The First Love Of Alipang Havens

Alipang, Terrance and Henry had spent Friday afternoon and evening playing a vengeful hide-and-seek with the invaders -- of whom another platoon's worth had come north via the tunnel which communicated with the Merchandise Center's basement. It had begun with arrows and bullets, picking off Aztlano troopers from cover as opportunity allowed. When Henry had run out of arrows, he gave his powerful yet user-friendly Everstrain bow to Terrance, enabling the teenager to be more effective while continuing to play his role at long range-- assuming he could obtain some arrows to shoot from it. Sturdy and courageous as Alipang's younger brother was, he had never before fought anyone to the death hand to hand. With darkness approaching, the Apache and the Moro intended to resort to close-up slaying.

Floyd Barrington's group had at last met with Alipang's, just long enough for the less-warlike team to pick up what news their friends had, leave off spare arrows for Terrance, and then clear out. Alipang's group saw nothing more of the remnant of the armored column, but did at one point hear distant explosions, and guessed that the Texas Rangers had finished off that threat one way or another. Terrance, commanded by his elder brother to take no reckless chances, had kept the enemy occupied awhile by sniping, using his arrows sparingly until he ran out. He did wound three hostiles in the course of this diversion. Then he had fled headlong to his secondary assignment: to find and borrow provisions from houses in Casper, since he and Alipang and Henry were going to need food and water at some point. Alipang had chosen four locations around Casper, in descending order of probable safety, as potential rendezvous points.

During the time of Terrance's sniping, Alipang and Henry had made preparations to set a series of non-residential buildings on fire. There had not been time, when rescuing Eric at the church, to search their fallen enemies for infra-red vision gear; but they had no doubt that the Aztlanos did have such equipment. Consequently, the two Grange men didn't intend to begin close-up sneak attacks until there were fires blazing to make their body-heat silhouettes less noticeable for sentries.

This plan, in short, worked beyond all expectations. Between eight p.m. and midnight, Alipang and Henry slew nine Aztlanos between them. Henry actually did scalp two of his four victims. He didn't bother keeping the gory trophies; it was enough that the other invaders would see the scalped corpses, and hopefully would be at least a little intimidated.
With exhaustion creeping up on them, Alipang and Henry finally disengaged... carrying with them additional weapons taken from their dead foes. They found Terrance at the second hideout; he served them food, then kept watch while they slept.

Although not in communication with the Grangers, the nearby contingent of Commerce Inspectors gained boldness when made aware both of the guerrilla-style strikes against the invaders within Casper, and of the Texans using the rail gun captured by Emilio Vasquez to disable the last Aztlano armored vehicles. While Alipang and his comrades were recovering strength, the Commerce Inspectors took on the Aztlanos in a firefight in the center of town. The Commerce Inspectors retreated after four of their number died, but they also had slain some of their adversaries.

Meanwhile, Forest Ranger Mark Terrell saw no more point in his remaining at the rear when a war was in progress. Avery Glass, Osmawani Jalil and the other civilian leaders were doing well enough at helping the Energy Undersecretary to hold Rapid City together. So Mark, with Dana and Whiplash, rounded up available officers from the multiple police bodies, and flew in a Transport Police plane (with only enough fuel to fly one-way) to the western frontier of the Enclave. Their purpose was to reinforce the handful of Grange hunters, led by Gabe Ellison, who were trying to block up the breach an Aztlano force had made on that front. For although the first thrust from the west had been foiled, there was no guarantee that a much larger enemy force would not come in that way -- the more so since the force from the south was faring so poorly.

On Saturday morning before full daylight, Alipang, Terrance and Henry slunk out of Casper, leaving it awash in flames. The Aztlanos not only had not put out the fires Alipang and Henry had set; in frustration at not catching the nocturnal counter-raiders, they had made the juvenile gesture of starting more fires. These acts of arson deliberately claimed vacated homes... and the Church of the Faithful.

North of Casper, Alipang's party found where a Transport policewoman was supervising civilian volunteers in tearing up railroad tracks, to prevent the invaders from pressing northward by that means. The policewoman was able to inform them that the Texas Rangers, during the night, had made their last sortie with the Great Condor until more fuel and ammunition might become available. Fu Hai-Sheng and Vesta Jackson had used the Condor to rout the remainder of the Aztlano forces besieging the Gas Hills uranium complex. Lieutenant Vasquez had allowed himself to see personally to his father-in-law being provided with adequate medical care -- at the same north Wyoming infirmary where Alipang and Henry had been treated for chemtrail-gas overdose, back while the place had belonged to Overseers. No one had condemned Emilio for doing this, because he had done it only after the invasion was clearly blunted, and he was soon back on duty.

Aztlano infantry was still marching in through the southern breach in the Enclave perimeter; now it was scattering as it came, to meet stealth warfare with stealth warfare. Aerial recon had shown that now the Aztlano reinforcements even had at least one holographic camouflage apparatus like the one used against them at Beartrap Meadow.

"We need to be in on that," Henry told Alipang. The warrior dentist then quickly told his brother in turn, "But not you. You've got nothing to be ashamed of if you head back for Teapot Creek now. You've done well, but Mom and Dad mustn't lose both of their sons." Terrance yielded reluctantly to his elder brother's will, and started back for the refugee camp. It was a slight consolation to him that, in going, he could take with him the surplus firearms Alipang and Henry had collected, so these could be added to the railguns Peter Tomisaburo had delivered there, making that camp the more able to defend against any assault reaching that far.

