Jose sticks the bat out, hitting a slow roller too first. Quickly out of the batters box he hightails it too first. The first baseman fields the ball ...nd lunges to tag Jose as he runs by. The umpire calls, Safe! Jeff now is the tying run at third, still no outs. Even though the catcher catches the first pitch to Michael, Jose starts for second. Not daring to throw to second, the catcher fires back to the pitcher. The pitcher fakes to second and fires to third. Jeff dives back into third. The. They hadn't stopped them, at least not yet, for that might take over a hundred more Archerfish along with hundreds of thousands more Marines, many more carriers, more cruisers, more destroyers and more corvettes. It might also take weapons and warships as yet undesigned. But they were having an impact.One impact was the forcing of Sa'arm worlds to spend more of their scarce resources providing themselves with enhanced protection. Reports were coming back both from PC's and from regular fleets. "Calm down, bud," Joey whispered to his restless dog. The dog just growled. "Sorry. He's usually nice around others." He swallowed and changed the subject. "So you're my dad's brother." Jonathan nodded. Joey turned to Ada. "Did you know him too?" I was the reason for the fight," she said with a grin. "If that makes you angry with me, I'm more than willing to do what it takes to make amends."Another flirt. Joey sighed silently. He certainly didn't want to deal with another woman throwing herself. That's what all my friends call me." Oh, okay, Mr. Carter-- I mean, Rick," Abby giggled.They sat at the table and ate breakfast, and Liz informed Rick that Abby would be staying with them for a few days, since she was having trouble at home, and she wasn't getting along with her mother. Rick tried to act uninterested and simply responded by saying it would be okay, as long as it was okay with Hannah and Liz.When Abby smiled at Rick's quick response, he smiled back and said: "I'm sure we'll.