The next day Shenra was at Samuel's office long before anyone else. Even the clerk had not come in yet.
"Do you want something?" Samuel asked.
"Can we speak?" she pleaded, "in private?"
Samuel motioned towards his office. As soon as they were inside the young woman began to fumble with the buttons of her blouse. "I will do ANYTHING" she commented "to stay with my sisters. They are my family. They protected me when others tried to take advantage. My mother was the only other family I ever knew. I don't want to be taken away from them. I am a good soldier. I have performed all my duties well. What difference does a few minutes make? Please, sir, whatever you ask, just let me stay!"
Samuel motioned for her to sit. "Young lady," he began "you know your actions hurt me more and more all the time. First you hide your age from me. Now you think I am a man of such low character that I would take advantage of your situation to get you to perform my sexual pleasures. I really, REALLY am disappointed!"
"I know you're an honorable man," the young woman pleaded. "I know you wouldn't take advantage of me and not fulfill your bargain. I would not have offered if I thought otherwise. But I have nothing else to bargain with, nothing to offer. Even if I did I don't think money or jewels would mean anything to you. They say you are one of the richest men in this country, and grow richer every day. I am just desperate. I love my sisters, I love this way of life. I love helping these people. It makes me feel like I'm worth something, that what I do matters. Please understand?"
Samuel nodded. "You are removed from patrol duty," he answered, "from now on you are to be the permanent clerk here at the post in charge of the other clerks. Your pay will be reduced because you will not be doing patrols. You will attend the night classes at the school until such time as the teachers feel you have reached a high school level. After your eighteenth birthday you will be permitted, if you wish, to return to full service and be restored to full pay. Do you accept those conditions?"
"Oh, yes sir!" the girl cried.
"Go!" Samuel ordered. The girl rose, and hesitated a moment. "Yes?" Samuel asked.
"Weren't you...weren't you just a little BIT tempted?" she asked.
Samuel smiled. "I was a WHOLE LOT tempted!" he answered. "Get out of here! Wait for the clerk. Let him start showing you your duties."
"Thank you!" Shenra concluded.
"Oh!" Samuel put in "headquarters has to approve all this, but I think they'll go along with my decision. I'm sure they will! Get busy!"
The months began to pass swiftly. Samuel's displeasure bothered the women for some time, but they slowly won back his confidence. Everything seemed so perfect Samuel worried. One of his people's greatest sayings was "Beware perfection. It can't last."
One night Samuel awoke to somebody touching his shoulder. "Commander!" the night clerk was whispering.
"Yes?" Samuel moaned.
"You're needed immediately, sir," the clerk continued. "There's been a massacre, sir."
Samuel sat bolt upright. "Not in here!" he whispered. "Wait in the livingroom.""
He quickly got dressed and came out but Sharon rose, donned her robe, and followed him. And by the time he reached the livingroom everybody else was there.
Warlock Gandhi, who had barely gotten to bed, was buttoning her blouse. "Everybody else back to bed," Samuel ordered, "except the Warlock and I. You don't need to be here."
"Forget it!" Sharon snapped "We're here! Proceed, clerk!"
The clerk looked to Samuel for confirmation and he nodded.
"There's been a massacre, sir. We're not sure how many yet, but it could be considerable!"
"Who was massacred by who?" Samuel asked.
"Some of Kosh's people," the clerk explained, "by some of Solassie's."
"Call out the troops!" Samuel ordered, "Warlock, go back to bed. It will be three or four hours before we can roll. You can sleep here for a while and in a truck. I want you rested when we get there."
"Yes sir!" the Warlock answered.
Crysanthamum took Samuel's arm, holding her baby to her breast with the other. "Don't go!" she pleaded, "Please! Send someone else! Don't go!"
"What's the matter?" Suzie asked.
"You don't know what he's got to do," Crysanthamum answered. "You don't know how terrible his people's law is in things like this. They'll put the men that did it to death, and they'll send their wives and children to the doctors and have them made so they can't have children."
Suzie stared at Samuel, but said nothing. It took them a little longer than Samuel had thought to get everything rolling. It would be nearly nidday when they reached the scene of the massacre. Warlock west had things there in control, but Samuel wanted to get there before something happened to change that. He picked up more troops as he went. He finally pulled up to the gates of the massacred village and slowly climbed from his car.

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