[the phantom]

Mardil waved goodbye to his shapely TA, closed the door of his University dorm room, and fell back onto the couch. "Well, that's one task taken care of."

"What do you mean by that?" asked Anakron as he entered from the kitchen munching on potato chips.

Mardil jumped up in surprise. "When did you get here?"

"Oh, a couple minutes ago, but you didn't answer my question, Mardil. What do you mean when you say that one of your tasks is taken care of?"

Mardil winked and drew a certificate from a hidden pocket. There was a lot of typical legal and official babble scattered about the small scroll, but the important bit read ...Mardil II has completed his course in Approaches to Rulership at the University of Mordor.

"That's an amazing accomplishment considering you never went to class," observed Anakron.

"Well, Katie gave me the complete notes for the class so I just studied those and took my test," explained Mardil.

"And Katie is?"

"The TA."

"But didn't you lose attendance points for not going to class?"

"No, no," said Mardil, "Katie marked me present at every meeting."

"And your paper?" asked Anakron.

"Oh, that didn't take any time at all. Katie gave me a heads up on all the stuff the professor wanted to see, and told me some things to put in my paper that would rub the prof the right way."

"And how in the world did you manage to convince Katie to do all of this for you?" asked Anakron.

"You already know the answer, I'm sure," remarked Mardil as he grinned and sat back down on the couch.

Anakron rolled his eyes. "Yes, yes, I suppose I do know the answer, Mister Bond."

"Mister who?"

"Never mind."

Mardil reached down and grabbed a bag of beef jerky from beside the couch and ripped it open. "Sit down, Anakron, and tell me why you're here."

Anakron did not sit, but he did lean against the wall. "I came to ask why you've been at the hospital just about every day but have not taken your physical."

"I've just been getting to know all the nurses," replied Mardil.

"And what purpose does that serve?" asked Anakron.

"Well, seeing as I have to have some sort of surgery, it will be to my advantage if the entire surgical staff is fond of me."

"In other words," said Anakron, "You are insuring that nothing major is done to you?"

"Correct. No matter what the doctor recommends, that surgical staff won't take a scalpel to me for a million dollars. The most they will do is snip off a hang nail, or perhaps give my hair a trim," laughed Mardil.

"Well then, it appears you have that situation under control. When are you going in for your physical?"

"Right now. After that I'll hop over for my psych evaluation."

Anakron walked over to the closet door and opened it. "What if your physical takes too long and doesn't allow you time to go for your psych eval?"

"I'll make sure the doctor administering the physical keeps it short," said Mardil with a twirl of his favorite knife.

Anakron nodded and turned towards the closet. "I'll see you later, Mardil." And with that, he stepped into the closet and shut the door. Mardil crossed the room and opened the door, but Anakron was nowhere to be seen.