Every Man's Fantasy Ch. 27

"... but I'll put the question to the whole population and we'll decide by the majority."

"Very good," Danielle said. "Then I propose we offer Outworld Ventures a deal where we buy the planet from them (for as little as possible) and employ them to build a new settlement away from the National Park. We'll have full vetting of the settlers and the new settlement will be the basis of future colonisation."

"What will it cost us?" Paul asked.

"We can't say yet exactly how much," Ezra said. "I've roughly outlined some figures, but if this meeting approves the plan, we'll get proper estimates. It might not be feasible."

"The lost settlers were farmers, builders, mechanics and their families," Roger said. "Their role was to build homesteads, roads, farms and factories after the engineers had finished terraforming the planet. Because few electronic devices will work, the new settlers might not have the technology to build the comfortable kind of society they expect."

"We'll help them as much as we can," Gloria said. "Teaching them our survival methods. I know you say it'll be a medieval level of existence, Roger, but for us, that'll be an improvement."

"Very well," Danielle said, summing up. "If Outworld Ventures accepts our proposal, then we will ensure that the women of Samothea can choose how many settlers they want and of what quality, profession and social background. Together, we will be responsible for their vetting. Settlers will be invited to the inhabited continent and we'll employ Outworld Ventures to make the other continents habitable, if possible. If, however, the x-rays remain an insurmountable problem, then we'll establish a pre-industrial civilisation on the inhabited continent alone."

The shareholders found no fault with this plan and authorised Danielle to go ahead with the offer to the settler company.

"I have one last item to discuss. We need a business manager, an experienced executive with proven planning skills. I suggest Andrew Claydon, assuming Outworld Ventures will release him."

"What a good idea," Gloria said. "We all liked Andrew when he came to visit."

"He's a good man," Paul agreed, "but there's a downside. The benefit to Outworld Ventures of selling Samothea to us (besides the money) is putting themselves at arm's length from the planet. If their man in charge of settling the planet is suddenly working for a company opposed to mass immigration, politicians on Earth may suspect a conspiracy."

"We'll just have to see," Danielle said. "I think the benefit of Andrew as our chief executive outweighs the danger of paranoid hostility from Earthside politicians."

The meeting closed with the agreement that Andrew Claydon would be offered the chief executive position in The Samothea Company and that a lower figure would be offered for Samothea, with the sweeteners of most favoured trading partner and (almost) comprehensive service provider for the settler company.

The first positive response was from Andrew Claydon, who agreed in principle. The rest was a matter of hard bargaining.

******

With the help of the Women's Business Initiative putting as much pressure as they could on Outworld Ventures, having been brought back on-board by the prospect (not guaranteed) of a woman-only National Park on Samothea, Outworld Ventures accepted the offer of 4.5 million galactic pounds with a 50-year contract to provide services to the colony of Samothea.

Andrew Claydon's smooth transfer from Outworld Ventures to the Samothea Company was an optimistic harbinger of the smooth transfer of ownership of the planet between the two companies.

So, aged 34 and having achieved notable success as an astrophysical engineer, Doctor Danielle Goldrick bought herself a planet.

7Epilogue: a new candidate

When she was 13, Hana Jeffries, a genius at physics, maths and most other subjects, passed the exceptionally difficult entrance exam for the astrophysics department of the Celetaris Institute for Science with perfect marks. She was the first candidate ever to do so.

Daughter of Mary Weatherall, schoolteacher of Capella Space Station and member of its governing council, and of Arthur Jeffries, the Constable of Capella Space Station, Hana had the official title of 'Saviour of the Space Station' because she and her best friend, Morty Bowman, had alerted the station to the danger of a nuclear fusion unit that was likely to blow up.

Now she was nearly fourteen, it was time for her parents to make good on their promise of a year before to let Hana leave for university. Mary and Arthur were worried for Hana's safety and how she would cope without her family and friends.

The answer came from Hestia Smith, Hana's honorary aunt, who was friends with Doctor Danielle Goldrick, the famous astrophysicist now on Celetaris, a famously crime-free Outworld colony. There had been no serious crimes reported on Celetaris in the last fifty years. None had ever been recorded on the university campus in Arts City.

Hestia gave up her job as an Entertainer on Capella and planned to travel to Celetaris, to seek a new career on a new world. She could mentor Hana, to help her, if the self-possessed girl needed any help.

