And not all for the better.”Before he could continue on with his tale, I couldn’t help but interject, “I am sorry but what is this ‘Four Rings...�� you speak of?”Eirini took the initiative to answer my question. “I think I would be the best person to answer the question, David. The Four Rings are a group, a coalition if you will, of the four planets nearest to the sun in our system.”Samuel interrupted before he could explain any further. “Why would planets need to have a coalition?”Eirini gave him. Then the owner's son came in the pool area. I did not expect that. I didn't know what to do. Should I jump up and cover myself? That seemed silly. I decided to just lay there, my whole body tensed up.As I laid there Tommy looked at me and waved. "Good morning," he said. "It's a beautiful day isn't it?"He spoke to me so I couldn't ignore him. I had to respond but when I did he'd know I knew he was looking at me."Yes it is," I replied. My body tingled all over. I felt myself getting wet. I. Maybe, Steven thought, it had somethingto do with Dr. Reid. If so, he should try to thank her when he next saw her,provided that the improvement persisted.It did persist. His father actually complimented him on the way the yardlooked when the two met the next day on Mr. Hobbs' return form work.Steven was feeling much better about life in general when he went to see Dr.Reid on Friday. This time his mother and he drove to the office alone. He wasonly mildly surprised when he saw Jim, both Jim's. But didn't you get some of that kind of treatment when they first pulled you off of Preci?" Skid asked."Yeah, that was probably part of the program, but to be honest, I was so confused and dumbfounded by what had happened that I didn't realize it was happening."That gave me a thought. I activated the comm functions, and sure enough, there was a message flag shining in my Heads Up."Skid, does your collar have the same kind of comm functions my suit does?" I asked.Yes, it does. Oh, thorns! Good.