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Unnumbered Episode #207:  A Second Opinion
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	Knock-knock.

	She groaned and rolled over.

	Knock-knock.

	She peeked out of one eye at the clock.  23:30.  True, she liked to
go to sleep earlier than most, but she had a fairly demanding job as well.

	Knock-knock.

	"Damn."  She raised her voice.  "All right, all right, I'm coming!"
She got up from the bed, grabbing a gown and wrapping it around her nude
form.  "Lights, please?" The room brightened.

	It was a rather small apartment, but it suited her needs on the
fifth floor of the Embassy.  She tramped through the kitchen/dining room and
went to the door.  "This had better be good," she muttered, pressing the
button and disengaging the lock.  She wasn't worried about assailants; she
wasn't important enough to kidnap or assassinate.

	The door opened to reveal a shivering, soaking wet Jennifer Sakachi.

	"Kanomi!" she gasped, embracing the blonde in a bear hug.

	Kanomi blinked.  "Oh boy."

***

	Gradually the storm clouds blew away, and the morning sunlight was
free to shine upon the Crystal Palace once more.  The light shone through
the windows of Jen and Eileen's apartment, the long slanting rays of the
rising sun casting long shadows in the bedroom.

	Eileen Pearcy sat in the same place she had sat all night, unmoving.
She knew what time it was, and she knew that she really should be getting
ready to go to her duty.  She didn't give a damn, though.  The public
relations office could bloody well handle things on its own for a few hours.

	The PR office had other ideas.  The phone rang.  Eileen didn't move.

	After the eighth ring, the phone stopped.  Eileen muttered something
incomprehensible and flopped down on the bed.

***

	Jen awoke to the smell of fresh-made tea.  She opened her eyes, and
the first thing she noticed was that the ceiling was yellow, rather than the
white that she was used to.  Then she sat up like a bolt.

	"Ah, you're awake."  Kanomi peeked her head around the frame of the
door.  Jen saw that she was in a bedroom.  A small one.  "I was worried
about you for a bit there."

	Jen tried to blink away the mental fog.  "What did-"

	"Lemme answer all your questions now, and then you take a shower.
No, we didn't do anything last night.  No, Eileen-san hasn't called.  Yes,
you can stay as long as you need to.  Yes, I really do think you should call
Eileen-san.  Bathroom's down the hall and to the right."

	Kanomi popped back around the frame and disappeared.  Jen continued
to sit upright.  She noticed for the first time that she was dressed in a
nightgown that was a couple sizes too small.  Correctly assuming it was
Kanomi's, she stood.  Just what had happened after she came in Kanomi's
apartment?  After the hug, everything was a blur.

	Then she blinked, and she remembered.

***

	"Oh boy," said Kanomi.  She struggled with her conscience for a
moment.  Here was a very vulnerable, very upset, very *pretty* woman.  It
would be pretty easy to . . . no!  Dammit, she thought, I wouldn't even have
had this kind of thought before . . . before . . . .

	'Before you fell in love,' a part of her said.  She hated to admit
it, but little old heterosexual Kanomi had decided to look at the same
gender. And yet, she had to admit that there had been some times back in
high school, times she didn't like to admit even to herself, when she'd lay
awake at night and think about Jen and--

	"Jennifer-chan," she said, trying to put as much steel into it as
she could, "I don't think now is the time for what you want, and I don't
think I'm the person who can give it to you."

	Jen continued to sniffle, and simply hugged Kanomi tighter.

	'Great,' thought the blonde.  'Drastic action, I guess.'

	Slowly, Kanomi brought up her arms and gently pushed Jen away.  
"No," she said simply.

	"I'm alone, Kanomi-chan.  Please."

	Deep breaths, Kanomi, deep breaths.  "I . . . I can't."  'Kami know
I'd like to try,' she thought silently.  Aloud: "Jen-chan, I think that a
lot has happened in the last couple of days, and before you do anything
else you should step back and take another look at things, okay?"

	The wild look that Jen got in her eyes surprised Kanomi.  "You mean
you want me to leave?"

