Jamie, Indeed, the ANALOG author and I are the same person. Always glad to hear that someone appreciates my work. Thanks! And, yes, I love ferrets. I have five, and just did my first rescue for the Oregon Ferret Shelter (a lil' dark-nosed boy of about 3 months that we're calling Willie Grover for a variety of reasons). One day, I suspect, ferrets will appear in one of my stories... Thanks again, Wolf & Kasumi, Jaxom, Nabiki, Piemur and Ripley [Posted in FML issue 3107]