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relationship seemed to be at
a standstill. Though his gentle goodnight kisses thrilled her, he made no attempt
to be more intimate.
    Okay Major David Archer, this gentleman
suitor nonsense is beyond boring! En garde!

Chapter
7
     
     
    On the night of the Beverly Hills reception, Claire’s
all-sounds doorbell announced David’s presence with the “aaooogah” sound of a
1920’s car horn. He wore his Air Force mess dress uniform, resplendent with the
gold leaves of a major, medals, and senior pilot wings. She was in a strapless
gown of silk as lustrous as a white pearl, complemented by a matching pearl choker.
They smiled broadly when they saw each other and simultaneously exclaimed,
“Wow!”
    She recovered her composure first. “Thank you,
Buni. You’re very handsome.”
    “Your perfume is fantastic,” he said as he draped
her wrap over her shoulders.
    “Thank you. It’s a gift from Joanne.”
    They walked to the waiting limousine, and the
chauffeur held the door open for them to join Joanne and Michael.
    ▼
    Claire was pleased to meet many famous
Hollywood celebrities at the reception. Bob Drake, CEO of Phaeton Studios, and
other men with less authentic credentials, invited her to take a screen test.
She politely demurred.
    After dinner, Michael went to the center of the
stage and spoke in the microphone. “On behalf of the Wildlife Fund, welcome.
    “A few weeks ago, you watched a beautiful young
woman climb down a wall of the Grand Canyon and rescue a cougar cub. Her wits
and her courage were the only equipment she had and the only equipment she
needed. Tonight you have discovered she is as charming as she is brave.
    “Ladies and gentlemen, it is my honor to
introduce Ms. Claire Sommer.”
    The capacity audience applauded enthusiastically.
Each of the giant screens overhead and beside the stage showed an enlarged
image of Claire walking to center stage.
    When she reached the microphone, she smiled at
Michael and said, “Oh, wow! So that’s how you got your Academy Awards.”
    Michael and the audience laughed.
    “I love animals,” Claire said. “When I was a
kid, I liked to pretend I was a cat. Mom didn’t much like all the meowing and
purring and yowling at all hours of the day and night. . . . But what she
really hated was stepping barefoot on my wet hairballs.”
    The audience laughed.
    “Everyone here tonight is making an extra
effort to try to help preserve wildlife. On behalf of those who cannot speak
for themselves, I thank you.
    “You know that the creatures sharing this planet
with us are in grave danger. Our burgeoning population is consuming and
obliterating resources that wildlife needs to survive, and species are being
exterminated at a breathtaking rate.
    “We will miss the beauty and grace of tigers
and cheetahs in the wild, and we will miss other plants and animals that cease
to exist forever. Without what they give us, more people will die prematurely.”
    She paused as the audience murmured assent. Starting
with the most recent, the giant overhead screens began to scroll a list of
species with the word EXTINCT in red beside each one.
    “Our planet’s sustainable resources are already
inadequate to meet the needs of our soaring human population. Preventable
deaths—the unspeakable horrors of starvation, dehydration, preventable disease,
wars over diminishing resources, and genocide—increase relentlessly as we
multiply exponentially.
    “Yesterday, thousands of people, including
thousands of children, died from preventable and curable waterborne diseases.
Thousands more will die from the same things today, and thousands more will die
tomorrow and the day after that and on and on. There is simply not enough fresh
water in the world to meet the needs of our population, and there is no
solution in sight.
    “Desalination has been suggested, but where is
the money coming from for that? Where are the people who do not have the money
to buy a crust of bread or build sewers going to get