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Crown Vic to a Parallel World: Stolen Love The third and final installment of the ongoing adventures of Church Philips
31
A Power Picnic
I trooped the gang down to my kitchen and asked the culinarian for a thermos of coffee for me, miscellaneous beverages for the others, and the makings of a picnic lunch. No one had eaten and everyone was hungry, so I made several selections. When we left for the garage, we were armed with cold fried chicken, a whole watermelon, potato salad, bread and butter, and a glazed coffee cake. I'd also grabbed a container of quiche leftover from breakfast and brought that with me.
I loaded the food in the trunk of the Vic and jumped in the driver's seat. Leah got in the back behind me, Andy pulled the passenger side back door open for Comet, and Paul loitered at the passenger side front door, politely waiting for the others to get in before he did. Comet wouldn't get in the car. He hesitated and stared into the back seat like Andy was holding the door open to a bear trap.
"Are you coming?" I asked impatiently.
Andy answered for his boyfriend. "He's scared. He's never been in this car."
I remembered Altus' timidity about the car from the other night and figured Comet was experiencing some similar apprehension. I wondered if we should take one of the electric eggs. It didn't take more than a moment's consideration for me to nix that idea. Oh, fuck that.' I thought. I hated those cars. Even the one we'd had custom made to fit me was too small for my taste. No,' I decided, `if we're going out on the plains, we're taking the Vic.' I tried another tactic. "What if Andy drives?" I asked Comet.
"Maybe..." He hedged, without committing one way or the other.
I popped the driver's door, got out, and held the door open for Andy to get in. My nephew came around the car and stopped next to me. Now he was hesitating. "Are you sure?" He asked. "You never let anyone drive this car."
"If it will help Comet, then you can drive."
Andy scrutinized me for a second, like he was searching my face for a motive. I presumed he was also reading my mind. He seemed to accept my offer as genuine and hopped in the car without further discussion. "Come-on Com." He called. "Get in next to me."
I shut the driver's door and went around the other side of the car while Comet slid across the front seat next to Andy. Paul moved to the back of the car and started to get in. "You can have the front." I offered.
Paul waved my offer away like he was waving away campfire smoke and got in the back. I climbed in the passenger side next to Comet. He shrank away from me, then seemed to change his mind and centered himself in the middle seat. Andy patted the boy's thigh and slid his hand up toward Comet's crotch until Comet's hand stopped my nephew with a playful slap. Andy took his hand back and shook it like he'd burned it. I noticed their physical teasing but didn't say anything. I didn't want to embarrass them.
I took my phone from my pocket and opened the menu. One of the few improvements I'd had done to the car on Solum was to get a wireless connection rigged up so I could play music from my phone through the car stereo. Stored in my phone, I had Divided Light's complete library and a download of every CD I'd bought from the South Street music store when I was on Earth. I opened the file for the Earth collection and hunted up Creedence for Paul.
Andy started the car and eased it onto the plains. "Drive us out a few miles." I instructed. "I don't care which way. We'll stop and eat and then we're gonna do an experiment."
Andy pointed the car to the west and brought it up to a good cruising speed for the plains. We drove along behind the estate, passed the hangar, and out into the vast nothing. I went back to the music menu on my phone and searched for something appropriate to listen to.
I found the album Cosmo's Factory' and went through the tunes. I selected the last one on the album. It was a hopeful tune, a yearning, desperate plea from a man to the woman he loves. He begs her to hold on, to keep waiting for him, to believe that he's coming home to be with her. He knows that she's there waiting as Long As I Can See the Light.'
The tune started. The intro was all gentle percussion accompanied by a languid organ or maybe a Rhoads piano. I cranked the volume on the car radio as the drums kicked up in a `bum bum-bum-bum, bum, crash.' I mimed the playing in the air like I was the one with the sticks in my hand and slapped the door panel with the cymbal crash. I matched the singing with as much rasp in my voice as I could manage without a coughing fit and belted the lyrics as they came from the speakers in John Fogerty's voice.
At the end of the first verse, I leaned forward to play an imaginary keyboard on the dashboard while Paul whistled the saxophone solo from the back seat. The man had a sharp, tuneful whistle that tracked the tone of the music up and down with precision.