Terrance also carried verbal messages from Alipang and Henry to their loved ones. Just in case. Thus, at the time when Los Bucaneros were beginning their gamble farther north, Alipang and Henry were with Texas Rangers and Forest Rangers, combatting the Aztlano reinforcements in the south.
 
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In a firefight that was more like urban warfare than anything Forest Rangers were accustomed to, Lyra Bender's force finally shot its way into the power station that tunnel-using infiltrators had captured. It had been a bitter fight; Lyra had started with fifteen Forest Rangers under her command, and six had died and three received serious wounds before they forced the entrance. Once inside and able to use them, the Rangers tossed the frisbee-like sonic stun-grenades ahead of them around corners and over obstructions.

By the time they captured the main control room, one more Forest Ranger had perished; but they saw no more living Aztlanos, except those knocked cold by the sonic devices. Bill Shao of the Energy Department was with the Rangers, to inspect the condition of the plant. But he didn't get the chance to perform his function.... because no one in his party had thought to look UP.

This control room happened to be designed with a high ceiling. Two big ceiling girders were directly above the group which had just recaptured the power plant. No one without special equipment should have been able to get up to those girders--

Unless it happened to be someone with an artificial strength enhancement, his legs rendered just strong enough to do a phenomenal high jump.

The first intimation Lyra Bender's party had that one enemy still was active, was when a brawny man who wore an Aztlano uniform, but who did not look Hispanic, dropped straight down from the ceiling, his booted feet descending on the shoulders of one male and one female Forest Ranger, smashing them to the floor.

Lyra Bender was quickest of the others to react. Swinging up her rifle, she almost got a shot off; but almost wasn't good enough. The strongman grabbed her gun barrel, yanking it past himself, so that when the gun did fire, it fired into Bill Shao instead. Lyra had no time to regret this in mortal life, because a granite-hard fist was already striking her in the face, so hard that her head snapped back and her neck broke.

Three other Rangers were still on their feet, but none of them succeeded in putting a bullet into their ambusher either. Between his gorilla-like strength and a machete he drew from his belt, he had killed them all, and finished the two on the floor, before they fully understood what was happening.

Vitaly Khloponin, formerly Commander of the Campaign Against Hate, then shattered every control panel in the place, while disregarding Bill who appeared to be dead. Next, the big Russian found one of his surviving companions who seemed nearest to waking up from the sonic stun, and carried this man outside with him. Shooting the three wounded Forest Rangers who had been waiting near the Rangers' two overland vans, he asked his companion, "Are you recovered enough to drive one of these?"

The Aztlano trooper was recovered enough; so Vitaly told him, "Then go back in, wake up our other survivors, and load them in the second vehicle. We're finished with this objective, and I want to be in on the big stroke, up in Yellowstone. You have your g.p.s.; follow me when you're ready." And the sometime ally of Carlos Anselmo, now a minion of Emilio Formentera, got in the first overlander and started driving.

Lying in blood and pain, but with the presence of mind to keep up direct pressure on his own gunshot wound, Bill Shao played dead convincingly enough that the Aztlano survivors took no notice of him. When they were gone after what seemed forever, Bill fished his dataphone out of a pocket, and called for help.

This, too, was occurring around the time when Los Bucaneros began flying their circuitous route for Yellowstone Sector.

 
Seven horses were trotting -- the best compromise between speed and endurance for a horse -- through fields and woods, west of the Big Horn Range. Two of these horses were carrying Agriculture Ombudsman John Wisebadger and his wife Lynne; two others were carrying the Forest Rangers Fastrada Bowdrie and Iago Carrasco; two more were carrying the horse-ranching couple Blake and Dorcas Hanley, who had provided all seven horses for this expedition; and the seventh horse carried Doctor Irina Stepanova. This group was making rounds of the farms and camps where refugees from the south had been hastily relocated, to see what needs the people might have.

Fastrada and Iago, having both rifles and pistols in their possession, had decided enough was enough of keeping exiles defenseless. Ripping out the DNA sensors from the grips of their sidearms and reconnecting the firing mechanisms, they had given these weapons, with the available ammo for them, to Lynne and Blake. John declined a gun in favor of arming his wife, whom he had taught to shoot back in the days before mandatory defenselessness; for himself, he still had his hunting bow. So far, all was as well as it could be during a barbarian invasion. Then the dataphones carried by both Forest Rangers registered Bill Shao's multi-channel distress call. Iago took the call, to learn that the injured Energy Ombudsman was within galloping distance. They accordingly set out galloping for the power station that Lyra Bender had been besieging: anxious to help Mister Shao, and sorrowful at the deaths of Lyra and her companions.

As they topped a rise of ground on the way, they sighted a Forest Ranger overland van two kilometers to the west of them, heading north. Three minutes later, they sighted an identical vehicle, following the first and seemingly in a hurry to catch up. There was nothing they could do about this themselves; but Fastrada put out an alert to all friendly forces, that Aztlano raiders had stolen two Forest Ranger vehicles and were moving in the direction of Yellowstone Sector.

