”“Farewell, Cure David.”Half an hour (by my reckoning) later I was in Ashlann’s office with Vilgra being briefed on a high profile diplomatic ...ission.“Total discretion as usual, Dave,” Ashlann requested.“No problem, as ever,” I replied with a nod.“Patient is the daughter of the Bladesman of the Hurrogen Regnat ... basically their Emperor, though the position is not hereditary,” Ashlann explained.“OK, but why the secrecy?”“She has a degenerative recombinant DNA sequencing breakdown. However the. His Huskies had performed brilliantly, as always, and he needed to rest them up before their final stint home. After approaching the owner of the cabin, Luther, he asked for sanctuary for the evening. Luther unhesitatingly and graciously agreed before Tobias was introduced to Luther’s family. Luther had four sons and a wife. The three older sons were big strapping lads like their dad, but the youngest boy was small, timid, and pretty like his mother. Benjamin, the youngest boy, had the most. Ken was lifted up and over with ease—as if he was no heavier than a child."Welcome aboard John's Little Hobby," the cognate said.Ken could now make out enough details of his face to see that he looked young, which meant he had not propagated. "Are you John?" he asked."I am not," he replied. "I'm Steve. Gant is the last name I'm using these days. My mate up there in the bridge house is Gary Longwell. We're both cognate police out of Hobart. We are, in fact, the whole bloody Tasmanian Cognate. Ahh, good, yeh... Felicia. My memory’s still okay. Slip over there and show that picture to her? Make sure nobody sees you, especially that guy whose picture it is. See if he’s been staying there, or if she’s seen him? Right ... not a word. Caution her to say nothing, to anybody. And Heather, if you happen to see him yourself? Turn around, slip away, and call me immediately!“No, we haven’t heard anything from Andy, not since he said they were shipping him to Japan. I just know the damned Army’s.