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feedback
thx, messieurs passportout & lord e,
I appreciate you comments - it is what keeps me going.
I would welcome more feedback -
is there too much story or to much gaming? is the story and its settings sufficiently clear?
thx, messieurs passportout & lord e,
I appreciate you comments - it is what keeps me going.
I would welcome more feedback -
is there too much story or to much gaming? is the story and its settings sufficiently clear?
I don't think you can have too much story. Ther is a fellow over in the EU2 AAR section whose AAR covers 5 years so that he can go into extreme detail. It is almost like a story not based on the game.
I agree with Passeportout you have not to much story
Personaly I think the story is great and you should just keep up the way you have started
Personaly I think the story is great and you should just keep up the way you have started
Elizabeth enjoyed her third foreign trip. Paris was a lovely city. Though as northern as London, the entire atmosphere at court was much more frivolous as in England. King Charles had thrown a party on her honor which had been absolutely marvelous.
And her political goals had been sooooo easy to realize. France was seething for revenge on Scotland and their Dutch allies after the latest war.
And when the Spanish king Carlos also visited Paris, with his wife, it became clear to every one in Europe that Great Things Were Afoot. Elizabeth returned to her own country, very satisfied.
Betsy experienced the opening of these Great Things when, having breakfast on a morning in 1575, she was sipping tea. Tea had become considerably cheaper since the Portuguese monopoly on tea had been broken by Dutch exploration of the east. The Dutch had skillfully send Dutch sailors to Portugal. Sailing on Portuguese ships, they had learned the sea routes and even more important, the places were fresh water and food could be obtained. Through the eyes of her host, Louise de Coligny, whom she controlled in this era, she looked at her husband, William of Orange.
The Great Things were announced by a merry looking French ambassador, who, after exchanging the necessary formalities, declared the formalities were over:
"Hereby I have the honor and duty to inform you that our king, Henry III, has decided to liberate the world of the pest of the Dutch merchants".
The diplomat bowed and left immediately.
William turned to his wife Louise:
"I am afraid we could have expected this, after the great conference in Paris two years ago"
That same day the representatives of Savoy, Turkey, the Knights and Venice followed the example of their French allies.
Betsy made her host, Louise de Coligny, suggest to her husband:
"We will have to call on our own allies, my dear."
Silently, William nodded. Envoys were sent off to Scotland, Pommerania and Hessen.
"The worst thing is that Amsterdam voted down last year the army budget. We have just a few thousand men, holding the fortresses and castles," he grumbled.
His fears were justified when reports came in: Artois was under siege of 62.000 French and Savoyan troops. William soon had recruiting started throughout all seven provinces, but it took time to train and assemble the troops. It was not before fall that William, at the head of 40.000 men, and accompanied by 7.000 Hessians, marched on Lorraine.
The Scots meanwhile had not been idle, their troops had layed siege to French Maine.
As Artois fell, the French turned to Scots held Caux, and the Scots took Maine and the Dutch, after taking Lorraine, started to retake Artois.
The Scots report that The Turk made a failed attempt to invade the Americas.
Louise/Betsy had wanted to follow her husband with the army, something William had forbidden her. Betsy highly regretted this outright refusal, and felt very angry. She had known sex based discrimination existed, but now found that reading about it was highly different from experiencing the same. Well, in her previous game she had been in Japan, and she had had to fight hard there too to get her way. After a few months she was ready to admit to herself that an additional reason for her angry emotions came from the fact that she was used to bully people, and was not used to being bullied herself.
Instead, she kept herself busy organizing things at home, and dealing with foreign affairs. Settling royal marriages with the Palatinate and several other German minor states, recruiting new armies, and dealing with the Staten Generaal when it came to budgets for the army.
Despite an extra 10.000 Pomeranians arriving, Betsy could only conclude that their enemies were doing better - by 1577, there were 3 French and Savoyan armies of 30.000 men or more marching around, while the Scots and Dutch could barely field 2 of such armies. The French even manage to land an expedition of 11.000 men in Scottish held Kent.
Conferring with her husband, they decided that the French must be dealt a decisive blow, and sent several messengers to Scotland urging a common march on the French capital in order to force it to the negotiation table.
Just as the Scots agreed, they reported a new problem: England declared war on Scotland. Despite this new disaster, the Scots assured Louise/Betsy, they remained committed to the proposed march on Paris.
Louise/Betsy called her husband back to the Hague, urged her husband to be loyal to Scotland and declare war on England too. With a heavy heart, William agreed. Betsy/Louise also pointed out the needed for a secret service branch, something the Durtch were completely lacking. When her husband understood she meant espionage, he opposed her plans. The Dutch population, he explained, were partly staunchly reformed, and any public involvement of the government in lies, or other immoralities, would certainly find heavy opposition in the Staten Generaal. Betsy/Louise needed all her experience in handling men and in state affairs to convince him. The new service would be called the information service, and start by collecting reports of the numerous merchants in a central office. But additional sources would also be needed.
Meanwhile, Scotland was swamped under enemy troops: 28.000 English infantry, as well as the remnants of the French expedition.
A few months later, a tiny remnant of the Scottish army in France took Paris. As soon as the Amsterdam merchants heard this news, they made the Province of Holland agree to a token payment for peace, handing back Lorraine to French control - they loved peace, as war destroyed their trade.
A few weeks later it turns out that the Scots are more persistent, as they wrench control of Armorica and Tobago from France.
Scotland sends urgent requests for help, as the English by now control Kent, Bristol and Lincoln. The Scottish nobility is reported to already hold secret peace negotiations with England.
Louise/Betsy urges her husband to send a relief force to England, but it takes several years to recruit sufficient troops. But by 1580 the expedition sails and Pommerania also sends aid. Slowly the balance shifts, and by 1583 England is clearly on the defensive.
A new problem arises when In 1584, The Spanish ambassador declares war on the Netherlands. The declaration came as a surprise, stressing the need for extension of the information service.
William sent of a messenger for Scottish assistance. Soon half of Europe erupted in flames, as Scotland, Netherlands, Hessen, Pommerania are at war with Spain, Austria, Bavaria, Tuscany, Saxony and Hungary.
Betsy/Louise urged the Scots to accept peace with England, but they refuse. Betsy made a personal trip to Scotland to convince the Scottish king. James VI received her well, as might be expected of a close ally, offering her his own palace for the duration of her visit. A grand gala banquet is organized on her honor, and after it he invites her for a chat and a glass of wine in his private chambers. When he introduces himself as her classmate James, she admits:
"Hi, James, I am Betsy! You seem to be doing fine here!"
James grins:
"Not really, I am afraid. The English troops are defeated, partly due to your interference and those of the Pommeranians - which class mate runs Pommerania, by the way?"
"No idea - I guess I will have to visit them some day" The Scots turn out to have gained access to some very reasonable French wines, but Betsy also grabs a chance to taste some of the famous Scots whiskeys. Feeling she is getting tipsy, she diverts the talk away from politics to ordinary subjects as the weather, always a topic of conversation in any part of the world, and the situation at home. James behaves strangely clumsy, which amuses and softened her; by the end of the evening, Betsy was sure of her own feelings: she was definitely in love with him. Why, she wondered, did he not respond to the small signals she gave him? Was he too shy? Or was he in love with someone else?
