Sacrifice

Chapter 7 - The Acceptance

Kalli woke to the sound of a soft but persistent chirp. Groaning, she buried her head under a pillow. She must have forgotten to shut off her computer console after coming home last night. She'd been much too tired from a night on her feet catering to the Prince to remember to check the settings.

The chirping continued, despite her attempts to ignore it. Finally, she gave in and sat up; rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she looked at the chaos around her. Her accoutrements from the previous night were strewn about, and the message light on her monitor was blinking. She stumbled out of bed, grabbed a dressing gown and activated the monitor. She stared at the screen blankly until the words of the message began to sink in.

Lady al Aratina

I have reviewed the paper that you submitted to me. It shows thorough research and comprehensive analysis. I have chosen to allot you two hours per week should you choose to undertake the appropriate payment. Please meet me at the university to arrange classes.

Dr Miriam Iridan

Kalli shrieked and jumped in the air. She hugged herself and twirled.

"Yes! I did it, I did it! Adir!"

Kalli reached for her com-pack and was about to connect to Adir when she realized that he deserved to sleep until a decent time since he too would have had a late night. But she could meet him first thing after he got up.

# # #

Once changed, Kalli went tripping down the stairs, intent on getting to the university before Miriam entered her afternoon class. So excited was she that she almost didn't see her father until he seized her by the shoulders and kissed her cheek.

"You are a wonder," he said with such warmth that Kalli was struck dumb.

She couldn't recall her father ever touching her before let alone kissing her.

"I heard all about it this morning at the gentlemen's club. All your hard work has paid off."

Kalli finally found her voice. "How could they know?"

The time stamp on Dr. Iridan's message indicated that it had been sent only a half hour earlier.

"The whole city is talking about it Kallistrate."

"About what?" surely not her continuing education.

Her father waved his hand impatiently. "About you and the Prince of course. Every news station is reporting how he danced with you more than all of the other girls combined. And that once he danced with you, you were at his side until early morning."

With a final squeeze of her shoulders, Kalli's father released her and went on his way. Kalli descended the stairs slowly and then shrugged; once it became apparent she was not the Prince's future bride, he would forget about it; besides, she had to get to the university.

# # #

Kalli dashed up the steps of the university and careened around a corner. Luckily, the students were all wolfing down food and consulting data pads and none paid the least bit of attention to yet another frazzled 18 year old. Kalli came to a stop in front of office 512 and glanced at the time. According to Dr. Iridan's schedule, she was between classes. Kalli knocked tentatively.

"Come," was the instruction that came from inside.

Dr. Iridan looked up as Kalli let herself in.

"Take a seat."

Kalli perched on the edge of her chair, half afraid that Dr. Iridan would change her mind.

"That was a unique paper you submitted," Dr. Iridan said. "Very few of my students dare to venture where others have not already tread, and I don't think I've ever read a paper that suggested that stellar cartography could be greatly improved by using a cylindrical or spherical coordinate system instead of a Cartesian system. Where did you get the idea?"