Eksar paid me with six fifties, four twenties and a ten, all new-looking bills from that thick roll in his pants pocket.

I thought about the fifties still on the roll, and I felt the spit start to ball up in my mouth.

“Okay,” I said. “Now what?”

“You still selling?”

“For the right price, sure. You name it.”

“There’s lots of stuff I could use,” he sighed. “But do I need it right now? That’s what I have to ask myself.”

“Right now is when you’ve got a chance to buy it. Later—who knows? I may not be around, there may be other guys bidding against you, all kinds of things can happen.” I waited a while, but he just kept scowling and coughing. “How about Australia?” I suggested. “Could you use Australia for, say, five hundred bucks? Or Antarctica? I could give you a real nice deal on Antarctica.”

He looked interested. “Antarctica? What would you want for it? No—I’m not getting anywhere. A little piece here, a little piece there. It all costs so much.”

“You’re getting damn favorable prices, buddy, and you know it. You couldn’t do better buying at wholesale.”

“Then how about wholesale? How much for the whole thing?”

I shook my head. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. What whole thing?”

He looked impatient. “The whole thing. The world. Earth.”

“Hey,” I said. “That’s a lot.”

“Well, I’m tired of buying a piece at a time. Will you give me a wholesale price if I buy it all?”

I shook my head, kind of in and out, not yes, not no. Money was coming up, the big money. This was where I was supposed to laugh in his face and walk away. I didn’t even crack a smile. “For the whole planet—sure, you’re entitled to a wholesale price. But what is it, I mean, exactly what do you want to buy?”

“Earth,” he said, moving close to me so that I could smell his stinking breath. “I want to buy Earth. Lock, stock and barrel.”