Breaking Point

movies.  In his world, men took care of business and soldiered on. That

was the way his father had taught him, and that was how he'd lived his

life.  Wailing and wringing your hands was not what a man did.  You

screwed up, then you took the heat, and you got on with your life,

period, end of story.  What was that old saying: You can't do the time,

don't do the crime?  That was pretty much it.

In theory, anyway.

Thursday Sperryville, Virginia

"Ow," Jay Gridley said.  He slapped at his bare arm, and when he pulled

his hand away, there was a splotch of liquid red surrounding the

crushed body of a mosquito.

At least he thought it was a mosquito--it was hard to tell.

"Murderer," Soji said.  She smiled.

"Self-defense," he said.

"If I'd known I was gonna be attacked by all these itty-bitty vampires,

I'd have thought twice about going for a walk in the woods with you. Or

maybe brought a bunch of matches I could carve into wooden stakes. This

would be so much more pleasant in

VR."

"My father used to say that God made two mistakes," she said.

"Mosquitoes and politicians.  Of course, he was an alderman, so he

could say that.  But he was wrong-both mosquitoes and politicians have

their places."

Jay shook his head.

"Sounds like more Buddhistic smoke and mirrors to me.  You got to go

some to justify mosquitoes."

"Really?  Tell that to the bats who eat them."

"They could eat something else.  Plenty of bugs that don't bite people.

They could double up on gnats or something."

"Come on.  Jay.  If you take away everything that causes you

discomfort, there's no way to measure your pleasure."

They were on a narrow dirt trail that wound through a section of mostly

hardwood forest.  There was enough shade so the day's heat didn't lay

too heavy a hand on them, and the air was rich in oxygen, the smells of

warm summer vegetation, and decades of damp humus.  The backpack was a

lot heavier than anything Jay was used' to carrying, but since Soji's

was every bit as heavy, he could hardly complain.  He had the tent, but

she had the cooking gear.

He shook his head.  He couldn't successfully argue philosophy or

religion with Sojan Rinpoche.  She could talk circles around him.

Though only in her twenties, she was much more educated in such things

than he was.  They had met after the on-line injury he'd got stalking

the creator of a quantum computer that had caused Net Force all kinds

of problems.  Since they had come together initially in VR--virtual

reality--via the internet, they had been in persona, and hers had been

that of an aged Tibetan monk.

She was a lot better looking as a young woman than.  she had been as an

old man.  And she had been instrumental in helping him recover from a

brain injury that theoretically wasn't even possible.

"See, that's the problem with you.  Jay.  You spend too much time

on-line.  You need to get out more."

"I could put mosquitoes in a scenario if I wanted."

"You could.  But have you ever?"

"Well, no."

"And without experiencing real bugs sucking your Mood and going splat

when you slap them, you wouldn't be able' to do it accurately.  And

even then, it would only be an imitation, and not the real thing."

"But isn't this all just an illusion?"  He waved one hand to encompass

the wooded hillside.

"Wrong religion, white boy.  Try the Hindus or the existentialists.

Buddhists aren't into denying reality.  We like to get down and roll

around in it."

"What about that old man persona of yours on the net?"

"A tool, that's all.  Got me past a lot of preconceptions, and made my

patients relax.  Besides, an illusion is by definition not real, so

altering it one way or the other doesn't make it any more or less real,

now does it?"

He chuckled.  Boy, he liked being with her.

"So how much farther is it to this secret place of yours?"

"Not far.  Couple more miles."

He gave out a theatrical groan.

"You didn't tell me I was going to have to hike halfway around the

planet (Carrying a house on my back.  This better be worth the

(walk."

"Oh, it will be.  Guaranteed satisfaction or your money back."

Well, that sounded promising.  He slapped at another mosquito, and was

inclined to agree with Soji's father on at least one point, despite

what she'd said.

 Quantico, Virginia

When John Howard walked into the range, he heard, "Tens-hull General in

the house!  Morning, Brigadier."

Howard fought the grin, but lost.  Amid the familiar tang of burned

gunpowder.  Sergeant Julio Fernandez stood at ramrod attention, a

perfect salute in place.  Any crisper and he would have crinkled.

"No such thing as a brigadier anymore, you know that."

"It has a nice ring, sir[" "At ease, Lieutenant."  Howard said.  He

returned the salute.

"Not funny, John."

"Hey, I can do it, you know.  Me being a general now instead of a

colonel.  What do you think.  Gunny?"

Behind Julio, the grinned.

"Oh, yes, sir, I believe Sergeant Fernandez is excellent officer

material, sir.  Never has earned his money."

"I get promoted, first thing I'll do is fire your sorry ass," Fernandez

said.

"You'll be out whitewashing rocks on the parade ground eighteen hours a

day."

Gunny laughed.

"Long arms or sidearms today, sir?"

Howard said, "I believe the sergeant needs a lesson in how to shoot his