Descending Road - THE UNFAILING MEDIUM OF EXCHANGE by Dana W. Paxson

THE UNFAILING MEDIUM OF EXCHANGE

1563 4D

Jeddin sat in the near-empty dining room alone, playing with the stem of one of Grendel‘s leftover peppers. The cipher had been trivial, but the message was intriguing. Actinide monopoles — the actinides always signaled the ore deposits the aliens coveted.

A shadow played at the edges of Jeddin‘s memory. There was something urgent, something terrible, about the shadow; it was as if he was in a dark room and the darkness became a man who seized him, and… he shuddered. He would have to remember.

This message led him on. Maybe a visit to Doctor Norgrist would clarify things. A little dark makeup, a proper costume, and Jeddin would take a bold gamble.

The corps and the regionals guarded the university campuses tightly. Knowledge, especially the knowledge the Colonists had brought from Earth millenia ago, functioned as the unfailing medium of exchange; the corporations hoarded it and dispensed it grudgingly at great price. Unauthorized use of the great base of organized information kept in the scattered universities brought down imprisonment and mine service on the offender. Andros never gained authorization.

Jeddin smiled, tossed the pepper stem into his empty ale tank, and stood. Campus security was about to be tested.

Story List	SURPRISE ME	Author Page
USER SURVEY	PUZZLE ME	MAKE ELM MARK

HOVER Lucida Bright BARE	HOVER Lucida Bright FULL	HOVER Palatino Linotype BARE
HOVER Palatino Linotype FULL	HOVER Times New Roman BARE	HOVER Times New Roman FULL
PAD Arial BARE	PAD Arial FULL	PAD Lucida Bright BARE
PAD Lucida Bright FULL	PAD Times New Roman BARE	PAD Times New Roman FULL


	THE UNFAILING MEDIUM OF EXCHANGE 1563 4D Jeddin sat in the near-empty dining room alone, playing with the stem of one of Grendel‘s leftover peppers. The cipher had been trivial, but the message was intriguing. Actinide monopoles — the actinides always signaled the ore deposits the aliens coveted. A shadow played at the edges of Jeddin‘s memory. There was something urgent, something terrible, about the shadow; it was as if he was in a dark room and the darkness became a man who seized him, and… he shuddered. He would have to remember. This message led him on. Maybe a visit to Doctor Norgrist would clarify things. A little dark makeup, a proper costume, and Jeddin would take a bold gamble. The corps and the regionals guarded the university campuses tightly. Knowledge, especially the knowledge the Colonists had brought from Earth millenia ago, functioned as the unfailing medium of exchange; the corporations hoarded it and dispensed it grudgingly at great price. Unauthorized use of the great base of organized information kept in the scattered universities brought down imprisonment and mine service on the offender. Andros never gained authorization. Jeddin smiled, tossed the pepper stem into his empty ale tank, and stood. Campus security was about to be tested.