Apparently she had. He could only surmise that it was on account of that silly white boy she’s been seeing. No problem, he thought. They were going ...o have themselves a long conversation about that. He pulled a chair to her bedroom doorway and lounged back to wait. * * * * Shanice and Eric arrived at her apartment building twenty-six minutes after Chris had broken inside. They were both in a jolly mood as they’d reconciled with each other, feeling ten-times more relaxed with each other’s. Ratna after a brief silence said, ‘Later, after consulting different doctors and undergoing innumerable tests, the Doctors informed my parents that I have a problem which is incurable. My ovary is non-functional. So I will never be able to conceive and give birth to a child.’ I was stunned to hear this, that also Ratna herself telling me. I felt bad and could not find a proper response and some how stuttered, ‘I…umm…I am sorry, I asked a stupid question and hurt your sentiments. I didn’t know…I. The first hint I had that this was not the case came the morning after our visitors arrived.Liz had to go to work early, and was downstairs fixing breakfast and brewing coffee when I got out of bed and climbed into the shower. The cubicle was a large one, some four feet square, with a seat at the side opposite the jets – it was fitted with six water jets, powered by pumps, aimed at one’s body, plus a shower head for hair-washing. The jets and shower head were independently controllable.I had. Our presence had significantly increased the amount of trade being carried on among the planets, and that raised the opportunities and numbers of space pirates.Of necessity, transportation of freight through space was still relatively expensive, so only the more valuable items were transported this way. So far, it was still too damned expensive to transport the equivalent of corn or rice, though there was a rise in the volume of fine wine and liquor being transported. In fact, these were the.