CeaseFire.)0/ The soldier sat stiffly in the chair, almost like he was still "at attention" while he waited. He wore his best dress uniform, his decorations shining at his chest, hat held in his hands on his knees. The door marked "Debriefing," at the western end of the waiting room opened, and the soldier tensed in anticipation. A man with greying hair and Colonels insignia was at the door. He addressed the soldier, saying, "Come in, Private." The soldier stood, and walked for the door. Inside the debriefing room, three men sat at a large office desk. One, the Colonel who had summoned him, sat behind it. The other two were in civilian clothes, and they sat between the desk and the door. They turned and smiled at him as he came in. The Colonel stood up and pointed at a chair. "Take a seat, Pvt. Halick," he said. The soldier sat. One of the civilians piped up, "Colonel Thayer, this is not..." but the Colonel stopped him with a raised hand. "Halick, this is Mr. O'Shea, of the Boston Chronicle," said the Colonel, as one man nodded his head. "and Mr. Mayfair of the Los Angeles Globe," and the man who had spoken nodded. "They are here to publish your story, and ask you some questions. The Public Relations department leaked some of your tale, and the public wants to know more. Do you understand, Halick?" "Yes, sir. I understand," said Halick. Mayfair addressed the Colonel again. "Listen, Colonel Thayer, I was told that we'd see physical evidence. So far, I don't see anything but this G.I. here." "The evidence will be available for your examination, gentlemen, after Pvt. Halick has had his say. Okay, Pvt." said Colonel Thayer, "tell us what happened, in your own words, the night of August 3rd, 1943." Thayer leaned back in his chair, put his feet up on the desk, and lit a cigarette. Halick frowned a moment, collecting his thoughts. He took a breath, and began. "My squad was on a little island, number AP171 the Army calls it. We had been ordered to destroy a Nip radar station there. No way to get any plane close enough. The radar would pick 'em up, and the flak guns would shoot 'em down. So, HQ figured our best bet was to send-in five guys on a raft; a demolitions team. I was just a private then, not even dry behind the ears. I recall we were dropped off of a sub. The tincan had to submerge again ASAP, so nobody on the island would spot it. They didn't even wait for us to get in the raft before they threw it overboard. Anyway, we had our raft, hand weapons, and about 100 pounds of plastique and caps. We figured to blow that Jap dish right off the map!" "How many men in your squad, Pvt. Halick?" asked O'Shea. "It was me, Ditka, Spinelli, Broski, and Davis. I was the low- man. Guy with the lowest rank, ya see. But they were all good men. Ditka and I had been best pals since boot camp. Broski was the first guy to get me drunk." "How old were you then, Private?" "I was 22, Mr. Mayfair. Just a dumb, hick country hayseed from Marion Indiana. I'd never even been in a plane before I joined the service. And one night, Broski and I went to this little club -2-.)0/ outside Fort Bragg, and..." but he was cut-off by the Colonel, who told him to continue the story. "Well, anyway, the five of us were all dressed in black, and we beached the raft on the south side of the island. It didn't really have a beach there, just a steep cliff. But the Nips wouldn't expect anybody to land there, see? It was about 11:30 at night, I think. We pulled the plug on the raft, so it deflated, and we hid it under a fallen palm tree. We took the explosives, and started for the radar building, which was up on a hill. Of course, we had to move slowly and be real careful. The Gooks had patrols all over the place. They also used boobytraps. Spinelli was point man, which meant he went first. He had to really watch the ground. I know we were climbing up the hill, crawling on our guts through the leaves and weeds, but making good time. Then we stopped, and the word comes down from Spinelli and down the line. Broski, he's in front of me, see, and he says 'wire.' Well, I know what that means. I passed it to Ditka, and he passed it to Davis. Then we started moving again. When I got up to where Spinelli had been, I saw the wire. It was so thin, it looked like a piece of dark hair. But if you followed the wire, with your eyes, ya know, ya could see a grenade hidden in a plant. If ya'd hit that wire, the pin would pop, and Uncle Sam gives your Mom a flag. "So, we were getting closer and closer to this building, and we heard voices. Three slants go walkin' right in front of Spinelli! I mean, if he'd reached out his arm, he could'a tripped 'em! But, like I said, we