"True," Michelle said. "But I will tell you one thing, Dar never struck me as conservative."

"She is," Shari said. "What we have to do is keep the pressure on them, and throw her some curve balls. If we can do it in front of everyone, we can knock some of that mystique off."

Michelle looked doubtful, but intrigued. "Go on," she said. "That might work."

"Let's go have lunch," Shari suggested. "Get out of this damn heat. I'd forgotten how much I hated it."

They turned and strolled toward the door. As they reached it, Shari paused and glanced back over her shoulder. By design or chance, Dar's head was turned, and she was staring right at her from behind silvered shades.

Though she was far away enough to know the dark haired woman couldn't see her, Shari shivered anyway, and hastily ducked inside. "Psycho," she muttered, closing the door behind her.

"I LOVE EPCOT," Kerry said, as they strolled through the main entrance to the park. "I think it's my favorite place here."

"Me too," Dar agreed. "Not just because it's nerd heaven, either. It holds my interest more than the other parks."

That was significant, Kerry decided. Dar had a surprisingly limited attention span, something that she'd found out over time much to her bemusement. If you wanted her help, you condensed your problem down into its essentials, and got it in front of her in squarely black and white terms. Then she would review it, decide, and give it back to you sometimes in a matter of minutes.

Anything longer than that, or heaven forbid, if someone chose to do a PowerPoint presentation to make their case, and you lost her. Kerry had seen it happen more than once. Her lover would let her head rest on one hand, and start sketching, occupying her restless mind with something more interesting than whatever the person presenting was saying.

Which brought up an interesting question. "Hey, Dar? Were you hyperactive when you were a kid?"

Dar turned her head and focused on Kerry, away from the dancing fountains they were walking toward. "Was I?" She mused. "I don't know. I was a pain in the ass child, that's for sure. Just ask my mother."

The scent of pastry distracted them both and Dar steered Kerry toward a bakery shop in the central plaza. They walked up the steps and into the shop, getting in line as they reviewed their options. "Mm." Kerry eyed a chocolate mousse. "Another reason I like Epcot. Good food."

"Uh huh," Dar agreed, making eye contact with the cashier and pointing at the mousse. "Two, and two cappuccinos, please," she said. "Yeah, I think I was."

"Huh?" Kerry had her mind on the pastries. "Think you were mousse, hon?"

"Hyperactive." Dar deftly evaded Kerry's attempts to pay for their treat and plunked down a handful of bills instead. "Probably my parents had no clue, but when I look back now and think of how I was, yeah. Why?"

"Just curious," Kerry answered. "I noticed you're so restless a lot of the time when you're at work, so I wondered."

Dar picked up the tray with their treats and nudged Kerry toward a table. "Either that or it was all the damn chocolate I ate." She sat down and handed over Kerry's mousse, taking her own and commencing a methodical attack on it. "Okay. Let's grab some dinner reservations, then we can wander around in this part for a while."

"Okay." Kerry licked her spoon. "First stop, Test Track. Vroom, Vroom."

"Vroom, vroom," Dar agreed with a smile, daubing a bit of mousse on Kerry's nose. "You got it."

IT WAS GETTING on to evening, and the raw heat of the day was moderating slightly as the breeze picked up. Kerry plucked at the front of her shirt, glad to feel the cool touch of the air and she was wishing the sun would drop faster and bring on the twilight's relief. "Whew."

"Yeah." Dar ambled into the path of a mist gun, letting it spray her with a fine fog of water. "Let's go find something indoors."

They stopped in front of the reservations kiosk, and Dar poked at the touch screen looking for what she wanted. "Reservations... reservations...World Showcase, no...Ah. Living Seas. Here." She reviewed her choices. "Time...what do you think, seven? If we can get it?"

"Oo." Kerry put a hand out and grabbed her partner's wrist. "Hang on...what's that?" She pointed. "Scuba reservations?"

Dar's eyebrows shot up. She punched the required button and leaned forward, with Kerry pressed against her side in curiosity. "Whoa," she said. "Never saw that before." She studied the announcement. "Dive in the Living Seas. Tropical fish, turtles, sharks. Hmm." Her eyes turned to Kerry. "Wanna do it?"

