Her hair, worn tight against her head, was perfect, not a strand out of place, showing off her round face. Her makeup was impeccable, lipstick and che...kbones by the book. You had to be intimate with her to see the depth of powder and concealer that covered the dark circles under her eyes and fine wrinkles in the corners of her eyes and mouth and Rachel Staunton would never let someone get that close to her.Alex sat casually on the bench watching her direct a porter who was gathering up a couple. I would be pleased to work with you. Please, talk with the young lady at the counter. She knows my available times.”“Okay, great. I need to run for now. Thanks for all your help, Troy.“ I offered my hand to shake. "I'm sure we’ll be seeing each other soon." I'm sure we will, Gail." He held onto my hand. Our eyes met, I gently withdrew my hand, smiled, and walked away.At the desk, I made an appointment with Troy for two days later. As I walked to the door, I turned to look back at him. Hmm, this. The world did indeed have only a few weeks more left, until this asteroid, just over a half mile in diameter, would impact the Earth, with catastrophic results. Despite initial denials, the Authorities in each country had to admit that there were major problems ahead. The result was panic, a complete collapse of all stock markets, trade ceased, and people did whatever they could to try to reach somewhere that they hoped would be safe. Jane had worked in the UK Space Agency since its inception. I waved at her and patted the couch beside me.“I’d come get you and make you sit, but if you resisted, I’d probably lose my balance and fall and then you’d feel terrible,” I said.She sat.“Okay,” I said. “I understand your problem. I think it might help if you go back and review what she said on the phone a few minutes ago.” I didn’t let her speak, because I was pretty sure whatever came out of her mouth would be argumentative. “When you asked her how far things could go, and I told her there.