Astrid sipped her drink again.“Intriguing question. Utterly irrelevant to the issue athand.”
“Well, maybe not.”
“The origin of the planet and thetime it’s been here is not relevant,” Astrid insisted. “Ourmission is to destroy it. The age of it will not help us accomplishour task.”
I tapped the screen. The tapping didn’tdisturb the planet or the yellow mist around it. “You know whyGeneral Sherman was such a great general?”
“Which General Sherman?”
“The General Sherman. WilliamTecumseh Sherman. He was a brilliant strategist.” I turned andlooked at her. “You’ve probably heard this before, but bear withme.”
She raised her glass. “That’s whatwives are for.”
“Before the Civil War he was headinga military school in New Orleans. When news of the shelling of FortSumter and the outbreak of wa