	"No, no, of course not!"  Who knew what she might pull if she goes
outside like this?  "You're welcome to stay here for the night.  We went to
high school together, you shouldn't even have to ask something like that. 
Now come over here and I'll get you some tea, okay?" Jen nodded, and the two
went to Kanomi's small two-seat couch.  As Jen made herself comfortable,
Kanomi went to the kitchen, furiously biting her fingernails.

	Hands down, this was the worst Kanomi had ever seen her redheaded
friend.  She was an emotional wreck, and the worst part was that Kanomi
herself had helped to create it.  After all, if she had simply been able to
control herself back in the classroom, instead of acting on her goddamned
instincts that she hadn't heard a peep from in five years, Pearcy would
never have walked in on them, and . . . .

	She shook her head and poured some water into a pot.  As she stuck
it in the oven, she happened to catch a glance out of the window.  It was
still raining; she could see the raindrops falling in the halos made by the
streetlights.

	Sighing, she set the oven to boil the water and waited the few
seconds for it to beep.  Grabbing the pot and cursing when she realized how
hot it was, she set it on the counter and grabbed a couple teacups.

	A minute later, she was taking two cups of tea to Jen, and then
stopped.  Jen was fast asleep.

	"Poor thing," she whispered, setting the cups down on the coffee
table.  Making a decision, she took a deep breath and hefted up the young
woman.  "Kami-sama, she's big," grunted Kanomi.  Jen didn't look heavy, but
she had more muscle than most, and muscle mass was heavy.  She staggered to
the spare bedroom, where it was all she could manage not to drop Jen on the
bed.  She took the care to tuck her in, but Jen never made a sound.  "Long
day, huh?"

	Seeing her friend set to rights, she walked out, turned off the
lights, and left the room.

***

	Jen couldn't think of anything to say, once she'd run through her
memories of the night before.  She couldn't begin to imagine how startled
Kanomi must have been when she'd burst through her door, seemingly ready to
fall apart.  But more importantly, what was Eileen thinking right now?

	And what should she do now?

***

	It was 09:32 in Crystal Tokyo.  Eileen had decided not to show up
for work, and a couple of expletive-ridden phone calls to her department had
assured that.  She had, however, decided that she couldn't just mope about
all day.  She needed some advice.

	Trouble was, she'd made precious few friends here.  There were the
senshi, of course, but she was sure they'd all gotten a terribly biased
report of what had happened.  She'd been rather close to Jen's parents, but
she wasn't sure they were the right people to be asking right now.  They
just might think it was all her fault, and they just might be right.

	While she was popular, she didn't think there was anyone she could 
truly confide in with this situation.  That left one alternative.

	"Maxfield, please place a call to my parents.  Normal priority."

	"Working."

	She leaned back on the couch.  She knew exactly what the time
difference was: it was early evening in Pennsylvania.  But she didn't care;
she needed to talk to someone, anyone who would listen.

	"Eileen?  Are you there?"  The slightly nasal voice came from thin
air; she hadn't asked for video, just audio.

	"Oh, hi Mom.  How are you?" she asked in English.

	"Eileen, do you know what time it is?"

	She sighed.  "Yes, I know," she answered in Japanese.

	She could hear some rustling in the background.  "So, I take it that
you aren't just calling to say hello."

	"No-"

	"Eileen, I know you live in Tokyo, but that's no reason to speak
Japanese!"

	"Um . . . "

	"Seriously!  It's unpatriotic, you know.  You *are* still an 
American, aren't you?"

	Eileen sighed and switched back to English.  "Mom, we've been 
through this before, and anyway that's not why I called.  Listen, I need 
some advice."

	"About what?"  Her voice turned slightly serious.

	"Jennifer.  You see, we um . . . that is . . . ."

	"You had a quarrel, didn't you?"

	Silence.

	"Yes."

	"See?  A mother can tell.  Now, tell me, exactly what happened?"

	So she did.  Eileen explained everything to her mother, starting
from the moment Jen and Kanomi met each other at the reunion, and continuing
on to the last night, the last time that she had seen Jen.

