In fact, while we were all pleased with the progress, it still looked to me like an awful lot of paint yet to be applied. The eight blank areas on the... wall that were focal points waiting to be painted just glared at me. I could see that for all our care in painting the field areas, they all still needed work as well. Some of the shading and texture was just too subtle and from the distance most viewers would be, the large areas looked flat and stark. I felt a hand on my shoulder as my. ”“Talk to you soon, Steve. Remember, I love you.”“That’s one thing I could never, ever forget. I love you too, Elyse.”We hung up and I contemplated calling Jamie, but based on what Elyse had said, he wasn’t going to have anything to say. I also considered calling Melissa Mascioli, but she’d said it was OK to wait until I returned to Chicago. I laughed because I was looking for ways to delay going down to the lobby. I grabbed my fedora, left the room, and rode the lift down. I saw Pippa, wearing. “For fuck’s sake,” Rachel muttered under her breath, and paused for a moment, trying to decide the best course of action. Dana was standing guard in case more Fulmanax warriors attacked, Irillith seemed ... broken, which only left John to help her pull Alyssa clear from the stone cylinder she was trapped under. Rachel rose to her feet, raising her railgun to her shoulder, and began to walk cautiously through the gallery of stone pillars, into the other chamber.She paused when Irillith suddenly. To save himself, he could detach the trailer hitch and let the trailer glide down until it crashed into the side of the mountain. He was completely unwilling to do that, even to save himself. His pregnant wife and her twin sister were in there.Lisa braced herself against the side of the cockpit as the flitter again lurched one way, then the other as the unstable trailer reacted to a sudden updraft. She nudged against the pilot's shoulder so she could see more of the gauges on the instrument.