"Thanks." And right now, you don't look happy, or safe." I'm safe," I sighed. "But I don't know what to do."There was a long silence. "Are you asking ...e for my input?"I wasn't, not initially, but now that she mentioned it... "Yes. Please."She leaned close. "Listen to me," she said, looking deeply into my eyes. "You have a very comfortable life. There are millions of women who would kill for what you have. You could end up throwing it all away, for a woman who you've known for one week. A woman. Then each city was provided a grant to determine the best ways to evacuate the city as needed, and exercises were planned around these lists. New Orleans landed on two lists, hurricanes and flooding. For real fun, they played a game in New Orleans called Beat the Feds. We would provide them a grant to study the problem, half the money would disappear, they would dust off the previous study and retype it, and report that they needed more money for another study. Actual preparation was secondary. It was so silly of us to holler as we did, and cause such a ruckus over it. I’m sorry.’ A smile slowly inched its way up Anette’s doughy face, and she patted them both on the heads. ‘Well, I should get back to my work. Turkey’s not going to cook itself. Are you staying for dinner tonight, Eugenia?’ ‘Oh, I would love to, but I have some stuff to do later…’ Eugenia said, staring blankly off into the distance for a moment. ‘But, thank you for asking. I would love to stay for dinner again sometime. Most women cannot see him,Rukb-at System - Harrad Colony’s systemInkie, Inez Nadenka Key, Tuull name S’Rndult T’Blssut - in English, ‘Principal Master of the Arts, Harmony’ - Teen pop star, awarded citizenship by the TuullJackass Company - Unit formed of Earth Firsters to be frontline cannon fodder against the Sa’armJennifer - Vivie’s dependent, Leah’s daughter, later Vivie’s concubineJonnie Darling - ‘Lost child’, Wendy’s sister, adopted by VivieJune - Mom, Tweedledee’s concubine, later.