The Governess

Surprise On Arrival

After two weeks of traveling through space Fleur and Charles finally arrived at the settlement of Hawking. The ship docked at some kind of metal tower, that was connected to the hub of the wheel-shaped space habitat. Since the journey had been rather boring – she spent most of the time reading books on her e-reader – the young woman was happy to leave the spaceship. Together the would-be governess and her employer took a lift, which brought them down to the "rim".

Once they reached the bottom of the lift, they were encountered by a couple, a man and a woman, who had been waiting for them. At least Fleur thought so as the genetic engineer was waving his hand, apparently greeting to other two persons and he started to move in their direction.

"These people here," Charles introduced them to her, "are Peter and Lisa Clevis. They are the friends of mine, who have looked after Ulde in my absence." "Nice to meet the both of you," Fleur said to them. "Well," the professor continued the introduction, "this young lady here is Fleur Saumon and she has agreed to become Ulde's governess."

"How is she, that new pupil of mine?" the young woman asked the Clevis couple. "She's fine and the girl is very eager to meet you," Lisa replied. "So let us waste no time and go to your new home," her husband said. "I cannot agree more," Charles said, "Let's go."

During their walk home the four of them had a lighthearted conversation and that way Fleur learned a few things about her employer's friends. Peter Clevis, who was fifty years old, turned out to be the chief editor of the Hawking Gazette, the local news paper, whereas his wife Lisa, who was fifteen years younger than her husband, was employed by the Hawking Public Library. And despite the substantial age difference, they appeared to be happy with each other. The Clevis family were also Charles Bow's neighbours, which explained how her boss had met the couple.

But much to her astonishment neither the genetic engineer nor his friends said a single word regarding her pupil. Nevertheless the governess knew better than to raise the subject herself and as patiently as she was able, she waited to see the teenage girl in real live.

After a walk of slightly less than fifteen minutes, they arrived at the Bow residence, which was a rather large house, for the standards of a Terrestrial middle-class woman. The professor opened the door and all four of them entered the house. They followed the home's owner to the back of the building and the young woman could clearly distinguish the smell of chlorine. The smell of a swimming pool, she realized.

When the four adults entered the room, where the pool was located, Fleur Saumon got the biggest shock of her life, when she saw a young girl, who had to be no one else than Ulde herself, laying at a deckchair, while she was busy reading a book. The very astonished young woman suddenly started to gasp for air, while she desperately tried to scream:

"But she has a fishtail!" The girl turned her head to look at the newcomers. "Actually," Ulde calmly corrected her, "it's a dolphin's tail, ma'am. As you can see," and she pointed a finger, "my tail fin is horizontal while a fishtail fin is vertically oriented."

However, Fleur had already collapsed before she could hear the end of Ulde's sentence. It took a couple of minutes for her to pick herself up again. The still highly distressed governess looked at professor Bow and with some disappointment she said:

"You should have told me that my pupil is a mermaid!" "I suppose," the scientist replied as calmly as he could, "you would not have believed me, if I had told you." "That's no excuse, sir. At least I would have been prepared! Even if I had not believed you, I would have some time to get used to the very idea. But perhaps I should have wondered, why a genetic engineer needed to hire governess."

It took nearly ten minutes before Fleur had been calmed down to a reasonable degree and was able to think a bit more clearly. The young woman looked at her boss and asked him:

"How is this possible and how many people do know about Ulde?" "The answer on your last question is very few people, besides myself these include professor Richard Veldman, a couple of people in the Elynesian government and of course the Clevis family. And the Elynesian government wants to keep her existence secret and consequently you will not be allowed to tell anyone about her. Do you understand?" "Yes, I do," Fleur answered reluctantly. But she realized that if she would tell anyone about her pupil's condition, the consequences for her would be dire.

"And Ulde is the result of a genetic experiment. She is a human with a couple of dozen dolphin genes." "But why?" the young woman asked, but the expression on Charles Bow's face made it very clear that he would not answer that question. "However," he said instead, "this girl is in a perfectly good health and hence there's nothing for you to be concerned of."

Slowly her shock was being replaced by curiosity and Fleur wanted to ask several questions. Finally the young woman was able to look at her pupil once more and friendly but still hesitating she asked her:

"Ulde, how do you feel about being a mermaid?" "I do not know any better but I am very content with the way I am. And I guess you are wondering whether it's ethical to make a mermaid but I simply don't care to be one. Would I be happier if I wasn't? I don't know and perhaps nobody can.

"Nevertheless I hope you can accept that and focus on being my governess instead, otherwise you've wasted your time and efforts." "Of course," Fleur said, "I can accept you as a mermaid and I feel very honored to be your governess. By the way, you look great." "Thank you, Miss Saumon."

After a short break Charles said:

"Perhaps you should take some rest now, Fleur. We have made a long journey after all." "That would be a good idea," Fleur replied.

Thereafter the professor showed the young woman her room, which was located at the second floor. It was not very large but large enough for her needs. The room contained a bed, several closets, a couple of book shelves and a desk.

"Well," her boss said, "just lay down for a couple of hours and once you'll a bit more equipped, I'll show you more of my house." "That would be nice."

Subsequently the professor let her alone in her room. Fleur Saumon laid herself down on her bed. But rather than sleeping, she stared at the ceiling. One single question kept preoccupying her thoughts: why would the Elynesian government be interested in the creation of a mermaid? It did not seem to make any sense to the young woman. What purpose could mermaids possibly serve, that was so important that it had persuaded the state to fund the siring of one? Just because it could be done, was hardly a justification for spending millions of credits in raising one.

Despite all this confusing thoughts, the young woman was so tired that it did not take too long for her to fall asleep. But her dream was filled with mermaids and inevitably their creator: Professor Richard "Rick" Veldman.