Чужак в чужой стране

           Furthermore,hehastheweightofevidenceonhisside;hehasbeenthere.Ihaven’t."

           "Mmm,Jubal,I’llconfesstoasneakingsuspicionthatimmortalityisafact–butI’mgladthatmygrandfather’sghostdoesn’tcontinuetoexerciseanycontroloverme.Hewasacrankyolddevil."

           "Andsowasmine.AndsoamI.Butisthereanyreallygoodreasonwhyacitizen’sfranchiseshouldbevoidedsimplybecausehehappenstobedead?Cometothinkofit,theprecinctIwasraisedinhadaverylargegraveyardvote–almostMartian.Yetthetownwasapleasantonetolivein.Asmaybe,ourladMikecan’townanythingbecausethe‘OldOnes’alreadyowneverything.SoyouseewhyIhavehadtroubleexplainingtohimthatheownsoveramillionsharesofLunarEnterprises,plustheLyleDrive,plusassortedchattelsandsecurities?Itdoesn’thelpthattheoriginalownersaredead;thatmakesitworse,theyare‘OldOnes’–andMikewouldn’tdreamofstickinghisnoseintothebusinessof‘OldOnes.’"

           "Uh?damnit,he’sobviouslylegallyincompetent."

           "Ofcourseheis.Hecan’tmanagepropertybecausehedoesn’tbelieveinitsmystique–anymorethanIbelieveinhisghosts.Ben,allthatMikeownsatthepresenttimeisatoothbrushIgavehim–andhedoesn’tknowheownsthat.Ifyoutookitawayfromhim,hewouldn’tobject,hewouldn’tevenmentionittome–hewouldsimplyassumeconclusivelythatthe‘OldOnes’hadauthorizedthechange."

           Jubalsighed.