They decided that they would break the project down into three parts. During the first term they would both read up on it and make notes. In the secon... term they would work together conducting some experiments and pulling their work into a cohesive whole. In the summer term they would write it up and prepare their presentation.The project added to Wendy's work load and she started working every bit as long hours as Sally. Nevertheless the three stuck to their former routine and enjoyed each. It turned out to be a heavily boned leather corset. As the man began to tighten the laces of the corset behind her, the other two dragged something from the shadows into the light in front of her. The wooden pony! Slowly, her midsection was squeezed as the man laced the leather corset around her tighter and tighter. Jessica could only stare in fright as the wooden pony was reviled. It looked like an oversized kids rocking horse but with some notable differences. First was the saddle. Unlike a. Then the whole gate was put in sun orbit, with a slight rotation so that both sides of the gate were evenly heated. Then the Earth side was simply dropped in a concrete holder, that was lowered into the water inside a massive pipe. The pipe helped pull water from deeper in the ocean, as surface water is extra salty from evaporation.The cold gate was placed at Neptunian L2. There it sat in perpetual shadow at the far edge of the solar system. It was plugged as well, but I used the aluminum alloy. She had never said as much to him either. Did that matter? Was what he was offering her... Love? Something else? If it wasn't love, could she live without it? Was she without it now? She struggled to think of a difference between how he was treating her and how someone in love with her would treat her. Apart from that one word, she couldn't think of anything else missing. What did that mean? What if she told him she loved him? Would that change what they had? Her pondering was interrupted when.