the work he was getting back to. I didn’t listen too closely, though. Instead, I kept replaying something he had said in my mind.
“A no-talent do-nothing … no room for deadwood, even if they are old friends …”
A bit harsh, perhaps, but definitely food for thought.
Chapter Five:
“What fools these mortals be.”
-SMAUG
I NEVER REALLY REALIZED how easy it was to buy something until I tried my hand at selling. I’m not talking about small, casual purchases here. I’m talking about something of size . . . like, say, a casino/hotel. Of course buying it had been simplified by the fact that the developer . . . what was his name? No matter . . . was desperate. Trying to offload it, however, was an entirely different matter.