Chapter 4

Arriving at the Archer home, Doug rang the doorbell.

“Good morning, I’m Doug Smith. This is my Administrative Assistant Cindy Smith, and my lawyer, Kendrick Jones. We have an appointment with Missus Archer. Is she available?”

“Yes, Sir. Missus Archer is expecting you. Please come in and I will show you to the sitting room, and let Missus Archer know you are here.”

The sitting room was a nicely furnished and a pleasant place to meet with someone. I decided that I would like to have a small meeting room in the Embassy that provided the same comfortable atmosphere. Somewhere that my people and I could hold an informal chat with a small group of visitors.

As Missus Archer entered the room, she said, “Good morning, Kendrick.”

Turning to me she said, “I’m Missus Marion Archer, and I assume you are Mister Smith.”

Rather a frosty greeting and not exactly accurate since she saw me in court, but what should I expect considering the situation.

“Yes, and good morning to you, Missus Archer. Before we address the matter that Kendrick and I came here to discuss, I would like to extend an apology to you. I did not have the time to introduce myself to you, and talk before I had to return to Earth. Some people would consider that rude of me. But under the circumstances, it was necessary for me to get away from the courthouse as quickly as possible, and to return to Earth so I could deal with several critical matters.

“Now as to the matter we came here to discuss with you, Kendrick has informed me that you are having a problem with your daughter’s decision to travel to Earth with me and to remain there. Is that correct?”

“Err ... yes, that is right. It is totally inappropriate for a young girl Sandy’s age to go off with a single man like you. Things like that are just not done in my social circle. Furthermore, Sandy abandoned her social position and duties here on Slave World. Her father and I were in the process of arranging a marriage for her with the son of some of the proper people in our circle.

“Then you took her to Earth without our knowledge or consent. That is totally improper and you need to return her to her family.”

“There seem to be several misunderstandings between us, Missus Archer.

“It is my understanding that Sandy is an adult, and she is allowed to make her own decisions. Is that correct?”

“Well, yes, but she has no experience making those types of decisions. She should have consulted her father and me before she just ran off with you.”

“Missus Archer, are you aware of the stipulation in Henry’s will that required her to live on the same planet that I live on?”

“Yes, but we could have challenged that provision in court and had it overturned.”

Kendrick says, “Marion, you are mistaken. I wrote Henry’s will. He wanted me to be certain that the provisions pertaining to Sandy’s portion of the estate could not be overturned.

“At Mr. Smith’s request, Judge Baker and I went over that Will looking for anything that could possibly be used to negate those stipulations. We could not find anything and you can believe me, we really tried.”

“Well, something could have been done. This man could have stayed here on Slave World, and then Sandy would not have had to leave.”

“Missus Archer, in my position as Ambassador to Earth, I am required to live on Earth.”

“Well, you could have resigned.”

“Missus Archer, regardless of what you think and what you want, the circumstances are that I need to live on Earth for a variety of reasons and Sandy had to make a choice. Her choice was to stay on Slave World and lose her inheritance or to live on Earth with me. The Judge, Kendrick, and I explained the situation to her and she made her choice. At her request, I took her to Earth with me.”

“Mister Smith, you need to understand. Sandy is not capable of handling her own affairs and living on her own without the guidance of her family. You need to return her to us.”

“Missus Archer, from what I have seen of Sandy, you are wrong. She is a mature young woman. My Embassy has employed her in the position of Social Secretary, and so far she has been able to complete the tasks I have assigned her to my satisfaction. In her personal life, she has made a number of friends, and she has also found a young man that interests her, and he is interested in her.”

“Are you telling me that you forced Sandy to accept a job? That is not appropriate for members of the Archer Family! We have servants that are hired to meet our needs. We do not work as servants for others. This is totally improper and it has to end, now!”

“Missus Archer, I will give your message about the position I hired her to fill and your request that I return her to her family to Sandy. I do not believe that she will want to surrender her position or return for anything more than a visit.”

“Sir, if you do not return Sandy to us, I will pursue this matter with the authorities.”

“If that is what you wish to do, Missus Archer, then I can’t stop you. If the authorities become involved, then I will discuss the situation with them. I will also inform them of the discussion we have had this morning. Under the circumstances, I do not think that they will be pleased with you.

“If there is nothing else for us to discuss, then I will leave.”

