The door swung open – it was old, and the latch had decayed – and he vanished outside before I could stop him.I clambered to my feet just as Alist...ir got off the bed with the lamp in hand, and we both followed Prince into the hall. Our guards waited there, clearly shocked by the appearance of a mabari we’d all thought had been left in Highever. I saw Prince disappear into a room a couple of doors down – though he could have moved faster, so I didn’t think he was trying very hard to hide at this. “I’m scared,” she admitted. “I saw your thingy this morning and it’s huge. I’m afraid it’s going to hurt when you shove that up my bum.”“That’s a very valid concern,” I admitted. “It will hurt if done wrongly, but I’ve done it plenty of times and I know what measures to take to minimise the risk.”Mel still looked worried.“Inside your bum is a bit like one of the paper carrier bags you got at the clothes shop,” I explained. “When empty they fold up into a tiny space. If you try to force a large. I'll have Adam delta-dash one of our spare Compaq Proliants out overnight. You'll just have to pick it up at San Francisco International. All you'd have to do is replace the hardware and migrate the data over." San Francisco? No kidding? I used to live there when I was a kid. Haven't been back in years." See?" Benton smiles. "There's your bonus check right there. Free trip on the company. Stay for the whole weekend and make it worth the flight, if you want. I'll sign off on the expense report. We know where to go in the hospital. After all, Tina's going to be tracing that route with me and Terri very soon. This time I drive to the front entrance and drop her at the door, then go park.When I get back to her, she's anxious to see what's happening with Susan. We almost get passed up by Cindy and her Dan. They're here, too.Waiting room at the maternity unit. Looks like our Monday morning staff meeting, except no Susan or Jason – me, Tina, Dan, Cindy, other Dan (he hates when we call him.