Chapter 3: I Was Born Under A Wandering Star

Pat was correct about mail. Humanity was at war, and it was intolerable to be so far from Earthat and its other colonies and not know the progress of that war. News must be obtained!

Further, Dora’s plan to archive as much as possible of humanity’s knowledge needed periodic updates to be successful. Before departing Earthat, she had planted data collecting stations on Earth, Luna, and throughout the system. She positioned several collection points above the plane of the elliptic and in the Kuiper Belt. Like the news, this data must be retrieved.

And the growing colonies within the Darjee sphere also needed to be included - giving and receiving both news and data on the conduct of the war with the Swarm, and the tools developed for this and other purposes.

Helva was tasked, and she and Inkie were willing. In fact, Inkie was the key.

In short order, the pair became the nucleus of a traveling USO show. As Helva shuttled between Harrad Colony’s Rukbat System and Earthat, she and Inkie widened their sojourns to include other colonies, and when possible, outposts. They were always welcome - both for their news and gossip and for their concerts.

While Helva did not have the capacity to carry a full symphony orchestra with support, she was nevertheless able to carry musicians enough to provide a variety of musical styles. A typical cadre might include reggae/soca, a classical string quartet, Inkie’s backup band, and a country swing group. Inkie could and did sing with them all, and the jam sessions en route were epic.

When Helva first arrived in systems, typically broadcasting her now signature chorale of Beethoven’s Ode To Joy, she was received as an enigma. As her reputation spread, her welcome knew few boundaries.

At every stop, Inkie and her musicians offered live concerts. At the smaller colonies, this was typically a series of back-to-back performances of the various types of music native to the performers aboard for this trip. Larger colonies might have several different concerts. Helva performed and was a star in her own right.

Inkie’s visits were not the ‘wham-bam-thank you-ma’am’ drive-bys of her concert touring days. She spent hours with governors, generals, admirals, and their Marines and sailors and concubines, trading information, jokes, and goodwill. The data sucked into Helva’s storage units was important, the personal stories and information were even more so.

Along with schmoozing with the brass and their perceived minions, Inkie insisted on spending a least a full day with the colony’s Civil Service Officer - officers if the colony had more than one - and frequently, the CS Officers’ personal concubines. As a CS Officer herself, she could trade stories and techniques with them - sharing firsthand what was working and what was not.