" Then I closed the door behind me and turned the dimmer switch for the lights to its lowest setting.In the artificial twilight, I showered in the hot...test water I could stand, for as long as I could take it, and then climbed out, dried off and sat on the can. The steam made my head feel better. A little.The knock at the door jarred me awake. I'd apparently dozed while sitting on the toilet. Pulling off some paper, I cleaned myself. "I'll be right out. Hang on."When I came back into the room,. ”“Is there any sort of interplanetary financial system?” Gary inquired, hoping to uncover additional insights into their motivations. “If not, what sort of tribute do they demand?”“No. When the Elder Ones first established contact, they never traded or bartered for anything. They helped each world develop so they’d eventually be capable of interplanetary travel. The Tissk are mainly interested in rare, precious commodities: gold, silver, platinum, gems or diamonds. Over time, those ran out as. ”“Oh?”“I need to know your name.”“That’s easy. Charlotte Smith, like the author. And your’s?”“Gordy Hollister. But you don’t look over 250 years old.”“I aged well. But I’m amazed that you know Mrs. Smith.”“I read Emmeline decades ago. I began Old Manor House but admit to abandoning it.”She sat down. “Are you a literature professor?”“Far from it. When I was a student I dated a woman who was doing women’s studies and literature. Emmeline was a favourite as a Cinderella-story in which the heroine. Thinking about it, I suppose I really needed him to take total control, to order me; a way to reconcile my guilt. Brian was happy to dominate, to be the "top" as his profile described him, and although his order was firm, it wasn’t loud or demeaning. This was it, the last opportunity to leave before... well before there was no turning back I suppose. With a final tussle of emotions I had made up my mind. I responded by undressing in front of him, slowly exposing my nakedness to this man. In an.