Before going to his quarters, Tom Kelly poked his head into the main engineering room. The progress was amazing. The room looked like nothing had ever happened. The two main support beams were back in place. The burn marks on the far wall were back to their industrial white and gray. Even the floor had been swept. As he looked around, impressed, a large crate caught his eye. It was tall, almost six meters in height and it was fairly thin... just the right proportions for... it couldn't be.

Tom threw his bag down and ran up to the box like a kid in a candy store. Desperately, he felt around for the access panel. It was just above his head and along the back. He pressed a few buttons, then pressed the 'Unlock' button. With a hiss, the front panel swung open. He peered around the corner and had to keep himself from drooling. It was a tall, cylindrical object made of silver borders and numerous clear windows. Inside the window, a bluish green flowing plasma could be seen simliar to the plasma in the anti-matter chamber. Protruding from the cylinder were several connectors... neural connectors! The real computer core had finally arrived!

It took quite a bit of self control to keep him from calling up some of his team to install it immediately. It would definately go in tomorrow morning. Cautiously, as if holding a Delvan egg sculpture, he closed the door and backed away with a smile. "A fitting conclusion to the vacation." He said aloud. He had gotten everything he wanted in this past week... he had gotten his marital life back on track, several days of rest, a walleye he had stuffed the very next day, and his first commendation. His doubts about his engagement had completely left him. In fact, they had even set a date. They would be married on June 20 of next year, the fifth anniversary of their first date. They took a quick trip to Sydney to get an official engagement ring. Corina was more than happy to be rid of the 'promise ring' he had given her a year ago.

Yes, things were finally starting to fall into place for the chief engineer. He whistled the melody to "There's a Lucky Star Over Me Tonight" as he picked up his bag and left the engineering room for his quarters. He guessed he'd need a bigger bed once they were married.