Ah! I have found her! I edge the door open slowly and I can see her peering intentlyat the screen, wondering why she hasn't got a message to say, I'm ...there, butshe is just about to find out why. Taking out the black silk scarf I have inmy pocket, I walk up behind her and; just before I slip it over her head, shecatches a glimpse of my smiling face, reflected on the computer screen. Canit be? Is it? Then everything goes black! Strangely enough, she doesn't feel the need to cry out,or even be. ‘Fine. I’ll do it. What’s in it for me?’ ‘First of all, you will return your stolen Mako. Second of all, you will receive a full pardon from the Martian government and you will be processed without any necessary appearances by yourself as having a discharge under other than honorable conditions. Third, we will drop our portion of your bounty, lowering it by 5 million. Furthermore, if you accept we will pull our ships back except for one and we will not incur further trespassing on Thomas. I didnt expect you to offer me a rematch. I was just pointing out that in your country, in the woods where Ive rarely been, in fact Ive only been with Thrawns forces for a few weeks, you had the clear advantage. In the south, with no woods to hide in, youd have fallen to me. I laughed loudly. Laddie, when you tripped and fell, it took one punch, and you were done. Itd be the same, anywhere. Youve courage, Ill give you that, though, to talk so tough in the face of the enemy. With that, I yanked. "Look how hard you are." She rolled off of me and rolled me over in one motion. "On your knees," she commanded. Again, I complied without hesitation. She climbed from the bed and retrieved her overnight bag. She removed what looked like a ping pong paddle from her bag. Again she spoke, this time in a sharp voice I had never heard from her. "You will not lie to me. EVER!" Each word was punctuated with a sharp blow to my buttocks, with an extra hard smack on the last word. Her voice returned to.