Cryoburn - Lois McMaster Bujold [49]
Raven and Storrs joined them about halfway through. The vid wound up in a burst of optimistic-yet-tasteful music.
Miles leaned back in his incredibly comfortable conference chair, steepling his fingers. "So, why Komarr? If you wanted to expand off-world, wouldn't Escobar have been closer?"
Wing sat up, looking happy to answer. "We did look into it. But Escobar's own cryonics services are far more mature, and are further shielded from competition by what I can only call highly protectionist regulation. Our analysts concluded that Komarr, despite the extra distance, offered far more scope for growth, which is, after all, where most profits lie. Profits in which we hope Barrayarans like yourself will share, of course. Indeed, Solstice Dome is sharing already-all the work after the design stage was contracted locally."
"I expect," said Miles judiciously, "once everyone on a planet has been sold a cryo-contract, there's no place left to go but outward." He didn't add, Though there's one born every minute, but it was a struggle.
"It's the hazard of a mature market, yes, I'm afraid. Although some interesting work has been done in the past year with commodifying contracts."
"Beg pardon?"
Wing's voice warmed with genuine enthusiasm. "Cryonics contracts have not been historically uniform, having been collected over many years by many institutions, often under different local laws. They yield on wildly varying bases, any of which might have grown or shrunk since the contract was activated. Companies themselves have split, combined, gone bankrupt or been bought out. Formerly, contracts and the responsibility for them have changed hands only along with the institutions holding them. But it was recently realized that a secondary market in individual contracts could provide considerable opportunity, either for profit-taking or to raise operating capital."
Miles felt his brow corrugating. "You're buying and selling the dead?"
"Swapping all those frozen bodies around?" Roic's horrified expression was much less controlled.
"No, no!" said Wing. Storrs seconded his boss with vigorous headshake, No, no, no!
"That would be absurdly wasteful," Wing went on. "The patrons mostly stay right where they are, unless a facility is being upgraded or decommissioned, of course. The patrons are held on a reciprocal accounting basis, company to company. It's only their contracts that are traded." He added piously, "It's hoped that, over time, this will result in a more uniform and fairer contract structure industry-wide."
Miles translated this as, When we've squeezed the sponge dry, we'll stop. Judging by Raven's remarkably blank smile, quite as if he hadn't understood a single word, he was making the exact same construction.
"And, er, will you be applying that model to Komarr?" Miles asked.
"Unfortunately, no. There is no one there to trade with." Although he sighed, Wing did not seem to be especially distressed by this. Miles read that as, We plan to be a monopoly.
"This is all quite stunning," Miles said honestly. "And what do you think of it all, Vorlynkin?" He cast the consul a jovial wink. "Ready to sign up? I suppose it's all old hat to you, though."
"Not . . . really," said Vorlynkin. "Most of my work has dealt with the concerns of the living. I had to expedite returning the