Personal Log 23: 13th to 19th July, 3301
14 Sep 2016Jemine Caesar
The next day, July 12th, at the Gettysburg bar on Abraham Lincoln starport, I related the whole story to Sam. "At least you've taken revenge for Bekka," he said, taking my hand. "Jem, I've donated one million credits to NTUP research. Hopefully they'll be able to find a cure one day."
I thanked Sam for his generosity, and once more thought what a lucky girl I was to have met such a kind-hearted man.
*****
13th - 19th July, 3301
July 13th was the date set for the court martial of Sam's Navy colleague, Asher. Sam duly left for Mars to appear as a character witness for the defence, leaving me to while away my time wandering around the station shopping malls, and gave The Last Thing an E2 multi-cannon upgrade. I also accepted friend requests from three more pilots I had contacted on social media; Piloteer and Rem Falken, and Strauzen.
Sam called in the early evening. "The court martial is in recess until tomorrow," he said. "My work is done, and things look good. The judge has done away with the prosecution's witch hunt both of Asher and myself. One more word out of line and the case is thrown out. I should be back in Earth's gravity later tonight."
Sam was true to his word, returning later that day.
Lieutenant O'Connor called the following morning. "You're free to leave the Sol system, Miss Caesar," he said. "On condition that you notify starport security of your departures and arrivals."
In truth, I hadn't even taken the opportunity to tour the Sol system itself, except for a brief trip to Mercury. With the shackles off (so to speak) I took on some jobs delivering biowaste and hydrogen fuel to Duamta, and beer to Luyten's Star, using the payment to upgrade my ship's shield generator to an A2.
Sam flew out to join me on July 16th. Over drinks at the Warwickshire Bar on Ashby City, Sam gave me some news.
"The NTUP Research Foundation has made a major breakthrough," he said. "They've just completed a trial into drugs that reverse the effects on the reproductive system. Of the hundred or so women in the trial, almost 80% have returned to normal fertility! And I'm not implying anything I assure you, simply that my grandfather Richard was so overjoyed he was in tears on the k-cast last night, as was I in turn."
This was wonderful news. "Oh Sam!" I cried. "I can hardly dare hope that I could have children again someday. I wonder why they didn't invite me to participate in the research? I hadn't realised there would be so many other women with the condition. I had thought Caz's so-called harem was all there was. Caz - I mean John - was obviously not the only carrier of the virus."
The rest of the week was a flurry of activity, as I tried to put the events in New York out of my mind. Another friend request came in, from a pilot going by the callsign 'Big E'. Various delivery jobs took me to Wolf 1453, Procyon, and Groombridge 1618. My credit balance was now a very healthy 417,000CR.
Things seemed to be getting back to normal.