"Of course not." She was working on the third wall, skillfully drawing the symbols with what smelled like a permanent marker, sharp and pungent, burni...g my nose."So what are you?" I asked Nate-Ziki. "You say you aren't Nate Kirkpatrick." He's dead," he answered. "I killed him." And took his form?"He nodded. "It was useful to get our people into the government." He gave a small laugh, his fat belly jiggling beneath his sweater. "All wasted thanks to Mark." He practically spat out Master's name,. A 'bong' sounded, advising the entire bridge that the order had been received and understood.Slowly at first, but with increasing speed, Ajax pulled back from the burning, lifeless Vesta. Sergeant Knauft focused a visual pickup on where Intelligence estimated the enemy battleship's bridge was - behind the windows, a mass of flames danced. One of those windows suddenly cracked, and everything not firmly welded into place swept from the scene of the conflagration to form an ever-expanding jet of. You will be single forever if you carry on like that.’I put down my fork and wiped my mouth with a serviette. Peeved, I asked, ‘What is that supposed to mean?’Cassandra twirled her creamy tagliatelle around her fork and shrugged. ‘You’ve always gone for the gangster types. I blame it on us watching Scar Face all these years ago.’ She laughed out loud, so loud in fact that a couple of the other patrons turned around to see what the fuss was about. Cassandra has a foghorn laugh, if you didn’t. “Maybe I just want to prove you wrong. Maybe I want to teach you a lesson.” The arrogant little prick, she thought. We'll see who's getting a lesson tonight.Still, this was a different side of Tim. She'd never seen him like this. Dominant, self-assured...somehow it was more appealing than his usual polite, low-key demeanor. Or maybe she was just pissed at Rob and feeling reckless."And if I were to give you a chance, what are you going to do that's so special?" She was weary—of Tim, of Rob, of.