[capnq]

"Hello? Eifra to Cunsi..." Retla Gurse chided his friend.

"Sorry, Retla," Davdi apologized, "I got distracted for a moment. What were you saying?"

"I said, it's hard to believe that we've met a second alien race only a month after the Tyreans."

"Intelligent life seems to be more common than anyone expected," Davdi shrugged. "The Tophin mentioned that we were the fifth race they'd encountered, and at the time, they didn't know about the Tyreans yet."

"They seem a bit creepy compared to the Tyreans," Gurse commented. "What kind of people would collectively call themselves a 'Hive'?"

"I don't know. They haven't been very communicative since the initial contact. They didn't object to us colonizing Seginus III, though, and requested a non-aggression treaty almost immediately. They may just be wary of aliens."

"I doubt that's why you haven't even touched your food. Come on, give. What's bothering you?"

"It's Talro. She's back on Eifra on a business trip."

"Have you seen her?"

"Oh, did I ever see her! Of all the times for Talro to decide to visit, why did she have to pick this morning? She showed up at my door with no advance notice, and caught me having a late breakfast with Sanre, with both of us still in our sleepwear."

"Back up, I missed something here. How did you end up having breakfast with Doctor Dorsi?"

"Well, it started at Sinta's party. We'd both had quite a bit of BLARG, and neither of us was terribly surprised that she woke up the next morning on my bed. What did surprise me was that she wanted to stay and try to 'remember' what we'd been doing before we fell asleep. Since then, we've been spending the night together whenever our schedules allow it."

"I'm glad you've found someone to replace Talro; Sanre is quite an attractive woman. Did Talro make a scene?"

"An entire vidshow. I'm still not quite sure how it happened, but the resulting argument ended with both of them mad at me."

"They'll get over it. Did Talro expect you to wait for her, after not even speaking to you for five years?"

"I half expected that I would. I certainly wasn't looking for a new relationship. If Sinta hadn't brought Sanre in to consult on the space force, I doubt we'd ever have even met."

"That's another thing you owe to the Chairman, then."

"Good thing he hasn't charged me for it!" Davdi laughed. "I already owe him more than a lifetime's salary for all the support he's given me dealing with the board over the years."

[ December 03, 2002, 21:03: Message edited by: capnq ]