For the second verse, I sang, and Paul whistled with the sax. At the end of the second verse, the tune climaxed with Fogerty shouting YEAH' over a crescendo of organ and cymbals. Paul and I shouted along in ask and answer fashion, trading yeahs' with each other as they came. I pounded the beat on the door panel as we sang.
The tune came down from its climax and Paul took over the singing for both of us. We harmonized the repeats of long as I can see the light' at the end of the tune until the music faded out. The silence didn't last and was soon replaced by the intense guitar work of Ramble Tamble.' That was the first tune on the album. It played as the album reset, and I turned the radio down.
Paul and I laughed at our own silliness. I flipped the sun visor down to look at Paul using the vanity mirror on the back of the flap. I was pleased by the sight of the man enjoying himself. The mirror showed enough of the back seat for me to see Leah shaking her head at what I assumed she saw as two silly old men doing silly things.
Paul laughed and wiped his hand over his face. "I haven't done that in years." He grinned. "In many, many years. I used to love doing things like that. You certainly know how to make it fun, young man."
I glanced in the mirror to say something silly, but the words never left my lips. The carefree words died in my throat at the sight of Paul's expressive face suddenly drawn down in a tight frown of concentration. "Church," he asked, and hesitated, like the question he was planning to raise would upset me, "when Shawn comes back, will we still have fun? Will you still spend time with me, and talk to me like we have been? Will you still be my friend?"
Paul's question was so sincere and so sad, it broke my heart to hear him ask it. The question revealed the lost orphan boy who still lived inside the seemingly bold and confident priest. The man's words matched the theme and tone of the song we'd just listened to. If I go away and leave you, will you wait for me to return?' the song asked. When the love of your life comes back to you, will you still have time for me?' the old priest asked.
I felt sad that my friend would worry that our friendship would end when Shawn came back. As I wondered why Paul would think that, I reminded myself that my melancholy was riding my magic to spill onto everyone I got near. Since Paul and I had been spending so much time together, he was getting a larger dose of it than anyone. I assumed some of his own doubt sent the question into his head, but my sadness is what drove him far enough to ask it aloud.
I hauled myself around in the seat far enough that I could look Paul in the eye when I answered him. I wanted him to believe me when I told him we would still be friends, when I told him I very much wanted him to stay. "I'm not going anywhere." I reassured him. "As long as you choose to stay, I'll be here, and we will be friends."
Paul patted the seatback headrest between us like he was patting my shoulder. "Thank you, young man. That's wonderful to hear."
"I'll warn you now though, when Shawn does come back, you probably won't see me for several days...but after that, you know...we can do whatever."
Paul smiled broadly at me, but he didn't turn red. I assumed that meant he took me at my word and didn't activate his power to see the pictures in my head. I was glad for that. My brain had been choreographing my reunion with Shawn and none of the images in my head were suitable for public view.
Andy interrupted our heartfelt moment with a practical question. "How far am I going for this picnic?" He asked.
I righted myself in the seat and looked around. We were surrounded by plains on all sides and the estate had started to fade into the distance. I judged we were ten or so miles from the house. "Here's good." I announced.
Andy brought the car to a stop, put the gear selector in park, and shut the engine off. He put the keys above the visor so the dashboard buzzer wouldn't sound when he opened the driver's door. He got out of the car and Comet slid out after him. I got out, as did Leah and Paul. "Now what?" Andy asked.
"Lunch." I announced and reached in the car to hit the trunk release button.
We ate our food while gathered into little groups that either stood around the hood of the car or sat in the seats. I cautioned the young people not to get fried chicken grease or watermelon juice on the upholstery but wasn't overly worried. The car was long overdue for a new interior, something I told myself to take care of after Shawn was back and we'd gotten suitably reacquainted.
I checked on Leah as we ate, to make sure she wasn't taking the absence of her sister and her boyfriend too hard. She seemed to be handling it well. I knew she and her sister were very mature young women and was proud of both of them. I tried to thank her for her help in getting Shawn back, but she refused my gratitude. "We love him too, Uncle Church." She explained, and I almost cried.
After lunch, I gathered everyone around the car hood to explain my experiment and how it played into the greater effort to find and rescue Shawn. "So," I said after I'd been through everything once, "I want to see how far away we can be for Leah to use her telepathy and Andy to read minds with a magic boost from me. I figure we can either leave Paul and Comet here and I can drive away with Leah and Andy, or I can stay here with Leah and Andy and Paul and Comet can drive away from us. Six one, half dozen the other."
