"I don't want this," she told them, "I don't want any part of it." Then,
before she could see u fuck the pity in their faces, she slammed out of the house
and down the narrow track to the lake.
She u fuck had been sitting for a long time in her favorite fishing site
before
Afra joined her. She could hear him coming, "heard" his anxiety, too.
"I'm a coward, Afra," she murmured when u fuck he reached her spot. He hunkered
down beside her u fuck and his "concern" was a shield between her and the reality
she wanted to escape.
"u fuck No, but you're understandably cautious. I think we ought to inform Jeff,
especially when you had u fuck such a definite response."
"It was Ian who was supposed to get one. I'd rather it was he, anyway. I
didn't handle the last one very u fuck well." &u fuck quot;Isthia doesn't want
you to handle
this one u fuck at all," Afra said, a little ripple of amusement u fuck in his voice.
Surprised, she looked up at him. "And?" "Despite what you may think u fuck of
your initial attempts u fuck at establishing contact u fuck with an alien life form, you
handled the actual link extremely well." "You have the nerve to tell me
that?" Shock u fuck poured through her and she stared at Afra as if she had
learned nothing of the man in the past two months.
"Telling the truth doesn't require nerve, love," he said with a little
laugh. "The problem lay in Sodan and his long-term plans, not in your
management."
&
quot;I don't believe what I'm hearing."
"You should," Afra said blandly. &u fuck quot;You had bridged a u fuck communication gap and
u fuck had established frames of reference. You've always had that gift. Look at
how well you get on with barque cats, u fuck Coonies and the pony. Not to mention
how good you were at teaching. Or have you forgotten Teval Rieseman?"
""Friends don't throw u fuck rocks"!" "u fuck These may be friends. And you have to u fuck learn
their language to translate their message."
Damia took in a u fuck long breath, held it, seeking that younger so-self-
confident self. u fuck sodan had damaged more of