Before him the women had arranged themselves on their knees, wearing only a single silk gown. He could almost see every inch of skin, and there was no...doubt about any place that the silk touched. It was almost like they were covered in smoke.Tom stayed close to the door. He moved a chair over to sit so that he could face the girls. He made sure that it was well out of reach of them. He knew from past experience that he would lose any argument if they managed to get their hands on him, before. ”He started. “Oh, I suppose it does. No, it’s just the ramblings of an old soldier. I think when this is done, I’m retiring. As Irileth so eloquently pointed out, sometimes you can see too much, have too much happen. I think a little shop, like my mother and father had, is in my future.”“I suspect you’ll be successful, since you’ll have the favor of the Empress.” I smiled at him, glad that at least all the Altmer weren’t alike.We were at the door to the manor, so that stopped our conversation.. Built at an enormous cost for equally enormous aims, the SR-71 was the undefeated man-made ruler of heavenly speed.But its time had come and gone at last. The government, forced by financial circumstance, decided to put their creations away to slumber in boneyards till they were needed again.And so it came to pass that twenty of these magnificent aircraft were brought to the dry, hard-packed lands of Tucson, Arizona. A small crew made sure that every bolt, screw and panel was accounted for, and. Pilots raced to man the fifty fighters, the twenty bombers, and the ten SAR craft. Once in their ships they powered up their engines and waited.American FleetCaptain Will Vandercamp watched the fleet of traitors approach. His destroyer was lying silent along with three others. Scattered in-between them and the station were five thousand heavy weapons platforms with heavy stealth systems."Ensign Hollander, give me a status report?" Will asked as he sat in his chair, a pencil twirling around his.