Read Online Undersea City by Frederik & Williamson Pohl - Free Book Online

Danthorpe was sitting on the side of it, looking at me with a strange expression.
    “Eden,” he said, “I have to hand it to you.”
    “What are you talking about?”
    He chuckled, but there was a look of respect in his eyes—yes, respect, and something else, too; something I couldn’t quite trace. It was as though he were giving me his grudging admiration for something—but something that, after all, he found a little disappointing. “Talk about the inside drift,” he said, shaking his head. “Boy! You and your uncle have the rest of us capsized.”
    I got up and dressed. “I don’t know what you mean,” I said, and left him to go to the mess hall.
    When I got back, Bob Eskow was there…and, queerly, Danthorpe was looking at him with exactly the same look he had given me!
    I didn’t want to talk in front of Danthorpe, not about the wizened Chinese, not about anything for which I was afraid Bob might not have a good explanation. I only said: “I’m glad you got back.”
    Bob shrugged and met my eyes calmly. “You shouldn’t have worried about me, Jim.”
    “Worry about you! Bob, do you know what would have happened if Lieutenant Tsuya found out you were AWOL?”
    “Hush!” cut in Harley Danthorpe, grinning. “You two sharks ought to watch what you say! Come on, you two. How about letting me in on it?”
    I looked at him, then at Bob. But clearly Bob was as mystified by what Harley was talking about as I.
    “Come on!” he coaxed again. “You, Bob! Why not tell me how you got the inside drift on the quake last night.”
    Bob shrugged. “I made my forecast, that’s all.”
    “Oh, sure! And you hit it right on the nose— that's all! When Lieutenant Tsuya and the rest of us missed it entirely.” Danthorpe squinted at him shrewdly.
    Bob said stubbornly, “I didn’t have any inside drift. I just read the instruments and applied the principles of seismology. I wasn’t certain the quake would happen.”
    “But it happened all right,” Danthorpe nodded. “Oh, yes! You’re a real shark, Eskow!”
    He squinted at me. “And Eden here is another, eh? You know—” he sat back on Bob’s bunk and lowered his voice confidentially—“you know, I was talking to my dad about the quake. Of course, I couldn’t discuss what we were doing here—you know that. But somehow, the—uh—subject of quake forecasting came up.” He winked. “And Dad says that there would be millions in an accurate forecasting system.”
    “Of course!” said Bob earnestly. “But the money’s the least part of it, Harley. Think of the lives! A dependable forecasting system could prevent tragedies like the one at Nansei Shoto Dome.”
    “Sure, sure,” said Harley Danthorpe. “But the money’s what I’m talking about. You know, a smart operator wouldn’t have to wait for a major quake. He could make a killing in a little one—like last night’s.
    “In fact,” he said after a moment, looking at me with that curious expression, “my dad says one trader did.”
    There was a pause.
    Bob broke it. “What are you talking about?” he demanded.
    Danthorpe grinned. “Ask him,” he said, pointing to me. “Ask him about his uncle.”
    I was totally mystified. “My uncle—Stewart Eden, you mean? But I haven’t seen him in a long time. You don’t mean that Uncle Stewart’s here in Krakatoa Dome, do you?”
    Danthorpe shrugged. “I don’t know if he is or not,” he said. “But I know what my father says. Your uncle’s broker was busy in the market yesterday—selling securities short. He knew there would be a market break today! And I guess he knew there would be a quake, to cause it.”
    He stared at me again, with that curious sort of respect in his eyes. “For your uncle,” he said, “it was a million-dollar quake!”
    It took my breath away.
    I knew that my Uncle Stewart had investments in all sorts of enterprises down deep. I knew that he was sometimes wealthy, and sometimes nearly bankrupt—that was the