DISCLAIMER: Many of the characters and situations described in the following fic are owned entirely by Takahashi Rumiko, a woman I have the greatest respect and admiration for. (In fact if she were willing, I would have her love child. A neat trick since I am a male kinda guy and not built to bear children.) Her creativity has even inspired the creation of a whole new branch of the Trek Universe. Therefore, any mentions of historical moment from Trek, Trek-Tech and characters and ships, which I shall endeavor to keep at a minimum, is entirely intentional. Within this story are characters who are from the Trek Universe, but not of Trek. These are my creations. All other characters that are integral to this story are her property, apart from the characters from AMG. This is a work intended to share a concept, and perhaps my story telling abilities. There is no money to be earned by me or by anyone else from this work. I might also add, Paladin, Team Paladin, the Starship Percheron and her crew, and Miss Kitty as she is here, ARE my property, and not to be used with out express consent from myself. I have worked hard to develop these characters and hope to use them in published works eventually. I choose to share them and their attitudes with you here. The character from OH! My Goddess belong to who ever owns them… sorry but my copies of this series (as well as Ranma ½) mysteriously disappeared during a move
The timeline for this story is just about there. Meaning there aren't going to be any of the big events that occurred in the manga and anime. The story makes an assumption that events alter somewhat with each restart by the Norn. So Herb and Saffron may exist but won't be part of the story.
And finally, for convenience sake. ( ) author's commentary.
Sound effect
Chinese
Japanese usually spoken planetside
English generally spoken aboard ship
PALADIN ½ - SHE'S THE ONE
Chapter 12 – Some people never learn
It had been nearly a week after his late evening with Kasumi on the town. And again Paladin was up very late. Actually, not very late, but extremely early, listening intently for a few moments to make sure that he was the only one awake in the house, Paladin opened the top to the portable computer. He needed to catch up on his log entries, they were supposed to be daily, but in the Tendou household daily is nearly impossible. Jerrod had managed to keep his log entries secret, despite the odd hours a few of the other members kept.
Speaking quietly into the pick-up, "Personal log, Star-date, irrelevant: Local current date and time; Wednesday, January 27, 1993 04:22 in the morning. I feel myself growing concerned with the way some of my interactions with the Tendou's are headed.
Kasumi is a tremendously interesting young woman, and I find myself extremely attracted to her. I keep fighting the urge to flirt with her, and I keep failing in that battle. It isn't unpleasant, Kasumi is quite fun to entertain and spend time with. But she isn't the reason I am here. If the actual reason for my being here were as simple to deal with as Kasumi, I'd have it completed already. The girl is, unfortunately, complicating the whole plan I have. I'll keep working on the real problem I'm here to straighten out however.
I keep telling myself I am here to be Ranma's friend, but I keep getting closer to Kasumi, not that my interactions with Ranma haven't begun to bear fruit already. Almost from the first day I met Ranma, he had begun changing in his outlook. From what I have learned about his prior behavior, he is much more calm and thoughtful regarding his dealings with others near to him.
This form of martial arts that the Saotome's and Tendou's practice is just as I thought, it is a combination of various forms and styles from the Asian Rim. My suspicion of Ranma's skill level was correct as well. He is well beyond master level in at least six schools of the Art, not an opponent to be taken lightly. My interactions with him are more to bring his actual self esteem to the level of his real skill level. I'll have to talk to Le about the psychological ramifications of this.
Ranma portrays himself in an arrogant mold, but not with Kitty or me. My tampering with his self-image might bring about true arrogance; this is something to guard against. He could be dangerous and unstoppable if he truly believed he was better than everyone else is. That being said, his pursuit of new styles might be his salvation in that regard. Ranma's desire to be the best in the world could overlap and become a desire to be the best in the galaxy.
Personally, I believe that Ranma can accept that he really has nothing to prove to anyone outside himself, and that his crowing of his prowess only alienates everyone that loves him and inhibits his progress in the Art.
Akane Tendou; I have finally seen her practice her family style. She relies on strength and power, this allows for her 'superhuman' ability to deliver blows to Ranma that take him various distances, depending on the level of her anger. Another item to look into; I have to plant sensors strategically around the dojo to discover how she manipulates energy to fabricate such large mallets. If I didn't know better, I would say there were a Q or two here interfering.