As Betsy returns James agrees and accepts Wessex in exchange for peace.
Chaos spreads in the Netherlands as William of Orange is shot in Delft. Conferring with Johan van Oldenbarneveldt, landsadvocate of the province of Holland, Louise/Betsy suggests that Maurice, son of her belated husband, though just 17 years old, would be appointed as Stadtholder of Holland.
The boy has very bright ideas for a reorganization of the army, and van Oldenbarneveldt recognizes his great potential.
His genius is highly needed, as soon Austrian armies march in and control Holland, Zeeland and Luxembourg. Betsy/Louise takes refuge in Friesland, sending urgent messages to Scotland for help.
The Scots answer that they intend to send over an army, but they first need to rebuild their army in France. Meanwhile, they will try to hurt Spain in the new world.
Meanwhile the Dutch ambassador in Constantinople, not entirely understanding the situation at home, gets enraged over a Turkish refusal to let Dutch merchant ships pass through the straits of Marmora without paying passage. He single handedly writes a declaration of war to the Sultan.
When Maurits hears this news, he becomes desperate. War with Turkey means war not just with Turkey, but also with France. He makes Johan van Oldenbarneveldt send desperate requests for help to Edinburgh. Scotland remains loyal, but has not yet rebuild its army as it was in a constant struggle to suppress revolts.
Betsy Louise meanwhile quietly expands the Dutch secret service. One particular valuable informant is one Francois Viete, from Brittany by birth, fluent in Gaelic and French, in regular personal contact with the French King, as the kings crypto-analists, responsible for deciphering Spanish army messages.
Within a year, Scotland signs a separate peace with Spain, receiving the gold rich areas of Saltillo and Zacateas from Spain. Remembering the decisive battle for France in the previous war, the Scots take Paris and Picardy, and receive the latter for peace.
This does not help the Republic of the Seven Provinces very much. Maurits fails to drive the Austrians back, but does reach a stalemate, when suddenly the Amsterdam merchants sign their own separate peace with Austria, declaring that the Roman catholic faith is the preferred religion in Holland. Both van Oldenbarneveldt en Maurits are enraged. Their fury reaches new heights when news arrives that the merchants have also signed peace with France, giving up Artois.
This merchandise-before-everything policy of the Amsterdam merchants brings the country on the edge of civil war. Behind the screens, Betsy/Louise de Coligny holds meetings with all parties in the conflict. Slowly van Oldenbarneveldt gets his way. The merchants in Amsterdam agree that they are not entitled to sign peace treaties. They also promise to cough up significant funds to maintain the army. Maurits takes the only adjacent Spanish area, Champagne, and marches of to the east. In subsequent peace treaties in 1592, the Netherlands receive Anhalt from Saxony and Champagne from Spain, slightly making up for the loss of Artois.
Betsy decides to return to her own time and home.
She awakes in the "bathtub", as she calls it, where the food rich fluids have fed her body for the long period she lived on earth in the 16th century. With satisfaction she noticed her score had risen significantly:
SPA=1357
SCO= 826
TUR= 770
AUS= 666
POR= 463
HOL= 327
PRU= 298
SWE= 274
RUS= 270
FRA= 268
She rose from the bath, her muscles aching from the unusual exercise. The vibrators were supposed to keep the muscles in good trim, but it simply wasn't the same as regular movement. Walking out of the Command Cabin, which had housed her mindless body fro twenty years, she decided to have a drink in school first. Her mind had to settle slowly in this time and space again - her own world.
She noticed Cheryl sitting at a table with a tech - which stroke her as odd, as socializing of managerial people with techs was unusual, and Cheryl had always looked down more than anyone else in their class on techs, or brownies, as she loved to call them, referring to their brown suits.
"Human beings always keep surprising another", she concludes, going home.
And her political goals had been sooooo easy to realize. France was seething for revenge on Scotland and their Dutch allies after the latest war.
And when the Spanish king Carlos also visited Paris, with his wife, it became clear to every one in Europe that Great Things Were Afoot. Elizabeth returned to her own country, very satisfied.
Betsy experienced the opening of these Great Things when, having breakfast on a morning in 1575, she was sipping tea. Tea had become considerably cheaper since the Portuguese monopoly on tea had been broken by Dutch exploration of the east. The Dutch had skillfully send Dutch sailors to Portugal. Sailing on Portuguese ships, they had learned the sea routes and even more important, the places were fresh water and food could be obtained. Through the eyes of her host, Louise de Coligny, whom she controlled in this era, she looked at her husband, William of Orange.
The Great Things were announced by a merry looking French ambassador, who, after exchanging the necessary formalities, declared the formalities were over:
"Hereby I have the honor and duty to inform you that our king, Henry III, has decided to liberate the world of the pest of the Dutch merchants".
The diplomat bowed and left immediately.
William turned to his wife Louise:
"I am afraid we could have expected this, after the great conference in Paris two years ago"
That same day the representatives of Savoy, Turkey, the Knights and Venice followed the example of their French allies.
Betsy made her host, Louise de Coligny, suggest to her husband:
"We will have to call on our own allies, my dear."
Silently, William nodded. Envoys were sent off to Scotland, Pommerania and Hessen.
"The worst thing is that Amsterdam voted down last year the army budget. We have just a few thousand men, holding the fortresses and castles," he grumbled.
His fears were justified when reports came in: Artois was under siege of 62.000 French and Savoyan troops. William soon had recruiting started throughout all seven provinces, but it took time to train and assemble the troops. It was not before fall that William, at the head of 40.000 men, and accompanied by 7.000 Hessians, marched on Lorraine.
The Scots meanwhile had not been idle, their troops had layed siege to French Maine.
As Artois fell, the French turned to Scots held Caux, and the Scots took Maine and the Dutch, after taking Lorraine, started to retake Artois.
The Scots report that The Turk made a failed attempt to invade the Americas.
Louise/Betsy had wanted to follow her husband with the army, something William had forbidden her. Betsy highly regretted this outright refusal, and felt very angry. She had known sex based discrimination existed, but now found that reading about it was highly different from experiencing the same. Well, in her previous game she had been in Japan, and she had had to fight hard there too to get her way. After a few months she was ready to admit to herself that an additional reason for her angry emotions came from the fact that she was used to bully people, and was not used to being bullied herself.
Instead, she kept herself busy organizing things at home, and dealing with foreign affairs. Settling royal marriages with the Palatinate and several other German minor states, recruiting new armies, and dealing with the Staten Generaal when it came to budgets for the army.
Despite an extra 10.000 Pomeranians arriving, Betsy could only conclude that their enemies were doing better - by 1577, there were 3 French and Savoyan armies of 30.000 men or more marching around, while the Scots and Dutch could barely field 2 of such armies. The French even manage to land an expedition of 11.000 men in Scottish held Kent.
Conferring with her husband, they decided that the French must be dealt a decisive blow, and sent several messengers to Scotland urging a common march on the French capital in order to force it to the negotiation table.
