A woman is talking, but her voice is not heard. She is wearing a pantsuit with blue pin stripes. She has short blond hair, a slender body and the face of a woman once beautiful that age has made merely attractive. She is at a podium in a factory; the machinery of auto construction is in the background. In front of her is a mass of workers. In jeans, t-shirt, and hard hats, they seem to be the perfect image of salt-of-the-earth, blue-collar workers. Instead of the woman's voice, a man's voice is heard.

       "Elizabeth Grandney fought for working Asimovians. She voted for the Kanavem Act, granting the most extensive labor protections in history. She also voted for increasing the minimum wage, and was a co-sponsor of the Grandney-Apelblaum Act protecting pensions."

               Now she's in a school, talking to high school students. "Liz also supported an act to help send our children to college by giving a tax credit for college tuition, so that our children are no longer dependent on corporate support for higher education."

       The woman, Elizabeth Grandney (C, Asimov) is shown in the next frame. She is shaking hands with Prime Minister Rhodes Palmerston. "Elizabeth Grandney supported the repeal of the Extraterritoriality Act, keeping corporate power where it belongs and giving Rhodes Palmerston the help he needed to build the new peace."

       "Liz. Asimov's Senator."

       Then, the television advertisement ends and the tape pops out. It is 7 in the morning, and Elizabeth Gradney's Chief of Staff Toby Troy Ronholm (ÔTT") is meeting with Frederic Bronse ("Fred"), who is the Vice President of Government Affairs for Kuat Consortium. They set, eyes locked, in a boardroom with leather chairs and a leather table. The room is one of the smaller rooms at Grandney campaign headquarters, used for important visits with dignitaries. There is a large picture of Liz at one end, and at the other end is the central slogan of the campaign. In three large green letter, "LIZ", and beneath, "Asimov's Senator."

       Fred, a diminutive, lithe man, shakes with energy. It is with visible effort that he gets up and walks over to the television set and removes the videotape.

       "Now," said Fred. "I believe you asked for another donation to the Liz Grandney for Senate Campaign on the behalf of the Kuat Consortium."

       TT Ronholm, a tall, bulky man who played football at the University of Maranda, grits his teeth. He has chiseled features, and his dark hair is a unified block in a butch cut. He was at the top of his class. He's in his khakis and a polo; knowing that he has to deal with professionals and constituents in the same day. He had served briefly in the Grand Army, but he decided to help out a friend from high school.


       He is about to have a bad day.
       Frederic Bronse, The Man from Kuat Consortium, returned to his seat. "Now, I'll be honest," said Fred. "Things are tight. The Populists are doing really well. We think they might take the Senate, and Kenny Brackhaven would be Prime Minister if he could fucking find Nikeah on a map. My boss, Damien Arnason Gavalian, does not like this. This is why he has me. He has given me a shitload of money to see to it that this does not happen. He has given me more money than you would see if you worked in public service all your life."

       "That's not saying much," said Ronholm, dryly.

       "Now, Elizabeth Grandney is a member of the Conservative Party, right?" asked the corporate man.

       TT frowns. "Yes."

       "Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't the Conservative Party generally cast itself as pro-business?" asked Fred.

       TT is silent, but he nods.

       "Well, fuck me," said Fred. "I wouldn't know it from that advertisement."

       "This is Asimov," says TT, with great restraint. "Outside those doors is a hell world. This is the colonies , bucko, and things aren't like they used to be in the thirties. This whole place is going Populist, and we've got to run against Bill Toppin, who was the first Populist elected Governor a couple years ago. The man's a legend."

       "Your internal polls show you behind?" asked Fred.

       "Our polls show we can still pull this out," said TT.

       "Then yours are the only ones," said Fred. "The Populists are on a quest to destroy the AAA corporations and wave their bloody stumps in the air for the voting public to see. The one thing standing between that and Damien G. is the Conservative party."

       "Then you'll help us?" asked TT.

       "I could if I wanted to," said Fred. "Frankly, there's a point of diminishing returns, and we've hit that already with a lot of the Senate races. I have enough left in the bankÉbut you know, the PM race is on, and that fucker is just a sinkhole. I might as well be throwing King Kuat's money onto a bonfire with that thing."

       TT is silent.

       "But, if we helped you much more than we have, I think it would send the wrong message," said Fred. "Kuat Motors is one of the biggest employers on Asimov. We've done what we can, but since Grandney's decided to become a Conservative In Name Only, to hell with her. I'd rather use GP as TP than give it to a Conservative who will break party unity."

