Introduction: I’m sure everyone has come across a story or two about someone finding that bottle or lamp that after the appropriate action releases a genie who will grant a certain number of wishes for the lucky person who happens to find it. Quite frequently, the person finding the genie doesn’t read the ‘fine print’ and the results are frequently not what the person making the wishes desired. The greedy and the dishonest seem to get the worst of it. In the case of this story, I guess we’ll just have to wait and find out.

This work is copyrighted by the author and any publication or distribution without the written consent of the author is strictly prohibited. This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance of the characters to persons living or dead is coincidental.

Chapter 1

“Dr. Bertanzetti, do you have a moment?”

I turned to see Dr. Andrews coming down the hall. I had recognized his voice immediately. Dr. Richard Andrews was second in charge of the Eco Lab. I had made the long trip to interview him in person two years before. The virtual interviews were a pain, but a necessity; however, with a position as critical as the one Rick had, he insisted on Rick from the very first time we met, I wanted to do the interview in person. I had made sure that there was enough in the budget to cover important trips like that.

“Hi, Rick, what’s up?”

“Not much. Look, we don’t get to see each other that much with us being at opposite ends of the plant like we are. Anyway, I was over here to take care of some business, and was wondering if I could talk you into having a drink with me at O’Sullivan’s. It’s Friday and there don’t seem to be any crises hanging around.”

Now, I could spot a bullshit line in a nanosecond. There wasn’t a damn thing that Rick couldn’t take care of from his own end of the plant. More than likely, if there were any serious problems, I’d be going to his arena instead of him coming here.

Rick was a nice guy; sharp as a tack. He’d developed a reputation as a top notch ecologist, and that was why I hired him. He was 35, if I remembered his file correctly. He wasn’t bad looking, if you were into men. I wasn’t. I’m 45 but look considerably younger. I’m a bit lucky in that regard. I haven’t had a significant relationship with anyone since my wife and I divorced. She and her family live across town. She’s been married to a really good man who can give her what I can’t. She has two children. Her husband works in the recycling plant.

“Sure, I’d be glad to share a drink with you. It has to be Dutch, though. I don’t want to give anyone the wrong idea.” I couldn’t believe the smile that lit up his face. Hell, anyone who knows me at all knows I’m gay. I’m not butch, and I don’t actively pursue women; however, I’ve had a few affairs, nothing that lasted very long, though.

Rick was the perfect gentleman. He stayed on the curbside of me the entire two blocks. There wasn’t a chance that I could be splashed by a passing vehicle, and it was damn sure unlikely I would be soiled by something dumped from an upper story. Hardly anyone ever practiced that sort of chivalry around here, anyway.

O’Sullivan’s is a nice place. It was one of the early enterprises that set up business here. That was long before I arrived on the scene. Transportation costs were hell back then; still are for that matter. It took a while, but we’re pretty self-sufficient now. That’s my responsibility now. I have to make sure our self-sufficiency is maintained with as little outside help as possible. I think we’re doing pretty well.

Rick mumbled something to the greeter, and we were led to a nice booth in a quiet corner. The clientele here had become far less rowdy over the years. We had suburbs, now. The mining companies and farm consortiums seemed to separate themselves from the executive areas. Work was well under way on the second and third settlements. There would be more.

“Dr. Bertanzetti, since we’re off the clock, I was wondering if it would be okay to call you Sandra? After all, Dr. Bertanzetti is a bit of a mouthful.”

I chuckled a bit to myself. There were implications in that comment that I didn’t think he meant. “Sure. Actually, I prefer Sandy.”

“Okay, Sandy, I think the gentleman would like to take our order. What would you like?”

“I would love a margarita, straight up, no ice; just very chilled.” I loved the taste of fresh citrus. It had taken a while, but the citrus crops were pretty reliable now. The soil was very good, like it is in California. Rick ordered the same.

“So, Rick, it’s been two years since your arrival. Has your opinion changed any since?”

“It’s far better than I thought it would be. I see the changes every day, and they’re all positive. You’ve been here far longer than I. What do you think about the changes?” he asked.

“I don’t think I could be happier. There were many unknowns when I started in this business, but we had good science. Good science seems to hold up pretty well. All the years of investigation really paid off. We had a tremendous amount of data to work from. It just took the technological advances to catch up to what we’d learned. When the silicon dome was installed and proved to be effective, things really took off. I took over a well-oiled machine, and we just improved things from there.

“It was an empty stage with many of the players not really sure what to do. Air, water, soil: it had to be encouraged and nurtured. When the atmosphere was stable, things really became easier. The basic stuff was done by the time I arrived. Fortunately, I understood what was going on.

“I’m sure you understand all of this,” I said to Rick. “I really hoped our discussion wouldn’t go any further in this direction.”

“I understand. Let’s change the subject. Are you doing anything this evening? Maybe we could just relax and enjoy a quiet meal together. The food here is pretty good.”

I wasn’t sure where he was going with this; however, the only thing I to deal with at the flat were some frozen entrees, which reminded me I’d better get my grocery order in.

“Sure, why not, all I have to look forward to are some frozen Salisbury Steaks and mashed potatoes. I insist on going Dutch, though.”

“No problem,” Rick replied.

He ordered some antipasto and a bottle of local wine. It arrived in an iced bucket. It was Prosecco, or at least what tried to pass as Prosecco. The chicken picatta with mushrooms and artichoke hearts was outstanding. Somehow, a second bottle of Prosecco arrived. Thankfully, I didn’t have to drive.

We talked about many things, the weather wasn’t among them. It was about an hour after dessert and my second trip to the restroom, that I realized that for the entire evening he’d been talking to my eyes, not my tits. I am rather proud of my body, including my breasts. I really couldn’t have asked for anything better. I love the package I’m in.

