The Governess

The Job Offer

A blond woman in her mid-twenties stepped a bit nervously into a bar. A couple of days earlier she had received a phone-call from the secretary of an unknown individual, who wanted to arrange a meeting with her. Initially she had been very suspicious about this man – until his secretary told her it was about a job offer and that her employer thought that she was perfectly suited for it. Since jobs were very scarce on Earth these days due to a negative economic spiral caused by increasing automation – and in combination with a substantial college debt, the young woman was rather eager to accept any job offer and so she had agreed to meet this mysterious person.

Carefully the young woman, who was wearing a dark blue denim jacket and black cotton pants, scanned the bar to see whether the man, whom she was supposed to meet, was already there. But nowhere she could find anyone who met the descriptions she had received of his secretary. Could this whole job interview be a practical joke? Subsequently she started to wonder who of her acquaintances would like to play such a prank on her, but she could not think of any.

"Good to see you, Miss Saumon," said a friendly male voice from behind her. The young woman immediately turned herself around and saw a middle-aged man she did not recognize at all – though he fitted the description. Well, she thought, that would significantly reduce the probability of being the victim of some sick prank.

"You are Charles Bow?" she asked in a somewhat cautious manner. "Yes, I am, miss. But you may call me Charles, if you want. Maybe we should take a seat." "Of course, Mr... I mean Charles. And you might call me just Fleur."

Thereafter both of them ordered some drinks.

"You wanted to speak with me about a job, Charles?" the young woman asked. "That's absolutely right, Fleur. According to my information you have two master degrees, one in English and one in mathematics." "That's correct, Charles. But how did you learn about this?" "I have my sources, young lady. However, I also know that your college debt totals about seventy-five thousand terrestrial trade credits – with a three point five percent annual interest rate."

The woman was really shocked to learn that this male stranger, who she had never met before, was aware of these very personal details. And despite his friendly demeanor, it made him also a bit creepy. The idea that she, as an ordinary law abiding citizen, was followed by a person or persons unknown, made her almost shiver. However, at the same time Fleur began to wonder why someone like her would be a subject of interest for anyone outside her inner circle.

"Your face tells me that I am right." "How can you possibly know all this information concerning my person? And who, for heaven's sake are you?" "Well," the man said still friendly, "I will be honest with you. I have contacts in the Elynesian secret service and their foreign intelligence officers collect data of people they believe might be useful for them." Fleur Saumon did her best to look as if she was not surprised by this revelation, but the young woman failed badly in this pursuit.

"Both positive and negative information, I presume," she said. "I couldn't tell you. I am just a scientist and I they only gave me your name and the stuff I told you. That's the only thing I know of it." "Why did they gave my name to you? What's special about me? And what about all the privacy laws we have here in this country?"

Whether she believed that the man was not deeply involved with the Elynesian secrete service or not, Fleur was not really sure.

"The Elynesian government and by extension its agencies, are protected by a little thing called sovereign immunity. Therefore our secret service is not hindered by your privacy laws. However, be assured that we won't share all data we've collected with third parties.