Arthur Clarke - The Ghost from the Grand Banks

That’s asking a lot from a ten-year-old, thought Bradley—even one like this; but the girl never hesitated, and there was no trace of mechanical repetition in her voice. She understood the words, and spoke from the heart:

“ ‘The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand wrapt in awe, is as good as dead.’ ”

I’ll go along with that, thought Bradley. He remembered calm nights in the Pacific, with a sky full of stars and a glimmering trail of bioluminescence behind the ship; he recalled his first glimpse of the teeming life-forms—as alien as any from another planet—gathered around the scalding cornucopia of a Galápagos mid-ocean vent, where the continents were slowly tearing apart; and he hoped that before long he would feel awe and wonder again, when the tremendous knife edge of Titanic ’s prow came looming up out of the abyss.

The dance of colors ceased: the M-Set faded out. Although nothing had ever been really there, he could somehow sense that the virtual screen of the holograph projector had switched off.

“So now,” said Donald, “you know more about the Mandelbrot Set than you want to.” He glanced momentarily at Edith, and once again Bradley felt that twinge of sympathy toward him.

It was not at all the feeling he had expected, when he came to Conroy Castle; “envy” would have been a better word. Here was a man with great wealth, a beautiful home, and a talented and attractive family—all the ingredients which were supposed to guarantee happiness. Yet something had obviously gone wrong. I wonder, Bradley thought, how long it is since they went to bed together. It could be as simple as that—though that , of course, was seldom simple…

Once again he glanced at his watch; they must think he was deliberately avoiding the issue—and they were perfectly right. Hurry up, Mr. Director-General! he pleaded silently.

As if on cue, he felt the familiar tingling in his wrist.

“Excuse me,” he said to his hosts. “I’ve a very important call coming through. It will only take a minute.”

“Of course. We’ll leave you to it.”

How many million times a day this ritual was now carried out! Strict etiquette dictated that everyone else offer to leave the room when a personal call was coming through; politeness demanded that only the recipient leave, with apologies to all. There were countless variations according to circumstances and nationalities. In Japan, so Kato was fond of complaining, the formalities often lasted so long that the caller hung up in disgust.

“Sorry for the interruption,” Bradley said as he came back in through the French windows. “That was about our business—I couldn’t give you a decision until I’d received it.”

“I hope it’s a favorable one,” said Donald. “We need you.”

“And I would like to work with you—but—”

“Parky’s made you a better offer,” said Edith, with scarcely veiled contempt.

Bradley looked at her calmly, and answered without rancor.

“No, Mrs. Craig. Please keep these figures confidential. The Parkinson group’s offer was generous—but it was only half of yours. And the offer which I’ve just received is much less than one tenth of that. Nevertheless, I’m considering it very seriously.”

There was a resounding silence, broken at last by an uncharacteristic giggle from Ada.

“You must be crazy,” said Edith. Donald merely grinned.

“You may be right. But I’ve reached the stage when I don’t need the money, though it’s always good to have some around.” He paused, and chuckled softly.

“Enough is enough. I don’t know if you ever heard the wisecrack that Titanic ’s most famous casualty, J. J. Astor, once made: “A man who has a million dollars is as well off as one who is rich.” Well, I’ve made a few million during my career, and some of it’s still in the bank. I don’t really need any more; and if I do, I can always go down and tickle another octopus.

“I didn’t plan this—it was a bolt from the blue—two days ago I’d already decided to accept your offer.”

Edith now seemed more perplexed than hostile.

“Can you tell us who’s… underbid Nippon-Turner?”

Bradley shook his head. “Give me a couple of days; there are still a few problems, and I don’t want to fall between three stools.”

“I think I understand,” said Donald. “There’s only one reason to work for peanuts. Every man owes something to his profession.”

“That sounds like a quotation.”

“It is: Dr. Johnson.”

“I like it; I may be using it a lot, in the next few weeks. Meanwhile, before I make a final decision, I want a little time to think matters over. Again, many thanks for your hospitality—not to mention your offer. I may yet accept it—but if not, I hope we can still be friends.”

As he lifted away from the castle, the downwash of the helicopter ruffled the waters of Lake Mandelbrot, shattering the reflections of the cypresses. He was contemplating the biggest break in his career; before he made his decision, he needed to relax completely.

And he knew exactly how to do that.

Even the coming of hypersonic transportation had not done much to change the status of New Zealand; to most people it was merely the last stop before the South Pole. The great majority of New Zealanders were quite content to keep it that way.

Evelyn Merrick was one of the exceptions, and had defected at the (in her case, very) ripe age of seventeen to find her destiny elsewhere. After three marriages which had left her emotionally scarred but financially secure, she had discovered her role in life, and was as happy as anyone could reasonably expect to be.

The Villa, as it was known to her wide-ranging clientele, was on a beautiful estate in one of the still unspoiled parts of Kent, conveniently close to Gatwick Airport. Its previous owner had been a celebrated media tycoon, who had placed his bet on the wrong system when high-definition TV swept all before it at the end of the twentieth century. Later attempts to restore his fortune had misfired, and he was now a guest of His Majesty’s government for the next five years (assuming time off for good behavior).

Being a man of high moral standards, he was quite indignant about the use which Dame Eva had now made of his property, and had even attempted to dislodge her. However, Eva’s lawyers were just as good as his; perhaps better, since she was still at liberty, and had every intention of remaining so.

The Villa was run with meticulous propriety, the girls” passports, tax returns, health and pension contributions, medical records, and so forth being instantly available to any government inspector—of whom, Dame Eva sometimes remarked sourly, there always seemed to be a copious supply. If any ever came in the hope of personal gratification, they were sadly disappointed.

On the whole, it was a rewarding career, full of emotional and intellectual stimulus. She certainly had no ethical problems, having long ago decided that anything enjoyed by adults of voting age was perfectly acceptable, as long as it was not dangerous, unhygienic, or fattening. Her main cause of complaint was that involvement with clients caused a high rate of staff turnover, with resulting heavy expenditure on wedding presents. She had also observed that Villa-inspired marriages appeared to last longer than those with more conventional origins, and intended to publish a statistical survey when she was quite sure of her data; at the moment the correlation coefficient was still below the level of significance.