Every Man's Fantasy Ch. 22

"As you know, the lakes on New Exeter are old quarries that the terraforming engineers planned to flood with melt-water from the poles. Since the generator was turned off and the planet never heated up fully, there hasn't been enough melt-water to fill all the lakes; so many quarries between the forest and the snow-line are still dry."

"This is where the strongest arctic gales blow, bringing rain in sheets and ice in great lumps to scrub the sand from the quarry floor and throw it up into the most amazing forms. It freezes overnight to make walls, tunnels, waves, pyramids, spires, towers, columns - fantastic shapes, all with glassy edges that glimmer in the morning sun."

"Yes, I remember learning about them," Roger said. "You call them 'sand sculptures'. Painters and photographers go to the quarries to feel awed."

"Exactly! And the silly boys with their mad spirit of self-destruction think it's the greatest thing to zoom around the sand sculptures on their boards and airsuits, skating on their razor-sharp edges or flying through the tunnels and towers."

"I see. It sounds fun," he said, dubiously.

"There's more, Roger. Because the frozen sand rips up the normal snowboards, a local lad had the bright idea of putting the almost frictionless airsuit material on the bottom of his snowboard as a sort of protection. Now he can get the feel of a snowboard but skate over the sand. He's calling it an 'ice-board' because it slips over the ground like skating on ice. He's talking to Outdoor Trends about a licence to manufacture it."

"I think it's wonderful news, though it's a shame for the painters and photographers."

"Not at all, Roger. The ice-boarders aren't there every day and they hire only a few of the quarries. Besides, the wind rebuilds the sand sculptures after a strong gale or hail-storm, giving the ice-boarders a new course and creating new delights for the spiritual visitors."

"I'm convinced, Ma'am. Congratulations!"

Roger then updated Mayor Grandley on the Nakatani Corporation's improvements to Danielle's original air-suit design.

"Yes, I knew that," Mayor Grandley said. "That's the piece of news I was holding back. Guess who will open this year's Waterfall City Airsuit Trails?"

"You, Ma'am?"

"Indeed! It's a great honour and I'll use the opportunity to invite all the lovely boys to the inaugural 'New Exeter Ice-Board Championship' later this year. What do you say to that, young man?"

"I say it's awesome news, Ma'am. I hope you'll visit Danielle and me when you come to Celetaris."

"There is no doubt of that. Your President has invited me to stay in Government House and attend formal receptions. There's only so much of that kind of stuff I can stand, so I told him I had friends I wanted to visit in Arts City. I expect you to meet me at your airport in three weeks' time."

"Yes, Ma'am. I'll be there."

"I also want to meet the women from Samothea, especially the Prefect, Madam Gloria. Can you arrange that?"

"Yes, Ma'am. I'll arrange it."

"Good lad!"

Unfortunately, Roger couldn't arrange a meeting between Madam Gloria and Mayor Grandley in time. Within a week, Robyn was ready to jump to Samothea with two new Petticoats, her sister Jane and a hold full of supplies. Gloria took a seat on the shuttlecraft after long and fond farewells to Ezra, Danielle, Roger and all her friends on Celetaris.

******

As soon as the Nakatani publicity team arrived on Celetaris, they requisitioned the girls from Samothea and kept them in quarantine with the other models for the four days of filming.

It was a new and exciting world for the girls who, because they knew no different, happily obeyed every order, willingly doing everything they were told with a smile. They complained neither about the long exhausting hours of shooting, the boring waiting around, the fastidious tedium of make-up, nor the fact that none of the professional models ever smiled off camera nor was particularly friendly.

What they did complain about (and were right to do so) were the high-heeled shoes they had to wear. Besides being uncomfortable (and, after the first day's modelling, bloody painful), no genuine airsuit flyer would wear anything so impractical. Landing at high speed was downright dangerous. It took a conversation with head office for the publicity team to agree that the girls could perform bare-foot. It was easier for them and more authentic to Samothean culture. But the director sneakily arranged for shoes to be added to the girls' feet by computer graphics in post-production.

All the models lived in posh trailers on an airfield near Ocean City and worked most of the time in a hanger. This was the biggest surprise. The girls assumed they'd be flying the suits at Waterfall City but they visited the city only once, for still shots posed in front of the falls. Most of the filming was done in the hanger, whose ceiling and walls were covered with green cloth. Nor was there much actual flying. When the director wanted them the fly, the girls were usually moved about on wires by cranes.

