The Legend That Was Earth Read Free Page A

in case of an emergency?" Cade quipped, making a toasting gesture.
    "Don't joke. You never know. We had a bar in town sued the other week for serving a guy who had a liver condition and knew he couldn't take it. Would you believe that? I mean, what are they supposed to do—check everybody's medical records now?"
    Julia appeared in the archway to the front part of the house, calling something back to Henry about a rose tree by the front door. She saw Cade, picked up a glass of champagne that she had left on a side table, and came over, perching herself on a couch-arm next to where he was standing and resting her free hand lightly on his shoulder. Julia was Cade's business partner and significant other in life, having moved in to share the house a little over a year before. She was tall, lithe, and red-haired, with a feline elegance of movement that exuded sexuality. Tonight she had enhanced the effect with an ankle-length dress of body-clinging moiré that altered in the light between bottle-green and sage-yellow, set off by an emerald bracelet and earrings. Her former husband ran a couple of night clubs that the right people in southern California frequented, which meant that she knew a lot of names that were worth knowing, making her a natural for Cade to get attached to. Knowing the right people was what Cade's business was all about.
    She tasted her drink and ran a questioning eye over the company. "So, what problems of the world are we putting right tonight?"
    "Have you seen Norman's new wheels yet?" Anita asked.
    "Yes. And I feel sick. Why do you think I'm wearing green?" Julia nudged Cade pointedly. "I want one."
    "Sounds like I'd better check with Simon and see what our money's in," Cade replied.
    "Well, I hope you don't have too much of it in computers or electronics—or anything high-tech, by the sound of it," Baxter said. "Norman was saying just before you came in that the bottom's falling out across the board. The Hyadeans are going to be flooding the market here with better stuff at prices you can't even think about."
    Schnyder was already nodding. "Their production is all run by AIs—totally automatic. Matching what we use here costs them practically nothing. It's like beads. A lot of industries are in trouble."
    Cade tried not to let things like that affect him. It was the way life was. Things changed; you couldn't stop them. If you were smart you adapted and let yourself go with the flow. It wasn't his place to protect those who chose to stay in places where they were going to lose out. "There's a lot of opposition out there," he said. "That has to have some moderating effect, surely. The government isn't going to just let it happen."
    Schnyder shook his head. "Forget it, Roland. The bills will go through. Too much of Congress is in for a piece of the action. We're talking big bucks here. They're not going to lose out."
    Cade and Julia looked at each other, and both made a face. "So what should we be buying into?" Julia asked, looking back.
    "You really wanna know?" Schnyder invited.
    "Sure. That's why I asked."
    "Navajo blankets and sand paintings. Porcelains and sculptures. Hand-built cabinets and carvings—like from that little firm in Santa Monica that they did the show on last week. Did you see it?"
    "No, I don't think so."
    "Native talents," Anita said. "The Hyadeans don't have anything to compare."
    "Is it really the way some people say?" Julia sounded incredulous.
    "We've got someone coming here tonight who's been saying the same thing," Cade told the group. "Damien Philps—an export dealer in that kind of thing to Chryse and the other Hyadean worlds for a few years now. Says it's going to grow like crazy."
    "Then you should listen to him," Schnyder urged. "It's getting to be a rage with them. You wouldn't believe the prices I've heard for some of the things that went there."
    "Want to buy into some totem poles?" Cade asked Julia. He looked away as Henry appeared once more from the depths of the