Leah was excited about the possibilities, and Andy was willing to try, but Comet was nervous for Andy. "How do you know it won't hurt him?" Comet asked, as he hugged Andy's arm and clung to his side.
"It didn't hurt Bem." I reasoned. "Shawn says exposure to my overflow magic is like free energy. Most performance enhancers cause damage in the long run because they make the body work overtime. The systems weren't designed to work that hard, so they break down. My magic makes the body systems work overtime, but it also enhances the systems that heal, so any damage that might be caused is zeroed out by the healing. I think this might stretch a point, but the concept should be the same."
"Might! Should!" Comet was indignant at the uncertainty of my reasoning. "I'm not going to risk Andy on guessing."
The mousy little man pissed me off with his proxy refusal of my plan. That said, I liked how protective he was of Andy. I guessed I still intimidated him, but he stood against me boldly without so much as a stammer or an averted glance. I liked that his love for Andy was stronger than his fears. I saw the boy through new eyes, and I liked what I saw, but that didn't mean I was going to let him get away with holding me up.
I decided to play the young people against each other and pull Andy's `punk card' to make him overrule Comet. "No problem." I shrugged. "I was doubtful about using a clairvoyant. A telepath is really much more useful. How about it, Leah? You ready to try the experiment?" I asked my niece with as much enthusiasm as I could muster.
Leah reacted exactly the way I needed her to. "Can't wait Uncle Church!" She enthused back at me.
"I guess we'll take the car then." I said and jumped in behind the wheel.
Leah got in next to me and pulled the door shut. I started the engine and waited for the gang that was standing in front of the car to part so I could drive away. Andy extracted himself from Comet and came to the driver's side window to talk. "I know what you're doing." He accused with both his voice and posture.
"Is it working?" I asked.
"Yeah." He admitted and went to reason with his boyfriend.
I don't know what he said to Comet, but whatever it was must have worked. In the next instant, Andy pushed his cousin to the middle of the front seat so he could climb into the passenger side and sit three across the front of the car.
Comet replaced Andy at my window. He gripped the top of the door, looked down at his hands, and pleaded with me in a confidential tone. "Please be careful. Andy means a lot to me." Comet's voice dropped very low. "He means everything."
I put my hand on top of Comet's to reassure him. The contact brought the boy's eyes up to mine. "I love him too. I don't love him like you do, I couldn't, but I care for Andy like he was my own son. I would sooner cut my hand off than raise it to hurt him." I leaned out the window and put my face as close to Comet's as I could. I wanted to compliment the boy and I wanted to do it right up close to him. "I see it now...what he sees. I see why he loves you."
Comet looked like he was going to cry, and I knew I'd gone a little too far, gotten too emotional. I needed to lighten the mood. My brain came up with a terrible idea, and I used it. "It's not just for your massive cock."
Comet's serious expression turned bright red, and he dropped his eyes to his hands again. "Thanks." He whispered and backed away from the car to signal the end of the conversation.
I pulled my head inside the car and faced front to shout at Paul. "You OK?" I asked him through the windshield.
Paul gave me the thumbs-up sign and stepped away from the front of the car. I jerked the shifter into gear and accelerated away. I planned to start at fifteen miles out and decrease the distance until the empaths could make contact. I wound the speed up because I didn't plan to tell the young people how much distance they were trying to overcome, and I didn't want them to be able to guess. We were skimming along between seventy and eighty when Andy complained about my conversation with Comet.
"Why do you say stuff like that to him?" Andy leaned around his cousin and demanded over the wind noise.
I looked over at the tall, strong, masculine man. I saw his long-on-top hair being blown to bits by the wind that rushed through the open windows. I saw the close beard that highlighted his sharp features. I wondered if the man I saw was the same insecure kid that had sat in that seat a million years before and asked me how I knew I was gay. I knew that it was the same man, but it seemed impossible. I'd once told Andy that I looked forward to meeting the man he grew up to be. Now that I had, I couldn't be more pleased with the results of that growing up.