Arriving at the corpse-littered power station, they sought out Bill where he lay in the control room. For the same reason as Blake and Lynne being given firearms, Irina had by now been provided with government-grade medical supplies. In short order, with Dorcas Hanley's assistance, she ascertained that the bullet had passed through Bill; bandaged both entry and exit wounds; and plugged an intravenous feed into her patient, administering plasma first while they re-hydrated a packet of freeze-dried blood in Bill's type. To this, Irina added a small dose of cardiac restorative. Meanwhile, the two Forest Rangers, with Blake, John and Lynne, scouted outside in case any hostiles remained in the area. It had taken no time at all to be sure that no friendly survivors were to be found outside the plant.

Soon Bill was in stable enough condition to give instructions, and he insisted on doing so. While Fastrada and Iago stayed outside on guard, Bill directed the others in assessing the damage to the generator controls, the better to facilitate repair when technicians could reach the scene.

= = = = = = = = = = =

When the Energy Undersecretary was made aware of the raiders driving toward Yellowstone Sector, her mind leaped ahead to what this could mean. Merely capturing control of electrical supply could just as well be done among the power stations which were more easily reachable for the Aztlanos. But the _definition_ of "easily reachable" could change; and she _had_ been wondering why they had not seen more of Aztlano aircraft....

Putting out her own multi-channel call, she requested that _any_ defending force able to get up to the Yellowstone geothermal plants, do so immediately. This done, she put on body armor for the first time since the day she had personally shot Nash Dockerty dead. _Ordering_ the Distribution Undersecretary to stop hiding in caves and make herself useful in the Enclave capital, the Energy Undersecretary commenced rounding up whatever defending force _she_ could find to go to Yellowstone.

One unexpected volunteer turned up: Osmawani Jalil. "I did get _some_ firearms training while I was in the Pinkshirts," she reminded the Energy Undersecretary. "And this is my best chance to repay you for saving my life when my, ha ha, lover took me as a shield."

"If you put it that way, you're in. And by the way, since there's no telling if my government title will even _exist_ after today, you might as well start calling me by my actual name."

So it was that Energy Undersecretary Karen Milligan deputized Osmawani Jalil. Then she rounded up the Commerce Inspector office workers, who were the only members of their organization still in Rapid City besides their commander (whom she told to keep the Distribution Undersecretary from slacking off). One of these rear-echelon Commerce Inspectors had a pilot's license and could fly their plane. As with Mark Terrell's flight to the western perimeter, this would be a one-way flight due to fuel shortage. But if the Aztlanos were up to what Karen Milligan suspected, there might not be any home to return to if they weren't stopped.

Apart from exactly one Forest Ranger named Hal Quigley who was already stationed near the geothermal plants, and some Energy Department workers being issued unfamiliar pistols, Karen's party, such as it was, was destined to be the only defending force to reach the geothermal plants before Los Bucaneros did.

The Chinese had gotten through to Peter Tomisaburo with a message telling that the Aztlanos were pulling an airborne end run; but no one Peter was able to contact had an aircraft with the fuel left to fly up to Yellowstone. Texas Ranger Bob Chesterton at Natrona was working to transfer unused fuel from Brianna Wallace's disabled plane to smaller craft, but this was taking time; Frodo Von Spock was the only worker who could be spared from airfield protection to help him in the procedure.

= = = = = = = = = = =

Emilio Vasquez's helicopter Number 343 had finally received makeshift repairs to its landing skids, and had finally gotten its particle beam recharged. With Natrona Airport secure for the present, Emilio retrieved his newly-charged anti-gravity device, then took Ranger Glenn Souter with him in pursuit of the raiders in the Forest Service vans.

Flying at his top speed through the near-dark sky, and knowing the probable route of his quarry, Emilio eventually overtook the second of the stolen vehicles. When the Aztlanos opened fire on 343, Glenn returned fire with his rifle, only to have his right shoulder fractured by an enemy bullet. This made it No-More-Mister-Nice-Guy time for Emilio, who turned the invaders beneath him into charred meat with two shots of his particle beam. The van rolled over and lay smouldering.

The nearest medical aid for Glenn that Emilio knew of was at the same power station from which the report of the stolen vans had originated. As quickly as he could, Emilio went there, left his wounded Ranger in Irina's care, and resumed pursuit of the leading getaway vehicle. He had one particle-beam shot left.

But Vitaly Khloponin, having some inkling of what had befallen his comrades, had not waited to be roasted to death in his turn. Abandoning his ride, he had made off on foot, using all available cover.

During the night, Khloponin stumbled upon a lumber camp which had been set up not long before the invasion, to provide employment for some of the "clockwork oranges" lately integrated into the exile population. These men being programmed not even to _try_ to defend themselves, Khloponin amused himself with murdering them, then helped himself to everything useful that he could carry away, and continued northward. He would not sleep in any spot where avenging foes were likely to find him.
 
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Around the time that Energy Undersecretary Milligan was heading to join Ranger Quigley's little contingent, Grange volunteer Sumerico Bivar, and one lately-recruited Grange girl named Eleanour, had their hands full rendering emergency care to all the _other_ surviving members of their scouting party.

