He will be more than that, though; he's a born mentor."If we can get him to think, in a parental way, about the people and the organization, we'll hav... him. Given his intelligence rank, may I assume we can authorize him as an unescorted visitor to all of our facilities, even if he has not accepted a Confederacy rank? Technically, that's a security violation, but I trust him to be discreet." We will agree to that, subject to monitoring and review. He is not to leave Earth orbit without joining. He's a good man."All four were attractive people though there was a look about Cathy McNamara that wasn't pleasant. Lisa whispered, "She has a son she wanted me to date."Cathy said, "That's not a very big diamond." Everybody was quiet.Lisa looked at her and smiled blandly. "It's an heirloom. Everything else about him is gorgeously bigger than life."Paul laughed loudly as did the Bakers. Linda had a fiendish smile. She looked like she was preparing to say something but I noticed Paul touch her. “Ow!” she cried, pulling back and patting her facial feathers back down. “Please, never rub against the grain! It pulls the roots in the wrong direction. Always press down, as if combing or soothing.”“You mean, like this?” Al leaned in again, rubbing his face against hers, moving it down past her nose before switching sides and descending on the other side.“Much better,” Mryzzl conceded.“Excuse me,” Betty said, “but I’ve got to try this. I’ve never made out with a chick before.”Mryzzl seemed. ‘Please don’t try to talk, daddy,’ begged Meridee, ‘You’ll be good as new in no time.’ Bob knew it wasn’t the truth and he feared the worst because of his girls. Deep down he knew they could take care of themselves, but he had wanted to be a grandpa and play with his grandchildren. Darkness closed in on him again and his last thought was, ‘Well, here I go.’ The girls were crying profusely, but they knew better than to badger the doctors. So they just cried and waited, thinking the end was.