.."Aliciana slapped Jon on the face and cried:"Jon! Jon! Snap out of it! JON!" Where am I?" he asked in a raspy voice: clearly, he'd been affected...insome way, though his alien immune system had allowed him to recoverrapidly. Looking at Aliciana, he told her:"We did it, babe - we're on earth again!" Yes, but at a terrible cost!" he replied, and she asked him:"Stumblefoot?" He's still out of it - and restrained." That's too bad!" she replied.At that moment, a gunshot rang out, and my brother. John was on his feet now and was trying, unsuccessfully, to pull Tess off of Arnold.I managed to get between them just as Arnold unleashed a roundhouse swing that would have taken Tess' head off. It nearly took mine off. He caught me on the left side of my face and I thought for a moment I was going down.Now, I didn't mind so much that he had hit me. That punch had been aimed at my little sister though. I hit him in the stomach with all of my strength. I'd never hit anyone that hard before and. I got special vouchers for meals and soft drinks, but alcoholic drinks had to be paid from our pockets. I got a name badge and the girls told me I had to wear it in the hotel. I got the magnetic key of my room and I went to my floor.When I stepped out from the elevator with my suitcase, I was almost petrified from the shock.Joel Jones was about to enter the elevator. I could read his name badge, and he was definitely Joel Jones. He politely greeted me and went to the ground floor. I remembered. Scraps of rusted mail. Bones, scattered at first but growing more dense, and more readily identifiable as humanoid. Finally, they rounded a corner and discovered a glistening egg.It was about the height of a gnome and pulsed slowly, like a heartbeat. It glowed with a faint purple light. For once even Mez was speechless. He reached one hand towards it, but thought better of it and pulled back. Rodrik unshipped his warhammer from across his back, sheathing his sword. "Finally, something I can.