were in black, and it was dark, and all. So the gooks didn't see us. They kept walking, talking that sayonara shit. "Then we saw the radar building. It was just a big block, with a small dish beside it. But it had to go down! So Spinelli, he motions Davis and me up. Davis was carrying the blasting caps, and I had the gelatin. Broski was the expert, so we unloaded our packs while Spinelli and Ditka kept watch. Broski started packing the gel and stuff around the tower and all that. Then he set the caps, and a timer and dope switch." "Excuse me, Private. A 'dope switch'" questioned Mayfair. "Oh. Sorry. Slang for a switch that will set-off the bomb if the enemy finds it and starts playing around with it. Kinda like a failsafe." Mayfair scribbled that down in his notes, and motioned Halick to continue. "So, anyway...the charges were down, and we had to shagtail it out of there. The sub was only allowed to wait till 0400, then it had to leave. If we weren't at the pickup point by 0330, we were on our own! So, we get back on our bellies, Spinelli in front again, but with me second from last. Broski was behind me. And we start crawling back down that hill. "I don't think we'd got more than 50 yards downhill when suddenly the alarms went off. I don't know how the gooks discovered us, but all at once the air is full of Jap curses and flying bullets! Well, we couldn't stay flat anymore! We jumped up and ran like hell! It's kinda funny what your mind does when you're really white-face scared. I mean, everything just slows down, but you! So we were all dashing down that hill like the Devil himself is after us. We can -3-.)0/ hear the Japs behind us, running and stumbling and shooting. We were all spread out, but I know Davis was to my right. "I think it was Broski who did it. He was a big Polack from Chicago, and he wasn't used to being careful. So I think maybe it was him who hit the wire. Or it may have been a grenade that the gooks behind us threw. But suddenly, the whole world jumped under my feet like a cheap whore coming." He stopped. "Ooops...I guess you guys can't print that, huh?" Halick grinned, sheepishly. "I think we can work around it, Private," smiled O'Shea. "Go on." "Well, like I said...the world blew up! There was this huge white light to my left, and a big booming thud, and it felt like this huge hand picks me up and slams me to the ground. I fell flat, and I knew I'd been hit by shrapnel. Just kinda knew it, ya know? "Well, I'm layin' there, hurt and shook. I couldn't move, couldn't feel my legs. Then there was this feeling that something had grabbed my hand, and I was sliding across the ground. I recall the thought flashing in my head that it was one of the guys; I'd been grabbed and they were saving me. Then everything went black." Halick stopped, clearing his throat. Seeing his discomfort, the Colonel thumbed an intercom switch and ordered a pitcher of ice water and glasses. O'Shea was glancing over his notes, puzzlement evident on his wide face. He looked up at Halick, and asked, "What did you think of the Beatles, son?" "Beetles, sir? We never had beetles. Locusts real bad one year, but never beetles. Why?" "Oh, never mind. Go on with your story. You were being dragged across the ground..." "Yes, sir. Well, like I say, I was being pulled along, and all around me I could hear the fighting. I heard gunshots, yelling, more shots...but I couldn't see anything. The sounds got fainter and fainter...then it was quiet. I was still being dragged, but I couldn't see because it was so dark. I thought maybe I'd died, and that the devil was dragging me to hell. It felt like we were going down. I was scared as shit. I felt cold. I think I must have been losing a lot of blood, from that shrapnel I took, ya know? "After what musta been an hour, whatever had ahold of my hand let go. It was still pitch black, but I knew I wasn't moving anymore. I was starting to get some feeling back in my arms, but I still couldn't feel my legs. My eyes searched the darkness, looking for whoever was there with me. Then the place lit up, real bright, like a flashbulb went off. Made my eyes hurt, I'll tell ya that! "So, now the lights were on. I'm looking up at dirt, like a cave roof, about 20 feet above me. I turn my head to the side, and there's this girl! She was crouched down just out of reach, and when she saw me looking, she snatched this dagger out of a sheath on her hip. I could see her green eyes flashing anger and fear, and I remember thinking 'a guy could get stuck here!" "What did this girl look like, Private," asked Mayfair. "What was she wearing?" "To tell you the truth, sir, at the time I wasn't worried about