"Nurm, come forth. I cry truce for speech before battle."Nurm turned to Jewel. "You know what to do if this is a trick. Norgan, Mak, follow me. We'll ...listen to what he has to say."The three of them went to meet Riggan, stopping some ten paces away."What do you have to say to us?" Nurm's voice, calm and dignified, bridged the gap with no apparent effort."There is no reason for us to fight. Nurm, I know how you feel about useless killing, and a battle here will see many die. It may be that none. I glanced at the clock and was only slightly surprised to find I had slept until nearly 9:00 a.m. “Let me use the bathroom and brush my teeth, and I will be right down. Why don’t you set things out on the patio table?” * Breakfast consisted of yogurt, toast, and orange juice the girls had found in the kitchen. We sat and talked, and I learned more about Susan, and the girls’ plans for the summer. Susan was leaving after the holiday to return to her home, and Clarice was going to take a part. If they can resist his advances, he moves on, in his mind praising them for being pillars of high virtue. If they are weak of flesh, he gives them what they want--himself-- but then he decides they're sluts. Sadly, they may not have been sluts at all, but just innocent souls too weak to resist him. But in his mind, their weakness makes them sluts. And Lex Williams kills sluts. That's his job.When Lex spots his woman, he goes out of his way to get to her. He may take on a temporary delivery job,. I know you're so busy with your work but hopefully, you'll be able to make time for your favourite daughter.”I laughed, “Only daughter, but definitely my favourite,” I smiled.“Oh look, this looks like the turning off the highway,” I indicated and turned the car off the road and up what seemed to be a private road. The SatNav indicated we still had six kilometres to go. The road wound through the countryside leading us towards the foothills of the mountain range that is the central spine of New.