"Do you want to come up?" I asked Thane at the Terminal.

He shook his head. "You have your things to take care of up on Incipio. I have mine to take care of on Terminus. You go ahead."

"Okay." I leaned toward him and pressed my mouth briefly to his before backing off again. He chased after me, taking hold of my shoulder and bringing me back to him to lengthen the kiss before finally letting me go. "Goodbye," I said, smiling, as we broke apart.

"No," he said. "Not now. ...