“Oh. I meant to when I called you last night.”

“You,” she said, doubling up her fist at him. Then she turned to Nicole. “When?”

“Night before last. We get the rings next week.”

“That’s wonderful. Had I known, we’d have made Travis come tonight in spite of his meeting. Have you set a date yet?”

Nicole shrugged. “No, not yet. Travis thinks we ought to be engaged for a little while before we make final plans.”

“Ah, cold feet already,” Clayne teased.

“Oh, Clayne,” Adrienne said, slapping his leg again. “I’m so happy for you, Nicole.”

“Thank you. I have to admit I’m pretty happy myself.”

Then just as suddenly as she had dropped it, Adrienne picked up the conversation again. “Well, don’t be too hard on Eric. He’s going through a terrific adjustment.”

“That’s my Adrienne,” Clayne chuckled. “Watcher of the downtrodden, protector of homeless boys, Mother Superior to the wayward—”

Adrienne elbowed him in the ribs. “Feeder of the hungry.”

“Right on, babe,” he agreed without rancor.

“So,” Nicole spoke up, wanting to get off the subject of her feelings about Eric, “is he going to make it?”

“You’re his Control Officer,” Clayne shot back, goodnaturedly. “What’s your evaluation?”

“That he’s biding his time, waiting for a chance to run. You’re his training officer,” she countered, “what’s your evaluation?”

“Well, he’s a very bright kid, the best all-around trainee I’ve ever seen. His training is over now. Tomorrow night we begin his first shift. It’ll be interesting to watch him in action.”

“Honey,” Adrienne cooed, “you’re evading the question.”

“Oh,” Clayne said in innocent surprise. “No question about it. Nicole’s right. He’s biding his time, looking for some way to beat the system. I think at first his plan was to hurry and get accepted, have the implantations for his family removed, then find some way to beat the Outer Perimeter.”

“You say he thought that at first?” Adrienne asked. “But not now?”

“When he lost control in his cell and ended up implanted, it blew the whole plan for him. By the time he completely proves himself to the Major, his family will be conditioned to the implantation. He’s asked me quite pointedly how long that takes. I’ve told him that if they are real careful not to trigger it too often, they’ll be good for three months, maybe four at the most.”

“And it’ll be six, if he’s lucky,” Nicole broke in. “Perhaps even a year, before the Major frees his family.”

“Exactly,” Clayne said. “So he’s got to find a quicker way.”

“There isn’t a way,” Nicole said flatly.

“I know that,” Clayne agreed with a note of regret, “and you know that, but he won’t accept it. That’s why I don’t know if he’s going to make it.”