Harry Turtledove The Best Alternate History Stories Of The

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. It isn t even listed
on my schedule or maps. I doubt if the Corporation s actually the trader, more
the middleman in the deal. But they sure as hell don t make their millions off
fares alone.
It was odd the way I was accepting it. Somehow, it seemed to make sense, crazy
as it was.
What s to keep me from using this knowledge somehow? I asked him. Maybe
bring my own team of experts up?
Feel free, McNeil answered. Unless they overlap they ll get a nice, normal
ferry ride. And if you can make a profit, go ahead, as long as it doesn t
interfere with Bluewater s cash flow. The
Orcas
cost the company over twenty-four million reals and they want it back.
Twenty-four million what
? I shot back.
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Reals,
he replied, taking a bill from his wallet. I looked at it. It was printed in
red, and had a picture of someone very ugly labeled Prince Juan XVI and an
official seal from the Bank of
New Lisboa. I handed it back.
What country are we in? I asked uneasily.
Portugal, he replied casually. Portuguese America, actually, although only
nominally. So many of us Yankees have come in you don t even have to speak
Portuguese any more. They even print the local bills in Anglish, now.
Yes, that s what he said. Anglish.
It s the best ferryboat job in the world, though, McNeil continued. For
someone without ties, that is. You ll meet more different kinds of people from
more cultures than you can ever imagine.
Three runs on, three off in as many as twenty-four different variations of
these towns, all unique.
And a month off in winter to see a little of a different world each time.
Never mind whether you buy the explanation you ve seen the results, you know
what I say is true. Want the job?
I ll give it a try, I told him, fascinated. I wasn t sure if I
did buy the explanation, but I certainly had something strange and fascinating
here.
Okay, there s twenty reals advance, McNeil said, handing me a purple bill
from the cash box.
Get some dinner if you didn t eat on the ship and get a good night s sleep at
the motel the
Company owns it so there s no charge and be ready to go aboard at four
tomorrow afternoon.
I got up to leave.
Oh, and Mr. Dalton, he added, and I turned to face him.
Yes?
If, while on shore, you fall for a pretty lass, decide to settle down, then
do it
but don t go back on that ship again!
Quit. If you don t she s going to be greeted by a stranger, and you might
never find her again.
I ll remember, I assured him.
THE JOB WAS EVERYTHINGMcNeil promised and more. The scenery was spectacular,
the people an ever-changing, fascinating group. Even the crew changed
slightly a little shorter sometimes, a little fatter or thinner, beards and
mustaches came and went with astonishing rapidity, and accents varied
enormously. It didn t matter; you soon adjusted to it as a matter of course,
and all shipboard experiences were in common, anyway.
It was like a tight family after a while, really. And there were women in the
crew, too, ranging from their twenties to their early fifties, not only in
food and bar service but as deckhands and the like as well. Occasionally this
was a little unsettling, since, in two or three cases out of 116, they were
men in one world, women in another. You got used to even that. It was probably
more unsettling for them; they were distinct people, and they didn t change
sex. The personalities and personal histories tended to parallel, regardless,
though, with only a few minor differences.
And the passengers! Some were really amazing. Even seasons were different for
some of them, which explained the clothing variations. Certainly what
constituted fashion and moral behavior was wildly different, as different as
what they ate and the places they came from.
And yet, oddly, people were people. They laughed, and cried, and ate and drank
and told jokes
some rather strange, I ll admit and snapped pictures and all the other things
people did. They came from places where the Vikings settled Nova Scotia
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(called Vinland, naturally), where Nova
Scotia was French, or Spanish, or Portuguese, or very, very English. Even one
in which Nova
Scotia had been settled by Lord Baltimore and called Avalon.
Maine was as wild or wilder. There were two Indian nations running it, the
U.S., Canada, Britain, France, Portugal, and lots of variations, some of which
I never have gotten straight. There was also a temporal difference [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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