A.J. collapsed back into his chair, feeling the weight of Earth's gravity crushing him down. He'd worked hard to keep in shape back on Mars, and overall he thought he'd done fairly well, but there was a big difference between keeping in shape andliving in a 1-g environment after being on Mars and similar low-gravity settings for two years. "For a minute I thought he was going to call my bluff." "So did I, and not the part involving a fistfight, either." Hank shook his head. "Can't you find a more diplomatic way to do this?" "Look, you want diplomatic, you get Joe here. Better yet, Glenn." Hank favored him with a sour look. "I would have, if it wouldn't take another six months." He relented slightly.

"Actually, I guess it was a piece of luck that any of you three were here when it came to a head. Some of these guys-like him-won't take anything that isn't said face-to-face seriously." "Hewas the last, wasn't he? Because that was one hell of a chunk of change we had to hand him." "The last one of any note. And I did get one piece of good news: Your TV-host girlfriend-" "My wha-Oh, you mean Myranda." Myranda Sevins, one of the daytime talk mavens, had allowed A.J. to basically use her show as a publicity platform in the days after the big accident that had nearly cost A.J. his life. To their surprise, she'd actually become something of a convert, investing a moderate (for her) amount in Ares. "What about her?" "She sent us another check instead of asking for her money back. Said she figured we'd find a way to make money out of the deal somehow, so if we'd just give her stock she'd back off on the county-sized Mars homestead." A.J. gave a tired grin.

"Thank all the gods for that. I know my limits, and I couldn't outfighther on the publicity front, even with Helen and Maddie helping." "So… you're not broke, are you?" A.J. tried to look nonchalant, then shrugged, looking down. "Not exactly. Liquid assets are pretty much tapped out, though.