"Hey," Mark said. "Kinda cleared out..."Tom tipped his beer and smiled, knowing just what the other guy was looking at."May have cleared out, but the ...cenery is still nice," he said and nodded toward the girl.She whirled around, hands on her hips and then gave a mock scolding. "The view isn't free, mister. I'll be expecting a nice tip."The banter improved Tom's mood, and he decided it couldn't hurt to make conversation with his bar mate."I'm Tom," he said. "How's it going?"Mark introduced. I pulled her tight and held on to her. She was shaking from the pain and there weren't any words that would make this right for her. The others disappeared and I pulled Tammy into the room with me and closed the door."I knew you would have to take her with you when you brought her here. But I so want to be her and go with you." I know; you deserve to be there with me as much as she does. I love you just as I love her. But the Powers that Be have placed a block on the portal you said." You got. Clasping his hands together under her butt, Robbie carried her into the kitchen where Lindsey was putting the finishing touches on dinner."He's here! He's here!" Trey shouted as Lindsey looked over at her daughter with a loving smile. "Are you trying to kill him already, Sweetheart? He just got here!" "I'm just making him feel welcome" Trey responded.Over the wonderful meal, Lindsey told Robbie that Trey couldn't stop talking about how he had helped her with her geometry. "Her teacher told me. The space ship had done well to repair the damage, but only Beatrice knew how much its capabilities had been enhanced by Proxima Centauri technology. It might take months for the ravages of destruction to be wholly repaired, but there was surely enough time for that before the Intrepid finally reached its destination.There was now less than a year's travel until the mission arrived at its objective. What Beatrice also knew and nobody else did was that this would also be a rendezvous with the.