Akane's skill level is not as great as it could be, this is a good thing as she has little control over her temper and reacts violently to her own perceptions of what is happening. This usually results in injuries to Ranma, I discovered this during tea with Dr. Tofu. Many of Ranma's injuries are the result of unwarranted attacks by several boys his age, and by Akane. In his girl form, by Akane and another girl named Kodache, as well as two of the boys. The third boy believes he is in love with Ranma's girl form, a rather unpleasant thought for Ranma.
Concerning these unwarranted attacks on Ranma, I have yet to witness any, other then the periodic assault on his person by a girl called Xian Pu, these aren't in and of themselves a real attack on Ranma physically, apart from the strangling hug she puts on him on her arrival. The real damage to Ranma comes from the girl that is supposed to support him and listen. That Akane has never done this that I can discover only strengthens my earlier opinion of her desire to keep him from anyone else. This is decidedly unhealthy. I also witnessed an attempted assault by a boy named Kuno who seems to believe that Miss Akane and Ranma's girl form are in love with him.
I asked Miss Nabiki about this later and she confirmed that the boy Kuno lives in a world of his own fabrication. Further information is required on this boy and any of the others that are rivals of or suitors to Ranma and Akane. I'll keep my questions vague and increase my observations.
Further data on Genma Saotome has been sporadic. I placed a search spider into the planetary data-base looking for anything related to him or someone of his description in the hopes that I will find a reason to dislike the man. As much as I hate to admit it, I honestly do like the reprobate. I just do not trust him any farther than Bill could throw him.
Soun Tendo is not coming around yet. I've had quite a few long talks with him about philosophy and loss. He is well versed in platitudes, but not very skilled at recovering from his own pains. I know this though, Soun loved his wife very much. Possibly too much.
"End log entry." Paladin said into the pickup as he heard the sounds of Kasumi moving about in the hall as she headed for the bath. Paladin stretched his back and arms as he stood and walked out he bedroom door to begin preparing breakfast. It was a quiet time he could spend with Kasumi and talk to her about her opinion of Ranma.
Jerrod felt the young woman was holding back information that she thought might be best left unsaid. He had lots of time though, and he did enjoy entertaining Kasumi. (Yes, sooner or later Jerrod is going to have to accept the fact that he is up to his neck in it.)
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Akane wasn't happy with how things were working out, not happy at all. Kasumi, her older sister seemed to be even more in a world of her own since that new guy Paladin had come to the house to stay. Kasumi ignored Akane in favor of spending time with the freaky looking child of the man. And Ranma went out of his way to be NICE to people lately.
Something was wrong with the world and Akane couldn't see any other way around it than doing her best to get rid of Paladin. It was his fault after all! It wasn't right that Kasumi really seemed happy.
It wasn't right that Ranma talked with Paladin and laughed at jokes that Akane just knew were about her. It wasn't right that the fathers hadn't tried any of their idiot plans to hurry the marriage between her and Ranma since Paladin had been there.
It wasn't right that Ranma hadn't given Akane the slightest excuse to mallet him in over a week.
It wasn't normal and it wasn't right.
Didn't they see what was happening? Akane did, and it scared her.
Before the Saotome's had come to live with them, she had been the best Martial Artist in Nerima. Then Ranma show's up and cheats and steals that title away. Then her Father makes them get engaged to each other! Akane didn't need Ranma around to rescue her all those times she'd been abducted.
And now Nabiki had started acting strange, ASKING Ranma for favors instead of brow beating him into it.
Akane had even overheard Nabiki ASK Paladin if she could "Please sell information and a few pictures of him to the girls at school?"
Nabiki? Asking? Something had happened to Akane's family and she needed to find out what.
Dad hadn't been crying or whining as much.
Genma hadn't been doing very much that was stupid.
Nabiki was being nice to people.
Ranma was being thoughtful.
And Kasumi. Kasumi seemed to glow.
It just wasn't right.
Akane was stuck in these thoughts concerning her family in the middle of English class. Where, if Akane had been paying closer attention, she would have noticed something that had the rest of the class concerned; Ranma was awake and reading the assignment that had been handed out earlier.
