A blond woman in her mid-twenties stepped a bit nervously into a bar. A couple of days earlier she had received a phone-call from the secretary of an unknown individual, who wanted to arrange a meeting with her. Initially she had been very suspicious about this man – until his secretary told her it was about a job offer and that her employer thought that she was perfectly suited for it. Since jobs were very scarce on Earth these days due to a negative economic spiral caused by increasing automation – and in combination with a substantial college debt, the young woman was rather eager to accept any job offer and so she had agreed to meet this mysterious person.
Carefully the young woman, who was wearing a dark blue denim jacket and black cotton pants, scanned the bar to see whether the man, whom she was supposed to meet, was already there. But nowhere she could find anyone who met the descriptions she had received of his secretary. Could this whole job interview be a practical joke? Subsequently she started to wonder who of her acquaintances would like to play such a prank on her, but she could not think of any.
"Good to see you, Miss Saumon," said a friendly male voice from behind her. The young woman immediately turned herself around and saw a middle-aged man she did not recognize at all – though he fitted the description. Well, she thought, that would significantly reduce the probability of being the victim of some sick prank.
"You are Charles Bow?" she asked in a somewhat cautious manner. "Yes, I am, miss. But you may call me Charles, if you want. Maybe we should take a seat." "Of course, Mr... I mean Charles. And you might call me just Fleur."
Thereafter both of them ordered some drinks.
"You wanted to speak with me about a job, Charles?" the young woman asked. "That's absolutely right, Fleur. According to my information you have two master degrees, one in English and one in mathematics." "That's correct, Charles. But how did you learn about this?" "I have my sources, young lady. However, I also know that your college debt totals about seventy-five thousand terrestrial trade credits – with a three point five percent annual interest rate."
The woman was really shocked to learn that this male stranger, who she had never met before, was aware of these very personal details. And despite his friendly demeanor, it made him also a bit creepy. The idea that she, as an ordinary law abiding citizen, was followed by a person or persons unknown, made her almost shiver. However, at the same time Fleur began to wonder why someone like her would be a subject of interest for anyone outside her inner circle.
"Your face tells me that I am right." "How can you possibly know all this information concerning my person? And who, for heaven's sake are you?" "Well," the man said still friendly, "I will be honest with you. I have contacts in the Elynesian secret service and their foreign intelligence officers collect data of people they believe might be useful for them." Fleur Saumon did her best to look as if she was not surprised by this revelation, but the young woman failed badly in this pursuit.
"Both positive and negative information, I presume," she said. "I couldn't tell you. I am just a scientist and I they only gave me your name and the stuff I told you. That's the only thing I know of it." "Why did they gave my name to you? What's special about me? And what about all the privacy laws we have here in this country?"
Whether she believed that the man was not deeply involved with the Elynesian secrete service or not, Fleur was not really sure.
"The Elynesian government and by extension its agencies, are protected by a little thing called sovereign immunity. Therefore our secret service is not hindered by your privacy laws. However, be assured that we won't share all data we've collected with third parties.
"Anyway," the man continued while ignoring her other questions, "I am a professor in genetic engineering at the University of Ilium Novum." "So you are an Elynesian? What are you doing here on Earth? I thought you folks hated this very place." "Yes, I am an Elynesian citizen. And I am on Earth for a scientific symposium. Actually it are only our politicians who talk anti-terrestrial rhetoric and in reality most Elynesians do not care much about Earth either way."
The woman sighted and asked:
"What kind of job are we actually talking about?" "I am in need for a governess." "A governess? I thought that home-schooling was illegal in Elynesia?" "All rules have their exceptions, Fleur. But in this particular case the federal minister for education himself has granted permission for home-schooling." "Why?" Fleur asked intrigued. "For medical reasons, one of the few allowed exceptions in our education laws." "What kind of medical condition are we talking about?" "Not something to be really concerned about, but it prevents her from going to a regular school."
The tone tone of his voice indicated that this professor would not give any specific details of those medical conditions. Nevertheless the young woman started to get a little bit worried about her prospective pupil's health.
"Charles, can you give me, please, some more information about the person in question." "Yes, of course. Her name is Ulde and she is eleven years old. She has an IQ of 125 and she's also quite curious." "Who are her parents or guardians?" Fleur asked, as she was wondering why a professor in genetic engineering was in charge of finding a governess for a teenage girl. Why not placing a good old job ad? There were plenty of young people like her on Earth, who were more than eager to move to Outer Space for a job.
"I am assigned by the authorities as her legal guardian." "Who takes care of her right at this moment?" "A couple of friends of mine. She is in good hands now, I can assure you."
The more Charles said, the more intrigued Fleur became by this mysterious girl. And in her opinion a job as governess was not bad at all. Then completely out of the blue, the professor made a rather surprising remark:
"I've also understood from my sources that you have participated in competitive swimming at quite a high level. Apparently you just failed to be selected for your country's Olympic team." "Yes," Fleur replied totally flabbergasted, "that's correct. I've been swimming since I was five years old." "Good. Being able to swim is a qualification without it's pointless to get this job." "But I am not a qualified swimming teacher." "That's not necessary. Ulde is already an excellent swimmer. In fact she is better than any of us might ever hope to be."
All right, Fleur was thinking, that Ulde girl had a some medical condition which prevented her from going to school but simultaneously allowed her to be a good swimmer? This was really an odd situation, but not something that was totally unheard of. Things like that did happen from time to time, she knew very well.
"Charles, is swimming some kind of therapy for Ulde?" "Well," the man said with a slightly sinister smile, "kind of."
Fleur remembered that she had once read an article about swimming therapy, though she could not recall for what disease or condition it was used.
"But let's talk about the financial part of this job offer," the professor said. "If you accept this particular job, I will pay off your entire college debt, today." "On condition that I will be Ulde's governess for the next few years." "Exactly. But I would like to remind you that it also means that you will be secured of housing, meals, health care and so on for the next seven years. And in addition you will receive a tax-free allowance. I think it would be hard to find a better deal, here on Earth."
Fleur realized that this genetic engineer was probably right on this. After taking a few sips of her drink, she asked:
"I have to live with you and Ulde, I suppose?" "Not necessarily," Charles Bow replied, "but it would be highly recommendable." "I just wanted to know. I don't mind to be a live-in governess, even though it seems a bit old fashioned – in particular for a brand new society as yours."
"Well," the man replied with a big smile, "there are a lot of things, much more than you could probably imagine, in my country, you might consider as old fashioned or even completely anachronistic. Anyway, old methods are sometimes better than the new ones. We are a nation of rational people, or at least we pretend to be, who want to have the best, regardless whether some Terrestrials believe it's utterly obsolete."
After a short period of silence, which allowed the young woman to think a bit of everything she was told so far, professor Charles Bow asked:
"Good. Do you accept this offer, Miss Saumon?" "Yes," she answered in a seemingly determined manner, "I do, Professor." "Okay, Fleur. Then I will see you at the Elynesian consulate this Friday at two o'clock pm. I'll inform them of our meeting, so they'll let you in." "That would be very kind, Charles." "Goodbye, Miss Saumon."
And as suddenly as he had come, so quickly Charles Bow left the bar, leaving a perplexed Fleur Saumon behind. The young woman was still wondering how it was possible that this man knew so much about her. However, the idea of becoming a governess in one of the most prominent Space nations, really excited her and she did not regret that she had accepted this job offer. At least she had a couple of days to think about it.