Kim stayed for lunch. Once or twice they forgot and addressed him as Ravi. He was amused rather than offended. It meant they were slipping into the paradigm nicely.

"Is everything going OK?" he asked. "Equipment working all right?" The Thompsons exchanged a glance which he couldn't quite interpret. There was something of naughty schoolchildren in it.

"Everything is working fine, Kim," Tilly said. "We can't tell you how happy we are."

"Any improvement in your physical ...