I got a pair of tweezers to reach down deep into the Honkin' Huge Pill Bottle and pulled out: Dizzy The thought of what you all could come up with has my head spinning!

Excerpt from Friends Like These A high layer of light pearly grey cloud was reflected in the waters of Lake Conway. The breeze teased the surface into wavelets which gave the lake a deceptively turgid appearance. It should have been a beautiful day. It should have come equipped with intense blue skies, white fluffy clouds and sparkling water. The leaves held their colours in defiance of grey sky and grey lake, and drifted in splendour from the grey boughs of dormant trees. Mark tried to shake the feeling that he'd been somewhat short-changed. Princess' scarf fluttered in the breeze, an azure banner brilliant against the dull sky and the earthy tones of the falling leaves. "It's a beautiful day," she said, linking her arm with his, and that made it all right. The easy way she slipped her arm through his gave Mark a thrill of possessiveness. It raised questions. They strolled along the lakeshore, following the path, leaves folding and crunching under their feet. "What do you think will happen?" Mark asked. "When?" Princess asked. "After the war." Princess smiled. "Maybe we could give being ordinary a try," she suggested. "I think I could go for that," Mark said. His hand curled around hers and he savoured the tingle as her fingers entwined with his. They walked a little further, simply enjoying the closeness, before Princess spoke again. "What do you think will happen, Mark? With the war, I mean. When is it all going to end?" "We seem to be gaining the upper hand," Mark said. "With the Gaian treaty and the non-aggression pact with Urgos, we have greater access to resources, and the security review's made it that much harder for Zoltar to infiltrate us." He shrugged. "Hopefully it won't be another three years." "It had better not be," Princess said, an edge to her voice. "You should be asking Anderson this question," Mark said. "He's the expert on projections and strategies." "Do you think we'll ever take the fight to Spectra?" "Maybe." Mark kicked idly at a leaf. "If we can consolidate our position without leaving ourselves vulnerable. I think that might be what the ISO is building up to." "And what will our role be?" "We're a strike force. We infiltrate, we hit hard, we get out. I guess we'd keep doing what we do." Princess gazed out over the lake. "Until we win," she said. "How do we know when we've won?" "An unconditional surrender would help," Mark said. "Then what? It's not just Spectra. We have more than one enemy." "You think that once we win this war, planets like Tramulus and Scorpius won't follow Urgos straight to the negotiating table?" "And we can be ordinary? Throw away our transformers, wear regular clothes and get real jobs?" "Don't ask me to get a haircut," Mark joked. "I'm serious," Princess said. "What do you want to do once the war is over? Stay with G-Sec? Go test flying? Join a regular squadron? Instruct?" Mark took a deep breath. "I never gave it much thought, Princess," he admitted. "I figure I'm doing okay if I make it through the day. How about you?" "I don't know. This is all I've ever known." She stared out over the lake, not seeing the dull grey wavelets. "I know I want to have a normal life and live in a normal house and... well... you know... have a family, but I've never really thought about just how it would happen." Mark bit back the impulse to say, In the usual way, I guess, sensing that humour wouldn't be entirely appropriate. "Maybe you just need to take it one step at a time, you know, cross your bridges as you come to them." "That isn't much help, Mark," Princess said. "I know. Sorry." She leaned against him, resting her head on his shoulder for a moment. "The thing is, you're right," she said. They walked on a little farther, the path curving away from the lake where the willows held sway over the bank, trailing long bare fingers with a few stubborn brown leaves in the water, roots clutching at the soil. Roughly three quarters of Camp Parker was woodland which acted as both a training area and a buffer zone. Unlike the adjacent national park, however, Camp Parker's woods were home to such rare flora as laser arrays and scanners. The main trail had been trodden by many pairs of feet over the years, and was wide and flat as a result. This weekend, there were no training squads jogging or marching. Apart from the regular staff, G-Force would have the place to themselves until the Galbraiths arrived. The future. Mark felt a sense of elation. They were talking about a future that seemed tantalisingly close, a future without the constant threat of attack, a future without being on call every moment of the day and night, a future where they could finally try to be like everyone else. It made him feel slightly dizzy.

My response posted in the rubber room... Adult.

GGO: In some ways, they sound exactly like what they are -- typical teenagers trying to picture what their lives are going to be after the "now" is done -- high school, college -- the only difference is, their "now" involves a war with aliens ...

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