Chapter Thirty-three
Bard and Stats landed the ships. The other three were sitting in their cars. Stats 'made it' before he collapsed in laughter. He told Case he was crawling that way and he went back for him. He put him in his car. He really wasn't in any condition to drive his yet.
Nev and Blade were out of the 'garage' when Bard got there. The reasons why they left without him were standing in front of it. He whooped, drove out, jumped out and opened doors for Wendy and Billie, while the ship 'buttoned.'
Nev and Blade drove by and their passengers and "chaperones" waved. Bard followed them out the spaceport gates. Case and Stats followed him. Case called Nev.
"Where are we going?"
"The kids are getting us out before the business bunch have a chance to schedule 'ten days of social-commerce events the next three.' Granddad is a co-conspirator to give us some time off."
"We told Granddad you'd had about two days actually off since your New Year. He said that was his schedule and you hadn't worked to be elected to it. The 'upper crust' is arranging for you to show cars, boats, shuttles and ships to those who can appreciate and afford them, while you play places they do, no sales pitches needed. We're currently headed for a very social sporting event, a horse race with Nev's car as main attraction. Sorry, but 'numbered limited edition' on this one make it more their kind of thing than gorgeous and great. Those they can get."
"Understood. The ladies we met?"
"Will all find you. Wendy was just 'appointed company' for Billie. Don't be shocked if some of them introduce you to others. A whole bunch having a great time with one man with a great boat or car is a traditional way of reducing love-affair questions by society reporters. It also keeps money from looking snobbish. Janie Office Manager and Kathy Heiress are 'school chums' and show up at society parties and corner lunch counters together."
"Men?"
"Rugby teams, polo teams and so forth. Bunches of them run together too, but they never gang up on a woman. Our society is a little skewed on gender expectations. We know it and try to do something about it, but society reporters get more viewers with who's in her bed, than who's in his, and are not assisting. Basically, a woman's dress designer, hairstylist, and probable past lovers are all prominently noted, and the fact she's president of a successful company is an addendum they'll stick on if there's time for it. Men, that's noted first. We can't even figure out where it came from in our culture. It's an always-been-there and we can't find it in settlement groups."
"Comm add Larry. Hello, Daddy. I see you've been getting lots of diapering practice."
"He yells the instant he gets damp, Nev, and that's very frequently. You've got a puzzle furrow between your brows."
"They've got a culture skew on Mandolin they can't trace to the source, and the social casters have been exacerbating it, to the point young men and women avoid being seen in pairs and socialize in same-sex groups. A successful woman executive's chest measurement is more important than her company name. Men, business premier."
"That's what I needed. On it. Comm out."
"Uh, oh?"
"Yes, but I think most of it was, 'Uh, oh, he's about to yell for dinner,' not the culture here."
"Agreed. I've seen that look of new-daddy-desperate on Silky's face. I've also seen it on Day's and Jace's. Is Blade getting a brief? Wendy is not worried."
"He is and she isn't. About a year-and-a-half ago, a reporter asked her about love affairs. She asked him if he was as worried she'd die a virgin as her mother was. They don't bother her."
"Comm connect."
"Got it. They were close. Brenton Framer, second colonial governor, split news coverage with a legal cleaver. In an attempt to find personalities to interest an audience, the very new Mandolin society reporters focused on two businessmen and their new-fashion-industry-promoting wives. One son followed into business more than successfully, and one daughter and the son's wife, very glamorous non-working rich, were the social leaders for three decades. Transition to prurient speculation is pure market-share competition, about thirty years of it. The wealthy families put up with it because they were the only ones who reported social events to aid worthy endeavors. Political and business news are extremely factually reported. Political family private lives aren't really private, but no one speculates on what any family members are doing with anyone. They'll report they were lunching with, but never a hint there might have been a kiss, unless it was on cam. It's 'who women are with' because they're the social elite. The men are 'maintenance staff' prospects. That's why their business accomplishments are reported."
"It's actually in the reporting?!"
"Yes, and that's where it has to be changed. You have five who can help you do it fast."
"I want a vacation! How?"
"By being the most glamorous, interesting, genius 'Oh, but art is so much more fulfilling,' who-people-make-love-with-is-their-own-damn-business social news to ever hit the planet, Nev. Drive social cast viewer numbers through the roof and be interested in women for what they do, and say, not what they wear, or in their dads' business, unless they're execs. Pull men in. Find some who can be pure elegance getting in a sports car or riding a horse. Pull the groups together and hit society-supported charities' thrift shops for beachwear. Do personal style in beat-up clothes and kick their designers in the ass for men's clothes that make them look like sloppy-draped posts for women to lean attractively against. You couldn't do it fast, if it was based anywhere else in the culture. The women aren't discriminated against, or ignored in business or political reporting, but the attitude they should be decorative, not ambitious and fast-thinking is beginning to make mothers recommend literature and art as more appropriate degree choices than business and science."
"That's what we saw that scared us. Granddad's study bunch said it's gotten worse fast in the last twenty and we could have 'women don't belong in business' in thirty."
"I got the study-groups' data. They had the timeframe. Do you two know people to help?"
"Uh, oh."
"We have a lot of how-it-works-here to integrate, Case. You sort of get that with baby food if someone in the family is in planetary politics."
"I think it'll work, Sis."
"I know two men who can help."
"Case, Stats, are you ready to try this?"
"We have no idea what to do, but Stats is pulling references from Earth society news. I saw something in it. That one! We've got a society-news-darling rich boy as reference. Passing, recording to two and reference to three. This is exactly what you worked hard to avoid."
"Yes, it is. Larry, make sure people there know it's for a reason."
"To sell yachts all over space, especially Earth."
"Ow. If my granddad thumps my head, I'm passing it."
"You'll be spectacular, Nev. You have a muse to aid."
"Oh, thanks, Stats. Comm out. Comm connect split screen Bard and Blade."
"Yipe!"
"Blade, I am not worried about you pulling this off. Me, but not you."
"Wendy and Billie are working on who will help and who will be shocked lists. I'm working on finding something to hide under."
"Comm connect Granddad, code whopper dopper. They got Larry to help from where the study group got to. It's because of the casters and society being different news. They worked to be kind of boring, so it got worse and now it's just dresses and guesses about what they don't see. Larry put the admirals to work on it and we're all staff! Wendy's sending it for you when you can look. Uh, huh, they get drafted by everybody. Comm out."
"She's the only one who can get put straight through any time. Her grandmother chose her as the one to get the family rep access, when her grandfather was reelected."
"Grandma got calls from people who wanted her to interrupt him for politics stuff. I only get president stuff calls, like the river that moved."
