Using his power of staying awake (he had the Navy to thank for this one), Grey Eagle hovered around outside Aryun's house the rest of the night, in case there might be cowardly reprisals against the man who had assisted him in exposing Brenda's treacherous masquerade.
But the reprisal--or rather, the evil which had already been in the works _before_ the superhero and the curry cook exposed Brenda--took a bigger form.
When Copperfox and Aryun approached the vegetarian restaurant the next morning, it was to find a working crew--not one of whom spoke a word of English--installing a new sign atop the roof. It said:
THE PEOPLE'S OCTOPUS COLLECTIVE
Jessica Weaselviper, Manager
"Is this--HER work, boss?" Aryun marvelled.
"The work of her backers," replied Copperfox; "and I'll bet she IS this 'Jessica Weaselviper." He then confronted the nearest of the workers, and said, "Kelo versus The City Of New London, Supreme Court?" The man clearly understood _those_ words in English, and nodded. But Aryun didn't understand, so Copperfox told him:
"A few years ago, the Change Party majority on the Supreme Court, in the case by that name, ruled in favor of a radical expansion of the 'eminent domain' concept. Under that ruling, governments can simply _take_ private property away from a citizen and give it to someone else who may generate more tax revenue FOR the governments."
Aryun went wide-eyed. "But can't you fight it, Mr. Ravitts?"
"No, I can't," replied Copperfox matter-of-factly. "Brenda told one piece of truth last night: her gang _does_ own the courts now. Have you followed the news of the federal appeals courts in recent years? They reflexively side with whoever is in the WRONG."
"So what do I do now, Mr. Ravitts? Because in the unlikely event that they _want_ me to continue cooking under the new management, I'll refuse."
Copperfox released a sigh. "They'll have to pay me some token compensation. That, my friend, will be yours. I don't need it, since I'm out of the restaurant business."
"But won't you try starting a new restaurant?"
"No. The fix is in. Remember the stink that was made about my not being able to afford comprehensive health insurance for all of you? They'll jump on me over the same issue if I try to start again."
"So what _will_ you do?"
Suddenly, out of the empty air, dramatic music began to play: the vengeful-sounding title theme, composed by Alfred Newman, from an old Western movie titled "The Bravados," which had starred Gregory Peck. "The Grey Eagle will find some way to 'thank' them appropriately for this. But first we have to make the best arrangements possible for the needs of your family. I don't want you to suffer for having helped me."
"But won't it help your case to have exposed Brenda, or Jessica or whoever she is?"
"Only against the harassment charge," replied Copperfox. "What you're seeing here is the _system_ at work: something nastier and bigger than all the 'evil oil companies' and 'evil pharmaceutical companies' they pretend to be so afraid of. But I'll come up with _something_ to let them know they can't have it all their own way."
