STARSHIP OF FOOLS - (C) 1986 Jerry Kindall and Rex Crossley

CHAPTER TWENTY

"Be so kind as to turn the matter over in what you are pleased to call
your mind."
                                                     - Richard Bethell

     Xorn, the wealthiest man on Utnapishtim VII, had a personal net
worth was in excess of one hundred thousand Strogs.  (The Strog was
Utnapishtim's basic unit of currency.  One Strog equaled a dead fish
precisely seven inches long; fish that size were scarce on desert
planets like Utnapishtim VII.  The only problem was that old Strogs had
to be taken out of circulation regularly.  For this reason, most
business transactions on Utnapishtim VII were handled with checks or
credit cards.)
     Despite his wealth, Xorn was no rich snob.  He was well-loved by
the young and old of Utnapishtim VII alike, for he had come from a poor
family.  He remembered where he had come from, and was always willing to
use his wealth to solve the planet's problems.
     Xorn's ship (one of only three privately-owned spacecraft on
Utnapishtim VII) streaked through space on a mission of friendship. 
Friendship for someone who had helped him become what he had become. 
Someone with whom he had somehow, against all statistical probability,
become friends.
     Melvin Blunburger, the nerd.

