Short romance(?) story.  Experiments in Slip-Gate travel technologies has resulted in the creation of a "portal" system used to traverse any distance in an instance.  An accident during the final testing phases resulted in the shutdown of the technology.  And just as suddenly as the experiments were shut down -- years later our hero, John, finds himself in the employ of the "non-profit" Jardine Foundation, commanding their security forces with the help of the now-perfected Slip-Gate technology to conduct an assortment of Humane efforts around the galaxy. Months have passed as the monotony of the missions grew tiring, until...