"A seven-year-old-b
oy saw a cliff face fall in a river and divert it. He called her and her grandfather got flyers there to blast a ditch back to the riverbed above a small town."
"They named a street for Joey and I got to be in his parade."
"He deserved it and so did you. Nev, I have no personal style. I just wear clothes."
"I know, Bard. You're going to be a challenge."
"That's the perfect excuse for a thrift shop binge, Nev. You can't discover a personal style in a closet full of uniforms, but they did give an indication there's hope. He noticed he looked good in them."
"Actually, I noticed you did, Blade."
"Bard, you said, 'look good on all of us.' You had noticed you."
"Maybe I'm not hopeless."
"It will also help with our chemistry assignment."
"Chemistry assignment?"
"Nev's dad told us to create personal fragrances for ourselves, Rodney."
"It's a piece of my lack of personal style. I was shocked when I learned some people 'wear' a fragrance when they trip. I didn't realize anyone would carry the one they always wear as part of their personality. I have fragrances. They gave them to me. I wear them, when they suggest one. I had light blue, green and brown shirts, and dark blue, brown and black pants. Only the color was different. I wore what was on top. I had brown shoes. I wore them once a tenday, when I got to go outside to run around for an hour."
"Nev, Blade, you have assistance. Billie just got mad."
"He's been free one year and forty-three days since he was six, Billie. He knows so much because he spent all day, every day sitting at an Ed comp."
"Blade…"
"The children ask why, Bard. Your life is the answer that will teach them they are free, and we were not. No one could keep the government from doing that to a child on our world."
"It made her cry."
"I know, but she's the best help you could get to help fix her world. That's a piece of who you are she needs, to understand why it's going to take all of us to make who you are inside show on the outside."
"He's right, isn't he, Billie?"
"Yes, Aunt Wendy, and I can help most 'cause we're lots alike, and he's still a kid inside, where nobody could find him."
"It makes Blade and me real happy when he does something a little silly-kid, Billie. I still hope Blade will someday, but it's not a big hope. He couldn't be a kid and stay alive, not even inside. I'm the only one of us who got to be a kid. My uncle Drand made sure I had somebody to play with. He sort of stayed a kid just for me. He's twelve years older than I am."
"That's like Brenda and me. Sometimes she's just a kid for me too. Warren doesn't have to work so hard at it yet."
"She noticed I have to work at it some."
"She notices everything, Warren. Turn left on the next road, Nev. You'll be going back north in a minute, but this was a lot faster way to get you out of the spaceport than the east gate."
"I don't mind a little longer drive at all, Brenda."
"Becky, who did you come up with?"
"Landon Brant and Norman Martindale."
"That's who I got."
"Stace Quinn might be a possibility."
"Rodney, he's as… bland as gets."
"Yeah, Becky, better at it than anyone else."
"Where does this speculation come from?"
"His hands."
"He's right. If you watch his hands, you know he's got a big grin inside."
"I've noticed his hands too, Billie."
"You notice everybody's hands, Aunt Wendy."
"Landon is twenty-six. Norman is twenty-five. Stace is twenty-one."
They took the road that curved back north, then one northeast. They were approaching the foothills east of the city. Brenda told Nev they were going in the back gate of the racetrack, which was the one the "society," who lived in the foothills, used. She also told him that horse racing on Mandolin was an amateur, not professional, sport. There was betting, but it was between individuals, not organized. They rode horses for pleasure and they were bred for that, not racing.
He learned more about their culture, as the kids explained their attitude toward gambling, then addiction of any type. They dealt with it rather successfully and their criminal element was small. There wasn't anywhere on the world it appeared to be the way to financial success. People who sold addictive drugs were considered to have a contagious mental illness, and paying for them was a symptom and proof you'd already caught it.
They had two casino districts, but those had no gambling machines and their major attractions were shows, great food and luxury accommodations. Personal betting with a friend, card games and raffles and bingo games to raise funds for good causes were common. Nev asked about "bingo." They promised to show him the most popular game of chance on their world.
After they entered the gates, which were open, they traversed a tall flowering-hedge-lined curving drive. When the hedge on the right ended, Nev whooped. There was a bit of stand seating on the other side, but the area to the right of them was wide lawn with people 'picnicking' among gorgeous cars.
"No parking lot!"
"It's around the curve a little farther. If you don't have a real show-off car, you park there and walk across. It's shorter walk than drive."
"They're making room for you guys fast, right in the middle."
"It appears we we're expected, but center parking isn't common."
"If everyone's seen your car, it doesn't belong center stage. You'll like ours too."
"Gorgeous."
"That's Landon. That's Norman. The one very obviously dressed like 'everybody,' following 'everybody' is Stace."
"Blue shirt, too coordinated pants, socks, shoes?"
"Too coordinated. He's always that way."
"But his hands give him away."
"Very precise, never flutter, never adjusts to pick up a goblet or fork. Gestures small and neat. His posture is always perfect too. I think Rodney's right. He's your super-elegant being precisely the social norm."
"Does anyone use shortened or call names here?"
"Very personal-group-limited. Landon and Norman's rugby teammates call them Land and Norm."
"Does Stace have brothers or close cousins in this bunch?"
"No."
"He's Quinn. Comm connect Bard, Blade and Case mobile. The boys are Wren and Rod. Girls are Bren and Becks. Wendy is Frets. Comm out."
"She'll love it!"
Wendy was laughing when Bard parked. Billie was deciding if she was Aunt Frets or just Frets and Bard was assisting. They decided "just Frets" as they got out. He walked around and opened the back, then touched the control pad and the camp kitchen rose, extended and unfolded.
The Land Dragon was designed to get to great places roads, and IS, didn't go, and aid in enjoying them for days, or for a real party for a bunch. If they'd brought the Wander, too, they could have provided food and drink for the large group for a long party. Nev opened the systems covers of the Muse, walked over and began blending teas from the stock in the Dragon.
"You're blending the temptea?"
"I have an idea for the not quite as luscious long-dried."
"Loop blossom?"
"A pinch to enhance and smooth the blend. Let's see how I did."
"You'll get famous again if this all northwest region tea is as good for export as your smile says you think it will be."
"Caught. Taste here, order shipped."
"Excuse me, please. Are you Stace Quinn?"
"Yes."
