"Don't sit in my lap and you won't feel the pressure, I thought. "I don't want to do anything you don't want to do," I lied. "But I really like you an... I'd really like to kiss you." I want to kiss you, too, Ricky," she said, and closed her eyes. I leaned forward and our lips met, and we kissed on the outside for a moment before I let my tongue slowly travel to her mouth. It met hers, but for the moment she didn't seem to want to let it go any further.I put my hand around her waist, aiming for. .. disappeared with a gigantic flash.”“Ship used the diversion fields that she uses to keep from running into space debris while under her inertialess drive to... move them out of the way. At a half-light, they basically just became energy and a few stray atoms. Now I have to figure out what I’m going to do with the enemy prisoners, I suppose.”“One of the escape pods is transmitting,” Ship advised.“Can you understand what they are saying?”“Oh, yes. It is in English and I think it is an alien AI. ‘Dave, you remember your imaginary friend?’ ‘Yes, Dad. Phoebe you mean?’ His face looked as if he was either about to protest about ‘imaginary’, or to deny the memory, but then thought better of either these options, and nodded. ‘Can you describe her?’ ‘Well, she was … ,’ he described an average woman. A woman, not a girl. But it was certainly not a description that the police could use for an arrest. ‘Dave, we have someone staying with us. I want you to meet her.’ I opened the door. ‘Fi, are. The grey walls and grey floor showed wear and tear, scratched paint and scuff marks along the floor. The girl was barefoot, and limp with limbs dangling onto the floor, not even cool in the heat. A lazy fan pushed the heavy air around, the scent of damp something permeating everything. He walked down the corridor in silence; the only sound was his beating heart pounding in his ears and his breath that sounded too loud in the empty hall. His socks gave him grip, they were the kind with the.