that. All I was thinking about was that knife and where she planned on putting it! -4-.)0/ "I tried to speak, but my voice was kinda husky; dry, ya know? But I did manage to say, 'it's okay...I'm not gonna hurt ya, lady.' I don't think she could understand me, but when she looked in my eyes, I guess she got the message. She slid the knife back into the sheath, and seemed less frightened. I still didn't know what the hell was going on. But she wasn't Japanese, and she could've killed me up on the surface, so I figured she wasn't gonna hurt me. "I tried to sit up, and couldn't. I managed to push myself up onto my elbows, and look down. My legs were there, but the pantlegs were dark with drying blood. Seeing that, and the movement of sitting up got to me...my head swam, and I lay down again. Well, to be honest...I sorta plopped down again. The room was turning like a whirlpool. My stomach was spinning too, but in the opposite direction." The door opened, and the Colonel's secretary brought a glass pitcher of water in. He sat it on the desk, saluted Thayer, and left. Mayfair poured a glassful and handed it to Halick, saying he should continue his tale. Halick sipped his drink, then asked Thayer, "am I doing alright, sir?" "Just fine, son. Just tell the truth." "Yes, sir. So, I'm lying on the floor, hoping I don't fall off, and this girl comes closer and leans over me. For the first time, I can see how pretty she is. She had hair the color of sun-bleached sand, long and straight. I guess she was about 25, maybe 26, with a straight nose, high cheekbones, and pouty lips. She slid a hand under my head, and put something soft under it. That made the room really spin, and I thought I was gonna heave. But she held her hand up above my face, and she was holding a thing that looked like a little lightbulb. It was glowing, and she brought it close to my face. I asked her what it was, and she didn't say anything...just pressed it on my forehead," and Halick touched his finger to his skull, just between his eyebrows. "The moment she did that, the room stopped moving. I felt something weird, like cool air blew through my brain, and my stomach settled right down! It was real screwy! "She took the light away, and lifted my head so I can see my legs. I watched her pull that dagger again, and cut my pants away. I know she had to peel them off carefully, because they'd stuck to the wounds. I guess I took more shrapnel than I had thought. But when the cloth came away, it pulled on the raw flesh. I couldn't feel it. My heart sank into my ass. The word 'paralyzed' kept bouncing in my head." "But you're walking today, Private," said O'Shea. "That's right, sir. And I thank God for it. But anyway, she took off my shoes, and while she stared into my eyes, she pricked my toes with the needle-point of that knife. When it didn't register, she frowned. Then she began cutting off my boxers too! I musta turned 5 shades of red! I mean, I'd never been naked in front of a woman but my mom before! I said she shouldn't do that, but she just did it anyway. Then she began to take off my shirts. She didn't pull them out from under my back, but she slid my arms out of the sleeves. Now I was naked as Adam. She sat beside me for a moment, just sorta staring at me, like she'd never seen a naked man before. -5-.)0/ I was staring at her, too...believe you me! She was wearing this thing...like something I saw in National Geographic once. The docs here at the base had me draw what it was, and they said it was like a bikini, but I don't know about that. If a girl had worn clothes like that in Marion, she'd be arrested on the spot! It was like a brassiere, but made of light brown leather. She had this, like, loincloth on her bottom end. It was short, stopping just at the bottom of her...her...well, you know." "Her 'crotch," prompted Mayfair? "Yeah. Her crotch. Can I say that in the papers?" "You say it the way you want to, soldier. We'll clean it up for publication. And, if what I hear about you is true, we can print things that would surprise you." Colonel Thayer interrupted, saying, "Just imagine you are telling this story to Broski and Ditka in the locker room at Bragg. Use whatever language you want." "It got kinda...uh...rough, sir," stumbled Halick. "I know, son. I've read the reports. Just say it the way you want to." "Yes, sir, Colonel. This girl starts running her hands over my body, almost like she's looking for something. I mean, it felt good and all that, but it wasn't sexual, like. Ever go look at the new cars at the dealers? And ya run your hands over the upholstery, the bumpers, the running boards... You're admiring the car, ya know? It was kinda