It's down to us to slow things down, give the Navy time." I see," I said. "So, we have to sow these things is hostile space just to give the Navy fat ...arses time to build the fleet." That's right," he said with a big smile."So, how many of these torpedoes have you got?" I asked."Nearly 5000," he said. "I'm fully loaded with them." Fucking 'ell," I whistled. "So, you sow them and I'm to ride shotgun." That's about the size of it," he said. "We start off here."He pointed on his star chart."And. With its many buildings and spired roofs enclosed within stout walls, it ranked as a village in its own right. Cowled figures, unheeding of mere passers by, tended herds and prepared fields for planting.The sun was high in the sky when at last they left the road, pushing aside a screen of brush to follow a faint animal trail. There were few farms on this side of Pordigran, most such lying to the south and west of The Most Holy City along the river. Slypher had spent much of the morning studying. But she wasn’t with him mentally. She didn’t tell him her fears anymore, she wouldn’t tell him her problems, or when she wanted to do something dangerous. She wouldn’t tell him her worries. She would talk with him but not about anything really important or about her. She still laughed with him, but her laugh was different, it didn’t have the same life, the same spark. She didn’t want to tell him her struggles anymore. She didn’t want him to worry about her, didn’t want him to know just how far. I looked around and realized the strip mall was just off a main street which ran through town, which I would be able to follow until I was closer to my own neighborhood. Barefoot and nearly naked, with the filthy taste of the clerk’s shit-covered cock still in my mouth, I set out. I only had two real concerns – getting home safely, and not having anyone I knew see me in this condition.It was nearly four miles, I discovered later, when I finally got home and checked mapquest out of curiosity,.