Galahad nodded agreement as he wiped egg from his platter. "Yes, that's Mama. She gave me a most happy childhood, Justin, so much so that I was grumpy at being shoved out when my eighteenth rolled around. But she was sweet about it. After my adulthood party she reminded me that she was moving out, too, and going back to her profession. Her contract with Papa, my foster father, was a term contract, over when I became a legal adult...so if I wanted to see. Maggie again-and I wanted to!-it would be cash at the counterpane, no family discount. Since I was a poor-but-honest research assistant, paid only two or three times what I was worth, I couldn't have afforded thirty seconds with her, much less a night; Mama's fees were always sky-high."
Galahad looked thoughtfully happy. "Goodness, that seems long ago-more than a century and a half, Justin. I didn't realize that Becky-Maggie-Mama-that Magdalene was being both wise and kind. I was grown up only legally and physically, and if she hadn't cut the cord, I would have hung around, an overgrown infant cluttering her life and interfering with her vocation. So I did grow up, and when I married, my first wife named our first daughter 'Magdalene' and asked Maggie to be godmother...then I could hardly believe that this beautiful creature had borne me and I had no special urge to play Oedipus to her regal beauty; I was too much in love with my wife. Yes, Maggie is a fine girl-although she spoiled me as a kid. Was that holiday the only time you had her?"
"No. But not often. As you say, she was expensive. She offered me a fifty-percent discount-"
"Well! You did impress her."
"-as she knew I wasn't wealthy. But even at that, I couldn't afford her company often. But she got me over my emotional hump, and I'm grateful to her. A fine woman, Galahad; you have reason to be proud of her."
"I think so. But, Justin dear, your mention of that discount makes me certain that she remembers you just as fondly-"
"Oh, I hardly think so. Years back, Galahad."
"Don't trip in your modesty, dear; Maggie grabbed every crown the traffic would bear. But the 'delightful coincidence' is more than just the fact that you've had my mother-after all, high as her fees were, New Rome has many wealthy men attractive enough that Maggie would accept them. The 'delightful' aspect is that this very minute she is about forty kilometers south of here."
"No!"
"Si, si, si! Ask Athene to call her. You can be talking with her in thirty seconds."
"Uh... still don't think she would remember me."
"I do. But there's no rush. If you are surprised, think how surprised I was. I had nothing to do with the migrants' roster; I was arse-deep in getting together what Ishtar had ordered for the clinics. Justin, I didn't know Maggie had married again. So we're here a couple of weeks, the headquarters party, with a temporary setup and still eating and sleeping in the 'Dora,' when the first transport grounds-then we're busy getting people and supplies out in a sequence worked out by Lazarus and bossed by Ira.
"My assignment, once I had my shack up-by hand; Athene had no outside extensionals then-"
"Poor Uncle Cuddly!"
"Who doesn't listen to private conversations?"
"I have to keep you straight, dear. It was Minerva who had no outside hands then; I wasn't even hatched."
"Well- You have her memories, Teena; it's a mere technicality."
"Not to me, dearie. The chinchy little bitch took some memories with her that she didn't want to share with her ever-lovin' twin. And she locked one whole bank that she did leave behind so that I can't touch it without an abracadabra either from her or from Grandpappy. Except that you can unlock it, Justin...if both my twin and Lazarus are dead."
I managed to answer quickly, "In that case, Athene, I hope that it is a very long time before I am able to trigger it."
'Well...when you put it that way, so do I. But I can't help wondering what grim secrets and unspeakable crimes are locked in my theta-ninety-seven-B-dexter-aleph-prime? Will the stars tremble in their courses? But Uncle Cuddly did work hard a couple of days, Justin-probably the only honest work he has ever done."
"I disdain to comment, Teena. Justin, my assignment was examining physician, for which I was qualified under an almost new diploma. So Ishtar and Hamadryad are unpacking migrants and giving them their antidotes and I'm checking them to make sure they've made the trip safely-rushing it as I haven't yet snatched another medical doctor from that parade of flesh.
"I glance up from my machine just long enough to note that the next victim is female and call out over my shoulder, 'Strip down, please,' and change the setting. Then I look twice-and say, 'Hello, Mama, how did you get here?'
"This caused her to give me a second look. Then she smiled her big, happy smile and said, 'I flew in on a broom, Obadiah. Give me a kiss and tell me where to put my clothes. Is the doctor around?'
"Justin, -the queue pile up while I gave Maggie a thorough examination-proper, as she was pregnant and I made certain that her unborn baby had come through all right-but also to gossip and get caught up. Married again, four children by today, a farm wife with a sunburned nose, and happy as can be.
"Got married quite romantically. Mama heard the advertising about opening a virgin planet, went to the recruiting office Ira had in the Harriman Trust building to find out about it-that astonished me the most; Mama is the last person I would have suspected of yearnings to pioneer."
"Well...I agree, Galahad. But I don't suppose anyone would pick me as a likely pioneer, either."
"Perhaps not. Nor me. But Maggie puts in her application at once, and runs into one of her wealthy regulars doing the same. They go somewhere for a bite and dismiss it...and leave the restaurant and register an open-end contract, and go back to the recruiting office and withdraw their solo applications and submit a joint one as a married couple. I won't say that got them accepted, but almost no singles were accepted for first wave."
"Did they know that?"
"Oh, certainly! The recruiting clerk warned them before accepting their solo fees. That's what they left to discuss. They already knew they suited each other in bed, but Maggie wanted to find out if he intended to farm-believe it or not, that's what she wanted-and he wanted to know if she could cook and was she willing to have kids. And it was: 'Fine, we agree; let's get on with it!' Maggie had her fertility restored, and they planted their first baby without waiting to see if they were accepted."
I said, "That probably clinched it."
"You think so? Why?"
"If they changed their application to show that Magdalene had caught. If Lazarus passed on the applications. Galahad, our Ancestor favors people who take big bites."
"Mmm, yes. Justin, why are you hanging back?"
"I'm not. I had to be certain that the invitation was serious. I still don't know why. But I'm no fool, I'm staying."
"Wonderful!" Galahad jumped up, came around the table, kissed me again, roughed my hair, and hugged me. "I'm happy for all of us, darling, and we'll try to make you happy." He grinned-and I suddenly saw his mother in him. Hard to imagine the glamorous Magdalene with kids and calluses, a frontier farm wife-but I recalled the old proverb about best wives. Galahad went on: "The twins weren't sure I could be trusted with so delicate a mission; they were afraid I would muff it."
"Galahad, there was never a chance I would refuse; I just had to be sure I was welcome. I still don't know why."
"Oh. We were speaking of Tamara and got sidetracked. Justin, it's not public knowledge how difficult it was to rejuvenate our Ancestor this time, although the recordings you have been editing may hint at it-"