Page 65 (1/2)

Yeah, that had been bad Change-your-whole-outlook kind of bad Still, the humiliation of powerlessness had been worse

But not worse than what Gaia had done to hiance he had thought he was free of the gaiaphage But he never would be, would he? As long as that monster existed, it would have a back door into his brain and couldfor death

Henoise Like a scared child Well, he was a scared child, wasn’t he?

He hopped down into the boat There was no gauge on the tank, so he looked around for a while, wishing he had Saht It took hih and long enough to stick in the fuel tank and check the ath of dark fiberglass It ca in there

Out in the ocean Caine saw so hundreds of thousands of barrels of gas

"Must be nice," he said

"Whator hearing her Diana, a dark shadow above hi to her, but nothing came She was on the dock He was in the boat below her

Diana

Finally he said, "What are you doing here?"

"Finding you," she said "You took off"

"You didn’t find retted it It sounded self-pitying Well, it asn’t it?

"This is where we landed, co fro hero," he said "King Caine I was just re that"

"With that monster in my belly," Diana said

"Not your fault," he said tersely "Not mine, either"

"I wonder"

"We hadListen, weit? No one warned us ere conceiving a body for the gaiaphage"

"Did we make love?" Diana asked him

"Jesus, Diana," he pleaded

"Tell me, Caine Did we make love or did we just have sex? It’s a simple question"

"No, it isn’t," Caine said

He heard Diana’s sardonic laugh, and at that instant he knew the answer to her question He heard that snarky, alh and he knew, and it filled him so suddenly full of emotion that he almost cried out

"No, it’s not an easy question between us," Diana admitted Then: "Did we make love, Caine?"

"Okay Okay, yes, Diana, we made love"

"Say it to me, Caine," she said

"What’s the point?" he pleaded "I’ you behind I’ on to his pathetic life for an extra hour or two I’m scared to death; I can’t stand up to it anymore I’m done Why do you want me to say it?"