Chapter 6
Chapter Six
“Oh, this is gorgeous,” Leonie said in between deep breaths, as she surveyed the clearing where the promised waterfall frothed and foamed over a relatively small cliff, rainbow-colored waters splashing into a beautiful miniature lake, dotted with clumps of fragrant water lilies.
A stream on the far side carried away the overflow.
Even knowing it was entirely terraformed and designed to please the IDA guests, she let the beauty of the scene sink in.
“I wish the builders had made the trail to get here a bit less challenging though. Can we rest a bit?”
“Of course, whatever, you’d like.” Derius stood surveying the grassy meadow and the lake.
He wasn’t winded at all of course. He set down the pack he was carrying for both of them and got a water bottle out for her as she moved closer to the lake.
There were nice flat rocks among the reeds and cattails and she sank onto the warm surface with a grateful sigh, accepting the offer of refreshment.
A fish jumped suddenly to catch a dragonfly-like insect that had skimmed too close to the water’s surface and she exclaimed in surprise.
“Should have brought a pole—I could have fished for our dinner,” Derius said with a grin. “Who knew the pool was stocked with fish?”
“Delain might not like you cooking his ornamental fish.” Leonie leaned over the water to watch a few fingerlings dart about among the water lily roots.
A shiny black turtlelike creature swam by and clambered laboriously onto a rock at the edge of the pond.
The whole scene was incredibly peaceful and relaxing.
“For the price people have to pay to spend time on this island the fish should be included,” he replied.
“Glad we got it all for free, even if it was just for one day and a night. Pretty unique experience, I’d say.
” His attention was caught by something on the far side of the glade and Leonie’s adrenaline spiked, even though they’d been assured there were no dangerous animals or reptiles on the island.
“What is it?” she whispered.
”You have to see this.” He took her elbow and tugged her to her feet, putting his other hand to his lips in a sign for silence.
Puzzled, she crept after him until Derius hunkered down behind a blooming bush and pointed.
Following his indication, she checked the area and inhaled sharply.
Three large birds were strutting on the grass ahead.
Two of them were obviously males, with big, showy tails comprised of vivid green, red and purple feathers with black markings.
Rather than fighting, the birds puffed out their chests and sang in bursts of notes that were melodious to her ears.
Ostentatiously ignoring both of them, a female hunted through the grass for insects and seeds, gobbling her catches with gusto.
She was gray with only small splashes of the colors the males sported.
What happened next took Leonie by surprise as both males made the short flight to get in front of the blasé female, forcing her to take note of them rather than her foraging and the suitors rose as high as they could stand on their pink legs, spread their wings wide, displaying colored panels of feathers, and proceeded to dance.
There was no other word for what they were doing, moving in a definite pattern, making chirruping noises, flaring their wings and spreading their astonishing tails.
“Two credits says she picks the one on the left,” Derius whispered. “He has the better moves going on.”
Leonie considered as the ritual continued. “I think she’ll ignore both of them and find herself another mate.”
Surprising both of them, the female moved gracefully to shadow the smaller male, matching her steps and head bobs to his.
“Maybe your candidate was too boastful,” Leonie whispered with a chuckle as the bigger male hopped away a few steps, making sounds of distress. “Too pushy.”
With a final discordant screech the spurned suitor flew away and the new couple ignored him, necks entwined, with the male’s wings covering most of the female’s smaller form.
The birds stayed in the pose for a minute or two and then flew away together, out of sight in the trees.
Leonie stood up, as her leg muscles were protesting the position she’d taken to watch the courtship.
“That was amazing. Really a once in a lifetime experience.”
“Agreed.” Derius walked toward the spot where the dancing had occurred and picked up a long, colorful feather one of the males had dropped in his efforts to win the lady.
Holding it he faced Leonie and said, “Maybe I should have done a dance for you.” He hummed a tune that had been playing at the club the previous night and shimmied his hips, waving the feather through the air.
Laughing, she joined him, appropriating the feather and hugging him. “Oh yeah that thing you were doing with your hips would have me riveted. What’s next—will you sing? Or shall we build a nest?”
He caught her close. “I think that’s an excellent idea. Not here though—what about on Ardanna Prime?”
His bluntness took her by surprise. She wasn’t quite ready for the discussion and not here, surrounded by the beauty of nature.
If she chose to go with him to his home planet and make a new life together, it wasn’t going to be while she was intoxicated by the scent of the tropical flowers and the romantic atmosphere of the glade.
“Can we talk about—I mean really, seriously discuss the situation tonight over dinner?”
“Fair enough. Ready to hike down the backside of the island now?”
She tucked the amazing feather into her hairclip, where it dangled against her cheek. “Tell me hiking downhill is easier. I’m not an outdoor person, or not as much as you are.”
“I prefer the water, the ocean, but this has been pretty today.” He took her hand. “Yes, my lovely, downhill is easier. Or I can carry you.” He swept her into his arms and she giggled in delight.
“Put me down, I can walk, although I appreciate the offer.”
Derius set her on her feet. “Anytime you need a lift let me know. I’ll do anything for you.”
Sincerity rang in his voice and as she followed him to the hiking trail on the other side of the meadow, she thought the decision she had to make regarding her future was becoming easier by the minute.
