It was getting out of hand.A few weeks passed since the brief encounter at the cafeteria and I had managed to get my emotions under some sort of contr...l when once again he sat at the table next to me. He was alone and needed the ketchup again. I found it strange that this popular guy would be sitting alone when a group of his friends were also eating there. I thought to myself that he probably wanted time alone so that he could catch up on some studying or reading. But, he didn't have any books. Suddenly Rhea looked in our direction and that got everyone else'sattention. When Vindi slowly appeared I heard a few gasps from theguardians around the room. Then as we looked back to Rhea there was halfgrown Howler there at her right side."Prance, chose me your Majesty," said Rhea."Relax Dear, no one will seek to break your bond. I was just curious tosee him, and to see that they have begun to choose once again." "Randi,it seems that you and Vindi are no longer the only bonded pair outsideof. I arranged with the day project manager to sleep in my quarters overnight to be on hand for emergencies. I briefed my student babe in detail about what to do throughout the night and to refer to Sam if she had any doubt about anything. Fortunately the work at this stage was mainly routine compacting of base layers, there was a competent engineer supervising the construction of the four bridges. I then left on the 446-mile round trip to my hometown which would have me back on-site at the. ." Eugene nodded and gave me a number, then gathered his family and stepped onto the transport pad. I got a kick out of calling the number and saying, "Hello? This is to inform you that Eugene Bradley has been taken into custody and will not be returning to work..." -- and hanging up.Later, things got more interesting -- but were sometimes easier to unravel. The students had been generally trained in pickup implications all along; eighth and ninth graders knew their status as they hit fourteen..