”“You ask me to play favorites, when that itself would damage my experiment.”“Better that than war.”“You said yourself that in Berlin, it ...id not come to war.” True outright war was terribly rare among Kindred. Elders ruled, and elders were far too paranoid to risk their second lives in a struggle that, to them, was ultimately a fleeting moment in a lifespan measured in centuries. The purge Antoinette had herself enacted was an exception, not the norm.Naturally, Elaine had been thinking of the. It was a paradox of sorts, I suppose. My behavior was a conundrum, or a puzzle, or maybe just plain dumb.Morning comes early when the fate of the universe is in the balance. As I rose, I felt a new kind of weariness throughout my body. The stress of nine lives and eight deaths was wearing me down. I craved rest like other men crave food, sex, or adrenaline. The universe decided when it was time to rest, and that day wasn't today.Universe???...Of course the universe.Uh-huh...Easy, right?I was. What had he been doing she wondered? He ambled over and gave her a kiss. After a trip to the bathroom, rolling up a joint, and preparing a Screwdriver, Derek collapsed next to his wife.Taking a deep gulp of his drink and a few tokes off the doobie, he passed it to Kristy and told her they needed to talk. Taking the joint, she studied his face trying to read his expressions. He looked calm if anything, but she knew her pokerfaced husband well enough by now. "About what?" she asked as she took a. “Division 1’s Company F will be at the Freight Yard. It will provide the primary Reaction Force for Blocking Post 4, and your people will back them up. For the Scavenger Teams, SCCs and remaining Blocking Posts, you will provide the primary reaction force and Company F will be your backup.“Before I go into a few details that may be helpful, do you have any questions?“Yes, Lieutenant Morrison?”“Has the Quick Reaction Force’s reaction time to the Blocking Posts been determined?”“We conducted a.