Callie knew that looking at her watch would not help matters any. She had a fairly accurate sense of the time because of the movement of the sun. Finally, though, she decided that it would be good to check per perception agaist reality. She made the earliest reasonable guess as to the time, and then looked at her watch, hoping to be pleasantly surprised.

No, unfortunately her accuracy was amazing.

It was barely past noon and no sign of Amanda.

Not completely true.

There was no sight, sound, or smell of Amanda, at least nothing that which Callie was consciously aware, but there was,. from time to time, an almost overwhelming sense of Amanda's presence.

Or so it seemed.

Callie had to question how real this sense was. In her deliberately induced state of hypersensitivity to visual, auditory, and olfactory clues that were not coming, was her mind inventing something to occupy itself? Was it drawing on the memory of the sensation that had gripped her in the pit of her stomach when she had first seen Amanda emerge from the lodge?

As Amanda had looked about, Callie could feel her seriousness, her concentration, her hunger. Amanda was committed to catching her.

Beyond enjoyment of a sport in which she was arguably the world's best, Amanda's purpose in hunting was simple and frighteningly easy to comprehend: she hunted to kill, she killed to eat.

Most other hunters who had pursued Callie had done so with simple purposes in mind. As Callie waited, tense and alert, her mind momentarily flashed on one hunt in which the hunter's purpose had been anything but simple, though he was certainly straightforward about it. That encounter had also involved hyperawareness in a different context.

It was the only time that a hunter had ever specifically requested that Callie run as quarry for him. The invitation came by registered mail and Callie found the wording both charming and quaint, considering that the writer was expressing a desire to kill her.

"Dear Miss Landers,

"Enclosed please find a cashier's check in the sum of one thousand dollars which I beg you to accept as a gratuity for merely giving my proposal honest and fair consideration, which I have great faith that you will do. Acceptance of this monetary compensation in no way obligates you to anything more than a simple response of 'yes' or 'no' to the proposal outlined below.

"It would please me very much to hunt you at a time and place to be mutually agreed upon in subsequent communications. The desired outcome of the hunt, from my point of view, would be your death. My means of 'bringing you down' would be a rifle loaded with projectiles containing the compound Medusene-190, such projectiles commonly being referred to as 'drug-ball.' Your actual death would occur in a painless manner, which I intend to describe in person during a meeting prior to your agreement to participate in the hunt. The aforementioned meeting would take place two days prior to the proposed hunt, and you will be paid an additional one thousand dollars plus travel expenses simply for attending the meeting. Again, agreeing to this pre-hunt meeting will not be construed by me as an acceptance of the hunt itself.

"Your compensation for participating in the hunt, which, of course, I hope you will not live to collect, will be the standard fee paid to a runner in a hunt with the potential for a fatal outcome, and the two thousand dollars and travel expenses will not be deducted from that fee.

"I do not, at this time, solicit your agreement to allow me to hunt you. I am only asking that we begin negotiations to set a date and location for a potential hunt and that you agree to an in-person meeting two days prior to that date. It is my desire that the meeting take place over dinner in a public place in a city near the agreed upon site of the hunt.

"While I await your response with the greatest possible eagerness, I do urge that you take all the time necessary to make a decision. As this is a matter which may very well have eternal ramifications for you, I do not expect you to act in haste. Even should you decide to decline my offer following our meeting, I shall bear you no animosity.

"For your convenience, I have included, on a separate sheet, a list of resources which may be of use to you in researching my character and personal history, including my record as a hunter of women, which, I confess, I do not expect you to find impressive or intimidating.

"Thank you for your time and consideration. I am most hopeful of receiving an affirmative answer from you.

"Sincerely,

"Felix D. Mizz"

Jodie's reaction upon seeing the letter and the check was, "Easiest thousand bucks you'll ever make. Send this Felix fucker a fast ‘thanks, but no thanks' and let's go shopping."

Callie had to admit that she was tempted to do just as her roommate suggested, but, as a matter of fact, Felix was a good judge of character: he knew that Callie would give his offer "honest and fair consideration." He was either a man of remarkable intuition or he had done enough research on her to know that she would not take his money without giving some thought to his offer.

So, Callie took advantage of the "resource list" provided by her would-be slayer.

The more she found out about Felix D. Mizz, the more puzzled she became.

