”I turn again toward the land. Kitik’s scent is strong now, I know he is very near. I follow his scent, but soon I sense something before me, some...barrier that will not let me go further. It is like a big weed and yet it is also like rock, very hard; it has small holes that let the water flow through, but much too small for me or for Kitik. I come to this barrier and I stop; Kitik’s scent is very strong now, but he is on the other side of this strange rock-weed.I call out to him. Very quickly. I was her Prozac on a stick. Maybe nothing more than that.Our relationship was, unfortunately, starting to mean a lot more than that, to me. If I could relieve some of Tess' tension, calm her nerves; if I could help to prepare her for battle, well, that was fine by me. I hoped I meant more to her than that, but, hey, was I complaining?Fuck, no! Is your job this good? Oh, but you say you've got a nice 401(k)? Well, lah-dee-dah! Just keep it, Henry! The only retirement plan I'm concerned about,. I've experimented a fewtimes, but it never really led anywhere. Every girl has spent timerubbing herself while in the shower, but I'm not sure I had one of thoseorgasm things. I've heard stories about them. Even watched a fewvideos of people having sex online, but I always thought the girl wasjust pretending to be very excited. They always seemed overacted."What do you mean, Cliff?" I probe not wanting to answer. It's liketelling someone you're a virgin. You don't really go around. Hideko uses the laptop in her pack to arrange the payment, making everyone very happy.I smile, “Now I’ve another matter I wish to raise. I wish to hire some swordsmith trained people to travel to the USA to make some new types of swords for me. Not new in style or shape, but using new materials, modern materials, and not the Tamahagane steel used here. I think a newly appointed master or very senior apprentice with a couple of other apprentices will be suitable for my purposes.”Kuniharu is very.