Missus Marion Archer did not like what I said, for when I ended our conversation in the way I did, she stood up and walked out of the room without speaking another word. Kendrick, Cindy, and I left the house.

Kendrick said, “Well, Doug, that went about as I expected it would. I don’t think anyone has ever said ‘No’ to Marion. I suspect she is going to carry out her threat of going to the authorities.”

“That’s okay, Kendrick. If she does and they come looking for me, please explain the circumstances to them and refer them to Judge Baker. If they want to see me, put it on your list of things that I need to take care of during my next trip.”

Kendrick said, “The restaurant where we are to meet Harry is about an hour from here, and we have almost three hours before your luncheon appointment. Is there anything special that you would like to do for two hours?”

“No,” Doug replied. “Let’s have Edgar drive us to the restaurant. We can talk about what I need to finish before I return to Earth, until Harry shows up.”

When we arrived at the restaurant, we were seated in a private dining room and we ordered our drinks of choice. As we waited for our drinks, we started reviewing Cindy’s list of things to be done in the Multiverse.

“Cindy, I want you to update your list of things to be done during the next visit, based on our conversation with Harry. Several items on the current list may get postponed, if we don’t have time to take care of them, and we will probably be adding new items. Mark the items we have finished as complete, with any necessary comments regarding the resolution. Be sure to document our meeting with Missus Archer in very fine detail.”

“I’ve already done that, Doug. Before we entered the Archer home, I activated the speech-to-text feature of my laptop. The only thing I need to do now, is to input the name of each speaker.”

Kendrick said, “Well, Doug, it appears that you will be busy on Vora with all the matters that you have to address with Kevin, Sergei, and your parents. It also looks like you will need to spend several days on Timson also.”

“Yes. It does, doesn’t it? I wonder how many items this meeting with Harry will add to my list. When you mentioned he is interested in finding an Archer representative on Earth, did you get the impression that he wanted me to be that representative?”

“No. I think he knows that you will be too busy for that. My guess is that he wants you to recommend someone to him or he already has someone in mind.”

“If he is looking for someone, Kendrick, what would you think of Sandy?”

“Yes, I think Sandy would be a good fit.”

“Cindy, if Harry is interested in Sandy, create a list item for me to talk with her about it and to bring her with us during our next trip.”

We were almost finished discussing the list’s items, when the room’s door opened and the restaurant’s hostess ushered Harry Smart and three other men into the room.

“Good to see you again, Harry.”

“Yes, it’s good to see you also, Doug. I don’t think I’ve had the pleasure of meeting this young lady before.”

“True, this is my Administrative Assistant Cindy Smith.”

“Hello, Cindy, I’m Harry Smart. Are you by chance related to Doug?”

“No, we aren’t related, yet. He is my guardian and I consider myself to be part of his family, so I use his last name.”

“I see. What did you mean by yet?”

“Oh, I decided that Doug should marry my sister and me. I think he is coming around to the idea, but he hasn’t asked us yet.”

“It sort of sounds like you might join us old men in the blissful relationship of marriage, Doug.”

“I know. I was rather shocked the first time Cindy mentioned it, but I am accustomed to the idea, now. In fact, I am giving it some serious consideration.”

Cindy’s head whipped around at that remark, “You are!”

“Yes, Cindy, but there are a couple of other things that I need to consider and deal with, first.”

Harry gave Cindy and me one of his fatherly smiles, and said, “Well, if it happens, I wish the three of you the best of luck.”

I glanced at the three men with Harry before I replied, “Thanks, Harry, we appreciate it.”

“Doug, these gentlemen are Fred Gimp, Alex Stile, and Tom Philmore. Gentlemen, this is our majority stockholder, Doug Smith.

“Fred is the Project Manager on the Shelter Project you brought to my attention, and Alex is our Lead Engineer on the project. Tom is one of the Conglomerate’s lawyers.”

“It’s nice to meet you gentlemen. I assume the shelter is one of our luncheon topics.”

Harry said, “Yes. That will be one of the topics that we want to discuss with you, Doug.”

While Harry was making the introductions, Kendrick and Cindy had collected and put away the papers, which we’d been using in our discussion. After everyone was seated, our waitress appeared to distribute menus and to bring us our drink orders. After receiving our drinks and giving her our orders, Harry took control of our meeting.

“Doug, I presented your idea of a Hopping Travel Shelter to the Board of Directors. Like me, they have all had unpleasant experiences in hopping to other worlds. None of us likes being rained on, or being bit by insects. We approved an engineering study to determine what would be needed in such a shelter, and a marketing study to determine how big of a market there is for such a product.

