“Don’t tell me, let me guess,” Whitey quipped. “You want us to knock off the chatter and get to work. See how fast power corrupts?”
“Actually, I was thinking more in terms of breaking out a bottle of the good wine and toasting our new names and careers.”
“And friendship!” Abuzar declared, clapping a massive hand on Eisner’s shoulder. “You see, Roz? It’ll take more than a new name or a new job to change this one. He’ll always love his friends and his wine more than he loves work!”
They all laughed, though some laughed louder than others.
INTERVIEW
“Ulnar Blutman’s Moving and Transport?” Erickson asked, as Tambu lapsed into silence.
“Don’t get your hopes up, Mr. Erickson.” That was not a slip of the tongue betraying my original ship. It was a fabrication, as were the original names of the crewmembers, including my own. There is no–was no Ulnar Blutman. However, I assure you the actual origin of my name was equally inane.”
“Well, what’s in a name, anyway?” the reporter shrugged, hiding his disappointment.
“I assume you’re being flippant, but there is an answer to that question. What’s in a name is what one puts in a name. Tambu could have been a brand name for a new soap, but my actions and the legends which grew from them have made the name Tambu a household word of a completely different nature.”
“You sound quite proud of yourself,” Erickson commented dryly, unable to hide his distaste.
“That’s another ‘are you still beating your wife’ sort of question,” Tambu admonished. “But I’ll try to answer it anyway. Yes, I am proud of myself. To get where I am today, I have overcome many obstacles and difficulties which would have stopped or crushed a lesser man. That is not boasting, merely stating a fact. I should add, however, that just because I am proud of where I am does not necessarily mean I am proud of everything I did to get here.”