Goddammit. I so knew what that felt like too! I figured they had a whole lot more planned for her, individually and together, not to mention when Mich...elle woke up.Wondering where George, Larissa and my other two had ended up, I knocked on the door of the adjoining suite 722. Steve opened it and ushered me in, looking somewhat hastily up and down the corridor as he did so. A cursory glance around the cabin and I could see why! Pretty much identical a layout to our suite, there must have been. In Heviyas case it had been only 12 months, since she was a woman. In 2287 the case of Aveline Ling against the Solarian Confederacy was accepted by the supreme court. The young woman from Io had claimed that she was discriminated against for being female by the liability to military service. Her argument was that she lost 36 months (When general con***********ion was first introduced it had been a longer period than nowadays) of her time which she could not use for her education and career in. Megan and I tradedstares, then she broke out in a wide smile, even as she walked over tome. I was still frozen to that spot, unable, or maybe unwilling to move."Damn girl! You look fantastic! Better than I ever expected you to look!It wasn't easy to tell last night, but now, wow!" Megan," mom said, "Emily is really very shy about all this, and I don'twant you to tell anyone, even a hint! Understand me?" Tell? Who would believe me, even if I did tell them that Mr. Macho looksfoxy as hell as a. . WIZARD(In the terrible wizard’s voice)I knew you would be back.Pausing, then in her regular voiceHear me out. I never meant to harm you.ELPHABAWell you have, you have harmed me.WIZARDI realize that, and I regret it. Elphaba... ELPHABAThere you are! I am setting those monkeys free! And don’t try to interfere, or I will call the guards... WIZARDI am not calling anyone. The truth is I am glad to see you again. It gets pretty lonely around here. And I know you must get lonely too.ELPHABAYou don’t.