These Grangers had been plugging the defensive gap over toward Thermopolis, riding back and forth to spot any raiding detachments. They had spotted six hostiles near a small electrical substation; these hostiles had apparently come this far via some of the utility tunnels. Alertness, and a practiced awareness of the nearest cover, had saved the Grangers from being wiped out in the first volley from the Aztlanos' automatic rifles. Most of their _horses_ had been mown down, a loss to be grieved; but the invaders had made the self-flattering mistake of assuming that the _riders_ had perished with their mounts. In fact, only one exile man had been killed, with another one wounded but able to function. The Grangers had then waited for their enemies to come closer, and cut loose with arrows when the over-confident gunmen were too close to miss. A shot from Sumerico had felled the big man who seemed to be in charge, and the other Aztlanos had fallen as if they were dominoes lined up after him.

But when Sumerico's party advanced in turn to collect their adversaries' weapons and gear, the big man had sprung up as if not hurt at all -- despite Sumerico's arrow visibly sticking in his lung. Grabbing at the first archer in reach, who was the only woman in the party besides Eleanour, he had literally and horrifyingly torn her head _off_ of her shoulders. A man alongside Sumerico, paralyzed with disbelief at this, died next, from a diagonally descending hammer-fist blow that shattered his collarbone and his neck. The remaining exiles had frantically assailed the strength-enhanced man -- for that was what he was -- with their knives and hatchets. All except the sixteen-year-old Eleanour, who froze in fear. The younger men all received injuries from the opposing behemoth, who was only stopped when Sumerico sank his knife into the big man's kidneys and ripped with all his might. They hacked at him further even when he was unmistakably dead, afraid that he might spring up yet again.

Sumerico was left to direct Eleanour in keeping the other survivors alive, and to tell her that no one, even their dead, would blame a girl so young for being terrified. When she could be spared from paramedic duty, he would send her off on the last unwounded horse, to find competent civilians who could come out and transport the casualties to shelter.

This was the contribution that the oldest active Grange huntsman in Wyoming Sector made to the defense of the Enclave.

= = = = = = = = = = =

It was late Saturday night when Mark Terrell's party, having been obliged to leave its plane on lower ground, arrived on foot at the perimeter breach above the recreational trail. Gabe Ellison greeted them. While Gabe's Irish Setter Clementine and Mark's Border Collie Whiplash were cordially sniffing each other's butts, Gabe updated the senior Forest Ranger:

"We were able to install three new infrasonic mines inside the fence, to replace the ones the Aztlanos knocked out when they first penetrated. Those will be activated when we're done. We've gotten a good steep-sided pit dug out on the outside of the breach, so they won't be able to use any vehicles in a new assault. The limited light's made it slow work assembling a framework with razor wire, but we'll have it in place shortly. The other Grangers and I have been taking turns picketing the far side, in case the Aztlanos try to ninja through. Close to my turn again; but it wouldn't be bad to have your people with _guns_ in on that."

Fred Yoshiwara, the only Forest Ranger among the new arrivals other than Mark and Dana, started through the gap at once. Another man, one of two Transport Police besides the airplane pilot they had left behind, followed Fred. The other Transport officer was the same abrasive woman who had behaved belligerently toward the _Texas_ Rangers that time at Ellsworth Airfield; Mark had had to take whomever he could get. He assigned her to assist in completing the razor-wire barrier that was to be set up covering the breach. The one Commerce Inspector to have come along was a much more cooperative woman: one of those who had behaved amiably toward Josiah Redfern during his Enclave sojourn. This woman joined Mark, Dana, Fred, Gabe, one other Grange man, the Transport policeman, and the two dogs, to fan out on the west side of the fence, as their Granger friends completing a tour were coming back and being recognized.

By Mark's orders, the two urban-type cops in the guarding group kept in the center, venturing only a little way beyond the breach and finding cover. Mark, Dana and Whiplash moved off on the southern flank, the direction most likely to be toward the nearest enemy troops. Fred, Gabe, Clementine and the additional Grange man scouted the northern flank. They moved as silently as possible, using all available concealment, choosing to assume that any invaders in the vicinity would have night-vision equipment, as the three Forest Rangers did.

Whiplash was the first to detect a threat. The wind was northerly, so the collie didn't _smell_ enemies; but his upgraded brain could expertly interpret all _sounds_ he heard. Nudging his master's leg with his snout, twice rapidly, he then began tapping the same trousered leg with a forepaw. Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap: Whiplash reckoned that there were nine enemy soldiers ahead of them. The ninth tap was quickly followed by the paw rubbing against Mark's leg in a fashion which, in a past generation, would have been compared with crushing out a cigarette. This signal was meant to suggest someone or something very big.

Mark uttered a soft bird call, Indian style, to alert the others, even as he drew his wife down behind a boulder with him.
 
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The other side opened the festivities. These Aztlanos were lusting for revenge, for many of their compadres had fallen to the defenders' railgun fire on the first attempt to break through. One of the two major weapons they still had was now brought into play: a rocket-propelled grenade, launched at the rocks behind which the two center-position police officers were crouching.

These rocks, though cracking apart, absorbed the force of the explosion. The Transport man and the Commerce woman rose and opened fire. It was uncertain what damage they inflicted on the enemy.... before the _other_ major weapon possessed by the raider squad showed itself. Rather, showed HIM-self.

A hefty log flew through the air at the uniformed officers, knocking them down. The log tilted in flight in such a way that more of its force descended on the Commerce woman's head.... fracturing her skull. The Transport man survived, with a concussion.

But these casualties did not fail to buy something for their side in return. As the Aztlanos charged for the breach, their attention straight ahead, Gabe Ellison's double crossbow snapped twice, and two invaders were seriously wounded by the bolts. The other Grange man also put an arrow in one of the attackers. When the Aztlanos looked to their left, Mark and Dana opened fire from the other side, each killing a man.

