BW

It had been two weeks since Claire had gotten the Russians and Chinese to detonate the E.M.P. bombs. Yet STILL there had been only a slight improvement in the situation for the invading forces. The Russians were continuing to fail in breaching the Appalachian Mountains. The only progress that had been made in the south, was along the Mississippi River. The combined force of Cuban and Mexican men had been able to make it nearly one hundred miles up river. The bad news was they hadn't been able to exploit the extended beach head more than five to eight miles inland.

It was that limited progress that had saved him, when the same messenger that had visited the late president came to see him.

"The master is not pleased with your lack of progress. You were expected to have made much further gains by this time. You must improve on this situation. The failure of your counterpart in the north central region has already led to his being replaced. The movement you've been able to make along the river is all that has kept him from replacing you. And you know what that means."

An involuntary shiver went up Claire's' spine. He knew. The thought of the consequences of failing the master was terrifying even to him.

"Progress is being made, and once we have joined with the Russian forces coming down from the north, we'll have the country cut in two. After that, nothing can stop us. We'll have a back door into the eastern mountains, and crush the remainder of them between our forces and the ones coming in from the west. I just need a little more time to join with the northern armies."

"The northern armies?" The messenger scoffed, "Haven't you been listening? They haven't made ANY real progress, that is why Dupree was replaced. You better have another plan for securing your sector. Help from the north will be long in coming. And if this replacement doesn't do any better, YOU may be required to help him. Have you thought about that?"

"I didn't think it would be necessary."

"It might be, so think about it. Speaking of thinking, the master isn't convinced you've been doing a lot of that lately. WHAT made you believe you would serve our purpose by having that preacher call the followers of the Nazarene to battle? DON'T bother answering. There is no excuse you could give that would be believed. You should have had him appeal to the pacifist side of those people. The master wants you to deal with him. Permanently."

"Perhaps you would like that honor. He was coming to see me just before you arrived. He is in the outer office right now."

What passed across the messengers face could only be considered a smile by the number of pointed teeth he showed.

"Yes, I would."

Claire signaled his secretary to allow the preacher to enter.

"Director Claire, I..." His voice failed as he saw the messenger. "What in the name of God..." that was as far as he got before being backhanded across the room, to land at Claire's' feet.

"In the name of God I bind you." he shouted.

Claire pulled the man to his feet, and then right off the floor.

"FOOL. What makes you think you can bind us? YOU HAVE SERVED US. Do you think the one you call on will help you now, when you couldn't even use the name of the Nazarene? You belong to OUR master." He easily tossed the man back across the room. The messenger caught him before he hit the floor.

Nobody knew for certain what happened to the preacher. They simply knew he had entered Claires' office. There was some shouting, and when the director called for the clean up crew, he wasn't there anymore, although it looked like most of his blood was.

---

Bob was in the metal shed, making a glass of colloidal silver with a small 'silver generator' that he had, when Maria came in.

"What ARE you doing?"

"Making colloidal silver."

"Ka-who?"

"Think of it as alternative medicine." He saw the questioning look on her face, and continued. "I first heard of this back when Alex was about six. They say that most virus' and bacteria can't survive in the same environment with pure silver. I mean .999 fine silver. I thought I'd give it a try. I've been taking it ever since."

"Does it work?"

"Well, you tell me. Alex is twenty-one now, and every year, up until the time he left home for college, Nancy would drag him down to the clinic for the two of them to get their flu shots. About one year in three, one or both of them would get sick. I never got the shots, and I never got sick."

"Interesting." was all Maria said. After a couple of minutes she spoke again. "Do you mind if I ask you a personal question?"

"You can ask, that doesn't mean I'll answer."

"Fair enough. Have you ever thought about finding someone else?"

Bob was quiet for a while, and Maria was starting to regret the question when he answered.

"That's kind of complicated. You see, Nancy and I were married for twenty-five years. We were very much in love from day one. Totally dedicated to each other, and our family. We were also the most mismatched couple you'd ever be likely to meet. She was a Democrat, I was a Republican. I enjoyed hunting, fishing, camping, all that kind of thing. She liked going to Macy's Department store, and cocktail parties. Then, of course, there was the matter of faith. I'm a Bible believing Christian. She, on the other hand was basically an agnostic. She believed that being good was good enough.

Anyway, after she died, I mourned her for months. Until one day I decided that she wouldn't want me to spend the rest of my life alone. That is when I made a startling discovery. After all that time, I was so far out of touch with the dating scene, I don't even know what the rules are anymore. And to be totally truthful, I've never been able to figure out what a woman's motives or intentions are. So, as I was sitting at home thinking about all of this, the bottom started to fall out. Since then, there hasn't been time to even think about it."

"I see. Can I show you something?"

"Sure. What is it?"

"This." Maria pulled a locket from out of her shirt, where it hung by a chain from around her neck.

"I can't see it very well from here. What is it?"

"Come closer, take a look."

Bob moved to where Maria was sitting, and bent down to look at the locket. Maria dropped it, reached up with both hands, grabbed him by the neck, and firmly kissed him.

After a few moments she let him go, looked him in the eye and said,

"Does THAT leave any doubts about my motives and intentions?"

"Uh, no. I'd say that was pretty clear."

"So, what do you think?"

"I think,"

The door to the shed banged open, followed by a very loud call of "DAD!!"

"I'm going to beat my son senseless." He continued. " What is it, Alex?"

"The flare on the main road into town just went off. Tim is on the roof. He says he can see about four or five people moving out there."

"I'm on my way." Bob reached over and picked up his rifle, and saw Maria pick up her shotgun.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"With you. And don't give me any of that macho stuff about it being 'man's work'. I can shoot as well as you do, and besides they might be locals returning home. If they are, I'd know them, you wouldn't."

Unable to argue with the logic, he said,

"Alright. Just be careful out there."

"Yes Sir."

Alex fell in beside his father on the way to the neared ridge. After they had gotten ahead of the rest, he asked his father,

"Can I ask you what was going on in there?"

"NO, you can't."

"Oookay. Forget I asked."

As Bob moved futher out front towards the ridgeline, Alex grinned at his back.

Soon, Bob, Maria, Alex, and Tim were on their stomachs peeking over the ridge into the valley on the otherside. Looking through his binoculars, Bob saw two men, a woman, and what seemed to be a teenage boy, but with the jackets they were wearing, it was hard to tell. Bob passed the binoculars he was using to Maria.

"Recognise anyone?"

Maria peered through them, for a few minutes.

"I'm not sure. I think I've seen at least one of them before, but I can't be sure." Turning to Bob, she asked, "How do you want to handle it?"

He thought about it for a moment, then he turned to her. "Feel like a walk?"

"Wait a minute, Dad. Why you? Why don't I go?"

"Because after me, you're the best with this." He gave Alex his rifle. "And these people are going to be wondering what the flare was all about. An older couple is going to be less threatening than a young man."

"What do you mean older?" Maria asked as she elbowed him in the ribs.

"O.K. Middle-aged then. Point is, we're less of a threat. They will be less likely to panic and start shooting."

"Did you see any guns?" Tim wanted to know.

"No, but that doesn't mean they don't have any. Maria, leave the shotgun, and take just the pistol. I'll do the same. We're going to just walk straight down to them. If they make any sudden moves, take cover. Alex, Tim, if we duck, you two do what you have to. Scare them away, if possible, kill them if you must." He looked at Maria."Ready?"

Maria nodded.

BW, Vietnam Vet