Cretaceous Sea

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1949-1971 Vivere in cordibus quae ament est non mori.

1

CON'S COMSET SILENTLY VIBRATED. SHE SURREPTItiously removed it from her pocket and glanced at its screen when her calculus teacher turned his back. The message from Mother was short and cryptic—"Your father called. Has sur-prise. Limo to meet you after school." Con wondered what the surprise could be. She doubted Mother knew. Most likely, it was another of her father's sporadic and extravagant ges-tures, like the horse she received a month after he forgot her sixteenth birthday. The limo was a dead giveaway.

Limousines were common at Con's school, so no one be-trayed any interest when she departed in a big hydrogen-electric Mercedes. It took her to an office building in a fashionable district of the city. When the driver opened the car door, Con's father was waiting outside. Con groaned in-wardly when she saw that he had his new fiancee with him. Con recognized her from the tabloids, but she was even more striking in person. Curvaceous, with intense green eyes and dramatic black hair, she seemed too perfect to be real. Con suspected little of her was.

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