Interview with a Character: Kaguhi Maimun-Cheng

Rita:  This week we’re interviewing Kaguhi Mainmun-Cheng, Takel’s older sister, and Takuhi’s daughter.  Like her mother, Kaguhi is a Kulturologist. Do you have to be bred for this work, Kaguhi?

Kaguhi:  Our DNa is designed for it, yes.  But when the Order was first started, over 2 millennia ago, having the right qualities and traist was a matter of chance.  Many girls washed out of the Order before people were able to genetically design their babies, and then, it was largely a matter of who would be willing and able to raise these children until they would be able to join the Cloister at the age of 7.  

Rita:  You mean love and care for a child, knowing she wasn’t truly “yours.”

Kaguhi:   My grandmother did it, and so did my mother.  But Grandmere did it as a kind of second career.  She had raised two sets of three before my mother, my uncle, and aunt came along, and raised two more sets after them.  She liked her children in sets of three, for some reason.

Rita:  I think it’s interesting that you have chosen to carry on in your career as a Kulturologist, instead of living full time in the palace, leading the life of a Compirial Princess.

Kaguhi:  Of course I must.  Can you think of any life more deathly dull than that of a princess?  Oh, please, give me a break! And that silly wave we’re supposed to do when we’re out in public!  That’s strictly yawnsville.  

Rita:I can see where you would grow weary of that life, as active a young woman as you are.  But when you do have to spend time at the palace, in between missions, what do you like to do for fun?

Kaguhi:  I like to dance.  Do you have any idea how huge the rooms are in that place?  Why, the refectory at the Cloister would fit in my bed chamber, with room left over for my brother’s workout room.  So in my bedchamber, I have plenty of room to dance, really stretch out, you know? I think there used to be a lot more furniture in the room, but my mother had it moved out, because she knew how much I love to dance.

Rita:  Which styles do you do?

Kaguhi:  Oh, you name them, I’ll at least try it.  Nearly all the styles of old lost Erth, plus a few of the world out here.  I even learned one from the Cat people, you know, one of our allies in the war against the reptilians and the bugs.  By the way, Rita, do you know why Kujlturologist is always spelled with a capital K?

Rita:  I think I did know once upon a time.  Oh, do tell us. I’m sure our readers are dying to know.

Kaguhi:  It comes from the German word das Kultur.  German was one of Erth’s languages. It means the arts, the humanities.  I went to the German planet UberAlles after graduation to check whether their society had developed any unfortunate tendencies, like fascism, you know.  But it was a freewheeling happy society. I developed a taste for microbrew beer there. Great place, and great sausages.

Rita:  What is your favorite treat or food?

Kaguhi:  I am a confirmed chocoholic, and when it’s cold out, I like to snuggle up with a big mug of Mexihot chocolate with lots of foam on top, and just the merest touch of rum to deepen the chocolate flavor.  That’s one of the few luxuries I love about hanging around my mother’s palace. Her chef Henri makes the best hot chocolate I have ever had. And I thought the hot chocolate at the Cloister was good. It doesn’t even hold a candle to Henri’s.  I don’t know how he does it. He won’t let me in the kitchen to observe. If there’s snything we SIster love to do it’s observe how people do things/  

Rita:  Thank you, Kaguhi, or should I call you Your Highness?

Kaguhi:  You do, and get ready to be throttled.  

Rita:  That was most enlightening.  Until next week, Bright Stars!  

Interview with a Character:Lt. Hermes Gorsuch

Rita:  Hello, this is Rita Trevalyan with another character Lt. Herm`es Gorsuch.  He started out as a Master Sergeant, but received a battlefield commission between the 2nd and 3rd book of my accidental trilogy. Hello, Lieutenant.

Gorsuch:  Hello, Ma’am.  

Rita:Which planet are you from, originally?

Gorsuch:  Zyeho IV. It’s a lovely world.  You really should visit it sometime.

Rita:  I shall, when I get the chance.  I don’t often get out of this Solar System, you  know. But back to you: Are you married?

Gorsuch:  Yes, Seven years now and have 3 kids, 2 boys and a girl.  Really sweet, well behaved kids. Smart, too.

Rita:  Who is your wife?  What does she do?

Gorsuch:  Strangely enough, she has the same first name as you, Rita.  She works from home. She’s a digital librarian for our town library.  She has a very capable chemdroid watching the kids. My eldest is in school.  We expect he’ll either go to the Stellarman Academy or the Feldmar Institute next year.

Rita:  Where do you see yourself in five Galactic Standard years, Lieutenant?

Gorsuch:  Well, if I survive the next war, and we’re fixin’ to have one, Ms. Trevalyan, don’t kid yourself, with their allies the Oraspighi at their sides, having taught then how to do away with the need for females completely, the Koinonians are going to attack the Inner Worlds, and when that happens, all Hral will break loose.  You watch.

Rita:  Whooee!  Another war!  I’ll bet the Empress won’t be real happy about that..She hates war.    You say they have no females? How did they do that?

