"Your Chris, right?", the man said. "Your uncle and the captain want you to proceed directly to the gangway. Follow me.", he said grabbing one of Chri...'s bags.Without buying a ferry ticket they walked together past the people who were already queuing in line to be let on to the ferry for the next run to the island. A rough group of leather wearing men got angry. "Why the fuck is he allowed to go on before us!", they screamed at the guard. A mother and her offspring got scared and bounced away. "Yes, Ma'am. Your work appears...well, if you don't mind me saying, uniquely interesting. What happened at the air base ties in apparently. I just wanted to clarify a few things." "We'll have time for that on the trip tomorrow to Thule. Right now I am a busy woman, Colonel," P said, getting up from her chair. She didn't have any more time to discuss Thule with Colonel Nickerson at the moment. "Beg your pardon, Ma'am, but tomorrow we won't-" Colonel Nickerson began saying, but P walked right. " Please," he said, again catching and holding her eyes, "you don't really want to wander into outer space alone, do you?"She laughed."I suppose not... I guess it would be OK." Great! Do you come to the planetarium often?" Not as often as I would like. I've always been fascinated by the stars." As have I. Of course in the last few years my interest has been of a more practical nature."He saw her inquisitive look."I own a boat, a thirty-seven footer, "The Tempest ". I bought her eight years ago.. The Jeep could be in the garage.I rang Massimino’s doorbell at around 8:30. The door was painted dark green to match the shutters. It was almost dark, the July temperature in the mid 70s. Comfortable. We could hear cicadas. Or crickets. Some chirping things that only chat with you in the summer.Across the street a lawn sprinkler was waving lazy whorls of misty water back and forth, back and forth.For some odd reason a question Walker had asked me had popped into my mind, “Winter, would you.