like that, but I got the feeling she was kicking my tires too. I couldn't really enjoy it much, cause this was all so weird! The picture of me sitting in a wheelchair for the rest of my life that was in my head didn't help either. She pushed me over on my stomach, and for the first time, I could see the floor. It was hard and smooth...like metal or tile, but it wasn't either of them. I felt her put her hand on my forehead, and then start scratching her fingernails down my spine with her other hand. About the middle of my back, I couldnt feel it anymore, and I guess it was there that the spinal cord had been damaged." "Weren't you in any pain, Halick," asked O'Shea. "Not really, sir. The docs here tell me that I musta been in some kinda shock. They also talk about something called 'endorphins' whatever they are. But they think it had something to do with that. "Anyway, when she found that spot in my back, she got up, and walked to the other side of the room. I turned my head to watch her, and she had a box over there. It was about the size of a foot locker, but it was bright blue. She opened it, and took out something that looked like a slingshot, but without the rubberbands. It was only about the size of a pencil. Then she brings the slingshot over to me, and sits back down at my side. I couldn't see what she did, but I felt her draw that thing down my back, and all of a sudden my ass caught fire! I felt like somebody was pulling the skin off my back! I tried not to cry out, but it wasn't any good. I bit my lip until it bled, and tears were welling up in my eyes. But I couldn't hold it back. I screamed. God, it hurt like all hell! Then it was over. "I lay there, trembling and sweaty. The pain was gone, but the -6-.)0/ memory was fresh! Then I felt something...tickling. I jerked, and it sure felt like I moved my leg! I pushed myself onto my back again, and there was the girl with a blade of grass, tickling my toes! I wiggled them in amazement. I could feel my legs! Whatever she had done, she'd given me my legs back! She saw the wonder on my face, and smiled at me. She had the whitest teeth I'd ever seen. Maybe it was her golden-tan skin, but they looked white as milk! She had produced a small can from somewhere, and was pulling out gobs of gooey stuff. She began rubbing it on my wounds, and man...it felt good! Like when you've been on a twelve-mile hike, and can finally take your boots off for the night, ya know? "The next few hours, I kept asking her questions, and she kept acting like she didn't speak English. I had learned a few words of French, back when I was in boot camp. A guy named DeSaales taught me, since he hoped we'd get stationed in Europe and could go whoring in Paris someday after the war. So, I tried a few words of French on her, but that didn't get me anywhere either. When I tried to sit up, she pushed me back down. I figured she wanted me to lie there, and not mess up whatever she did on my back." O'Shea stood up and walked over to the window. He stood for a moment, looking out at the afternoon activity of the Fort Dix troops. Then he turned back to Halick. "How many wounds did you have, private?" "Couldn't say for sure, sir. I know I had at least one in my back, and I saw one long one that had cut across both my legs. I think there were more than that, but like I say..." "Bad wounds, were they?" "They looked bad, sir. But I'm no doctor." "Would you mind rolling your pantlegs up, private?" "No, sir. With the Colonel's permission." The Colonel nodded, and Halick leaned over to pull his pantcuffs up above the knees. His legs were without blemish, clean and unmarked. "Where are the scars, Halick? Bad wounds should leave scars." O'Shea's face wore an 'I gotcha' smile as he said it. "I don't know, Mr. O'Shea. Nearest I can figure is the goop she put on the gashes healed 'em without scarring." He rolled his cuffs back down, and continued his narrative. "Well, this girl wouldn't let me get up for two days. She did everything for me. She brought me food and water, and big leaves from outside to use for shi...for a latrine. I lost track of the time, because I couldn't see the sun. I never was one to wear a watch." "If you couldn't see the sun, how did you see in the cave?" This time it was Mayfair looking for details. "She had some kinda lamp there. It wasn't like anything I'd ever seen. It was a tube, about as thick as your thumb and a foot long. When it was lying on the floor, it was dark. But when she stood it on end, it lit up like a floodlight. "Anyway, that was about two days, I think. Sometimes she'd go up the tunnel we'd come down. I knew my patrol had been long gone, if they'd survived the Jap attack. And with the gooks up there, I wasn't in a hurry to go up. "During our time together, I tried to teach the girl some -7-.)0/ English. She picked it up pretty quickly. Soon we could talk together. I found out that her name was Shauna, and that she was from somewhere called Shey-Ar-En. She and her family had been sent here for research on the island. But then the Japs came. Their first flyover wrecked Shauna's folk's trasport. Bombing flyovers are SOP, ya know." Both reporters looked at each other, and Mayfair asked, "Could you explain that a little better, son? 