The Great Escape Chapter 15, Part 9 of 11

The Great Escape
Chapter 15, Part 9 of 11

"Vesta?" Hestia asked.

"Ezra told me your name was Vesta. Roger, why would Ezra give Hestia the name Vesta?"

"Classical mythology, Darling. Hestia was the Greek goddess of the hearth, and Vesta was her Roman equivalent. I think he was having fun, too. The most famous thing people know about Vesta is that the company of priestesses who served her were called the Vestal Virgins."

"Virgins! Ha!" Hestia laughed. "Was Hestia a virgin goddess?"

"Yes."

"I didn't know. I only chose 'Hestia' because I liked the sound."

She paused a second, then she said to Danielle:

"Send your husband to the bar, and let's chat, woman to woman."

Roger obeyed, collecting their drink orders and taking his time to talk pointlessly to the slow barman, giving the women time to get to know each other.

"I can tell you disapprove of me," Hestia began.

"I said nothing," Danielle protested.

"You didn't need to: your eyes said it all. I don't mind. I could justify myself to you, but I won't.

What I do isn't respectable on Earth but respectable here. It's legal, and it serves a need. I make a good living and am proud of what I do."

"I'm not judging you."

"Well, you should. It's inhuman not to judge."

Hestia smiled, leaning back in her chair, friendly and relaxed.

"Come on, Danielle. Ask me whatever you want. I know you're curious."

Danielle wasn't curious about Hestia, but she wanted to know more about Hestia's relationship with her brother. It seemed to be something more than just a causal relationship between a prostitute and a punter. Doubtless, Ezra visited many whores on many different worlds: her image of him as a knight errant in stainless armor was gone forever, yet the question remained: why did Ezra pretend that this woman was his girlfriend? What was so special about Hestia?

"I don't want you to justify yourself," Danielle said. "I want you to justify Ezra."

Hestia laughed.

"Ezra's armor is looking a little stained, is it?"

Danielle's surprised look revealed exactly how well Hestia had read her mind. She laughed again.

"It's the easiest thing in the world to justify Ezra. What's the alternative: break some nice girl's heart by leaving her to pine at home while he shags his way across the galaxy?"

"He'd never do that!"

"He's a man; he has urged. Of course, he'd do that if he hadn't decided to keep his sexual relationships pain-free and professional. Ezra is a good man, Danielle. He's considerate, generous, honest, and exactly the man you know him to be. Because of his virtues, he fulfills his needs with someone who won't be hurt when he leaves the next day and may never return."

Danielle wasn't convinced.

"There are prospectors who are married and stay loyal to their wives," she insisted.

"I doubt it," Hestia replied cynically. "You could also say there are women prospectors and married couples who prospect together. However, there are few of them, and none of the women want to settle down and have families. I guess that Ezra ultimately wants to settle down. I think I recall him saying so."

This was true. Danielle knew that, at their mother's insistence, Ezra had agreed this trip would be his last and that, when he got home, he would find a woman to marry and raise children or, if he didn't see one himself, then Mariotta would do so for him.

"Face it," Hestia persisted: "Most women who fall for prospectors end up heartbroken. Either her lover cheats on her, or he gets killed. In both cases, she's left at home, lonely and sad. It's more chivalrous for him not to entangle a woman in a romantic relationship. Ezra is a gentleman here - besides keeping me and my kind in business, oiling the wheels of outworld commerce, you know. It's his heart you should be worried about."

"What do you mean?" Danielle asked, knowing full well what Hestia meant.

"It's a cliché that customers fall in love with Entertainers," Hestia explained, "especially ones they continually return to, but Entertainers never fall in love with their customers."

Danielle remained silent.

"I know you've asked yourself why Ezra pretended to you that I was his girlfriend."

Suddenly, Danielle didn't want to think about it anymore; now, it seemed inescapable that
Hestia had a romantic hold over Ezra. Instead, she asked:

"How long have you known my brother?"

"Fifteen years, more or less."

"You're not old enough."

"I had my first rejuvenation therapy at age twenty-five."

"Golly! Do they do it that early?"

"If you pay enough. I had my second at age thirty."

Danielle was partly impressed and partly shocked. Hestia must earn a fortune to have two rejuvenation treatments.

"Now I have a problem," Hestia admitted. "It's what I was puzzling over. I'm nearly thirty-five, so is it worthwhile to have a third treatment and look eighteen again, or do I save my money for retirement and get out of this game?"

"Why do you want to get out of the game?"

"I've had enough. Not all my customers are gentlemen like Ezra. Lots of them are pigs. I used to love men. All kinds of men. I used to do this job for fun, though I never did it without pay.

Now I'm getting sick of it. My subsequent rejuvenation treatment will cost a three-year salary. Add the cost of rent here, the Entertainer's license, monthly medical exams, clothes, make-up, and contraception. It hardly seems worth it anymore. It's a puzzle what to do."

"These are simple economic calculations anyone can do. Surely, you've consulted an accountant?" Danielle asked.

"Of course. His advice is what's confusing me."

