…SPOILER WARNING…

a.75

“This is a great idea.”

“Just like it’s a great idea to spoon first.” Wendel turned over to kiss him. “You never know what might happen,” they said together.

a.76

UIXTR: Do you have enough of it?

AELRN: Enough of it for a while. And then maybe we’ll be doing something different.

UIXTR: A good while?

AELRN: A very good while. A little goes a long way when we’re using it in strips. And we’d better have progressed our stratagem by then.

UIXTR: Sounds groovy and feasible in every way.

a.77

Toller woke at the sound of footfalls in the hold, where he’d used cargo straps to secure himself in a niche for a nap. Leiv, source of the noise, switched on the lights. The boy loosed his hitches and stretched. “Where are we?”