Lion, Tiger, Bear | 223 point-blank, hard. She then pushed him back with both arms with all her might. Whats eating you, anyway? Bernie reeled. Met What the hell do you mean? Alice scolded: Beans… Bea pointed here and there. You know exactly what I mean. Except for Dolly, here, weve all seen combat and felt its resultingj2??fgw^. Death and fire, blood and guts. The school of hard knocks is not a tuition-free institution, yes? But theres something else eating at you like a cancer. Well? I know you better than anyone else round here, maybe everywherelover, friend, and foe. I dont care a fat fig if youve chopped away our comfortable parquet floor of reality, it was rotten to the pegs to begin with. Now, Ill ask again, whats bothering you? What scarab crawled up your arse and sunk in its teeth? Lost a bundle at strip poker with a spacewoman? Got a man pregnant? Eat some rotten overdone Komodo steaks? Beans… She twirled. No, no, no, dont defend him on this! Hes been wound so tight its gnawing at all of us too, even McMaster said so to me, and we have a mission coming up, a bad one, a terrific explore in the hills of Alexanders soddy imagination, I reckon. Bit red in the teeth? Claws? Come offit, Bernie, tell mommy your precious cosmic sob story. None of the wisdom adding up? Feeling too old for a hike at sixty? Hair going gray? Bollocks going soft in the wind? Burning up from airship fever? Well? Gwafa held her back. Please madame, easy… Bea became frantic. No, no I will not take it easy, thank you very much. You dont know him like I do. He always holds something back like a good little ONI boy, a £00^ little tin soldier, even if it means our very lives. We dont mean shite to him or his Yank leash-holders, were expendable contractors with contracts up to our ears. Hes a filthy Alice slapped her. Beans’ Fists balled, Bea stared at her, shocked, barely able to contain her wrath. At this, Bernie slowly sat in a chair and put his aching head in his hands, shaking, the Hoover Dam he had erected in his mind and soul began to crack, leak, then gush. He began to weep uncontrollably, unregretfully, as the edifice slowly burst. Grabbing two handfuls of hot sand and squeezing hard, purified grief and despair oiled his face. Alice rubbed his shoulders softly. Easy, old chappy, she didnt mean it…