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The two men next to each other at the bar, staring into their glasses. Kaiser, on the left, set his drink down and slowly let out air. "So you're a colonel now," he said to the man on the right.

"So you're a super hero now," the other man responded.

"Fine." Kaiser sat up and turned to face the other. "There wasn't much else to do. Most people think I'm dead, and the ones who know better think I'm some kind of traitor."

The other man gave him a Serious Look. "Aren't you?"

Kaiser nodded. "In a manner of speaking. Insofar as I've gone AWOL and shot my superior."

"You shot him seven times."

They sat and stared at each other for a long time. Finally, Kaiser turned back to his drink and examined it very closely, like he'd never seen alcohol before. "I didn't have a lot of choice, you know..."

The other whacked him on the shoulder. "Yes you did. Don't pull that crap with me."

"Fine, so I had a choice and I opted to shoot him," Kaiser admitted, shrugging.

"But seven times?"

Kaiser frowned and looked at the ceiling. "Only seven? I was pretty sure it was more than that. Are you-"

"They're on to you," the other man said suddenly, cutting Kaiser off. "They know where you've gone to ground and they want you where they can see you."

Kaiser put out a hand to stop him. "Hang on. Let me think for a minute." Hadn't he covered his tracks? Well, of course he had. That was practically day-one stuff. Oh, but he'd used their methods, hadn't he? That must be the problem. They knew what to look for. If this guy was to be believed- and why not? -he'd have to learn some new tricks. No problem. No problem? Of course it was no problem. He'd make it no problem. Either that or die, and death was unappealing. "How close are they?" he eventually said.

The other man shook his head and drained the last of his drink. "I'm one of them, remember?"

Oh, now he got it. Kaiser leaned casually against the counter, producing a small knife. "Meaning?"

"Please, man, don't do that. I know you too well." Kaiser saw that the other man had his own, identical knife out. "We were in the same class, for crying out loud."

Putting his knife away, Kaiser returned to his drink. "Then go on back and tell them you've put the fear of God into me or whatever. They know where to find me when they want me."

Silently, the other man got up and left. Kaiser watched him leave out of the corner of his eye. "Stinking b*****d," he muttered into his drink.