	After she was finished, the room was quiet for a time.

	"Well Eileen, looks like you have some problems."  In Pennsylvania,
her mother sighed.  "I think that right now, she's not going to be in a very
talkative mood.  I didn't think that you'd be very conversational either,
you know.  It's good that you're talking to me instead of bawling your eyes
out.  But we Pearcys aren't crybabies, remember?"

	"H . . . yes."  Actually, it was the motto of her father's side. 
"So what do you think I should do?"

	"Talk to her."

	"But you just said-"

	"I know what I said, girl!  But . . . I know that if I had a fight
with your father, and he walked out, I'd want to talk to him as soon as I
could.  When partners aren't talking for a day, that day turns into a week,
and thena month, and I don't think I need to tell you the rest.  I lost my
first husband that way.

	"So, you don't know where she is?"

	A long pause.

	"No.  She . . . well, she just left."

	Another long pause.

	"Don't you have some special way of finding out or anything?  I
mean, you've got all those computers and everything, and-"

	"To a certain extent.  No computers keep track of people who aren't
in the Palace.  Privacy laws."

	Another long pause.

	"And you don't have any idea where she might be?"

	--You got a job at the American embassy and work there?--

	"Um . . . actually, I just might have an idea.  It's a wild one, 
but-"

	"Go for it."  Eileen was surprised at the firmness in her mother's 
voice.  "Go for it; you've got nothing to lose.  Trust me, once you lose 
love, you can try all your life and never get it back."

	Eileen pondered those words.  "Okay.  I'll get over there right
away."

	"Good."  Her voice immediately brightened.  "It's been nice talking
to you!  You really should call more often!"

	Eileen grimaced.  "Yes, yes," she replied in Japanese.

	"And stop with the Japanese!  You're American, have some pride in
your native language!"

	'The one bastardized by the Angles, Saxons, and lord only knows who
else?' she didn't ask.  "Yes, mom.  Talk to you later."

	"Bye!"

	"Bye."  Eileen sighed.  Time to get dressed.

***

	"Are you sure you want to do this?"

	"Absolutely.  I honestly can't say he's ever steered me wrong."

	"I don't know.  Way you were talking about him back at my place,
you'd think he got a distinct pleasure out of making your life hell."

	"He did.  But in doing so he made me mature a lot more than I think
I would have otherwise."

	"Really?"

	"Yeah."

	Jen and Kanomi were on a commuter train that was mainly empty.  That
was rather interesting; this time of year it would usually be filled with 
vacationers planning to spend an afternoon on the beaches of Kyushu.  Then 
again, the brief respite from the rain seemed to be just that: brief.  
Gray stratus clouds were building overhead.

	Kyushu was the southernmost of the big Japanese islands, and
therefore the warmest.  Due to the worldwide cooling that had taken place
over the past four hundred years, its warmth was made even more attractive. 
Now, in early summer, was usually the time for people to come out and get an
early start on their sunbathing, no longer fearing the ultraviolet rays that
had made sunbathing before the early twenty-eighth century an unwise
proposition.

	But they hadn't come for sun and surf.  One of Jen's best friends
lived on Kyushu, and she felt that if anyone could give her some good advice
on the current situation, he could.

	The train finally pulled into the station.  It had taken just under 
thirty minutes to go from Tokyo to Miyazaki.

	Jen stepped down onto the platform.  Kanomi would accompany her no 
further; she had other obligations.  "You sure you'll be okay?"

	"I'm sure.  I shouldn't be more than a couple of hours anyway."

	"Okay." Kanomi swallowed; she suspected that she might not see her
for awhile.  She ached so terribly to tell her how she really felt . . . 
but she knew she couldn't.  "See you."

	"Bye."

	The doors closed, and Jen promptly walked off, never looking back. 
She knew where she was going; all she had to do was follow the signs.

	It was a rather large city, and what she was looking for was
terribly small in comparison.  It was about the size of a city block, and
done in tasteful blues and whites.  Jen smiled wryly to herself; it was a
subtle, none-too-subtle reference to the one person who could, more than any
other, be called the master of the building, and everything inside it.  

