Epilogue

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The sun was setting behind the trees, an old forest just beyond the borders of
Myles' estate.  It was one of the last pleasant days of the fall.  Winter was
not far away, and the outdoors, even if not too cold for extended idle times, was 
often unpleasantly wet.  Still, Myles liked winter.  Winter would soon enough
give way to spring, when the green things of the world returned to life, soon 
followed by the birds and other wildlife that welcomed the return of plant life.

The trip to November Alpha had been his last work for a while, other than
maintaining updates on the condition of the world.  The recent action had
changed the outlook from an ominous certainty to one of dangerous
unpredictability.  Constant vigilance would be the rule going forward.

He sat on the edge of a large rocky shelf over a small lake.  Natural as it
appeared, with no apparent man-made structures, it was in fact all artificial.
The huge slabs of rock around the edge had been brought in from a quarry miles
away, and when the lake was being built large construction machines had crawled
around on their steel tracks, burning tanker loads of diesel, for months before
departing.  But within a year or so the native vegetation had covered most of the 
scars, and the lake was filling with water.  It was now a serene retreat, welcome 
in times like this.  He and Sarah had often spent time here when she visited,
and now she and Tanya sat beside him, quietly enjoying the calm they now knew
could not be permanent.

They had talked a lot recently, but none of the things they discussed carried
any great urgency or weight.  They seemed to have arrived at a mutually
satisfactory understanding of their relationship, and Sarah and Tanya were quite
happy and he enjoyed having them both around on a permanent basis.  It was
likely, though, that some of his former girlfriends - and in Sarah's case boyfriends -
were in for a bit of disappointment.  He hoped they would recover quickly, as he
had been fond of some of them.

As their perch fell into deeper shadow, Myles reluctantly got up.  

"I guess we'd better get going" he said.  "I don't believe we brought a light."

Sarah and Tanya joined him, and holding hands the three of them began the walk
back to the house.