killed three men in hand-to-hand combat,
equipped only with an entrenching tool, when they came at you with
bayonets. The trace of spittle, running down from the side of his
mouth."

"And this buff of yours. Why did he give you this perfectly marvelous
car?"

"It was a she, not a he," Joe said.

Nadine's voice changed infinitesimally. "You mean you accepted a gift
of this value from a ... woman?"

Joe looked at her and grinned sourly. "I wasn't in much of a position
to refuse. The gift was in her will. She was well into her nineties
when she died. She was an Upper-Upper, by the way, and the most
knowledgeable fracas buff I ever met. She knew the intimate details of
every fracas since Tiglath-Pileser and his Assyrians captured Babylon.
She could argue for an hour on whether Parmenion or Alexander the
Great should have been given the credit for the victory over the
Persians at Issus." Joe grunted. "I suppose there should be a moral
somewhere about this kindly old lady who was the outstanding fracas
buff of them all."

* * * * *

Nadine Haer was in the process of hitting the drop lever with her left
hand as they slowed and headed for the entrance to a parking area. She
said brittlely, "The moral is that you can have slobs at any level in
society. Being an Upper doesn't guarantee anything."

Joe sighed, "Here we go again." He looked about him, scowling. "Which
brings to mind. Where _are_ we going? These are governmental
buildings, aren't they?"

They were sinking quickly, below street level, now in the power of the
auto-parker. Nadine turned off the engine and released the controls.
She said, cryptogrammicly, "We are going to see about doing something
with your abilities other than shooting at people, or being shot at."

When the car was parked, she led the way to an elevator.

Joe said wryly, "Oh, great. I love mysteries. When do we find out who
killed the victim?"

Nadine looked at him from the side of her eyes. "I killed the victim,"
she said. "Major Mauser, mercenary by trade, is now no more."

There was bitterness in him and he found no ability to respond to what
was meant as humor in her words. He followed her silently and his
puzzlement grew with him. The office building through which they moved
was as well done as any he could ever remember having observed, even
on the Telly. Surely they couldn't be in the Octagon or the New White
House. But, if so, why?

Nadine said