Dawn by Eleanor Porter (best finance books of all time TXT) 📕

source of contention for decades. Some were afraid the stranger would come back and bring the authorities.

“Of course.” Larmeck said “Of course. I’ll bag some up for him.”

“You know.” Maddy said slowly, her mind considering a way to earn credits. “If you think there is a demand for it, we could license it to you.”

Larmeck was unfamiliar with the term and cocked his head at her.

“I mean, you can grow it and sell it if you wanted.” She said. “You can lay claim to an original new plant and reap the rewards. I’m sure Jessie would want you to if he could make just a few credits to buy more supplies.”

The old man sat back and puffed, considered what she’d said. Over the years he’d shared the tobacco with a number of friends and occasionally the captain of a freighter. Everyone had wanted to know what it was and where to get more but he’d told all the off worlders it was the last of his stash. It had been a gift and he had no idea where it came from. Growing the tobacco would also solve a problem that was looming in the community. There had been seven marriages so far this year but the planet was at near human capacity. There was no leeway in the Jalamon’s code. If all seven of the brides conceived there would be another lottery to see who would be forced to leave. They didn’t have machines for the tobacco planting, harvesting and curing. It had to be done by hand. If they started selling it, they would have to expand the numbers allowed to stay. He wasn’t a believer, he’d been an outsider hired on to fix their machines, but they were his tribe now. He’d spent most of his life with them. He smiled his toothless smile and stuck out a fingertip to press against hers and seal the deal.

Maddy stayed for a few days at Larmeck’s insistence. He said it would take time for the Jalamon Council to hear the arguments and approve the patent request. They would, of course. They knew it would bring in a new source of revenue and then there was the added bonus of being able to expand their population. The planet was a paradise when compared to many others in the various systems but laws were laws.

She thought she did pretty well pretending to be human. She didn’t have to think about controlling the in and out of her breathing or the pulse in her neck, those things were programmed and performed flawlessly. She faltered with small talk, she didn’t have much she could say. As far as anyone knew, they were from a colony ship that had been launched before the great wars and had only recently returned to the civilized systems. Now they were doing some kind of research in the outer reaches. She was a good listener though and everyone had something to say. They assumed she was shy and went out of their way to make her feel welcome.

She felt good when she eased the ship out of the hangar and lifted skyward. She’d set up something to earn them a few credits and the human contact had been something she’d needed. She could go back now and hibernate. In another decade there should be enough credits to pay port fees and visit vacation planets, maybe she could persuade Jessie to take some time to relax.

36

Leaving Lakota

He was pulled out of his memories when a couple of poorly muffled motorcycles revved their engines and raced down the road past his warehouse. The sailors. They were awake. A bunch of them had paid retrievers to bring back dirt bikes and quads and they rode them everywhere at full throttle. Half the time while riding a wheelie. Not in town, though. Collins had put a stop to that but they liked to roar up and down the beach. Jessie sighed and finished the last of the watered-down whiskey in the jar.

He’d done a lot more, made a lot more jumps and had seen his home hundreds of years in the past and hundreds of years in the future. No matter how precise he thought his calculations were, the tiniest planetary wobble from a storm or earthquake would throw everything off. If that is even what caused the wild fluctuations. He was only guessing. For all he really knew, it could have been the pull of gravity from a passing comet that slowed him down or sped him up when he was dematerialized. A random spec of space dust could have minutely altered the trajectory of the jump. Time was not intended to be traveled for great distances or for great lengths of time. Once he had been close but had come back in the middle of a horde. They were still fresh and savage, the city was on fire and he knew it was only days after the outbreak. There were too many, he couldn’t fight them but he’d found it, a jump out point that was close enough. It was only months away from when he wanted to be. He managed to hit the button before he was torn limb from limb. Maddy was there to catch him but he ignored her questions, drew his blasters, set them to 10 and jumped back. He changed nothing, left the coordinates exactly the same.

He landed in an icy cold ocean. The heavy leathers made it hard to stay afloat but he circled, looking for land or a ship or some signs of life. There was nothing. Some tiny little wobble, some spec of space dust or some other unknowable incident had redirected him. Or maybe this was the correct exit point and the first time had been the anomaly. He let Maddy talk him into going on a month-long vacation when he got back.

They had left the isolation of the asteroid a few other times at her insistence after