It is $30k.” Jim, with the deer in the headlights look said “I had no idea, but I’m sure there is something I can do.” “Good attitude you ha...ve Jim, don’t loose it” Vinnie replied. “How long do I have to raise the money?” Jim asked “Five days. That’s when the auction is.” Vinnie replied. Vinnie stood up and told Jim a package would arrive tomorrow with expletive instructions inside. Obey it to the letter ... or else. The next day was a Saturday and at 10 a.m. the doorbell rang. Jim opened it and. Also vitally important were the thermal signatures. Some buildings were slightly above background temperature inside. Some were slightly below. A few buildings were invisible to thermal imagery due to exact temperature matches. The sharp eyes of the robot spotted the subtle signs of foot and vehicle traffic along the roads, along the trails and sidewalks. Techniques developed from a long-forgotten War on Terror and from two centuries of clearing away old land mines and un-exploded bombs. I couldn’t live in denial anymore. I’d been tested, and I’d failed.“And you’d think I’d have been angry at my father, who put me in the situation, but I was far angrier at myself, at Kallian ... even at Aedan, for not rescuing me a day sooner. If he’d been just one day sooner, I wouldn’t have been tested. I could have slept at night, still believing I was a good man, that if it ever came down to it, I wouldn’t hurt someone who’d done nothing wrong. I was furious! I wanted someone to blame me,. Then I sit on his bed, bouncing happily, as he closes the door and gets settled. Dude, I whine, looking up at him through the blackened auburn color that has manifested in my over-dyed hair, and wiggle my chest in a childish yet sexy manner. He grins and pulls off his shirt, flinging it onto his laundry hamper and stepping out of his jeans. Just teasing, man, he responds, pulling my legs apart and climbing into the bed, pulling my left thigh to his hip. He kisses me slowly, flicking his tongue.