       TT is a deer that sees the headlights. He has just lost the biggest donor to his campaign.
       
       Fred turns to leave. As an afterthought, the small man turns around. "But you know, Toby Troy," he says, "You could come work for me at Kuat. You know people. You could be a good lobbyist. The only thing bad about her is that deadweight of Grandney."

       TT has tried to stay calm. He shoots out of his seat, his face is red, and his mouth froths as he says, "Liz is a thousand times the person you or ÔDamien G.' will ever be!"

       Fred shrugs. "Well, after the election, he and I will have jobs. You and that bitch Liz are going down." The man from Kuat leaves. TT slumps back into his seat. He checks his schedule. He is expecting a call from the Political Office of the Prime Minister soon, and he is having lunch with a reporter from the Asimov Planet, the main newspaper on the colony on the second planet of the Mana Dimension (he is careful with the reporter, but he is a friend from the GA days). Then he has a briefing with Liz, and a standout at a Toppin event at Rome, near an artificial river called the Tiber.

       His day will get worse.

       Toby Troy Ronholm sits in his office at the headquarters, waiting for Political Office of the Prime Minister to call. He tries to read news, something, anything, but he keeps focusing on the phone. He has to go to the bathroom, but he is afraid to miss the call.

       He looks at the nearest poll data. 39 for Elizabeth Pompey Grandney, 51 for William Toppin, and the other 10 still undecided. Ronholm knows that in the forties is bad for an incumbent, and in the thirties is truly awful. If every undecided voter were to vote for Grandney, William Toppin would still become the next Senator.

        Where did we go wrong? he wonders. Maybe its just because she's a Conservative in a Populist area. Maybe its just the living legend that was Bill Toppin. Maybe it was because the unions and churches were pulling for Toppin in a big way, and Grandney lost their counterweight, the business community.

       Elizabeth enters the room, wearing a navy pantsuit this time. Behind her is her husband, Robert. Robert still looks like the guy who got all the girls, and knew he got all the girls.

       TT hates Robert, but the appearance of Liz raises his spirits. She has a glow that doesn't seem to come out on television; her blue eyes are bright and engaging. She is smiling, and her smile makes TT smile, too. He liked her better when she was Elizabeth Pompey. When she was Elizabeth Pompey, they won her run for the Senate by ten points. But now

       "What do the new polls say, Toby Troy?" she asks.

       TT's smile vanishes. "You're still behind," he says. "But as soon the phone rings confirming that Rhodes Palmerston is coming out to campaign for us, we'll be in better shape."

       "You sure Rhodes will make a difference?" asks Robert the husband.

       TT is still sitting down, and he doesn't even look at Robert. Robert's never had a real job; to TT, it just seems he coasts through on life because women love him, even Liz. "Rhodes Palmerston is the architect of the Grand Army Charter Alliance, the builder of the modern Tasnica Republic, and the most popular Prime Minister in history. There wouldn't be a colony. Because Belgememnon the Unforgettable is dead and Generalissimo Celiose Cole hates politics, its impossible to do better than Rhodes."

       "Celiose is visiting tomorrow," says Robert. "Inspecting some new Kuat weapon, or something."

       Robert is ignored.

       "What about the event later today?" she asks.

       "We won Rome handily last year, that's why Toppin is campaigning there. We have a strong response planned," said TT.

       "I know, I sort of live there," she said, smiling. "They love me."

       Robert doesn't care that much about winning the election; he wants to get laid. And, because of his strange charisma, that seems to affect Liz too. Robert starts running his arm up and down her back. Elizabeth blushes, and they excuse themselves.

       "Robert Grandney," mumbled TT. Before him, Liz was a tough and decisive leader. She was independent-minded. But nowÉ

       The phone rings, and TT answers. "Hi, this is Vicki calling from the Prime Minister's office."

       TT stands up. "This is Toby Troy Ronholm, Chief of Staff to Senator Elizabeth PompeyÉerÉElizabeth Grandney."

       "I am calling to tell you that the Prime Minister will not be making a campaign stop in Asimov."

       "É.what?" Ronholm cannot believe it.

       "He will not be making any campaign stops. He has accepted the invitation to be the keynote speaker on ConserviCon, but he will campaign for no Senators, Governors, or Franklin Yeats."

       "É.why not?"

