Bull sat with Suzanne on the couch in her virtual bungalow. His arm around her shoulder and the drink in his other hand weren’t soothing him nearly as much as he had hoped.
“Lawyers suck,” he muttered. “The world sucks. I came up here to get away from all this happy horse-crap, and here I am stuck neck deep in lawyer horse-crap. This has been going on for, what?, four years now.
“I got the goods on Lester two years ago, but he’s still my lawyer. He’s not my only lawyer, and he doesn’t know nearly as much about my rebuilt fortune as he thinks he does, but he’s still in charge of this Zed lawsuit and he’s still my point of contact with Valence, and I really don’t like that.”
Bull set down his drink, picked up the remote, and replayed Jack Blunt’s most recent message on Suzanne’s TV.
“Bull, it’s delicate. Lester knows so much that removing him is brain surgery. You now know enough to seriously damage his reputation, but he still knows enough to seriously damage your fortune, and Valence will continue his crying all the way to the bank.
“Don’t kid yourself, Bull, Valence’s made a lot of money off you already, and in spite of our best efforts here, he has you just where he wants you: He has the initiative, he can move this forward cheaply, it costs you a lot to respond.
“The weak link is Lester, and I think he’s the one behind last week’s offer. I think he senses personal risk and he senses the easy money is drying up. He’d like to get out of this clean, so we’re at a rare point when Lester’s interests and your interests are actually in line with each other. He screwed you, and he’s ready to leave money on the dresser, if you’ll take it.
“It’s my feeling he pushed Valence to make this offer, and it’s the best we’re going to see for a long time, and if we squeeze Lester harder, he’ll turn on us and hurt us more.
“So, is this a question of making your enemies pay, or getting out with minimal damage? Your call, Bull.”
The TV screen faded to black.
Suzanne twirled her fingers through Bull’s hair. “Sounds like a weighty problem. Should I stop distracting you?”
“Hardly, my dear.” He ran his hand up and down her thigh. “I’ve seen this before. I’m just watching it one more time before I send back my choice.”
“And that is?”
Bull sighed. “The future is always more important than the past. These greedy, small-minded people can carve up my past. I’ll save my future.
“I’m bitter that I can’t have both. I’m bitter that my society has betrayed me by letting this happen.”
He looked deep into Suzanne’s eyes, loving that he could do so. Still, he couldn’t help wondering why it couldn’t be a real person whose eyes he was looking into.
“But I can live through that bitterness as long as I have my future. I’ll settle.”
He kissed her a long kiss and they moved to the bedroom.
“Excuse me Bull, I have it,” came Honey’s voice. She knew where Bull was in VR, so this must be important.
“Have what, Honey?”
“The Honeycomb Comet.”
“What? I’ll be on the bridge.”
Before he left her, Bull kissed Suzanne and said, “I’ll tell you all about it next time I see you.”
* * *
Bull read the screens. There was a very big object a long way off, larger than Ceres, perhaps as large as Pluto or Eris.
“It’s big, Honey, big enough to name, but why are you sure it’s the Honeycomb?”
“Look at the density. It’s too far and too early to get a good calculation, but its probable range is dropping quickly the more observations I make.”
“And you said you computers weren’t all that good at recognizing patterns.” Bull grinned. The future was definitely worth saving now!