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Ranma was trying his best to stay awake and interested. It was hard though, other people thought Ranma was just a dumb jock. They didn't know any better; it was how he projected himself. He didn't mean for people to get the impression he was like that. It reflected more on his father than anything else. His old man, beyond learning the Art hadn't stressed the importance of education. Everything else was only a distraction. School, people, and girls were things Genma had carefully kept Ranma from in his formative years.
It wasn't that Genma was really a bad man, he wasn't. He was just a stupid selfish man. In Genma's mind, it was Ranma's duty to become the greatest Martial Artist so that he could take care of his father. Genma looked forward to early retirement. Not that the lazy idiot had ever done much to retire from.
Ranma did feel it his duty to care for his father when it came time. But since Paladin had been around and talking to him Ranma had been feeling as if there were something not right with his world before. And Kitty-chan was smarter than Ranma too.
Ranma wouldn't admit to it, but it was embarrassing to have a little kid know more than him about everything. Ranma had challenged himself to learn everything after Kitty-chan had answered his question to Nabiki about how to spell the English word for government.
That this had fascinated Nabiki to the point of quizzing Kitty-chan on her general education wasn't lost on Ranma. For a long time Ranma had been trying to figure out what he could do to impress Nabiki.
Why he'd been trying to do this, he couldn't say. He just wanted to.
Akane's smile would warm a room in Ranma's opinion. Kasumi could light up an auditorium. But he'd never seen Nabiki really smile until he'd agreed to do that favor for her a couple of weeks before. He wanted that kind of smile from her again.
His heart had nearly stopped in his chest when she had smiled at him.
He had noticed that Nabiki was being nicer to him lately. He hoped it wasn't just because of his new friend. He wouldn't complain about it though. So now he had decided that the best way to impress Nabiki was to be smart.
And unless there was some sort of technique of the Art that would make books and school unnecessary, school was his best bet for becoming smart. Just moments before the lunch bell, Ranma had decided to ask Paladin about how he could make it easier to stay awake in class. His legs were getting sore and bruised from all the pinching he was doing.
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Nabiki was slightly bothered. She'd spent the better part of all her free time trying to find out more about the company that had bought up all the neighboring property to the Dojo. All she'd been able to find out about Groont Development was that they were a wholly owned subsidiary of Interhaus International. If it was anything that bothered Nabiki, it was not knowing who people were, what they were up to and why. She abhorred being in the dark about these companies. Her connections hadn't been able to find out anything more than the name of the parent company.
Nabiki's own research on them didn't prove very much more informative. Interhaus was a consortium of a group of a dozen or more smaller corporations whose names she hadn't been able to uncover yet. If the properties surrounding the Dojo hadn't been bought up at one time by them she might not have even been concerned.
Not knowing what was going on scared Nabiki. She was worried about her family home and her family. 'Ranma needed the Dojo so he could teach after he marries m… Akane. 'Careful there Nabiki!' she chastised herself. She'd almost put herself in the 'marries Ranma' phrase.
'Akane doesn't know how you feel about her fiancé, and it's best to keep it that way. No matter how much it hurts.' If anyone had looked at that moment, they might have seen Nabiki's eyes glisten for just the briefest of seconds. Fortunately for Nabiki, everyone was busy looking ahead of themselves as they were negotiating around everyone else at lunch.
Today was a little different for Nabiki, she was looking forward to the lunch period. Not because she was especially hungry, but because she was to have a meeting with Mr. Macon and the vice-principal about the possibility of there being a career day speech that Nabiki would get to plan and set up where Mr. Macon was going to be the main speaker. Her earlier thoughts were only a distraction from the big picture and troubled her only slightly.
After all, she could keep her feelings hidden for as long as she needed to regarding Ranma.
What really troubled her was the gleeful look in the eye of her classmate, Tatewaki Kuno, Furinkan High School's resident village idiot. He was up to something and she hadn't noticed it until today, which upset Nabiki. Kuno was always hatching some kind of moronic plan or other, but she always was able to detect it early and make money from the knowledge. Nabiki did know one thing though.
A happy Kuno meant trouble for Ranma. Nabiki decided to warn Ranma that something was up when she saw him at lunch.