Financially speaking, he was comfortable, but not nearly as wealthy as most woman hunters. A standard runner's fee would set him back about a quarter-year's income. Even the two thousand dollars he was offering her wasn't pocket change for him.

Over a hunting career of eight years, he had only hunted three women and had not killed any of them. Names of the women he had hunted were provided and, although Callie discovered that two of them proved difficult to locate, she was able to contact the third, whose name was Gladys, by telephone.

"Yes, I ran in a hunt for Mr. Mizz. Why do you ask?" Gladys responded to Callie's initial question.

"Did he approach you directly about the hunt?"

"Well, yes. Again, why do you ask?" A tinge of something in her voice. Nervousness? Suspicion?

"I got a letter from him. He wants to hunt me."

"Do it. Really. Say yes," Gladys urged.

"Why? I mean, I've never had a hunter contact me like this. I'd like to know what I'm in for. What kind of guy is he?"

"Really, what happened between the two of us is very personal. Not something I want to talk about. All I can tell you is that you won't regret it."

Callie had to laugh at that. "I suppose that's true. If I get away, I obviously won't have any regrets and if I get killed, well, any regrets I have won't last long."

"You won't regret it. Trust me. No matter what."

"Even if..."

"Look, you seem like a very nice person, but I don't want to talk to you about this. I don't talk to anybody about it. If Felix asked to hunt you, you should let him. That's all I want to say."

"Wait, please. Are you saying I don't have anything to worry about? That he won't really kill me."

"Oh, no. He'll kill if he gets a chance. He would have killed me. Let him hunt you. Please, I don't want to say anymore." A pause. "No, I do want to ask: How did you find me, or, rather, my phone number?"

"I looked you up in the Runners' Registry, of course."

"Oh, okay. I really should have my name taken out. I haven't run in a hunt since... quite a while. I don't mean to be unfriendly, but please don't call me again, okay?"

"Well, sure. Uh, thanks."

"You're welcome. Good-bye."

"Good b..." Callie was listening to a dial tone.

The conversation left Callie scratching her head. Gladys was urging her to risk her life and telling her that she would not regret it. The woman apparently no longer ran as quarry herself, yet she was recommending it to Callie. She had a very "personal" experience with Mizz that she didn't want to talk about, but she was more than willing for Callie to have an opportunity for something similar.

Callie studied the details Mizz had provided about himself.

As an undergraduate, he had majored in political science and minored in philosophy, but he took his Master's degree in biology. After that he had gone to India for further studies, but apparently had not obtained a higher degree in whatever he had studied. He was currently employed by a firm that made kitchen and bathroom cabinets and he had the title of "designer." Well, Callie thought, maybe he studied carpentry in India. He had published a few articles on wild flowers of the western United States. His hobbies included golf, gourmet cooking, and duplicate bridge and he played the cello. He had served a two-year term on the city council and was currently a member of the Planning and Zoning Commission in his hometown.

Now, Callie wondered, if I were to try to come up with a description of a ‘typical girl hunter," how likely would I be to come up with that?

Callie decided that she had to agree to agree at least to have dinner with Mr. Felix D. Mizz because the only way to convince herself that he was real would be to meet him in the flesh.

There was email address provided with the biographical data and she used it to send an affirmative response. She also sent a hard copy letter. She wanted him to have her commitment to the dinner meeting in writing.

They made the arrangements via email exchanges with a final confirmation by registered mail. They never spoke on the telephone, but throughout the exchange, Felix remained almost excessively cordial, polite, and grateful for her willingness to entertain his proposition. He was willing to have the time set to her convenience and he was particularly concerned that she have the opportunity to do everything necessary to minimize the inconvenience and shock that her death would cause her family and friends. The usual practice was that, if a woman was killed in a hunt, there would be no fee paid, but Felix assured her that, following her assent to the hunt, a sum equal to half her fee would be placed in an escrow account that would become part of her estate in the event of her death.

"It is my sincere wish that, in causing your death," Felix said in an email, "I shall not also cause you to leave any unattended obligations behind. Please take every care to see that there are no 'loose ends.' I want your death to be as smooth a transition as possible. If making it so should require a postponement, or even several of them, it shall be no significant disruption. Where eternity is concerned, of what import is a delay of a few moments?"

