Chapter 2 Chapter 2 An Unexpected Harvest

After 5 minutes and 30 seconds, Holloway turned on the contact line on the information panel, audio only. "I guess you're going to tell me my contract is void," he said to Byrne. "Totally void," Bourne said. "I'm entering security removal orders right now. Stay where you are, and someone will come and bring you back in about an hour. They'll take you right there, pack light." " "Is there any chance of convincing you to change your mind?" Holloway asked. "None," Bourne said. "I've got half a dozen contractors to manage, Jack. Six dozen! None of them as hard as you. I'm going to have a better day without you."

"Are you sure you're seeing everything you need to see in the satellite imagery?" Holloway said. "Satellite imagery down to the centimeter, Jack," Bourne said. "Live imagery. I'm looking at the cliff face you just blasted, and you and your dog are sitting on a ledge not long ago That's still the protrusion on the inside of the cliff. Say hello to Karl for me." Holloway turned to Carl. "Chad says hello." Carl blinked and lay down to rest. "Carl's a good dog," Byrne said, "it's a pity to be your dog." "That's been said before," Holloway said. "Chad, since satellites are accurate to the centimeter, you should really look at my hand."

"You're giving me the middle finger," Bourne said after a second. "Great. Have you always been 12, or is there something new?" "Glad you noticed, but not that hand," Holloway said. "The other." After a moment of silence, "Shit!" Bourne said. "No," said Holloway, "it's the Sunstone." "Shit!" Bourne said again. "It's not small," Holloway said. "This one is about the size of a baby's fist as the saying goes, and there are three more rocks that size on the ledge I'm sitting on. I get them out of the crack, and I It's like picking apples from a tree. This is the original jellyfish burial place, my friend."

"Information panel," Bourne said, "switch to high-res graphics. Now." Holloway smiled, and picked up his information panel. Zara 23 is in many ways an unremarkable Class III planet: about the size and mass of Earth, orbiting its star.This makes the existence of liquid water on the planet possible, and it also makes the existence of living things on the planet inevitable.It has no intelligent life.But most Type III planets don’t have either, otherwise they should be counted as Type IIIa planets, so the Zara Group’s exploration and mining agreement will not be used, and the resources of the planet will be entrusted to the intelligent creatures on the planet.However, because the creatures on Zara 23 do not have a forebrain (or the equivalent of a forebrain), the Zara Group can freely explore and develop on this planet, collect metal minerals, and drill deep to extract oil—human The world's oil has long been used up by them.

Zara 23 is also a bit unusual, making it special among all the Zara Corporation mining planets.The seawater on Zara 23 is rich in minerals. More than a million years ago, a large creature similar in appearance to jellyfish lived in the ocean of the planet, feeding on algae and plankton.When these jellyfish die, their fragile remains sink to the deep, oxygen-starved ocean, where they can stretch for kilometers on the sea floor.The silt covered the remains, and over a long period of time, the jellyfish became another substance under the action of seawater gravity and pressure. They become sunstones.An opal-like stone, but unlike opal that refracts sunlight and emits a faint glow, sunstone absorbs heat and emits light.The wearer's body heat allows it to glow from within.Not the blinding glow of a glow stick on the dance floor or a color-changing ring for kids, but an elegant, deep white that softens skin tones and adds radiance to the wearer.Because everyone's body temperature is slightly different, even the same sunstone emits different light on different people.This gem can be described as personalized to the extreme.

The Zara Group discovered the stones while prospecting for a planned coal seam, and had a hunch that the stones tumbling in the hopper were worth more than the coal.Since then, the group has followed the teachings of the diamond giants in the past and positioned the sunstone as the rarest and rarest gemstone in existence: it only exists on one planet, its mining is strictly regulated, and it is a matter of course to ask for high prices.The sunstone in Holloway's hand was worth about nine months of his income, and after it was cut and shaped, it cost more than his three-year salary as a contract surveyor.

Good thing he wasn't a contract surveyor anymore. "My God!" Staring at the Sun Stone through the surveillance camera on the information panel, Bourne exclaimed, "That thing is as big as it is!" "Of course," said Holloway, "with this gem and a few more sunstones from this seam, I can retire. I think I can really quit, these treasures and this rock formation It's all mine." "What?" Bourne shouted, "Jack, are you a fool to stay out in the sun? You don't own anything here." "Of course I do," Holloway said. "You cut my contract, remember? Now I'm an independent surveyor, not a contract surveyor, and I own all the seams I find. Mining, and everything that is mined belongs to me. This is the most basic case law of colony exploration and development. In detail, 'Bortes v. Waylon Co.'."

"Oh, come on, Jack," Bourne said, "You know the Zara Group doesn't allow independent surveyors to land on colonies." "I wasn't an independent surveyor when I landed," said Holloway, "you just made me an independent surveyor." "Taking a step back, the Zara Group owns the entire planet." Bourne proposed again. "No," Jack said, "With the approval of the Colonial Star Administration, the Zara Group has the exclusive right to survey and mine the planet. In fact, the Zara Group operates this planet. Legally, this is the territory of the Colonial Star Administration."

