"...some cloud and possibly some rain to the north of us, but close to town tonight will be clear and cool. Perfect weather for staring up at that big, beautiful full moon with that special someone. Just remember that the temperature will be dipping down into the low teens, so you will definitely want to bring along a jacket." The beautiful blond woman finished gesturing at the symbols on the screen behind her and said, "Back to you, Stan."

"Thank you Jill," said the handsome man seated behind the desk. "That was Jill Tanner, our resident meteorologist. Jill, do you need anyone to keep you warm under that moon tonight?"

"Not in this lifetime," she was heard to reply from far off in the studio.

Stan chuckled. "You know I'll keep trying. Okay, it's a quarter to the hour and time for our business report. Today we are fortunate to have in the studio Jack Trent, Chief Correspondent for the European Business Network. Jack, it's good to see you."

"Thanks Stan. It's good to be seen." The two men chuckled at their banter.

"I understand there was some excitement in the markets recently," said Stan. "What can you tell us?"

"Well Stan, most people by now are aware that Valeria Engel, the German billionaire and CEO of Strong Angel Industries, died unexpectedly this week. The standard market response to bad news is to sell, and the traders at the banks jumped on this stock, causing it to fall by more than ten percent."

"We heard about this earlier in the week," Stan said. "So what's been happening today?"

"Quite a lot Stan," Jack told him. "Strong Angel held a press conference in Bistritz this morning to introduce Valeria Engel's heir and successor, and it couldn't have been a bigger disaster. Strong Angel's new majority shareholder, President and CEO is nineteen-year old Mila Stein, an American community college student."

Trent presented several photos from the press conference, showing a lost and confused Steve.

"Stein seemed to be completely overwhelmed, and one had to feel sorry for a young girl thrust into the spotlight in this way. But she is the CEO of a powerful, global corporation, and people deserve answers. Unfortunately this girl didn't even know what her own company sells."

"So how did investors react?" asked Stan.

"The banks and institutional investors, who are prepared and can react within seconds, began dumping the stock as fast as they could. By the time the conference was over the stock had fallen almost twenty percent. On a seventy billion dollar company, that represents a loss of almost fifteen billion dollars."

"But that's not the end of the story, is it?"

"No Stan, that's just where it begins. Just when things looked like they couldn't get any worse, Fräulein Stein decided to tell off her own major shareholders, the very banks who held the value of her company in their hands. She told them that their own faulty reasoning made them responsible for their own losses. The banks, of course, reacted by selling more, driving prices down further, and incurring deeper losses.

"But then, the video of the press conference got out on the internet and it went viral. People who saw it heard this girl's message, and her direct and honest view of the world resonated with them. They liked the idea that a young girl would risk everything in order to school the big banks. And nearly everyone who saw the video picked up a phone, called a broker, and put in an order to buy Strong Angel.

"By the closing bell, the stock had regained all its losses plus ten percent. This represents losses to the banks of almost five billion dollars, almost all of that wealth transferred to individual investors. And Fräulein Stein, the girl who risked everything, increased her own personal net worth by over ten billion dollars and is now the richest woman in the world, a title not even Valeria Engel herself ever achieved."

"The banks can't be very happy about that," Stan suggested.

"They aren't. But then, Fräulein Stein has no reason to care what they think, as they are no longer major shareholders in her company. And the people who now hold all the banks' money couldn't be happier with her."

"That's one Frau who will make you go WOW!" said Stan.

"You could say that, yes," Jack Trent replied as he tried not to wince.

"A real life Robin Hood tale, that's for sure," said Stan. "And why shouldn't Robin Hood get some of the gold as well? Thank you Jack Trent, EBN. Now in fashion news: several designers have announced today that they are going back to the drawing board, redesigning their winter lines to incorporate more blue..."

Doctor Pretorius switched off the television and leaned across his desk to speak with Fräulein Stein.

"I must admit," admitted Pretorius. "I thought you had lost your mind when you entered the press conference. This simple, naïve girl-next-door act even had me fooled."

"Act! Right," said Steve. He had been sitting casually on the arm of a large chair across the room, but the boredom of the news program caused him to fall backward until he was slumped sideways, his legs kicking up and down over the arm. Now that Pretorius was speaking to him he straightened up and sat facing the mad scientist.

"I should have realized," continued Pretorius. "You were thinking three steps ahead of everyone else as usual. Absolutely brilliant, strategic moves!"

"Thanks," said Steve. He had been trying to think up ways to get away from the doctor and decided to put a plan into action. "So I was thinking, with all that money, maybe I should take a vacation. You know, get away from the office and everything." And by everything, he meant Pretorius and the continual threat of unpleasant death which he represented.

