THE VIEW OUT the port window in Kiernan’s dining room was spectacular. The continent of Africa lay half in shadow and half in light.

Ariel was full of questions when Kiernan took her on the tour, showing her engineering, the waste disposal facility, hydroponics, bridge, gym, and the gyro-grav system. The observatory room particularly impressed Ariel, with its electronic telescopes, and three-dimensional display of the solar system with the planets matching their current rotations and orbits around the sun.

Kiernan had dismissed her wait staff after dinner, and it was only the two of them in her quarters now. The lights were on low so the full effect of Earth-glow was visible. Ariel stared raptly at the view outside the window while Kiernan was content to sit across this intimate table, sipping her coffee and watching how the Earth-glow cast an ethereal light about Ariel’s features and made them appear even more angelic.

Ariel rotated her chair around to face Kiernan across the table. “I’m sorry. I’m being a poor guest.”

“Don’t apologize. I understand completely. I was the same way when I took my first space trip.”

“Oh, how old were you?”

“It was on my tenth birthday and one of my presents was to spend a few days on a newly constructed Stellardyne freighter before her maiden voyage to Io.”

“I know you’ve said you’ve been to Jupiter, but have you ever thought about going beyond, to Saturn?”

“It would take close to a year for a round trip, and I couldn’t be away from Stellardyne that long.”

“A year is a long time, but it would be interesting to see the rings of Saturn.”

“I agree. Perhaps one day I’ll take that trip.” Kiernan waited a few moments before saying, “I have tickets to the Moscow Ballet for next Friday. Travel would be on my personal strato-jet. We’d have plenty of time to take in the ballet and go out to dinner. It’s only a four-hour trip, so we wouldn’t have to stay overnight in Moscow.”

“I appreciate the offer, but I have other plans.”

“Tell me what nights are convenient for you. I won’t have a problem acquiring tickets.”

A stiffening of Ariel’s features let Kiernan know this wasn’t going to go her way. Ariel’s voice also possessed a taut quality. “I’m not sure of your—if you’re asking me out on a date, I need to tell you I’m involved with someone, and I’m not interested in dating anyone else.”

“How involved?”

Ariel’s eyes widened, her features now stony. “We’re dating only each other.”

“Are the two of you considering marriage?”

Ariel’s tone was frosty. “Excuse me, I don’t mean to sound rude, but that’s none of your business.”

“Do you love her?”

“I’m not interested in going out with you.”

Kiernan thought she had no choice but to present her proposition to Ariel now. She would have preferred to wait, but Ariel’s reaction indicated she would be reluctant to see her again. “I have a proposal for you—a business proposition and I want you to hear me out.”

“A proposal? What—”

“Let’s go out to the living room where we’ll be more comfortable, and I’ll explain.”

Ariel hesitated before tipping her head once in consent. Kiernan led her into the living room, waiting while Ariel took a seat at one end of the sofa, before she took a seat beside her.

After taking a moment to organize her thoughts, Kiernan said, “What I’m going to tell you must remain between the two of us. I trust you to keep this confidential. Will you agree?”

“That would depend on what it is, Ms. O’Shay.”

“Let’s say, it’s nothing unlawful, I’m not confessing to some crime. But this is something that would cause me a great deal of embarrassment if it got out.”

Ariel’s expression was unsure before she said, “I agree. Whatever you tell me will remain confidential.”

“Thank you. Now, where do I begin? Stellardyne, and the direction it is going in, is very important to me, and to the world. I want to develop light-speed spaceships capable of taking us out of our solar system and to the stars. I can do this if I can have complete control of Stellardyne. At present, I have only forty-five percent control—the rest is in a trust. However, those controlling the trust don’t agree with my plans. They have no vision. I’m sure you can appreciate why I need to have all of Stellardyne’s resources at my disposal. With your help, I’ll be able to do this.”

“My help? I don’t understand.”

“When my grandmother died, she left specifications in her will providing me full control of Stellardyne if certain conditions were met. Those conditions are that I marry and produce an heir by my fortieth birthday, which is less than two years away. That’s why I need you to marry me and bear my child.”