Hestia showed Danielle the printouts, a set of calculations with results in bullet points.

"It seems easy enough," Danielle said with a cursory glance. "Couldn't he explain it to you?"

"He did, twice, but my poor little woman brain couldn't cope, so I came down here for a drink and to go over it slowly."

Danielle regretted not being a feminist so she could slap the woman, but she was too understanding for that. She knew that some people were blind to math, especially someone as beautiful as Hestia, who could always pretend to be daft to get someone else—usually a man—to do her burdensome thinking for her. A few years after this act as a child, it became a habit for life.

Having justified Hestia's 'helpless woman' act to herself, Danielle felt obligated to help her.

"All right," she said. "Let's see what my poor little woman-brain can make of it. You don't mind?"

"Please? I appreciate any help you can give me."

Roger returned now and placed three glasses on the table.

"Thanks, Darling," Danielle said as she sipped her drink and analyzed the accountant's results.

"How sweet of you, Roger," Hestia said. "You must be one of the few good men to deserve someone so beautiful and intelligent as Danielle."

"I can't say I deserve her," Roger replied, "but she deserves every pretty compliment you can pay her."

"But you surely deserve her, with your rugged good looks and charming Yankee drawl."

Danielle smiled. Roger was good-looking to her, of course, but 'rugged' was just flattery.

While Hestia flirted with her husband, Danielle made short work of the financial problem.

"Done!" she exclaimed. "I've drawn you a graph."

"Oh, good," Hestia said, with the kind of fear that precedes a math lesson or a visit to the dentist.

"Don't worry," Roger said, "Danielle's very good at explaining. Even I understand math when she explains it."

Danielle projected a graph onto the table in front of them and said:

"This line shows the cost of rejuvenation therapy. This other line shows the age you want to look at as a function of your age. So, the curve tells you how much it will cost to look five years younger, ten years younger, fifteen years younger, etc."

"I see," Hestia said.

"Add in your living and working expenses, and you can see what salary you need to maintain your current lifestyle or how long you need to save for retirement."

"I see," Hestia repeated, but her eyes had begun to glaze over.

"It's quite simple," Danielle continued. "Because the cost of rejuvenation goes up the greater the difference between your actual age and the age you want to look, the benefit of looking eighteen no longer justifies its cost."

"Oh, is that what the graph means?"

"Now, your accountant assumed a simple function between the age you look and the income you receive. Is that right?"

Hestia looked blank.

"I mean, if you look twice as old, you can charge only one-third the price," Danielle explained patiently. "Is that the correct ratio?"

"I think so, more or less. I get more as an eighteen-year-old."

"In which case, the graph says the best outcome is to delay the rejuvenation treatment another couple of years or so until you look about twenty-five and then have a cheaper treatment to keep you looking that age."

"Is that what my accountant was trying to say?"

"That's what the numbers say."

"It seems wrong. Some customers pay a lot more for younger girls."

"Yes, but you won't need so many high-paying customers if the rejuvenation treatment is cheaper."

"But even customers who've been with me for years will move on if I look twenty-five."

At twenty-five, Hestia would still be one of the most desirable women in the galaxy. Danielle was disgusted that the craving for girls who were barely women forced Hestia to spend more than half her salary on looking eighteen.

"I don't believe it," Danielle said. "Are men really like that?"

"Not all men, but many of them - of those who use Entertainers, anyway."

"Some men are pigs," Danielle said, agreeing with Hestia.

"I wish there were a planet somewhere where there were only women," Hestia mused. "I'd go there in a flash."

Then she thought further.

"Maybe just one or two men," she added, smiling. "Just for sex, you know. Ezra could be one of them. And your Roger."

"Hand's off, Hestia, he's mine!" Danielle said.

Hestia laughed.

"Roger, Dear," she said. "Please go to the bar again. I've finished my drink." Hestia held his hand and put her credit stick into his palm. "This round's on me."

With Roger gone again, Hestia said to Danielle:

"I meant it when I called Roger a good man. It's something I can tell almost instantly. And he's madly in love with you. You should stick to him as hard as you can. Don't let him get away."

"I won't."

"I haven't decided what to do about the rejuvenation treatment, but thanks for explaining the math. Could you - I mean, I don't ask this often, and I understand entirely if you refuse.

"Refuse what?" Danielle asked.

"Could I send you my contact details so you can let me know when you hear about Ezra?"

"Of course not. Let's exchange details."

"I like Ezra very much. He's a friend, not only a loyal customer. I want to help get him back or find out where he is. I know some influential people. Will you promise to ask me if I can help?"

"I will."

"I'm serious. I want to help."

There was silence for a minute as the women exchanged contact details. When Hestia looked up, a man in a crumpled blue uniform stood by their table. It was Constable Jeffries.

"Arthur!" Hestia said.

"Good afternoon, Hestia."

"Have you come to see me?"

"No, this lady."

"Oops! What have you done, Danielle, to attract the attention of our admirable lawman?"

"Nothing," Constable Jeffries said. "Ma'am, would you like to talk in private? It's about Miss Takahashi."

"We've already told Hestia."


To be continued