Chapter 4Ismoked the cigar in silence. I had lost all interest in the game. Isipped the whiskey in my glass.
Waiting.That’s the most damnable part of this profession. I have scars –or I did before the nanobytes took care of them. Jagged red marksacross the chest and back and one long ugly bruise running fromthighto ankle. The medical nanobytes performed microscopic operationsandmade me young again. Those wounds heal, but the more personalwoundsdo not. When you lose a friend on the battlefield, the nanobytescan’t help. You chalk it up to life, or death, for this is theprofession you have chosen and losing friends is one of the risks.One of the defensive machinations is simply to become a loner andrefuse to establish friends. It’s understandable, but I could neverdo it.
Thatis the toughest
