“You heard me!” he said, sharply, a laugh in his voice. “Drop ‘em!” I looked at him for a moment, then unbuckled my belt and dropped my pant.... Arthur grinned, leaned forward, and grabbed my calves, squeezing lightly, then repeated with my thighs. “Arthur,” I said, “are you gay?” “No,” he laughed, “we just won.” ++++++ The next day in court, the prosecution rested. Since the little bitch and her friend had testified against me, Arthur had the right to call either of them to the stand. He called. The den was all dark wood panelling and deepleather chairs. Over a gun rack on one wall hung framed photos of RonaldReagan and John Wayne."So," said Lafayette Buffington III, playing the flame of the lighterover the end of his cigar and puffing it into life, "you want to marry mydaughter." Yes sir, I do. We love each other and I believe I could make her veryhappy." Son, if I didn't believe that too you wouldn't be here," he replied."But my li'l girl is the apple of my eye and I needed to take. If it weren't for her, you'd have left town a long time ago. Even if you stayed long enough to graduate, you would have taken your chances leaving town even if the only thing you took were the clothes on your back. Kathy might have believed you were starting to forgive her when you accepted her job offer, in effect keeping you “close at home”, but she was just a means to an end. A part of you hated yourself for hating and distrusting her as much as your did, but she either ignored or. ”“Guess I’m the lucky one,” I shrugged.“I’ll be the first to admit the Empire is not perfect,” Amantil admitted. “But there are a few Realms out there that are really unpleasant for the people living in them if they get out of line with what their rulers want.”The following day I was in Medical Resource talking with Ashlann and Jerrin over a potentially delicate problem that had dropped in their laps.“We have to send all our records on you over to the Imperial Health Bureaucracy,” Ashlann.