“Well, it’s basically supervision, but as you’re responsible for overall efficiency, the accuracy of all data and will be held accountable for any problems or errors, it’s very much a hands-on job. Within a day’s journey of Bourget are nine Companies, employing upwards of a thousand people and producing very valuable commodities. In town, there are thirty guilds which produce everything from clothing to handicrafts. All of them need things and I don’t just mean raw materials. You are, basically, the head of the local bank. The government’s syndicates meet four times a year in Monday and decide on a fair price and profit margin for everything, and you get the official rates in a big book. The job of your office is to maintain a balance between what they get and what they provide according to the set table of values. All Company orders come to you, as do orders for their products. The trick is to make sure the Companies get only what they have paid for in products, but receive enough to get by on. If there is an imbalance in their favor, they are paid in money.”
I nodded, “founds pretty direct. But who pays my salary, my staff, and my operating expenses?”
“Well, that’s simple. The bank takes ten percent of all transactions at the time of the transaction. Half of that is your take, split along mutually agreeable lines. Naturally, in good times you make more than in bad, with each employee getting a share. The rest gets sent on to Charon’s government.”
I nodded. “So the more I encourage business and make it easier, by advice, suggestion, whatever, to increase production, the more we all make. A very interesting system.”
“That’s about it,” he agreed. “If somebody’s got a real problem you can send for an expert to help—paid out of your overhead, though.”
That, perhaps, explained the elderly woman on the soarer. I wondered how somebody used to being the boss would like this culture, even for a short time. Still, I had a few more questions.
“Where will we live and how are we going to pick up the basics?”
“Oh, that’s easy,” he responded. “The share account for the T.A. kept operating in the two months since the old one died, so there’s a fair amount in there now. You can draw on it downstairs—they’ll be expecting you. Then just buy what you need. A house goes with the job, already furnished—Tudy, that’s the boy who met you, will show it to you. It’s on the bay, an easy walk from here.”
“Out of curiosity—who pays you?” I asked him.
He laughed. “Oh, nobody. The last thing I need is money.” He grew more serious. “Now, the staff will break you in during the next few days—take it easy until you get the hang of it. Your first month you can use learning the ropes, since any minor mistakes can be blamed on the past two month’s vacancy. We open at eight each morning, the markets and stores at nine, and we close except for a night accounting staff at four. The businesses stay open until nine or ten, the cafes a bit later, but the nightlife’s pretty poor around here. For one thing, they drink only weak beer and light wines, and the entertainment’s mostly home-grown and not very good. We go for six days, then take three off, then go again.”
“I would guess a small town like this is full of gossip and rumor,” I noted. “I doubt if it’s going to take very long to get to know these people.”
“Oh, it’ll be easier than that. We’ll introduce the two of you at your wedding.”
“What!” That was Zala.
“I said it was a conservative place. You have no job, no means of support—and you’re quite attractive. I assume that you’d rather marry Park here, than be forced to marry some local with one or two others around.”
“I don’t want to marry anybody. I don’t believe in it.”
He sighed. “Look, it doesn’t matter what you believe. You’re not back on the civilized worlds now. You’re not even in some freewheeling town like Montlay or Cadura. Remember, you don’t have to take the ceremony very seriously since it’s just for the locals’ consumption.”
“Then why not just say we’re already married?” she wanted to know.
“Because this is the easiest way to get in with the locals. They’ll get to know you, will like you respecting their local customs and beliefs, and they’ll be much more likely to accept you. Just let me arrange it all, and go along. Other than that, just keep your mouth shut when you see something you don’t agree with. Antagonize these people and you can find yourself in a world of trouble. I’m the strongest and most feared wizard in these parts, but I’m hardly the only one who can cast spells and work magic. There’s a lot of home-grown talent around, and a lot more than can be bought. Some of them are pretty good. Unless you can develop your own powers, it’s best to go along with them no matter how backward or ignorant they may seem. This is literally the key to your survival—you have to live with these people and depend on them for your necessities. It can be pretty lonely if you antagonize them from the beginning.”
She seemed slightly unnerved, but a little chastened. “I’ll try,” was all she could promise.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Settling In
Things actually went off rather nicely, if I do say so myself. As it turned out, the accumulated back pay was more than generous, and we were both able to buy suitable toiletries, wardrobes, and the like.
The wedding took place in the town square, officiated at by one of the local priests who did a lot of pre-rehearsed mumbo-jumbo, and by Kokul as State’s Witness and certifier. Zala made a beautiful bride, and there was a real festival afterwards with lots of singing, dancing, presents, and goodies of all sorts, plus some nice socializing. Kokul was particularly helpful in pointing out the important people in the crowd, and I was taking careful mental notes. Even Zala, who had been expressing extreme misgivings right up to the ceremony, seemed to get into the swing of things, for later she noted that weddings were something she thought everybody should do every year or two.
As for me, I was most interested in settling down, learning the job, and doing it well. There was no percentage in acting any other way. Koril was unlikely to pop up right away, knowing certainly that Matuze would figure we were prime recruiting targets and keep a careful watch on us.
The staff was friendly and helpful, and the system, once fully laid out and demonstrated in practice, was primitive but quite effectively organized. Solar calculators and small solar computers helped, but the basic work was all done by hand and typewriter on endless sheets of accounting paper.
Zala, too, seemed to adjust, after a fashion. Local women taught her how to use the wood stove without burning herself or the house down, and the basics of domestic work.
Since nothing much could be stored in this heat and under these conditions, she went to the market daily and even learned the art of bargaining. What particularly fascinated her was the very concept of handicrafts—nothing in her world or background prepared her for clothing made from scratch, designed and sewn by individuals on individual machines, or pottery hand-made on potter’s wheels and hand-decorated with brush and glaze. Suddenly flung back thousands of years in cultural time, both of us were very surprised to learn that there were whole art forms devoted to such things. The products had a special sort of quality machine and mass production at its best just couldn’t quite match.
My job though took more time than I’d figured, since it included trips out to the Companies to see their accountants, to plan for the future, and to examine and get to know their operations and see if there were new and better ways to do things. Money was tight because the system really wasn’t designed for one person supporting two. Zala, to her credit, solved that problem by learning to use the hand loom and joining a Guild in town in which many women and some men weaved intricate patterns into blankets, bedspreads, you name it, and then sold them to the Guild for a set price per piece. The Guild, through my office, then sold them all over Charon.