After hiking to the cabin they debated congenially what to heat up for dinner from the astounding selection in the stasis keeper. Taking the surf and turf dishes they’d ultimately decided upon outside to the small table on the porch, they ate and kept talking.
There was never a lapse in the conversation between the two of them, which was one of the things Leonie had treasured about their first meeting three years ago.
She might not be a soldier and he might not be a management consultant but they found common ground easily as well as genuine interest in each other’s lives.
“So now what exactly do you do on Ardanna Prime?” she asked.
“I’m the Overseer of the King’s Fisheries, which means for the entire planet, since he rules the whole thing.
My first year was an unholy nightmare, trying to get my arms around all of it and figure out what the seven hells was going on in the various departments under me and who I could trust.” He ran his hands through his hair and drank half the feelgood in one gulp.
“My predecessor aged in place till he died. He was a royal cousin and incompetent is the kindest thing I can say about him. He had no interest in the actual work. He’d show up for ceremonies where he could make a long, boring speech and accept accolades but the last years of his tenure were a disaster.
He had cronies in key positions but also a cadre of capable employees although the staff also covered up for him to keep their own jobs. The King wanted a complete overhaul.”
Intrigued, she leaned closer. “Then there must be all kinds of opportunities for improvement.”
His laugh was brittle. “Too many to count with all my fingers and toes.”
“What’s your largest problem right now?”
Staring at her, eyebrow quirked, he said, “I can’t narrow it down to one.”
“Sure you can. Which problem is the most pressing?”
“All right, I’ll play along. The population of tamori, which is a staple in the diet of millions of people, is crashing all the sudden. We don’t know why.”
“Ah. If I had to guess, the root cause is a problem with the area where the tamori spawn or along their migration route but then bad data made it all worse.”
“Fish are vanishing from the ocean and you think the data I’m getting is the issue?” His voice was heavily sarcastic.
“No, I’m guessing this problem has been building for years but no one was paying attention to the data, or it was flawed or the right elements weren’t being tracked.
The tamori didn’t suddenly die off in one day.
The troubles have been going on for a long time and now it’s reached the tipping point where people—you—notice. ”
“And what would you do about it, my high priced consultant Lady?”
She decided to take him seriously. This was her bread and butter and her passion after all.
“If I was given the job, first I’d do a quick walk through of the entire process, end to end, not to gather detailed data but to observe.
I would ask for samples of the reports from each step in the process.
Then I’d call a meeting of stakeholder representatives and process performers—”
He held up a hand. “Wait, you’re losing me. Stakeholders? You mean the people who eat the fish?”
“No, although you do have to consider the customers’ needs. I meant the people or organizations with an interest in the entire process, from the fisher people to the processors to the scientists studying the fish life cycle. Are there indigenous peoples on Ardanna Prime?”
Derius blinked. “A few small tribes on outlying islands and peninsulas.”
“I bet they could tell you a lot about why the population is crashing. Those groups are definitely stakeholders.”
“So now you have them all in a room, how does that help?”
“I’m not going to bore you with the whole discussion of how process improvement works—I can send you my standard pitch when we get to the hotel.
But briefly, one of the most exciting parts of the entire thing is getting the process performers in the room and having them each diagram their part of the process, including what data inputs and outputs they need and the ones they generate.
Then we walk through the entire thing from beginning to end and I promise you there will be people doing things they have no idea can negatively affect others downstream, if you’ll forgive the pun, or that actively create problems. Or they’re doing things just because it’s always been that way and no one remembers why.
We also identify data the people in each subprocess would like to have and why the inputs currently don’t exist.”
“I still don’t understand why you think data is part of the fish apocalypse.”
“I’m guessing either important things don’t get measured at all or not accurately enough, like a true accounting of the pounds of fish taken from the sea.
If I had to guess, people began overfishing in response to the declining population, trying to meet their quotas, which of course made it all worse. ”
“I’m convinced. You’re hired,” he said, slapping the table and saluting her with his glass.
Leonie shook her head. “I appreciate your vote of confidence but giving a huge contract to the Overseer’s girlfriend on a noncompetitive basis isn’t a good look for you, the king, or me. There are other people or firms you could hire. I’m happy to informally advise if you want.”
“What I want is you and I’m guessing the King will see it the same way.
Or Crown Prince Treylon will. He’s forward thinking and in charge of many day-to-day matters now.
That’s one reason there’s not another royal cousin sitting in the office.
My family is known for our attachment to the ocean and all matters pelagic. And our expertise in those areas.”
She sipped her feelgood. “Maybe I could accept an umbrella contract then, to function as an advisor to the Prince. But being with you will preclude me from bidding on individual contracts.”
“Ardanna has other industries the king doesn’t control and which I’m not in charge of,” he said. “Do you think you could find enough work there or would you still be taking off to other Sectors for work?”
“Honestly, I’m tired. The glamor and excitement of being a star hopping consultant all wore off a long time ago.
Now the hotels all look the same, the ships look the same…
even the challenges I get called in for have a certain similarity.
I enjoy meeting people and helping them resolve issues but I’m ready to stop Sector-hopping and stay in one place.
” She put her palm to his cheek across the table and he leaned in. “With you.”