himself and regained his composure.
“Would you happen to know what bank you deal with
on Deva?”
“Bank? I mean, not really. Aahz and Bunny . . . our
financial section usually handles that end of the business.”
Any hope I had of a credit line went out the window. I
didn’t know for sure we did any banking. Aahz was a stickler
for keeping our funds readily available. I couldn’t imagine
a bank wanting to deal with someone who didn’t trust banks,
or to take my word for what our cash holdings were . . .
even if I knew what they were.
The banker was studying his notes.
“Of course you understand, we’ll have to run a check
on this.”
I started to rise. At this point all I wanted was out of his
office.
Robert Asprin
148
“Certainly,” I said, trying to maintain a modicum of
poise. “How long will that take, just so I’ll know when to
contact you again?”
Malcolm waved a casual hand at me as he turned to a
keyboard at the side of his desk.
“Oh, it won’t take any time at all. I’ll just use the com-
puter to take a quick peek. I should have an answer in a
couple of seconds.”
I couldn’t make up my mind whether to be astonished or
concerned. Astonished won out.
“… But my office is on Deva,” I said, repeating
myself unnecessarily.
“Quite right,” the banker responded absently as he ham-
mered busily on the keys. “Fortunately, computers and cats
can see and work right through dimensional barriers. The
trick is to get them to do it when you want them to instead
of when they feel like it.”
Of the assorted thoughts which whirled in my mind at