<P>At that he disappeared from the room, not knowing how to feel about what just happened. He wanted to know what was going through all their minds, but he couldn't. All he could do was ask favors of them, and hope to get something back. The entire thing was a game of hope.
<P>
<P>Geo looked over to Jess.
<P>
<P>"I'm forty five years old. I have a wife and two daughters." He hung his head, and let out a deep breath. "I'm too old for this."
<P>
<P>Nobody said anything after that. Dead silence hung over everything.
<P>
<P><JC>--- --- --- ---
<P>
<P>"Here." Gunther shambled into Joseph Manderley's UNATCO HQ office, Denton's corpse hanging over his shoulder. He flung it onto the desk like a cat would bring a dead mouse to a doorstep.
<P>
<P>Manderley looked from his book, first up at the massive Gunther Hermann, then down at the seeping body on his desk. He shot up from his chair, eyes wide. "My God, get him out of here!"
<P>
<P>"I thought you'd like to see it in person," Gunther said. Nano-aug humor. "Only took one shot. He was weak. He got what he deserved."
<P>
<P>"Right, okay, and good job, agent, but please, get this thing the hell off of my desk and out of my office!"
<P>
<P>"Of course." He picked the body up with one hand, like it was a rag doll, carrying it back out of the room. Manderley looked down at his freshly bloodstained desk, ran one hand through his grey hair, and swore softly. Something was wrong with that man, Manderley knew it since the beginning, but he was a good agent, he got the job done. He wasn't going to suddenly abandon UNATCO for the NSF, like both Denton brothers did, so he was worth keeping. Anyone was worth keeping, now. He would recruit someone with a history of aggravated assault as long as they wouldn't just defect.