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Tatewaki had been disappointed when the Amazon had refused to help in the new trap for the Evil Saotome. Was everyone else blind to the perfidious nature of Saotome? Had the sorcerer managed to ensnare the minds of everyone but the Blue Thunder? Tatewaki had to end the spells that Saotome had cast upon his beauteous Akane and Pig-tailed Goddess as well as the spells that had warped the minds of everyone else.
Tatewaki was unable to fathom how Saotome had managed to befoul their memories of the prowess of the Blue Thunder, and yet he must have. Why else would they now titter and make jokes about him when they believed he couldn't hear?
Why else would they believe he wasn't a hero in mortal form sent to Earth to defend Akane and the Pig-Tailed girl? There was only one answer! Saotome had ensorcelled them, it was the only answer that made sense!
He would implement the trap by himself. He didn't need the blind Chinese boy, he didn't need the help of the vagrant Hibiki, and he didn't even need the help of Sasuke. Tatewaki Kuno needed no one to unmask the Evil of Saotome.
Help from Mr. Puffs was another matter however
For the past week Kuno had been carefully planning what he was to do. First he had determined the seat at which Saotome habitually sat. Then Kuno had set about making his plans happen. This time there would be no mistakes.
The last time he had used a ruse to get the attention of Saotome. This time he would lay a normal trap with no pretenses, no props, and no hostages. Only a pit that would open beneath Saotome with a steel cage that would slam shut locking him in with the cats and tiger. The fear that Saotome would undergo is surely to break his hold over the most Beauteous Akane Tendo and the pig-tailed Goddess.
It always amazed Kuno at how much he could have done with the proper amount of money spent in the right directions. A bribe to a janitor and a key to the school is made available to him, a payment to a contractor for speedy work double what the work was worth along with a promise of an equal amount on completion of the work. Provided that work was finished before school was back in session over a three-day weekend.
And voila… the Saotome trap of unendurable fear is in place.
It was nearly impossible for Tatewaki to keep his glee in check, especially around the mercenary Nabiki. For some reason Tatewaki had begun to mistrust her motives regarding his interests. In fact, Tatewaki had begun to believe that Nabiki was actively working against his interests. How else would Saotome seem to know everything that was planned ahead of time? How else could the sorcerer remain standing after the nearly yearlong war with the great Blue Thunder?
How else but information being given to him regarding Tatewaki's plans by none other that Nabiki Tendo? Kuno was shrewd though. He would wait to settle accounts with the traitorous mercenary after Saotome had finally been dealt his deathblow and Kuno's two loves released from his control. Acting prematurely with the mercenary would let Saotome know to be wary. And Saotome wary was the last thing that Kuno wanted.
Jerrod was amused by the treatment the vice-principal was giving him. The perception of wealth and power seemed to grease the way for many things in this time period. Jerrod had no illusions about it, he knew it was probably very much like this in the same time period in his home reality. He also thought it was much like this in any time period.
He'd witnessed some of it when he had been a member of Star Fleet. And after he'd left he had received more than deferential treatment from people who were more deserving of it.
He and Mr. Tanaeda were in the school cafeteria awaiting Nabiki, the third person involved in the lunchtime meeting, when the bell rang. Jerrod was even more amused to see the behavior of the student body as they rushed to the large room for the respite from studies. They all seemed in a hurry to eat so they could spend a few extra minutes socializing. The only center of learning that Jerrod had ever personally experienced where that wasn't the case was the Vulcan Science Academy. And even there the students that weren't Vulcan were behaving the same way these students were.
Jerrod was acutely aware of the number of eyes directed his way. He could feel the intensity of the stares from the girls. He almost began to feel self conscious about it. Jerrod clamped down his feelings and the flight impulse and grinned at the minor joke Tanaeda told. He was in the process of deciding that the whole idea he'd had about a 'career day' was probably bad when Kitty jumped out of his lap and ran into the throng of students.
Jerrod relaxed as he stood, seeing that she had run to sit with Ranma. He also noticed that Nabiki was leaning over talking quickly to Ranma. Jerrod almost was able to keep himself from doing it. But the damage was done, he'd read her lips and became slightly concerned himself. What he'd read her say was that 'Kuno was up to something and to watch out.'
He decided to keep an eye and ear open for the duration of the meeting at the school.
