Earth had been damaged by the raw impact of a relativistic mass, but the worst effects had been caused by the collapse of the warp field within the Ea...th's mass. In this case, the warp field only managed to turn the ship it had been driving into a ball of not merely normal plasma, but a kind of nuclear plasma that hadn't been seen since the Big Bang.The expanding mass was far enough away from Mars that the remaining warp field wasn't going to be a factor, but the mass of the ship was still. I waited for a whole minute. Then the door finally creeped open and my gorgeous cousin beamed at me and let me in." Hi!" she said and hugged me. I returned the gesture and the Wonderful smell of her shampoo filled my thoughts. "you smell nice."was all I said. " yeah I just took a shower. I was changing when you knocked."she said That sent a line of nasty thoughts into mind and for the first time that day I looked her completely up and down.she really was gorgeous. She was wearing a white tank. I wasn't thinking and bythe time I did, it was too late. Mom had seen it and my self esteem wasshattered. I had begged mom to drive us back to Mumbai the next day andshe agreed. I dressed as conservatively as possible. Thankfully, I wascarrying a light pink salwar with white and silver work, which I teamedby braiding my hair. I covered my head with the baby pink dupatta andshielded my eyes with sunglasses. I couldn't let anyone see my eyes thatday.The following week was the dance recital and I. Tamsin's mother, Jennifer, had died after a long illness some four years earlier and Henry, who was second officer on a Cruise Liner had felt the need to provide a mother for her, as he was at sea for long periods. In the first couple of weeks after his wife's death the young blonde twenty year old Entertainments Officer on his ship had provided first a shoulder to cry on and then later a body to cling to, and eventually to couple with. In his grief, Henry mistook her cold calculation and his.