On Fri, Dec 12, 2003 at 10:58:31AM -0800, Philip Hart wrote: > > Is it Zelazny's book _Doorways in the Sand_ where we see a duel between > two expert swordsmen, the duel consisting entirely of the men circling > each other looking for an deadly advantage? I remember one dueler saying, > "You almost had me there" at some point, though nothing visible changed. > There was a scene in one of the latter LK Hamilton books that makes this sort of confrontation a little more aprehensible to readers. (no plot spoilers) It is written in first-person perspective; a man walks into the office of the protagonist (she is armed with a pistol, among other things) for his appointment and sits down. As the protagonist is speaking with him, she decides she doesn't like the look of this guy - he's entirely too average and unremarkable, and there are several potential places where he could be concealing a weapon. As a precaution (she's justifiably paranoid at this point), the protagonist casually shifts/lowers her arms into a position that gives her excellent access to her pistol. The man sees this action, but is just late enough in comprehending its purpose that she has the advantage. After a tense exchange of words, the man, who is a professional assasin, congragulates her for getting the drop on him - she's apparrently the first in a rather long time to do so. I am afb and it has been at least 1.5 years since I read this book, so I could be mis-remembering, but I believe I got the gist of it. Kat