Just as the Scots agreed, they reported a new problem: England declared war on Scotland. Despite this new disaster, the Scots assured Louise/Betsy, they remained committed to the proposed march on Paris.
Louise/Betsy called her husband back to the Hague, urged her husband to be loyal to Scotland and declare war on England too. With a heavy heart, William agreed. Betsy/Louise also pointed out the needed for a secret service branch, something the Durtch were completely lacking. When her husband understood she meant espionage, he opposed her plans. The Dutch population, he explained, were partly staunchly reformed, and any public involvement of the government in lies, or other immoralities, would certainly find heavy opposition in the Staten Generaal. Betsy/Louise needed all her experience in handling men and in state affairs to convince him. The new service would be called the information service, and start by collecting reports of the numerous merchants in a central office. But additional sources would also be needed.
Meanwhile, Scotland was swamped under enemy troops: 28.000 English infantry, as well as the remnants of the French expedition.
A few months later, a tiny remnant of the Scottish army in France took Paris. As soon as the Amsterdam merchants heard this news, they made the Province of Holland agree to a token payment for peace, handing back Lorraine to French control - they loved peace, as war destroyed their trade.
A few weeks later it turns out that the Scots are more persistent, as they wrench control of Armorica and Tobago from France.
Scotland sends urgent requests for help, as the English by now control Kent, Bristol and Lincoln. The Scottish nobility is reported to already hold secret peace negotiations with England.
Louise/Betsy urges her husband to send a relief force to England, but it takes several years to recruit sufficient troops. But by 1580 the expedition sails and Pommerania also sends aid. Slowly the balance shifts, and by 1583 England is clearly on the defensive.
A new problem arises when In 1584, The Spanish ambassador declares war on the Netherlands. The declaration came as a surprise, stressing the need for extension of the information service.
William sent of a messenger for Scottish assistance. Soon half of Europe erupted in flames, as Scotland, Netherlands, Hessen, Pommerania are at war with Spain, Austria, Bavaria, Tuscany, Saxony and Hungary.
Betsy/Louise urged the Scots to accept peace with England, but they refuse. Betsy made a personal trip to Scotland to convince the Scottish king. James VI received her well, as might be expected of a close ally, offering her his own palace for the duration of her visit. A grand gala banquet is organized on her honor, and after it he invites her for a chat and a glass of wine in his private chambers. When he introduces himself as her classmate James, she admits:
"Hi, James, I am Betsy! You seem to be doing fine here!"
James grins:
"Not really, I am afraid. The English troops are defeated, partly due to your interference and those of the Pommeranians - which class mate runs Pommerania, by the way?"
"No idea - I guess I will have to visit them some day" The Scots turn out to have gained access to some very reasonable French wines, but Betsy also grabs a chance to taste some of the famous Scots whiskeys. Feeling she is getting tipsy, she diverts the talk away from politics to ordinary subjects as the weather, always a topic of conversation in any part of the world, and the situation at home. James behaves strangely clumsy, which amuses and softened her; by the end of the evening, Betsy was sure of her own feelings: she was definitely in love with him. Why, she wondered, did he not respond to the small signals she gave him? Was he too shy? Or was he in love with someone else?
As Betsy returns James agrees and accepts Wessex in exchange for peace.
Chaos spreads in the Netherlands as William of Orange is shot in Delft. Conferring with Johan van Oldenbarneveldt, landsadvocate of the province of Holland, Louise/Betsy suggests that Maurice, son of her belated husband, though just 17 years old, would be appointed as Stadtholder of Holland.
The boy has very bright ideas for a reorganization of the army, and van Oldenbarneveldt recognizes his great potential.
His genius is highly needed, as soon Austrian armies march in and control Holland, Zeeland and Luxembourg. Betsy/Louise takes refuge in Friesland, sending urgent messages to Scotland for help.
The Scots answer that they intend to send over an army, but they first need to rebuild their army in France. Meanwhile, they will try to hurt Spain in the new world.
Meanwhile the Dutch ambassador in Constantinople, not entirely understanding the situation at home, gets enraged over a Turkish refusal to let Dutch merchant ships pass through the straits of Marmora without paying passage. He single handedly writes a declaration of war to the Sultan.
When Maurits hears this news, he becomes desperate. War with Turkey means war not just with Turkey, but also with France. He makes Johan van Oldenbarneveldt send desperate requests for help to Edinburgh. Scotland remains loyal, but has not yet rebuild its army as it was in a constant struggle to suppress revolts.
Betsy Louise meanwhile quietly expands the Dutch secret service. One particular valuable informant is one Francois Viete, from Brittany by birth, fluent in Gaelic and French, in regular personal contact with the French King, as the kings crypto-analists, responsible for deciphering Spanish army messages.
Within a year, Scotland signs a separate peace with Spain, receiving the gold rich areas of Saltillo and Zacateas from Spain. Remembering the decisive battle for France in the previous war, the Scots take Paris and Picardy, and receive the latter for peace.
This does not help the Republic of the Seven Provinces very much. Maurits fails to drive the Austrians back, but does reach a stalemate, when suddenly the Amsterdam merchants sign their own separate peace with Austria, declaring that the Roman catholic faith is the preferred religion in Holland. Both van Oldenbarneveldt en Maurits are enraged. Their fury reaches new heights when news arrives that the merchants have also signed peace with France, giving up Artois.
This merchandise-before-everything policy of the Amsterdam merchants brings the country on the edge of civil war. Behind the screens, Betsy/Louise de Coligny holds meetings with all parties in the conflict. Slowly van Oldenbarneveldt gets his way. The merchants in Amsterdam agree that they are not entitled to sign peace treaties. They also promise to cough up significant funds to maintain the army. Maurits takes the only adjacent Spanish area, Champagne, and marches of to the east. In subsequent peace treaties in 1592, the Netherlands receive Anhalt from Saxony and Champagne from Spain, slightly making up for the loss of Artois.
Betsy decides to return to her own time and home.
She awakes in the "bathtub", as she calls it, where the food rich fluids have fed her body for the long period she lived on earth in the 16th century. With satisfaction she noticed her score had risen significantly:
SPA=1357
SCO= 826
TUR= 770
AUS= 666
POR= 463
HOL= 327
PRU= 298
SWE= 274
RUS= 270
FRA= 268
She rose from the bath, her muscles aching from the unusual exercise. The vibrators were supposed to keep the muscles in good trim, but it simply wasn't the same as regular movement. Walking out of the Command Cabin, which had housed her mindless body fro twenty years, she decided to have a drink in school first. Her mind had to settle slowly in this time and space again - her own world.
She noticed Cheryl sitting at a table with a tech - which stroke her as odd, as socializing of managerial people with techs was unusual, and Cheryl had always looked down more than anyone else in their class on techs, or brownies, as she loved to call them, referring to their brown suits.
"Human beings always keep surprising another", she concludes, going home.
Cool.
Love is in the air
This one is just getting better and better
keep it comming
Love is in the air
This one is just getting better and better
keep it comming
Great to know, I hope that you will countinue it some day and in the mean time I am looking forward to your new one.Originally posted by CitizenPaul
No, I haven't forgotten this one.
