“And you want us to be quiet about it?” Angel asked.
“Yes, I do, Angel.”
She looked him squarely in the eyes. Finally she nodded her head. “Okay, sir. If you say to keep quiet about it, I will.”
“Thank you, Angel.”
She looked at her brother. “Won't we, Howie?”
“I had already deduced that would be requested of us, Angel,” Howie said.
“He already had it figured out,” Angel translated for the president.
“Thank you, Angel.”
“You want us to leave?” she asked. “So the grownups can talk?”
“Do you mind?”
She shrugged her shoulders. “Not really.”
“I would like to see the computer room here at the base,” Howie said.
“That can certainly be arranged,” the president said. He looked at an aide, and the woman took the brother and sister on a tour of Andrews.
“What about Governor Siatos?” Bergman asked, when the kids were gone.
“The governor has been briefed. He will do what we tell him to do.”
“Does the public know we are alive?” Dean asked.
“Oh, yes. You'll all be regarded as heroes . . . for a time. The public is very fickle about these matters. The attention and adulation won't last long.”
“What can we write about our experiences?” Jill asked.
The president smiled. “Let's talk about that.”
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One year later. Monte Rio, Colorado.
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“Are we planning a reunion, Gordie?” Sunny asked her husband, just elected to his second term as sheriff of the county. The man who ran against him received one hundred and twelve votes.
Gordie looked out the window beyond the valley, toward the mountains. Troops still patrolled the perimeters of the valley. It was sealed off tight. Radioactivity, the government said. Gordie knew that was bullshit.
“Not as far as I'm concerned,” he said, turning to face her. “How about you?”
“I really don't have time. I'm wrapping up this book on Sand. A couple more months, and I'll be through.” She came to stand by his side, looking out the window at the mountains. “Angel and Howie will be home from school in a few minutes.”
“Yes.”
“What's over in the valley, Gordie? And why have you been summoned to Washington?”
“I've been summoned to Washington to discuss those . . . things over there in the valley. I don't know what they are, Sunny. I know that the army patrols that have gone in there have never returned. The government has never reported that to the public. I'm sheriff of this county, and I can't even go in there.”
All roads, trails, and paths leading to the huge valley had been closed. Of late, military patrols had been beefed up. Lawsuits from the relatives of those killed in Willowdale were still pending against the government, and would probably go on for years.
“Things, Gordie?”
“Things, Honey. Grotesque, dangerous things.”
Dean Hildreth and Jill Pierce were married. To each other. They still worked at competing networks. Dean was the anchor for the evening news at his network.
“Spawned by the Fury.” It was not a question.
“Yes. And they want out of the valley.”
Hillary had suffered a nervous breakdown and was still hospitalized.
“What do they look like?” Sunny questioned. “Has anybody ever seen one?”
“Yes. And I was just informed of that news yesterday. One army patrol reported seeing pirates. Another reported seeing a group of people who looked like Vikings. Still another reported seeing what appeared to be cavepeople. Another patrol said they saw men dressed like Mau-Mau.”
Bos Graham had changed his major. He was studying to be a minister.
“Mau-Mau?”
Lee Evans was still Gordie's chief deputy.
“Yes. All sorts of wild things are being reported sighted in the valley.”
Paul and Sandy got married. Both dropped out of school.
“Howie was right, then. The Fury did not destroy all that it consumed. It managed to somehow . . . leave behind a part of itself.”
“Yes. A very dangerous part.”
Sgt. Janet Dixon married Sgt. Keith Preston.
“So it's not over, is it?”
“It's just beginning.”
Larry Adams left government work and dedicated his life to helping the homeless.
Megan LeMasters was still on the staff of Martin Tobias.
Sgt. Maj. Gary Christensen retired from the military and moved to Alaska.
Sunny put her arms around Gordie. “What's the government going to do about it?”
“I guess I'll find that out tomorrow or the next day.”
“When is your flight out?”
“Ten-forty-five tomorrow morning. I'll land at Dulles.”
Norris and Bergman still worked for the state police. They both stopped by to see Gordie and Sunny often.
Leon moved away.
Lynn dropped out of school and got married.
“It's a beautiful day,” Sunny commented, looking out at the blue of the cloudless sky.
Doyle and Pat were still in college.
Dr. Craig Anderson was now practicing in Monte Rio.
“Gorgeous day.”
Lt. Kathy Smith was now Capt. Smith, stationed in Germany.
Maj. Claude Jackson received the Medal of Honor. Posthumously.
Sunny cocked her head to one side and listened. She opened the window and looked out at the clear, cloudless day. Cool breezes fanned them both.
“What is that sound, Gordie?”
“Thunder.”