As more sensationreturned to her body, she was confused when she didn't feel the graveland concrete of the garage under her. Instead, it felt like sh...e waslying on some kind of a cushion.Her eyes flashed open as she took stock of where she was. The lightsabove her were the standard fluorescent fixtures in a drop ceiling.Turning her head, she saw a curtain that surrounded her bed. It lookedto her that she might be in the hospital or a medical facility, but shecouldn't tell.A nurse seated in a. "A personal something." Sage bit her lip; something clearly distressed her.Helen shrugged, "It's ok. What do you need to know?"Sage was silent for a moment and smoothed her long black hair behind her ear. The gesture drew Helen's attention to the girl's face. She was not what Helen would typically have called pretty. Frankly, the child was a touch plain with a narrow sharp face and a slim almost boyish body. At 25, she was still painfully shy sometimes and Helen tried at every occasion the get. All conversation halted for several days as the alien ship's mind analyzed the information.Then the questions began. It started out with where was everybody. I had the record of our explorations of the fast-moving star systems played back. Next it asked how did we get there. I spent a couple days creating an illustrated and animated introduction to the slipstream drive as well as the equipment involved and the powering up and powering down of a slipstream drive. Then I tacked on the field. I didn’t look around – I didn’t need to: she still wore the same perfume.Not knowing quite what else to do, I continued attaching bait to my hook.She settled down not quite next to me, dangling her shapely legs over the edge of the pier.“So how are you doing?” she asked.I reached over and turned off the cheap radio that I took with me while fishing. I shrugged. I was holding two hooks between my lips and didn’t really want to start gabbing while they were there. I’d caught one of those in my.