Quantico, Virginia, January, 2078, Friday…

Caitlin's evenings and mornings more often than not were centered on Miss Boots. For one thing, she was going through a real dry spell on the dating scene. For another, the cat offered her better companionship than most men. It had a real personality, not a fake one some guy dreamed up to impress her. The cat was very happy to be on her master's lap purring while Caitlin read or watched TV, anything to get her mind off her ticking biological clock and the hypocrisy, prejudices, chaos and violence she had to deal with in her job.

It got to the point that she hated to leave the cat in the mornings. She always left early to take the long drive to Quantico, which never helped her mood.

This morning was no exception. Even with her two cups of coffee she was tired and irritable by midmorning. She was almost snapping at her people. Dan Summers told her to chill out.

"If you've got a bug up your ass, go back home, Caitlin," he told her. "Otherwise, we'll bring you up on harassment charges." He toned his comment down with a wink. "And lay off the caffeine or I'll call DEA."

She looked at him, ready to take his head off, then suddenly smiled. She realized that she had been a snapping turtle so far and decided she'd better cool it.