names for anything. Nothing but the engineers' designations. We can't go on calling our home towns 'Village A' and 'Village B' and so forth."
"I click," Holly murmured.
"The orchards should have names of their own. The hills and the woods — everything. Who wants to go shopping in 'Retail Complex Three'?"
"Yeah, but how will we pick names for everything?"
"I won't," Eberly said. "And you won't, either. This is a task that must be done by the residents of the habitat. The people themselves must choose the names they want."
"But how — "
"A contest," he answered before she could complete her question. "Or rather, a series of contests. The residents of each village will have a contest to name that village. The workers in a factory will have a contest to name their factory. It will engage everyone's attention and keep them busy for months."
"Cosmic," Holly breathed.
"I need someone to work out the rules and organize each individual contest. Will you do this for me?"
"Absotively!"
Eberly allowed himself to chuckle at her enthusiasm. He went on, "Later, you'll have to form committees to judge the names entered and count the votes."
"Wow!" Holly was almost trembling with anticipation, he could see.
"Good. I want you to make this your top priority. But tell no one about this until we're ready to announce it to the general populace. I don't want knowledge of this leaking out prematurely."
"I'll keep it to myself," Holly promised.
"Fine." Eberly leaned back in his chair, satisfied. Then he cocked an eye at her and said, "I notice that you called me several times. What is it you wanted to talk to me about?"
Holly blinked as if suddenly shaken awake from a dream. "See you? Oh, yeah. It's prob'ly nothing much. Just some details, not a big deal, really, I guess."
Leaning slightly forward, Eberly thought that her persistent calls were merely a thinly-disguised attempt to get to see him. He rested his arms on his desk. "What is it, then?"
With a concerned knitting of her brows, Holly said, "Well... I was running routine checks on the dossiers of the last batch of personnel to come aboard and I found some discrepancies in a few of them."
"Discrepancies?"
She nodded vigorously. "References that don't check out. Or in-completed forms."
"Anything serious?" he asked.
"Ruth Morgenthau, for example. She's only got one position filled in on the prior-experience section of her application."
"Really?"
"It's a wiz of a good one," Holly admitted. "Chief of administrative services for the Amsterdam office of the Holy Disciples."
Eberly smiled faintly. "That is rather impressive, don't you think?"
"Uh-huh, but it's only one and the form calls for at least three."
"I wouldn't worry about it."
She nodded. "Kay, no prob. But there's one guy, he claims references from several universities but I can't find any mention of him in any of their records."
"False references?" Eberly felt a pang of alarm. "Who is this person?"
Holly pulled a palmcomp from her tunic pocket and pointed it at the wall opposite the one showing the habitat's layout. She glanced at Eberly, silently asking permission. He nodded curtly.
A human resources dossier appeared on the wall. Eberly felt himself frowning as he saw the name and photo at its top: Sammi Vyborg.
Scrolling down to the references section of the dossier, Holly highlighted the names of five university professors.
"Far's I can dig, he never attended any of those schools," she said.
Eberly leaned back in his chair and steepled his fingers, hiding his intense displeasure, thinking furiously. "Have you contacted any of those professors?"
"Not yet. I wanted you to see this before I go any deeper."
"Good. Thank you for bringing this to my attention."
"I can query each of the profs. But what do we do with Vyborg if they don't back him?"
Eberly spread his hands. "Obviously we can't let the man remain in the post he's been assigned to. If he has falsified his references."
"We can ship him back
"I click," Holly murmured.
"The orchards should have names of their own. The hills and the woods — everything. Who wants to go shopping in 'Retail Complex Three'?"
"Yeah, but how will we pick names for everything?"
"I won't," Eberly said. "And you won't, either. This is a task that must be done by the residents of the habitat. The people themselves must choose the names they want."
"But how — "
"A contest," he answered before she could complete her question. "Or rather, a series of contests. The residents of each village will have a contest to name that village. The workers in a factory will have a contest to name their factory. It will engage everyone's attention and keep them busy for months."
"Cosmic," Holly breathed.
"I need someone to work out the rules and organize each individual contest. Will you do this for me?"
"Absotively!"
Eberly allowed himself to chuckle at her enthusiasm. He went on, "Later, you'll have to form committees to judge the names entered and count the votes."
"Wow!" Holly was almost trembling with anticipation, he could see.
"Good. I want you to make this your top priority. But tell no one about this until we're ready to announce it to the general populace. I don't want knowledge of this leaking out prematurely."
"I'll keep it to myself," Holly promised.
"Fine." Eberly leaned back in his chair, satisfied. Then he cocked an eye at her and said, "I notice that you called me several times. What is it you wanted to talk to me about?"
Holly blinked as if suddenly shaken awake from a dream. "See you? Oh, yeah. It's prob'ly nothing much. Just some details, not a big deal, really, I guess."
Leaning slightly forward, Eberly thought that her persistent calls were merely a thinly-disguised attempt to get to see him. He rested his arms on his desk. "What is it, then?"
With a concerned knitting of her brows, Holly said, "Well... I was running routine checks on the dossiers of the last batch of personnel to come aboard and I found some discrepancies in a few of them."
"Discrepancies?"
She nodded vigorously. "References that don't check out. Or in-completed forms."
"Anything serious?" he asked.
"Ruth Morgenthau, for example. She's only got one position filled in on the prior-experience section of her application."
"Really?"
"It's a wiz of a good one," Holly admitted. "Chief of administrative services for the Amsterdam office of the Holy Disciples."
Eberly smiled faintly. "That is rather impressive, don't you think?"
"Uh-huh, but it's only one and the form calls for at least three."
"I wouldn't worry about it."
She nodded. "Kay, no prob. But there's one guy, he claims references from several universities but I can't find any mention of him in any of their records."
"False references?" Eberly felt a pang of alarm. "Who is this person?"
Holly pulled a palmcomp from her tunic pocket and pointed it at the wall opposite the one showing the habitat's layout. She glanced at Eberly, silently asking permission. He nodded curtly.
A human resources dossier appeared on the wall. Eberly felt himself frowning as he saw the name and photo at its top: Sammi Vyborg.
Scrolling down to the references section of the dossier, Holly highlighted the names of five university professors.
"Far's I can dig, he never attended any of those schools," she said.
Eberly leaned back in his chair and steepled his fingers, hiding his intense displeasure, thinking furiously. "Have you contacted any of those professors?"
"Not yet. I wanted you to see this before I go any deeper."
"Good. Thank you for bringing this to my attention."
"I can query each of the profs. But what do we do with Vyborg if they don't back him?"
Eberly spread his hands. "Obviously we can't let the man remain in the post he's been assigned to. If he has falsified his references."
"We can ship him back
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