In their exchange, Callie did express curiosity as to why Felix wanted to hunt her in particular and she accepted his response, "Please rest assured that all your questions will be answered, I hope, to your satisfaction at the dinner meeting. I have no wish for you to enter into the proposed lethal contract with any lingering doubts or uncertainties."

Callie didn't like to think of herself as superstitious, so she rationalized her deliberate habit of NOT preparing too well for death prior to a hunt as a matter of keeping a positive mental attitude rather than avoiding bad luck. In the case of the hunt with Felix, however, she did, as a matter of fact, take particular care to see that most of her bills were paid and that she had not made any serious social commitments for events scheduled to take place following the hunt. She found her motivation for doing this to be very odd: she wanted to comply with Felix's wishes; she didn't want to cause him distress by being unprepared for death. She knew he was sure to ask and she couldn't even consider lying to him. Callie was almost always truthful, but she felt a special compulsion to deal with Felix honestly. It was not until her trip to England to meet Amanda that Callie ever again made such thorough contingency planning prior to a hunt.

What is up with me? Callie asked herself. This guy is looking forward to killing me - and, apparently, ME in particular - and I'm worried about causing him distress or lying to him. Maybe I am nuts, after all.

She was still questioning herself when she walked into the restaurant for her rendezvous with Felix.

It was an upscale eating establishment and Callie had dressed for the occasion in a sleeveless, sky blue evening gown.

She scanned the room, trying to guess which patron was Felix while waiting for the maitre d' to direct her to the proper table and, when he did so, she found that she had been correct in her guess, even though Felix had not given a physical description of himself.

Felix was dark-haired, well-tanned, slightly but attractively built, and couple inches shorter than Callie. He had a stunningly handsome face with soft brown eyes. He rose and extended his hand as she approached.

"Ah, Miss Landers. It is a great pleasure to meet you finally." Warm and sincere.

"Likewise, I'm sure." Callie regretted that she could never keep herself from saying that Hollywood-dumb-blonde line. She accepted the handshake, also warm and sincere, and seated herself in the chair that had been pulled out for her. She noted that their table was in a corner and that there was a curtain which could be pulled along a track in the ceiling to give more privacy. She made a small joke to herself - I wonder if this means "it will be curtains for me" before Felix and I part company.

After a moment of studying the menu, they gave the waiter their orders. Felix was a vegetarian, but said he would not mind if Callie ate meat in front of him, and so she felt free to order a very lean cut of beefsteak. Felix did give the waiter an instruction which Callie found peculiar; all courses be brought to the table at once. He also ordered a bottle of very light wine and when the first glass was poured and the waiter had left the table, the floor was open for discussion.

"I trust you have many questions. I hope that it does not surprise you that I also have some. But, please, you go first," Felix said with good cheer.

"Ladies first, you mean." Callie kept a smirk off her face but not out of her voice.

"It is not from courtliness - or, if you prefer, chauvinism - but rather from motives of hospitality that I invite you to make the first inquiry. I am the host; you are the guest. Please, proceed."

"Well," Callie began, "I suppose a good place to start would be: why do you want to kill me?"

"A very good question, and simple one which requires a complex answer."

"Which I am just about to get - right?"

"Ah, persistence. I am so happy to see you manifest the personal characteristics as well as the physical beauty that drew me to you." Felix was glowing with satisfaction. "I am so happy to see that I made a good decision. I am more anxious than ever to hunt you."

Callie shook her head. "This meeting - is it some kind of audition for you to see if I'm good enough to kill?"

Felix laughed. "An amusing way to put it. A sense of humor is one of your many sterling qualities which brought me to seek you out."

"You obviously did some research on me."

"Oh, yes. I know of your record as an athlete, I've seen your college transcript, I've researched your family background, and I've studied your career as game in woman-hunts in great detail. As evidence of my claim, let me say that Morton chap should have known better than to go back for a second try and whatever happened to him was richly deserved, I am sure. In short, I know you very, very well."

"Who's my favorite song writer?" Callie decided to test Felix's assertion.

"That would be Cole Porter."

Callie was taken aback. "Okay. Uh, my all-time favorite movie actress?"

"The great Katherine Hepburn. Incidentally, I'm sure that you're aware that she and Porter were great friends in real life. It's probably no coincidence that you should admire them both."

"Yes. I'm aware of that." Callie sighed. "And you're probably right about the 'no coincidence' thing." Sheesh! This guy's good. "Okay, so you know me very, very well and you want to kill me. Am I supposed to find that flattering?"