Andy had shown himself to be enough like his father to be a serious businessman, full of strong morals and drive, and enough of a romantic, like me I guess, to see the finer things in life. I wished he was my son but was glad he wasn't. Joe had given him the right foundation. He'd given Andy the sense of responsibility that I couldn't have, not in the years that he did the work. I would have ruined the boy, made him miserable like I'd been. Joe had done a good job as Andy's father, despite his prejudices. I was proud to have Andy as my nephew. I was glad to count him among my friends.
Andy rubbed his hands together in front of him and leaned back in the seat. "Never mind." He said.
I guessed he'd been reading my mind again and was treated to my stream of consciousness love fest with him as the star. I assumed that had flustered him enough to withdraw the question. I put my eyes back on the plains in front of me and checked the odometer to see how close we were to my mileage goal. We were damn close, so I pulled my foot out of the gas and let the car coast to a gradual halt. When I applied the brakes, we were right at fifteen miles away from Paul and Comet.
I turned the car around to face back the other way and asked my niece and nephew how they'd like to proceed. "We can get out, or we can stay in the car, whatever works for you. I want to give you both as much time as you need. When I did this with Bem, all I had to do was put my hand on his back."
"How far away are we?" Andy asked.
"I'm not telling." I refused to share the information and deliberately sounded as petulant as I could. "And I'm asking you not to look for it in my thoughts. Alright, how do you want to do this and who goes first?"
Leah volunteered to go first and said she'd stay in the car. I asked her to try to reach Comet. "Why?" Andy demanded, seemingly concerned about anything that involved his boyfriend.
I tried to explain my reasoning. "I suspect it will be easier for you to reach your boyfriend than it will be for you to reach someone else. I want this to be a true test. I want you to reach out to Paul, and Leah, I want you to reach out for Comet. Identifying the person is important, because we need to know where Shawn is, but communication could be critical as well.
"Andy," I addressed my nephew specifically, "as a clairvoyant, you can't `talk' with Shawn, but you can make yourself known to him. I expect he will be smart enough to think back at you with the right information, like if he's under guard and stuff like that."
"Makes sense." Andy agreed.
I shifted my attention to Leah and asked a question that I remembered from my test with Altus and Primis. "We're out pretty far. If this works, will it be hard for Comet to send his thoughts to you?"
Leah explained more about how their power worked than Altus had. "It's only hard for them, the other person I mean, when we're near the end of our range. Our magic starts to run out of...signal, I guess, and that means the other person has to work to make their thoughts known. If I can reach them, him, Comitis, with enough power, it won't be hard for him."
"Got it." I said, glad for the clarification. "You ready?"
Leah agreed that she was, so I rested my hand on her shoulder. I was about to start my magic when I had a qualm. I worried about sharing my emotions with my niece. I worried about how she'd react. I told her my concern. "Leah, you remember about how my magic can transmit my emotions and can let me feel others? If we do this, you'll feel what I feel and I'll feel what you do."
Leah didn't seem to understand what I was worried about. "What's wrong with that, Uncle Church?" She asked me.
My worry came out of me as a desperate sob. "I'm really fucking sad right now!" I admitted to my niece.
"That's OK, Uncle Church. I'll be OK."
I nodded a combination of appreciation and thanks to Leah and let my magic flow into her. I used less push than I'd used with Bem. The way he seemed to get-off on the power made me think I'd shoved quite a bit of energy into him without meaning too. This time, I tried to keep my magic `touch' as light as a feather.
Leah's body started to use the magic as soon as she felt it. She drew it right in. I assumed that meant she'd activated her ability, but there was no outward sign she was doing anything but sitting there. I guessed all the practice she had communicating with her sister and their telepath boyfriend gave her an excellent `poker face.'
As I shared my magic, I felt Leah's emotions. What I felt told me that the focus that showed on her face went all the way to her core. She felt determined and centered. I suspected her ability to tune out all extraneous thoughts was the result of her police training and the work she'd done with her stepfather. I was freshly impressed with her.
I also noticed that the feeling of sharing magic with Leah was different than it had been with Bem. I wondered if it was because we were blood related, or maybe because she was an empath and Bem's magic was physical, like mine. I could sense Leah's ability using my power as I gave it to her.
I watched Leah closely and waited for a sign that she'd either reached Comet or that she'd given up. I remembered what she and her sister had said about their un-boosted range. They could communicate with each other over one mile. They could send thoughts to a non-telepath up to a half-mile but could only receive at about a quarter mile. Altus had been good for a little over a third of a mile.
