Starship Isabella Ch. 07

After meeting several of his dad and grandad's old Academy and Fleet friends, the Maxwell clan headed into the building to check the official scores and get their licenses. As it turned out, even though Mike had the most grueling evaluation, Samantha scored the highest and had been offered a spot with the next class at the Space Academy. Samantha thanked the officer and politely told them that she'd consider the offer, but she already knew that she would never be able to leave the Utopian lifestyle behind.

Gia took the family out to a restaurant that had been a lifetime favorite of Allen's, El Secreto de Abuelo. Allen's parents had started bringing him here since he was a boy. He ate dinner here at least once a week when he attended the University of Texas. Janet and he came to 'Grandmother's Secret' frequently. After he made it big, he'd tried to hire abuela, the grandmother, to come cook for him. She'd refused, sending him names of friends she thought Allen would enjoy. That's how Veronica had come into the family. Allen had sent a private security detail to protect the place during the food riots and he had donated enough money to overhaul the kitchen when it failed its health inspection 40 years ago. To say that the family who owned the restaurant held Allen's family in the highest regard would be an understatement.

As soon as Gia called for reservations, the room reserved for Allen's family and his guests was opened and prepared for dinner. The private bar was stocked and prepped for service. One of the owner's granddaughters greeted them at the private entrance and led them to the private dining room. Very few people knew Gia now, but in the old days, everybody who was anybody in the Texas government would have stopped and greeted Allen and Gia as he and his family passed between the tables in the main dining room. They knew that Stellardyne paid the lion's share of the bills for the Republic of Texas. Rather than disrupt the other diners, Allen preferred the low key entrance. The 10th generation grandmother, Abuela Rosario, greeted them personally when they arrived at the private dining room.

Rosario had been a teenager when Allen first met her. Her mother ran the dining room and her abuela ran the kitchen. Now, Rosario had all of the family recipes and was teaching her daughters. Not a single ingredient or cooking method had changed for several hundred years. The taste and quality of the spectacular dishes had not varied a single bit. The only thing that Gia found even better than before was the excellent craft beers coming out of South Texas, on the south side of the Rio Grande.

Rosario sat and talked with Rob and Brad about the menu. Gia, Ana and Gabby all had their favorites and were ordering for the kids. Rob and Brad had never been to this restaurant, but loved Tex-Mex food. Rob and Brad ordered one of their favorite meals, based on Rosario's recommendation.

That night, when they got home from the restaurant, Justin and Janet requested a meeting with them. Ana could tell that both of her friends were upset. Justin explained that over the last two months, Stellardyne had lost its monopoly on planet acquisition. The courts had ruled that any organization who could afford the stiff price of owning a planet could discover and own one.

Ana was well aware of this lawsuit, and not surprised. Stellardyne had been given a fifty year monopoly, and now, the fifty years were up. Ana wasn't as upset by the news as Justin and Judy had expected. The two trusted allies had prepared letters of resignation to present to Ana because they had failed to fulfill Allen's dream completely.

Ana told the couple that Stellardyne losing their monopoly was simply destined to happen. Even though Stellardyne had freed humanity from starvation, racism and repression, some people did not want what Stellardyne offered. The Stellardyne policies were too liberal for many.

Allen had been correct in assuming that the most controversial part of the original compromise with the Utopian planets that had tried to eliminate US versus THEM by sending out only biracial embryos had not been accepted well among certain groups. Many of the new planets wanted to become more homogeneous and rule their own planets Some societies had even refused the embryos, using only Breeders of their own race to sustain and increase the population.

Ana told Judy and Justin that she would not accept their resignation, but would accept their recommendations for their replacements. The couple had served Stellardyne for nearly fifty years and Ana thought that they might like to retire on Eden with the rest of the family. Judy admitted that they had been thinking about retirement, but didn't want to seem to quit during these difficult times.

Ana assured them that she didn't consider it quitting. They could keep their positions until they were ready to relinquish them, but she offered to bring them back to Eden with them when they returned. She she told Judy that she needed to transfer the title of Star Seeker to the kids and to use her, Gia's and Gabby's wealth to extend a healthy line of credits to their kids.

"What's going on?" Judy asked, surprised at the request.

"Rob, Gia, Gabby, Brad and I are ready to retire," Ana told their friend. Rob has logged more light years in space than he cares to count. We're not ready to travel the galaxy again, but the kids need to get out and explore for themselves," Ana told the CEO and CFO. "The kids will be leaving soon to go whenever and wherever they want to go. Isabella will be here in a few weeks to pick us up. When she leaves again, you can either stay here, or go back to Eden with us," Ana said. Rob, Gia, Gabby and Brad all acknowledged that they all intended to go back to Eden. Brad and Gabby would probably still stay active, but Ana, Rob and Gia were ready to enjoy the fruits of all of their labor.

Ana and Gia had contacted their friends on New California and New Texas. They also contacted Sally on Heaven to let them know that their kids were probably headed that way. The Maxwell family met that night for a family meeting where all of these plans were revealed to them.

After three days of nearly non-stop lovemaking with their parents and each other, the kids were ready to go off on their own to see the galaxy for themselves. On the morning of the fourth day, Abigail, Mike, Joalice and Samantha excitedly boarded the Star Seeker and lifted off from the Stellardyne facility.

When Ana, Rob, Gia and Gabby went back into the living quarters, Justin introduced them to a young couple, their recommendations for taking over the running of the company. Aiden and Jackie Thompson had graduated with MBAs from UT ten years ago and had been protoge's of Judy and Justin since then. Jackie was nominated to be the CEO and Aiden would control the purse strings.

After interviewing with Ana for a week, she agreed that they would be right for Stellardyne. There was just enough time for Justin and Judy to settle all of their affairs on Earth and pack up what they wanted to bring back to Eden. When Isabella arrived with Jack, Judy, Jade, Daniel and Jake, there was a big farewell party and orgy with all of the Stellardyne staff there to wish their friends good luck and Bon Voyage. After sleeping late and having lunch at El Secreto de Abuelo, the group climbed aboard Isabella and lifted for Eden and a life of pure bliss.