I hate my life!” She took a deep breath and then said a little louder, “No, I don’t hate my life. I’m bored with my life. I’m bored with my ...ob. And I am especially bored with this asteroid!” Her voice rose almost to a shout as she finished with “Why did I ever take a job with Federated Space Mines!?”A voice from the console in front of her said softly, “Because you needed the money, Carly. You’ve never been any good with managing money and you were about to be conscripted and sent to a penal. "But back to the physical. I was just having fun, but I was going to really give them both a workout. I ran them through every test medical science has yet conceived. The results? Let me make it short. I ran the results of the tests through age-rated tables. Know what happened? For Dad, his physical performance is in the top 1 percent ... for thirty-two-year-olds, and in the top 5 percent for twenty-six-year-olds. Ali? You can't find her numbers at all until you get to age twenty-three, and. Again I did as I was told; he got out on his side. He pointed to an area between the restaurant wall and its dumpster, and I walked there."Strip," he said. I'd been right, my clothes were staying behind."I have this," I told him, pulling a DVD disk in a paper sleeve out of my pocket.He frowned. "Carlos told you not to bring anything," he said."If Carlos wants what he told me, I need it," I retorted.For a moment he glared at me. Then he pulled out a cell phone. "Stay there," he said, and dialed.. Lost.. confused.. wanting.. then his heart skipped a beat as he realized she was looking past all of the commotion.. and straight at him. The noisemaker was her date.. but she wouldn’t be going home with him.. not tonight. Stepping back in time, Jake felt himself slide from his bar stool. He knew the feeling. Long unfamiliar and distant. Rising from some deep dark place inside his ancient body. As if his heart had been waiting for his mind. The urge. The instinct. The butterflies….. Never rush….