Mary and Arthur were persuaded but the decision rested with the Science Institute. Hana would be four years younger than almost everyone on her astrophysics course. If she were offered a place, then it would help the family finances if it came with a scholarship, despite Hestia's offer to pay. Mary and Arthur promised Hestia they would accept her offer only if Hana was refused a scholarship.

To apply for the spring intake to the Celetaris Institute for Science, Hana sent in her application form plus a personal statement. It was a video recorded by Morty in which Hana gave a brief tour of the space station and explained who she was and what her ambitions were. She showed the star charts for the 18 constellations of the zodiac that she and Morty invented when they were aged nine. She showed the flower display in the park, which Morty designed and she planted.

For a sample of her scientific studies, Hestia thought Hana should send an account of the fusion reactor, whose fault Hana and Morty diagnosed; but that was old news for Hana, who was more interested in fundamental concepts of physics, including the outstanding problems of cosmology that she knew Professor Jakovs was pursuing. She sent in a paper on the unifications of physical forces, ending with the problem of reconciling hyperspace with quantum gravitation.

Hestia persuaded Hana to let her send the paper to Danielle, who quickly replied, saying:

"I love Hana's paper."

"Good," said Hestia. "Will you accept her as a student, or is she too young?"

"She's fully capable academically. It's her ability to cope emotionally and socially that we need to decide. She might be too young because there'll be no one else her age, nor any family or friends to accompany her."

"I'll be there."

"You will? You're coming to Celetaris?"

"Yes. You know I said I wanted a change of life and a new job? I'd like to be active in the Samothea Company, if there's a role for me."

"I'm sure we can find a role for you. I'll talk to Professor Jakovs about Hana."

"Thanks, Dearie. I knew I could count on you."

******

Hendrik Jakovs was familiar with Hana's impressive exam score and her application to the Institute. After he watched her presentation and read her physics paper, he summoned Danielle to his office.

"Doctor Goldrick," he said, "you can help me with my decision regarding Hana Jeffries. You went to university two years early, didn't you?"

"I passed the Cambridge University entrance exam two years early but my mother persuaded me to postpone for a year; so I did a foundation course in engineering instead of the first year of mathematical physics. On the basis of that, Cambridge allowed me to do triple science: maths, physics and astrophysical engineering."

"Do you recommend the same procedure for Miss Jeffries?"

"No. I was bright but she's off the charts. I think she'll cope with coming to university four years early, especially here, which (for some reason) is a particularly nurturing environment for young women."

"But so many of these child geniuses don't fulfil their potential, especially the girls. They burn out before they achieve anything. Many of them end up as teachers or worse."

"That's true."

"There was a ten-year-old math genius who came to Oxford when I was there," Hendrik recalled, somewhat wistfully. "She was a true phenomenon. What greatness did she achieve? Nothing. She ended up working with an advocacy group, lobbying busybody politicians for some made-up injustice or other. Such a waste."

"I'd hate to have been in that position myself," Danielle said. "Hot-housed, advanced beyond my emotional abilities at the time, and burned out at 18. I'm glad my mother intervened and kept me back from university for a year."

"Do you think we'll be hot-housing Hana Jeffries?"

"No. She's been mostly self-educated so far, with only a year's specialised tuition. It seems to have grounded her in a sensible way. I like that her hobby is gardening."

"If you don't mind my leaving her moral development to you?"

"I expect she'll fit in perfectly with Hazel, Samothea and Yael. Besides, a friend of mine is coming with her as a mentor. Hestia will have a good influence on the girl. Hana will not lack worldly advice with Hestia around."

"If you say so. As for the question of her scholarship: it's for Doctor Mayfield to decide, though she asked my opinion."

"What did you tell her?"

"That I have no opinion. It's not a scientific question."

"I think Joan probably wanted to know your feelings on the matter. As a human being."

"But I have no feelings on the matter, not even human ones. If the girl burns out, then I'll be sad, for her as much as for our waste of time and money. If she does great things, then I'll be happy for her and for our good investment."

Danielle smiled. This was the old Hendrik she loved, not the worrying new one who turned off the air-conditioning for the sake of mere girls and sought the company of Eva Welwyn (even though he failed to notice how attractive she was).

"It's worth the risk, Hendrik."

"I trust your judgment, Doctor Goldrick."

******

On Danielle and Hendrik's recommendation, Vice-Chancellor Joan Mayfield accepted Hana, despite her age. She happily raided the pot of money Rosa and Herman gave the university for Ph.D. students and offered the brilliant girl a scholarship.

