"You should have chosen the Lincoln Bedroom."

"You should have offered!"

"I heard the mattress was bad. Antique horsehair." Tolland winked, motioning to a gift-wrapped package on a marble-topped table. "This'll make it up to you."

Rachel was touched. "For me?"

"I had one of the presidential aides go out and find this for you. Just arrived. Don't shake it."

She carefully opened the package, extracting the heavy contents. Inside was a large crystal bowl in which were swimming two ugly orange goldfish. Rachel stared in confused disappointment. "You're joking, right?"

"Helostoma temmincki," Tolland said proudly.

"You bought me fish?"

"Rare Chinese kissing fish. Very romantic."

"Fish are not romantic, Mike."

"Tell that to these guys. They'll kiss for hours."

"Is this supposed to be another turn-on?"

"I'm rusty on the romance. Can you grade me on effort?"

"For future reference, Mike, fish are definitely not a turn-on. Try flowers."

Tolland pulled a bouquet of white lilies from behind his back. "I tried for red roses," he said, "but I almost got shot sneaking into the Rose Garden."

As Tolland pulled Rachel's body against his and inhaled the soft fragrance of her hair, he felt years of quiet isolation dissolving inside him. He kissed her deeply, feeling her body rise against him. The white lilies fell to their feet, and barriers Tolland had never known he'd built were suddenly melting away.

The ghosts are gone.

He felt Rachel inching him toward the bed now, her whisper soft in his ear. "You don't really think fish are romantic, do you?"

"I do," he said, kissing her again. "You should see the jellyfish mating ritual. Incredibly erotic."

Rachel maneuvered him onto his back on the horsehair mattress, easing her slender body down on top of his.

"And seahorses…," Tolland said, breathless as he savored her touch through the thin satin of his pajamas. "Seahorses perform… an unbelievably sensual dance of love."

"Enough fish talk," she whispered, unbuttoning his pajamas. "What can you tell me about the mating rituals of advanced primates?"

Tolland sighed. "I'm afraid I don't really do primates."

Rachel shed her football jersey. "Well, nature boy, I suggest you learn fast."

The NASA transport jet banked high over the Atlantic.

Onboard, Administrator Lawrence Ekstrom took a last look at the huge charred rock in the cargo hold. Back to the sea, he thought. Where they found you.

On Ekstrom's command, the pilot opened the cargo doors and released the rock. They watched as the mammoth stone plummeted downward behind the plane, arcing across the sunlit ocean sky and disappearing beneath the waves in a pillar of silver spray.

The giant stone sank fast.

Underwater, at three hundred feet, barely enough light remained to reveal its tumbling silhouette. Passing five hundred feet, the rock plunged into total darkness.

Racing down.

Deeper.

It fell for almost twelve minutes.

Then, like a meteorite striking the dark side of the moon, the rock crashed into a vast plain of mud on the ocean floor, kicking up a cloud of silt. As the dust settled, one of the ocean's thousands of unknown species swam over to inspect the odd newcomer.

Unimpressed, the creature moved on.