<verifying user name and password>
 

<logging on to server>
 

<establishing secure connection to AMY>
 

<please enter logon sequence and encryption algorithm>
 

<thank you, please wait>
 

The pleasant synthetic tones of Amy rose from her lap.  "Good morning, Dr. Katsen, how can I help you?" 

"Good morning, Amy.  I'd like to see the results for experiment EV-R31, please." 

"Very well, Dr. Katsen.  Dr. Tanner left a message for you last night.  Would you like to hear it? 

Alice sighed.  "Yes, Amy." 

The strong, slightly exasperated voice of Alice's supervisor spoke.  "Good morning, Alice.  I must admit that I'm not very suprised you logged on.  Look, Alice, we didn't send you down to Freedom's Run for you to keep on working.  Put that thing up.  You are supposed to be enjoying yourself, and I think we both can agree that you need it.  Now, get out there and socialize.  Enjoy yourself, and let us take care of the project.  I mean it." 

"The message was recorded at 22:47, last night.  Would you like to record a reply?" 

"No, Amy." 

Very well, Dr. Katsen.  Downloading the file you requested now." 

Alice smiled to herself as she watched the stream of data pour across her screen.  They were so concerned with her back at the lab.  It was touching, but she would not let herself get backlogged just because she was in an island paradise.  The project was really starting to get underway, finally, and she could not afford to fall behind.  Not now.  Next to her, on the sand, sat a coconut mug of grapefruit juice, unregarded, the little paper umbrella stirring slightly in the breeze. 

She looked up from her laptop, and sighed.  It really was nice, this place.  The crystal blue water of the lagoon, the palms...  The staff had been genuinely suprised when she asked for a thirty foot long phone extension cord, but they had delivered it promptly, all the same.  Now that cord snaked out behind her into her cabin, her umbilical to what she thought of as the real world. 

The file transfer completed itself, and Amy spoke up again.  "The results from this batch look promising, Dr. Katsen.  Dr. Tanner was genuinely excited when he received them." 

Alice scanned over the results, quickly locating the data she wanted.  "Yes, but I don't think we have quite what we are looking for, Amy.  The new enzyme was not as fast at sequencing as we had calculated.  Has the pattern been updated with the new data?" 

"Yes, Dr. Katsen.  Dr. Tanner completed the calculations last night.  I am now synthesizing the next run.  The results should be available on Tuesday." 

"Thank you Amy.  I am looking forward to seeing them." 

"Would you like anything else this morning, Dr. Katsen?" 

"No, Amy.  Thank you." 

"Very well.  Good bye, Dr. Katsen. 

"Good bye, Amy."
 

<connection terminated>
 

Alice's tail twitched behind her as she studied the minutiae of the latest results.  Hmm, she thought to herself, we may be on to something this time.  The sequencing was not as fast as it could have been, true, but the replication approached ninety-eight... 

"Hello, good-looking, whatcha working on?" 

The sudden voice gave her a start.  She looked up and saw a handsome young man approaching her.  His lithe form was covered in fine, bleached grey fur, and she realized that he was only wearing a tiny pair of shorts.  She blushed prettily as she took in his natural good looks, his swimmer's physique, and his disarming smile.  After a moment, she realized that she hadn't answered his question, and she blushed a bit more.  "Oh," she said, trying to regain her composure, " Just some stuff from work." 

"You must take your work pretty seriously, then,"  He said as he sat down on the sand next to her chaise-lounge.  "It's much too beautiful a day for working, don't you think?" 

She watched him stretch himself out comfortably on the sand before replying.  His body spoke of hard work, sunshine, and clean living.  He was a Squirrel, and he carried himself with an honesty that she found quite disarming.  She realized that she was staring, but he didn't seem to notice.  "Yeah.  Well, I was just trying to keep up with the lab..." her voice trailed off. 

He brushed a few renegade strands of hair away from his face, and smiled up at her.  "You've only been here for a day.  How much can have happened?" 

She realized that he must be one of the staff, to have known when she arrived.  "You work here?" 

"Sure do.  I kinda keep the place picked up.  Odd jobs, you know.  What do you do?" 

"I'm a microbiologist.  We're trying to make a programmable virus."  She said, without thinking how it must sound. 

He looked confused.  "You make germs?"  He asked, incredulously. 

"Not really, we're trying to make a cure for cancer." 

"I don't get it." 

"Well, you know how a virus takes over a cell and forces it to make copies of itself?" 

"Yeah,"  he responded, uncertainly. 

"Well, we are trying to develop a virus that forces a cell to heal itself.  Cancer is usually caused by damage to the DNA of a cell.  We're trying to make a virus that can be programmed to correct the damage to DNA." 

"Oh.  Okay, that kinda makes sense.  How close are you?" 

