well , the house in the hamptons had nine bedrooms . the beachfront property had become jon 's in the beginning of the year , and the past summer had been the family 's first season at the property . for jon bostoff , that summer would forever retain a magical quality . sure , they had owned a summer house before , but their old summerhouse was a mere shack in connecticut with a whopping fifteen minute drive to the beach to boot

this little foible had always amused ben because the man seemed so staid in other ways . the office was unusually quiet today . james came forward to greet him with his hand outstretched and his head on one side in the characteristic attitude he adopted with his clients . '' hello , benjamin . what a terrible business this is ! '' ben had never felt quite comfortable in conversation with james

'' lia , we have to leave in the morning , and i 've been thinking ... '' lia raised her head and studied his face . '' why does that sound like something i should worry about ? '' jared frowned at her . '' there 's nothing wrong with my brains . '' '' that 's true , '' lia agreed thoughtfully . '' your being so bossy when you start fussing has nothing to do with your brains

we plan on extracting them from the planet and then jumping . we will meet your selected coordinates as soon as possible . '' admiral byrd gave a quick shake of his head . '' negative , admiral ! you will take starship sirona with us -- we 'll come back for those on lumus when it 's deemed safe ! '' '' i ca n't do that ,
admiral