Why Do Birds

CHAPTER 30

Ben Abrams was in his late fifties, a tubby man with a fringe of black hair around his brown dome. He was a successful corporate lawyer, a senior member of the Washington firm of Lowell, Singler and Cartwright, which enjoyed the patronage of Senator Givens as well as a good many lesser lights.

Givens had introduced him to Ed Stone during the congressional hearings, and Abrams, who liked the young man, had formed the habit of visiting him when he was in town. One afternoon they had been talking for a while in Stone's hotel room when Abrams looked at his watch and said, "Well, I've got to be heading back to Arlington-unless you're free for dinner?"

"I won't be here tonight-I promised to be at a meeting of the Friends in New York. "

"The Friends of Ed Stone? Are they the ones who wear suits like yours?"

He looked embarrassed. "Yeah, that was Rong's idea, but I wish they wouldn't."

"Why don't you tell them not to?"

"Well, they're my friends. "

"Nonsense. Say the word, and I'll put a stop to it."

"Well-could you do it without hurting their feelings?"

"I think so, and if I do they'll get over it."

"That reminds me, Rong says they want to form a company and call it Ed Stone Enterprises."

"Absolutely not, unless you get a major cut of it."

"A cut of what?"

"Well, what is the company going to do?"

"I don't know, sell souvenirs, I guess."

"Have they offered you a percentage?"

"Yeah, they said something about it. See, I don't like to tum them down, but I don't care about the money. In fact, I'd rather not make any, because then people might think I'm just in this for the money."

"And you're not?"

"No."

"All right, now, Ed, my advice would be to form a corporation right away, and trademark your name. And then if you want to convey or license some of those rights to another corporation, that's up to you. But you should establish the commercial value of your name, so that if anybody uses it without your permission, you can go to court and stop them, do you see what I mean?"

"Yeah, I guess so, but it seems funny."

"Well, the law is pretty funny. Now as far as the money, you can donate it to charity or to another corporation dedicated to promoting the Cube Project, or something of that kind. But my advice would be to set it up in such a way that you can accumulate a reserve for legal expenses, because you are going to run into these infringement situations."

"I am?"

"No doubt about it."

"Well, could you go ahead and do that for me?"

"Certainly, Ed. I could. I will."

It was one of those times when she had remembered again how to fly, and it was marvelously easy-you just leaned forward out of a window or anywhere, and spread your arms, and soared up into the twilight wind. Past the blowing treetops now, past the dark shapes of birds, or perhaps not birds, but-Now the tall buildings were ahead, and she turned, but the buildings were everywhere. And she was caught by the currents between the buildings that crowded closer and closer until ...

. . . in an exploding ball of fire, and she came upright screaming. Stone came in and grabbed her by the shoulders. "What the hell is the matter?"

"Just a dream. Hold me, please."