" Paul laughed. "No, Sam's a junk pitcher now, just like he always was. Generally, fast balls don't get faster as you age." So. Sam's not -- what did ...ou say? --overpowering, either, right?" Right. And stop trying to pretend you don't know about these things. You've been a bone-deep observer of baseball players ever since I met you, back in Bluefield." He certainly seems like an intelligent young man," Orlie said. "He started his speech today with 'Y'know, ' and I thought, 'Oh, God, he's going. "As soon as they are all back and settled in I want to get started on our pre-launch checks." Aye, aye, Admiral, ma'am!" Dan said, smiling at me. "I guess you made Admiral after all, huh."I guess I did at that," I smiled back.I had to admit; our fleet was impressive. The three task forces were based on the same breakdown. In my command, in addition to the Serendipity, I had three other super dreadnoughts. Each of the dreadnoughts was escorted by four of the heavy super cruisers, six light. ”She smiled, basking in the warmth of our commitment to each other.“I love you, Rand. No matter what happens, I’ll never run away from you again. You’re my lover, my best friend, and from now on, we face everything together.”She hugged me tight to punctuate her words. I held her, and we let our thoughts drift even as we slowly woke up without worrying about schedules or anything else. When we were showered and dressed, we called the house to find out what May, Glen and Beth had planned.“Glen’s. And I was in love with her even before that. I went over to her apartment to give back a sweater that I thought she’d forgotten at my place. I assumed it was an accident, but I should’ve known that Liesel always did everything on purpose. She opened the door in her underwear — a plain white bra, and even plainer white panties — chewing on an apple core. She asked me what I wanted. What I wanted was to be anywhere but there, anywhere but in Liesel’s doorway watching her gnaw the last bits of.