Their arrival at home was a noisy one. Sally, as soon as she saw James walk through the door, launched herself from the couch and into his arms like a...runaway freight train, nearly knocking him from his feet."Hi Daddy James." she giggled. It took James aback for a moment, before he remembered the girls teasing her this morning.'Hi, Sally, did you miss me?' he sent, a wry tone to his message.Sally pulled away long enough to stare deep into his eyes. She seemed to be searching for something and,. When he was recruited he had been promised the position of Chief Financial Officer when Jim Brown retired after two more years. Time had passed and Jim's retirement was now coming up at the end of the next month.An excellent salary and bonuses meant he owned a luxury bachelor apartment, had the German car and all the toys. The directors of Acclaim Industrial were pleased with their selection. Very bright and hardworking, Paul met all his targets and more. He wasn't in the slightest bit arrogant. ‘I was going to tell you later.’ As they drove along they were quiet for a while. Jim was reflecting, not just on the day, but everything over the past year that had led to the moment that he was living in at that time and place. ‘How much longer do we have to drive before we get there?’ Hildy asked ‘We just started out twenty minutes ago, Hildy. We’ve got over two hours left.’ ‘Let’s see,’ Hildy said, ‘It’s about four-thirty now. We’ll get there at seven. Ten minutes to check in and…’ ‘What. By contrast, the Maltesanans seemed happy and cooperative, and while the weather was still hot and humid, the site wasn’t ridiculously far away from civilization.Beth had originally planned to arrive three weeks before, shortly after the expedition arrived in Haka Nuva. She had a previous commitment for the first week and planned to catch up afterwards. The collapse of the GPR, the ground penetrating radar, had changed everything. It was decided that she would wait until the parts arrived, and.