“I was one of those who was fortunate enough to be brought here to America, in the Operation Paperclip, where I was able to resume the research, ins...far as possible, that we had already begun years before.“Unfortunately, in the meantime, a lot of the notes and records were either intentionally destroyed in the last few days of the war, or were damaged while in transit, either to the Soviet or the Western Powers, during the liberation phase; and of what was saved, often ended up without. You've been there, haven't you?Yes, I know, but just listen and I'll get to that.I/she was sprawled face down, which wasn't an easy trick with those magnificent bazooms of mine/hers. I/she lay with legs slightly apart, giving me a great view of what Ernie Houston calls "the ass most designed to stop traffic" and of my/her crotch that every man in the Lounge would give his eyeteeth to share. My/her red thatch was glued down in a sodden mass, and the sheet below it was wet and shiny. I shook. He knew of no other person who drank ouzo to that exact specification – it had been his Zelda’s only alcoholic drink apart from wine. Thie new Zelda sat on a bar stool and Freddie poured his customary iced water with a dash of fresh lime and leaned over to talk to her. ‘You haven’t a clue who I am, have you?’ Zelda said, eyes narrowing, ready to give Freddie a roasting should he lie. ‘Nah, just as you haven’t a clue who I am lady. The only thing I find attractive about you is your name.’ Steam. Whenever Pardin asked why everything was being packed away, Adray gave him a kiss on the cheek and another chore, more arduous than the last one. He didn't ask again.The volume of the trolls had gotten so loud that the cotton under the earmuffs no longer worked well. Sounds filtered through the earplugs, both low and high. The melodies jangled his nerves in new, annoying ways that he had never considered. Sometimes he wondered if the sounds went beyond his range of hearing, like dogs that could.