After she had taken a couple of drags, I started speaking again. But then she curtly said, “Shut the fuck up!”I wasn’t used to such uncouth lang...age by a lady of her stature. I unwillingly obliged though there was an undying want to retort. We stood in silence for a while, she was busy smoking and looking at the vast expanse of the city from the vantage point the tower offered and me shamelessly letching at her.After a while, she turned around and signaled me for another one. I again gave one. She motioned me over to the living room area, and then to sit. I obeyed. She must have noticed my amazement at the place, as she sat down on the chair opposite mine."You like? My parents place." She began pouring two glasses of wine and continued. "My Dad was the techno-geek half of a security firm. He came up with a few very successful inventions for the company and made just gobs and gobs of money."I picked up my glass of wine, attempting to sip it casually, and instead ended up slamming. ’ Melissa heard the wobble in her voice and hated herself for sounding so nervous. She perched on the edge of her seat, aware of Matt dropping rather less elegantly into the adjacent chair. ‘Uncle Charlie seems to have left rather detailed instructions about everything else.’ ‘Yes, indeed.’ Archie’s expression was soft. ‘He was quite determined to put everything in order before he died. But then he was that sort of chap.’ Melissa swallowed hard. There it was again–that now familiar hard lump at. “Just keep us posted. We’re all about to go crazy with worry about them. Please let us know as soon as you find them. And when you get back, I want to know where your ... interceptor came from and that,” she finished as she nodded to the communicator.Arlene smiled at Mia. “Could we use your bathroom before we leave? The ... facilities onboard our fighter tend to be, uh, somewhat less than private.”When they were seated in the interceptor, Selina turned to Arlene. “Thank you.”“For what?” Arlene.