Close... to one another."Stephanie kept feigning ignorance like a pro; she felt like she deservedan Oscar for her performance. "Close?" ...Yyyyes. T...ese... rumors -- and they are rumors, Leon and I havespoken with James about this, and he's assured us that they arecompletely false -- are that James and this other boy are quite...ehhhnnn... intimate." ...Intimate?" ...Yyyyes."Stephanie pretended to very slowly come to understand what Mrs. Rowan wasasking her: "...Do you mean... you've heard.... You do not disappoint me. I see your handsome face approaching me with a confidant stride. A man out to get his prey. I am familiar with the estate grounds and head for a secluded cabana near the swimming pool. The moonlight outlines my figure moving in the darkness and you follow. Arriving at the cabana door I enter. The room is luxuriously sensual and inviting. Large pillows are scattered about with silks, satins, and velvets of different colors and textures to excite the senses. The soft. I asked for a divorce when I first realised we no longer loved each other, but she refused because she’ll lose her job if we do. She’s a senior executive at a family magazine, and they don’t like divorces or separations. Since then the hotel brought in a policy against employing divorcees, too. So we stay married to keep the jobs we like. Neither Lia or I like the way Ellen goes about controlling our lives. She’s spoken to Lia, a few times, about having nothing to do with you since she met you. And I do not fault him for it. Now, the question is, what next?"Tuck was on his feet. "I think we should use the same basic plan again. We never got close to our objectives, there is no way the Zarthani could know of them. Their road should be complete now and supplies flowing. That must stop. I think, though, this time we should try a different route, perhaps west, then south, as we talked about before, as our egress route."There followed a general discussion of the plan. Judy heard Captain.