Gorsuch:  Well, as my daddy used to say, “Beats me, Lieutenant, I’m not the regular crew chief.”  I come from a military family, you know. But Daddy never liked base housing. He reasoned, that with transmats everywhere, a soldier can be on duty in a matter of nanoseconds, no matter where he is in the Compire.  And I can train for the battlefield better if I live close to a wilderness, so that’s where I’m bringing up my children. I’ve been on leave there for the past couple of lunations.  

Rita: do you have any pastimes or hobbies not related to fighting?

Gorsuch:  In my copious spare time, haha, I put together models of battle starships.  Other than that, I’m training, always training. Gotta stay battle ready, you know.  It wouldn’t do at all to let myself become soft.

Rita:  Do you have any pets?

Gorsuch:  I don’t know if you’d really call them pets, per se, dogs.  But I raise fighting dogs. They can sniff out explosives and warn us human soldiers.  They also warn against other kinds of booby traps. They’re not ordinary regular dogs. They’re mutants, genetically designed like we are.  And my wife, she has a cat that can talk. The chemdroids clean the cat box, but mostly the cat uses the toilet like we do.

Rita:  Are your parents alive?

Gorsuch:  No. My dad got killed in the war against the Koinonians and the aliens, those bugs, they’re so disgusting, you know?  Mom’s still alive, though. She takes a rejuve bath every 5 years, you know, to stay young. She has a not a boyfriend, that’s so jejeune, Significant Oth, I think you’d call him.  Nice guy, and he really thinks a lot of Mom, treats her right, you know, like a lady should be.

Rita: And we’ll close with what is your earliest memory?

Gorsuch:  I think I was about three Galactic Standard Years old.  My dad took me out in the woods to experience nature. He was going hunting, but I just sat on a fallen log and observed all the creatures.  They were all curious about me. They knew to avoid my dad, because he had a gun, no, not a gun, this is your weapon, this is you gun, your weapon is for killing, your gun is for fun.  They came up and sniffed me.

Rita:  Thank you, Lieutenant.  That was very enlightening.

Interview with a Character: Takel Maimun-Cheng

Rita:  This is Rita Trevalyan, and today I’m interviewing Takuhi’s and Kaga’s son Takel Maimun-Cheng.  How are you today, Takel? You are the son of the new Empress, right?

Takel:  Right. And let me tell you, being the son of royalty is a real challenge.  It’s like you’re in a fish bowl. Everyone can see what you’re doing, and everyone can comment on how you’re doing it.  It’s the toughest gig I’veever had.

Rita:  But you never tried to talk your mother out of assuming that role, did you?

Takel:  Oh, Hral no!  I’d know she was going to do the Empress gig one day since shortly after I was decanted.  And you don’t even try to dissuade Takuhi Maimun out of something once she’s made up her mind.  She’ll just dig her heels in even harder. Besides, she said it would be educational for us kids.  

Rita:  And has it been?

Takel:  I’ll say!  And how! Has it been!  I’ve had so much to learn.  When we got the word that the old Empress was dead, Kaguhi and I looked up all the Empresses there have been for the past 2200 Galactic Standard Years.  There really haven’t been that many, because of life extension, you know. I think she was over 300 years old when she died. A rare old bird. I never met her,but I’ve seen holovids of her.  But she kept the Compire on an even keel all of her reign, and Mom has been working very hard at continuing Annabelle’s legacy.  

Rita:  Excellent!  And what do you do for a living?  I know that neither you nor your sister are content:to laze around the palace all the time, drinking out of lotus petals.

Takel:  Indeed we are not.  I was a Stellarman, like my uncle, but after getting wounded and PTSD in the war, I switched career paths.  After mediating and ending a feud between my aunt and my Significant Other, I went to school to become a mediator.  And I think I’ve become quite good at it. I’ve ironed out some feuds that could have gone on for generations if they hadn’t called on the services of a mediator.  I’m also a notary public, so I can witness the signing of papers officially ending the feud.  

Rita:Excellent!  My oh my, you have been a busy boy, haven’t you.  You mentioned a Significant Other. Who is she?

Rita”  She is a very beautiful young lady who I met on my parents’ land.  They have a nature preserve, you know, on Sogdien III. They wanted to sock a little land away so that no matter how modern and industrialized the planet got to be, there would always be a piece of it kept wild.  But they needn’t have worried. The settlers Sogdien has attracted are interested in keeping as much in its original wild state as possible. Some industrialists have tried to exploit it for minerals and fuels, but we’ve all worked to keep them out of the place.  Why, just the other year some tried to go big game hunting, but no one would supply them with a guide, and the forest killed every last one of them. Since then, there’s been no more talk about bringing mining and industry to the place, since the men who were killed were the loudest voices in favor of exploiting the place.  If you know what you’re doing, and take proper precautions, it can be your own little slice of Paradise, but if you don’t, it’ll kill you quicker than [snaps fingers].

Rita:  What are your future plans?

Takel:  To persuade the lovely Rabia to settle down with me, at least for awhile, until she feels the need to go gallivanting off on one of her missions.  She’s a Kulturologist, same as my sister, same as my mother was.

Rita:Thank you for talking with us today, and good luck in all your endeavors.