“The marketing study indicates that this would be a niche market with a very limited number of units being sold. However, our marketing people also believe that the profit margin is sufficient to set up a small production company. The shelter will be a special order item and we are thinking of producing a basic unit with a few add-on options.

“Fred and Alex would like to pick your brain for the basics that a D-Hopper would want in such a shelter. Tom wants to talk with you about the legal aspects of this product.”

“I see. Well what do you and Alex wants to know, Fred?”

Alex, obviously the spokesperson for the pair, says, “We have never hopped anywhere, so all we really know about hopping is what we have heard. Can you explain to us what a shelter would do for you and the design features you think are critical?”

“Alright, Alex. When I hop to another planet, I can control where I arrive and I can usually tell if there will be any large animals in my vicinity. I can tell if the conditions are survivable, but there are many things that I cannot accurately determine about the local area.

“There may be dangerous animals in the vicinity and it could be raining or snowing or perhaps there are high winds blowing dust and debris. I can detect the conditions, but may not be able to detect how hard it is raining or snowing and I can’t tell when a storm will end. Whatever the conditions are when I arrive, I will have to wait there for an hour before I recover enough energy to safely make another hop.

“The shelter should be designed to protect me and those with me from adverse weather conditions. It should also be designed to protect us from any dangerous animals or people that may be in our vicinity. However, staying in a shelter throughout a trip would not be pleasant, so my companions and I may wish to exit the shelter.

“For us to determine if it is safe to leave the shelter, we need to be able to look around our surrounding area. That means an external camera system with an interior monitor that allows us to select the video feeds, individual or multiple feeds, and control the direction in which the cameras are pointed. A two-way audio link would also be advantageous.

“Now if there are any animals in the vicinity, they may attack and damage the shelter, and there is the potential for harm to its occupants. Therefore, I feel that a weapons system controllable from inside the shelter is a must.

“The landing location may not be level ground. Therefore, it would be best if we have self-leveling landing supports. The supports need to have a non-stick surface for we don’t want local contaminants to stick to the support’s surfaces; otherwise, they will be transported to the next planet.

“You need to remember that a hop is instantaneous. When we leave the departure planet, and we instantly appear at the arrival planet, the supports will be compressed. The D-Hopper needs to position the shelter far enough above the surface that the supports will not be beneath the surface at the instant the shelter arrives. Then, the instant the shelter arrives it will start to fall, and the supports will start extending. If we are fairly high above the ground and if the ground is sloped at a different angle, we will probably have a rough landing. I think all of the chairs and beds should be shock-mounted and equipped with restraint systems to prevent injury to the occupants.

“If the D-Hopper is to stay on a planet for an appreciable length of time, the interior should be equipped with beds, chairs, a toilet, one or more tables, storage areas, and lockers for food and equipment. A stove, refrigerator, sink, and lighting system would also be nice, especially for long trips. A filtered ventilation system with heating and cooling is a necessity, especially on planets that have extreme temperatures.

“All of this will require electrical power, so a small electrical generating system is mandatory.

“Is that enough to get you started, Alex?”

“Yes, that is exactly the type of firsthand information that we need. What about comfort and luxury fittings? Is there anything that you can think of that would be beneficial?”

Our food arrived and we continued to talk as we ate. The conversation continued at a much slower pace for we were enjoying our lunch and did not seem as focused on the conversation as much as we had been at first.

“Being able to get out of the rain and escape from biting insects is luxury enough for me, Alex. At the moment, the only thing that comes to my mind is an entertainment center. Sitting and doing nothing can be extremely boring. I suppose that if I were transporting a businessman, he might want a fully equipped office where he can work while we travel.

“Oh, one other thing. As a trader, I have to carry merchandise with me. If I had a second freight shelter that could be bolted to my shelter and used for merchandise, that would be very beneficial. It just occurred to me that the basic shelter’s lights and weapons would probably need to be relocated to the corners or exterior perimeter of the two shelters.”

Cindy asked, “What about windows, Doug? Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to look outside?”

“Yes, windows would be nice, but they would have to be extremely durable to withstand any twisting that may occur when the shelter lands and to withstand any attacks by the local wildlife. If we do have them and they can be opened, be sure to include heavy-duty screens to keep insects out. I’ve heard of flying insects that are six inches across and could do severe damage to standard insect screens.”