Danielle arranged a videocall to Hestia and Hana to tell them the good news. Hana was a little overwhelmed by the announcement. An unpretentious and serious girl, Hana knew her own worth, but she never boasted. If anything, she was too modest.

She had her mother's mid-blue eyes, mid-brown hair and pointed chin but her father's fleshy nose. She also had her mother's serious manner and sharp mind (magnified to genius level). With her father's simple honesty and common sense, Hana was level-headed and wise far beyond her years, the perfect foil to her honorary aunt Hestia, who was fun-loving, happy-go-lucky and somewhat scatty.

What was all her own in Hana's character was her lively sense of mischief, usually brought out by her best friend, Morty, but it had been dormant for the last year.

Danielle brought Yael into the videochat as well. Wildchild and Yael had invigilated Hana's entrance exam and applauded when she finished in record time. Hana had even picked up a smattering of the girls secret sign language.

Yael was signing to Hana now, saying: "I'm glad you're coming to Celetaris. You'll love it here," knowing that Hana might not know all the words but she would surely understand the gist.

Hana signed back: "I'm looking forward to it."

Although Danielle was talking to Hestia, she read the hand movements and was pleased. With Hestia there as mentor and with Yael and Hana already making friends, she had no fear that the girl would acclimatise to their odd ways.

******

A few weeks later, on Capella Space Station, Hana had her fourteenth birthday party. There was cake and dancing and sad goodbyes from family and friends. Afterward, Hana and Morty escaped to their secret room under the Star View Promenade for a private goodbye.

Meanwhile, Hestia went home to change into an evening dress for her own leaving party at the Goat and Chariot pub in the East Causeway. As she was not working that night, Hestia wore her clothes for fun, not to advertise. It was a comfortable party frock, black and lacy, with swirling patterns and short sleeves, showing a little skin but no boobs, with a wide enough skirt so she could dance, which she intended to do with all her friends.

Aged 35 but looking 23 thanks to three rejuvenation therapies and an indoor life on a space station, Hestia was beautiful and successful at her chosen job, which was to make men happy for money. At the peak of both her allure and her career, however, Hestia wanted a change. She had had enough of men (well, most men).

Hestia used to love all men but she did not want to be bubbly and perky any more, nor smile at people whom she no longer found interesting or particularly likeable. She was comfortably off, having kept the loyalty of many rich clients in her career, without the expensive vices, such as drugs, that ravaged the lives of so many women in her profession on Earth.

When Hestia decided she needed to find a new role in life, she sold her 50% interest in The Goat and Chariot pub and, with her honorary niece, booked a transport to Celetaris.

As a shareholder in the Samothea Company, Hestia wanted to visit Celetaris and meet the team. She was not quite sure what she would do there but she had enough money for a long holiday or to live for a while without working, so Hestia was going to take it easy and re-examine her life. She was certain she would find a new role somewhere.

Also at the back of her mind Hestia preserved the idea she once jokingly proposed to Danielle of living in an all-female society. Maybe it would not be possible for her to move to Samothea, but she was interested enough in its unique society to support the colony in whatever way she could.

The new owner of The Goat and Chariot threw a goodbye party for her. Mary and Arthur were guests of honour.

The party started with a speech by Mary, saying how her friendship with Hestia and Arthur began during a crime investigation. Tom, the slow barman, gave a mumbled speech saying how much he and the regulars at the pub would miss Hestia. An Entertainer made a sincere speech, thanking Hestia on behalf of all her colleagues, praising her as a mentor and friend. One of her loyal customers said what joy she brought to the space station.

The last speech was made by Arthur. He thanked Hestia for bringing Mary and him together and enjoined her to take good care of Hana. He said that Capella would be a less interesting and glamorous place without her.

Hestia cried, which she liked to do at anything sentimental, and insisted that Arthur start the dancing with her. So he made a toast to their friendship and took her by the hand onto the dance floor.

With Hana at home looking after her three younger sisters, there was no reason Mary and Arthur could not stay to the end of the party; but neither of them much liked loud music or flashing lights, so Hestia understood when they went home to spend a last evening with their oldest daughter.

That night in the packed pub, her friends gave Hestia a wild send-off. Brad Formast, on his way to a new job, took a detour to Capella and arrived just before the party broke up. Shabby, unshaved but very welcome, he was in time to toast Hestia's safe journey to Celetaris. Hestia disappointed all her old customers when she took Brad home with her for the night.

******

The story of Hestia and Hana continues in The Mystery of Eden Homeworld.