James looked at the pretty girl who sipped from her lemonade, sitting at a terrace in front of one of the many restaurants in main street, Auburn district. She noticed him looking at her, and deliberately looked away. James walked on. He had been walking through the streets of the Auburn area of his home town for over half an hour. Auburn was a labor district, inhabited by techs, and not a management area. But it always had been full of nice cozy restaurants, street musicians, coffee bars, and funny little shops. The shops, restaurants and street musicians were still there, and for most eyes everything looked the same, except for fashion of course, which is different every year. But James eyes observed more: the people had changed. Less smiles, while in some glances cast at him he thought he noticed something angry, disgust, or even hate. There was no violence, but neither did it feel the same as the previous times he had roamed these streets. Generally, management class people could safely walk streets in labor districts, and techs could safely and freely walk through management districts. Never had there been any real animosity between the two groups, though intermarriages were rare and laborers, or technicians, as they were commonly referred to, always had less rights in practice than in theory.
James returned to his home. Tomorrow he would continue his study in the 16th century.
As he submerged in the feeding fluid, his mind started the trip to 17th century earth. The fictive 17th century earth, as the history class teacher had explained. Purely fiction, his teacher had stressed, computer generated. But James experience of awakening in another body had always been as if he had woken from sleep, and he felt that this contradicted to some degree with the purely fictional, computer-generated character of this world. He also wondered if the computers were powerful enough to generate a world with so much detail, so real life like, so many real looking people. If everything had been pure fiction, an imaginary world created by the computer, why did he always have some trouble to fight that other brain down? This time the ‘trip’ assumed even something of a trip. For a moment, he thought to observe stars and milky ways as his mind lost consciousness for a moment, than awoke in the brain of James VI, king of Scotland.
James looked around his council. His body was the body of James VI, king of Scotland. He was using his recent studies on the time aspects of projectmanagement in his own time and place to the fullest here, in 1615, Edinburgh castle. To impress the need for speed on the members of the Scottish war cabinet, all the walls in Edinburgh castle were covered with one item, in an endless variation: calendars. He spoke swiftly, vigorously and on a light tone:
“My dear sirs, one week ago the Spanish declared war on our Dutch allies. The Dutch asked us to honor our reformed alliance. The small German principality of Hessen has already done so. With the Spanish, we will have to defend against the Austrians, Genoese and Brandenburgers. May I presume for granted that we assist our allies against this unprovoked aggression?”
A general nodding of the assembled ministers, and muttered “yes” and “of course” were the response.
“Thank you, gentlemen.” James now spoke more slowly, stressing every word. “Spain is the most powerful nation in the world. No one but they themselves know the extent of their possessions in the new world. They have the largest army in all of Europe, the largest fleet, and the most money. It is whispered that the silver-fleets arriving every year from the new world, bring in more money than we earn with hard working every two years. With them is Austria, also ruled by a member of the Habsburg family.” James looked around. He still had the full attention of everyone in the castle hall. “Like Spain, Austria has a large army. Their army is well trained, and has recent experience against the Turks. After Spain and France, their army is the third largest in Europe.”
One of the ministers dared to remark: “Since the last war, Spain no longer holds a monopoly on the American gold fields. Our holdings in Zacatecas bring in over two hundred thousand ducats a year.”
James smiled: “Just a small portion of what Spain mines in the former Aztec empire. The previous war against Spain, Austria, Turkey and France did not go very well. It took all of our resources, and more.”
James now lowered his voice, speaking both softer and slower, so the men in the room were forced to listen well. “Our army has not yet been rebuild. We cannot afford a long war. Therefore, we must knock out one enemy soon. With soon, I don’t mean next year or the year after. I mean this year. I am talking months.”
Despite James voice, skilled and trained by centuries of future communication training, some men started whispering. James knew decisive wars of this length were regarded impossible. He looked straight into the eyes of one of the disagreeing nobles, the earl of Glencoe: “You think this is impossible, milord? Will you please allow me to explain the plans we made?”
The earl felt forced to nod.
“We will not strike Spain where they are strong. Our Dutch allies will stand alone on the continent. Our army in the former Aztec empire consists of 2000 cavalry and 8000 infantry. A small force. Very small. Spain is known to have 22,000 men under arms along our borders. They probably have an even larger force down in the south. Therefore, our army has been ordered to split into 3 separate forces. The cavalry will move as two small armies of a 1000 men each. They wont fight. They just take. They take everything they can. They take town after town, province after province. They avoid battles.” James looked around, his eyes twinkling, expecting opposition. But none dared raise his voice. James continued: “As province after province falls to them, the pressure on Felipe III will grow to sign a peace. Our demands will be modest. With Spain withdrawing from the war, Austria can be dealt with by out Allies.”
As James had hoped, the war in America was won within months. The cavalry took province after province of Spanish territory. Within months, Scottish delegates forced the Spanish diplomats to the negotiation table. But James hopes for a speedy peace treaty slowly melted away as The Spanish diplomats refused to give up anything. When France declared war upon Scotland, probably hoping to regain some of its territories, the Spanish delegates seemed to gain new hope. With most of Central America controlled by Scotland, they even refused to give up a single province.
On the continent, the war went from bad to bad. James thought long about the situation. All plans brooded out in the years before the war had floundered on Spanish stubbornness and diplomacy. After several weeks of indecisiveness, he decided he had paid insufficient attention to diplomacy – his old fault. He embarked for Sweden. The meeting with the Swedish monarch Gustav II Adolf, or more accurate, with his old school mate Bill, was a pleasant one. When he left, Sweden declared war on France. And they didn’t just declare war, they also sent a strong expeditionary force which landed in France. The French responded by sending troops to Swedish held Calais.
This gave the Dutch enough breathing space to capture some French provinces. With the general tide of the war changing, the Spanish also became more eager to strike a deal. By 1618, the Spanish signed a deal in which ownership of Michoagan and Tuxpan was transferred to Scotland: less than James had hoped for, but again a valuable gold province became the property of his beloved Scotland. But it was a separate deal, leaving the Dutch at war with the major European powers. The Dutch diplomats didn’t worry. The French were under heavy pressure, and ceded Artois to the Dutch. James responded by paying a symbolic amount of gold to the Austrians. With the arrogantly rich Dutch of their shoulders. The French defeat the Swedish expeditionary force, take Calais and have their hands free to throw their considerable armies against the Scots. On the continent neither side seems to be able to gain the upper hand, so James decides on a colonial strategy. The main problem in this regard is that the French have rich colonial holdings, but mostly trade posts or small colonies. But by 1622 the conquest of two small provinces by Scotland turns out to be sufficient to bring an end to an unprofitable war to Scotland, which absorbed too many resources which could better have been spent in the expansion of the original Scottish colonies.
The Spanish Dutch war remains a formal war till 1625. The Dutch conquered French Compte early in the war, and with this conquest the two powers divided France into two separated parts. The Spanish sacrifice this province, adding more territories to the already large Dutch holdings.
James wondered which highly talented pupil was running the Netherlands. Thrice he had now met a representative from his allies, and in all three cases he had felt the sure it was a classmate and a girl. But who? She had always refused to identify herself. The last person had been Margaretha van Mechelen, the extremely pretty mistress to Maurits van Nassau. Sometimes, in his sleep, he dreamt it was Cheryl, but then without reasonable cause some doubt kept gnawing at him.
