. trust the science," he said. "You signed up for this with your eyes wide open."Well, he was right about that. I'd wanted to be a part of the Outer P...anets Project since boyhood. I had followed with rapt attention the reports of all the manned flights to Mars and to the moons of Jupiter and Saturn. Pioneering in space was the only career I'd ever considered.But I had expected our upcoming Neptune Expedition to involve fusion rockets and the massive hardware of space travel. As the general had. Luckily, Audrey had no such qualms and their friendship had flourished over many lunches and drinks after work.Today, their conversation was cut short by a phone call. It seemed Audrey was more focused on tonight’s dinner than the lunch sitting in front of her. Samantha had coaxed precious little about Audrey’s boyfriend from the tight-lipped blonde, but it sounded like that was about to change. Sam listened to her to go back and forth with the mystery man as she stabbed her fruit salad and. ” He laced his hands behind his head.Bella watched the swell of his arms and traced the lines of the elaborate tattoo that wound from them all across his torso. She smiled. He could be insufferable sometimes, but he was easy on the eyes. “Do women you haven’t seen in years often knock on your door and tell you that they have to have sex with you?” She asked with exaggerated patience.“I admit, that was a first.” he grinned.“And why do you think I might have done that?” she continued.He looked. The melodic tune of the lute; however, put a smile on her face. She strode through the crowd, head high and eye on her goal.An orc several heads taller than Amelia manned the drink counter. His dark green skin glistened with sweat as he handed out an order to a human waitress. Amelia smirked, watching his eyes linger on the woman as she went about her work. This would be easy.Amelia sauntered up to an empty spot at the bar and caught the orc’s eye. “Good day, sir. My name is Princess Amelia von.