While I had been talking, Fred had been taking notes. Something that was a bit difficult to do while eating.

Fred asked, “How big of a shelter did you have in mind, Doug?”

“I hadn’t gotten that far in my thinking, Fred. Now an Exploratory D-Hopper like me would not need a really large shelter. One bed, a table, a couple of chairs, and storage space. Since I would be by myself, the entertainment center would be a very desirable feature.

“A Commercial D-Hopper would want even more storage space for merchandise. If he transported passengers, then he would also need a larger shelter. I would say pick two shelter sizes, small and large. The cost difference shouldn’t be that great for the basic features would be the same. The only addition to the larger shelter would be additional beds, tables, and chairs for the extra people and higher capacity systems for ventilation, water, etc. Configure the small shelter for one or two people, and configure the large shelter for say five or six people. Anything else you want to ask?”

“No, not right now, but Tom wanted to talk with you. If we have anything else, we can ask when Tom and you are finished.”

“What can I do for you, Tom?”

“Kendrick and I have talked about the legal aspects. I know he is interested in patent rights, but my main concern is liability. Did you intend to patent your idea, Doug?”

“Well, it hadn’t occurred to me until Kendrick mentioned it. I would be willing to share the rights with the conglomerate, if the conglomerate will do the filing.”

“That sounds okay with me, if Harry agrees. What about you, Kendrick?”

“If that is what Doug wants to do, then I’m fine with it.”

I said, “Good let’s do it that way. I will let the two of you take care of the details.

“What was your concern regarding liability?”

“I know that while D-Hopping is not as dangerous as the entertainment industry would like the public to believe, there are dangers on the planets that D-Hoppers visit. If someone were to be injured while using our shelter, there is the possibility of a lawsuit.”

“I think I see what you are getting at, Tom. What if we put together a set of specifications for what the shelter can withstand and provide the specifications as part of the shelter’s documentation? We can also define a set of standard requirements for usage of the shelter, such as surface support requirements. We can include things like warnings to not set the shelter down on water, soft ground, marshy surfaces, or other types of unstable surfaces.

“Then put together a liability statement that absolves the conglomerate of all responsibility for how a user uses the shelter. We could cite our lack of control over the dangerous locations that a D-Hopper could take the shelter to and the lack of control over things like height over surface during an arrival. I imagine that you could think of many things like that which might possibly damage the shelter and injure the occupants. As a final disclaimer you could add a statement about ‘and other conditions and situations’. For example, we could say something like the shelter was designed to withstand an impact by a 200-pound animal attacking the shelter, but an impact by a larger animal attacking the shelter might result in damage to the shelter and injury to the occupants. Put the responsibility back on the person who uses it. After all, we aren’t responsible if the D-Hopper puts the shelter down on the surface of a lake and the shelter sinks.”

“Can a D-Hopper tell what type of surface he is going to arrive on, Doug?”

“Exploratory D-Hoppers are trained to do things like that, Tom. The Commercial D-Hoppers get some training in that area also, but not as much. They are more likely to make mistakes when going to an unfamiliar planet. That is one of the things that you need to include in the usage instructions and specifications.”

“I am getting the general idea of what you are saying, Doug. If I understand you, you are saying that we focus our responsibility in the area of what the shelter can do for the user and we disclaim all responsibility for problems encountered in its actual use.”

“Yes. That sounds like what I am trying to say.”

I was watching Fred as we talked. I could tell that he was thinking about something from the look of concentration that was on his face.

“You seem very busy thinking of something, Fred. Is it something that I can help you with?”

“Yeah, I guess I was, but you might consider my question to be too personal.”

“Go ahead and ask, Fred. If I don’t want to answer, I will let you know.”

“Okay. Traders and businessmen are interested in making money. While I was listening to you, I got the sense that you weren’t that interested in making money on this project, and that confused me for we will probably make a lot of money selling the shelters.

“I can understand how that might affect you, Fred. I’m not sure of the best way to explain it to you. From what Harry said about the market analysis, I suspect that the net profit from this venture will be small compared to most of the Archer Conglomerate’s ventures. I could insist on a sizable amount of the net profits in exchange for my coming up with the idea, but that would be a pittance compared to the annual dividends from my Archer stock. Besides ... as the majority stockholder, I will be getting ninety percent of the Conglomerate’s net profit on this Project.