	The door was rather nondescript, just two double glass doors with
thename of the building printed on it.  "Headquarters, Her Majesty's
Department of Science and Technology, Division of Artificial Intelligence."
Jen took a step back and pulled her henshin rod from nowhere.  Have to be
properly attired, after all.

	"Orion Star Power, Make-Up!"

	The usual transformation ensued, and when it was over Sailor Orion
stood on the deserted sidewalk.

***

	It was a long elevator ride.

	The building in the city was only a gateway.  All the AIs at the
division were buried underground; if they were above ground then valuable
space would be taken up.  At the same time, they couldn't bury them too
deep.  Japan was still on the Ring of Fire, and the additional measures
necessary to insulate against the magma, on top of the enormous heat the AIs
produced in the first place, made such a plan rather pointless.

	Therefore, an enterprising solution had been hit upon.   Just to the
south of the city was a rather large mountain.  Inside it was the largest
agglomeration of computing power that had ever been assembled.  It was a
triumph of computer science . . . and at the same time, it was the
birthplace of computer psychology, for no less than three totally insane AIs
were there undergoing treatment by scientists trying to learn where they had
gone wrong.

	Inside it, or rather below it, was also one Antares, formerly the
main computer and artificial intelligence of H.M.S. Pleiades.

***

	The hallways were uniformly white, with a single horizontal blue
stripe running along it.  The only things that broke the monotony were the
occasional doors.  In her fuku she could feel just a hint of the intense
cold that she knew lay beyond the walls.  Peering intently at her map,
however, she didn't notice any of the drabness of the decor.

	She stopped before a door and opened it.  Behind it were some
computer consoles, and Sailor Mercury.

	"Good morning," said Sailor Orion, bowing.

	"Good morning," replied Mercury, returning the bow.  "It'll be just
another minute or so until I'm finished with this."

	"Sure."  Orion took the time to look around the room.  It had
nothing to distinguish itself from any other room.  About five meters
square, all done in whites and blues, although here there were two shades, a
light and a dark.  A large window looked down on the actual physical
processors that made up Antares.  The room in which those processors were
kept was brightly lit, but frost was forming on the pane, which itself was
very slightly tinted blue.  Orion wondered just how much influence Sailor
Mercury had around here.

	The answer, of course, was a lot.  She had virtually free rein of
the division and the AIs, so why wouldn't she just suit things to her needs? 
After all, the only other senshi who came here were those who worked closely
with her, and few of those at that.  It would have been just as easy for
Sailor Orion to make a phone call, but she felt that she had to be there in
person.

	"Okay, it's set up.  Here's a headset; we're running some
diagnostics on the division's PA system, so I think this will be more
reliable."

	"I see.  Thanks."  She slipped on the headset as Mercury walked out.

	"Antares?"

	"Good morning, Sailor Orion.  It's been some time, hasn't it?"

	"Four years or so, yes."

	"I've been reading about you.  Always in the center of the storm, eh
Jenny?"

	She groaned.  "The name's Sailor Orion, you should know that.  And
just where did you read about me?"

	"Well, all the tabloids for one."

	"Of course."  She'd expected that.  Still, it was terribly
disconcerting for one's personal matters to become a matter of public
record.

	"You've also got back-page mention on three different dailies. 
Major ones.  True, none in Crystal Tokyo; they're still afraid-"

	"WHAT?"

	"You know, you were never this uninformed on Pleiades."

	Sailor Orion slumped down in a chair and twirled around.  "Yes I 
was.  I never really knew what was going on under me.  What was his name, 
that guy . . . the one who ended up in charge of environmental?  I never 
did find out how he got to be in charge.  I was too busy trying to win a 
war."

	"And a war of the heart isn't more deserving of your attention?"

	"Eileen and I are *not* at war."

	"What would you call it?"

	"What would *you* call it?  Maybe it's just me, you silly machine,
but it would seem that *I* have spent the last few months with Eileen, and
*you* have not!"

	"True."  Antares managed to take on a hurt tone.  "But if that's the
case, why come to me for advice?"

