I tried to stay still, also trying to slowly lie down before I was caught awake waaaaay after bedtime. “Princess?” My dad called into the dark roo.... I did not respond, my head now safely on my pillow, turned away from him. “Are you asleep, little girl?” He asked, his voice closer now. Still, I did not respond. I felt him pull my blanket back, the fabric moving slowly as he tugged it off the bed. He then sat down, the bed squeaking slightly from the shift in weight. “Sleeping so soundly…” I. Their husbands, Tib and Chuck, were up forward with Michael and Berl'ahan, the shuttle's pilots. Ben Thomas and Randall Evans, the crewmen, sat to either side of their officers."Michael tells me that we will move out of earth orbit soon, and we'll take a course to intercept the Galaxy Explorer in her lunar orbit," Dee'rah announced. "You'll not notice any change, except the earth will seem to move away from us, slowly at first, but then it will seem to jump backwards, and will be gone from. Any takers?” I urged the Xenarians, who seemed to really dig the idea of testing their weapons a bit more.“My pleasure,” Ben told me, “part of our function is to cooperate with you and listen to your counsel. Part of yours is advise us well, of course. It’s a symbiotic relationship, a partnership, one where sometimes, you will have more power, sometimes us. Very well, then. It’s done. The plasma beams should be striking said palace complex in Beijing very soon. Keep your app on, so we can catch. Andrew took over the room with his presence, not for his disability.I walked over to the bar then stood beside him. "Now how the fuck did you know I would be here?" I asked."It's a gift, you want a beer?" he asked."I'm driving so it's coffee," I said."If you can hang with the big boys, the camp bus is parked down the street. It leaves at midnight. I can find you a bed," Andrew said."I'll just bet you can," I said with a laugh.He laughed and said, "You are safer with me, than you are alone," he.