I had, much to my displeasure, found my hidden stash of chocolate bars had spread all over the place in a gooey brown sauce. I was standing in the kit...henette, cursing about the weather, looking at my best companion during finals melting away.I also noticed that my throat was bone-dry. Pissed, I tore open the fridge for a chilled, refreshing drink. The only thing I found was a single can of beer. Oh no! Poor me! I have to sacrifice myself and down this beer. Too bad! Yeah, alcohol on a hot,. ’ ‘Then tell him to kiss off, Frank.’ ‘You know we wouldn’t do that to him or to you. What can I do to make this easier for you? Can I get you anything?’ ‘Yes, a pistol, so I can stop him following me around. I’m the one that introduced him to this place damn it. Oh to hell with it, if he shows up he shows up, I’m not running from him this time.’ ‘Okay, I just wanted to let you know.’ ‘Will they tell him that I’m here too?’ ‘I don’t know, Loretta. Well, I’ll leave you to your sunning. Captain Wainright was amazed at the response but didn’t hang around to let things start again. He hopped up on a podium in the centre of the hold and started the standard speech that was given to all colonists.Things went slowly, mainly due to the large numbers being processed, but they did hit on the odd hiccup as they went along. The medical testing was going to take days but as the average age was so low there didn’t appear to be the excessive numbers of heart complaints and diabetes type. I returned with a couple of double scotches and, sitting down, gave one to her. She just took it and as she drank it back in one, looked at me fearing her world had just collapsed.I sighed gently and said, "Well at the very least we both need to talk - openly and honestly. However before we do I need to tell you something about my thoughts. Hear me out and let me say my piece then you can have your say. Do you want to stay here in the bar, it's open and with the background music it's also.