	"Um . . . ."

	"It seems to me," he said, putting a bit of a pedagogue-like twang
in his voice, "that by coming here you're simply running away from the
problem, unwilling to confront it head-on."

	"I came here for advice because I've *tried* to confront it head-on,
and it DIDN'T WORK!" She stood bolt upright.  "Dammit Antares, where's your
advice?  Where's the sage wisdom?  Aren't you supposed to be *helping* me? 
Here I am, practically on the verge of giving up, and all you can do 
is . . .  is . . . ARGH!"

	She slammed her right fist on the wall.  It resounded with a thud
that shook the control panels.

	"Would you like an honest opinion?"

	She looked up.  "You stupid computer," she whispered, "haven't you
been listening to a word that I've been saying?"

	"Yes.  But I've also been running a very complex simulation."  There
was a pause, and the computer made a sound quite like a deep breath.  "I'm
telling you now that it's one of the more difficult ones I've done.  I don't
usually deal with interpersonal emotional models, aside from my workings
with other people.  And even then, I just cobble together a model that is
based on the observations of other AIs.

	"This one is different.  I've run through a few billion different 
scenarios, and I'm afraid that it's over."

	He went on.  "I only foresee a 17.44% chance that you and Eileen
will reach a favorable conclusion.  By favorable conclusion I mean one in
which you and Eileen return to an amicable situation, and stay that way for
more than one year.  It is most likely, with a 43.03% probability, that you
will part your separate ways nonviolently within the next twenty-four hours,
with a plus/minus of .035%.  I'm sorry."

	She laughed.  "You're joking, aren't you?  You can't simply break
down personal relations like some mathematical model.  People are more
complicated than that."

	"You forget, Jennifer, that I know just how complicated humans can
be.  I'm supposed to simulate one, after all."

	"But-"

	"I've checked the solutions several times.  I can refer the matter
to a couple of colleagues-"

	"You mean other AIs."

	"-colleagues with considerable expertise in these matters, but I 
think the equations will hold."

	There was a silence, and for a moment Antares wondered if he'd
pushed his friend too far.  For he *did* consider Jen a friend, and a very
good one. He'd tried tell her in the gentlest way possible, but had it
worked?

	From the half-dozen video pickups in the room, he analyzed her body
posture: hunched over a console, head in her arms, shaking slightly.  A
quick check of the sound in the room: nothing that would indicate audible
crying.  Humidity?  Inconclusive.  The environmental systems weren't
sensitive enough to determine if she was crying.  And none of the cameras
were showing her face.

	"So in your opinion, it's over between me and Eileen.  You don't
think there's any way we can get back together, you think I should just cut
my losses and move on, is that what you're saying?"

	For perhaps the first time since his programming was complete,
Antares didn't know what to say.  He'd usually make a joke, but it simply
wasn't appropriate at the time.  In the long run it hardly mattered; Jen
answered his question for him.

	"Well, thank you Antares.  You've been a big help."  He couldn't
decide if she was being sarcastic.  "Good-bye." She pulled off the headset
and laid it on the console.  Finally, she raised her face.  It didn't look
as though she had been crying.

	As she got to the door, Antares finally said something.  "So what 
are you going to do now?"

	She stopped and stood in the open doorway, not looking back.  "I'm
going to get Eileen back to me and prove you wrong, you swarmy AI!" She
walked out.

	If Antares had a face, his grin at that point would have been a mile
wide.

***

	All along the ride back, Jen thought about how she was going to
patch things up with her lover.  She knew just how Eileen had acted last
night, but she also felt that after a day or so to cool off, the brunette
would see the error of her ways and come around.  *That,* she thought to
herself, would show Antares.

	Exactly how she would do this she didn't know.

***

	The door to the head office of Her Majesty's Department of Public
Relations flew open.  Two of its occupants carried on with their mysterious
work above the ceiling tiles.  Three of its occupants stopped whatever they
were doing and stared at Sailor America as she stood in the doorway.

	"Miss me?"