"We think we are ready for a breakthrough.  The problem is just a matter of synthesizing the right enzyme to enable the virus to substitute it's DNA for that of the cancer cell." 

He thought about that for a bit.  "If your lab is so close to a breakthrough, then why are you here?"  he asked.  "I mean, if you don't mind me asking..." 

Alice sighed, and paused a bit before replying.  "My boss said that I'd burn out if I kept it up.  He twisted my arm and basically ordered me to come here." 

"But you are still working.  Can't they handle it back at the lab?" 

She giggled, and replied, "You sound just like my boss."  She was completely comfortable, to her suprise, talking to this almost naked complete stranger on a beach a thousand miles from her home.  Maybe it was the way he ignored his nakedness that made her so at ease.  She pictured him in her mind, completely at ease, nude, swimming, working at small tasks, chatting with guests... 

That last thought brought her up short, but she didn't have much time to reflect on it...  "Why don't you let me take you to breakfast, and we can talk some more?" he asked. 

"That would be wonderful."  She turned off the laptop, and he helped her coil up the phone cord.  Once the computer was safely put up, they walked together down the trail that lead to The Hooch. 

Behind them, the paper umbrella danced merrily in it's grapefruit juice bath.
 
 

The Hooch was a little grill built into a large verandah, and there was no-one there this late in the morning, but the young Squirrel went through the unlocked door into the kitchen liked he owned the place.  He almost does, she thought to herself.  "It just occurred to me that I don't even know your name.  I'm Alice Katsen." 

He leaned across the counter and presented his hand.  "Thomas Rodenthal, at your service.  What can I fix for you?" 

She looked vague for a second. "I could just kill for some French Toast." 

"All right, anything to drink while I'm making it?" 

"Grapefruit juice?"  She made a mental note to be more careful where she left her drinks. 

"You've got it,"  he said, as he poured out the juice into an identical mug. 

While he was cooking, they talked about the weather, the trip in, and by the time they had finished eating, they had worked their way around again to why he sounded like her boss.  "I couldn't possibly be your boss.  The last time I did anything even remotely medical was when I helped a lady deliver on a train when I was eight." 

By this time, Alice was very relaxed in Thomas' company, so it was without thinking that she said, "He's not a Medical Doctor, silly.  Deliver a what?" 

Thomas looked up into her eyes and a sudden chill hit her.  "A baby."  he said. 

"Oh, that must have been frightening!  How did it happen?" 

"I don't know.  I was on the train, traveling to a National Jamboree.  I was walking back to my car after eating lunch, when I heard a cry of pain from a passenger berth.  The door was ajar, and there was this lady inside in labor." 

"She wasn't able to move or even talk, but I could tell what was going on.  The next thing I knew, she was having the baby right there.  There wasn't time to go for help, so I followed the Kit Scout motto." 

"And that is?"  she prompted. 

"Do Your Best." 

"Was the baby all right?" 

He gave her a lopsided grin, suddenly seeming not at all unlike that little boy of eight. "He sure was.  Mama too.  I ran for help as soon as I thought they could be alone.  I never saw her or her son again, she was surrounded by grownups until they got off at the next town.  I did manage to get my uniform shirt back, though, but it never was the same."
 
 

That afternoon, Thomas was wandering along the edges of the resort, lost in thoughts about the pretty black cat in her walking shorts and blouse.  While she wasn't stunningly beautiful, he thought, she was surely no slouch.  And she had a kind of depth about her that suggested to him that a really wonderful person was under there. 

He came to a spot along the mangrove swamp that looked like any other, and thought yes.  This will do nicely.  He took a sideways step into the swamp, pushing through the dense foliage and vanished, leaving behind only a rustle, much to the chagrin of the five year old who had been tailing him for the last half hour. 

Young Rale could hardly believe his eyes, even though he had seen that stunt a dozen times before.  He cautiously approached the spot, looking for any sign as to which way his quarry had gone.  There.  There was a suggestion of bent leaves, leading to a game trail, barely a trace through the swamp.  He calmly made his way to the trail, looking long and hard all around him, and then forged deeper into the swamp. 

As young Rale's foot stepped onto the barely packed earth, A blur behind and above him told him that the game was up.  In one fluid motion, Thomas scooped up Rale by the ankle and held the giggling youngster upside down at arm's length. 

"You know," said Thomas, voice full of mock gruffness, "The little one here is getting better by the day." 

"I almost had you, Mr. Thomas, didn't I?" squealed Rale. 

"Yep, It's getting harder and harder to get behind you.  If you'd only learn to look up, it'd be almost impossible."  Thomas dumped Rale gently upon his shoulder. 

"Awww.  I did look up.  Just not there." 

"Oh, you did, did you?  I'll get the truth from ye, little one!" 

For a while, the swamp was full of Rale's innocent laughter.