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think you'll miss this base?"
    Mackenzie shrugged. She was still trying to figure out whether she was going to be spanked.
    "You must have some opinion."
    "What's 'opinion'?"
    "How you feel. Will you miss the base or not?"
    "I will a little. I like my teacher."
    "How about the apartment?"
    "No."
    "Why not?"
    "Because I want my own room."
    "I can understand that. Tell me, Micki, do you ever think about the work that goes on here?"
    "On the base?"
    "Yes."
    "Sometimes."
    "What do you think about it?"
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    "I don't know. Sometimes I wonder why. I mean you go to an office, and I don't know why you need all these guns and stuff if you work in an office."
    Paul smiled and reminded himself that he had asked.
    "You make a good point, Micki. All these guns would be very dangerous if they weren't controlled." They had come to a fence. When they stopped Paul turned and looked down at his dark- haired daughter. "A person's fists can be dangerous too. That's why they have to be controlled."
    "Like when I hit Delancey."
    "That's right. I can already see that you would make a great soldier, Micki, but soldiers have to control themselves. They have to make themselves do things they don't want to do, and they have to stop themselves from doing what sometimes seems right."
    Mackenzie looked up at him, her eyes on his face.
    "Do you know what I'm talking about?"
    "Yes."
    "Good. Now what should you have done?"
    "Come to you or Mom."
    "That's right. You need to remember that for next time, or I'll punish you."
    Mackenzie nodded. He meant it. Her mother did much of the discipline in their house, but that didn't mean their father never took care of it, and he spanked hard.
    "We need to go back to the apartment so you can apologize to your sister."
    "Does D.J. have to apologize to me?" There was a tone in her voice he didn't like.
    "I will talk with D.J., Micki, but I'm telling you, no matter what she does, you do not punch her in the nose. Do you hear me?"
    "Yes. I hate karate."
    "I know you do, but your sister enjoys it, and she's very good. You need to be glad for her and proud of her."
    Mackenzie nodded. Delancey was good, and she was proud of her, but she didn't want to be practiced on.
    Without further ado Paul led the way back to the apartment. He told Mackenzie to head to her room and then found Delancey. The three ended up in the girls' room and were sequestered behind closed doors for quite some time. Indeed, it got so late
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    that they appeared in the kitchen, teeth brushed, and pajama- clad, to kiss their mother goodnight. Marrell was happy to see them getting along, but not for anything would she ask what happened.
    Another ten minutes passed before she looked up from her magazine to see a white handkerchief waving around the corner.
    "May I come in?" Paul stepped around the wall and stood at the edge of the kitchen, his face open and relaxed.
    "Yes, but don't expect me to notice that white flag. I'm still mad at you." This was only a little bit true.
    "Don't you want to know what I said to them?" Paul asked as he sat down across the kitchen table from her.
    "No. I'm afraid you told Mackenzie that she would be a great soldier and to keep up the good work."
    "I did tell Mackenzie that she would be a great soldier, but I would never tell her to punch people."
    Marrell finally looked at him. "What did you say?"
    "I just talked to her about control. And when I had them together, I told them what I would do to their backsides if in the future D.J. starts throwing kicks or Micki starts delivering punches."
    "Did you know that D.J. had been kicking at Mackenzie?" Marrell sounded as confused and upset as she felt.
    "No, and from what I gather, she's been doing it since she began to train."
    "Micki's never said a word."
    Husband and wife looked at each other. Both of their daughters were talented and special, and at times one of them was a little old beyond her years.
    "The thought that they could hurt each other really scares me. We live in