A Telephone Call

Poul Anderson, The Byworlder, III.

I used to have to use public telephone kiosks a lot. Now they are fewer because of mobile phones. At home, we call from mobiles but keep the land line for Internet connection.

Skip visits a tavern and uses a public phone. Knowing that the No Funds bulb would light if he used his credit card, he borrows the proprietor's after showing cash. The phone has a screen and a recorded image of a young woman says, "'Data service. May we help you?'" (p. 26) Skip avoids contacting a more expensive live operator by typing essential search words. He memorizes the answer rather than pay for a printout.

His question was: "What Keeper caravans are where?" (p. 27) Answers:

Morgan's is in Connecticut on an erosion contract;
the Friends of Earth are reforesting in Wisconsin;
the Terrans and others are on an Environment Authority rescue mission in Egypt;
Commonweal are controlling a flood in Alabama;
etc.

We are learning a lot about the state of the planet and about how Skip earns his living.