As we were fifteen miles away from the two non-telepaths that Leah was trying to reach, that was about fifty times Altus' maximum distance. We were sixty times the twins' maximum distance. In spite of the distance, Leah showed results quickly. "Comitis hopes you're being careful Andy." She announced, rather smugly I thought.
"You got him?" I asked. I tried not to let my surprise show in my voice but didn't think I was very successful. I temporarily forgot that Leah would sense it anyway. "How clear can you...uh...hear him?" I wasn't quite sure how to ask what I wanted to know because I didn't know how Leah's process worked.
Leah explained. "His thoughts are coming in clearly. It's like we're in two rooms right next to each other. How far away are we?"
"Not telling." I refused again. "Leah, I'm going to stop giving you power, and I want you to stay connected with Comet as long as you can." I took my hand from her shoulder and started the car. I put it in gear and waited with my foot on the brake.
I waited and waited and eventually put the car back in park and shut off the engine while I kept waiting. It took a full five minutes before Leah announced she'd lost the connection. I was surprised it took that long. I wondered if that delay would be useful somehow.
When the connection faded, I asked Leah how she felt. She said she was fine, but I saw her wipe some loose tears from her eyes. I guessed those tears were from the emotions I'd pushed into her with my magic. I felt bad about that, but I reminded myself that it was a necessary evil. If Leah could help me...help us find Shawn, that mattered more than some temporary sadness. That's how I rationalized it to myself anyway.
I still worried about what my magic had done to my niece and pressed her to elaborate her feelings. She didn't have much to share. Apparently, she felt none of the `rush' Bem had felt from my magic. I assumed my softer touch had pushed less magic into her. Less magic seemed to mean less side effects. I chalked that up as a win.
With Leah's report complete, I restarted the car, put it in gear, and throttled the Vic into a tire-spinning U-turn that faced us away from Comet and Paul. I accelerated across the plains to get farther away from them. "What about me?" Andy asked as the wind noise grew to a howl.
"Waste of time." I replied. I realized what I'd said sounded shitty though I hadn't meant it that way. I qualified my statement for Andy. "It's a waste of time because what Leah just did seemed pretty easy for her. I assume your reach will be similar to hers, so there's no reason to test you both at the beginner's wall." I used a climbing reference to illustrate my point. Andy mouthed `O,' and I kept driving.
I was tempted to stop at twenty-five miles but decided against it. I decided to try to a hundred times Altus' maximum range for non-telepaths. Even though I wasn't testing Altus, I kept thinking about his range because it was greater than the twin's. I kept my foot hard on the gas until we were thirty-three miles from Comet and Paul. I dragged the car around in a big, high-speed U-turn and brought it to a halt facing the two we'd left behind. I put my hand on Andy's shoulder, figuring to try him first. It was his turn after all.
I had a similar conversation with Andy about sharing emotions that I'd had with Leah. Andy told me he wanted to help and was willing to endure some sadness if that's what helping meant. I told Andy how much I appreciated him and repeated the same to Leah. When we were done clearing away my worries, I began pushing my magic into my nephew.
I felt the power flow into Andy like the boy was wide open to the magic. Even the feather-light touch I'd used with Leah seemed to be more than enough for Andy. The emotional feedback started immediately. Andy's emotions were different from Leah's. While Leah had felt deliberately focused, Andy's focus was more of an effort.
I suspected Andy's mind wasn't trained in the same way as Leah's and that's why his focus required work. I wondered if that meant the effort of searching would be more mentally fatiguing for Andy than it was for Leah. I set that aside to worry about later, if my experiment was a success.
Instead, I focused on the feeling of Andy's power as it used my magic. I noticed that I could feel the magic as it flowed into his ability. I swore I could feel it, feel the magic being changed and broadcast out into the world, searching for the people Andy wanted to find. I felt Andy send the energy into the environment, spreading it out, like...like radio waves maybe, except these waves were looking for just one radio instead of playing to all of them. The power spread far and wide as it searched, then it shivered, and became a laser line as it located his target.
Andy closed his eyes and groaned. "Aaaawwww...Mister Paul is having a fantasy about Aunt Lenis."
I roared with laughter. It was impossible not to. Leah laughed right along with me. "Let him know you're there." I gasped between hysterics. "But act like you just got there. Don't embarrass the poor guy."
