Ann felt the shudders of undefined fear move through her body as she imagined the deep-set, piercing green eyes that hid the struggle to control the insanity that raged inside of him. Her breath nearly stopped, she gathered herself and reached deep inside for the control to calm herself, and silently asked the Gods to protect them from the evil she experienced when he was near.

They waited. Their silence nearly thundering inside of them. They waited for the air clear. They felt the porch shudder. His footsteps pounded the steps as if they were something to shred and kill. Their sighs were as audible as the hiss of the screen door closing behind him.

"I do think it is time," Ann said emphatically adding, "If you two will look in on the kitchen, I'll get the letter packs and taped messages ready.� Turning to Chris she asked, �Will you call down to me when Charlie's ready to serve?"

Nodding absently Chris replied, "Yes. I'm sure it won't be long, thirty minutes perhaps.� She turned away from the blackness huddled over the cans Lester had just filled. The blunt awareness of the ever present danger that faced the village intruded into her thoughts. Gathering herself she added, �Is that enough time for you?".

"Yeah, I think so," Ann replied. Lowering her voice she added, "I want to listen to Andy's tape one more time and make sure it's clear what we're asking him. His answer may be what we need if we want to avoid spending the whole winter on edge. It seems to me that secrecy, arguments, and accidents follow on the heels of suspicion. We can't afford to have that energy in the valley."

Nodding her head toward where Lester had been, Marie whispered, "I'm uncomfortable with him staying here, but I'm more uncomfortable thinking of him stalking the travelers," A tiny quiver could be heard in her voice as she absently brushed dark tendrils of hair from her forehead. �My gut tells me something is wrong, darkly wrong. I just can't put my finger on it.� Highly intuitive and sensitive to negativity and conspiracy, Marie had not hidden her concern about Lester since the day of his rescue. He had remained suspect in Marie�s eyes since he had been found by the ground team and picked from the depths of the old Red Line Mine dehydrated and delirious.

"You know, Marie," Chris said softly as her body shuddered at the fear Marie�s words sent through her, "it scares me when you react like that to someone. I remember when you reacted the same way years ago to someone else. It was the only time I ever heard you use the word �evil� to describe someone, and you had that dark feeling then about Dan, and you were right. In hind-sight I wish we would have listened more closely to you.� An audible sigh escaped her, as if she had been holding her breath, and she continued, �I must say, for everyone's safety, I hope you're wrong this time."

After fifty some years of friendship, sistership really, Chris and Marie�s emotional and psychic bond created an aura of a strange oneness. When seen together, the strange psychic thread that connected them was eerily evident. They were psychically enmeshed, pulsing with the same rhythm, emotionally bonded to each other, and yet as different as night and day.

In childhood, Chris knew she was different. She saw things that she shouldn�t, but never shared her visions with anyone except her grandmother, who shared the same strange ability. She had managed to keep her secret, even after her grandmother�s death. Until she met Marie. After the loss of her grandmother Marie had become Chris� confidant. Later, an incident occurred in the early days of her marriage that was so unnerving she had no choice but to share it with her husband, Richard. She never accepted her ability as a gift, but thought of it more as a curse. She came to believe that something was terribly wrong with her. She had learned it was best not to touch, not to look, not to know.

Marie, too, had been aware of her ability since childhood. Sensing from her feeling world, knowing what she could not know. She too, had kept her secret to herself. The moment they met, though only 9 and 11 years old they had become instant friends. As teenagers they learned of deja vu and came to believe they had been together in other lifetimes, a thought that always tickled them into wild laughter and moments of sober thought. They had some how known it was not a new friendship but a rekindling of an eons-old relationship. A relationship shared in the reaches of time and space where the conscious mind was not allow to travel, lifetime after lifetime.

Together they had begun a spiritual journey, a journey of encouraging each other, supporting each other and sharing. Their religious backgrounds, though both had been raised as Christian, had been vastly different in content and ritual, but that didn't seem to matter. They had the ability to see the same thing in different ways yet, culminating in similar results. Throughout their relationship they remained somewhat different in their beliefs and had learned along the way how to honor and celebrate those differences in each other.