"Billie, Rod, Wren, Becks, Bren and Frets said you do I'm-totally-average-find-someone-interesting-for-a-cam-shot with such style, that the only way anyone would realize you're elegant is by watching your hands. Your costume is superb for the part. Mine is clothes-go-on-body-before-breakfast. Your social casters are shoving your gender equality in the waste cycler. We're supposed to blow the lid off 'males are only support posts for women, whose pur
pose is be beautiful,' and kick your designers in the ass to stop it, and these guys only hope I'm not hopeless. Since your world drafted us, I'm drafting you, him, and him to help them figure out if it's even possible I can do personal style, or I should stick with looking at weather and putting on matching uniform. Quinn?"
Billie told Bard her mom said if you didn't give people time for blinks in the middle, they did them all at the end. Bard said he'd noticed that. Nev lost his 'lean' on the Dragon, fell on the grass and laughed. Frets sank down to sit beside him, leaned on the Dragon and laughed. Blade had obviously heard. He was laying by his car.
Quinn didn't really blink long, considering the size and content of the info dump. As soon as he stopped, he asked for more information. Bard leaned in the Dragon and brought the study-group's report up on screen, then Quinn leaned in and read fast. When he finished, he told Bard he understood it quite personally. He'd had his "expected" business degree twenty-nine days. Bard asked him what he'd have preferred.
"About anything."
"You've been doing exactly as expected because it was the known survival method."
"It was the only respectable option for a young man in a wealthy family. I'm expected to select an appropriate junior executive position and rapidly show I can handle a senior executive position, in one of the family-owned companies. I didn't make a great friend from a nice middle-income family. None of us would use someone to fulfill that expectation, but several of us are on rugby teams with men who know we need the association. Since we aren't snobs, they're quite willing to aid in keeping the society casters from driving a wedge between society families and everyone else."
"But you don't really meet girls, because even talking to them puts their beds in cam focus."
"We're marrying later and arranged marriage might already be the norm, if political functions didn't give us some opportunity for close personal contact. That hasn't spread yet, but one boy with a group of young women is becoming a too-common sight at secondary student gathering places. That needs to be ended before one girl of the group always sitting next to the boy becomes uncommon."
"Are you ready to help?"
"In any way I can. It's definitely going to be more fun than being drafted to prepare a lawsuit settlement proposal, or to meet a warfleet."
"If it's not fun, it won't work."
Nev handed them cups of tea and watched hands, then faces. He saw what Rod had seen in the way Quinn took the cup, and the difference from the way Bard did. He saw his success with the tea blend in their faces. He watched more hands as he gave cups of tea to many more people, both men and women, and watched them cluster in same-sex groups.
Case and Stats had collected Landon and Norman, told them Bard had drafted them and put them in Case's car to read the report. Nev watched their hands as they took cups. Blade caught his eye and nodded. He'd seen elegance too. Nev doubted he realized his own grasp of a cup was more so.
He wasn't looking forward to attracting cams, but he was anticipating "kicking their designers in the ass." It was very obvious the male body was considered irrelevant, if not unaesthetic. None of the clothes actually complimented the men's very good physiques. Sexy was non-existent. Blade saw his sudden smile and moved in to talk.
"Realization?"
"Bard is sexy."
"No doubt of that. You found the starting place, for everybody."
"This year's beach fashion for women is various-colored patches and strings under tight lace bodysuits or shorts and jackets. The lace replaces last year's net. For men, it's shapeless, baggy, knee-length pants, under crewneck pullover, opaque tents, with elbow-length sleeves. Chartreuse replaces mustard yellow as fashionable color and both pants and tents are longer and baggier."
"Larry obviously saw it. Their society casters are even lazier than the designers. They don't wait to hear what plans are. They call and ask which of two or three dates people will be having specific types of parties. That way they can copy previous reports in advance and just change dress colors, and names of who's in whose bed. They probably do that in advance and tell the cam ops who to get in images together."
"I'm realizing why they're so sure the alliance would've taken them over. They're already being forced into following a pattern they don't like."
"This will be easier than I expected."
"It will?"
"Reluctance is disappearing. You're getting disgusted and Bard's getting mad."
"So are you."
"I know, but it still surprises me I'm looking for an excuse to take off my shirt."
Bren, Becks and the boys were working on groups. The boys were over, under and in the cars with every car-crazy bunch. Bren and Becks led girls to "let our little brothers show off." The car-crazy girls really appreciated the excuse.
Case and Stats were the focus of attention of groups with the women they'd met. Eventually, they got them bunched with men, talking rugby and soccer, around the cars.
Shortly after the races started, one of the society casters made an error. She asked a young woman if she and a man were "still lovers," and Nev heard.
"Don't answer! It was a loaded question and intended to 'prove' speculation about your personal relationships. Comm message Granddad. If one of these so-called society casters speculates about our personal relationships with women, buy the network and replace the disgusting gossip-monger, using people to make money, with a journalist. End message."
"Beautiful!"
"Thank you, Bren. Maria, tell me more about the stock feed you developed to reduce sensitivity to blisterfly bites."
"Injection wasn't giving us the steady-state we needed, and we had post-injection renal inflammation in six percent of the horses, twice yearly."
"Ooh, not good."
"Minor, but the potential for damage was there."
Bard talked materials with two young women. Blade talked math with three. Case and Stats talked construction with a mixed group. Frets talked daytrip commuting with a mixed group. Becks, Rod, Wren, Landon and a mixed group examined and discussed every system and artistic design aspect of the Muse. Quinn and Norman sniffed and tasted every tea in the Dragon, then blended a tea.
Nev knew it had something in it that hadn't come from the Dragon stock immediately. They grinned and led him to a patch of ground cover in a flower bed. Norm plucked some of the little round leaves and rolled them between his fingers. Quinn said they had no idea if it was available as a tea. They'd just wanted minty and knew it was and nothing toxic to anything would be planted there. Nev gave them both pats on the back.
After the races, four of them with short breaks between, the five men, Frets and their young companions followed a number of cars up into the foothills. They weren't far south of the road to Kelston when they reached the home of Quinn's family. They'd just arrived when the flyer from Dancy landed. Dandy got out of it.
"Danny's bringing Stats his car."
"Did you ask for your car?"
"No, Case, but I wished for it."
"That explains it."
"Why else are you here?"
"Your five younger companions have been invited to a play in West Side Park. The two eldest have also been invited to a dance sponsored by Veil Lake Secondary. This is the first play of the season at the park, and was written, and will be performed by, five West Side kids, ages five to nine. The dance at Veil Lake Secondary features the band Broadbond. Joel and Gant, Nev's cousins, said the band is great and they suspect you'd really like to go to a dance where nobody who cares your granddad's president knows you're there."
"Bren, you don't have to go home to get ready. You wear what you decide is right when you get there, anyway."
"I forgot that, Billie."
"They're going from our ship?"