       Vicki sighed. She has met TT once or twice, but on the basis of that, she is impressed. "You know Rhodes. He thinks he's better than campaigning. He thinks he's bigger than the party nowadays. I think he may even start to think he's bigger than the country, with this New Peace business."

       "ÉI thoughtÉLiz needs himÉ"

       "Well, TT, you could probably run for Senate yourself," says Vicki. "Grandney's just become a weight keeping you down."

       "I owe her." And he hangs up.

       He turns on the television. A Toppin advertisement is on.

       It's a frenetic montage of five-second clips with heavy metal music in the background. Toppin is shown as a miner, in space, in a Marine battlesuit, kissing babies, shaking hands, and finally, walking to the pyramids of the Tasnican Senate building.

       "Toppingis Tops," says the campaign slogan, at the end, after the music has subsided.

       The voters, with short attention spans, eat it up, knew TT. No substance at all. But then, someone with a double-digit lead didn't need substance.

       He flipped to a news channel. The President of United Labor (UL), the largest labor organization in Tasnica with hundreds of affiliated unions is on television. "Grandney's claim of protecting labor is dubious at best," he says. He is a rotund man, with dark hair and deep set eyes. The interviewer is not on sceen. The talking head is attacking Liz. "After all, she voted down impvored safety standards and she sided voted against a proposal allowing government workers to unionize. Grandney is no friend of labor, and I will see to it that United Labor does it can to make sure that Frank Toppin is the next Senator from Asimov Colony."

       It is 12:30. His day will get worse.

       At 1 PM TT meets his friend Alfred Tallman (who, ironically, was quite short) for lunch. Tallman has large eyes which are magnified by glasses. His mouth is too big, fitting a reporter. He is roly-poly, and that is why he is a newspaper man instead of a television man.

       TT knows to watch what he says around him.   They sit down to eat in a deli; TT tries to eat his steak and cheese, but it doesn't taste well. Alfred is in the processing of putting away two footlong subs.

       "Man, crazy shit," says Alfred the reporter. "The Generalissimo is coming out. Front page in all the papers. He's flying into Asimov Southern Spaceport. Man, I don't know why he would want to fly into ASS."

       "Security," says TT. "You were in the GA. You know that Papich Interplanetary has way too many sniper points."

       "Yeah, like someone is going to try to kill the Generalissimo," says Alfred the reporter.

       TT nods. "I'm a pollwatcher and as far as I know, Celiose Cole was the only person to get 100 favorable on the "Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of this person?" question.

       "A lot higher than your girl Liz, now," says the reporter. "Four years ago she coasts into office. Did the office change her?"

       "She's changed, but not the office," says TT. Now she's hanging around that Robert guy all the time. They don't seem to do anything but screw. He thinks this, but knows better than to say it to the reporter.

       "You think its her record?"

       "Are you asking me about her record on the record or off the record?" says TT, smiling.

       "On."

       TT knows he's got to give him something. After all, the press keeps Liz in the news. "He passed education legislation. There's billions more for public schools now, and it's a lot easier for the colonies to get charter schools. We made it easier to send kids to college. We believed in education," he trails off. "Do me a favor."

       "Make ÔWe believed in education' present tense?" asks the reporter.

       "Yeah."

       "You know, Toby Troy," says the reporter, "you could've gone career in the GA. You'd be a Colonel by now, or even Sub-General. You'd be commanding armies and regiments."

       "Everyone has good things to say about me today, and nothing good about Liz," says TT.

       "She was ok for a bit, but you're the brains in the operation," says Alfred the reporter. "And everyone on the Senate beat or the campaign trail knows it."

       "She's my friend. In the war, you stuck to your unit. Unity comes from unit. I'm too united with her now. I'll either rise with her or I'll lose. But I'm keeping with her to the bitter end, because that's what unity with your friends is all about."

       Tallman smiles. "She isn't the one you talked about, is she? I had thought maybeÉ"

       "Every day, in the war, I wrote a letter to her," says TT. He pauses. "You know that already, don't you?"

       The reporter sighs. "For a war buddy, I'll keep it a secret. It wouldn't do to have a Chief of Staff in love with a Senator, right? Especially when she's married."

       "I thoughtÉI wishedÉ" stumbles TT. "Here's a tip for being a good boy. Rhodes isn't going anywhere to campaign."

       ""I didn't expect him to come here, Asimov is a lost cause," he says.

       "No, he's going nowhere," says TT. "No campaign stops. For anyone. Not even The Honorable Franklin Yeats,, candidate for Prime Minister of the Conservative Party."

