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As Dol worked at the computer, she said, "You are probably right
about the relative values of things, but one must be alive to enjoy
money properly. Actually, Bronki wouldn't mind if I stole everything
here. She has everything insured for at least twice its market value. If it
was stolen, she would make a profit, and Bronki likes making a profit.
"The insurance company, however, doesn't like to lose money. Kren,
they hire teams of bounty hunters who are more ruthless than you can
possibly imagine. I would prefer death at the stake to having those
killers after me. If you are thinking of stealing anything, don't do it. Or if
you absolutely must do it, please tell me first so that I can report you to
the bounty hunters, so as not to make them angry, and then kill myself
before they get here, just in case they get angry anyway.
"There, that should do it. Step outside and try the lock with your card."
As they left, Kren said, "Where to next?"
"A clothing store, Leko's. Bronki insisted that I take you to the same
store that she always uses, so as to be sure that you get the highest
quality."
"Well, she got me the clothing allowance. I suppose that she has the
right to tell me where to spend it. There's another thing that I wanted to
ask about. We didn't have anything like that javelin in the military.
When I threw it, it seemed like it was defying the laws of physics! It
went straight and level for the longest time!"
"You came to the right person to ask that question," she said. "It
happens that I did a paper on those things last semester for my
aerodynamics class. The javelin is balanced with the center of gravity
slightly behind the center of area. When it reaches the top of its flight,
and is traveling slower, the tail falls slightly below the point. This gives
the whole javelin some aerodynamic lift, and the flight curve flattens out.
As it continues to slow down, the tail falls more, giving a higher angle of
attack to compensate for the lower speed. The result is that they can fly
twice as far as an ordinary spear."
"That is interesting. With the spear, all of the weight is at the point, and
the shaft just keeps the point facing toward the enemy. Then why hasn't
the military adopted the javelin as a weapon?"
"Because the javelin trades kinetic energy for distance. When one of
those javelins touches down, it hits tail first, and it isn't going fast
enough to hurt a pollywog. You can safely catch one in your hand!"
"Then if it can't hurt anyone, what good is it?" Kren asked.
"As a military weapon, it's worthless. As a piece of sporting equipment
in a game where you are trying to see who can throw something the
farthest, it's the difference between winning and coming in last!"
"I see. So you are studying aerodynamics?"
"Engineering. I may specialize in aerodynamics later, in graduate school.
I thought you knew, since I wear engineering colors."
"I am not versed in the fine points in academic garb."
"I'll give you a book on the subject when we get back home, but for
now, I wear the maroon with lime green piping of an engineer. The
purplish-red belt is that of a junior undergraduate. We will be buying
you the crimson robe with black piping of the business college, and you
will wear the white belt of a freshman."
"What does Bronki's colorful clothing tell you?"
"Bronki has so many degrees, and is affiliated with so many academic
organizations that she may wear pretty much whatever pleases her.
That rainbow belt of hers is granted when one has earned a dozen
doctrates in as many different diverse fields."
"And the little tassels around her shoulders?"
"One for every earned doctorate. She has a dozen and ten of them.
Here's the clothing store."
In one respect, a Mitchegai clothing store has it easy by Earthly
standards. All Mitchegai are exactly the same height, and their girth
varies only with differences in musculature, and how long it has been
since their last meal. The voluminous robes which they wore were
rather similar to those worn by medieval Japanese samurai, and they
handled the girth problem.
On the other hand, there are four dozen and nine different academic
uniforms worn at the university, and each is available in six different
degrees of price and quality. In addition, each of those comes in
summer, winter, and spring and fall weights.
When they entered the store, Dol immediately announced that they
were here at the request of Bronki. The clerk at the front desk instantly
pressed a buzzer, calling Leko herself to the front. A
distinguished-looking tailor came quickly out to greet them.
"Friends of Bronki's? But of course! I will handle all of your needs
personally! What would be your requirements?"
"Kren here needs a complete kit for a freshman at the College of
Business."
"Excellent! We can satisfy his every need. Come this way, please."
She took them to a special room at the back of the store, which
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