I was familiar enough with Andy's magic to know that he could read people in one of two ways. Andy could penetrate someone's thoughts without them knowing it, or he could make his presence known. I'd felt him announce himself to me before. For me, it had been almost like a tap on the shoulder or the sound of someone familiar clearing their throat. The recipient would know it was Andy, but all he could convey was his identity. He couldn't send thoughts, only receive them.
"Uh oh." Andy grimaced. "Mister Paul is pretty sure I saw what he was thinking and he's not happy about it. He's saying the rosary in his head now."
Poor Paul.' I thought to myself. Oh well, he knew what we were doing out here. Shame on him for letting his mind wander.' I put my thoughts back on the present and decided to move on. "Alright, I think that's a good enough test. We know that you can make yourself known and read thoughts from this distance. Stay with him while I stop adding power and see how long you can last."
Andy lasted a full five minutes without my magic, just like his cousin had. When he announced that he'd lost contact with Paul, I asked Andy all about how he felt. His first response was about the emotional feedback he'd gotten from me. Andy wiped his eyes like his cousin had. "So sad." He whispered.
Once he collected himself, I asked the question again and made sure he understood I was interested in how he felt physically and...magically, I guess. Andy's answers to those questions coincided with Leah's. I figured that meant I'd managed to find just the right amount of magic to feed into them to boost their ability without side-effects. `Yay me.' I thought.
I told Leah I wanted to repeat the experiment with her at the new distance. She agreed, so I transferred my hand from Andy's shoulder to Leah's and activated my magic. The feeling of my magic as it flowed through my niece's ability was similar and somehow more specific than it had been earlier. I wondered why that was. I guessed it was because I wasn't merely recharging her but pushing my magic through her ability. I wondered if I did that with Shawn, if I would feel what he felt when he healed wounds or corrected malfunctioning body systems.
Leah reached Comet even more quickly than she had before. They had a short conversation, enough to prove the point, and I got ready to stop the flow of my magic when I was seized with another idea. I'd been wondering just how far to push the test now that we were at thirty-three miles. What next,' I wondered, fifty?' Then I remembered there were more people available to us than just Comet and Paul.
"Leah, see if you can reach anyone at home."
She shook her head at me. "We must be MILES from home."
"Just try." I coaxed.
She closed her eyes and leaned back against the car seat. I assumed she was centering herself for what she thought would be a supreme effort. Leah slowed her breathing and announced when she was going to make the attempt. A few minutes went by while I felt a steady stream of my magic disappear into her ravenous ability. I restrained myself from pushing harder on the magic, because I didn't want to risk `frying her circuits,' or whatever damage I might do to her magic system.
"I can feel them." She whispered with surprise. "Who should I talk to?"
"Get an update from Bem." I suggested.
Leah was silent for a moment, then gave her report. "Daddy says...ahem, I mean, Bem says they questioned Ancillarum. It sounds like the woman he sold the information to is the same woman who came to get Primis. He gave her general information only, nothing about your personal lives or about Shawn. He's only been taking money for about a month. Daddy...I mean, Bem says Ancillarum isn't a bad person, just an idiot."
"That's fine, dear." I thanked her for the update. "Why don't you sign off and tell your father we'll be home in a couple hours?"
Leah did as I asked, and I stopped the flow of magic into her. She opened her eyes and sat up. "How clear?" I asked.
"Very. There was some interference with there being more people around, but it wasn't hard to communicate. I never thought I'd reach the house. How far away are we?"
I took my phone out to check. I didn't know how far we'd driven to have our picnic and I also hadn't been too particular about my direction when I set off for the first fifteen-mile drive for our experiment. The angle could be weird and that would change the total distance between us and the house. I checked the mileage on my phone's map application. The number was impressive. "We're forty-two miles from the estate and we're thirty-three miles from Comet and Paul."
My niece and nephew were stunned. They made me show them on my phone, then confirmed the distance on their own phones. Andy demanded I let him try to reach the people on the estate as well. He did it as easily as Leah, and he was equally as amazed. The cousins talked in excited tones the entire twenty-five-minute trip back to pick-up Comet and Paul. Once we were a complete group again, the cousins chattered at Comet and Paul like kids comparing Halloween candy hauls.
I was happy for them, but I was happier for me. My idea and experiment meant finding Shawn just got much easier.