It was in these days that Arran, James VI closest friend, died of an disease. It was one the things James had never gotten used to. On his own world, as on all other fifty worlds, viruses and bacteria had been eliminated from the start on. On his own planet, earth had always been regarded with distaste as the breeding place of numerous nameless diseases. He decided the man whose body he had taken over was more than able to rule Scotland without him. There was little challenge left for him in governing the country, and he decided to return.
His experience on the trip back home was even clearer than on his trip to earth – he clearly observed stars and nebulas, and objects he couldn’t identify. He decided to report this and question one of tech about this.
Once in his tube he took his time to regain his strength. Yes, he felt certain that it was a trip, perhaps voyage was a better word, if it involved travel to another planet. But which planet? 17th century earth?
After dressing he went to the cafeteria and took a cup of hot chocolate. He tried to order his thoughts. Which tech could provide him with the best information? And what would be the best way to extract information from him? No doubt the software engineers knew most about what was really going on inside the computer systems. And how could he get the information?
A quote from one of the ‘Psychological Lessons’ popped into his head.
He decided not to waste time. He put his finger on his watch, and ordered up the list of watches that were in the neighborhood – it showed, of course, a long list, and his thoughts ordered a selection on function=software engineer. The thoughts through his fingers were transmitted to his watch, and three names showed up. One had the added note: teamleader. Another showed: Dimension theorist. A third one head the specification: programmer. He pressed to ring the teamleader.
The person answered immediately. The display on his watch showed the face of a pretty woman. He told her he had just returned from a history lesson and asked to meet her.
She agreed to see him immediately and invited him to her office.
She turned out to be as pretty as she had shown up on the limited image on his watch. Her curly red hairs seemed natural, she wasn’t old, her waist was slim, and her smile radiant. She offered him a cup o’ coffee as a friendly welcome signal. He remembered that coffee was the trade mark of software developers.
“Hi, I am Karin. You are just back from the 17th century, I understand? Was it interesting?”
James sipped from the coffee. He remembered the fresh coffee taste in the 17th century, mad of beans grown in Mexico. They had tasted different, more bitter.
“Thank you. To be frank, the stay was less interesting than previous lessons. But worth all the same. The time I was in had just seen coffee introduced in Scotland. Did you know coffee originated in middle America?”
She smiled: “Of course we do. Earth, unimportant though it may be today, has a fascinating history. I am glad that our project contributes a bit to raising the esteem for the planet on which homo sapiens probably originated. Was there much difference in taste between then and now?”
“Sure! The original tastes have been softened, they tasted real bitter than. I understand that you, as the teamleader of the software, best understands the theory behind the project?”. James hoped to trigger her into proud to get her talkative.
“I know quit a bit about the theory. There may be a few questions which Jack, our theorist, knows most about. But ask your question, if I can’t answer it, we can consult Jack.”
“What is intriguing me most is: how does it operate? Our history teacher suggested that everything were just figments of computer generated bits, which found there origin in 17th century real life, but that our actions had no consequences for the people who lived in that period. What we understood from him was that the people we met there were just computer generated people, modeled after 17th century originals, and that everything we experienced as computer generated.”
She smiled her smile again.
“The theory is very abstract. Some say our Jack is the only person in fifty worlds who really understands it. To give you the essence: The entire universe can be viewed as a multidimensional Riemann fold in non-Euclidian space. Its curvature varies with time, speed, gravity and space. The curvature is most approximately described by Saphindugari’s formula, which unravels the space-time coordinates as a 37d subfold in a local time sack of an countable infinite dimensional universe., and…”
James was not certain if her smile originated from friendliness or from sarcasm. She noticed that James face had gone blank and she apologized:
“Sorry, I can’t put it much simpler than that. Did the history teacher give you the project initiation document we put together at the start of the project?”
“No. Could I please have one?” James hoped it would be more intelligible than this walking combination of beauty and mathematics.
“The mathematics of space time cosmology is very abstract, I admit, but not conceptually difficult.” She continued, walking to her computer in a corner of her office. “As you know, these history lessons are an experiment for a small privileged group of students. We have taken extravagant measures to prevent time disasters as from before the time wars a few centuries ago. We only marginally escaped our own destruction as the human race then.”
James grabbed new courage and recalled something about his interview lessons:
If a tech answers in the language of his specialty, this may be unavoidable. Either make him formulate his answer in understandable language, or learn to understand his business. Either way, be clear what answer you expect.
He decided to rephrase his question.
“What I meant to ask is: Are the people real or imaginary? And when we go back to the 17th century, do we really make a trip to 17th century earth, or is everything just bits calculated in the computer?”
She managed to frown and smile and the same time.
“I am afraid the theory does not delve into those questions. The programming is aimed at the realization of the theory. The concept of the lessons is to throw the students in a situation in which they can harmlessly exercise there hereditary management skills and learn history at the same time. To this end, the computer programs simulate and follow the occurrences of 37d space-time graviton-enertron waves. The programs keep track of the energy which keeps mind and body together, and passes thoughts and observations from 4d/37d coordinates on to the brain. Does that answer your question?”
He suspected her to avoid an answer, but wasn’t sure enough to ask her directly. He could imagine many reasons for her not to give a straight yes or no answer.
“Please give me a copy of the project initiation document,” he asked. “I presume the document is public?”
“Yes, else I wouldn’t offer it to you.”
James followed her to her computer, and watch as she called up a list of documents. Most were listed as public, others as ‘trusted’ or even ‘secret’. She selected one of them and send him to James.
“One more question”
A call on her phone interrupted him. “Yes, I come. Moment please.”
“Please wait.” She said. “I’ll be right back”.
She hurried out of the room. James looked at the titles of the remaining documents: ‘On the submanifolds of space time.’, ‘The history project in political perspective’, ‘The structure of space time and randomness according to Naghu-Rarajov-Zing’, ‘The risks of time-space collisions managed’, ‘programming the equations of arbitrariness, part 3’. He looked around, selected the documents called ‘The history project in political perspective’ and ‘The risks of time-space collisions managed’ and send them to himself. Both were marked ‘trusted’, but he ignored his conscience by assuming that that note was just for techs, not for managers.
Karin returned within a minute. James said:
“I wondered if anything has changed. At the start, every time it was like sleeping in here and now, and getting awake there and then. But the last time I saw stars and nebulas, just like I was making a trip.”
She shook her head.
“Probably just a temporary local discurvature in the energy state. We will monitor.”
James returned to his home. Tomorrow he would continue his study in the 16th century.
As he submerged in the feeding fluid, his mind started the trip to 17th century earth. The fictive 17th century earth, as the history class teacher had explained. Purely fiction, his teacher had stressed, computer generated. But James experience of awakening in another body had always been as if he had woken from sleep, and he felt that this contradicted to some degree with the purely fictional, computer-generated character of this world. He also wondered if the computers were powerful enough to generate a world with so much detail, so real life like, so many real looking people. If everything had been pure fiction, an imaginary world created by the computer, why did he always have some trouble to fight that other brain down? This time the ‘trip’ assumed even something of a trip. For a moment, he thought to observe stars and milky ways as his mind lost consciousness for a moment, than awoke in the brain of James VI, king of Scotland.