"My dear Miss Landers - may I call you 'Callie'?" Receiving a nod, Felix went on, "Killing you is only a means to an end - some might consider it a regrettable means, but, I'm afraid it is a necessary one."

"Well, my death may be a 'means' for you, but, in another sense, it is definitely an 'end' for me. What is this all-important 'end' that you see my death as a means to?"

Felix spoke with great tenderness and affection. "Callie, I want to unite with you."

Callie shook her head in disbelief. "You mean you want to have sex with me? Is that what this is all about? I mean, I know a lot of men hunt women so that they can have sex with a dead girl, but one dead girl is pretty much like any other dead girl. Why am I so special?"

"Callie, I do want to have sex with you, but that is only part of what I want. And, for my purposes, trust me, one dead girl is NOT 'pretty much like any other dead girl.' You are a very special living woman and I have every reason to believe that you will be a very special dead one as well."

Callie was more puzzled than ever. Felix's manner was so sincere and gentle and, yet, what he wanted to do her - the killing, not the sex (she rather liked the idea of the sex) - was what she considered the ultimate act of hostility. Somehow, though, there was a resolution to this contradiction, she was sure.

"Callie, have you ever heard of Tantra?" Felix asked.

"I guess it's refreshing that you don't know everything there is to know about me." Callie was genuinely pleased about that. "Yes. I've heard of it and, from what I know of it (which isn't very much at all, really), I find it appealing. It comes out of India and it's a sexual-slash-religious practice. One of the things I like about it is that men really take their time, uh, reaching orgasm and, from what I've heard they can do it without actually, uh, ejaculating, which means that things can just go on and on."

"Yes, yes. Very much correct." Felix was enthusiastic in his approval.

"That male-orgasm-without-ejaculation thing - now that's something I wish they taught in sex ed classes." Callie smiled at that thought, but suddenly her expression changed to one of shock. "Wait! I think I recall hearing about one particular practice that involves the use of a corpse. I think the name began with 'sh' Is that...?"

"There is a ritual called shava sadhana. It is one of the deeper mysteries of Tantra and it is best understood as a metaphor, not an actual practice. By tradition, it requires a fresh corpse, in perfect condition with no deformities or disfigurements. If I am successful, your corpse will be perfect for use in such a ritual, except for two things. First, it is not permitted to kill someone solely for the purpose obtaining a corpse for shava sadhana. Second, it is my understanding that the bodies of women are not acceptable, though I think that modern attitudes would have changed that. But it is not my intention to use your body in that way."

Callie wasn't sure whether to be relieved or not. "Uh, just what IS your intention, then?"

"Unlike religions common in the West which condemn the erotic as a distraction from spiritual concerns, followers of Tantra generally regard the erotic as a gateway to enlightenment," Felix explained. "The basis for this is by no means difficult to understand. When one is at the very height of sexual arousal and one has dropped all inhibitions that would preclude one being totally absorbed in that state, then one is in the most complete state of bliss possible while one is encased in the flesh. It is at that moment that one's awareness approaches most closely that of the divine." Felix paused. "Is that a concept that you could agree to, Callie?"

After a moment of thought, Callie answered, "I can grasp it, yes. And I can't think of any reason to disagree."

"Very good. Now, it is the purpose of Tantric sexual practices to bring practitioners to this state of bliss and maintain them there. Simply put, this is accomplished by concentrating attention on the feminine, because of its greater capacity to sustain pleasure. Though the feminine exists in both males and females and the Tantric ideal is the Divine Androgyne, quite naturally the feminine is found in greater concentration in women, and that is why so much emphasis is placed on the pleasing of women. When a male has dropped his barriers completely, he may be carried along by the energies of his female partner to the bliss state. It is said that when a couple has formed a full Tantric partnership, the two become united in a way that transcends death. The two may, in fact, become soul mates for lifetimes to come."

"So, what does this have to do with girl hunting?"

"The moment of death is, by definition, a moment of transition and openness to change. I have a theory - my own, nothing that I attribute to any source - that if the moment of a woman's death coincides with her being a state of bliss induced by Tantric eroticism, a special bond would be formed between her and her partner."

"In other words, you want to kill me so that we can become soul mates - is that about right?" Callie asked.

