"I know." Tom nods. "Our minds have been bound together for years. There's no space for lies or separation. It was unnerving at first."

That description does get him laughing. "Her species is full of them. Though men and women are mostly equal, the social part of the society is run by females. Hiroki came to me because that's human tradition but I had to send him to my wife for interest in dating Ziggy."

Tom sighs heavily and looks down at the bubbles in the soda water. "It's not like that exactly. Thomas and Ziggy both have visions of the future. They know almost exact times on exact days that we'll hit the point of no return."