	"Sailor America, you said-"

	"Yeah, I know what I said.  It was a mistake.  Look, you may have
noticed that we've got a bit of a PR problem recently." She produced a
handlink and tossed it to a junior intern, who caught it uneasily.  Turning
it over, she saw a tabloid article on Jen and Eileen's problems.

	"Yes sir, well we've sort of been trying to get a handle on-"

	"The time for that has passed.  I know exactly what's been
happening, and I know how to fix it." 'Well,' she thought, 'one out of three
isn't bad.' "Right, Genji, I want you to call Artemis.  Tell him that I've
got to ask him a few favors.  Murasaki, tell the media that an announcement
on the situation between myself and Sailor Orion is forthcoming, and that
further inquiries regarding the matter will be ignored until further notice. 
And Hisho, come with me.  We've got a press release to write."

	The two walked into her office.  America scowled at the piles of
paper; had she been *that* out of it before?  Never mind, she had work to
do.

	She refused to sit, but leaned over the desk with her hands on the
seat back.  Together they looked down at a handlink, heads nearly touching. 
"Standard opening."

	"Right.  'To all concerned press agencies.'  Regarding?"

	"Regarding current inquiries on Jennifer Sakachi and Eileen Pearcy.
Um, body of message.  'It has come to the attention of Her Majesty's
Department of Public Relations that there are a number of questions
surrounding the relationship between Eileen Pearcy and Jennifer Sakachi. 
The Office would like to make clear that while the two persons in question
have had some difficulties in their personal lives, those problems have in
fact been rectified.

	"'The Office would also like to make clear that the rampant
rumor-mongering that has surrounded the two persons in question is
unacceptable.  Indeed, the purpose of the Office is to prevent such rumors
by the responsible and sensible answering of pertinent questions.'"

	She took a deep breath; she'd have to be careful not to leave 
herself open to criticism at this point.  "'As for those rare and 
regrettable occasions where the Office is slow in giving responses, it 
should not in those situations be construed that carte blanche has been 
given to make any and all sorts of wild and unsubstantiated rumors.

	"'Further inquiries can, as always, be directed towards the Office. 
Be advised that the office reserves the right to deny a response to any
question.' Well, how does that sound?"

	The black-haired secretary looked up at her superior.  "Isn't it a 
bit convoluted?"

	"Yeah.  And that's how I want it.  The harder it is for them to
figure out what I said, the harder it is for them to turn it against us."
She straightened as a knock came at the door.

	"Sailor America, I've got Artemis on the line as you requested."

	"Ah, thank you."  She ran a hand through her hair and cast a quick
look around the room.  "Put him on."

***

	She walked through the subway station that was beneath and to the
landward side of the Palace.  It was fairly crowded, but she was given a bit
of space: the heart-shaped tab on her jumpsuit's collars showed that she was
a senshi, and the stripes on her sleeves showed that she was a captain.

	However, a couple other things tipped her off to what was going on.  
No children stopped and bowed, as they were often taught by their parents 
to do when a senshi crossed their path.  Some people actually stopped and 
looked at her, like a face from the newscasts.  And she just *knew* that 
two people behind her were taking pictures, even if she couldn't turn 
around and see them.

	But she didn't particularly care.  She was going to settle matters, 
and to hell with anyone else.

***

	Up the elevator, down the halls, straight to the door she had run
out of yesterday in tears.  The plain white door with a simple gold plate
with her name and Eileen's on it.  Her first name was in katakana; Eileen's
full name was in katakana.

	She brought her hand up to knock, then thought better of it.  She
opened the door briskly.  Walking in, she noticed that it was a bit neater
than she had thought that it would be.  Coats neatly hung in the closet,
pillows artfully arranged on the couch, kitchen spotless.  The curtains were
open; the windows let in the late-afternoon sunlight as it reflected off the
ocean.

	She found Eileen in the bedroom.  The brunette was reading a
handlink and occasionally punching a few buttons.  She didn't look up when
Jen entered; in fact, she didn't make any sign that she had recognized her
presence.

	"Eileen?"

