Over the next couple years, things went as much as we planned as one could expect. Yanci's work went well and he got a promotion. He also was nominated vice-chairman of this committee: he was now a shoo-in for the Chaser.
Sherry's work was going well, too. She was doing logistics for a Titan Colony construction company. The biggest problem was her boss thought she was indispensable. Sherry made no secret of her ambition to him, so he got playfully nervous every time she left town to do her volunteer work -- she was documenting education systems used for construction worker children.
That left me, and I was stumbling a bit. My partner bailed on me a year into our project. That was hard. I'd been concentrating on doing the presenting part of the business to get contracts and on establishing a good information flow from client archives into our company once we had a contract. He'd been doing some marketing and a lot of back office. When we looked at our progress after a year into the project, I felt I was doing really well for a historian, but he felt his MBA was being wasted. He bailed, and took a position as a Management Consultant at an established firm. I was bitter, but I kept it inside, and we parted on good terms. I was bitter... but when I saw the position he landed a couple months later, I could understand why he felt like he did. And he did feed me business whenever he could, so he ended up still helping the business a lot.
But, I still had a big problem: I wasn't getting the profile I needed to keep up with Yanci and Sherry. I could write about them and get it published, but I couldn't write about me and get it published. The Chaser was not getting closer for me!
Then, one of those "things that just happens", happened: Yanci had never outgrown his love of neutrino-jet jet skies, and he cracked up on his. He was on Titan, and at a resort. The accident should have been minor, but it got freaky. Not only did he crack up, but the heating to his leg failed, but neither he nor his rescuers noticed it until after his leg froze nearly solid. Net result: he was in the hospital for a month.
But the strangeness didn't end there. His father, Mr. Krazney, beelined for the hospital and supervised his tending. My first inkling that something more than fatherly concern was afoot was when Sherry and I visited Yanci at the hospital and I noticed that he had a lot of nurses, and all of them I was enjoying looking at. I noticed that they weren't shy about giving him attention, either. In fact, by the end of the visit, I was kinda wondering if I didn't want to break my leg!
As we were leaving, Sherry said, "Did you notice those nurses?"
"Well... yes... ummm." I mumbled. She looked at me sharply, like my answer was a surprise to her.
Then she laughed, "No, you didn't... at least not in the right way! Those are the cream of Titan Colony's debutante set. Something strange is afoot... very strange...."
Well, that old Mr. Krazney was crazy like a fox. When Yanci comes out of the hospital a month later, he has big news for us all. We gathered for a celebratory lunch: Yanci, Mr. and Mrs. Krazney, Sherry and me, and he'd invited one of the nurses.
"I'd like you to meet, Yolinda." he tells us, "She's agreed to become my wife."
Sherry and I are speechless.
"... Congratulations... to both of you." I finally say.
"You can speak frankly in front of Yolinda." Yanci says, "She knows what I had planned. But... since I met her... my plans have changed." They cuddle a bit. It would have looked real nice, if that cuddling didn't represent such a huge change in our plans. As I watched that cuddling, my knuckles whitened as I attempted to strangle our table. I could hardly think, much less speak, and these days I'm deeply embarrassed at what I said next.
"If I can speak frankly: are you sure your 'second brain' isn't doing your thinking for you, now? You've wanted to be on The Chaser ever since it was announced."
I wasn't joking when I said it, either. That left Yanci with just two choices: hit me for that, or smile. We were all watching Yanci.... He smiled, and it was a genuine friend smile, not a masked battle sneer. When I saw that I knew we had really lost him, and Mr. Krazney relaxed... knowing he had won.
"I have. But while I was in the hospital I gave a lot of thought to why I wanted it. I wanted it to help humanity, and because it was really exciting. Thanks to some talking with Dad, and to meeting Yolinda, I understand that I can help humanity and do exciting things here on Titan, too. And, if I do, I will have a family and a community to do them with. I discovered that my Dad is not such a dummy... when he puts his mind to something he can be quite effective. In this case, he put his mind to convincing me that I should head our family... here on Titan... and... let you and Sherry represent our family on The Chaser."
"And this plan I will back wholeheartedly." announced Mr. Krazney, "With Yanci staying here, I can give Sherry and you my blessing... for going on The Chaser, and other things you may have in mind." he winked at us. Yeah, over the past few years Mr. Krazney had been doing his homework, all right.
I had enough presence of mind to think about what was being said. I thought... Yeah, it changed everything, and there was that silver lining: Sherry and I would make it. If one of us had to stay behind, that one should be happy doing so.
After the lunch Sherry and I talked a little, and decided we wanted to be the first people married on The Chaser. Now, our project became to get The Chaser underway as soon as possible!