James looked around his council. His body was the body of James VI, king of Scotland. He was using his recent studies on the time aspects of projectmanagement in his own time and place to the fullest here, in 1615, Edinburgh castle. To impress the need for speed on the members of the Scottish war cabinet, all the walls in Edinburgh castle were covered with one item, in an endless variation: calendars. He spoke swiftly, vigorously and on a light tone:
“My dear sirs, one week ago the Spanish declared war on our Dutch allies. The Dutch asked us to honor our reformed alliance. The small German principality of Hessen has already done so. With the Spanish, we will have to defend against the Austrians, Genoese and Brandenburgers. May I presume for granted that we assist our allies against this unprovoked aggression?”
A general nodding of the assembled ministers, and muttered “yes” and “of course” were the response.
“Thank you, gentlemen.” James now spoke more slowly, stressing every word. “Spain is the most powerful nation in the world. No one but they themselves know the extent of their possessions in the new world. They have the largest army in all of Europe, the largest fleet, and the most money. It is whispered that the silver-fleets arriving every year from the new world, bring in more money than we earn with hard working every two years. With them is Austria, also ruled by a member of the Habsburg family.” James looked around. He still had the full attention of everyone in the castle hall. “Like Spain, Austria has a large army. Their army is well trained, and has recent experience against the Turks. After Spain and France, their army is the third largest in Europe.”
One of the ministers dared to remark: “Since the last war, Spain no longer holds a monopoly on the American gold fields. Our holdings in Zacatecas bring in over two hundred thousand ducats a year.”
James smiled: “Just a small portion of what Spain mines in the former Aztec empire. The previous war against Spain, Austria, Turkey and France did not go very well. It took all of our resources, and more.”
James now lowered his voice, speaking both softer and slower, so the men in the room were forced to listen well. “Our army has not yet been rebuild. We cannot afford a long war. Therefore, we must knock out one enemy soon. With soon, I don’t mean next year or the year after. I mean this year. I am talking months.”
Despite James voice, skilled and trained by centuries of future communication training, some men started whispering. James knew decisive wars of this length were regarded impossible. He looked straight into the eyes of one of the disagreeing nobles, the earl of Glencoe: “You think this is impossible, milord? Will you please allow me to explain the plans we made?”
The earl felt forced to nod.
“We will not strike Spain where they are strong. Our Dutch allies will stand alone on the continent. Our army in the former Aztec empire consists of 2000 cavalry and 8000 infantry. A small force. Very small. Spain is known to have 22,000 men under arms along our borders. They probably have an even larger force down in the south. Therefore, our army has been ordered to split into 3 separate forces. The cavalry will move as two small armies of a 1000 men each. They wont fight. They just take. They take everything they can. They take town after town, province after province. They avoid battles.” James looked around, his eyes twinkling, expecting opposition. But none dared raise his voice. James continued: “As province after province falls to them, the pressure on Felipe III will grow to sign a peace. Our demands will be modest. With Spain withdrawing from the war, Austria can be dealt with by out Allies.”
As James had hoped, the war in America was won within months. The cavalry took province after province of Spanish territory. Within months, Scottish delegates forced the Spanish diplomats to the negotiation table. But James hopes for a speedy peace treaty slowly melted away as The Spanish diplomats refused to give up anything. When France declared war upon Scotland, probably hoping to regain some of its territories, the Spanish delegates seemed to gain new hope. With most of Central America controlled by Scotland, they even refused to give up a single province.
On the continent, the war went from bad to bad. James thought long about the situation. All plans brooded out in the years before the war had floundered on Spanish stubbornness and diplomacy. After several weeks of indecisiveness, he decided he had paid insufficient attention to diplomacy – his old fault. He embarked for Sweden. The meeting with the Swedish monarch Gustav II Adolf, or more accurate, with his old school mate Bill, was a pleasant one. When he left, Sweden declared war on France. And they didn’t just declare war, they also sent a strong expeditionary force which landed in France. The French responded by sending troops to Swedish held Calais.
This gave the Dutch enough breathing space to capture some French provinces. With the general tide of the war changing, the Spanish also became more eager to strike a deal. By 1618, the Spanish signed a deal in which ownership of Michoagan and Tuxpan was transferred to Scotland: less than James had hoped for, but again a valuable gold province became the property of his beloved Scotland. But it was a separate deal, leaving the Dutch at war with the major European powers. The Dutch diplomats didn’t worry. The French were under heavy pressure, and ceded Artois to the Dutch. James responded by paying a symbolic amount of gold to the Austrians. With the arrogantly rich Dutch of their shoulders. The French defeat the Swedish expeditionary force, take Calais and have their hands free to throw their considerable armies against the Scots. On the continent neither side seems to be able to gain the upper hand, so James decides on a colonial strategy. The main problem in this regard is that the French have rich colonial holdings, but mostly trade posts or small colonies. But by 1622 the conquest of two small provinces by Scotland turns out to be sufficient to bring an end to an unprofitable war to Scotland, which absorbed too many resources which could better have been spent in the expansion of the original Scottish colonies.
The Spanish Dutch war remains a formal war till 1625. The Dutch conquered French Compte early in the war, and with this conquest the two powers divided France into two separated parts. The Spanish sacrifice this province, adding more territories to the already large Dutch holdings.
James wondered which highly talented pupil was running the Netherlands. Thrice he had now met a representative from his allies, and in all three cases he had felt the sure it was a classmate and a girl. But who? She had always refused to identify herself. The last person had been Margaretha van Mechelen, the extremely pretty mistress to Maurits van Nassau. Sometimes, in his sleep, he dreamt it was Cheryl, but then without reasonable cause some doubt kept gnawing at him.
It was in these days that Arran, James VI closest friend, died of an disease. It was one the things James had never gotten used to. On his own world, as on all other fifty worlds, viruses and bacteria had been eliminated from the start on. On his own planet, earth had always been regarded with distaste as the breeding place of numerous nameless diseases. He decided the man whose body he had taken over was more than able to rule Scotland without him. There was little challenge left for him in governing the country, and he decided to return.
His experience on the trip back home was even clearer than on his trip to earth – he clearly observed stars and nebulas, and objects he couldn’t identify. He decided to report this and question one of tech about this.
Once in his tube he took his time to regain his strength. Yes, he felt certain that it was a trip, perhaps voyage was a better word, if it involved travel to another planet. But which planet? 17th century earth?
After dressing he went to the cafeteria and took a cup of hot chocolate. He tried to order his thoughts. Which tech could provide him with the best information? And what would be the best way to extract information from him? No doubt the software engineers knew most about what was really going on inside the computer systems. And how could he get the information?
A quote from one of the ‘Psychological Lessons’ popped into his head.
A persons self esteem may depend on many issues. If all basic needs as food, clothing, and shelter, also grouped together as security in Mazlov's Hierarchy of needs, are met, the needs to be accepted and to raise self esteem often become central demands.
