"Excellent work, Jon. Simply excellent," the head of operations for Hero Corps told him. "The countess is in jail, her known assets are frozen, and there's a good chance she'll be convicted."

Jon ducked his head, suddenly as shy as the homeless scavenger.

Janet Kellum took him aside after the commendation ceremony was over. "Jon, I thought you'd want to know, I did get special permission for Pamela Thompson to visit her....you remember Pamela, the mother of Julianne Thompson."

"Yeah, I remember. What happened?"

"Well, I thought Mrs. Thompson might like seeing her daughter, even in these circumstances. It's sad, but Julianne wouldn't even speak to her. I guess there's really nothing left of the girl she used to be."

Copyright terraforming.com, November 26, 2012