Then it was an ugly gunfight. The defenders had to duck down more because of the attackers' greater firepower; but the Aztlanos were spraying their bullets from a more exposed position. Meanwhile, the defenders on the Enclave side of the fence, unable to add their fire without the risk of hitting friendlies, took cover too.

The men wounded by the Grange archers kept on shooting until Fred Yoshiwara picked them off, though not before Gabe was shot in one leg while cranking up his crossbow. Fred himself took four bullets in his right arm, thus having to get off his last shot left-handed. Clementine was wounded also. The second Grange man downed another enemy with his bow, Then Mark and Dana killed another enemy apiece, but Dana suffered a grazing bullet impact across her face. This accounted for all of the raiders--

--excepting the worst of the lot, the man who had flung the log: another product of Nora Daley's laboratory. As Mark was turning to help Dana, this man descended upon him like an elephant in full charge. The uninjured Grange man put an arrow in the strongman's back, but this didn't stop him. Whiplash was there, fastening his teeth in the man's left forearm; but the Aztlano, seeming not to feel the bite, swung the collie like a club to knock Mark sprawling. His right hand then reached for Dana, meaning to wring her neck.

A Grange woman, who had come off-watch before and joined the barricade workers, sprinted through the gap and tried a hard kick to the strongman's ribs; she too got knocked over by a swing of the still-attached collie. But the added ripping effect to the man's own arm crippled that arm. When Whiplash went for the invader's throat, the invader could use only his right arm to defend his throat. Unfortunately for Whiplash, one super-strong hand was enough. When this hand closed around Whiplash's snout like a muzzle, the collie's lower jaw was dislocated as he was flung off.

The dog's counterattack had gained time for the Grange man beside Gabe to charge across also, stabbing the hulking soldier between the shoulderblades with his hunting knife. The strongman smashed his newest opponent to the ground, and yanked the knife out of his own back. He turned again toward Dana--

--just in time to see Mark, on his feet again, bring up his rifle. Jamming the gun right into his foe's abdomen, Mark fired. Howling in agony, the man fell back, dying; but as he fell, he threw the Grange knife with demonic accuracy.... into Mark's chest, where it sank to the hilt.

Dana, her face bleeding, hurled herself on her husband, trying to stop the gush of blood. Mark lived long enough to say to her, "Dana... trust Jesus... He'll bring you... home to me, when..."

Then he was gone.

Everyone from the other side of the fence was on the outside now. Some had gone straight to the other friendly casualties to render aid. Those gathering around the fallen Ranger Terrell beheld not only Dana weeping hysterically over her man; they also beheld the unexpected reaction of the Border Collie.

As if unaware of his own injured jaw, Whiplash stared intently at his master, as if seeing something that was invisible to the humans. His tail suddenly wagged; then he lifted his head slowly, his eyes seeming to follow the ascending movement of something only he could see. When he was gazing straight up into the night sky, Whiplash repeated a gesture which some had seen him do in the past: he lifted a forepaw and brought it up above his eyes, in a remarkably human-like salute.

Dana, at least, understood what Whiplash had seen, or rather, _whom_ Whiplash had seen departing to the beyond.

= = = = = = = = = = =

When Undersecretary Milligan arrived at the geothermal site, Hal Quigley met her, prepared to follow any orders she would issue. The first thing Karen Milligan did was to allocate her defending force. Ranger Quigley and the people he had already armed would all guard Spirit Smoke, the first-completed of the two geothermal plants, while the new arrivals would guard the second, which had been dubbed Thundering Mist. Karen then supervised electrical workers in rigging electrocution plates inside and outside every entrance to the two power stations, as a surprise for anyone trying to break in.

The defenders were as ready as they could be when, at first light, rumbling propellors became audible to the northwest. When the Bucanero planes flew over, they dropped some kind of bombs or grenades on the power stations. The explosions didn't hurt any of the defenders, but inflicted property damage. "I guess they're not interested in taking these intact!" Osmawani exclaimed to Undersecretary Milligan.

Neither were Los Bucaneros interested in keeping their own planes intact. Their pilots made whatever landing would leave themselves and their passengers alive. Soon, they were advancing in skirmish lines. Major-General Ybarra did not bother involving himself in this action. Staying over near Old Faithful where the bomb-holding tower was to be set up, he focused his attention on the radiomen who were assembling his field radio station -- for the broadcast of his apocalyptic ultimatum to North America.

With her dataphone active, Karen Milligan could be heard by the defenders in Spirit Smoke as well as those with her in Thundering Mist. "Make every shot count, friends. And if anyone feels like asking God to protect us, I promise I _won't_ have you arrested for hate speech."
 
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Eric Havens was not dying, it only felt as if his right arm was doing enough dying for his whole body. There was no pain medication available for him, but Kim finally managed to find the correct acupuncture points which could block the blazing pain in her father-in-law's arm. All the pain, that is, except the phantom pain which Eric's brain insanely reported as coming from the severed hand.

Cecilia stayed by him all Saturday night at the former Overseer facility, drinking the bitter cup of helplessness in the face of her true love's suffering. But Eric found distraction in the very effort to ease HER distress. "I guess... this is my... punishment... for every mistake... I ever... made with... drilling or... extraction. Only... the Lord's aim... is off a bit."