       "That's huge," says Alfred the reporter. "Frank was counting on Palmerston's popularity to pull out the tight race against Kenny."

       "That's why you don't burn me," says TT.

       "I wouldn't burn you anyway," says Alfred. "Grandney's campaign is gonna tank, and you'll be the only one to come out of it and do something else. Whatever you do, you're too useful to have. You're going to be in high places."

       "I just want my friend to be Senator," says TT. "When she first called me and told me she had filed to run, she seemed to happy. She wanted it so much. I learned all I could about campaigning to help her. Then I had to learn all I could about policy when she one. Five years ago, all I knew about education policy could be summed up in "Schools are good". But we made a difference."

       "Keep telling yourself that, old friend," says the reporter. "I know how crushes can be."

       TT gives him an icy look. He checks his watch; it is almost 2:30 PM. The event in Rome is that night, and he needs to prepare. He ignores Alfred's comment and asks, "You covering the Rome event?"

       Alfred asks. "Should I?"

       TT nods. "Big email. Bill Toppin is going to give a speech on education, and we have massive teachers coming out to support Liz. They'll have signs, Liz will speak."

       "That should be interesting," smiles Alfred. "You seen the polls in Rome, lately?"

       "No, why?" asks TT. His eyes widen. "She's not behind, is she?"
       
       "Toppin is up by six."

       "It's her HOME TOWN! What did Bill Toppin ever do but win elections?" huffed TT.

       "Sorry to say it, but more than you are going to do," said the reporter. "Unless, like Celiose, you can go win the Great War."

       TT shrugs. "I believe in her."

       "Of course you do. Where is she now?"

       "Giving an energy policy speech at a magilyte mine," answers TT.

       "No, she missed it."

       "Éwhat?" asks TT. Robert. It has to be Robert. What does she see in him?

       "Sorry, it doesn't bode well when I know more about your campaign than you do," says the reporter. Toby Troy stands up.

       "I have work to do," he says. "Gotta get ready for Rome. We'll turn it around."

       The reporter looks at him. "Get it through your head. You're campaigning for Elizabeth Pompey . Elizabeth Grandney is a stinker."

       TT's day hasn't hit bottom yet.

       The dome in Rome is big enough to almost give one the sense of a sky. There are artificial trees. A piece of Tasnican suburbia was transplanted here. There was even room for a small artificial river, the Tiber. Bill Toppin is having his really right across from the Asimov Computer Institute, what is emerging as one of the leading computer science schools in the Republic.

       This was because Senator Elizabeth Pompey had helped make it so. Not too long before she married and became Elizabeth Grandney.

       People like Bill Toppin. He looks like a movie star, and for a period of time, he was. The crowd has signs with "Toppin is Tops!" There's nearly a thousand, an insane turnout for a rally in Asimov.

       Across the street are several hundred teachers. They have signs. Big, bold letters LIZ. and smaller Asimov's Senator .   The teachers   seem excited. They seem to know. They understand.

       But Liz is not here. Alfred is. "Where's the candidate?" the reporter asks.

       TT is in trouble. Liz isn't where she's supposed to be. What's worse, Saeder-Krupp and Forge Mechanicals just denied the request for additional campaign money. Liz could go to small donors ("small"=10k GP or so), but if she never shows up when she's supposed to, she can't fundraise.

       The teachers are excited. TT leaves the reporter and goes to the podium and leads them in chants. "LIZ FOR EDUCATION!"

        "LIZ FOR EDUCATION!"

       "LIZ FOR OUR CHILDREN!" shouts TT.

        "LIZ FOR OUR CHILDREN!" shout the teachers.

       "LIZ FOR ASIMOV!" shouts TT.

        "LIZ FOR ASIMOV!" shout the teachers.

       "LIZ FOR SENATE!"

        "LIZ FOR SENATE!"

       A continuous chant of Liz, Liz, Liz begins. TT smiles. Alfred smiles, too. His friend is happy. He can pull this out.

       Then, William Toppin begins his speech. His sound system dwarves the noise made by the teachers. "Well, I'm glad to see teachers out here," says Toppin. "I'm sure they know that Elizabeth Grandney voted against the unionization of state employees, which includes teachers."

       The shouts dampen.

       "She also voted for a merit pay measure. Now, all you in the teachers know how bad an idea that is. You give it to the principal, and he gives it to his favorite teacher. It heightens office politics that have no place in our nation's schools," continues Bill Toppin.

       The chants are over.

