At nine a.m. she returned to the office at the paper and wrote the piece on the shopping mall. It felt like her swansong, but she hadn"t the slightest tinge of regret. The decision she’d reached the previous evening was all that mattered. From now on, she’d let Ashtaroth serve as guide.
She returned to the books on ufology. It wasn"t exactly like meeting old friends, but as she turned the pages she found herself absorbed … as if she’d been studying the subject for years. This is where I belong, she thought, eyeing a picture of a celestial sphere. This is my new life. The world is a mess, with continued use of fossil fuels and consequent global warming, beyond anyone"s power to heal. What had Ashtaroth to offer in the way of a transformation? She urgently needed to know his plan without r
