Aino stopped at a traffic light. The cobbled crosswalk filled with a pedestrianmass of sweating, sun-dazed Finns.
"Anyway, after I developed that teen market, I found this other thing. Thesecute little animals. 'Froofies.' Major hit in Japan. Froofy velcro shoes, Froofycandy, sodas, backpacks, badges, lunchkits ... Froofies are what they call'kawai.'"
Aino drove on. They passed a bronze Finnish general on horseback. He had been adefeated general, but he looked like defeating him again would be far moretrouble than it was worth. "What's kawai?"
Starlitz robbed his stubbled chin. "'Cute' doesn't get it across. Maybe'adorable.' Big-money-making adorable. The kicker is that Froofies come fromFinland."
"I'm a Finn. I don't know anything called Froofies."
"They're kids' books. This little old Finnish lady wrote them. On her kitchentable. Illustrated kid-stories from the Forties and Fifties. Of course latelythey've been made into manga and anime and Nintendo cassettes and a whole bunchof other stuff... . "
Aino's brows rose. "Do you mean Fluuvins? Little blue animals with heads likebig fat pillows?"
"Oh, you know them, then."
"My mother read me Fluuvins! Why would Japanese want Fluuvins?"
"Well, the scam was -- this old lady, she lives on this secluded island. Middleof the Baltic. Complete ass-end of nowhere. Old girl never married. No manager.No agent. Obviously not getting a dime off all this major Japanese action.Probably senile. So the plan is -- I fly over to Finland. To these islands. Hunther down. Cut a deal with her. Get her signature. Then, we sue."
"I don't understand you."
"She lives in the Aland Islands. Those islands are crucial to your people, and