"Yes, Bard. Billie's grandmother is 'sneaking off' to see the play, as well, and someone will be aboard while they are. Bance said tell you they'll record it, when you st
arted looking wistful."
"Their last play was lots of fun, Billie. You'll be going to our house first."
"I'll wait for my tour until you're there, Bard."
"Thank you. I didn't know that was a big piece of my wistful. Let's go to the next West Side kids play together."
"Yes! If Mommy says I can go on a date."
The group was still laughing when Danny arrived in Stats' car. She was wearing worn-to-white brown work pants cut off to be shorts, an old white button-front shirt, with the tails tied to be a halter, white slippers with ribbons that wrapped around her calves and tied below the knee, and a beaded headband. A beaded pouch hung from a white ribbon around her waist. Dandy was wearing what he always did to work around his house; a half-open mag-front shirt with the sleeves ripped off, near worn-out camp shorts and a BNU cap, on backwards.
Danny pulled a hair tie out of the beaded pouch and handed to Bard, then gave Nev a handful of one facet coins out of it. Bard said he appreciated not "eating more hair" and Nev's said he'd "stock the Muse next time" and began handing out cefas.
Bard got a hug from Billie. The other kids said goodbye and got on the flyer. Just before she closed the flyer door, Danny broadly winked. Five men and Frets burst into laughter. She'd met Danny and Dandy on her trip to BNU.
"Not a word!"
"That's our princess, Frets. You there, Quinn?"
"No, Nev, I went with her. Comm connect, Grandma Jeanine. Have two of those cargo container ships built. Start a shoppers shipping service. Liberty Gem to here, here Liberty Gem. Ship-to addy on both worlds. Buy trip chairs for there staff. Charge by size, not weight. Fragile insured only. Deliver for any world here, from any world here to there. Do it fast and first. Carry other 'til busy, then contract ships. First suggestion for other; power store towers. That's my contribution to family business. I retire. I don't want to run it. I don't want to talk it. The only thing I'm sure I want to do with my life is not that. No, it's not wasted. I'm sure I don't want to spend even a year doing it. At the house with about forty friends. Probably figuring out where to get clothes that don't look like boys are wearing bags and girls belong in a brothel. Comm out. She was laughing too hard to talk anyway."
"She didn't push you to 'do' business."
"No, she said I was stubborn enough to put up with it, and she thought I was smart enough to realize that was dumb. She's the only real business-oriented person in the family. Why did they bring a fifth car and take the children?"
"Probably because of what's in the car. Stats' car is not a sports car."
"The best sedan."
"With capacious cargo space."
"Going to see what they brought us?"
"Yes, Nev. Quinn pointed out the children are gone."
"The president's grandchildren are gone."
"Quinn, shut the gates."
"Comm connect Q. Shut the gates. Comm connect mom. Where is everyone? Call before you come home. Because I was drafted and the fleet admiral told me to close the gates. No, Mom, their world is fine. Comm out."
"You intended to worry her?"
"Yes, Frets. It'll make it much easier for Grandma Jeannine. She'll tell my parents I still know what I'm doing, or wouldn't have been drafted. They'll be sure she knows what I'm doing and whatever's wrong is getting fixed. Convoluted, but that's my family."
"They have a great deal of confidence in you."
"I earned it, Frets, as you did. You're the one your family is sure will 'get it fixed.' We've been very careful not to pull you out of the loose political association into our mess. We're labeled promiscuous and some of us have made love, usually at least once by the time we're twenty-five. One reason we don't close our gates is fear of reports of orgies. You took care of that nicely, Nev. Private comm message and 'if one,' and neither threat nor personal, quite accurate, opinion could be used against you in a legal fashion. Since your family could, and would, buy a network to dump someone using people, this time it's safe to close the gates."
"You're abused. When those casters walk toward you, you tense, just as we did when an IS officer walked toward us. Sometimes IS weren't choosing a victim. The casters always are. The abuse is emotional, not physical, but it's still abuse."
"Thank you, Blade. That's the word never said that should have been shouted years ago, but I doubt anyone would have listened. I want to dress like he was."
"Who supports the designers who do stuff like chartreuse produce bags."
"Political function formal occasions provide most sales income, Bard. 'Bag' hasn't, and probably won't, move into formal. Gowns are less revealing or they wouldn't sell for those."
"So it's primarily casual wear that's not worn."
"Our clothes don't get much notice except at formal affairs."
Bard and Nev had expected clothes. That wasn't what they found. Bard whooped and yelled for Blade, then he and Nev began assembling. Frets and Quinn were helping by the time Blade got there. They had 'floating' scooters made in a physics lab. They also had helmets and knee, elbow and shin guards, and wrist braces.
"The wheels on the bottom are friction generators, Blade. They charge the power store. These things will float, drop, float, drop and they're going to be fun to learn to control and use."
"Comm connect, Danny. Who invented these? Nev's grin says he knew. Definitely. Comm out."
"Drand and Dawn."
"Yes, Nev. Larry said we needed a toy 'every big kid wanted' that gave us a 'costuming excuse,' to really change fashion."
"The wheels 'freewheel' with this control down, Blade. That will give time to get up to good speed before they start drag to generate power. A-grav is these four disks, together or separately. That's going to be interesting. It'll give banking on turns if controlled well. All controls are press pads under fingers and thumbs. There are no brakes and thruster is your foot. They're scooters. They'll float about… three to four minutes max, depending on mass to lift and power use. They aren't steady-float, and the power store is deliberately small. They'll lift about three meters fast, but you'll land on wheels."
"These are going to make them another fortune."
"They'll find someone to dump the patent on, Quinn. We're getting good at it. Probably the Space Corps on this one. I wondered when you guys were going to get here."
"We were learning why kids leaving and closed gates scared people, and I mean scared. One of the older woman said she'd gotten out of the center of the image, just before she announced she got the cams out of her crotch long enough she was no longer an approaching-thirty virgin. She thinks the casters move focus just before a woman gets disgusted enough to do something like that."
"They do, Case. When a woman stops being afraid of them, they pick a new victim."
"Have you considered a class action suit?"
"No, Stats, they'd rip us apart. 'Everybody knows' what we're doing any time were not in public view."
"They don't believe it."
"Most are bright enough to know it's market-share-grabbing speculation. It's too exaggerated. They show those outfits, but you don't wear them. I suspect the example you're setting with kids is same-sex groups and having a great car and money is the way to get a group of girls notice you. That reinforces the gender expectation problem. Promiscuity wouldn't. Pubescent boys would be circling girls with society aspirations if it did. They talk sex, but you don't show it. The women dress very conservatively."
