The whole time, I kept thinking of how cute Stephanie looked bound and helpless in her room, and remembering how nice our first kiss had been. The...car drove out, and I actually fell asleep, exhausted from my ordeal. I have no idea how long the drive took, but I remember being woken up by the sound of the tape being ripped off of the box. They were all making comments about how well I travelled and how much fun it was going to be to have someone to play with all weekend. They dumped me out. The ants were Extra-Vehicular pressure suited rescue personnel and the rock was a very damaged, six seat escape pod, like those used on the larger civilian passenger liners. The outside of the pod had been blackened and melted, in places the outer couple of layers of shielding had been destroyed, exposing the under layers and a tangle of broken conduit.The rescue crew was using a powered sled to guide the pod into the open bay and on to a cradle that was designed for exactly that kind of. "We're not upset, right Andrew?" Of course not," Noah's father answered. "We're just worried about howothers might react. We want you safe." See? I told you they'd want to help," I remarked to Noah just a bitsmug about being right.Noah's father pulled back a little bit from her hug to look at her son."You thought we wouldn't want to help?" I ... I didn't want you to think I was a freak," Noah mumbled.That comment had his mother pulling Noah right back into the hug."Honey, we love you. We. ”And then back to her, “Pack out everything you haul in. Tide washes out what looks like a little dead fish and a big fish swallows it,” flicking her eyes to 3-C.Once over the rocks, the girl this time didn’t want to feel stupid and pulled off her top, bra and all. Nobody knows her.“Better use lotion,” her brother advised.Where the palms met the beach, to their “Morning,” a girl about their age looked up from her book and smiled. “Welcome to the half-dressed corner.”“First time since I was.