"In essence, yes. At the very least, the partner of a woman dying under those circumstances might have a glimpse of eternity, an encounter with the divine."

"So, I would be your vehicle to paradise or something like that."

"Yes. Again, this theory is, as far as I know, purely my own invention. I don't mean to suggest that any other Tantric practitioner would agree with me."

"But what makes you so sure that you would want to be bound to me in that way?" Callie wondered.

"Everything that I have learned about you has led me to that conclusion. But, of course, I wanted to confirm my beliefs about you in person."

"Good thinking. I mean, soul mates - that isn't like a bad date that you can go home from early."

"Indeed. That is why I wanted you to be fully informed of my intentions before the hunt."

Felix's motivation was certainly on a higher level than that of the usual hunter that Callie ran for. Not only that - he seemed to be a much nicer person. As a matter of fact, if she had to pick out a soul mate in a blind lottery, she would consider herself lucky to have drawn him.

Nevertheless...

"Felix, wouldn't this work better if I knew something about Tantra? And doesn't it take years and years of study?"

"Oh, quite right. But I could hardly expect you to sacrifice that much time."

"Uh, you're planning on killing me. I would call the rest of my life a major sacrifice of time."

"Very true, in a sense. Of course, from your point of view from my point of view, it would be only a matter of moments."

"Wait, wait, wait." Callie waved her hand. "That's too many viewpoints and I don't get it at all."

"You see," Felix explained, "I believe that the interval between lives is not experienced in time as we perceive it when we are incarnate."

"Uh, yeah, uh, right." Callie didn't want to discuss that branch of metaphysics. "Still, wouldn't it be better if I knew something about Tantra?"

"Yes, possibly." With some eagerness, Felix asked, "Would you be willing to study the subject?"

"Well, no. Not right now, at least. But shouldn't we know each other a little better - no, make that A LOT better? I mean, when it comes to resumes and looks and personality, you like mine and I like yours, but..."

"Thank you very much.' Felix was pleased.

"Uh, you're welcome. But, how do we know that we're right for each other? I mean, people date each other for months or years and then get married and then find out that they suck as a couple."

"Ah, I appreciate your concern. That is why the exercise of hunting you is so perfect, if one believes in karma. If you are familiar with Tantra, surely you have heard of karma."

"Yes, uh, the fate or destiny that one shapes for oneself through one's actions,' Callie quoted as best she could from a textbook on world religions.

"A good working definition, yes. Although I shall make the most earnest effort to render you helpless and kill you, I shall be content with whatever outcome manifests. If it is our mutual karma that I succeed in bringing you down in the hunt, then so be it. I hope you agree."

"Accepting the outcome of a hunt is pretty much required," Callie said while thinking, Well, at least Felix won't be a sore loser. "Well, I still am not really sure why you think we would make ideal soul mates, but let's leave that for a while. Now, about what happens after you bring me down - all this stuff about bringing me to the peak of arousal - now, don't get me wrong, but you seem awfully confident about that."

"I can understand your skepticism on that point. My intention is to make love to you from the moment I come upon your unmoving form, but I shall not kill you until you have begun to recover from the effect of the drug. Thus, you will be able to give me verbal and other clues as to your state, before I proceed to kill you. It would be far too forward of me to suggest, at this moment, that I give you a full demonstration of my capabilities. However, I would like, with your permission, to give you a minor demonstration once our dinner arrives, which I see is about to happen. Have no fear: no touching will be involved and you should not be surprised if your other question - about why I find you so suitable - will be addressed at the same time."

No touching. Public place. Why not? "You have my permission."

As Felix had observed, two waiters carrying plates were approaching the table. When the food had been served, Felix asked that the curtain around the table be drawn and that it not be opened for another hour.

"We will dine in silence," Felix said, as soon as they were enclosed, "but we will communicate, I hope."

Callie looked a question at him.

"I want you to concentrate on me," he explained, "as I shall concentrate on you. If you are agreeable, we will try, not only to see each other as completely as possible, but we will also try to see the reflection of ourselves in the other's eyes. Ah, this latter is, of course, to be understood in the metaphorical sense, but, curiously, trying to perform that feat in the literal sense is very helpful."

Callie smiled and nodded, showing her willingness to begin the silence at once. She could think of many less pleasant ways to spend an hour than eating a nice dinner while gazing at the handsome man across the table from her.