"There's another piece to add to that, Blade. Any girl who did would be a volunteer for gossip."
"Yes, Case, she would be."
"Quinn?"
"Viewpoint realignment, Bard. The idea we're reducing sexual activity among young teens has appeal."
"Not at the expense of boys thinking their bodies are ugly and girls thinking theirs are their only value. Nice girls only sell their bodies once? Boys are successful if they can buy a beautiful wife?"
> "You kicked my 'realignment' in the ass, Frets."
"Did you notice anything about the protective gear?"
"It's lots of colors, Nev."
"It also requires smooth underneath, Quinn. Bunched-up clothes will abrade quickly. Bare skin or skin-tight are the options."
Thirty-seven young people got out of eight holds-several vehicles and invaded a charity thrift store. Two more ran in with three large shopping bags each. They passed out athletic supports, sport halters, tights, leotards, seam rippers and shears.
Clerks scanned purchases and watched in amazement, as pantlegs were cut off, sleeves ripped off, fasteners removed, strips were cut from 'right-color-with-enough cloth and young people ran for dressing rooms. When the young people came out, they stared.
Pants had become shorts of different lengths with straight, frayed, jagged, scalloped or fringed bottoms. Shirts were vests, half-length, tied and no two were done alike. Most wore head ties, many were hair ties, some had 'scarves' at neck and waist.
All were over tights in an assortment of colors from subdued single-color to fluorescent patterns. Many were over leotards in matching or coordinated colors. They watched them leave, most tossing clothes they'd worn into the store in a pile beside the donation bin. One young man said, "Sorry they're not clean," as he tossed.
The next place the large group invaded was the best store in the city for sport shoes. The three clerks there heard, "traction," "ankle-support," "absorb impact of three meter drop," and started hunting through shoe specifications quick. There was something new and it already looked like fun.
In a few minutes, the group agreed on one type of hoops shoe, with adaptations. The clerks watched in awe when the big man took over their comp and began designing mathematically precise additions to the sole of the high-top shoe, specifying materials. They finally realized who they were when he said, "Blade, grab a datpad and solve this." After the clerks had fitted everyone with shoes, with someone recording each size measurement, a man and woman walked in carrying a large container.
"Good thought, Bard. Picked socks?"
"Those and roll them down over the high-tops, Dawn. They could bunch under the shin guards."
"We considered ankle braces, but they'd have had to be very carefully and specifically designed, and we'd have wanted an orthopedic sports specialist in on it, like the one who helped design these high-tops."
"They should give us enough support, Drand, but find that specialist to design a shoe. This is the only one with both support and flexibility available here, and I doubt we have better."
"We've got these in sets under names, and four bonders to do them. This is just over half. Ronnie and Day won't be far behind us in the LH. I want a Wander."
"You'd use one. Ship?"
"We're still planning, but mainly because we're having so much fun doing it. Roberta!"
"Me! They match my pads!"
"Why we asked. Before I start bonding things to these, paid for?"
"Yes…"
"Dawn. Bert, Robbie or Bobbie?"
"Uh... Bertie."
"Heel drag pads will wear down fastest. We're using a bonding agent that has a solvent that won't dissolve the shoe, too, so those can be replaced fairly easily. Replace when worn down, not worn out. That goes for all the drag and traction pads. The toe pads will get scuffed-looking. Use a tooth polish and brush on them. Make sure pads are exactly right size, place and material. We'll show everyone how to check the first two as we go. These won't be uncomfortable to walk in, but take other shoes along if you're planning a day of other activity too, or any other sport. Ronnie and Day are working on a pad and helm bag scooter lock-up, that stuffs in a pocket until needed. They'll bring stuff to do decorative name-on-helmet and guard marking. They're including stencils and stuff, so great art talent isn't required. Our experience indicates the guy who has art talent ends up with a whole bunch describing what they want, and working after most start playing."
"Bless you. Three of us could have had many."
"You're welcome, Bertie. Bard said those socks. I recommend extras. I have a tendency to take shoes off, then notice socks are disgusting, damp or both when I start to put shoes on. I also lose one of a pair frequently. I'm afraid to ask Drand where he found them when they turn up the next time we do laundry. Dance slippers that scrunch in a pocket might be an idea. Done. Run your finger along here, now here, here, here and here. That size and placement. Any bumps or dips at all is wrong."
"Got it. Thanks. This is going to be so much fun."
"Take it easy and keep quick-heal nearby, at first. I didn't hit a tree branch. It slapped me. Gust of wind and whap! Marcus!"
"Here!"
Drand asked Nev if they'd "coordinated." He grinned and shook his head. Colors of tights and leotards in Bard's size had been limited, so they'd gotten all four and just given him the bag. He and Blade had run off to choose things and left Bard alone. He'd been 'all over' the store, by the time they'd gotten there. Quinn said he and Frets had reminded him shears made neck and armholes bigger a couple times.
By the time he and Blade had found things and gone to work on them, not together, Bard had been in a dressing room. He pointed out Case and Stats were in forest green, tan and gold and they hadn't worked together. Drand told him that wasn't three in black, white and ruby, and sleeve caps of some type. Bard's were strips. Blade's were points. Nev's were single point. Their shiny tights and leotards were an assortment of colors, and so were shorts and vests, but all were black, white, ruby or a combination.
Bard had surprised both of them, and himself. Everything he'd chosen was shiny, and he'd picked the ruby leotard that had bands of bare in it. Like all the other leotards designed for men, it had come out of a bin in a corner of a back room. Even male dancers wore 'loose,' and they'd learned the number of those was falling rapidly. That had upset Nev and Blade both. Blade even more than Nev, and it had surprised him. It hadn't surprised Nev.
Shoes were only available in four colors, and two secondary school color combinations didn't suit many of them, so most were white. Bard, Nev and Blade chose black and white. The store had been able to fit them all because they'd just gotten their pre-school-term stock from the company.
Ronnie and Day brought the rest of the supplements for the shoes, and helmet and pad decorating kits, just before the four doing shoes finished the first batch. They also brought two more bonders. Kady and Reesa had built them, while Ronnie and Day made the pads and kits. With six bonders, and four with practice on several pairs, shoes were quickly finished. The three clerks were promised "a demo" when they learned to use the "float scooters."
The helm decorating kits worked well to get every person to figure out 'names' on the way back to "Quinn's place." Some chose descriptions, like Frets. Most chose some form of their names.
When they were done making helms and pads identifiable, they began learning to use the scooters. "Freewheeling" and charging the power sticks was simple. They learned to use the shoes fairly well, while they learned to just push the scooters.
