ROXANNE, DRESSED IN RED OF HER OWN VOLITION, WAS LOOKING out of the huge transparent panel. Behind her, the great reception room was decked out, like every Saturday, for the special dinner and later dance. The spaceships that traveled to Playa did have music and, Saturday nights, live music with a small band, which provided the entertainment for these socializing occasions.
"It's wonderful," Joseph told her, coming from behind and placing his hands on her waist, "how well-organized they are on Playa. It hasn't been colonized for as long, it has a much smaller population, and yet, as it isn't privately owned, but controlled by a number of countries, it has already been approved that it will have its own governor, democratically elected by all of us who live there - us too, Baby -, and it'll have laws, supervised from the Earth, courts, law enforcement officers… I've been told by some of my future colleagues, who've also requested a transfer. You'll see how everything's going to be different. Way better."
Roxanne smiled and thought about her sisters. Before going onboard the ship, she'd telephoned Griselda to explain that the witch she'd seen as a child was not really a witch. For Roxanne, this was very important and she was extremely relieved when she finally did it. Griselda sounded happy. Raymond made her happy enough. She was only a bit upset that she hadn't been able to actually get married because, since there weren't any laws on Planet Eleven, no one was entitled to exercise such a function - that of marrying. Nevertheless, Raymond behaved like a genuine faithful husband and their relationship seemed to be working well. The youngest sister wished them good luck in their new lives and expressed her hope that someday, unlikely as it was, they had the chance to meet again.
Dora was not to be found. Although farsighted Joseph had collected all the fiancés phone numbers - even those of the two that had left empty-handed - they were unable to contact her. The number did no longer exist. The only thing left to do was to keep trying in the future, investigating in every possible way. Roxanne hoped, from that window, which afforded a superb view of the magnificence of space, that the yellow girl could be well and that they eventually managed to find her, if only to put their minds at ease.
Blanche wasn't well. She couldn't have fallen into better hands, surrounded by doctors and receiving the best therapy possible, but her condition was very serious and they would need an inexhaustible amount of patience before they began to see signs of recovery.