"I certainly hope my skills will be useful," said Julia Jones (known to her friends as Julie). The remarkably self-possessed teenage prodigy (who in spite of Jules' warning didn't seem in the slightest put-out by the stares of the others) looked at Sharon again. "Do I detect a hint of jealousy, Miss Anderson?" she asked with a disarming smile. Sharon realised that in the presence of this empath she would need to keep her emotions under better control. "I'm sorry," she said. "Don't worry about it. I don't think James is about to make a move on a fourteen year-old, do you? Anyway, I've got a boyfriend back in my home alt." (Jules, who overheard this, looked rather shocked by her choice of words.) Sharon wasn't sure that she had quite as much faith in Jim as Julia seemed to, but she managed a smile and said: "No, of course not."
Sharon went on: "You said that you hadn't worked with Mr Forrester in a while, but you're only fourteen now, so just how long have you been working with the UNA." "About eighteen months. I started just after my thirteenth birthday. Before this mission, I hadn't worked in this alt before, though. So I've had the interesting experience of growing from a B-cup to my current size over a period of twentyfour hours. It's stopped now, though - at least, I hope it has! That as much as my age was the reason I didn't go to the ball. My bust would have tipped off anyone in the know that I was from another alt."
"You seem to be very calm about it," said Sharon. "Don't you mind?" "Well, it's been a little disconcerting," said Julie...
Sat Feb 26 10:12:57 2000