"You need to ask?" Kerry said. "Scuba diving in the gazillion gallon aquarium? Sign me up!" She watched as Dar indicated their interest. After a moment, a real person appeared on the screen. "Hi."

"Hello!" The face smiled back at them. "How can I help you?"

Having punched a specific button, Dar had more or less expected the operator to know what she wanted. "We want to go dive in the Living Seas."

"Great!" The woman replied. "Would that be for today?"

"Yes."

The woman did something on her end that involved typing. "Great," she said again. "We have spaces available at five thirty. How's that?"

Kerry checked her watch. "It's five now," she said. "Sounds perfect."

Dar bounced up and down on the balls of her feet happily. "Do it," she instructed the woman. "What do we need?"

The woman typed for a while, then she looked up. "Okay, you'll need bathing suits, and of course, you do have your certification cards?"

Dar nodded. "Yep, we do."

"Terrific! Go to the customer service center at five-fifteen, and they'll take it from there." The woman smiled broadly. "Excited?"

"Yes." Kerry forestalled Dar's answer. "Thanks!' She watched the woman sign off, and then she turned to Dar. "Oh, this is going to be so cool."

Dar grinned as she requested their dinner reservations. "Yeah," she said. "It's not like we haven't been diving in more exotic places, but this'll be different all right." Finishing, she put her hands on Kerry's shoulders and directed her toward the service center. "Let's go."

THERE WERE SIX others in their group of eight, Dar discovered. They were a diverse bunch ranging from resort certified divers with very limited experience, to two others like Dar herself, experienced dive masters out for some fun.

After a solemn introductory session, and the paying of the fee, they all trooped through an unmarked gate, going from the public part of the theme park, into the work area guests typically never saw. Dar more or less ignored the chattering around her and spent time looking around at the facilities, which were well kept and spotless, though far less ornate than the theme park areas themselves.

They walked past administrative offices, and across a service roadway to the rear part of the Seas exhibit, which featured a huge marine system serviced by entire buildings full of pumps and water treatment equipment.

Inside the exhibit, they moved carefully around huge pipes and up several flights of narrow stairs to a small classroom. Once there, they were given release forms and refreshments while they filled them out. "When was the last time we dove, Dar?" Kerry chewed the end of her pen. "Tuesday or was it last Thursday?"

"Thursday." Dar was busy scribbling. "You were nearly bitten by that cranky parrot fish you kept chasing down."

"Ah. Yeah." Kerry finished writing and signed her name to the bottom of the release, dating it neatly. "I was just trying to take his picture. You'd think he was a TV star in LA or something."

"Maybe that barracuda that kept following me was his agent." Dar slid Kerry's form out from under her hands and gave both to the khaki clad man giving them directions. "Here you go." She sat back and regarded their fellow divers as the guide collected all his paperwork, and checked off sizes for their gear.

"Okay, guys." The man finished and gave them a sunny grin. "Next, we go down to the locker rooms and suit up. Your gear bags are on the benches. When you're done, walk out into the hallway and I'll meet you there to take you up to the dive platform. Okay?"

"Good deal." Kerry stood and followed Dar as they left the room, traveling down a short flight of stairs to another in a seemingly endless series of pale blue corridors. Touching the wall, she could feel a distinct vibration, and the scent of water seemed to penetrate even the thick concrete. The air was also damp, and combined with the chill of the air conditioners, rather refreshing after being outside.

The locker rooms were surprisingly plush. Kerry's eyebrows rose as she noted the well-equipped showers, complete with shampoo and soap. "Hey. Nice." She complimented them, as Dar sorted out their respective wetsuits. "Almost like home."

"Here." Dar tossed Kerry a suit, moving forward as one of the two other women walked past her to the changing booths. The other woman followed, leaving Dar and Kerry in the main room together.

They exchanged looks, and then Kerry pointed to one of the changing booths. "After you, little fishie. Give me a hand getting this thing on?"

Dar grinned knowingly. "Sure," she answered in an offhand tone. They entered the same space and closed the door, as Dar draped the two wetsuits over the partition wall. "We don't use these much."

"Nope." Kerry removed her shorts and T-shirt, leaning forward and giving Dar a kiss on the navel as she did the same. "Too hot most of the time." She removed her still dampish swimsuit and slid it on, grimacing at its clammy touch. "Someone's going to invent instant suit dryers some day. Brr."