Bonding
The trip came to an end in a fashion as delightful as the way it began. Meena and Nav returned to the ski slopes several times, and Meena was shredding the expert runs soon after Nav reluctantly agreed to let her try. He'd skied for years, but in a few short days she'd gone beyond what he'd ever done. It was more evidence of her bioengineering. Experts referred to people like Meena as being post humans, but some used the word superhuman. During the whole week Meena only fell once. She was turning a bit too quickly when she hit a patch of ice. She plopped down on her butt, letting out a laugh so joyful Nav was glad he was there to hear it.
They went sightseeing in town. They went to a concert. They took a gondola ride to the top of the highest peak in that part of the mountain range. Meena looked down on a landscape unlike anything she'd ever imagined in all her years on the plantation.
They took pictures. Meena had never used a camera, so Nav loaned her his and told her to record some of the highlights of their trip. Her photos were obviously the work of a person with a very creative temperament. Meena's paintings were wonderful, so it was no surprise that her pictures would be wonderful, too.
They made love constantly. It was the first thing they did each morning, the last thing they did each night, and something they found time for during the day. Nav liked to take what he called "power naps" where they'd bed down in the afternoon, have sex, then sleep for about an hour. Meena saw that sex was a wonderful way to make herself sleep, and she saw that the naps gave them energy to get more enjoyment from wherever entertainment the evening held. It helped them stay up until dawn some nights.
There was a wonderful art museum in a town nearby. Meena loved seeing so much great art in one place, especially the old-fashioned pieces made from paint on canvas. She thought it was amazing that artists could create something so beautiful using such primitive methods.
They returned to the dance club. The excitement of the trip energized them both, so they danced on, and on, and on, staying at the club until it closed. Nav loved watching Meena dance. It showcased her joyful attitude, her beauty, and the effortless eroticism expressed in every move she made. He would find a way for her do erotic dance for him in the future. It sounded like something she'd enjoy being ordered to do.
They went to a series of great restaurants, exposing Meena to a range of cuisine she'd never heard of or tasted. Their last night found them in a beautiful club that served traditional French food and offered live music.
That night's entertainment was a jazz trio. Meena was thrilled, and touched that Nav was obviously thinking of her when he made the selection.
She wore a different dress that evening. It was just as revealing as the gown she wore on their first night out, but she'd begun to grow accustomed to being so exposed. It helped that so many other women dressed the same way. It also helped that Meena was beginning to enjoy the looks she attracted. Nav said it made him feel proud to be accompanied by such a beautiful woman.
"You say the nicest things," Meena said.
She recognized that the trio wasn't particularly good, but she enjoyed their attempts at interpreting traditional jazz standards. They did one thing she thought was particularly odd. Jazz is supposed to swing, a word that describes a propulsive quality given to music by playing certain parts of the beat a little faster. It gives the music a kind of push. But this trio didn't swing. They played jazz the same way one would play Mozart from notes on a page. It was nice that they could recreate famous melodies from classic jazz songs, but it was a bit weird to hear jazz without a trace of the quality that made it so special.
Nav reached into the pocket of his jacket and withdrew a small box. It was gift wrapped and tied with a delicate little bow. "I have something for you," he said.
Meena had not expected a gift. Their entire trip felt like a week-long gift. Nothing more was required.
"Open it," Nav said.
Inside she found a lovely diamond bracelet and two matching earrings. The diamonds were large - strikingly so - and the stones were mounted in heavy gold settings made with artful curves and angles. "It's beautiful," she said, putting on the jewelry.
"My grandfather gave this to my grandmother the first time they met in person," he said. "He was trying to get her attention."
"It must be very valuable," Meena said.
"Well, yes. It is. It was actually a lot more expensive when he gave it to her. Diamonds used to be outrageously overpriced. People who wore jewelry like this were sending a message that they were rich. Diamonds are nice, and big diamonds like this still cost a lot of money, but it was nothing like the bad old days.
"You're a smart girl, Meena. You must wonder where I got so much money. I didn't earn it. It was my grandfather who created our family fortune. Navius Bushnell Sr. He passed the fortune down to my father, Navius Jr., and Dad managed it in a way that made it grow. I've done the same thing. But it was all because of Grampa Nav. He did it by selling diamonds. A LOT of diamonds."
Meena knew Nav was fabulously wealthy. She knew he was an oligarch, because no one else could afford to buy a slave. She'd been taught that the word "oligarch" was considered impolite in certain circles, so she never said that word out loud.
"Have you ever heard of the Diamond Wars?" Meena hadn't. "It was a long time ago. Ancient history. Grandpa Nav started the Diamond Wars. It made him one of the richest men in the world."
Nav explained that diamonds used to be gathered by miners working in dangerous conditions. Mining caused vast environmental damage. Corrupt governments used profits from diamond mining to fund genocidal wars. Miners were paid a fraction of what the gems were worth. Miners gathered far more diamonds than the diamond cartel wanted to sell, so the cartel hoarded most of these diamonds in vast warehouses to create an artificial shortage that pushed prices unreasonably high.
"Every single thing about the diamond industry was vile," Nav said. "It was controlled by greedy, unscrupulous people who didn't care about anything except profit."
When Nav's grandfather was in grad school, he invented a new kind of software that made online commerce more profitable. The company he founded grew explosively, making him a billionaire when it went public. He was in his mid-20s when he realized he'd achieved every goal he'd ever set for himself. He'd excelled in school, created an important invention, launched a successful company, earned a fortune, and purchased a collection of more mansions, yachts and artwork than he could ever actually use. He rebelled against the notion of spending the rest of his life sitting in lounge chairs, sipping on cocktails, and pursuing the most alluring women money could attract.
He kept thinking about the diamond industry. Everything about it was offensive. The people who ran it were the most evil, exploitive individuals on earth. Back then entrepreneurs liked to talk about using new technology to "disrupt" existing industries. No industry ever needed disruption more than the diamond business.
Grandpa Nav knew that a growing number of diamonds weren't mined. They were grown in machines that vaporized carbon and made it form perfect crystals. Most of these diamonds were for industrial use, but they cost so much less than mined diamonds that a lot of bargain hunters liked synthetic diamond jewelry. They were identical to mined diamonds, they sparkled more because they were flawless, and they didn't contribute to the ongoing nightmares caused by mined diamonds and the industry that monopolized them.
Grandpa Nav got mad enough to act when he saw some outrageous lies about synthetic diamonds. The cartel launched an ad campaign promoting the ridiculous idea that there was something inferior about lab-grown diamonds. They claimed synthetic diamonds weren't as good an investment, but Nav's grandfather knew that only an idiot thought diamonds were a good investment. People who wanted investments bought stocks, bonds and real estate. Fools invested in diamonds. The cartel claimed there was something inauthentic about synthetic diamonds, but Nav's grandfather knew they were real diamonds and were superior because they were flawless.
