Free Balance of Power Shifted by Victor Karl Page B

something with me?”  “Sure Rico, have a seat” he said as he pointed to two chairs stationed in front of his desk.  “Thanks” I said as I slid into the one closest to me.  Before I could say anything, he asked if we were still on for Saturday night.  It took a split second for me to remember what he was taking about and I replied “sure.”  For the last year and a half, we had built a group of guys and a couple of women who liked to mix it up MMA style.  Many people were ex-military or in law enforcement and thought it was a great way to round out their skill sets.  Some started as boxers or had some form of martial arts training but all wanted to work towards a being true mixed martial artist and my home gym was a perfect place to do it.
    Jeremy said “great,” and then said, “What you have on your mind.”  While trying to keep some of what I was doing secret, I gave Jeremy enough information about my intentions so he understood this was a once in a lifetime shot that may not pan out.  Jeremy knew every detail of who was working on what around here and did not have to look up anything to know that I had no immediate commitments and said that he had no problem with it.  He did say that I had piqued his curiosity and was hopeful that I could share more about what I was up to so he could gauge his chance of losing me.  Not being the bashful type, I knew that I was good at what I did and could appreciate Jeremy’s concern in the possibility of losing me. 
    I thanked Jeremy and as I was getting up to leave, he jokingly told me I better get Fiona out here to California to show you more moves or I was going to start getting my butt kicked on a regular basis.  I laughed at the thought of Fiona, because Fiona was an expert martial artist, had been doing it since she was five, and on more than one occasion easily beat me to a pulp.  During a round of drinking I must have told Jeremy that she kicked my butt and he must have remembered.  She was highly sought after to teach martial arts to local law enforcement, schools and women’s organizations.  Fiona started teaching me back in high school and made me the humble person I am today.  Looking back over my shoulder, I told Jeremy to be careful what you wish for and that it was his turn to bring the pizza.

Chapter 8: What Do We Have
     
    I arrived back at my place a little after six in the evening carrying two rotisserie chickens, a pound of potato salad, and a container of mixed green salad from the local food market.  As I pulled into the garage, it was obvious from my vantage point that Bill had been busy.  Transformation of the shop area into a working lab included a grouping of tables and shelves providing a reasonable use of the space and equipment.  Some of the stuff moved was extremely heavy and I smiled to myself knowing how pumped up Bill must be to do all that work. 
    Getting out of the Camaro , I walked over to where Bill was sitting with his back to me.  Dumping tonight’s dinner on one of the tables, I told him “it looks great in here.”  Bill just grunted and continued to work on assembling the microscope he had purchased earlier.  While he was doing that, I noticed he had split up the specimen solution into equal amounts and placed them in airtight jars.  Each jar had a number between one and four affixed to it with tape.  There was a smaller vile of about 2 ounces of the liquid, which was in a specimen bag labeled with our address and Bill’s cell phone number.  I assumed this was going out to a lab that could perform comprehensive analysis of the composition of the liquid.
    Eventually , Bill looked up from his current task, and sniffed his nose a few times.  “Is that rotisserie chicken dude?” he asked. “Yes, it is professor and why don’t we take it upstairs and eat it while it’s good and hot and you can fill me in on what you have done today.  After your update, I will let you know what I did.”  With a