He carefully backed away afterthe little peck, happy that the Chief made no attempt to grab him or extendthis simple smooch this time. He stood there,...unsure of what else to do ashe walked over to the center of the spot light, seeing an officer guidinghim there. He stood there, doing nothing but blowing kisses as the catcalls started up again and suddenly he was startled, looking down at hisdress flying up."What the?" whispered Jordan to himself, feeling the cold air blowing uphis skirt.The. Then the wasteland tilted and slid away from them, out of their sight. A cushioning field of force closed about them, and once more Chad felt the disorientation of being moved from one place to another by the powers of The Goddess. This time, though, he was able to keep a tenuous hold on reality. He saw all of Gardhe spread out before him like a map. He and his friends moved past, not through, jutting mountains and dense stands of timber. They quickly left the desolated area behind, scenes. They drove away, dressed for an evening out. Phelps made no attempt to follow.But he didn't go back to his hotel. Her street was quiet and dark, and the house's rear yard was unlit and accessible. Careful not to be seen, Phelps crossed the side yard near the rear of the house and tried the back door.It was locked, but the old-fashioned door was easily breached. Phelps entered the darkened house with confidence. Clearly, the girl lived alone and would most likely be gone for hours. He decided he. “Five thousand people at this school and you have to fall in love with a Vulcan!” Kathy said, hard pressed to keep her voice low. “When are you going to realize that she’s never going to reciprocate your feelings.”“I can always hope,” Demora admitted.“Well,” Kathy said as she glanced at her chronometer. “I have to meet the others. If you wind up needing a shoulder to cry on again, I’m only a communicator call away.”Demora watched her friend disappear into the now dwindling crowd and then caught.