okay , she was n't an alien , not from off-planet or anything , but she also was n't anyone i could explain . i learned the way it works ; some of it was about how i was expected to react , but most of it was about how other people were expected to react . get past her , junior members of congress often declared , and you 're home free . bodies lay scattered around , fallen weapons and pieces of armor , and blood stained the rocks . 