If the girls were disappointed that the other models weren't particularly friendly, they couldn't deny that they were beautiful. The female models were as thin as Yael, with perfect teeth, hair and complexions (due as much to artistry as nature); but it was a kind of plastic perfection which contrasted with the authentic enthusiasm and artless joy of the girls from Samothea. The camera loved both the professional models and the unpolished amateurs, but the plastics never needed to re-take any scenes, unlike the amateurs, who were often creased up from laughing.

If the female models were perfect, then the male models were god-like, with their chiselled features and sculpted hair. They were much better looking than Ezra and even outshone Ryan (though Yael loyally denied this). The girls admired them very much but the beautiful men didn't seem to have much to say and weren't very interested in the girls from Samothea.

The airsuits themselves were the opposite of disappointing. They fitted perfectly. The girls were allowed to keep the three airsuits they used in the adverts. There was a glistening white suit, a stylish black suit and one in vibro-lucent colours that could change shade and pattern at the touch of a button on the sleeve.

On the final day of shooting, Danielle, Annela, Freya and Ezra came to watch the girls work and take them home. They were lucky to witness the scene that the publicity department would use most often.

It was a sort of adventure story, with the girls coming to the rescue of three men who had fallen into a volcano. The final scene had dry-ice pumped throughout the hanger, then a big orange and red explosion at the back of the hanger caused by smoke and coloured strobe lights (the erupting volcano would be computer generated later). Hazel and Yael flew out of the smoke carrying two rescued men in their arms.

They landed and strode forward as a bigger, fiercer explosion occurred behind them. The whole volcano blew itself up and, out of the top of the fire, through the billowing smoke and raining lava, Wildchild flew with a man over her shoulder in a fireman's lift. She also landed and strode forward in line with the other girls.

They jettisoned their men on the ground, took off their helmets, shook out their hair, linked their arms as they had done that first day on the astroport platform, and continued striding, with large smiles, right through the camera.

******

The claims assessor sent in his report on Ezra's lost spaceship and the insurance company agreed recommended a payout of 20,000 Galactic pounds. Ezra was content with that amount, which allowed him to keep his heavy machinery if one-day he managed to recover them. With his credit stick nicely bulging (in an electronic way) in his pocket, Ezra and Annela went to confront Danielle.

"I know you paid for my cancer treatment and are still paying for my rejuvenation therapy," Annela said with a quiet and sincere gratitude that embarrassed Danielle. "I can never thank you enough for saving my life but Ezra has something for you."

"I don't want anything," Danielle protested. "I know how precious you are to Ezra. What I did was for him and our family. You are part of our family, Annela."

Annela thanked Danielle with a kiss. Ezra gave Annela a 'told you so' smile and said:

"What I want to do is for our family as well, Danielle. I'm going to buy the Samothea Project a shuttlecraft."

"Why a shuttlecraft? Do you know how much they cost?"

"A twelve-seater shuttlecraft is £10,000. And I want a shuttlecraft for a couple of reasons. It can be used to transport the women of Samothea here for rejuvenation treatments; and I can use it to teach Hazel and Wildchild how to fly a spaceship."

"We're not ready for a shuttle service to Samothea, Ezra, and how will we pay for the rejuvenation treatments?"

"I don't know how we'll pay for them, but I'll have some money left over after I've bought the shuttlecraft and paid off my creditors. I hope I'll have enough for to buy some fertility treatments."

"I'm pretty sure the Medical Centre here would be anxious to study infertile women from Samothea. You mean that even cloning doesn't work on them?"

"Yes.

"Who are they?"

"Their names are Kalyndra and Ash."

"Leave it with me, Ezra. I'll talk to the director of the Medical Centre. Are you sure you want to buy us a shuttlecraft?"

"I do."

"All right. I won't say 'no'. Thanks, Ezra."

6 The Nakatani Corporation expands

After she received a reply from Michio Nakatani to her video message, Yumi wanted to discuss it with Ezra.

