From the sound of the ball hitting the glove, he was throwing hard early but from the distance I couldn't tell whether he had any movement on the ball....Today coach had me hitting fourth. Like sure, I'm going to be the clean up guy. I've been lucky lately but not deadly. At least I made contact most of the time.Our first batter couldn't catch up with the fast ball and swung at a ball way out of the strike zone for his third strike. The second batter paid attention and when the pitcher took a lot. . Time: November 11, 8244 4:24 AM"Six months to go," I thought as I walked briskly through my palace compound. It was the dawn of a new day and the walk would take a while. My palace was vast, and my destination was on the far opposite side from my private quarters. But my body felt desperate for some exercise. My morning walk was one of my few indulgences."We still have six months," I thought to myself as I half-jogged along the kilometers of the vast corridors and courtyards, searching within. "I haven't seen your buddy Tompkins around at all this evening,Morton," grinned Tark. "But I'm not really surprised. I was fairlycertain he was a lot smarter than he looked. But then, no one couldreally be that dumb." As Tark cracked his knuckles, Mona cringed. "Whenyou see him, you can tell him I really missed him tonight." Sure thing, Tark," replied Charlie, wondering how someone as nice asMona Lewis had ever managed to get messed up with a musclebound dimwitlike Tark Winston.And even though. "Yes, I think that would about do it. I'll be watching you, of course, to make sure you do a good job..." She nodded her agreement eagerly. "And..." I pointed at her for emphasis, "...you'll be naked."A long silence. She stared at me, eyes wide behind her glasses. I waited for her to protest, to plead with me, but instead the expression in her eyes gradually changed to a look of consideration. She seemed to be looking at me, not as the guy behind the counter, but as a person---as a man.The.