"An excellent idea," said the doctor, bringing a look of relief to Steve. "If you could just give me the secret to life, I will continue our work while you get some much deserved rest."

"Oh right, that," said Steve. His relief was incredibly short-lived.

"I trust that is not a problem," said Pretorius. "You did promise me, after all. And now we have living proof that all your theories are correct! Much work remains to package the process suitably as a beauty treatment, but I can continue this work in your absence. All I need is the secret."

Steve stood, and wandered about the room nervously. "About that. You see, the secret of life is, well, a secret! And the thing about secrets is, you're not supposed to tell anyone. I could tell you, but then you might tell someone, and he might tell someone, and pretty soon it's not a secret." He added as an afterthought, "Then we wouldn't even know what to call it. I mean, what do you call the secret of life once it isn't a secret anymore?"

"Doktor Engel, you cannot possibly be questioning my loyalty!" said Pretorius as he tried to control his temper. There was a reason he was called a mad scientist, after all.

"No!" Steve backtracked. "No, of course not. I mean, I was planning on making you employee of the month! You're great. Good job. It's just, maybe you're not ready to know this secret."

Doctor Pretorius looked at Fräulein Stein, and for the first time truly assessed her. He had fully believed she was Valeria Engel, because he wanted to believe, needed to believe. But there were just too many inconsistencies. She didn't understand German. She didn't recognize her own lawyer, or understand the most basic functions of her own company. She could barely dress herself. Pretorius began to look at Fräulein Stein in a new way; as an impostor.

"Are you suggesting that I require more study?"

"Exactly!" said Steve. "Hit the books. Think it through on your own. You'll get there!"

"I was thinking of reexamining the brain," Pretorius said coolly. "What would you think of the pulmonary valve as a starting point?"

"Great idea!" agreed Steve. "You get right on that, and I'm going to..."

"The pulmonary valve is in the heart," Pretorius said with an icy demeanor.

"Yes! Of course, I knew that," said Steve. "I just meant, look at, like, any valves in the brain..."

"There are no valves in the brain," Pretorius informed her. He reached under his desk and pressed a red switch. "Valeria Engel would most certainly have known that. Which leads me to conclude that you are not Valeria Engel."

"Me?" said Steve. "What? Me, not Valeria Engel? Of course I am! Like, I know that she, that is to say I, wrote papers, and, I own a VCR. I went to a hockey game! Who else would I be?"

Dieter and Friedrich appeared through the door behind Steve.

"You've left me in a difficult position," said Pretorius. "You see, I've already promised to sell the secret of life to certain North Korean acquaintances. They are very anxious to begin a super soldier program, and are becoming impatient. I need the secret to life, but that secret is locked in your brain."

"I thought you said I wasn't Valeria Engel, and I don't have the secret in my brain!" said Steve.

"Oh the secret is in your brain," said Pretorius. "It's just a matter of how we get it out. If you were Valeria Engel, I could ask you. However, since you are not Valeria Engel, the only way is through surgery."

Steve backed up, bumping into Dieter and Friedrich. "Surgery?" he said, looking at the two large men surrounding him.

"Specifically, an autopsy," Pretorius told him. Then turning to the two henchmen he told them, "This girl is not Valeria Engel. Seize her!"

Dieter grabbed Steve's arm. Steve turned and pushed back, involuntarily sending Dieter flying across the room into a wall. Steve was at first shocked by what he had done, but quickly realized he was fully in control of the situation! After noting that Dieter did not appear to be getting up any time soon, Steve confidently turned to Friedrich, lifted him by his shirt, and carried him across the room, depositing him in a chair.

Fräulein Stein then turned to Pretorius and proceeded to pound his desk with her tiny, manicured hands, reducing the heavy mahogany surface to splinters.

"I may not be Valeria Engel," Steve told him. "But I am Mila Stein! The richest woman in the world, your boss, and fully capable of defending myself. And by the way, you're fired!"

"Dieter, Friedrich," Pretorius said, not taking his eyes off of Steve. "Please be prepared to catch the Fräulein when she falls."

"What are you..." said Steve. Pretorius took a small device out of his jacket pocket and touched a button. Steve collapsed, unconscious, into Dieter and Friedrich's waiting arms.

 "You are far too trusting, Fräulein," Pretorius said as he leaned over Steve's inert body. "Leaving me alone with your brain for so long, how could I resist installing a remote control chloroform capsule in your sinus cavity?"

A/N: TWO cliffhanger endings tonight! Is this the end of Roddy and Zolfina? Has Steve's luck run out? Find out next week!