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the rest of the System combined. Still, Uranus was a giant compared to Earth, being over fourteen times
its mass. Its surface gravity was actually less than that of Earth, but its escape velocity twice Earth's.
People assume that the two should vary together, but this is not so; Uranus' far greater mass brings up
the escape velocity, while its lower density brings down the gee. Saturn is similar in this respect, also
having a lower surface gee than Earth.
The most remarkable thing about Uranus is its orientation in space. It is tilted by close to a right angle,
so that its poles are in the sun's ecliptic. It is as though the planet has fallen over, and all its rings and
satellites fallen with it. This means that in the course of its eighty-four-year revolution about the sun the
North and South Poles take turns pointing toward the sun, making for days and nights about forty-two
years long. It also rotates backwards they call it retrograde so that the sun would seem to rise in the
west, to a person on the equator, if it rose at all. That depends on the season, of course. The truth is that
for those who live in the interior of a bubble in the atmosphere, with artificial light, it really does not
make a lot of difference.
As we came in we saw the relatively calm atmosphere, clear to an amazing depth. One would have
thought that there would be terrible turbulence, considering the oddities of the planet's situation in space,
but this was not the case. It reminded me of a deep ocean, for the large amount of methane provided a
greenish hue. It seemed very pretty to me, as planets go. The atmosphere rotates in about twenty-four
hours, making it very similar to Earth in this respect, though the planet itself is faster. Since the city-
bubbles are in the atmosphere, that is what counts, for human beings.
We came down to Helvetia. Its bubbles floated slightly higher than the majority, and their wind current
differed accordingly from those of the majority, so they were relatively isolated geographically. It
seemed that the Helvetians liked to live in the mountains, as it were. This perhaps complicated their
operations slightly, but did give them a certain independence, and that seemed to suit them.
The city-bubble that was to be our base of operations was Eva, long known as an interplanetary meeting
place. I had half expected to spy the citizens going about in colorful shorts and hats, but in truth they
were almost indistinguishable from residents of Saturn or Jupiter, except for their language. Helvetia had
three or four official languages: French, German, Italian, and Romansch. I believe the majority spoke
German, but Eva was in the French section. None of these did Spirit and me much good, our languages
being Spanish and English. Fortunately many of the residents of Eva also spoke one or both of our
tongues, and in any event we had Forta. She spoke German and French, and was able to translate the
others with her equipment. She was the right person to have along.
I don't care to dwell on the rituals of introductions and arrangements; suffice to say that the process I
dismiss here actually required months, because of the bureaucratic mechanisms and protocols entailed.
Uranus was a nest of rival systems, each seemingly trying to upstage the others or to gain special
advantage for itself. Most of its component nations had formed the Uranian Common Market, which
meant that tariffs and other impediments to trade were lowered between members, and this seemed to
have a beneficial effect on their separate fortunes, but many problems remained. I felt as if I had stepped
into a nest of scorpions. All were impressed with our demonstration of the feasibility of light-speed
travel; each wanted all the benefits for itself, and none wanted to pay for them. I could not address the
planetary leaders in a single group, obtain their commitment to the project, and be on my way; I had to
hold a private audience with each leading executive, who was noncommittal until he knew of the
positions of the others. What had been intended as a one-week stay stretched out into months, with no
end in sight.
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I was never a phenomenally patient man, and age had not softened me. In those early days of frustration
I was building up an unhealthy head of pressure. Spirit encouraged me to become a tourist, visiting the
attractions, but though I am capable of appreciating such things, my ire at the waste of my time made me
an inadequate tourist. I'm afraid the Eyeful Tower was wasted on me, however remarkable it may be as a
structure in orbit.
One day Spirit went out on some routine matter, and I settled down with a helmet and holo chip, seeking
diversion. Unfortunately, all that was readily available was the normal entertainment fare: feelie sex.
This reminded me of what I was missing in that department. I preferred the real thing to a creation of the
helmet, and what could I do about that? Phone for a professional girl? That had never been my way.
Disgusted, I removed the helmet.
A young, buxom Hispanic woman walked in. My first reaction was alarm: This suite was supposed to be
secure against intrusion. My second was amazement: This was a phenomenally attractive creature, by
my definition. My third was shock: I knew this girl! She was Juana, my first Navy love. And my fourth
was disappointment: I realized that this was Forta Foundling, doing a mime.
She was good at it, though. Obviously Spirit had coached her on it, for this was Juana as I remembered
her forty years ago, before advancing age plumped her out. Not perfect, of course, for Spirit could
neither have noted nor conveyed all of the special things I knew about Juana. But close enough to be
quite intriguing.
I was interested in the technical aspect. Forta was tall and slender and somewhat angular, yet this
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