amused."
Deborah yawned noisily. "Are you sure he meant tonight?"
"I'm positive," Joanna said. "I told him we'd be going out for a quick bite to eat, but then we'd be home. He said fine; it would give him a chance to finish what he was doing."
"I'm afraid I'm not going to stay awake," Deborah said. "Do you realize it's three o'clock in the morning back in Italy where our bodies think they are?"
"Why don't you turn in?" Joanna suggested. "I'll wait up."
"Aren't you tired?"
"I'm exhausted," Joanna admitted.
Deborah put her feet over onto the floor, pushed herself up to a sitting position, but before she could stand, a raucous buzz filled the room. Both women started. It had been the first time they'd heard the front doorbell, and it was considerably louder than they expected.
"No fear we'll ever miss that,' Deborah said, collapsing back onto the couch.
Joanna got to her feet and moved quickly over to the door panel. "What do I do?" she asked in a minor panic. There were several buttons as well as a circular area of perforations through the metal.
"You're on your own."
Joanna pressed the first button. A crackling sound issued forth. "Hello, hello!" she said with her mouth close to the perforations.
"It's me, David!" a distant voice responded.
"Okay," Joanna answered back. She then pressed the second button while still holding the first depressed. She heard a distant buzz, followed by the faint sound of the front door opening and then closing.
"Well, that wasn't so difficult," Joanna said. She walked over to the apartment door, opened it, and stepped out. Bending over the railing, she looked down. The hall was like a chambered nautilus with the stair spiraling all the way down to the street level.
David bounded up the stairs with a broad smile baked on his face. He was a tall, athletic African American. After a moment's hesitation, he gave her a big hug. "How you doing, girl?" he said.
"Just fine," Joanna answered, hugging back. Even though she'd not seen him for over two years, he appeared exactly the same; he had the same short, scruffy beard, the same laid-back manner, and the same casual clothes.
"Man, what a surprise to hear from you. You look good, real good!"
"You too," Joanna said. "You haven't changed one iota."
"Just a little older and a little wiser," David said with a laugh. "And I'm happy to report the old jump shot's still going down fine. But you look different. In fact you look younger. How can that be?"
"You're just trying to flatter me," Joanna said.
"No, really!" David persisted. He moved from side to side to view Joanna from slightly different angles.
"Come on!" Joanna protested. "You're embarrassing me."
"No need to be embarrassed," David said. "You look terrific. And now I know what it is. Your hair; it's short. I'm not sure I would have recognized you if I had bumped into you on the street. You look like you're sixteen."
"Oh, sure!" Joanna said. "Come in and meet my roommate."
Joanna took David's arm. She led him inside and introduced him to Deborah, who'd managed to get herself upright. Joanna then apologized for not having a thing to offer him to drink.
"No problem," David said. "We'll make up for it on another occasion. Now I know you ladies must be tired just getting back from Italy and all, so why don't we get right down to business." He peeled off his jacket made of black parachute fabric. From his pocket he produced a handful of floppy discs and held them up. "I brought along some tools, including my brute force password-guessing program. Where's your machine?"
A few minutes later David had the computer booted up and onto the Wingate Clinic's web page. With a rapidity that made Deborah blink, David browsed around the site. His fingers moved like a concert pianist across the keyboard. "So far so good,' he reported.
"Can you tell me what you are doing?" Deborah asked.
"Nothing yet," David said as he continued his surfing. "Just checking things out and looking for obvious
Deborah yawned noisily. "Are you sure he meant tonight?"
"I'm positive," Joanna said. "I told him we'd be going out for a quick bite to eat, but then we'd be home. He said fine; it would give him a chance to finish what he was doing."
"I'm afraid I'm not going to stay awake," Deborah said. "Do you realize it's three o'clock in the morning back in Italy where our bodies think they are?"
"Why don't you turn in?" Joanna suggested. "I'll wait up."
"Aren't you tired?"
"I'm exhausted," Joanna admitted.
Deborah put her feet over onto the floor, pushed herself up to a sitting position, but before she could stand, a raucous buzz filled the room. Both women started. It had been the first time they'd heard the front doorbell, and it was considerably louder than they expected.
"No fear we'll ever miss that,' Deborah said, collapsing back onto the couch.
Joanna got to her feet and moved quickly over to the door panel. "What do I do?" she asked in a minor panic. There were several buttons as well as a circular area of perforations through the metal.
"You're on your own."
Joanna pressed the first button. A crackling sound issued forth. "Hello, hello!" she said with her mouth close to the perforations.
"It's me, David!" a distant voice responded.
"Okay," Joanna answered back. She then pressed the second button while still holding the first depressed. She heard a distant buzz, followed by the faint sound of the front door opening and then closing.
"Well, that wasn't so difficult," Joanna said. She walked over to the apartment door, opened it, and stepped out. Bending over the railing, she looked down. The hall was like a chambered nautilus with the stair spiraling all the way down to the street level.
David bounded up the stairs with a broad smile baked on his face. He was a tall, athletic African American. After a moment's hesitation, he gave her a big hug. "How you doing, girl?" he said.
"Just fine," Joanna answered, hugging back. Even though she'd not seen him for over two years, he appeared exactly the same; he had the same short, scruffy beard, the same laid-back manner, and the same casual clothes.
"Man, what a surprise to hear from you. You look good, real good!"
"You too," Joanna said. "You haven't changed one iota."
"Just a little older and a little wiser," David said with a laugh. "And I'm happy to report the old jump shot's still going down fine. But you look different. In fact you look younger. How can that be?"
"You're just trying to flatter me," Joanna said.
"No, really!" David persisted. He moved from side to side to view Joanna from slightly different angles.
"Come on!" Joanna protested. "You're embarrassing me."
"No need to be embarrassed," David said. "You look terrific. And now I know what it is. Your hair; it's short. I'm not sure I would have recognized you if I had bumped into you on the street. You look like you're sixteen."
"Oh, sure!" Joanna said. "Come in and meet my roommate."
Joanna took David's arm. She led him inside and introduced him to Deborah, who'd managed to get herself upright. Joanna then apologized for not having a thing to offer him to drink.
"No problem," David said. "We'll make up for it on another occasion. Now I know you ladies must be tired just getting back from Italy and all, so why don't we get right down to business." He peeled off his jacket made of black parachute fabric. From his pocket he produced a handful of floppy discs and held them up. "I brought along some tools, including my brute force password-guessing program. Where's your machine?"
A few minutes later David had the computer booted up and onto the Wingate Clinic's web page. With a rapidity that made Deborah blink, David browsed around the site. His fingers moved like a concert pianist across the keyboard. "So far so good,' he reported.
"Can you tell me what you are doing?" Deborah asked.
"Nothing yet," David said as he continued his surfing. "Just checking things out and looking for obvious
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