There was enthusiasm in her steps. An offer for areal soda and some home made cookies enticed her lifehistory with such fervor that I found myself at ... lossfor words. She needed a refuge to rebuild her self-esteem, and she needed discipline to cope with the manypersonal defeats that had previously all but destroyedher. Not about to enter into forbidden territory, I coaxedher parent’s phone number from her, and while she tookher first shower in days, I gave them a call. It wasbrief, and. Me: Spoilsport…Okay, what time do you want to meet? I walked to the reception area and signed out. There were a few other staff members there and we said our goodbyes and wished each other a good weekend but I was a little too distracted by texting Stacy to pay them much attention so I walked out into the car park. Being in a warm building all day I’d forgotten how cold it was and quickly buttoned up my jacket. I climbed into my car, putting my phone in the centre console and starting the. In addition to the sounds of strange birds or critters in the distance, he thought the rush of water was audible as well. This gave him new energy, and focusing on the sound he ventured on. Then he stopped. Ahead of him, there was a noise. It was coming toward him, he drew his knife and soon stood face to face with an orc. He had known somewhat civilized orcs in the city, and heard of many other tribes spread all around the empire and beyond. The orc was as tall as he was, but bulkier and. I was dead set against that, but I was now the de facto ruler of Earth and Mars, and I had a tremendous amount of influence with our friends on Venus.So far, my rule of Earth had been limited to halting a few wars that had broken out, and I had been able to dump four oppressive dictatorships. In the 22 years since we had come to Mars, I had been able to establish a single currency, the International Dollar, and Basic English had become the official language. The francophones were still pissed.