The expression on Ariel’s face was one of disbelief. “This is… You can’t be serious, I—”

“I’m very serious. I realize this particular stipulation in my grandmother’s will is preposterous, but there’s nothing I can do to change it. Believe me, I tried. Getting Stellardyne, all of it, is the most important step to achieving my dream. I’m prepared to make it worth your while.”

Ariel sprang from the sofa, gaping at Kiernan as if she were crazy. “No. I’m not interested. I would like to go home now.”

Kiernan quickly stood and faced her. “Please, hear me out before you decide.”

“No. I don’t want to marry you, or anything else. Please, I want to go home.”

Anger flared that Kiernan swiftly smothered. She wasn’t in the habit of having anyone tell her no. She had to make Ariel see reason, even if it meant playing hardball. “I’ll take you home, once you hear me out. Now sit, and let me finish.”

“I don’t want to hear it. Take me home.”

Kiernan kept her voice calm, but authoritative. “Not until you hear my proposal. I’m prepared to keep you here as long as it takes. And make no mistake, I’ll do it, too.”

“Wha…You…You’re kidnapping me!”

“No, I’m not kidnapping you. You can go as soon as you hear what I have to say.”

Glaring at Kiernan, Ariel resumed her seat on the sofa, sitting stiffly on the edge.

Taking a seat beside Ariel, but not close enough to invade her space, Kiernan said, “This will be a business agreement. One that can financially benefit not only you, but also your whole family.”

Ariel stared at her with open mouth, eyes wide, before her color heightened, and her features reflected her outrage.

Holding up her hand to forestall Ariel from saying anything, Kiernan said, “When we divorce, we’ll have joint custody of the child, and I’ll provide you with your own home, and a yearly income of fifty million dollars for the rest of your life. We can work out arrangements for where the child will reside, and holidays, that kind of thing.”

“I’m not interested in anything you have to say or offer—”

“I’ll provide your family an income of twenty million dollars a year. Your brother and sister will be able to attend the best colleges, and your mother will have a wonderful retirement without having to worry about the future.”

“The answer is still no!”

“Why, Ariel? Any other woman would jump at this chance.”

“I’m not any other woman. My family doesn’t need your money and I have a girlfriend.”

“Do you love this woman you’re dating? Have the two of you even discussed marriage or a long-term commitment? Can she give you what I can give you? ”

Kiernan received a flinty stare. “What part of none-of-your-business don’t you comprehend? I don’t know you, and I certainly don’t love you. Now, take me home!”

From her statement, Kiernan knew Ariel was a romantic at heart. Softening her expression and voice, she said, “I find myself attracted to you, very much so, and if we marry, we could work on making the marriage more—much more than business.”

Ariel shut her eyes and let out what sounded like a frustrated sigh before opening them. “I don’t know how your social class does things—but where I come from you fall in love before you marry. I could never love a person who thinks I can be bought, that love can be bought.” With a forceful stare into Kiernan’s eyes and her voice holding a hint of disgust, Ariel said, “And I would never have a child with that person.”

“Make no mistake—I’m not buying your love. This will be a marriage in name only—business, if that’s the way you want it.”

“No!”

Kiernan wondered what argument she could use to convince Ariel. Then it came to her. “Let me put it to you this way—would you deny humankind the chance to go to the stars?”

Ariel stared at her, appearing confounded by the question. “Ms. O’Shay, you have plenty of time to find a woman who is willing to marry you and bear you a child. It shouldn’t be that hard. But that woman isn’t me.”

“That woman is you. You have the qualities I’m searching for in a wife and in the mother of my child. No other woman will do.”

Ariel shook her head. “I’m truly sorry, Ms. O’Shay. I would like to go home now.”

Studying Ariel, she sighed in frustration, but managed to keep it out of her voice. “I’ll take you home, but I want you to think about my proposal for a few days. I’ll contact you on Wednesday at seven p.m. for your answer.”

“And may I ask—will my refusal cost my mother her position at Stellardyne?”

Kiernan flinched, feelings hurt. She was irritated Ariel would ask such a thing and blurted out, “Of course not! Give me some credit here. This has nothing to do with your mother or her position. Now, I’ll arrange for us to go.”

For the first time in her life, Kiernan was losing. But she would use any means to keep Stellardyne, and her dream, from slipping out of her hands.