"She looked at me. "You're an assassin, aren't you? When there are rumors the government has someone on the payroll, they're talking about you, right?" I let out a long exhalation. "Something like that." There was a pause. Then she asked, "How many people have you killed?" My eyes moved to my glass. "I don't know." "I'm not talking about Vietnam. Since then." "I don't know," I said again. "Don't you think that's too many?" The mildness of her voice made the question worse. "I don't... I have rules. No women. No children. No acts against nonprincipals." The words echoed flatly in my ears like a moron's mantra, talismanic sounds suddenly stripped of their animating magic. She laughed without mirth. " 'I have rules.' You sound like a whore who wants credit for virtue because she won't kiss the clients she fucks." It stung. But I took it."