This was one time when Cecilia did not scold her husband for making bad jokes.

Meanwhile, Peter Tomisaburo received a new message from his Chinese superiors. It informed him that the Chinese intelligence service had uncovered information on exactly how the Aztlanos planned to explode the supervolcano if not getting their way. They would assemble a prefabricated tower, like an oil-well tower, directly over Old Faithful or some other geothermal vent, and stack their ground-penetrating bombs atop the tower. Plunging straight down one after the other, these bombs would (at least in the opinion of the Aztlanos) penetrate deeply enough to release the whole magma pressure of the western half of North America.

In view of the worsening situation, the Chinese had already tried to dispatch aircraft of their own to intervene; but the computer sabotage from their own fanatical enemies had caused still more aviation accidents when they tried. Canada's government was dithering in disbelief, while Alchatka still was recovering from the war it had endured. But one thing Beijing HAD been able to do was contact the Commerce Inspectors' leader in the Enclave, so that she would find some vehicle that was not yet out of fuel or electrical charge, in order to get Peter out to Yellowstone by morning.

For if he could get close to the enemy's proposed bomb-dropping tower, his micro-whip would be able to topple that structure, so that even if the bombs still detonated, their force would not be properly concentrated. Then, God willing, their force would NOT be enough to set off the supervolcano.

Lucinda, Victor and Adrienne were not at all happy about this plan; but neither did they relish the thought of almost a quarter of the entire planet's population suddenly dying.
 
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A Note To My Readers

As I get closer to the end, the tying up of plot strands gets more difficult.

From the moment I first conceived this novel, I knew that Alipang and Kim were going to be stuck inside the Enclave.... and I was expecting to keep THE ATTENTION OF READERS mostly confined inside there as well. Sort of an echo of Corrie Ten-Boom's "The Hiding Place." But anyone reading the true, real-world story of Miss Ten-Boom has the advantage of ALREADY KNOWING what World War Two and the Nazi Holocaust were. It's different when you set a story in a future year which, by definition, HASN'T HAPPENED YET.

I found that the dystopian world of the Diversity States and its fraudulently-named "Campaign Against Hate" could not just be ASSUMED. There had to be scenes "outside the fence," SHOWING what had become of the world. This meant I could portray what had become of characters from the first book like Brendan Hyland and Lori Purdue, at the same time as introducing many new characters like Denise Heathcock and Yang Sung-Kuo. But it ALSO meant lots of stuff happening that my central hero could not play any part in, BECAUSE he was imprisoned inside the darned Enclave.

Now that the story-universe time is running short, I need to figure out how Alipang can become IMPORTANT to the climactic action, without it seeming ridiculously artificial and forced. And guess what? Literally WHILE writing this note to my readers -- I've gotten an idea which I think will work!
 
You're perfectly right in principle, Holly. But in practice, "The Possible Future of Alipang Havens" has been the LEAST advance-planned of all my novels. Well, except for all the others. But seriously, folks, this near-future saga just assumed a life of its own and ran away with me.
 
Chapter 141: An Amish Apocalypse

In Los Angeles, Emilio Formentera and Jessica Trevette were summoned out of their bed by El Presidente's sister Lupita. "We need to move, pronto! The Navajos and Apaches are being stirred up against us!"

The young dictator had managed to go to sleep without knowing a final outcome to his planned threat to blow up the Western Hemisphere; but Lupita's words roused him to alarm. The Aztec-Maoist Party had always treated Native American peoples other than Aztecs and Mayans with contempt; and if Apaches, Navajos, Comanches, Pimas, Utes and other mistreated peoples now saw an opportunity to avenge themselves, they would not wait to find out whether the Yellowstone supervolcano was detonated.

"Lupita, how much do you know?"

"A brief transmission came from Colonel Escalante. Before someone stopped him, he managed to report that Navajo and Apache elders had come together to hear an offer of support from the Mexican government. The offer was being relayed to them...." Lupita herself looked sick with disbelief, but forced herself to continue. "The offer was presented to the tribes by.... Sunki Pavatea."

Jessica, alias Jacinta, spewed curses in English; her lover and his sister ignored her. "He _can't_ be alive!" cried Emilio. "I'll kill him!"

"More likely, his friends will kill US if they catch us," Lupita snapped. "We've diverted so many men to the invasion, and lost others to those air strikes..."

Jessica now reverted to Spanish, offering words more helpful than her initial cursing: "Tribes closer to us will probably rise also. We need to escape to where we DO still have some loyal forces left -- the Enclave!"

Emilio nodded. "You're right. Lupita, round up our family members and favored servants. Jacinta, see that Nora Daley and other science personnel are brought along. I'll get my personal jump-jet ready to fly, and have its associated air detachment made ready to get airborne with it. We'll join our front-line troops in Wyoming; and we'll put on an optimistic face, as if we came up there because we simply _felt_ like it! If the volcano plan works, it won't matter what that ____________ Sunki does, as long as his friends can't get their hands on us!"

"Shall I call ahead to the invasion commanders?" asked Lupita.

"Yes, but make sure they know not to tell the muchachos about our new rebellion. And get hold of Dandekar and Khloponin if you can; find out what they see going on."

