Our situations have collapsed into a narrow set of choices. However, we cannot solve our own problems until we solve this relationship with the Imperi...m."Someone snorted. "The Imperium and their military lackeys don't want a 'relationship' the families. They want us gone. They awaken each morning regretting they ever released us from the hole." Why?" someone on the other side called out. "Why do they hate us?" We threatened their status quo," the man who snorted replied. "We swat away their. Will you still respect me if none of them pass out?”She snickered about that. “I can think of ways you could knock Allison out, if she doesn’t collapse the first time she sees you.”“Things have changed though,” I said. “I’m not just your boyfriend anymore. We’re engaged now. If she seriously tries to get into my pants, then I may knock her out in a less fun way.”Lunch arrived shortly after that and we fell on it, hungered by our mornings of activity. I finally got dressed, and we spent a little. Earl hadn't been thrilled, but they had needed a fourth man and by that time, they had needed him fast.The rain was starting to let up, so Earl decided he could exceed the speed limit by fifteen or twenty miles-an-hour. He had been keepin' it down to eight or ten over.Not only was Earl now thinking about his thirst, but Earl realized he was going to have to pee at some point. The good news was Earl didn't have that much farther to drive and he hadn't seen one cop.But one cop would, most likely,. -------------------------------------------------------------------------That evening after Joe had been fed a small steak and happily drifted offto sleep sucking his fingers for the left over flavor, Sally bit thebullet and called her sister. Taking the cordless landline phone outsideto the first few trees of the forest that marked the edge of its signalrange, Sally nervously dialed Barbara's number. She winced a little whenher sister actually picked up, and it didn't help that Barbara was in.