'SOP, bombing flyovers' stuff like that we civilians don't understand." "Well, when an occupational force is gonna land on an island, they send planes to bomb the island first. Soften-up any natives, wreck any enemy encampments...that kinda thing is SOP...Standard Operating Procedure." "And one of these bombs killed Shauna's parents and wrecked their plane?" That's what she said. But, now that ya mention it...she never said 'plane.' She said 'ship.' I guess they musta come on a boat. But the baseline is that she was as stuck there as me. "On the third day, Shauna let me stand up. Man, it felt real good to get on my feet. I wanted to go out and look around, real careful, you know? But Shauna said it wasn't safe, not in the daylight. So we waited until night. While we waited, we talked. I got to explaining about Hitler, and Mussolini, and Tojo...you know...the whole Japanazi mess. She said she'd had no idea what the Japs (she called 'em Yellow Men) wanted on the island, or that there was a war on even! I guessed she must have been from Switzerland or some other neutral country, not to know about the War. When I started telling her what the war was all about, and how many people were dying in it...she began to cry. I mean, really sobbing! I felt real bad for her, and slid over to her and put my arm around her shoulder. She was shaking all over. and we just sat on the floor holding each other while she cried herself out. "Now, I'm a gentleman. My Mama raised me right. But, ya gotta remember, I hadn't been with a woman in 4 months! So I hope ya won't think less of me when I tell ya that she was getting me hot. I mean, this beautiful girl, wearing almost nothing, and me still naked as Adam... Well, old Woody started saluting, if you get my meaning!" "You were getting horny," smiled O'Shea. "Yeah...that's the word the doc used when I told him this story," said Halick. "Horny. I was gettin' all horny! Ya sure ya wanna hear this adult stuff?" Both reporters quickly nodded, so Halick continued. "Shauna looked down, and she saw what my prick was doing. Her eyes got real big, and she just stared at it for a minute. Then she asked me what was wrong with it. I guess she musta been a virgin, cause she sure looked serious when she asked it. She said she'd never seen a man naked before, just me. Well, I tried to explain what a man's penis was and why it gets hard, and she just stared at me with her mouth hanging open and her eyes staring like I just told her Churchill was my sister. "Like I say, my Mama taught me right. I wasn't gonna try anything with Shauna, her being a virgin and all. But I sure wanted to! She smelled so good, so clean! Even living in that cave. Come -8-.)0/ to think of it, she always was clean. I mean, her skin always kinda glistened...like she was just a little sweaty, ya know? Her skin felt dry enough, but it...gleamed. Not like metal does, but like it was just a little damp. I never thought about it before. "Well, Shauna gets up and walks behind me, and starts playing with my back where she'd operated on me. I could feel her nails scratching at my skin, and it tickled good! I've always liked that...kinda gets me horny. Well, Woody was still up, but feeling her fingernails on my back just made it worse. Goosebumps were spreading on my skin, and she asked about that. I told her that it meant I was enjoying her nails on my back. I heard her giggle, and then she really clawed my back! I stiffened as I felt her rake those nails down my spine! I thought she'd laid my back open for sure! That did it! I wasn't gonna miss this piece of poontang! I grabbed her wrist, and guided her around to face me. Then I kissed her. She reacted like a wildcat! At first she pulled back, and then she kissed me back! Boy, did she kiss me back! "Shauna pulled out of my arms, and went to that green footlocker she had. She brought out a ball, about the size of a poolball. It was smokey grey, and little lights danced in it. She brought it over to me, and pressed it against my chest. I felt this cool feeling wash over my skin, like a trickle of water had