”“I think it’s great, Mr. Carlson.” Josh knows there are not many sixteen-year-olds who get a new car for fucking their own mom. Probably none...Lisa continued to hold her dad as if to keep him from bolting for the door, which was a strong possibility. After much wine and idle chat, Lisa finally released her dad so she could give Mr. Carlson a hug, “Would you mind if Josh and I showed my dad upstairs?”Not that it would have mattered, but Mr. Carlson made sure no one could see him grabbing Lisa’s. Even Robert-san, who has lived here for two decades, still has Western ideas and habits. Perhaps, in this lifetime, the Russian Orthodox Church is a better aid to your eventual enlightenment than a Japanese religion for which you have no cultural context.”“You’re sending me away?” I asked.“I send you nowhere, Steve-san. Your heart and mind should lead you to where you need to be in this life. If you do not leave the wheel in this life, you are preparing your soul for the next life, to make. A couple of days later, the Congressman called and told us the army would graciously SEND me my diploma when the rest of my class graduated - also bullshit. We talked a while and he told us he would see what he could do. What a total clusterfuck!In a week, he called back saying the best he could do was to get me into an Army reserve unit until I graduated. I guess it would do, compared to the alternative. The upside - my time in reserves counted, so by the time I hit the REAL army, I’d be a PFC. As I tried to indicate, I am CaptainAlexandra Steinert, United States Navy. To my left is my first officer,Cmdr. Jacquelyn Cummins; to my right is my sister, Alexandra Reilly,Director of Reilly Research Station; Yuuka Sukiro; and Camille Darough.We are travelers from this planet?s future," I explained to several loudgasps around me.All conversation in the large control room stopped and the two womenbefore me stared uncomprehendingly.?You speak our language now? What sort of trick is this???No.