Rick called for an air cab and walked me to the edge of the walk. We watched a group of kids leave the theater down the street. They were obviously ‘First Born’. All the girls were at least 200 cm tall and the guys close to 215 cm. My how they’ve grown.

The cab arrived, and I turned to Rick to thank him. That was when I realized he’d paid for everything. That wasn’t supposed to happen. Somehow he was holding my hands and looking at me with those twinkling eyes.

“Sandy, thank you for the most enjoyable evening. I hope we can do this again.”

“I should thank you. You weren’t supposed to pay for all that.”

“That’s quite alright. We can work out the finances later.”

He was still holding my hands. I couldn’t think of anything else to do, so I leaned over and kissed his cheek. Where in the hell did that come from?. He held the door for me as I got into the air cab. Rick handed the driver something. There weren’t that many human cab drivers these days. I preferred them to the robots. It was just a bit more than five minutes to the rooftop landing spot. I tried to pay the driver, but he waved off my credit card.

“Your gentleman friend took care of it. Good night, Miss.” And he was off.

It was half past Lagniappe when I got out of the shower and into bed. I had lingered a bit to take care of an itch. What in the hell had I gotten myself into?

I woke up feeling better than I ever had a right to. This shit wasn’t supposed to happen. I mean, I had it all set up. Things had basically been going the way we’d set them up all those years ago. I really couldn’t be happier. Yes, my wife and I divorced, but I knew that was going to happen. It was the best thing that could have happened. I love her, and she knows it. I will always love her. It’s just that our relationship can’t ever be what it had been.

I’m going to have dinner with them this evening. We usually do once or twice a month. I love her kids, and they love me. They have no idea about our previous relationship; nor does Arnold, her husband. She couldn’t have found a better man. And, therein lies the problem. Although, I don’t think it really is a problem. Things have just significantly changed since we were first married.

I worked out in the company gym for an hour every day. It was quite well equipped. Staying in shape was very important, especially here. However, on weekends I loved to jog. Maybe lope would be a better description. My route took me out one of the radial parks, around the wall to the next park and back. It was about a kilometer to the first park, and about the same back to the flat. The route was right at 20 kilometers, and if I pushed it, I could do it at under an hour. I wasn’t the fastest woman out there, but I was damn sure not the slowest. As usual I got a few wolf whistles. I didn’t really mind. After all, I’d asked for it.

As I had mentioned earlier, I was running a bit low on food. So before I hit the shower, I sent in an order duplicating the previous 30 day’s order. The food the Commissary provided wasn’t bad, and seemed to be a lot better than it was when I first arrived. It should have with the improvements we’d made. I had to send a few folks home who weren’t contributing enough. I didn’t have the power to fire them. I let HQ do that, if they found it necessary; yeah, Dr. Bertanzetti, the hard ass. Fortunately or unfortunately, depending how you looked at it, I had to do it. It was in my job description.

One of the things about being here was that some of the simplest pleasures were not available for the longest time. When the company decided to allow families, childbirth was not far behind. I’m not sure they realized the implications. There were a few cottage industries that had developed over the years. Once the recycling mission kicked in, we were able to become a bit more self-sufficient, and things like plastic could be used over and over. Once that kicked in, we could also handle raw materials. With transportation being speeded up and becoming much cheaper forty years ago, thank you EM Industries, life became so much more bearable. I’m not a wimp, but I was certainly glad I didn’t have to go through what the first settlers had to. Anyway, I seemed to have gotten a bit sidetracked. What I was trying to say was we could now buy non-essentials. In this case it was toys for the children, Arnold, Jr. and Stacey. Speaking of the children, they greeted me at the door to their home.

“Aunt Sandy, guess what,” Stacey exclaimed as I entered their nice flat.

“I guess you’re going to have to tell me. I don’t have a clue,” I replied. It was hard to believe she was only five. She was as tall as I was when I was ten.

“We’re going to move to a new house.”

I looked up as Becky approached. She was glowing. I knew that look, having seen it four times before. She was pregnant.

“I can tell you figured it out right away. Stacey doesn’t know about the reason for the move, but I guess we’ll have to tell her the whole reason for the move.” Becky gave her daughter a hug.

“Honey, your mother is going to have a baby in about eight months. You’re going to have a little sister or brother, and you are going to get to move into a bigger flat”

Arnold Junior wasn’t too sure. I knew he knew where babies came from. I just don’t think the revelation had hit him yet. Arnold Senior had his right arm wrapped around Becky. They were so in love.

“I couldn’t miss that glow you have,” I said. “I’ve seen it before.”

“Speaking of glows, you certainly seem a bit chipper. Who is she?”

“There isn’t anyone. What do you mean?”

“I know that look. I’ve seen it before.”

Fortunately, the remark went over Arnold’s head. I wasn’t going to avoid the confrontation. We were cleaning up after dinner. Arnold was putting the children to bed.

“Okay, Sandy, who is she? Do I know her?”

“There is no woman. I told you that earlier.”

“Then, who is he?” she said with a little snicker.

“I told you, there’s …. Well, Rick did ask me to have a drink with him after work yesterday.” She’d met Rick Andrews several times. Arnold worked for him.

“And how was dinner?”

“What ...? How’d you …?”

“Well, sweetie pie, we were married for nearly 60 years. I can read you like a book.”

Doesn’t seem to be too much out of the ordinary going on here; however, there are some things that don’t seem to be quite right. This being married for nearly 60 years is one of them. However, there are some other things that just don’t compute. Maybe we’ll learn a little more in the next chapter.