       TT wishes Liz were here to fire back. Unionization prevents excellent teachers from rising up; merit pay has a good track record in the colonies. But she is not. She is probably screwing Robert.

       "It's a crime how little we pay teachers in this country," continues Bill Toppin. His voice is deep and strong, the voice of a leader. "My first act as Senator will be to send a bill to the floor in a pay raise for all teachers. I will support their unionization. I will end the destructive merit pay proposal, and I will roll back the charter schools that have sapped resources away from public schools."

       TT is agog. If there was one issue he could count on, it was education. The teachers are putting down their signs.

       "In addition, her corporate tax cuts allowed inferior products to dominate our school system. My plan will call for only the best, Guardian-made technologies to be used in our schools," says Toppin.

       A chant begins. Top-pin, Top-pin, Top-pinÉ

       TT starts, "Liz, Liz, Liz," but no one follows.

       Elizabeth Pompey would never be in this mess. Elizabeth Pompey fought for education. Elizabeth Pompey was a tough and decisive leader.

       But know, TT is working on the Elizabeth Grandney campaign.

       Its all Robert's fault. All his fault. All he can do is bed women and spoil the campaign. Elizabeth Pompey would've been a great public servant, maybe even Prime Minister, but Elizabeth Grandney is doomed.

       TT's day has finally hit bottom. He walks over to the soundsystem, and calmly ramps up his speakers.

       Unity for your friends, right?

       Alfred widens his eyes. This is going to be good. Good for everyone except Liz and TT.

       "O you hard hearts, you cruel men of Rome," begins TT, and the crowd falls hushed. Even Bill Toppin is quiet. TT is bright red; he looks ready to explode. "Knew you not Pompey?"Many a time and oft Have you climb'd up to walls and battlements, To towers and windows, yea, to chimney-tops, Your infants in your arms, and there have sat The livelong day, with patient expectation, to see great Pompey pass the streets of Rome," he said. "Have you not made a universal shout, that the Tiber trembled underneath her banks, to hear the replication of your sounds Made on her concave shores? And do you now put on your best attire? And do you now cull out a holiday?" TT was screaming. "Run to your houses, fall upon your knees, pray to the gods to intermit the plague That needs must light on this ingratitude."

       Then, TT steps down. The crowed is shocked for several moments. But then the Top-pin chant rises again.

       TT sits down on the cement. He has had enough.

       "Tough, man," says Alfred the reporter, walking up to him. "I can't keep that coveredÉthough Celiose is coming tomorrow, and that's the big news."

       TT checks his watch. It is 8 o clock.

       "Should've stayed in the Grand Army," says Alfred. TT blinks a moment.

       "The Grand ArmyÉthere's a GA garrison base not too far from hereÉ"

       "So?"

       "So I have my ex-GA ID," he said. "I can get into the gym."

       TT smiles crazily, and stands up. "Do you want to catch the defining point of the election?"

       "I thought you exploding on the podium was it," said Alfred.

       "Want to see Celiose?" asked TT.

       "He hates press," said Alfred. "Only thing he hates more is politics. Besides, security at ASS is going to be crazy."

       "Then don't go to ASS," says TT. "See you at Papich, at 3 AM."

       TT walks down the street, and the reporter is left stunned.

       Toby Troy walks into the garrison base after showing his identification. He walks into the gym, and finds a phone.

       Twelve zeroes, he hopes is still the tip line to the Generalissimo's security detail.

       "This is Colonel Reeves,"

       "Colonel," says TT. "This is Major Ronholm."

       "You'd have my job if you'd stayed in the GA, Major," says the Colonel. "What can I do for you?"

       "Fly into Papich Spaceport," he said. "I heard a rumor of a dormant cell that has vowed to avenge Roland. There's thousands of air and heat ducts running into Asimov. TheyÔll get into that place easily. Papich is smaller, more defensible."

       "Thank you, Major."

       A former GA officer should be above reproach.

       TT sighed. No going back now. He returns to the sight of the rally, where Toppin is giving a great speech. He swats the press aside, and gets into his car. First he picks up some clothes from his place in a black bagÑhis GA uniform.

       Then he drives to Elizabeth Grandney's home.


       The front door is not locked, and he knows where the room is. He expects to walk in on them screwing. This place was the first house she had bought. TT actually lived her, until he found his own place.

       He hears heavy breathing on the other side. He wonders if he will walk in on them screwing, but now, he doesn't care. He has lied to the Grand Army and abused the good standing he has as a GA officer; no going back now. Unity with friend, right?

