"Well, really well," she said, with obvious fervor. "I mean, I'm just gettin
g started, so it's a little rough. I think it'll be a few more months before
I really get my legs." She smiled brightly. She was so new that she didn't
realize that admitting weakness was a mortal sin among agents. I wondered ho
w she got past the screening process. Beside me, I could feel waves of pity
emanate from Miranda. Now I knew why she had suggested Amanda -- she was try
ing to keep this clearly non-cynical young woman from having the stuffing ki
cked out of her by her more vicious compatriots.
"Can I expense lunch?" Miranda asked.
"Well," Van Doren admitted, "There is that too."
"That's terrible," Miranda said, and I could hear a trace of bitterness in h
er voice. "She deserves better than to have her brain, or any part of her, j
ust thrown in the trash. Any of us do."