All were athletic enough to develop fairly good timing quickly, then they began to learn to float. They somersaulted, dove, rolled, tumbled and splatted off scooters. They yelped, yiped, yowed, laughed and laid and giggled. They also scraped, bruised and twice twisted, once sprained and several times pulled joints and muscles.
The doctor at the nearby clinic learned what they were doing, thought the pads made sense, the helms were necessary, and worried about broken necks. They promised "junior models" would have float height limits.
They took a break for dinner, delivered by a sandwich-plus shop, at seventeen forty. The delivery driver yelled he wanted one, when people zipped by as he was unloading. He added, "Maybe," when Bird flew off his and three people ran to check for damage. Quinn told him it was wise to learn near a clinic, but no one had broken anything, "yet."
B
y twenty, everyone could keep up and some were ready to show off. Skill wasn't part of that decision for the men.
They 'piled' into cars and headed for the big park in the center of the city. It had a huge parking lot, open for car parking only when events were scheduled, with ramps and very good lights. They arranged for the lights to be on when they got there, as they drove to it.
They stopped at a health club bar on the way for "energy replenishers" and had an audience following in four cars, from there to the park. The audience called friends and increased its size on the way.
Social casters didn't know something was happening, but news and sportscasters did. They followed an emergency medical vehicle into the park. One sportscaster heard, "Look how they use what they put on the shoes!" and led his cam op to the young woman fast.
"What are they? Who are they?"
"They call them 'float scooters.' They were invented on Liberty Gem today. They built the shoes for them in Court and Field shoes on Eighty-seventh. I work there. They're the Liberty Gem admirals and a bunch who live up in the northeast hills rich-rich area. That's Quinn! Look at him bank it! That's Marty! Uh… Martindale. Go, Frets! Wendy Stanhope. That is a very high-tech toy. Now I see why the outfits. You couldn't wear usual clothes with those pads. Look at the legs on that man! The sparks are when the friction generators in wheels are in use. David!"
"Kerry! That's the wildest thing I ever saw! Did you see Quinn use that side pad they put on the shoe?"
"Yes! Is Loren going to get here?"
"He just yelled he was closing early to see why we sold out the Loverton hoops shoe stock in a half-hour. Whoa! Who was that?!"
"Um… Alisha Alberts, I think."
"Her helmet says 'Al,' Fem."
"Thanks."
"Did you remember to mention the store?"
"First thing. Damn!"
"Now we know why med vehicle."
"And lots of guards and braces. He's laughing."
"Quinn would laugh if he broke a leg."
"Who's Brat? Him."
"Landon Brant."
"They made the outfits of stuff they bought in the Good Neighbor Club Thrift Store. There they go! That's Bard, Blade and Nev!"
"I would not try that, but Al, Quinn and Bertie are!"
"They did it! He got over them!"
"This is a dangerous sport."
"These people play rugby, polo, jump horses, race horses, race cars, race water skimmers, ski jump and everything else. We sell sport shoes of a half-dozen types to every one of them. They know how good they are and aren't. Everyone isn't doing stunts. They probably will after a lot of practice, but only the ones with well-trained physical talent are doing high and fast."
"It takes power and timing to get fast, David, but the traction and drag pads on the shoes really help. See why precisely placed?"
"They could cause a forward flip or break an ankle if off a fraction of a cen. There's Loren."
"He's not going to notice us. Let's go. Court and Field Shoes on Eighty-seventh. We've got the specs on the pads!"
"Crossland Sports! May we see a float scooter?!"
'Tip' came down 'in friction,' dragged and stopped right in front of them. She picked up her scooter, pointed out what was on the bottom, then the controls, showed them the shoes, explained each pad, got on the scooter and pushed off. When she got it moving fast, she locked it in freewheel and did a handstand from a squat. She steered it through a turn with her foot, returned to squat and then up and shoved off hard as she hit a-grav. She was giggling when she came down beside Frets.
"You had fun."
"They have no idea who I am."
"An athlete, obviously."
"Obviously. I thought I was hiding in the crowd."
"Quinn was spectacular at that too. That's how Rod noticed him. 'Precision' always attracts his attention. These are why kids went bye-bye. We could not have kept them off them, until several could yell, 'Don't try that yet,' with experience to back it up."
"They're not back yet?"
"Billie and Louise hours ago. Billie called Bard. She's watching the news to see if we make it. The boys got back not long ago. They got a custom flyer tour with Drand explaining what he built in and why. They also saw, and got to try these, in controlled circumstances. It's about three-and-a-half hours later there, so not long for the girls either. Nev said we'll all suddenly run off after newscasters get good images, or if social casters show up. They're really angry. Opinion: Larry saw how angry they are and adapted the plan, so they can just leave the social casters in the dust."
"Nev made it real clear what they think. Since I almost said, 'And I was a virgin until I was twenty-six, and only one love affair so far,' while I had a different type of caster's attention…"
"Blip said she considered putting 'virgin' on her helmet. Blade said it's too exaggerated to be believable, and the proof is teen boys aren't orbiting girls being 'like us.' I think he's right."
"I want to adopt your opinion desperately."
"What to try that double crossover?"
"Yipe. Let's do it. You over, then me over."
"Let's go!"
The news reporter thought he was about to get an interview, but the person made a sudden turn, and the whole group suddenly lifted to various heights and went southwest. He turned to see why and sighed in disgust. He told his cam op someone at the network had done stupid. He agreed. They'd almost had an affiliate sale story, but someone had told Walter Baskins 'Society Reporter' and it had flown away. The reporter called the head editor.
"If that gossip shows up every time that bunch does something newsworthy, you won't get any stories about the admirals."
"Society news is his job, Frederick."
"His job is get the highest market share with the most gossip about sex. That exodus was a fleet maneuver. The Admiral was signaled. They're going to leave any time Walter, or any of the others, get close, and I don't mean just this bunch, here, or until the admirals leave."
George watched the feed again. After he had, he called the programming director. He pointed to Walter's market share. George sent him a clip from Walter's last 'report' and the last forty seconds of the feed from Frederick and Andrew, and told him what Frederick had said. The programming director said he'd call back, then called the CEO.
"We may be about to be charged with abuse for profit and we're guilty."
"What?!"
"Marketshare is good, so who cares what the method of maintaining and increasing it does to people."
"What are you talking about?"
"The reputation-destroying malicious gossip we call 'society news coverage.' According to the reporters, every single woman is promiscuous and every married woman under fifty is an adulteress. Men are promiscuous too, of course. They're congratulated on being successful enough to get into a lot of women's beds."
"That's not hurting anybody. Nobody believes it."
