"I looked around carefully before looking at him, "what do you want?"He grinned, "your skills."I grinned, "you want me to steal something?"He snorted,..."we want you to go to Carthy to ply your trade. While there we want you to pass certain ... information back to us."I snorted, Carthy was a rogue world full of pirates and thieves, "why?"He smiled, "because you are very good and will not get caught. Think of all the credits you could steal from the pirates."There was that, I turned as I thought. “Okay.”“Why do you ask?”“No reason.”“There must have been some reason.”“There really wasn’t.”“Sarah …”“I was just curious. But it’s fine. I’m going to head to bed.” I get up, put my shirt back on, and head into the kitchen to wash the dishes before bed.“Yeah, fine.” Carl gets up and heads straight for the bedroom. I hear him brush his teeth while I clean up and then I hear him go into the bedroom.I get out my phone and pull up Maria’s number. I want to call, but I don’t know what to say. I want. . engaged?’ She smiled down at me, and then wiggled her middle-finger in my face. There was a ring on it with a diamond as big as one of my testicles. ‘Bling-bling, bitch.’ I wanted to cry. I wanted to pass out. I wanted to jump into the ocean and get eaten by a whale. Dr. Dick marched over on his two impossibly strong legs, his big cock now wagging at half-mast between his legs. ‘I look forward to getting to know you . . . son,’ he said licking his lips as he analyzed my soft body. ‘And I will. DeSellum was particularly unhappy because passing Rebels had pretty well cleaned him out of food and fodder before someone on the General's staff decided that his home would be a good place to locate the invading army's headquarters for the night.The few dark hours of that July evening were hot and still, except for insects large and small, and sleep came hard even for bone-tired men. Jubal Early was up before dawn, riding forward to see that the camps were stirring, his men breakfasting on.