"Colonel, I'd like you to meet a friend of mine," the nurse said quickly. "Colonel Zen, Sam West. We'll talk while we walk down to the first aid station."
"A pleasure to meet you, sir," West said, extending his hand. His handclasp was firm but there was a suggestion of additional power in his fingers.
"Nice to meet you, Mr. West. Do you live around here?"
"Over that way," the craggy man said, nodding vaguely over his shoulder.
Again the nurse tugged at Zen's arm. He set his feet solidly on the mountain trail. "We'll talk right here."
"But you are taking an unfair advantage of Nedra," the craggy man protested. "This area is heavy with radiation and this is neither the time nor the place to be swapping horses."
"Then why are you two here?"
"I was getting out of the area as fast as I could when I met Nedra," West said. "I would still be getting out of it, but fast, if you were not stopping me."
"I'm not stopping you," Zen said. "There's the trail. Hit it. Nor you either," he said to Nedra.
"Don't be silly, Kurt," the nurse said. She was pleading with him now.