He decided not to waste time. He put his finger on his watch, and ordered up the list of watches that were in the neighborhood – it showed, of course, a long list, and his thoughts ordered a selection on function=software engineer. The thoughts through his fingers were transmitted to his watch, and three names showed up. One had the added note: teamleader. Another showed: Dimension theorist. A third one head the specification: programmer. He pressed to ring the teamleader.
The person answered immediately. The display on his watch showed the face of a pretty woman. He told her he had just returned from a history lesson and asked to meet her.
She agreed to see him immediately and invited him to her office.
She turned out to be as pretty as she had shown up on the limited image on his watch. Her curly red hairs seemed natural, she wasn’t old, her waist was slim, and her smile radiant. She offered him a cup o’ coffee as a friendly welcome signal. He remembered that coffee was the trade mark of software developers.
“Hi, I am Karin. You are just back from the 17th century, I understand? Was it interesting?”
James sipped from the coffee. He remembered the fresh coffee taste in the 17th century, mad of beans grown in Mexico. They had tasted different, more bitter.
“Thank you. To be frank, the stay was less interesting than previous lessons. But worth all the same. The time I was in had just seen coffee introduced in Scotland. Did you know coffee originated in middle America?”
She smiled: “Of course we do. Earth, unimportant though it may be today, has a fascinating history. I am glad that our project contributes a bit to raising the esteem for the planet on which homo sapiens probably originated. Was there much difference in taste between then and now?”
“Sure! The original tastes have been softened, they tasted real bitter than. I understand that you, as the teamleader of the software, best understands the theory behind the project?”. James hoped to trigger her into proud to get her talkative.
“I know quit a bit about the theory. There may be a few questions which Jack, our theorist, knows most about. But ask your question, if I can’t answer it, we can consult Jack.”
“What is intriguing me most is: how does it operate? Our history teacher suggested that everything were just figments of computer generated bits, which found there origin in 17th century real life, but that our actions had no consequences for the people who lived in that period. What we understood from him was that the people we met there were just computer generated people, modeled after 17th century originals, and that everything we experienced as computer generated.”
She smiled her smile again.
“The theory is very abstract. Some say our Jack is the only person in fifty worlds who really understands it. To give you the essence: The entire universe can be viewed as a multidimensional Riemann fold in non-Euclidian space. Its curvature varies with time, speed, gravity and space. The curvature is most approximately described by Saphindugari’s formula, which unravels the space-time coordinates as a 37d subfold in a local time sack of an countable infinite dimensional universe., and…”
James was not certain if her smile originated from friendliness or from sarcasm. She noticed that James face had gone blank and she apologized:
“Sorry, I can’t put it much simpler than that. Did the history teacher give you the project initiation document we put together at the start of the project?”
“No. Could I please have one?” James hoped it would be more intelligible than this walking combination of beauty and mathematics.
“The mathematics of space time cosmology is very abstract, I admit, but not conceptually difficult.” She continued, walking to her computer in a corner of her office. “As you know, these history lessons are an experiment for a small privileged group of students. We have taken extravagant measures to prevent time disasters as from before the time wars a few centuries ago. We only marginally escaped our own destruction as the human race then.”
James grabbed new courage and recalled something about his interview lessons:
If a tech answers in the language of his specialty, this may be unavoidable. Either make him formulate his answer in understandable language, or learn to understand his business. Either way, be clear what answer you expect.
He decided to rephrase his question.
“What I meant to ask is: Are the people real or imaginary? And when we go back to the 17th century, do we really make a trip to 17th century earth, or is everything just bits calculated in the computer?”
She managed to frown and smile and the same time.
“I am afraid the theory does not delve into those questions. The programming is aimed at the realization of the theory. The concept of the lessons is to throw the students in a situation in which they can harmlessly exercise there hereditary management skills and learn history at the same time. To this end, the computer programs simulate and follow the occurrences of 37d space-time graviton-enertron waves. The programs keep track of the energy which keeps mind and body together, and passes thoughts and observations from 4d/37d coordinates on to the brain. Does that answer your question?”
He suspected her to avoid an answer, but wasn’t sure enough to ask her directly. He could imagine many reasons for her not to give a straight yes or no answer.
“Please give me a copy of the project initiation document,” he asked. “I presume the document is public?”
“Yes, else I wouldn’t offer it to you.”
James followed her to her computer, and watch as she called up a list of documents. Most were listed as public, others as ‘trusted’ or even ‘secret’. She selected one of them and send him to James.
“One more question”
A call on her phone interrupted him. “Yes, I come. Moment please.”
“Please wait.” She said. “I’ll be right back”.
She hurried out of the room. James looked at the titles of the remaining documents: ‘On the submanifolds of space time.’, ‘The history project in political perspective’, ‘The structure of space time and randomness according to Naghu-Rarajov-Zing’, ‘The risks of time-space collisions managed’, ‘programming the equations of arbitrariness, part 3’. He looked around, selected the documents called ‘The history project in political perspective’ and ‘The risks of time-space collisions managed’ and send them to himself. Both were marked ‘trusted’, but he ignored his conscience by assuming that that note was just for techs, not for managers.
Karin returned within a minute. James said:
“I wondered if anything has changed. At the start, every time it was like sleeping in here and now, and getting awake there and then. But the last time I saw stars and nebulas, just like I was making a trip.”
She shook her head.
“Probably just a temporary local discurvature in the energy state. We will monitor.”
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Uh oh! AAR losing it, emergency! emergency! *inject more live giving substance to mindless body* Ok, we're getting it back, AAR's health becoming stable again. The nurse muttered to herself "the body has been inactive for too long..."
Damn, I love this AAR
Damn, I love this AAR
I hope to put up the map when I get home. Thx for your reactions - its what motivates me to write these long stories.
"Is this AAR real or imaginary? And when we read it do we go back to the 17th century, do we really make a trip to 17th century earth, or is everything just bits calculated in the computer?”
i couldn't resist...thanks for picking it up and getting through the wall. thanks
i couldn't resist...thanks for picking it up and getting through the wall. thanks
Good to see this one going again. I have read it a few times and I like it every time!
And then I thought that this thread had just 1 reader....
OK, I'll start writing the next issue!
OK, I'll start writing the next issue!
James went home, thoroughly dissatisfied with his interview. He realized he had gotten no information at all. Nothing which was usable, at least. The woman had tried to explain everything, and he hadn’t understood the tiniest bit. Perhaps he had even allowed her to deliberately throw a bunch of fake science words at him. Perhaps, now he had gone, they were having a big laugh at him. Of course they had exercised interview techniques at school. The school had hired actors and real techs to simulate real life situations. He had forgotten about every lesson. Don’t give up until you know what you want, Guggenheims advice in chapter 3. And When the interviewed person keeps being vague, ask yes/no questions to pin point him. And: When something is not clear, say so.. He had ignored them all. Bathing in self reproach he walked home.
At home, his mother prepared him a warm welcome after several years absence. His father was home too. At dinner his mother wanted to talk about the upcoming weekend, but his father urged James to tell about his Scottish exploits.
“There was a letter from school” His father told him, “saying there is a meeting next week for everyone in your class – unless you are still in the past.”
