Maybe I owe you something too, human," she said, drawing her pistol. Butler almost reacted, but decided to give Holly the benefit of the doubt.<br /><br /> Captain Short plucked a gold coin from her belt, flicking it fifty feet into the moonlit sky. With one fluid movement, she brought her weapon up and loosed a single blast. The coin rose another fifty feet, then spun earthward. Artemis somehow managed to snatch it from the air. The first cool movement of his young life.<br /><br /> "Nice shot," he said. The previously solid disk now had a tiny hole in the center.<br /><br /> Holly held out her hand, revealing the still raw scar on her finger. "If it wasn't for you, I would have missed altogether. No mech-digit can replicate that kind of accuracy. So, thank you too, I suppose."<br /><br /> Artemis held out the coin.<br /><br /> "No," said Holly. "You keep it, to remind you."<br /><br /> "To remind me?"<br /><br /> Holly stared at him frankly. "To remind you that deep beneath the layers of deviousness, you have a spark of decency. Perhaps you could blow on that spark occasionally."<br /><br /> Artemis closed his fingers around the coin. It was warm against his palm.<br /><br /> "Yes, perhaps.