just run down my chest. I smiled, and she grinned wide. Then she pressed the ball against my forehead. I watched as the little lights got brighter, and then I heard drums. They weren't in my ears, though...they were playing in my head! They were like jungle drums...slow and strong...kinda like an Indian tom-tom. It was wild! Shauna took my hand and put in on her breast, and I could feel her heartbeat. It was in perfect time with that drum in my skull! That's another weird thing...she put my hand on her right breast. I didn't think anything of it at the time...but it was the wrong side. I shouldn't have been able to feel her heartbeat on that side, should I?" All three men shrugged their shoulders, indicating that they didn't know. "Now Shauna rolled the ball down my body, and up under my balls. When it touched my nuts, suddenly the drums weren't just in my head...they were all through my body! I could feel them in my fingers and toes, sense the beat in my heart and blood. It was eerie!" "And it didn't occur to you to wonder where this Shauna got such a remarkable device," questioned O'Shea. "Like I said, sir...I'm just a dumb ol' country-boy from Marion Indiana. For all I knew, these things were as common as Fords wherever she came from. And if you think that I was worrying about that, with that sweet girl in my arms playing with my soldier...well, what would YOU be thinking about? "Anyway, these drums were beating in my muscles, my blood. And they were beating in my Johnson too! He was standing up taller and harder than I'd ever seen him do! I was so ready, I thought I'd bust! Now, Shauna dropped the grey poolball to the floor, and kissed me again. While our lips were pressed together, I began rubbing her orange-sized breasts. They slid around in that leather bra she was wearing, but they felt firm as anything. She moaned in my mouth and -9-.)0/ pushed her tits into my hands. I could feel her nipples getting harder under the soft leather. It wasn't long before I had her top bunched up under her armpits, and was pinching those long nips with my fingers. She was really enjoying it, and she put her hands on mine, pulling my hands so I was really stretching her nipples. They were a pretty coral pink, and as big as the end of my little finger! She was having a great time with that. Then, when I bent down and took one of 'em in my mouth and sucked on it...I thought she'd lose her mind! She just went wild! She was gasping and trembling and saying my name over and over... "I laid her down on the hard floor, and started untying her leather panties. I got them off easy, and was surprised to find that, though she had a bush, it was really neat and short. I don't think she trimmed it; it didn't look perfect enough for that. But it wasn't so long that it'd choke a man. I crawled between those long, muscular legs of hers, sitting back on my calves. I took her hand, and guided it to my hard rod. She wrapped her hand around ol' Woody, and started to stroke it softly. With each stroke, the drums in my body became louder and faster. She kept perfect time with the drums, making me more and more excited. Drops of juice were dripping out of my digger, running down her fist. Damn, it felt great! But there was that pussy...lying there, winking at me. I could see it was sparkling with moisture, and I could imagine I could hear it saying, 'hi soldier...looking for a good time?' So, I leaned forward, and she guided my dick into her hole. Oh shit, she was hot inside! It felt like sticking my meat into a cup of hot coffee! I couldn't believe it. I could feel her legs bending around behind my back, pulling me deeper into her. Her cunny sucked on my dick like a second mouth, again, in perfect time to that hypnotic drum I felt inside myself. "Shauna's blonde head tossed back and forth on the floor, as she dug her nails into my ass. Her muscular legs stretched and tightened, pulling me forward again and again. "Well, between her sucking notch and those drums, and me not having touched a woman since forever...I couldn't hold out long! I tried thinking about baseball, but Babe Ruth wasn't helping! She was shouting and crying and laughing and coming all over the place! Her juices were running down my balls and across my thighs. I've never seen a woman come so hard! "Then, I could feel the sperm boiling in my nuts. I knew it was too late. I couldn't hold it back. I came hard, my balls spitting about a pint of jizz into her! I know I was howling, but I don't know what I said. I was filled with the drums, and she was filled with my sperm. Finally, spent, I collapsed on her. " I realized as I lay on her heaving body that I couldn't hear the drums