I nodded “well erm yes guess so”.“Right Carol you know where it is go and fetch it please, immediately”.Carol's face had that air of resignati...n as she left the room and went upstairs re-appearing a couple of minutes later with a thickish looking leather strap. It looked about two foot long and about two to three inches wide and maybe half an inch thick. One end it seemed was split in the middle the other end had a wooden handle presumably to grip it by. I looked on a little dumbfounded as to. In the middle of the 21st century, when humans started colonizing Mars, they discovered that they were not alone in the universe. Or, at the very least, they were not the only intelligent species ever to have existed. Archaeological digs uncovered the remains of a long-dead advanced civilization - much more advanced than humanity itself. Their technology, at its peak, had been stunning. Humans, being the thinkerers that they are, managed to reverse-engineer a lot of their technology. One. ”“No apology necessary. At all. I cannot know what your life is like, how you feel, but we’re all friends here, and friends support each other. We will always support you.”Heather responded by walking around the table to me and hugging me. I hugged her back. Hard. She disengaged and hugged Carol, then Rhee on her way back to her chair. During this time, Mom had gotten out the chocolate milk and Irish cream. She had poured straight Irish cream for the adults and three slightly spiked glasses of. I’m used to it. I ain’t all hifalutin like some niggers, either. I’m just a man tryin’ to get by!” And when he says that, I’ll be damned if he don’t put his big, black hand right on my shoulder, like we was friends or sumpin. And I looked at his hand, and he took it away, lookin’ all sheepish. “Oh. Sorry. Didn’t mean nothin’. I guess I forgot my place. You bein’ such a pretty white lady, an’ so, you know, modern, I din’t think you’da minded. Guess I’s jus’ too nasty for ya afer all.”And I don’.