‘I think it’s working,’ Megan thought. She moved her hand into Matt’s lap. She was right- it did work. Grey looked into Megan’s eyes, the only light in the room coming from the television.

‘What the hell did I eat?’ Matthew thought. He leaned into Megan and kissed her, giving into the rush of hormones brought on by his meal. Their hands explored each other as Megan pushed Grey horizontal on the aging, light-brown couch.

---

A well-dressed Lupus escorted stone into the room with a submachine gun hanging from his shoulder. He was instructed into a plush red chair and was offered a drink by a shapely female servant. He accepted and slowly sipped at his Jerodian rum while he waited. After what seemed like a half hour, another female servant guided a young Lupus, not a day over thirty, wearing an expensive suit and dark sunglasses into the room. Wennall Hass sat in a similar chair across a glass table from Stone.

“So,” Hass began, “What can I do for the Coalition, mister--?”

“Clark,” Stone said, being careful to use his alias chosen from a piece of well-known literature for use with ‘in-loop’ contacts. “John Clark. And, what you can do is provide evidence that Chancellor Sal ordered the attacks on Yess’iv two weeks ago. At the least, you can point me in the right direction.” Stone folded his hands over his knee with one leg resting on the other. Hass looked in the direction of the voice and nodded slowly.

“You make it sound so easy,” he smiled, “but, before I can answer, I must ask a question.” He paused, assuming ‘Clark’ would nod approval. When his assistant gently tapped him on his right shoulder, he knew Clark’s physical reaction was positive. “Why did the CIA send you all the way just to see me? Couldn’t you just have called me? I still have the phone the last Mr. Clark gave me.”

“The thing about that,” Stone raised a finger and smirked, now knowing why Ellis had said what he did, “The last Mr. Clark said that I should be allowed to ‘read your eyes’.” Hass laughed, rocking back in his seat before composing himself and returning his blind focus on the direction of Stone’s voice.

“Well, if that’s what he wants,” Hass took off his glasses, exposing his white, dead eyes. He did his best to keep his head straight at Stone. “I do not have such evidence.” Hass let the statement sink in and replaced his glasses. “However, I do know who does.” Stone chose his next word carefully.

“Who?”

“Hadjit Enad.”

“Sal’s personal aide?”

“Yes.”

“You’re not serious, are you? He’s the only one who knows for sure?”

“Well,” Hass shrugged, “he’s as much proof as you will need to get anywhere with this little chase. Your leaders cannot ignore information obtained from Mister Enad. Anyone else’s information would be hearsay. It would be years before a decision was reached on whether or not to act upon it.” Stone sighed and ran his hand through his hair. He was going to be in that damned country for a little while longer. “I am not totally insensitive to your current situation. Return tomorrow at this time. We can discuss how I can help expedite your search.”

“Yes, thank you, Mister Hass,” Stone said resignedly.

“Please, Mister Clark, call me Wen. My father is Mister Hass.”

“Okay, Wen.” Hass’s assistant checked her watch and compared it to the one on the wall. She bent over to whisper into Hass’s ear. Stone noticed and appreciated the low-cut dress she wore. Hass nodded and turned to Stone.

“I must go. Previous arrangements require my attention.”

“Alright, Wen. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Shame I cannot return the favor, Mister Clark.” Hass smiled inwardly as he listened to Clark leave.

---

“Wow,” Megan said an hour later. She rested her head on Grey’s shoulder and lay on her left side. She used her right arm to slowly tease the fur on Matt’s bare chest as he sat propped up on pillows.

“Yeah, that pretty much sums it up,” Grey said with a slight smile. He put his arm around Megan and pulled her against him. He thought of getting a cigarette, but his lighter was in his pants’ pocket—in the next room. He settled to just sit with his arm around his partner.

“Hey, Matt?” Megan asked. Grey wanted to groan. It was the post-sex talk every man dreaded. Women asked just the right questions to make an answer that pleases her impossible to find, totally ruining the evening.

“Yeah?”

“I’ve got to make a confession.”

Uh-oh. “Yeah?”

“You remember dinner?” Grey gasped and put on a horrified expression.

“It was poisoned?”

“No, no,” Megan laughed. “It was Diana’s idea.” Grey returned to normal.

“How so?”

“Well, what you ate before is known to, well, get things moving along.”

“Ah. I see.” Grey wasn’t that dense, and had heard about Ursus foods that act as powerful aphrodisiacs. It made him feel quite a bit better that Megan had planned on the evening going the way it did.

“You don’t think I’m—easy, do you?” She turned her head up to see Grey’s reaction. Matt pushed his eyebrows together and smiled in confusion. He looked about the room before looking down to Megan.

“No, not at all. What made you say that?” He shifted himself under the blankets so he was more upright against the headboard.

“Well, I just broke up with Vincent about a week and a half ago, and already I’m in a serious relationship.” Grey sighed and squeezed his arm around Megan.

“Well, I broke up from a very good thing not long ago, too. I told you that, right?”

“I think so, but you didn’t say much.”

“Yeah, well, we’d been steady for about two months. I got sent off to Yess’iv, and I was cut back to only seeing her twice a month at best. We wrote and talked on the phone and all that good stuff, and I really thought that I had found, you know, ‘the one’ for me. All in all, we had been a ‘couple’ for about eight months.”

“What happened?”

“She got pregnant.” Megan stopped playing with the fur on Grey’s chest and pushed herself away, looking over her shoulder. Grey reached to put his hand on her shoulder to pull her back. “It isn’t mine.”

“How do you know?” Megan asked accusingly.

“It’s impossible that it’s mine. In order for there to be a chance, we would have to have taken certain steps in our relationship.” Megan eased visibly at that and returned her head to Matthew’s shoulder.

“Steps like we just took?”

“Something like that.”

“You mean you and her never--”

“Nope.”

“That’s devotion,” she muttered.

“You say it as if it’s a bad thing.”

“No, I’m just a little surprised. Not everyday you meet a guy who’ll go eight months without it. Most guys I know would just up and leave.”

“I guess I’m not most-guys-you-know.” Megan hummed a laugh and smiled.

“You can say that again.”

“Okay, I will. I guess I’m not most-guys-you-know.” She pushed playfully on the side of Grey’s head and laughed. Megan lifted herself up on one arm and looked into Matt’s eyes. After a long moment, they kissed. She put her hands around Grey’s head and pulled herself closer. Again? Grey thought, not that he was bothered by it.