Slapping her palms against the railing, Ann ended the discussion. "Come on, we can talk about this later, we have a lot to do before the sun rises."

"You're right,� Chris said. She pushed herself away from the post, turning toward the door. �The kids will be anxious to go, and there's no need to worry them; we can handle it later. Can you bring the candles up with you?" For a moment, Chris was aware of that odor again, that peculiar almost steaming odor of sulfur. Where had she smelled it before? It was gone, she let it go and moved to the back door of the house, glancing timidly over her shoulder, looking for what, expecting what, she did not know.

Before the door slid shut, the aroma of an old-fashioned farm kitchen filled with chatter and joy greeted them. Ann, with her keen olfactory awareness, uttered a delicious sounding, "Yum," under her breath reluctantly turned away and headed to the office. Marie and Chris, taking a deep breath, entered the kitchen, which at that moment more closely resembled a giant anthill filled with activity than a busy kitchen in the midst of breakfast being prepared.

Charlie and Juan, the village chefs, moved randomly from stovetop, to ovens, to countertop, giving orders, making suggestions, tasting, stirring, arranging. You would have thought that no one less then the Queen Mother to be the guest of honor. Charlie and Juan saw Chris and Marie at the same moment and, like moths racing to a flame, came dashing toward the women.

With a frenzy Charlie began speaking long before he was close enough to be understood. His deep, strong voice consumed the lessor noise of the room, "Oh, is it time? We're not ready, the eggs aren't in, there's no deer or elk yet.� His arms raised as if in total exasperation he boomed, �We need thirty minutes!"

Chris, her voice soft and reassuring tried to calm him, "It's all right Charlie.� She patted his arm softly. �No hurry. Thirty minutes is fine.� And with a little laugh added, �In fact, it's probably perfect. Betts will be here soon, so don't worry about the deer and elk.� Glancing toward Marie she added, �We�re here. So what would you like us to do to help?"

Standing noticeably straighter and heaving a great sigh, Charlie practically kissed them. His voice less strained and with a tiny but audible sigh he added, "That sounds good! How about garnishes?" Holding up his hands as if showing off a new pair of gloves, �these mighty slabs can�t seem to get the pretty part to look pretty,� his deep infectious, hearty laugh filled the room.

He talked and answered himself while he ushered them to the area where the prepared dishes were waiting to be dressed for presentation. His big hands slapped bunches of parsley, cilantro, and other herbs into their hands, turned quickly and with more orders spouting from his mouth tromped off, Juan on his heels. Looking at each other as they held the bouquets of herbs, the women broke into laughter and busied themselves with the artistic final touches on the prepared breakfast dishes.

Charlie, huge at 6'4" and 350 lbs. was quite formidable to encounter in the kitchen or in the woods, but quickly discovered to be a gentle giant in safe surroundings. He was clearly at home in a white coat with a spatula and pan in his hands or dressed in fatigues and carrying an automatic weapon. In charge of the kitchen for nearly seven years, he had watched the community grow, not necessarily in girth but by number. When Charlie first arrived he alone cooked for the twenty-eight people in residence. Today he would feed just over 200. He had been a godsend, and everyone was grateful for his talent, his easy-going manner, and delightful personality. He and a couple of helpers had been alone in the kitchen until Juan and his wife asked to move to the upper valley some five years ago.

Since Juan�s arrival in the valley he and Charlie had become great friends and ran a well- oiled kitchen. Every meal planned with their expertise used the available seasonal crops and stored foods proficiently. Under their watchful eyes, meals were lovingly prepared by a rotating supporting staff.

As a result of their diligent work, the Great Room had become the village meeting place, a restaurant of sorts. Folks tended to gather there for coffee, tea, chatter, and camaraderie.

Thanks to Ann and Charlie the system worked, the community was well fed, physically healthy and emotionally bonded.

"Did you get your usual peek at the food and medicine packs the other day, Chris?" Marie asked, as she pulled some parsley from the bunch and placed it on a platter of fruit.