Nabiki had only just managed to make it to the table that Jerrod and Mr. Tanaeda were sharing when there was a loud thump, the kind of sound that two slabs of concrete make when they slam together. This was followed by the clamor of a very heavy steel cage being shut along with the hum of an electro-magnet. Nabiki, Jerrod and Tanaeda turned to see a gaping hole with a heavy steel cage door where Ranma had been just moments before.
Jerrod was concerned for Ranma, but he was far more concerned for his Daughter. Whoever had done this was in very big trouble. The students that were close to the covered hole began to edge away rapidly. There were sounds coming from inside that didn't sound very pleasant at all. They'd heard them before not long after Ranma had begun coming to Furinkan.
They were the sounds of cats, dozens of them. Nabiki said. "That idiot Kuno!" just as the named boy began to laugh maniacally.
Standing at the edge the boy was glaring down into the hole, goading Ranma about the forthcoming fear. "You see Saotome! Foul sorcerer that you are, you can never truly defeat a great hero such as the Blue Thunder! Your spells weaken in your fear, at the end of the day you will have lost and Akane Tendou and the Pig-tailed girl will be rescued from you. They will finally be able to admit their love for me! Where you have kept them in thrall to your spells allowing you to commit Kami knows what vile acts of wantonness on them! Their purity remains unsullied, despite what you have done!"
Kitty had begged her daddy to let her come along, she wanted to have lunch with Ranma and see Auntie Nabiki. Besides, she'd never been to a real school before. Her daddy taught her, and Uncle Bill, and Auntie Le, and Jane and everybody on the ship. Until they came to Earth she didn't know there was any such thing as a place for kids to go to learn. Kitty wasn't very impressed with it if they let Ranma not learn what he needed to know. She loved Ranma almost as much as she loved her daddy. And wanted him to be as smart as her daddy.
But Nabiki seemed really smart, so Kitty wanted to find out if it was the school or something else that was holding Ranma back. Her daddy had told her that Ranma was smart, he just didn't know very much outside of the martial arts. When she'd asked why, her daddy said it was because Ranma's daddy had blinded him with stories that weren't true.
Her and daddy were sitting with the nice man called Mr. Tanaeda when a really loud bell rang. It wasn't like the emergency alerts on the ship or base. But it was as loud. And then there were the sounds of a lot of people coming to the big room they were in. She looked at the big double doors at just the right time to see Ranma at the front of the crowd with his bento in hand. Kitty grabbed her own bento and hopped from her daddy's lap to run to Ranma. She giggled when he grabbed her out of the air as she jumped to him.
"Kitty-chan! These're my friends Dai and Hiro." Ranma said while smiling at the surprise of his almost niece, introducing the little girl to them. He then sat down and proceeded to do something that Dai and Hiro had never witnessed before. Ranma ate his lunch slowly and even shared some of his with the little girl. At this the two boys backed up. Ranma staying awake in class other than PE was one thing, but Ranma eating like normal people was really scary.
What was even scarier was that the Ice-Queen stopped at their table long enough to give Ranma some information. Nabiki never gives information away. Hiro and Dai began to wonder if they had even woken yet that morning and were in the throws of a nightmare.
Kitty was giggling happily and sitting on Ranma's lap when all hell broke loose. The floor under them and the table they were sitting at swung away too quickly for even Ranma to leap clear in time. At the same time this happened a steel door slid across the opening locking them in. Ranma growled, "Kuno!" And then went silent.
Kitty got scared because of the mean things she heard being said from above them. She loved Ranma and couldn't believe the things being said. Then she placed the smells in the smaller room they had fallen into. She smelled cats, many of them. She also smelled another that she couldn't quite place. It was like cat but really different too. Then Ranma's eyes went wide with terror. This scared Kitty even more and she began to cry for her daddy.
"k-k-k-Kitty-chan, get b'hind me! I-I w-w-won't let n-n-nuthin' happpppen to ya!" Ranma said as Kitty recognized a smell. She smelled cats in the big cage they'd fallen into. And she smelled something that was cat but not cat. She also smelled fear from Ranma. 'Why is Ranma so scared?'
Then Kitty heard a really scary voice laughing at Ranma saying really mean things. Then something like sausage that smelled like fish landed on Ranma shoulder. Ranma backed up, his hands keeping her behind him. That was when a really deep growl came, and the light came on in the cage. Kitty saw a tiger across a small sea of cats from her and Ranma. Kitty became really afraid then. The cats and tiger all looked hungry and were moving toward them.
