With those thoughts in mind, Arlene wondered who could have said something to hurt Ann's feelings so horribly."You have things to do. You don't have t... stay here with me," Ann snuffled out, barely audibly."I have nothing to do that is nearly as important as what I'm doing right now. My best friend in the world is crying. I'll be here until you can talk about it, then we'll fix whatever is wrong."That set off the quiet flood of tears again. Arlene just held Ann tightly and waited.Melissa walked. ”“Long term plan of Cillort’s thwarted,” I nodded. “No wonder he committed genocide there if he’s building a shipyard.”“Yes, though initially we thought it a terror tactic, if isolated.”“Yes, way too isolated, though it did unnerve your bureaucrats.”“Yes, we aren’t used to fighting a defensive war within our own territories. We’ve never had a civil war before.”“Wonder why this has come about now? The Empire doesn’t expand rapidly so there are no internal strains,” I replied thoughtfully.“It’s. I saw her once more, not including on the film I made from my own video camera array.It was high summer of that next year when I got a call from the man on the third floor.“I think we have a team up here. Watch in the jewelry and cosmetics section. There’s a small brown woman in cargos and a crop top. I think she’s bagging for the teenager in the blue sweater and skirt. I’ve seen them bump into each other twice now.”I watched the pair for five minutes and saw that they were a team. The girl. Then we reversed our earlier course to end up behind Tasha’s home again ninety odd minutes later.“Come on to my place for breakfast, I have some coffee and muffins,” I offered.“Done,” she said. “Do you have strong coffee? I have heard your coffee is undrinkable.”“You can make your own coffee next time,” I suggested with a laugh.“Actually, I like strong coffee. I love Turkish coffee houses,” she demanded. “The muffins are also good. Where do we buy these.”“Slow down, I’ll show you all my.