And tough. He's nearly indestructible."SG had been watching his face carefully. Now she understood. She had been brought here to fight this thing, thi...... Koko. Or to be sacrificed to him, like some virgin in a pagan ceremony.Right, she thought. Some virgin."Why are you grimacing?" he asked."Nothing," she said. "So when do Koko and I meet?" In about a week. They want to do a lot tests on you. To make sure you're fit and at full strength." Why don't you fight Koko?" she asked."You know why," he. I picked upGrace's suitcase and walked out to let her know we could leave.Grace was on the phone with someone when I walked out and when she sawme she said a few words and then hung up."Hi baby," she said. "You look nice. Ready to go?" Yep!" I replied. "Got your bags. All set."As we walked toward the elevator, Grace looked down at my shoes and thenstopped. I looked over at her."Is something wrong?" I asked.Grace's eyes remained directed toward my feet. She seemed to hesitate. Then, she. .. I'm so sorry I gave you so much trouble."I was enjoying hearing Julia eat crow almost as much as being her datefor the dance. "You sure did give me a lot of trouble. The things I hadto do to get you to do this - at least you admit you were wrong. From nowon you need to trust your buddy Sandy not to lead you astray."Julia laughed and her eyes sparkled as she snuggled up beside me. BeforeI knew what I was doing, my arm was around her bare shoulders. As wecontinued to chat, our faces gradually. Sugar was totally unknown, here.They had an item, that while it substituted for sugar in many ways, I felt it was inferior to sugar itself. Still, they had pastries, here, and they were very good. I had opened a case of candy bars, and passed them out. They were an instant hit. I had a feeling that if I didn't monitor things, the candy would be gone more quickly than I wished.I stood on the roof of the palace, and looked at the castle on the far side of the valley. I was actually getting.