"Don't you understand what the word exclusive means?" Byrne said, "Exclusive survey and mining rights mean that only the Zara Group is allowed to survey and mine." "No," said Holloway, "that just means that the Zara Group is the only corporate entity that can operate on this planet. As long as it follows the CEPA guidelines and guarantees that the corporate entities with mining and exploration rights have preemptive purchase of their income Independent individuals have the right to survey and mine any Class III planet.'Baquette v. Zara Group.'”

"These so-called cases are all nonsense on your part, Jack," said Byrne. "They're all true, all right," Holloway said. "Look it up yourself. I was a lawyer, you know." Bourne snorted disdainfully, which could be clearly heard from the information panel. "Yeah, you've been disqualified as a lawyer." He answered. "It's not because I don't know the law," Holloway said.All that said, it's true. "It doesn't matter anyway, you were working for the Zara Group when you surveyed the formation," Byrne said. The proceeds are ours too."

"If I'm using Zara Group equipment, it's okay to go to Zara," said Holloway, "but the truth is, I'm using my own stuff, which I bought under the terms of that contract you deleted. , the money I gave. Since I'm using my own equipment, once you fire me, it's legally mine. 'Levinson v. Hildebrand.'" "Nonsense," Bourne said. "Look it up yourself," Holloway said.In fact, he secretly hoped that Bourne would not investigate—the first two cases he mentioned were true, but "Levenson v. Hildebrand" was his current invention.He's about to be kicked off the planet anyway.There's no harm in trying. "I'm definitely going to look it up," Byrne said. "Trust me." "Okay," said Holloway, "check it out. I'm going to get through the rock formation while you're doing it. I'm going to be too late when your stupid security guards get here and try to pull me off my rock formation." Glad. Because then I can sue them, sue you, Zara Group, just like 'Green v Winston'." Even if Holloway couldn't see it, he knew Bourne was frozen in his chair. "Green v. Winston" was a provocation at the Zara Group, among other things, and the final ruling sent Weedon Aubrey - the former chairman and CEO of the Zara Group - to San Quentin Spent seven years in prison. "Green's case is overturned, you fool," Bourne interrupted him quickly. "No," Holloway said, "Green cannot be invoked in the limited exceptions to the Mierweiler v. Martin ruling, and we're not talking about exceptions here." "No wonder it doesn't belong," Bourne said. "Well, I guess we'll have to try it out," Holloway said, "but it's going to be a couple of years of going back and forth with the Zara Group. We're not forgetting the last time, are we?" .And, by the way, I taped our little conversation. Just in case you're out of your mind and want Dries and his dumb security entourage to find me and push me off a cliff." "You think I'm going to play tricks? The heart of a villain." Byrne said. "Don't play tricks, Chad," said Holloway, "but watch your boat." Byrne sighed. "Well, Jack," he said, "you won. Your contract is back. Happy?" "Not happy at all," Holloway said. "Since you deleted the old contract, I have the right to renegotiate a new contract." "Sign you a standard contract, just like anyone else," Byrne said. "You talk like I'm not standing on the edge of a billion-dollar sun quarry, Chad," Holloway said. "My quarry." "I hate you," Byrne said. "Don't blame me," Holloway said, "you canceled my contract. My request is very simple. First, I cannot be fined for this collapse. It was an accident. I believe you will understand after checking the data. this point." "All right," Byrne said, "deal." "I want 1% of the proceeds as a finder's bounty," Holloway said. Bourne swore.Holloway was asking for four times the standard finder's bonus. "No way," Byrne said, "no way. If I even thought about granting it, they'd let me go." "It's just 1 percent," Holloway said. "You blow up a cliff and you want 10 million credits," Byrne said. "Maybe more than ten million," Holloway said. "I can see six more Sunstones on the bed as I sit here." "No," Byrne said, "don't even think about it. I can only approve . The ends of the earth will also catch you, personally kill you, and then steal your dog." "That's too low-level, stealing someone's dog," Holloway said. "0.4 percent," Byrne said, "no more." "Deal," Holloway said, "write it down and add it as an attachment to the contract that you deleted. You are stupid to delete the contract. Let's not argue about it. If it is an attachment, I don't have to fly there The town of Aubrey signed it." "It's finished." Byrne said, "Send it now." The mail icon on Holloway's message panel popped up. He picked up the message panel, scanned the attachment, and signed it with the security verification tool. "It's been a pleasure talking to you about business, Chad," Holloway said, putting down the board. "I want you to be burned, Jack," Bourne said. "Does that mean you're not going to take me to Ruby's for steak?" Holloway asked, but Byrne had already cut the cord. Holloway smiled, holding up the Sunstone to the sunlight.Even if it is not cut, the dust cannot hide its beauty.Holloway had been holding it in his hand for quite a long time, his body heat had penetrated into the center of the gemstone, like a piece of amber caught a bolt of lightning, and flocculent rays of light radiated out. "You come with me," Holloway said to the Sunstone.The other Stone Zara Group can and will take them all.But the Sunstone just made him rich.Indeed, this is a lucky stone.He wanted to give it to someone as an apology. Holloway stood up and pocketed the Sunstone.He looked down at Carl, who was still lying on the edge of the cliff, and Carl raised his eyebrows at him. "Okay," said Holloway, "we've done enough damage here today. Go home."

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