"I'll arrange invitations for your daughters to attend the charity fundraiser in two days. You're successful enough for them to join in the support of good works."
"Point made. Suggestions."
"Pull the society segment. Replace it with a new tech report, who's buying and using it from a societal, not business, viewpoint. Focus on fun. Daytrip shoppers and store clerks having a great time, architects filling comp data banks with new ideas, construction workers grinning in anticipation of 'wielding' a magic trowel, guitar-makers giggling and hunting more teachers to daytrip commute to go with guitars they shipped, society young people having a great time with a very high-tech toy, older members of the social set planning yachts, kids suddenly switching majors to fields that will get them jobs on exploration ships. At the end of every segment, ask 'What are you doing with the new tech,' and give a comm code. People will come up with all kinds of new ideas to get on the segment, if it's fun."
"Brilliant. Who are you going to giv
e it to?"
"Every hometown kid reporter. I'm going to put Walter on the run doing 'live from' introductions and see if I can save his career. I think I'll give him 'Walt on the run' and the question as tag-line. He doesn't like his job."
"You think they'll accept him?"
"Liberty Gem gave people a chance to change."
"How fast can you get it changed?"
"George may have enough time to build a preview tonight."
"Get him on it."
George yelled for clips and called Walter. Seven minutes later, he was 'shoved into' a running suit, while he rehearsed a script. George got Crossland Sports' 'interview,' with the shoe store clerks as cap and Frederick and Andrew at the spaceport by the ships as lead for the next segment. At twenty-two fifty-four, the CEO was called with 'ready.' He called Bard.
"Mandolin Planetwide Broadcasting understood what you and our society young people said this evening. We took a good look at what we were doing, and agreed with you. Our programming director recommended replacing the society news segment immediately and permanently. When we went to work to do that, we learned that featured reporter, Walter Baskins, despised what it had become, but knew he couldn't compete with reporters with experience in political, business or breaking news coverage. He was 'hanging on,' until he could retire with minimum benefits in two years. I think you'll understand that and help our people give him a chance to change. The news segment previews at twenty-three eighteen in that time zone. The head news editor said it's obvious he much prefers his new job."
"No one is uninjured when the system is abusive. We'll be watching."
"Thank you. Comm out."
"Quinn, you won."
"What?"
"Mandolin Planetwide dumped society news and discovered the reporter considered it something he must endure two more years, until he could retire."
"Walter Baskins?!"
"The CEO said it will be obvious he's happy, when the replacement segment previews at twenty-three eighteen tonight."
"They dumped the Care to Share Luncheon coverage?"
"Was it important, Bloom?"
"The reason for the luncheon is, Case, but nobody asked questions about that."
"From now on, that network will send someone who will."
"One down, sixteen to go. I wish I thought Baskins was typical."
"Would you have called him 'typical' before this, Rocks?"
"Yes, Quinn, I would have."
"They're performers. We'll see how many are happy to get new parts."
"If they get new parts, Al."
"We'll see what MPB does and see what we can do to help, Timjim."
"I'll be watching for ways, Brat."
They saw themselves riding their scooters in a short clip on the news and whooped when the caster said, "More on the New Tech News segment preview." The segment opened with Walter Baskins running onto the set. He said, "It's time for NTN! New Tech News! What's that?! It's this!"
It wasn't what they expected. It wasn't about tech. It was about people; a woman daytripping to famous waterfalls and sending images home to do watercolors, two boys figuring out how to adapt their little sister's favorite toy to use a power stick, a man with a list of things he'd tasted on four worlds and recipes he was collecting, an architect filling terabytes with new designs, two shoe store clerks pointing out people and making sure everyone knew their store had the pad specs. At the end, Walter Baskins was shown running toward a flyer. He turned and looked in the cam, smiling widely.
"This is Walt, on the run. What are you doing with the new tech?! Call us at: New Tech Whee! And we'll be there to see!"
"Fantastic! They'll have everyone on the planet trying to come up with something!"
"They'll have everyone watching to see what they come up with, Al."
"Absolutely brilliant, Marty, and I'm still not sure that was the same man."
"It's amazing how a real smile changes a person's appearance. Comm Grandma Jeannine."
"You didn't kill yourself on that thing."
"You saw it?"
"Your great-aunt Carolyn does not miss the Crossland Sports recap."
"Did you see MPB's society news replacement?"
"Replacement?"
"Hang on. It's on the way. Figure out how to get the shopper shipping on in the right tone to help keep it across the financial and social spectrum. They worked to make it broadbase. We won the first battle. They didn't surrender. They switched sides and put troops in the field."
"Stace, what's going on?"
"The social casts are causing a fifteen hundred-year regression in gender equality. Women are 'decorative' and men work to make enough money to attract a real beauty."
"It's in the society casts?!"
"Yes."
"I've got the clip. Comm out."
"You didn't tell us everything, Quinn."
"Cory, there have been programs trying to slow it down in middle and secondary schools for years. Two years ago the president assigned a study group to it. The basis and source were found today."
"Quinn, Marty and Brat were drafted to help fix, subtly. That plan went in the waste cycler when Nev went from disgusted to furious in a one-question blast. Ending the abuse became primary goal, period."
"Nothing else could come first, Frets, but they're inseparable."
"Cory, you love literature. You're comfortable with the gender expectations, but they're not necessary for you to be comfortable. Should every boy who loves literature study business, and every girl who loves business study literature, because some don't find them uncomfortable?"
"Of course not, Blade."
"Of course not, but there's a great deal of emotional security in knowing you're doing 'the right thing.' It's part of being a social species. Millions of parents out there want their children to be happy. Currently, they feel they've got a better chance of that if boys study business or science and girls study literature or art, even if they don't really like them. Women's accomplishments aren't mentioned and men's bodies are disguised. The clear message is both are somewhat embarrassing. Since promiscuity and adultery aren't, that gives a real good measure of how embarrassing."
"And it's the juxtaposition of the market-share-grabbing sex speculation and the increase in the rate of change in gender expectation that identified our abuse as the cause of increase, and the society news casts as the source."
"I can see it, Quinn."
"Cory, you're not the only one working to reconcile feeling with knowledge and feeling guilty and embarrassed, because it's needed. It's not unhealthy. It's normal. That's what Blade just told us. I felt exposed out there tonight with my muscles showing. Most of the guys stayed in a pack because of it. I doubt it was easy for Quinn, Marty and Brat."
"I did a my-body-is-beautiful litany the whole time, Timjim."
"I did an it's-a-great-costume litany."
"I did, shove this up your don't-distract-from-the-breast-image asses, Marty."
