g, Ed. I thought you'd be
considerably happier about being chosen for conversion."
"That's your word for it. 'Near-total alienation' is what I'm calling it for
the moment."
The waiter buzzed up to the table and asked Mandi what she'd like. She
ordered a coffee and the waiter told Cade that his lunch would arrive shortly,
then he buzzed away again.
Mandi sat back and said, "You crushed that steel rail in the stairwell. If
that's an indication of your progress, you'll be able to stop a tank round with
your bare hands in a week. You'll be bulletproof and no Earthly disease will be
able to touch you. You'll be stronger and faster than you can possibly imagine
and you may develop some of my other powers to a degree."
Pausing, Mandi sipped the water the waiter had brought her and added, "And
there's one more little thing. Our cells replicate, but they don't degenerate
with every copy. Do you understand what that means?"
"Sure. It means I may have time enough to write another few thousand books."
"You don't seem very impressed with virtual immortality."
"Of course I am. I'm just not letting it overshadow the fact that you're
forming teams, which means that something more than you can handle alone is
headed this way, and if it's bigger than you, it'll be able to squash a
convertee in a heartbeat."

Chapter Twenty-two

Tossing her hands up, Mandi softly exclaimed, "Okay. I give up. What the
hell can I possibly do to make this terrible thing I've done up to you, Ed?"
"Nothing, really," said Cade. "If something that big is coming, being as
much like you as possible will probably increase my chances of survival. I just
wanted you to know how I felt before you pulled the same 'oh, he won't mind'
trick on someone else."
The waiter arrived with food as Mandi sat staring at Cade. When the waiter
finished placing food on the table, Cade told him to bring another lunch
special. The waiter thought he meant for Mandi and smilingly nodded at her. Cade
then told him to also pack one to go.
"To go, sir?"
"Yup. It's going upstairs with me."
"Yes, sir. One more to the table and one to go."
"You got it. Thanks."
When the waiter had left, Mandi smilingly asked, "Why didn't Beth come down
to lunch with you?"
Digging into his food, Cade said, "She needed a nap. Why were you watching
us last night?"
Startling imperceptibly, Mandi thought, 'He DID know!' th