“I saw it – everyone got to prepare a short report on the lessons so far”.
Soon the conversation drifted away to everyday topics. His mother took the opportunity to remark that the Luigi’s would be over for the dinner in the weekend.
James frowned: The Luigi’s, that was Betsy. “Mum, is this a new attempt to make Betsy and me a couple?”
“The Luigi’s are very important people, James” his mother replied. Betsy’s father is first chairman of planetary security and safety, while her mother held a similar position at the office of HRM before she decided to devote her full attention to raising their three kids.”
James replied dryly: “Mum, you still haven’t answer my question.”
“Uh, what question?”
“If this visit is just a coy to get me and Betsy together.”
“I really don’t understand what you’ve got against her. She is sweet, has a strong character, and is from an excellent family.”
“She is plump” replied James cruel. He hesitated a moment while his thoughts raced to collect more nasty characteristics of her. “She is plump. As plump as a plum pudding. And she is bossy!”
His mother shook her head:
“I wouldn’t call her plump. Stout might be a better word. I am sure there isn’t much fat on her body. But she is strong, very muscled, and she has a very strong character.”
James compared her in his thoughts with the ever pretty, slim Cheryl, and replied sourly:
“Well, in my eyes she looks like a plum pudding and in my eyes she is bossy, and I don’t like bossy girls.”
At home, his mother prepared him a warm welcome after several years absence. His father was home too. At dinner his mother wanted to talk about the upcoming weekend, but his father urged James to tell about his Scottish exploits.
“There was a letter from school” His father told him, “saying there is a meeting next week for everyone in your class – unless you are still in the past.”
“I saw it – everyone got to prepare a short report on the lessons so far”.
Soon the conversation drifted away to everyday topics. His mother took the opportunity to remark that the Luigi’s would be over for the dinner in the weekend.
James frowned: The Luigi’s, that was Betsy. “Mum, is this a new attempt to make Betsy and me a couple?”
“The Luigi’s are very important people, James” his mother replied. Betsy’s father is first chairman of planetary security and safety, while her mother held a similar position at the office of HRM before she decided to devote her full attention to raising their three kids.”
James replied dryly: “Mum, you still haven’t answer my question.”
“Uh, what question?”
“If this visit is just a coy to get me and Betsy together.”
“I really don’t understand what you’ve got against her. She is sweet, has a strong character, and is from an excellent family.”
“She is plump” replied James cruel. He hesitated a moment while his thoughts raced to collect more nasty characteristics of her. “She is plump. As plump as a plum pudding. And she is bossy!”
His mother shook her head:
“I wouldn’t call her plump. Stout might be a better word. I am sure there isn’t much fat on her body. But she is strong, very muscled, and she has a very strong character.”
James compared her in his thoughts with the ever pretty, slim Cheryl, and replied sourly:
“Well, in my eyes she looks like a plum pudding and in my eyes she is bossy, and I don’t like bossy girls.”
An excellent and marvelous story that tickles the imagination. This is truley a piece of art!
The ‘bossy plum pudding’ happened to have dinner at the same time, having returned home the same day as James.
“No way, Jim!” her mother warned her father. “Tonight you stay at home! Betsy has been away for years, tonight you stay home and spend time with the family.”
Her mother used that tone in her voice which should have warned her father that her decision was final. But he was made of sterner stuff than to accept his wife’s decision without discussion.
“You know full well, my dear, that planetary safety and security management requires my full attention. All days a month, all hours a day. We are managers and must give examples in responsibility.”
“Planetary security, wipe my feet!” his wife replied. “You know full well” (Betsy noticed the mimicking in her voice) “The management principle that no organization may be dependant on a single person. If the planetary safety and security depends on the availability of my poor husband, he organized his job pretty bad. So just postpone that meeting of tonight till tomorrow!”
Her mother ended her sentence with a tone that indicated she regarded the matter as settled. Her father ignored it.
“My dear, you must understand…”
“You must understand,” her mother interrupted him, “that your family should mean more to you than your career. “
Betsy watched the battle-of-words between them with interest. Both her parents were stubborn people, still they always managed to find a way out.
“I cannot have mr. Olivaw, an important representative from Aurora, wasting his time. You know full well that Aurora is the most important planet of the Fifty Worlds. We are glad they again have made their foremost security expert available for us. Our internal security is at stake, we received several warnings over the past few years. Tonight I will have to discuss the situation with him and Sylvie O’Connor, our planetary HRM manager.“
“If you don’t want to keep him waiting, invite him over here. It will be good for Betsy to meet and network with people from one of the other worlds.”
“My dear, this matter should not be postponed.”
“That’s no reason why you should go out to the office. Invite him or her over here, and allow us to enjoy our company – if it’s absolutely necessary that you sacrifice our evening to work, of which I am still not convinced.”
“It’s secret, my dear, you shouldn’t know about it.”
“Secret, my shoes. If you invite a foreigner, it can’t be that secret. Either you have the meeting here in house, with us present, or you don’t have it at all. And that’s final.”
Her dad knew when he had lost and accepted.
“OK, honey. Perhaps you are right. I will invite him and Sylvie over here tonight.”
“No way, Jim!” her mother warned her father. “Tonight you stay at home! Betsy has been away for years, tonight you stay home and spend time with the family.”
Her mother used that tone in her voice which should have warned her father that her decision was final. But he was made of sterner stuff than to accept his wife’s decision without discussion.
“You know full well, my dear, that planetary safety and security management requires my full attention. All days a month, all hours a day. We are managers and must give examples in responsibility.”
“Planetary security, wipe my feet!” his wife replied. “You know full well” (Betsy noticed the mimicking in her voice) “The management principle that no organization may be dependant on a single person. If the planetary safety and security depends on the availability of my poor husband, he organized his job pretty bad. So just postpone that meeting of tonight till tomorrow!”
Her mother ended her sentence with a tone that indicated she regarded the matter as settled. Her father ignored it.
“My dear, you must understand…”
“You must understand,” her mother interrupted him, “that your family should mean more to you than your career. “
Betsy watched the battle-of-words between them with interest. Both her parents were stubborn people, still they always managed to find a way out.
“I cannot have mr. Olivaw, an important representative from Aurora, wasting his time. You know full well that Aurora is the most important planet of the Fifty Worlds. We are glad they again have made their foremost security expert available for us. Our internal security is at stake, we received several warnings over the past few years. Tonight I will have to discuss the situation with him and Sylvie O’Connor, our planetary HRM manager.“
“If you don’t want to keep him waiting, invite him over here. It will be good for Betsy to meet and network with people from one of the other worlds.”
“My dear, this matter should not be postponed.”
“That’s no reason why you should go out to the office. Invite him or her over here, and allow us to enjoy our company – if it’s absolutely necessary that you sacrifice our evening to work, of which I am still not convinced.”
“It’s secret, my dear, you shouldn’t know about it.”
“Secret, my shoes. If you invite a foreigner, it can’t be that secret. Either you have the meeting here in house, with us present, or you don’t have it at all. And that’s final.”
Her dad knew when he had lost and accepted.
“OK, honey. Perhaps you are right. I will invite him and Sylvie over here tonight.”
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