She gasped and her body trembled uncontrollably.After what felt like eternity Grandma finally opened her eyes to look into my eyes and smiled. 'This i... simply my best birthday ever, Grandma. You fulfill my fantasy beyond any imagination. I love you more than anything in this world.' 'Me too, honey. Raising you is far more rewarding than I can ever imagine.' Totally exhausted, we fell asleep soundly in each others arms. Grandma concentrated entirely on her steady recovery. She went to physio. "Youcan squat there and cry with your damned cousin till I'm ready foryou. And you're gonna try callin' Rhonda again."Cori hugged her body with both thin arms, afraid to make one sound asshe listened to her cousin sobbing quietly in the far corner. Corifelt as if she'd just uncovered some dreadful family secret.Guilt-ridden, she waited until Cindy's sobs had abated, then slid overthe splintery cold floor to the near-hysterical teenager."I ... I'm so sorry, Cindy. I don't know what came over. Three of the accompanying figures were large men, obviously benefiting from the standard marine physical enhancements. The only surprise was the final member. It was a tall and slender woman with an athletic build more resembling a volleyball player, than a marine. She frowned slightly as the leader came to the door and pounded on it."The mice have a barrier," we heard the leader say nastily, through some speaker set up behind the viewscreen. "Greg, Hector, get up here, and find the gap, let's. I can’t see Anna’s face from my position, but she is making a strange humming sound, so I guess it smarts pretty well.After about a minute I reduce the speed a bit to maybe one hit every five seconds for the next minute (this is hard work!). But when I look at her foot, I can barely see anything -- no welts, no stripes, it’s barely even red. Maybe I’m not hitting hard enough? So I increase the strength with which I hit her. Anna’s humming becomes louder, and she has trouble standing still..