I had 'caught' her several times remembering things in exact detail that she had only read once. If this was yet another ability as a result of the pr...cess, it would not have been that noticeable with me. Regardless, Charlie was getting smarter and I had to really struggle to keep up with her, much less beat her.One afternoon we had a rare free period from our training. Bill was out somewhere, probably with Lisette, our schoolwork was done and our training was ahead of schedule — if there is. Lisa and I were sitting together by the pool, kind of away from the adults, and we just blinked at each other when our moms started singing their sorority song. Dad even joined in after a chorus or two, and I blamed it on the wine. My parents, and Bambi, were working their way through a second bottle. I knew none of them were drunk, and Mom certainly wasn't going to lose control the way she had a couple weeks before, but they were all definitely relaxed.So, yeah. Mom thought Bambi was just. We'rre no' accelerra'in' mair."Cromartie complied, and they both immediately felt a vast sense of relief as the added gravitational pressure vanished. "What the hell happened, Mac?" he asked as he finished."I don' know," answered the captain. "Th'shiel' didna worrk. Th' compu'err said i' woul', I though' i' woul', bu' th' rradiation was climbin' like therre was naethin' a' all betwix' us an' th' nova. Perrhaps I did no' plo' th' courrse prroper. 'Twas me own mista'e ye' again, an' i' damn'. Stinky!" "I believe so," the pretty girl agreed. "Quite an expression you have there." She removed her foot. “What do you say?” she asked me, “Do female feet smell after all?” I tried to maintain my dignity. "Well, up close like that of course it is noticeable, but…" "Oh, you’re such a dork," the pretty girl said. “Excuse me?” I replied. She ignored me and went back to discussing the hair products with her friend. I wasn’t going to give in. "So if you’re not hairdressers, then what do you.