The reply from Michio Nakatani was full of concern for her and love for his son. He was contrite and promised his help in anything she required, but he was careful to maintain his distance and not impose himself. Michio was even more humbled and ashamed than he had been when he first learned how Yumi had stowed away on a ship from Capella Spaceport. He blamed himself entirely and begged her to forgive him, saying that he would always care about her welfare and happiness.

"It's the old Michio," Yumi complained to Ezra in a videochat. "It's the man I was in love with. I'm glad he's married because I don't want him back."

"Don't let your anger at Michio make you refuse his help for Hayate," Ezra cautioned. "You deserve his support, even if you don't want him in your life."

"I feel bad keeping Hayate away from his father," Yumi admitted, "though he knows nothing else. You know he calls you 'Daddy'."

"I know; and though I care nothing for heredity, I think Hayate may want to know his real father when he's older."

"All right, Ezra. I'll reply again to Michio. He's two thousand light-years away. He can't do me any harm."

"Good girl!"

Tentatively at first, hesitantly and carefully, by small gradual steps, Yumi and Michio began talking again. They spoke only about safe subjects. How Itsuki was getting on at work. How quickly Hayate was growing. What life was like on Samothea. What Michio could do to make life better. Soon they were talking every day, for longer, about more personal things.

It really didn't take long for friendship of a kind to re-establish itself. Where it would lead to was another matter, entirely in the control of Yumi.

******

Re-establishing contact with Yumi via the communications system of the Samothea Project reminded Michio of his long-held interest in the new hyperspace technology, especially the hyperdrive motor, which had been Yumi's engineering speciality.

Michio contacted Ryota Miyazaki, Chairman of HyperStar Japan, to arrange a visit to his office and factory in Kyoto. Mr Miyazaki avowed himself humbled and honoured by the request and put on a fine reception for his illustrious (and much more powerful) competitor.

The visit was a success. Michio was suitably impressed and put the finishing touches to a plan he'd been concocting for a while. He supplied the Board of the Nakatani Corporation with a thorough analysis of the finances and a flawless business case. With their acquiescence, Michio was ready for a serious offer.

Danielle heard the news at four different times on the same day from four different sources. First, her admirer in the engineering department of HyperStar Japan, the keen engineer, Haruki, sent a gossipy message to say that Mr Nakatani had visited and something was in the air, but no one would talk to him about it. Then Mr Miyazaki send her a short message giving his decision. Stephen Oakshott told her the same thing an hour or so later but with more of the business details. Finally, when the news was all over the business web, Itsuki gave her some of the inside scoop.

Nakatani Corporation had made an offer for HyperStar Japan and bought the company outright: factory, existing contracts, patents and everything. The employees were guarantied to keep their jobs for ten years. Although there were large overlaps between the two businesses, where Nakatani could make a saving by moving production to its own factories, the take-over included promises to keep open the factory and engineering lab. The real aim of the purchase was Danielle's hyperdrive technology, of which HyperStar Japan owned 25%.

Danielle was relieved that her friends in the engineering department would keep their jobs. She did not much care who manufactured the hyperdrive engines but she did wonder what the take-over meant for the Samothea Project.

"What do you think, Stephen?" she asked the boss of Oakshott Industries in their next videochat.

"I like Michio," Stephen replied. "I can't see him wanting to harm the Samothea Project. And the timing couldn't be better for mass-producing the hyperdrive system. Look at the depth of resources the Nakatani Corporation has. With his factories and engineers engaged, we could even think about taking on the conversion of the Beltway to our system."

"What about your partnership with HyperStar?"

"We are only partners in the production of hyperdrive systems. We never merged our companies. I have a contract with HyperStar that says I will go to HyperStar for hyperdrive motors and HyperStar will come to me for space-rigs, beacons, hyperspace junctions and the logistics of hyperspace pathways. By the take-over agreement, Nakatani inherited our contract, and Michio has already reassured me that he will honour the contract in letter and spirit. I trust him."

"I'm happy for you, Stephen. I hope you're going to make some serious money out the project, at last. It's taken long enough. Thanks for your patience."

"Nonsense, Goldrick! But I understand how you may be worried about the Samothea Project, now that Michio Nakatani owns a quarter of it; but I can't see him wanting to harm the people of Samothea. I saw how he feels about Yumi. And his company certainly doesn't need the money it might get from allowing the planet to be exploited."

