" Oh," Eileen returned, vaguely, obviously not understanding, or else not believing."Ship had been waiting a very long time for her Prime to arrive an... take command, but he never did come. Even though Jeff was from a different race, he was a Prime, so she decided to accept him as her commander. The decision is locked into her programming and can't be reversed, even if a Prime from the race that built Ship's brain should arrive at some point in the future, which, considering the time involved,. BURGEONING MAIDENHOODRadiant river,UndulatingPast willowsWeepingFor their lost lovers:I like this bankThe best, for it is fastBy the rockOn which I lostMy maidenheadWhen I was but littleMore than past my teens,And a young manNot much moreThan a half-grown,Growing girl.VAMPIRE MATTERSDead thingsDrooped overTrees like umbrellasAsleep by the door;Hearts with eyesUp their sleeves;A dark god's maskIn the ebony night--These are some of the thingsIn the catalogue of dreamsI open on hot, humid. ‘There ain’t another soul in the goddam world I can ask.’ Now I ain’t one for throwing money about, but shit, she sounded kinda desperate, tell the truth, I always been sorta grateful about what she done for me, and I’d sure missed her some. For a skinny little hippy she sure had her good points, and she sounded in real bad shape. Philosophical Doug. ‘Sure, Annie. You better promise to come down here though, lemme take a look at you.’ Well, hell, she was so grateful, send it to Western Union,. Today was December 20, and my school was closed for winter vacation. I was way ahead of my home study schedule so I had no qualms about taking most of the week off. Oh, I'd probably read a few chapters of something during vacation, just to keep from slacking off, but I had no doubt I'd be ready to graduate well before my June deadline. Since I had taken control of it, I was actually learning more than I had been in class. There was no question that I'd done the right thing.Work was going great..