Pool_2

legal connections and high level access, which he didn't explain. As the doctor's forward leaning posture sagged slowly back to a near slump, John O'Brien explained, "These ERISA things you keep bellyaching about, maybe somebody with the right strings can pull..." "I, I, uh.. Oh, gee John, don't get messed up in anything weird for us. We work on one child at a time. We're not .. not.. mmmm.. Mina, what's the name of that social revolutionary?" As she offered Julia Child with shrugs, he stammered on, "John, we really can't be.. taking on.. " But Shannon broke in grabbing Mina's spoon. Thonk. As he protected himself from that spoon, she blasted him with a tirade about social duty, fixing societal ills on a grander scale, civic obligations, inequities that demand intervention, and the forming of power alliances of the very kind which he had described as Italian. Interestingly, Mina who had laughingly supplied her spoon, was not jumping in on this. Instead, her attention was fixed on her husband's uncanny eyes which looked stressed even though he was trying to act silly. She knew why. It was about not setting your sails in somebody else's winds. Mina offered only an admiration Shannon's good intentions but avoided encouraging her proposals. Mina knew that Marcus was not comfortable with third person entanglements. These people. Who were they? Being placed in obligation to him? For what? Recitation at a wedding? How binding could that be? No. He didn't like it. Mina just knew what he was squirming about. She trusted his instincts. If only he could link with them more directly. Better wear flannels tonight. He'll be tossing all over the bed. A very long, but polite silence followed. Then, Marcus cleared his throat as Mina nearly died with dread that he would go off. Instead, he asked, "So John, who's this killer poet? Hmmm? How's a terrorist going to help us mend our legal system?" The waiter was frozen