"No. I think you're right, Stephen. I can see the commercial sense in the deal but what makes me think there's something else driving it is that Nakatani paid a premium for HyperStar."

"A large premium, Goldrick. Ryota Miyazaki really had no choice."

"Quite so. I wonder what Michio's up to," Danielle said.

The first benefit to the Samothea Project from the involvement of the Nakatani Corporation was that Michio ordered a direct link using the new technology to be established between Earth and Celetaris. This had always been desired by the Project Team but only the cost prevented it. With the deep pockets of the Nakatani Corporation, however, beacons would be in place within a month at most. Communications satellites were in place, members of the Project Team on Earth, Celetaris and Samothea could talk to each other with delays of only seconds, despite being more than two-thousand light-years distant.

******

Shortly after the news was announced that HyperStar had been bought, Danielle and the other shareholders in the Samothea Project received a notice to say that Hestia was now a 5% shareholder in the project.

This was an interesting development.

The Samothea Project consisted of two parts: an academic enterprise under the aegis of the Celetaris Institute for Science; and a commercial enterprise, including the hyperdrive engine and the beacon technology, communications satellites designed for the new beacons, an as-yet non-commercial hyperspace pathway to Samothea and a profitable hyperspace pathway to New Exeter, with a new hyperspace pathway between Earth and Celetaris under construction.

The Celetaris Institute for Science benefited from the Samothea Project in respect of prestige, sponsorship for Danielle's PhD students, sponsorship for academic research and a share in the income from the patented inventions that members of the Project Team registered while working at the Institute.

The small profits (so far) from the commercial enterprise were shared between its shareholders, who were Danielle Goldrick, Oakshott Industries, HyperStar Japan (now taken over by the Nakatani Corporation), Rosa, Herman, Li Qu Yuan, Jonathan Wright, Hestia and Brad.

Danielle, Oakshott Industries and the Nakatani Corporation each owned 25% of the shares. The other team members owned 5% each, except for Hestia and Brad, who up until now had owned 2.5% each.

The scientists were entitled to salaries but Danielle had taken none, relying on the income from her airsuit business (which Rosa had a percentage of as well).

The original arrangements were made by Danielle when the Project had no spare money. She had begun with 50% of the project but, bit-by-bit, she had given up half of her shares. Danielle hadn't minded. She was keen to make money, of course, but while the scientific part of the mission was so interesting and engaged so much of her time - and while the chance of making a profit seemed so small - she was happy for those who allowed her to pay them with a share of the future profits.

This was how Hestia became a shareholder. It was her reward for recruiting Brad.

Hestia had followed the story of the Samothea Project ever since she first met Danielle and Roger on Capella Spaceport. She was pleased to be able to help the mission and, to Danielle's relief, declined payment for her role. Not only did the Project have no spare money, Danielle didn't want to put 'Hire of an Entertainer' on the Institute's list of publicly-available expenses.

Hestia therefore became a 2.5% partner in the enterprise, with the title of 'Recruitment Consultant'.

Brad Formast's case was different. Hestia had been authorised to offer him a quarter of the rediscovery bounty for Samothea. This would be 25,000 Galactic pounds. Because Ezra survived, however, the bounty was theoretically Ezra's, so Danielle offered Brad either 25,000 pounds, to be paid when she could afford it, or 2.5% of the Samothea Project, on the hope that the Project would one day make some money.

The publicity Brad gained from his successful jump to Samothea brought him in a multitude of job offers, so he didn't need the money right away. Acting against his character for once, Brad chose to defer gratification and took the shares in the Samothea Project.

Clearly something had changed and Danielle contacted Hestia to find out the story. The communications program beeped and Hestia's lovely face was projected in three-dimensional glory over Danielle desk.

"Hello, Danielle," Hestia's image said. "I thought I'd hear from you. Are you surprised? Sorry I didn't give you any warning. It was a spur-of-the-moment decision."

"You don't have to explain, Hestia," Danielle replied. "I mean you certainly do have to explain but you don't have to justify yourself. Why did Brad agree to sell his share?"

"Since his jump to Samothea, Brad has had three well-paid jobs but, as usual, he spent all his earnings partying, so he was in sore need of money and more work. He came to Capella Spaceport to look for a job. He met up with me and told me his situation. It gave me an idea."