       He opens the door, and she is crying. Her makeup is running. Robert is standing, befuddled. He gives TT a glance. "This is your fault," says Robert.

       "What do you mean?"

       Liz looks up at TT, and she looks hurt. TT still thinks her eyes are pretty, but to see her sad makes him sad, too.

       "Know they not Pompey?" she says simply.

       TT purses his lips.

       "Have I changed so much?" she asks.

       TT shuts his eyes tightly. Then, he opens them. "Liz," he says. "You are, and always will be, my friend."

       He checks his watch. It is 11 at night. It is a long way to Papich airport.

       Liz looks at him. "I knew I couldn't get into the Senate without you," she said.

       "We did some good things in the Senate," said Papich. "We helped some people go to school. We helped a lot of kids."

       "Yeah, we did."

       "Want to do it for another four more years?"

       Liz hesitates, looks at Robert, but then at TT. "Yeah."

       "Then clean yourself up. We've got a ways to go."

       "Where are we going?" she asks.

       "To meet the man who is going to make you win."
       
       "Rhodes Palmerston?" she asks.

       "Better," smiles TT.

       "You brought Belgememnon back from the dead?" she asks.

       "Almost," he says.

"He's crazy," insists Robert.

Liz stands up, and straightens out her shirt. "He got me to be Senator," she says. "All you've ever got me was sex, and I think I can find that without you."

TT smiles."We'll leave in a few minutes. I need to put on some other clothes."

       "You look fine," she says.

       TT wipes a tear awar from her cheek. "The old white and gold is always good."

       TT's day is picking up.

       Generalissimo Celiose Daneel Cole was one of the most famous men in the Web. He was the Commander-in-Chief of the most powerful army in history. He wsa known for turning the tide against the Dark Wrath and winning the Great War. He had best the Omnisent and other threats to the safety of the Web. He wasn't yet forty, but he was looking old. His uniform seemed bigger than him, so adorned it was with medals.

       Rhodes Palmerston was a national hero. Celiose Cole was a hero to the whole Web.

       The strategic genius had no idea why he was at Papich Airport. As he walked off the plane "Why are we at this place? The other one was closer."

       "Security," came the answer, from five guards ringing him.

       "This is a more modern facility, but wouldn't it be better to fly into a place that's closer to where I am? Now I need more coverage en route," reasoned the Generalissimo.

       No one was around. It was three in the morning. One reporter showed up; Celiose hated them, but he usually had to deal with many more. The reporter was taking photos of his arrival.

       A man in an older uniform bearing the rank of major approached. A woman in a black pantsuit was next to him. They were both striding purposefully up to the Generalissimo.

       The security detail parted. Surely they could trust a Grand Army officer.

       And then Liz strutted up next to the man who beat the dark gods, the man who was reknowned as the most apolitical in the Web, the man called the Web's last truly good person.

       She threw her arm around him, stared at the reporter, and smiled.

       The flashes went off.

       Then, they left.

       Celiose had won response. "What the hell?" Then, he fired the head of his security detail.



       At campaign headquarters, Liz and TT share a drink. It is 6:51 AM, and the early edition of the Asimov Planet has a picture of Celiose Cole and Elizabeth Pompey looking like bosom buddies.

       The headlines: GENERALISSIMO ENDORSES LIZ.

       TT smiles, and sighes. He has not slept. "We're lucky the GA spin machine is crap," he says. "Celiose will probably end up saying something nice about you just to get the press of his back."

       "What if people find out it's a mistake?" she asks.

       "No one will look into it seriously," he said. "No one was there. Besides, its just soÉaudacious. It's so crazy no one will even try to claim it as false."

       "You're the best, TT."

        I love this woman.

       "What's odd is, the article calls me Liz Pompey," she said. "I think I like that better. I'm going to file for divorce."

       "The divorce fight could hurt you," said TT, raising eyebrows.

       "Not so much as my marriage to Robert has," she said.

       "True."

       "Why did you keep with me?" she asked. "I know the corps backed out, the teachers backed outÉbut you were there."

       "You're my friend," he said. "Unity between friends," he stated.

       "I'm glad to be back into this," she said.

       "That's my Liz," said TT proudly.

       "Asimov's Senator." She licks her lips. TT thinks about trying to kiss her. "Thanks for being my friend, Toby Troy."

       TT only smiles. "Thanks for being my friend, Elizabeth Pompey."