I stepped out into the great room wearing my new clothes and James met me with a smile. He cleans up nice, I thought to myself, admiring his tight blu... jeans and pressed white collar shirt.“How did you manage to get all of this, in my size no less, in a half hour?” “I’ve learned that when you tip the concierge really well, he can perform miracles,” he said laughing. “Now let’s get going. You look beautiful, and you must be starving.”I listened to James talk between bites as I silently ate my. Food, books, movies, whitewater-rafting, was there anything that we didn’t click on? We kept remarking on the intensity of the connection that we were beginning to form. Should we let this go any farther? I couldn’t resist him. We began exchanging phone calls, me at home, he at work. We shared our emotions freely, no longer afraid of that invisible wall that computers represent. Then we began to talk of meeting. The wheres, and whens began swirling around, now the center of our conversation. . Perfect for Taiwan but the worst possible for returning to Okinawa. JW was pushing 27 knots when one engine developed a loud tick. Since they were from the same batch ... consecutive serial numbers ... both engines were pulled for testing. The bottom end of the noisy one grenaded during the test run-up at the boat yard. Big holes in the concrete. The other engine developed the same tick 20 minutes later.”“I see,” and I did. 40 minutes or less and the bottom of the boat under the engine would. Her head blurred back to her human form. “Savages. They rule the jungle tribes like goddesses and wage a bloody war against each other. They sacrifice their followers and each other in bloody offerings atop their jungle ziggurats. My ancestors left to found Naith.”“Our stories say they were driven out,” Kyaza said. “Too weak for the jungle.”“Lies!” Princess Naryu hissed. “We just didn’t see the need to sacrifice our own daughters and wage bloody war against each other. That’s what they do, you.