	The brunette looked up, distracted.  "Oh, hello," she replied, a bit
distantly, but with far more warmth than she'd shown the previous night.

	Jen stood for a moment, at a loss of what to say.  "Do you think we 
could talk?"

	"Sure."

	Jen sat down on the bed, next to the reclining Eileen.  For a moment
she closed her eyes and composed her thoughts, listening to the tapping of
Eileen's fingers on the handlink.  "Do you love me?"

	The tapping stopped.

	"'Cause, if you do, then I'll be a lot happier.  And if you don't,
I'll just walk out of the door and be out of your life.  I won't be too
happy then, but at least this will be over.  So, do you love me?"

	Eileen blinked.  "Jennifer, what-"

	"Dammit, can't you answer a simple question!?  Do you or do you not
love me?  Yes or no?"

	Eileen sat up and stared at the redhead, as if she'd never seen her
before.  And to be honest, she hadn't.  She had never seen Jen being so
forceful . . . except for that one time, that one time in 1998 when
everything had been on the line.

	Jen looked back at her, and the hard expression in her blue eyes
told Eileen far more than she ever wanted to know.  It was that look that
made her decide to take action.  She'd taken them to the brink, but damned
if she was going to push them over.

	"Jennifer . . . of *course* I love you!"

	"Prove it."

	'Okay, she's going to play hardball,' she thought.  'It's her
right.' "You want me to prove it?  Fine.  I've been terrible towards you in
the past few days, and I know it.  And I'm sorry.  Gods, am I sorry."

	Jen's eyes changed imperceptibly.  "You're sorry?"

	"More than you can ever know."

	"And you think that that can just patch things up?"

	Another tough question.  Eileen swallowed, not noticing the
self-doubt in Jen's voice.  She just looked at her lover for a long moment. 
"No.  Not really.  I've been an asshole lately.  But patching things up,
well at least it's a start."

	Jen craned her neck to look at the floor.  "You mean it?" she asked,
not daring to hope.  "After you nearly threw me out, after you ignored me,
after you tried to destroy what we had?"

	"I'd erase it all in a heartbeat if I could.  If I had Pluto's Key,
I would, and to hell with the timeline.  You're too important to me,
Jennifer." A tear ran down her cheek.  "And that's the truth."

	Jen looked up, her eyes shining.  "Then that's all that matters."

	And then the two hugged, an embrace the fervor of which hadn't been
equaled in even their most passionate moments.  Jen closed her eyes tightly,
relieved that it was all, at long last, over.

	She opened her eyes, with her nose buried in Eileen's long, straight
brown hair, and frowned.  Stiffening, she extricated herself from Eileen and
stood up.

	"Jen, what's wrong?" asked Eileen, surprise washing over her face.

	"You know goddamn well what's wrong, Eileen Pearcy!"  With a mixture
of fury and delicacy, Jen took several strands of hair from her lover's
head.  "THIS is what I'm talking about!" She brandished the strands and held
them a centimeter from Eileen's brown eyes.

	Eileen blinked.  The hairs were all black, and fairly short. 
Probably from a pageboy cut.  Not pet hairs, she was fairly certain.  Then
she realized what Jen was thinking, and immediately opened her mouth.  But
it was too late.

	"Oh, you thought you were home free, didn't you Pearcy?  Thought you
could just monkey around with my feelings and then give me a heart-to-heart
and a hug and pretend everything would be all right?

	"I don't want to know who she is.  I don't want to know how long
it's been going on.  But dammit, I want to know why the hell you thought you
could . . . could . . . ." She was crying, but the grimace on her face was
one of anger and betrayal.  Eileen had never seen Jen so angry before, and
indeed never saw her so angry again.

	"Jennifer," she started, knowing how impotent her words would sound.
The redhead was already walking to the door.  "Jennifer, please come back! 
Jennifer, would you-"

	"I'm going to the head office.  I'm requesting a change of quarters.
I'll have some people sent down shortly to get my stuff, and I expect you'll
be wanting to get out of your assignment to Seiza.  I'll see what I can do. 
Bye."

	She walked out of the door and slammed it.

	"JENNIFER!"