Suddenly she realized just how close she came to being sucked out into space. The fact that only her nose hurt was a minor nuisance. She didn’t th...nk it was broken…but certainly it was bruised. Probably head-butted my helmet at some point. “Bolen?” she called out over her intercom. “Lieutenant?” There was no answer. “Command…anyone…can anyone hear me? Again there was no answer. Suddenly she decided it might be smart to look her own body over. Bending and reaching up with one hand, she. "I'd like to bring Rita in to meet Dave. She's done an outstanding job, starting from scratch. We have a special bonus for people who show real ownership of their work. I won't do it if you don't think it's warranted." What kind of bonus?" Jan asked."It's discretionary. My discretion, actually. I know how hard it is to get a barren territory going and Rita has worked a small miracle in my opinion. I think a $2500 bonus, over and above her commission is warranted."I saw Sue nodding and a smile. I plopped on the couch and found Emma's number. I was so nervous, I had to retype her number a couple of times because my fingers were shaking. I then didn't know what to type. So I just sent her a smiley sticker. It felt like an eternity, as I was staring at my phone waiting for it to come to life. I started to second guess myself. "Did I send this to the right person? Should I not be doing this? I am crossing so many lines here." Just then my phone pinged. “It"s about time. I have been. The ice would become so thick that fisherman would need to put extensions on their drills in order to reach the water below. For now, the temperature was perfect and the air was calm.We paddled until we came to a dam where the water level was about three feet higher than the water below. Large logs had been placed so strategically that a small lake had formed above the dam. We learned quickly that we would need to get wet, if we were going to lift the canoe up and over the dam. We carefully.