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“I was just showing this gentleman out,” Madame Belle says slyly. “Dr. Dane!” “Er – good afternoon Rosemary...  Ahem, … what a delightful surprise..... “ “Oh, you know each other?” asks Belle.   “Dr. Dane has been helping my laboratory staff  test  some of our most recent efforts at creating a a very thin rubber that promises to be a major breakthrough in materials development.” “Really!” exclaims the widow.

On the surface, Dr. Harold Dane is dull, every inch the consummate bureaucrat. He is the Administrator of the Aerodrome’s Scientific Corps (commonly called Boffin Corps) and the primary science adviser for the CCA Founders Board. In person, Dr. Dane is a timid and retiring man.  When forced into conversation he is most comfortable discussing scientific issues and bureaucratic minutia. Behind the scenes, Dr. Dane is one of the Aerodrome’s major power brokers.  He revels in his role as gate-keeper to the highest level of resources and support, but he is also capricious and ruthless to those who stand in his way.   He rarely acts openly, preferring to cloak his true motives in storms of red tape.  Many a venture has failed or succeeded based on the subtle influences of Dr. Dane. He works tirelessly to advance the cause of science, and to that end, he is much more adept at wrangling the eccentric personalities that make up not only the Corps, but also the CCA Board than he publicly lets on.  Although feigns ingornace, Dr. Dane secretly fosters many of the “mad” science experiments in the Aerodrome.  His own studies are eclectic, focusing on diverse anthropological ventures, but also medicine and physiology. They often seem to cause more trouble than even his official powers can completely cover up.

Madame Belle  is the preeminent name in hospitality at the Aerodrome. She and her staff of ladies and gentlemen welcome guests from multiple time-streams to her magnificent house, which accommodates guests for just an afternoon of delight or for a longer stay. Discerning patrons of, regardless of gender, rave about the quality of entertainment available at this most orderly of disorderly houses. Madame Belle has a keen interest in scientific matters. She funds a fitted laboratory in the basement of her guest house. Belle's particular interest lies in the theoretical implications of time-stream physics, but her staff makes use of the lab for all manner of experiments.  Under her watchful eye they make inquires into mechanics, chemistry, metaphysics and the electrical sciences with an eye towards future product developments.  One exciting line of inquiry includes experimental prototyping of an extremely thin rubber that may  offer countless applications. In her spare time, Madame Belle delights in acquiring jewels, admirers, and valuable bits of information.

The Widow Millport was born Rosemary Brown in Dayton Ohio.  She is the youngest of 3 siblings and preceded by her two brothers Hershel and Joshua. Shortly after her birth the family moved to Indianapolis, Indiana, where her father set up a mercantile just off of Governor's Circle. He had a keen knack for business and grew the small shop into a center of commerce in the burgeoning Circle City. Sadly, he was struck down in a unlikely accident at the shop, leaving many suspicious of the circumstances. Neither Hershel, nor Joshua possessed their father's talent for business, and the shop that had supported the family was soon dragging them into destitution. Hoping to spare her daughter a life in poverty, Rosemary's mother sent her to live with her cousins in London.  She believed that there the 17 year old Rosemary could secure a husband who could keep her properly. Instead she was greeted as an uncouth American.  The social columns damned  Rosemary as yet another counter-jumper from the States intent on capturing a title.  She gave the papers plenty write about as her well connected cousins arranged her entry in to the finest parlors and ball rooms in London.  It was at one of those grand balls where Rosemary met the elderly Admiral Marmaduke Millport.  Still, even the gossips were shocked when the widowed Admiral soon proposed to the young Yank, and against her cousins' advice Rosemary accepted the engagement. She and Millport were wed in a small ceremony, but after barely 6 months of marriage the Admiral died.  The death itself was not a shock, as his health had been ailing for some time.  The scandal arose from the reading of his will.  Unbeknownst to his family the Admiral had restructured his estate and left all his assets to his young bride. The new Widow Millport wasted no time in liquidating the entire Millport fortune and booking first class passage back to Indianapolis. Perhaps it was her stylish return as sole inheritor of the Millport estate that inspired her brothers to seek their fortunes abroad. Whatever the reason, they left for Australia almost immediately upon her arrival, leaving Rosemary to run the family business.  She made 2 important changes first rechristening the store Brown Family Dry Goods (formerly Brown and Sons), second investing her new wealth into expansion.  Soon the business returned to its place of importance in the community, and catapulted the owners, Widows Brown and Millport, into similar importance socially.  Rosemary and her mother became fixtures in Indianapolis's clubs and societies.  Through these social connections Rosemary learned of the trans-dimensional port that linked the Indianapolis she knew with the Circle City Aerodrome.  Never one to miss an opportunity, Rosemary moved to monopolize the trade passing through the port.  Her new venture, Millport Mercantile, became the largest outfitter of the CCA.  Employing the business savvy she inherited from her father and the social graces learned in London, she founded several inter-dimensional business and philanthropic societies.  As one of the largest movers in the CCA business scene Widow Millport was awarded a position on the CCA founders board.

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