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. Seated under it at a table was a man twice as
handicapped as I was; his legs ended at his knees. This did not seem to slow him
down; he sold magazines and candy as well as air, advertised both sightseeing
and guide service, and displayed the ubiquitous sign: TRACK ODDS.
Most people breezed back and forth past him without stopping. Bill had
started to do so, when I checked him. "Wups! Wait, Bill."
"Senator, I've got to get some water onto this tree."
"Wait just the same. And stop calling me 'Senator.' Call me 'Doctor'
instead. Dr. Richard Ames."
"Huh?"
"Never mind; just do it. Right now, we've got to bay sax. Didn't you buy
air at Kong?"
Bill had not. He had entered the city pressure helping with Auntie and no
one had asked him to pay.
"Well, you should have paid. Did you notice that Gretchen paid for all of
us at Lucky Dragon? She did. And now we'll pay here, but I'll arrange for longer
than overnight. Wait here."
I stepped up to the table. "Hi there. You're selling air?"
The air vendor glanced up from working a double-crostic, looked me over.
"No charge to you. You paid for air when you bought your ticket."
"Not quite," I said. "I'm a Loonie, cobber, returning home. With a wife and
one dependent. So I need air for three."
"A nice try. But no prize. Look, a citizen's chit won't get you citizens'
prices-they'll still look at you and charge you tourist prices
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