anymore. They stopped about the same time ol' Woody shot his last bullet. "Well, after a while, Shauna disengaged herself from me, and got up. I was still washed-out, so I just lay there on my back. I could hear her saying how good it had felt. Then she came and sat down with me. She had a little box, kinda like a matchbox, in her hand. She told me that it wasn't safe for me to be on the island anymore. She was afraid the gooks had heard us screwing around. She said that -10-.)0/ there would be a ship coming for her soon, but that I couldn't go with her. It wouldn't be allowed. But she was going to keep me safe until somebody could come to pick me up. Then she showed me the box, and pressed a button on it. I felt my brain turn over in my head, and that's the last thing I remember until last week. Some developer from Texas had come to look over the island, and he was sure surprised when I came walking buck-naked out of a cave in the ground! I looked for Shauna all around in the cave, but she and her miracle light, and green footlocker were gone." "Was there anything left in the cave," asked O'Shea? "Just some paintings on a wall. I couldn't make heads or tails out of 'em." Colonel Thayer interupted. "Our top cryptologists went into that cave. They found pictoglyphs of a girl which Halick identifies as Shauna, as well as another...which looks remarkably like Private Halick! There is also these..." and he produced a folder from his desk drawer. He drew some photos from it, and passed them to the reporters. They looked at the glossies, brows knitted in thought. They looked at Thayer with questions in their eyes. He simply said "we don't know. You tell me." Mayfair handed O'Shea a photo. "You're the science editor on your paper. Tell me that this ISN'T what I THINK it is." O'Shea's eyes widened. His finger traced a pattern of white spots on the paper...spots on the wall of that Pacific Ocean cave. "It's the Big Dipper," he whispered. "But it's backwards...like it would be seen from," and his eyes involuntarily looked skywards. He looked at the other photo he held...the one of a golden-haired girl walking into a door in the side of a tremendous silver disk. Also on the picture was a shot of the disk blasting it's way into the sky over a small, green, tropical island. Thayer was holding one last picture. He held it up for the men to see. It was an X-ray of a man's back. At the bottom, it read: Pvt. C. Halick, vertebreal x-ray number 4701. In the spinal structure, near the middle, was a dark Y-shaped object. Thayer said, "We can't take it out. It's the only thing holding his spinal cord together. But we've run tests on it. It's far beyond anything our medical science has. We don't even have the technology to do the surgery, let alone create the implant. On top of that, the implant is made of some material we've never seen before. We ran out of explanations days ago." Halick looked at the reporters. The reporters looked at Halick. He was a young man. Only about 23 years old. As the Colonel had told them when they were asked to attend this conference, Halick's fingerprints had confirmed it was him. His military records had been authenticated, showing him a casualty of the mission to AP171 in August 1943. His body had never been found. This was Halick. No doubt of that. Thayer broke the silence. "We want to ask your cooperation in keeping a lid on this for a few more days. Long enough for us to finish cleaning up the cave on AP171. See, we found a note, written in another language on the floor by the spot where Halick had lain. The cryptographers aren't certain, but the words seem to indicate that Shauna and her friends are coming back for a visit. Two days -11-.)0/ from now, they should be arriving. The U.N. is getting ready to welcome them as Ambassadors. We'd appreciate your help in getting the public prepared for the visit." Halick stood up, saying that he was due for a test in Medical Division. The Colonel dismissed him. He saluted, and went out the door. The reporters watched the WW2 veteran walk away, still a spry 23 years old. Then they began discussing how they would break the news to President Bush that Ambassadors were coming from out of town...a very long way out of town. FINI All rights reserved Nov. 13, 1991 ======================================================================== NixPix Windy City (NixPix Net HQ) 708 564 1754 NixPix Central (the original Nick) 303 920 1263 NixPix Sweden 011 46 40 110590 NixPix Austria 011 43 7719 8871 NixPix Finland 011 358 0 298 3390 Remember -- fun and communication is what we're all about! ==========================================================================