And staring into his light brown eyes.

Eyes that had studied the lofty Queen of Sciences, philosophy, the thoughts of humankind expressed in purest forms by wisest minds, ...

.... that had pored over the principles of the mundane behavior of humans in groups great and small, ...

.... peered into the processes of life itself that was the foundation of all, down to the basic chemical processes of growth within a cell, and up to the organization of all living things into a sustained-but-evolving balanced planet-wide system, ....

.... had been trained to visualize how to utilize diverse materials to encase space in ways to make it most efficient and usable, ...

.... and perceived her as ...

.... a specimen of female beauty of a compact, streamlined type ...

.... a human being guided by a consistent set of ethics to which she remained steadfastly true ...

.... a person of achievement recognized by others and, more important, by herself ...

.... a mind that reasoned, absorbed knowledge, and remained always open ...

.... a soul capable of giving and receiving love ...

.... an epitome of a combination of the best, most desirable qualities that her kind possessed ...

.... beautiful, principled, triumphant, intelligent, loving, near to perfect.

She saw herself clearly and reveled in her glory and celebrated all that she was.

She wanted to join with herself

Ultimate consummation.

Destiny.

Suddenly, the curtain was opened.

Almost impossible to believe that an hour had passed.

Blinking her eyes, Callie stammered, "Oh, I guess the hour's up. I had better start eat..." She looked down at her plates and discovered that the food had disappeared - all of it. She did a little self-examination, and she realized her stomach was full. And she had no memory of taking a bite.

Well, that wasn't quite true. When she thought about it, she realized that she had been eating; she just hadn't noticed at the time. The body had taken care of its needs while the mind... What did the mind do?

She had come to see herself as she never had imagined. She was everything she admired. She was the product of a lifetime of effort. In her, so many sterling qualities had been brought to an exquisite level of expression. She had never looked at herself that way before, never realized so much about herself. She felt that she almost transcended the human. She was, if not a goddess, the earthly representation of one.

Her eyes widened at her own perception of herself.

Felix was smiling. "How do you feel, Callie?"

Clearing of throat. "Ahem. Uh, not very humble - to put it mildly."

"Humility is a virtue, but not one to be cultivated at this time. Humility before divinity is, in many religions, necessary for salvation. Humility before one's fellow humans in mundane life is a social courtesy. But before a Tantric partner, humility can be an impediment. For the partnership to be glorious, it is required that both partners be viewed as glorious, not only by each other, but by themselves."

Glorious was a pretty good description of how Callie felt at that moment and, though she never suffered from self-esteem problems, this was a whole new experience for her.

"How did you do that?" Although Felix did not seem in the least devious, Callie almost suspected that he had employed some sort of hypnosis on her.

"Learning to project one's positive feelings about one's partner is a necessary part of the Tantric path. Training and practice help, but it really comes quite naturally. For example, though you may not have studied me as thoroughly as I have studied you, our little session here has left me feeling not only like a male model, but also as though my picture belongs in a dictionary next to the phrase 'Renaissance man.' "

"Well, I have to admit, you do something to me," Callie acknowledged.

"Something that simply mystifies you?" An especially warm smile from Felix.

"Yes." Callie laughed. After all, Felix did know who her favorite song writer was. She ran through the lyric in her head.

You do something to me,
Something that simply mystifies me.
Tell me, why should it be
You have the power to hypnotize me?
Let me live neath your spell.
Do do that voodoo that you do so well.
For you do something to me
That nobody else could do.

"I would like to demystify all of this for you, with your permission, of course," Felix said. "I will, at this time, extend to you an invitation to witness a much longer and much more physical demonstration of my capabilities as a practitioner of Tantra."

"And I will, at this time, accept that invitation. Your place or mine?"

They chose Felix's place because he had already arranged all the accouterments helpful in a session of Tantric love-making: smooth silk sheets and many pillows on the hotel bed, incense, candlelight, scented soaps for bathing, and light refreshments for sustaining their energies.

Gentle kisses. Lingering caresses. Unusual positions that allowed for as much flesh-to-flesh contact possible.

They slowly moved through many different postures, but, for the most part, they were face to face, on their sides, neither assuming a superior position.

Legs intertwined, weight supported by pillows.

No hurry, no rush, nothing frantic.

