I had always wanted to experience remaining nude in the house, just like the hippies I saw in Goa, but had never dared to, even though I had all the o...portunity. Though six years had passed for our marriage, I had not yet succeeded in conceiving. We had decided that we would not plan and to let nature take its own course. The doctors we consulted had said that both of us were normal and to wait for time and keep on trying. That such unexplained delays did take place at times.At no point did I. Like a virus, they killed all the strong men who dug to their lair. But the woman who came next was willing, the first to understand. Through her, some letters and words were taught, a Compact was formed. Someone good might’ve asked the strange new life for knowledge. Instead, the woman became Alpha.The head of a nameless empire, built on whores and parasites. With Tchéka to watch them all.Louise willed Psi into the shape of its own name. Half an ellipse, covering both her breasts down to her. "At last!" came the response. "Get them started boarding as soon as you can. Both landers at once, it'll go faster, but Angus says Dorothy's should be finished first and she should leave immediately. Then Arlen, as soon as he's ready." OK," she said. She told the two pilots to resume their places and conveyed the directed sequence to her new husband. Then for a while they were both busy hurrying the Edenites up the ramps and into the landers.It was, she soon realized, going to be a fairly tight. There was a lot of background noise from the restaurant and often Vivian and Bill were lowering their voices so they wouldn't be overheard by the other dinners.Eventually Grace went off and found some earphones; she was adept at taking shorthand notes at meetings and although we hadn't used them at our office for years, she was used to transcribing Dictaphone recordings as well. Grace sat there and listened to the recording several times taking shorthand notes as she went. Then she was going to.