Rostoff said, "Look, Mathers, don't be stupid. Remember when we told
you, during that first interview, that we wanted your name in the
corporation, among other reasons, because we could use a man who was
above law? That a maze of ridiculously binding ordinances have been laid
on business down through the centuries?"
"I remember," Don said bitterly.
"Well, it goes both ways. Government today is also bound, very strongly,
and even in great emergency, not to interfere in business. These
complicated laws balance each other, you might say. Our whole legal
system is based upon them. Right now, we've got government right where
we want it. This is free enterprise, Mathers, at its pinnacle. Did you
ever hear of Jim Fisk and his attempt to corner gold in 1869, the
so-called Black Friday affair? Well, Jim Fisk was a peanut peddler
compared to us."
"What's this got to do with the Fleet having insufficient fuel to ..."
Don Mathers stopped as comprehension hit him. "You're holding our
radioactives off the market, pressuring the government for a price rise
which it can't afford."
Demming opened his eyes and said fatly, "For triple the price, Mathers.
Before we're through, we'll corner half the wealth of the system."