Long intervals of hardly any movement at all.

His lingam pressed against her yoni. A very slow entrance. Only partial withdrawal and re-entrance, at a tempo barely noticeable by an outside observer - they could both have had a brimful glass of water balanced on their heads and never spilled a drop.

Incredibly intense orgasms - some of the most powerful Callie had ever felt. At other times, they might have caused her to shriek with a power that could shatter glass; this night, however, she made only a soft, purring sigh.

She made that noise a lot that night.

At times, she felt a very minimal shudder, a bare quiver, pass through him and she knew that he was having his orgasms, and they had the full-body involvement that she had only felt in herself and other women.

That night, and many times afterward when she would reflect on the experience, Callie realized that, in terms of sheer physical motion, there wasn't very much difference at all between the Tantric sex that she had with Felix and playing dead - or even being dead, for that matter.

But she had felt as completely alive when they were together as she had ever felt in her life. Good sex did not have to be a high impact exercise.

And, as for a glimpse of divine consciousness, she had moments when she seemed to sense the truth of the wholeness of everything, especially as exemplified in herself. Seeming contractions within her (e.g., a love of life and a willingness to risk it for money) were expressions of the same thing and it was possible to know what that thing was, though that knowledge would not come in the foreseeable future.

She also experienced a realization that the wholeness of her being was so complete that, indeed, even her dead body could be a legitimate object of attraction. Why should her desirability end with her life? Why should it be that, just because a lover could not experience one of her qualities (i.e., liveliness), he should forego her body altogether? Death would only separate her spirit and her body, not destroy either. Love for a woman's spirit after her death was more than just acceptable: it was considered respectful and reverent. Wasn't it unbalanced to disdain her body?

Now, even at the height of her bliss state, Callie didn't "buy" this "logic" completely. However, it was also true that even when she later reflected on these thoughts in her most sober, earthbound, non-erotic frame of mind, she didn't dismiss it as the most absurd nonsense she had ever heard.

Callie was far less ambivalent about another insight that came to her in her bliss state; this second notion she internalized as a part of her self-image.

The Divine Androgyne.

She possessed unmistakably feminine beauty and, on the other hand, great physical strength and endurance. She enjoyed taking both passive and aggressive roles sexually. She was both nurturing and physically protective of others. She was a grateful recipient and a generous giver. She could be firm as an oak or flexible as a willow.

In so many ways, she manifested near extremes of various polarities without internal conflict.

If she were to concentrate on developing her polar capacities, she could come as close to embodying the Divine Androgyne as she could imagine.

And when she thought about it, this was true of every person she knew.

In the morning, she thanked Felix for a memorable, educational experience as well as some of the best sex she had ever had.

The hunt itself was a total bust for Felix. He wasn't a bad tracker - he was very sensitive to environmental clues - but he never even came close to sighting her.

As expected, though, he was a very good sport about it, simply accepting the fact that "it was not meant to be."

Callie didn't exactly feel sorry for him. In fact, his contentment was enviable. However, Callie did a couple things that she had never done before: she wished Felix good luck in his future hunting. She wasn't wishing death for any of his quarry; that wasn't what she meant at all, and he knew it.

The other unique thing she did was that, after a few months, she sent half the runner's fee she had received to Felix. She tried to do it anonymously, but Felix found her out and thanked her graciously, but told her it was completely unnecessary. Callie told him it wasn't a "pity present": she had gone through college on scholarships and she thought it was about time that she started paying tuition. Felix had been an excellent teacher and she made extensive use of what she had learned.

Two years later, she received a wedding invitation from Felix. He had found a partner who had never run as quarry in her life. Callie had to decline the invitation, but she did send a present equal to the value of the balance of her runner's fee. On the thank you card that she received in return, Felix had written: "Tuition paid in full."

Incidentally, she received a phone call from Gladys within a week following the hunt.

"You understand now why I didn't want to talk about my hunt with Felix, don't you?" Gladys asked.

"Perfectly," Callie answered.

"You can also understand why I'd be willing to talk about it as long and as often as you would like, now that you've 'been there.' "

"I can."

"And you also know that we never need to talk about it at all."

"I know."

"Sister." Gladys spoke with affection.

"Sister." Callie responded in kind.

However, as much as Callie was of like mind with Gladys, Callie was not ready to stop running as quarry.

She was looking for something more.