The group burst into laughter and Quinn grinned. Bard reached over and patted him on the back. Quinn theatrically folded under the pat and the laughter increased.
The group had already made next-day plans, so began heading for cars and home. When all were gone but Bard, Nev, Blade, Case, Stats and Frets, Bard told Quinn to strip.
Frets, Case and Stats made tea and sat in the kitchen, while Bard, Blade and Nev treated Quinn's many small bruises and the very large ones he'd gotten in the fall in the park. Quinn was in a bathrobe when they walked into the kitchen.
"I feel much better."
"I hope everyone does that when they get home."
"He'd still have been smearing in an hour without help, Frets."
"I don't doubt it, Blade. I noticed how many times he went down hard and didn't grab salve. I'd like to know why."
"I would have for the dive I took in the park, if it had been here. Nothing was hurting me. I'd have treated before
I went to bed, or I'd have been getting up to treat the first time I rolled over."
"We were sure you'd do something about that one. We just figured you'd ignore the rest."
"Um..."
"They treat dots on me I don't notice unless someone, or something, points it out, Quinn."
"Nev does a forearm or hip block of things when his hands are full. If we stack a load, things don't shift when something is lifted off, but there are a lot we don't stack. He does most of the get-the-next-section-ready and there were a couple times he had blue stripes. We knew he'd noticed them, because he blocked with a different spot the next time."
"We asked if he'd hit every one twice. He said one was a surprise. The next time we got a load from that place, we restacked it."
"Would you teach me to do what you do?"
"Quinn, we don't have business degrees, and there are three of us."
"I know that, Bard, but you don't use new materials or create new mechanisms each time. You can, but why do that when a few different materials and mechanisms will adapt? Others… I don't know who, but someone will find out I'm learning and yell I need a partner or two. We don't have pre-constructed viewrooms here, but we have other types of modular additions. Posine is something I'm sure we want. Your materials development and ours diverged widely about eighty years ago. We have some you might find useful. Mandolin isn't a high-tech oriented world, but many people on it are. One of our best trade items with your world may be our puzzles."
"Puzzles?"
"That globe of dodecahedrons on a pedestal in the living room is a puzzle. I'd show you how it works, but it's my father's trophy. It takes hundreds of moves to get it all one color and you don't know what color it must be to change to crystal when solved, when you get it. The pedestal comes with it."
"Many people spend a year or more working on very complex puzzles that are decorative accents when finally solved. If he released the completed puzzle to turn a piece to show you, it would change the move count and that one is extremely low."
"Our shoppers haven't seen them, or they'd be filling ships with them."
"I realized that when it occurred to me we'd look to see what's in your fine furniture stores and you wouldn't know why."
"They're sold in furniture stores?"
"They're accent pieces for lovely rooms, Stats."
"Comm message Dad. The perfect gift for Mom is on Mandolin. No one's discovered their really complex puzzles, because they're in furniture stores. I'll send. They probably haven't discovered our office equipment stores have executive toys. Point. End message."
"Executive toys?"
"Hundreds of things designed to go on a desk that give you something to do with your hands and/or eyes while your subconscious works. You probably have smaller puzzles. Ours are predominantly physical. Tap, jiggle, turn, roll, push, pull to get the fish on the book, golf ball in the hole or a multitude of others."
"Were learning we all have little fun things…"
"Nev?"
"World Builder Eleven, Bard. I doubt anyone has a better game of the type. I always figured if anyone in the oligarchy could have played it, they'd have taken it off the market, as teaching too much about how things really work. The level eight financial manager 'locked' and ran the gov. IS accidentally 'downsized' themselves, reworked the gov budget and sent everyone a huge tax refund, by naming the list of people who showed up for a roster check 'Available for assignment.' It took us hours to stop laughing too hard to talk."
"It surprised us people used separate computers for home, work, personal, then we realized why."
"It's harder to tap a half-dozen, Quinn. We didn't make it easy for them. Time for us to go. You're not going to have an allergic reaction and Frets is thinking she should have brewed stimulating, not relaxing, tea."
"Mind reader."
"Stace!"
"Kitchen, Mom! You waited two minutes too long."
"Hello, Fem and Gen. We smeared your boy with blue dot reducer and watched for reaction. I'm going to keep pushing everyone out the door instead of getting acquainted, and ask you accept my apology. It's three forty-seven our time and I may be keeping up a running conversation to assure four other drivers and I stay awake to the port."
"Understood perfectly, Admiral Bladesly."
"Blade, please."
"Elvira and Robert."
"I'll show them the short way to get there, Elvira, but it's still approaching the time they got up yesterday morning."
"We should leave before temptation to see how that puzzle in the living room works, overwhelms Bard, Nev and Case."
"Sit down and relax. We know you worked hard today too, and we can find our way out. Stats, you hang onto Case. I'll take Nev. Frets, keep Bard moving."
"I'll take you where they're sold tomorrow, Bard. I promise."
"Remind me again as we go by. Goodnight."
"Goodnight."
"See you tomorrow"
"I just told them it's a puzzle, Dad. As they were leaving seemed best. I had an incredibly fun day. Did you?"
"Yes, your idea seed took root in Mom's fertile mind, grew and blossomed. We spent half the evening on comm to Liberty Gem, much of it with Nev's grandfather. We called BNU first because Mom said they're getting a lot of our people as visitors and know what they're buying."
" I'm sure they are and do. Ships?"
"He helped us a lot there. That company has a huge order list, already. He got us a priority as a needed-service buyer. They all, even the people we bumped, agreed."
"After that, we built a network of shippers, and helped design nineteen space stations."
"What?!"
"Transshipment stations. There were places it didn't make sense to go all the way to a world to be transshipped. Your father pulled up a stellar map, said, 'There, there, there,' and everyone yelled, 'Perfect!' He said it was obvious where they needed to be."
"It was. Your mom found small shipping companies and traders, in a who-do-you-know-who chain that hooked up every world, but the four sick ones."
"Amazing. And I thought I helped make big changes today."
"You did. Business is easy. Everyone who hears a good idea yells they want in on it. You began a change we couldn't even imagine."
"We still have to deal with the others and a lot of social aftermath, but none of us expected MPB to just switch, or Walter Baskins to be very grateful they did. We're expecting to be more pleased than we expect. Did I really say that?"
"Yes. Time for bed."
"Obviously. I asked them to teach me to do what they do. I want to build beautiful living space and fill it with green. I also want companions like they have, but even partners will make me happy. Goodnight."
"Goodnight. He's lonely, Robert."
"He realizes it, Elmira, but he's sure he'll find a friend sometime, the right one for the right reason."
L'Gem Page 33
