Soul Mates Part II A familiar voice came over the loudspeakers in the hanger. It belonged to David Coby. He was Nat's boss, as well as Ken's and all the other pod pilots. He was also Ken's best friend and had spent many an evening with them. "Natasha Browski, report to the office." Nat set out for David's office. He probably had an assignment for her. She hoped it wouldn't require her to leave the base with Ken bound to be arriving any time. Nat knocked and then entered David's office without waiting for a response. "Hi, David! What's--" One look at her boss's stricken face and she knew. "Ken?" David nodded. "I'm sorry, Nat. He's gone. His pod crashed and there were no survivors." He looked away, then back again. "We just got the news." Nat turned away and staggered back into the hallway. She moved slowly, or it seemed so. Everything seemed to slow down. She stopped, and placed a hand over her face, trying to hold back the tears, but they came with a shudder and once they started, she could not stop them. A hand tentatively touched her shoulder. It was David. He looked like he wanted to cry, but he managed to hold back the tears brimming in his eyes. Nat turned and David gathered her in his arms. "We talked about this possibility," he told her. "I promised him that I'd watch your back if anything ever happened to him. Besides, you're my friend, too." David was as good as his word. He constantly checked on her to see how she was doing. Helped her move out of the couple's apartment back to bachelor quarters. Yet, he tried to give her the space she needed. Whatever she needed, he saw that she got. TO BE CONTINUED: **************************************** Walls and doors: by MASTER-S (grafik-3d-portal). Machinery: by originalmoron. Female Figure: DAZ Aiko3 realistic; skin mat is Denise by danie (renderosity); hair is short hair by ali (renderosity); clothing is Lady Rhi (Renderosity). Male figure: DAZ Michael3; skin mat is "Dorian" textures by SubTigee, Akia, & nicu1 Renderosity); hair is ali's "Hr003" (Renderosity); clothing is Uzilite's "Major Cache" (DAZ).