"I did, yes.� She replied working absently. �Ann and I met with Missy, Clair, Randy, and David. We checked the food lists, the medicine bags, and first aid kits and went over the computer codes, radio channels, the weapons and ammo.� She sliced an orange very thinly, dipped the slices in sugar, twisted them and arranged them neatly on the platter of sausages as she talked, �We thought they did very well with their supplies. Of course, they thought we wanted them to take too much,� laughing lightly she continued, �and rather politely reminded us they could have stayed out two more months with the food they brought back last year.� She pushed the finished platter toward Ann for the parsley and paprika garnish as she continued, �And, equally politely of course, we reminded them that the year before they were without food and foraging their last three days.� Smiling brightly she added, �So, it was a stand-off, we won and they finally agreed to pack a little extra.� Lowering her voice to almost a whisper and grinning broadly, her deep azure eyes twinkling she said, �I think the agreement came just to keep the old women happy.� They both laughed knowing this had been a ploy they had used very successfully for the last few years.

Chris� voice softened as she turned to a more serious matter. �They're taking one of the guns David reworked, the ones they modified to lasers.� She chopped some cilantro and sprinkled it over the sliced tomatoes, popped a few leaves in her mouth and savored the flavor. �Randy said it worked perfectly and if David had engineered it during World War II, that war would have been over on the seventh day! They're very excited about it.� Shaking her head slowly as if not clearly understanding she continued, �I didn't see its unveiling, but I heard it was something."

"I saw the test, and it was something.� Marie answered as she crushed rosemary with the broad side of a cleaver. �They were all excited, the testosterone was flying that day!� She winked and laughed as she continued, �and it's nothing like the guns from those old war movies. Remember that movie, The Guns of Navarone, and those mammoth guns they had in the cave? From listening to their conversations, I thought it would be like that; well, it isn't. It's almost sinister, and far more destructive than I ever imagined and minute in comparison. It's so small and light that even you or I could easily carry it, and it's nearly silent.� Her voice, tinged with awe, reflected the astonishing and fearful sight her eyes had seen. She continued, �It was eerie it was so silent. I don't know what David did, but with two very tiny pings it totally destroyed what was left of the old magnesium plant down in Addison.� Her voice reflected the incredible experience and she added. It reduced every brick to sand -- sand you could sift through your fingers. I guess they won't be reviving that place when this is over.� She stopped working for a moment, her voice ebbed with fear as she continued. �Do you know if they are they leaving the other three here?" Resuming her task she sprinkled the crushed rosemary over the roasted potatoes and slid the dish toward Chris.

"No, not really. TJ said they would be leaving two here and dropping off one in Colevale to help protect their east entrance. Apparently most of their trouble comes from that entrance. He said the north and east entrances were the two most defended areas last spring and summer.� Shaking her head and feeling the sadness creep in she continued. �They have so few defenders now, Tom decided they could use some help; at least on the east side. He said they would put double protection there for the winter. They�re hoping to deter some of the food and medical raids. The one they're leaving here is at the north end of the valley where the flooding was this spring. TJ and Tom think that's our most vulnerable entry point. They're going to move the security offices to that side of the valley before it snows.�

A sudden thought sparked a change in her voice, �Speaking of Tom, I'm surprised he and Paul missed the celebration last night. I expected them back before the kids left. I'm not happy about this journey beginning without the surveillance report. Do you suppose they may fly in yet this morning?"

"They had some delay, but I think they're due to arrive any time,� Marie said. Wiping her fingers on a towel, she turned and leaned against the counter watching and appreciating all the busy hands working in the kitchen. Taking a breath she continued, �Betts said they radioed yesterday and assured her they would be back before breakfast.�

Glancing around the kitchen Maries' eyes widened. "Look at that pan of sausage gravy.� Absently she add, � I hope the repairs on the fridge in that bus hold up.� She placed the last platter on the cart, and with a little giggle added, �We could fill it with leftover sausage gravy." Catching a flash from the corner of her eye, Marie glanced out the window. Four lights were bobbing their way through the meadow. "Better call Ann, Chris. I see lights coming across the square from the warehouse."