the student in my lab who reasoned out that rising carbon dioxide levels from the greenhouse effect will promote green
plants to grow faster, working in the opposite direction, lowering the rate of increase in carbon dioxide levels."
   "Oh, yes. It shocked you good when it turned out she was absolutely right." Meri laughed. She sprayed her hair lightly with an anti-wetting agent at the same time gesturing for William to go on.
   William strained to not shake his head dismissively. That would anger her to no good purpose. He had been proud that Laurel was night, not surprised or dismayed. He pushed Laurel to make that her thesis. "She was my most promising grad student. Anyhow, she dropped out after Hurricane Tori last December. I didn't know what happened to her. She just stopped coming to class. Last week I found out. She stopped by. She had to help her family move in a hurry from their house of Fort Avenue.
   Water from the harbor breached the Fort McHenry dike in that storm.
   The third time in two years! It was a losing battle. They had enough and moved to higher ground in West Virginia. Morgantown. Now they live on a hillside where the water

can't flood them out anymore."
   William pulled a staid black suit from his closet.
   Meri shook her head. "We're not going to a funeral.Wear something you can dance in. And not just a minuet or a waltz. Do you realize this is the first party we've been to this year? What's the theme this year?"
    "Festive Times," William answered over his shoulder, looking through his closet.
   "Cuisines?" Meri prompted him.
   He interrupted his search for clothing for a moment. "I seem to remember hearing Hispanic, sushi, hydroponics. Stuff like that." William resumed flipping through his outfits. Many were simply variations on formal dark wear. He knew that would not suffice tonight.
   "How about music?" She continued to prompt him. Her hours at the clinic and his at the lab left them little time for idle conversation. She was determined to make the most of this time.
   "Anything that a trio with a Moog synthesizer can play. I put in a request for psychedelic." He saw a wrinkle of disgust on Meri's face. "Oh, I know it's cheap thrills, but a song or two will liven up the classical, country, diatonic, and