Read Online Investments by Walter Jon Williams - Free Book Online Page A

dropped into the sea in unmanned containers braked with retro-rockets, then towed to shore by workers in boats. The huge resinous containers, opened, also served as temporary shelters and warehouses.
    Once the skyhook could bring people and cargo from orbit at much less expense, the shuttles were largely discontinued, though Port Gareth, in the north and as yet unconnected to the expanding rail network, was still supplied by shuttles and containers dropped down from orbit.
    A bare three years after the opening of the planet to exploitation, the Chee settlements were growing with incredible speed, fueled by even more incredible amounts of capital. The investment was vast, and as the work had only begun the inflow of capital would have to continue. Lord Mukerji’s work in attracting ceaseless investment was vital, as was the work of many lesser envoys; and of course the work of Lord Martinez himself, raising funds from his own considerable resources.
    The resources of a whole planet were more than enough to repay any investment over time, but the scale of the payouts ran in years, and mismanagement and theft were still dangers to the Chee Company. If investor confidence were lost the company could go bankrupt whether it owned a planet or not . . .
    “I’d like to see a fleet of boats on that quay,” Martinez said.
    “So would I,” the manager said. “The business would be a lot better.” He grinned. “And after all the trouble building that quay, I’d like to see it in use.”
    “Trouble?” Martinez asked.
    “They shipped down the wrong king of cement for that pier,” the manager said. “They need De-loq cement, that sets underwater and is immune to salt-water corrosion. But they sent down the ordinary stuff, and a special shipment had to be made from Laredo.”
    “What did they do with the other cement?” Martinez asked.
    “Condemned,” the manager said. “They couldn’t use it. Ah— here’s your breakfast.”
    Martinez’ breakfast arrived, a grilled fish needle-sharp teeth, a pair of eyes on each end, and with plates of armor expertly peeled back from the flesh. Martinez’ eyes rose from the fish to Port Vipsania, to the rows of white concrete apartments that held the Meridian Company’s workers.
    “Pity they couldn’t find a use for it,” he said.
    *
    Martinez found that he couldn’t resist the lure of the town his father had named after him. After ten days on Chee, Martinez escaped the endless round of formal banquets and receptions by taking a Fleet coleopter to Port Gareth, north in the temperate zone.
    The coleopter carried him over land that was uniform— while the oceans thronged with a staggering variety of fish, life on land was primitive and confined to a few basic types: the only fauna were worms and millipedes, and plants were confined to molds, fungus, and a wide variety of fern, some as tall as a two-storey building.
    All of which were going to face stiff competition, as alien plants and animals were being in introduced in abundance. Herds of portschen, fristigo, sheep, bison, and cattle had been landed and allowed more or less to run wild. Without any predators to cull their numbers, the herds were growing swiftly.
    Vast farms, largely automated, had also been set up in the interior, upriver from the settlements, or along the expanding railroads. Because no one yet knew what would grow, the farms were simply planting everything, far more than the population could conceivably need. If things went reasonably well, the planet could become a grain exporter very quickly and start earning a bit of profit for the Chee Corporation.
    Within a couple centuries, it was calculated, the only native plants a person would see would probably be in a museum.
    The coleopter bounded over a range of mountains that kept Port Gareth isolated from the rest of the continent, then dropped over a rich plain that showed rivers of gleaming silver curling amid the green fern forest. The coleopter fell toward a