I had cash to pay my way, so no credit card receipts would betray the whereabouts of either Colin Stewart or Nathan Poirier. The five days on the road... gave me plenty of time to think about my future. What did I want to do besides exact revenge on Taggart and the bastards he worked for? I was never going to get my wife back. My parents might finally accept me some day, but only if I could explain what I had been doing. That was a no-no in any event, so I would just have to find a believable. "Good morning,Rosemary. Today you will no doubt be very pleased to know that yourtraining is over and you will be going home. Your family thought that youcame back from a year at a very expensive finishing school to learn how tobe a proper lady, and in a way they were absolutely right. You will ofcourse do and say nothing that could betray who you really are, or youwill be thought insane and sent away to a private lunatic asylum, one thatI am the Director of. You really do not want that to. “There was a Terran Federation cruiser, several frigates, and a number of destroyers based here as a garrison force, along with the CAP fighters launched from Port Medea. They would have been an even match with the Kintark fleet, if it weren’t for that heavy carrier, and the sheer number of fighters and bombers it’s launched into the fray,” she explained hurriedly.“What have we got left?” John asked grimly, looking up at the tactical map.“The Cruiser Hermes is seriously damaged and attempting. Only he got me to watch football on TV while I prepared snacks and drinks for the guys. On occasion, I led hubby, post-game, once the gang left, to bed and joked about his donning a 49’er football helmet.With his inebriated suggestion, I nodded implied acquiescence. I was ready to see what I was missing, for me, not for him. While he may not be jealous, I still was, even in my fantasies.After his New Year’s innuendo, he failed to bring the subject back up, embarrassed of his drinking.