And then Ranma meowed.
The tiger leapt at them over the cats and was caught under the jaw with a fist that had been rolled up to almost look like a paw. And while the tiger was still in the air, before it could be sent to the far side of the cage by the blow, many more blows were delivered to its head and body. When the tiger landed on the floor again it was in a heap and completely unconscious.
Ranma leapt to the top of the cage and swept his hands near it and landed near Kitty with clangs of steel bars striking the floor behind him. He then lifted her up by the scruff of the neck and jumped through the hole he'd made in the cage. Landing beside a very surprised looking boy in a kendo practice uniform that had a smug look frozen on his face. Ranma swung his hands the way a cat would when swatting at a toy or mousie and the boy was stripped almost naked with a few scratches appearing here and there on his body his clothes in tatters, falling away as rags. Then Ranma, still holding Kitty in his mouth leapt for a window and into the schoolyard, over the wall and into the distance.
Jerrod had made it to the hole where Ranma had fallen with Kitty just in time to miss catching Ranma before he left the school. Looking down at the boy that had been laughing like a lunatic he recognized him as the one that had tried to assault Ranma before. Jerrod clenched his jaw to keep his anger in check. Nabiki arrived just as Jerrod knelt to check for a pulse on the idiot.
"Miss Nabiki?" Paladin asked in an almost toneless voice, "Is this the Kuno boy we talked about?"
The tone of voice would have stopped Nabiki's heart in fear if she thought it was anger directed at her. As it was, her heart thumped louder in her chest as she gulped down her worry. "Y-yes Mr. Macon. This is Kuno." She answered.
"Very well Miss Nabiki." Paladin closed his eyes and visibly fought to calm himself. He saw that Ranma had been defensive about Kitty and he doubted the boy would allow anything to happen to her, no matter what his mental state at the time might be. Ranma had an overriding respect for life it seemed, evidenced by the still breathing Tatewaki Kuno. "I am going to search for Ranma and my daughter. Is there anything I should know about this behavior by Ranma?"
"Yes sir, he's gone Neko, making him virtually unbeatable. As far as I know there are only a few things that can bring him out of it. Letting him go until he finds someplace he feels secure enough to sleep, an old woman who died before Ranma came to live here, or Akane talking him down." Nabiki answered.
"And what is 'going Neko'? What does it entail?" Paladin asked two questions that Nabiki had hoped she wouldn't have had to answer, and probably wouldn't have if it hadn't been for the jealous idiot that was unconscious at their feet. "Mr. Macon, you have to understand. This thing isn't Ranma's fault! When he was a kid he was trained in a very dangerous technique supposed to create the 'ultimate martial artist' one that's unstoppable. The training technique was banned centuries ago, and then the Panda found it."
Paladin nodded his head in understanding. 'That fat fool probably nearly killed Ranma with this training too and now the poor kid is terrified of cats! It's probably more a fear of what he could do when he's like this though. I have to help Ranma with a lot more than I expected. As if this has been a normal situation from the start! Bell did try to tell me about the boy and I stopped her, in retrospect it was a bad call.' He stood for a moment longer looking out the window Ranma and his daughter had disappeared through and nodded again. "Miss Nabiki. I have a delivery of some documents and equipment arriving today. Could you go home and sign for it? I'll find Ranma and Kitty and meet you at the Dojo."
"Alright Mr. Macon. UHHm, what do you want me to pass on to this idiot?" Nabiki asked.
"Just leave him a note. 'Vengeance is slow but sure.' It might take him the rest of his life to figure out Miss Nabiki. Apart from that, don't let the kid know anything. You and I will discuss this and other things at home." Paladin told the girl and turned to the window and jumped out to follow the trail of scuff-marks and broken twigs.
Nabiki watched as Paladin left then turned back to Kuno, who was just coming to. "Kuno-baby. I am going to tell you one thing. I am going to get you for this one. You really fucked up this time. You endangered a little girl with this idiocy of yours and now you are going to pay for it!" Angrily Nabiki then turned on her heel, after leaving the note, and stalked out of the school to go home and wait on Mr. Macon. She didn't think it would be very good news either.