As Lupita hurried to get the Presidential household moving, Emilio paused and grunted angrily. "Sunki must have been spying for the gringos all along -- and faked his death! But if HE was a spy.... then maybe that woman Amalita, and her technician boyfriend...."

"Think about them later," Jessica told him. "We need to stay ahead of events now."
 
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In Rapid City, the woman bureaucrat calling herself Whipstrike Diamond had been making herself useful: this, with vague ideas of taking over the job of her immediate supervisor, the lazy and cowardly Undersecretary of Distribution who was still hiding inside Harney's Peak. Determining what landline telephone connections were still working, Whipstrike had facilitated the passing of information in many directions. The information she handled included the success of Karen Milligan and Hal Quigley at keeping the Aztlanos out of Thundering Mist and Spirit Smoke respectively, the death of Mark Terrell, and the arrival of eight Texan Great Condors to begin wiping out all Aztlano ground forces they could find.

Whipstrike was able to get word to the friendly attack helos that there were now Aztlanos invading Yellowstone; but at the time she got through to the tactical-air unit, she knew nothing about the Bucaneros' go-for-broke plan involving the continental supervolcano. She therefore could not give the rescuing aerial cavalry any cause to head for the geothermal plants in preference to doing what they were already doing. But with some prompting from a bystanding Avery Glass, she did make one worthwhile application of the information she did have about Yellowstone.

The Amish residents of the Enclave, their convictions prohibiting them to contribute anything at all to the Enclave's defense (besides running away), had formed an idea of trying to reason with the Aztec-Maoists. Ransom Kramer had been dubious of the benefits to be obtained by this course of action, but had felt himself obligated to force himself to agree with the men who were now his own freely-chosen spiritual mentors. There had been telephone contact with several Amish, and other noncombatant Christians, who were working with Sister Arabella over at Saint Labre -- these including the Evan Rand and Vance Desmond families. As of Saturday afternoon, with aviation activity seeming to decrease, the plan had been formed for two groups of optimistic pacifists to converge in the area straight north of Casper, so as to try to meet the main invasion force and offer it apple pies and fresh milk.

Whipstrike's updating of information had come in time to modify the diplomatic plan. The two groups would now converge in the vicinity of the geothermal power stations.

And, sharing a scrounged-up truck with some of the Saint Labre people, Peter Tomisaburo was also on the way to Yellowstone early on Sunday morning. He told none of his companions that he was armed.... but he had offered a suggestion which might make the diplomacy more effective, without offending pacifist scruples about killing evildoers.

The foodstuffs the Saint Labre contingent was bringing to offer to Los Bucaneros were now generously but inconspicuously seasoned with tranquilizers from the intake center's pharmacy.

On exactly one point, Ransom Kramer did make his voice heard. Although the Amish leaders were allergic to specifying just what heartless gangsters might do to defenseless persons, Ransom contrived to find sufficiently watered-down language to tell his beautiful fiancee Lydia that the Aztlanos, cough cough, just possibly might not respect her purity if they saw her. Lydia's parents grasped the point better than Lydia did, and excused Lydia from the expedition.

Vance and Polly Desmond were not at all naive about what was likely to ensue; but while they did leave Sheri and Lambert in the care of Sister Arabella, they felt themselves unable to gainsay the words of Reagan, their firstborn:

"Mom, Dad, you know that God holds my life in His hand. He gave it back to me when that virus would have killed me; and I don't believe He kept me alive so that I could hide and be afraid."
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REVIEWING, I>THINK< THAT VANCE DESMOND IS THE CHARACTER ABOUT WHOSE DEATH I GOT CONFUSED. SO I REPEAT: IF THERE IS APPARENT CONTRADICTION, ASSUME THAT WHICHEVER VERSION MAKES HIM LIVE >LONGER< IS MY FINAL VERSION.

 
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Nebraska Sector had all its hostiles mopped up, and had been able to make this fact known to the Texan attack-helicopter crews who had come to the Enclave's aid. But this communication was difficult -- because, whatever losses the Aztlano thug-soldiers had sustained in military hardware, they did now have communications jammers working in several spots. This prevented the Texan rescuers from hearing when Los Bucaneros broadcast their threat to drop heavy penetration bombs right into the Old Faithful geyser, setting off the supervolcano underlying the North American continent.

What remained of the disintegrating Diversity States government did hear the threat. So did the Canadians, the Alchatkans, and the first African Union peacekeeping force to land on the Atlantic Seaboard. It gave them pause.

The Apaches, Navajos, and other Indian tribes rising up against the Aztec-Maoist Party, got word of the threat, but didn't believe it. They pressed forward to capture Los Angeles. But Emilio Formentera had gotten his aerial convoy underway, leaving his most fanatical Aztec-Maoist gunmen behind to die defending an abandoned Presidential Palace.

Enclave defenders who were no longer needed in Nebraska Sector wanted to head west and see if there was action for them in Wyoming Sector; but vehicles with any remaining fuel or battery-charge were few. Two men who were capable of riding horses undertook to ride west on their own, each with a spare mount to increase their travel speed. The two men were Forest Ranger Kostas Demophilos and Grange volunteer Porter Hennepin. The latter, to supplement his Grange weapons, was provided with four infrasonic stun-grenades.

Riding through the night on the shoulders of old paved highways, Kostas and Porter lucked out when each was finding both his horses tiring: they came upon a farm where they could leave off their horses, gulp some coffee, and borrow fresh horses. In this fashion, they were drawing near the burned city of Casper on Sunday morning, around the time when the Amish and other non-combatants were making ready to try their inordinately optimistic diplomatic gesture.
 
