...........................................................................................It was a beautiful spring morning . The c***dren had risen ...t six as usual and the four elder girls had gone to school into the capable hand of the lovely Miss Finkelstien.George had finished his morning swim in the cold pool and felt invigorated. Miss Maria was in the Kindergarten room teaching the three younger girls simple arithmetic and breakfast was all cleared away.Georg heard the large Mercedes. They all turned to me. As they started to ask who the hell I was, the young lady officer answered them."This is Mrs. Richards." Oh! Thank you Carrie." The second man approached me. "Ma'am, I am Toby Curtis. I am the negotiator for the local PD. Can I talk to you for a second?"The first man stopped him "We need to know how many weapons he has. Could be a damn militia man in there and--" We don't own a gun!" I interrupted. "I don't know where he got the one you say he has." Must have just gotten. "AI, I acknowledge SOPA."The AI was as emotionless as usual, fortunately for all concerned. "Aye aye, Admiral Payne. You are SOPA."One of the concubines glanced at Lieutenant Hotchkiss. "What's 'soap-ah'?"Hotchkiss didn't take his eyes off his boss. "'Senior Officer Present, Afloat'. He just took over all four ships out here."Across all four ships' bridges, the voice of Lieutenant Payne cut across the confusion. "As SOPA, I'm orderin' the following: Caldecot Castle, swing between us an' them,. He obliged and left me tomy business. Back at the reception desk, I was scheduled for anotherappointment to coincide with my August trip. I will make certain that Inever miss the three-month appointments.I didn't really catch much on the drive out of L.A., but once on thehighway, I remembered where I was. The drive was long and eventuallyfell asleep at least for a few minutes because I was startled awakewhen the limo pulled into the driveway.Same as last time, Karin was waiting at the door with.