Alice was brought back to the present by a siren from a police car that was passing.  Glad as she was that she could now remember the good times with Dana untarnished, Alice was starting to realise that she had a ghost in her life. A constant presence as it were that she really was not ready to let go of and once Tasha did come home and their relationship continued to develop it was going to become an issue that she would have to face.  For the moment however she allowed herself the luxury of not dealing with it as the way Alice saw it since that visit the afternoon of Tasha’s leaving party Dana was helping look out for Tasha while she was away.

 She shook her head gently bringing herself back to the decision at hand and gave a little more consideration to the option of going home this morning as she remembered her cell-phone was still inside her apartment.    She figured she wouldn’t be long in The Planet and it would probably be fine.  She was torn however. The need for the presence of her cell-phone with her at all times was more than her traditional addiction to all things that further developed her insatiable need to constantly be connected to everything and everyone around her.   If truth be told since Tasha left, the cell-phone had become a noose around her neck.  Alice knew that if the unspeakable should happen over in Iraq it would be that cell-phone that would convey the information.  Not of course a direct phone-call.  This government that was so happy to send people off to risk their lives for what were in Alice’s opinion questionable motives wasn’t even prepared to respect their soldiers enough to trust that they knew who they loved and who was important in their lives.  So, before she left Tasha had devised a complex phone tree involving a variety of trusted comrades which would ensure that Alice would be informed should the need arise.

Alice looked up to find herself right outside the planet, her early morning musings had made that last half mile fly by without her even realising she was on the move.  She opened the door of The Planet and sought out her friends.  Her eyes quickly rested on the slouched figure of Shane who sat nursing that first shot of the day and Alice chuckled to herself as she realised that Rule Number One was clearly still in force.