Emilio Vasquez had not been able to track down Vitaly Khloponin. He had persisted in the attempt, because he was aware of the aerial reinforcements taking care of business behind him, so he knew he was not immediately needed back at Natrona. Word even reached him that the newly-arrived Texan expatriates had been informed about the brain-tampering suffered by Roosevelt Hill and others, and that they would be able to bring in the appropriate equipment to reverse the tampering. So Emilio had kept hunting for the former Commander of the Campaign Against Hate, glad to feel more like a police officer again and less like a besieged general.

Fuel running short obliged him, after sunset, to use the night-vision capability of his canopy and find a place to touch down, on a ridge top along the west edge of the Big Horn Range. He still had enough fuel to make one more straight-line, one-way flight to someplace, if he knew _where_ he should go. And he had his remaining particle-beam shot; it seemed a shame not to use it.

Setting a wake-up alarm in the cockpit, he slept for two hours. Awakening, he scanned frequencies on his cognitive radio, which had reserve power accumulated by solar cells during the day. Thus he learned of the ceremonious arrival in Washington of Miranda Bhekisisa, Thomas Guduza, and Carson Westmore: respectively, the Chairwoman of the African Union Commission, the African Union's General Ambassador to the United Nations, and the U.N. Ambassador from Liberia. They were in America to receive the formal turnover of power from the disintegrating Fairness Party, clearing the way for the national government of Liberia to claim possession of all Diversity States territory which was not otherwise claimed by claimants more legitimate than the Aztec-Maoists.

This process did not get far, however. Once the ultimatum came from Los Bucaneros, demanding the surrender of the _whole_ North American continent to Aztlan, and threatening to explode the supervolcano if the demand was rejected. Bhekisisa and Guduza hastily departed with their entourage.

Emilio called the Great Condor squadron under maximum encryption, to ask for guidance. He was told that the Mexican government, on their behalf, was secretly communicating with India, in hopes that the Indian intelligence network, much more intact right now than the Chinese one, could provide some overhead-satellite information to help them determine what to do.

After a spell of agonized waiting, a call came to Helicopter 343, in the voice of Texas Ranger Brianna Wallace:

"Lieutenant, we got through to the Indians! The next voice you hear will be one of their intelligence analysts."

An accented male voice followed: one which Emilio felt sure he had heard before. "Emilio Vasquez? Listen carefully. This is the engineer who gave you your anti-gravity emitter. I have a summary of the enemy dispositions in Yellowstone..." The Indian proceeded to upload to the helicopter's tactical computer a series of satellite images, portraying the whole current scene around the two geothermal plants and Old Faithful, with force-composition data. The spy then reverted to voice, adding: "Here's more. The Chinese have informed us that their agent, Peter Tomisaburo, is accompanying an Amish civilian party that is attempting to placate the Aztlanos. If he can get near the tower the Aztlanos are setting up to hold their penetration bombs in position, his micro-whip can bring down the tower.

"If Tomisaburo fails, _you_ are the last chance of stopping the bombing of the supervolcano. The Aztlanos now know where your gunship reinforcements are; if these come nearer to Yellowstone, the bombs will be used. But they are not giving thought to your own helo, which is insignificant in _their_ minds..."
 
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Emilio could not get through the enemy jamming to talk to Natrona; but at Natrona, the Texas Ranger personnel finally heard from the friendly tactical air contingent. Its cognitive radios had picked up a hard-beam transmission from India, providing the same information that had been given to Emilio. The commander of the Great Condors reluctantly judged that the Aztlanos would be especially looking out for these formidable gunships -- and would instantly blow up Yellowstone if they saw the gunships coming, or even saw what _might_ be their blur-cloaks approaching.

But Ranger Bob Chesterton, having gotten a light plane fueled with Brianna Wallace's fuel remnant, insisted on flying up toward Yellowstone in this. It would not look like a combat aircraft; and just getting _some_ Rangers up near the scene of the threat might result in an opportunity to take _some_ useful action.

Brianna herself, and Jared Hart, joined Chesterton on the flight, carrying as much in the way of small arms as they could. They didn't realize that they would very shortly be carrying golden crowns instead, to cast at the feet of Jesus in Heaven.

As Emilio Formentera's aerial convoy crossed into Enclave airspace, one of the escorting fighters acquired Bob Chesterton's plane on his radar. The Great Condors were grounded because of Major-General Ybarra's ultimatum, but Formentera's escort pilots were nervous enough to open fire on _anything_ airborne. The Ranger plane was indeed not a combat aircraft, and lacked any stealth technology, or even the electronics to give an alarm when painted by fire-control radar. The Aztlano jets were obsolescent; but they didn't _need_ to be the latest thing, to mount air-to-air missiles with a range of better than a hundred kilometers.

Brianna, Bob and Jared had no time to realize what was happening to them, before they found themselves being awarded a new type of wings, with a "Well done."

Back in the mortal universe, the remaining Rangers at Natrona managed a visual sighting of the aggressor aircraft -- and opened fire on these planes furiously with all of the railguns they had accumulated. Ultimatum or no ultimatum, they were not going to be passive in the face of someone actually _shooting_ at their fellow Rangers.
 
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