First Contract

The market is a harsh mistress. Lots of folks discovered that in 1929 when the Depression began and many financiers jumped out of windows or blew their brains out rather than face poverty.
When the aliens landed, it was worse. Earth just couldn't compete. Who would buy a Mercedes when they could get a flying car that goes from zero to speed of sound in less than sixty seconds? Who wants a Pentium III when the same bucks buy a friendly, funny artificial intelligence with the processing power of a million super computers?
Unemployment soon hit 50 percent, and the Dow Jones slipped from tens of thousands to less than one hundred. It was the greatest business bust since the fall of the Roman Empire.
But Johnson Mukerjii wasn't quite ready to end it all, even without his company, his Jag, his mansion, and his expensive (and treacherous) wife. But things got pretty bad before Mukerjii figured a way out: If you can't beat the aliens at your old game, you have to figure out what they will buy from you.