He made a cursory tour of the house they’d bought. What, her being a realtor and all, it was easy to get a good buy. The house they’d picked was i... an older established neighborhood; actually now more a transitional community. The houses had all been built in the late 1950’s in what was then the outermost suburban ring. Since then the suburbs had sprawled well beyond the original Interstate that encircled the old city.The neighborhood was transitional in that the original buyers were largely. All was right in my world!I managed to croak out, “water.”She wiped the tears off her cheeks and poured a glass of water from a pitcher on the bedside table, lifted my head, and helped me take three sips of water that felt great going down my throat. After the third sip, I looked at her with all the love I felt and said, “My sweet Dulcinea, I’m here.” Then I closed my eyes and drifted back off to sleep.The next time I woke up, it was to the sight of Mr. Mendoza. “Water,” I croaked. He helped me. I tried my best to talk the lone holdout into coming, but she refused to budge."You guys are all going away to college," Eileen protested. "I'm just starting my junior year in high school. You'll be talking about college stuff. I'll feel left out."I continued to reason with her, but I finally gave up, figuring that it was her business. I knew very well the sole source of her aversion to attending: Dave. Maybe she was uncomfortable with the "couples" vibe that would prevail at a gathering like. Even if these were the only spaceships belonging to the FBs, they had a vast armada and looked to be building more as fast as they could turn them out.OK, time for the big confrontation. Jacob sent a message via FTL radio to the planet asking for a meeting to discuss the situation. He pointed out that he had 16 ships with his fleet, but just one of them could reduce the FB planet to rubble. However, he much preferred to talk. Without much hope, he asked the FBs to be reasonable.He was not.