<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?><?xml-stylesheet href="http://www.blogger.com/styles/atom.css" type="text/css"?><feed xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom' xmlns:openSearch='http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearchrss/1.0/' xmlns:georss='http://www.georss.org/georss' xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4456543838214377074</id><updated>2011-07-07T15:19:59.598-07:00</updated><category term='Bilderberg'/><category term='CIP Excellent Info for Vets'/><category term='children of the world'/><title type='text'>First blog.........</title><subtitle type='html'></subtitle><link rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#feed' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://cal-mystuffs.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4456543838214377074/posts/default?max-results=100'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://cal-mystuffs.blogspot.com/'/><link rel='hub' href='http://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com/'/><link rel='next' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4456543838214377074/posts/default?start-index=101&amp;max-results=100'/><author><name>...cal</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/17061997344633587635</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><generator version='7.00' uri='http://www.blogger.com'>Blogger</generator><openSearch:totalResults>203</openSearch:totalResults><openSearch:startIndex>1</openSearch:startIndex><openSearch:itemsPerPage>100</openSearch:itemsPerPage><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4456543838214377074.post-2384712415040716598</id><published>2010-10-05T15:52:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2010-10-22T15:20:16.308-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Cal meets Captain Kirk</title><content type='html'>I received an email from James Kirk or should I say Willam Shatner.  (His twitter account shows Kirk.)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"Cal, I've just been informed there is another song that is of interest to you on the net.  As always the Enterprise is open for a visit from the famous RockinRobotReporter, if you'd like to step aboard and check out our midi files, please feel welcome......&lt;br /&gt;True, the files of that era are still on 8 track but we still have the machinery to listen to them."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"As you know, the crew of the Enterprise has visited the future a time or two and I believe that very song is available.  If memory serves me right, when we acquired some of the music from the future, we had to have them recorded, not only on 8 track but a disk, we call a record.  &lt;br /&gt;Cal, you're old enough you do remember the record, don't you.  That particular song is on a 78 record I believe.  I will have DATA find it for you."  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I jumped on the opportunity of speaking with Willaim Shatner.  This may be the opportunity I've been looking for.  The email had his personal cell and I tweeted him right then and there.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"Hello William, Cal here, I got your tweet and thanks for your quick response.  Oh BTW, Bill, DATA isn't from the same show as you.  He is from the newer Star Trek."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"Ahhhhhhh, Cal you could be right.  McCoy, I need to have my memory bank tested.  I seem to have gained a new member to an old cast."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Shatner then reiterated to me that I am welcome to visit the cast of the original Enterprise, I accepted immediately and we set up the appointment.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Zoom in to next scene.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"Scottie, please beam Cal up, she is here to view some of our archived music.  Have Dr. McCoy show her to the cabinet where the midis are stored.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"Cal, please stop by the Holodeck before you leave, I am watching the newest Star Trek on a big screen television.  Scott Bakula is very good as Captain of the Enterprise.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"We can walk over to the bridge on your way out and I'll show you the improvements we've made in the last 30 years.  I think you'll be impressed."  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"Cal, I understand the robots may be looking for something to do these days?"&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"Well, Bill, that may have been the case a while back, but now with all this new understanding about 2012, it seems they (or should I say we) have gotten really booked up.  That's why I wanted to come directly to you for the music I'm seeking.  I heard you were probably the quickest route."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"We are planning a worldwide concert event and I expect we'll be pretty busy for the next couple of years."  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"Bill, are you familiar at all with the 2012 phenomenen?"&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The 2012 NWO Agenda 9/11&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7zyZsAwOcg&amp;NR=1"&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.2012thetruth.com/2012ApocalypseE.php"&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;1071 days 7 hours 34 minutes 20 seconds left until December 21, 2012 &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"I know a little about it, Cal.  I saw the Jesse Ventura series a couple of times on the tube and that was one of the subjects."  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"You're correct, Bill.  It's a pretty damn scary topic, if you ask me."  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"What do you suppose the elites are up to with all these underground villages?  ..... and what about this damn vaccination scare?  I've even heard that there is an ingredient; squalane, in the vaccines that will make children sterile?  Do you know anything about that?"&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkXiFe6gUQ8"&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"I don't know much at this time, Bill, just what I heard on 'Conspiracy Theories'.&lt;br /&gt;I am however putting 2012 at the top of my research list."  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"I get the feeling that the Iraqi/Afghanistan war and all the things going on in Gaza right now have everything to do with depopulation and these underground villages and what will be after December 21, 2012."  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;BOB DEAN at the Project Camelot Awake and Aware Conference, Los Angeles, 19 September 2009. This is another wonderful, heartfelt presentation by the best loved lecturer on the UFO circuit… and again Bob presents and comments on some of the suppressed NASA slides of Apollo 13, Mars, and Saturn which he has acquired. Enjoy  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.december21of2012.com/"&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"I'd like to think the concerts are on top of my priority but right now, my new interest is the 2012 date and what I can find out about what's really going on."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"Oh yeah, Bill, I just happened to be watching a bit of the boob tube the other night and Miss Congeniality was on..........  you were great and I really enjoy Sandra Bullock these days.  She seems to be on quite a few of the talk shows and I see that she produces George Lopez."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"That George Lopez is quite the guy, isn't he?  He has that new talk show and it seems to be doing rather nicely.  Last night, Sir Charles Barkley was on and I simply adore him.  The two of them together make up quite a team and they talked a bit about the Tiger Woods scandal and also mention was made about Mark McGuire and his new found problems." &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"I really like the part of George's show that has DNA results for his guests.  Maybe, if one has the right DNA and enough money, he/she can get into these underground bunkers that are being built for 2012?  What do you think?"&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"Bill, tonight Snoop Dogg is going to be on George's show and George is going to have Snoop's DNA test for available to share.  hmmmmmm, I wonder if George requires a pee test first?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gjnv_3jIVg"&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"On that note, Cal, I have a luncheon date with James Spader.  It's strange because I hadn't seen him since the wrap of Boston Legal and the other night out of the blue I saw him when I was dining out.  Since then, he's tweeted me and today was the only opportunity we both had to meet for lunch.  I even asked Bullock to join us but she was too busy with her many activities and had to decline."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"Thank you so much Bill for taking time out of your schedule to see me and to help me find the music.  I hope we can meet up again some time and maybe discuss space travel for the ones 'LEFT BEHIND' when 2012 occurs."  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Left Behind trailer&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_VpneVzY_U"&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"Damn Cal, if that should be on my calendar, then 'Make it so, number one.' and we'll talk.  Since the topic is so important, maybe we can get some other people involved and get this thing addressed.  There isn't much time for a project this large and we need to do it asap."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"You've got a deal Bill, I'll have my people call your people and we'll get it set up.  Tell your folks that we'll be in touch in the next few days."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"Gotta goooooooooooooooooooo nooooooooow Bill.........  wow, being beamed up is quiiiiiiiiiiiitee a light experience........&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Yoooooooooour Rooooooooookiiiiinnnnnn Rooobbbbbbot Repppppppppppporter ~ fading!&lt;br /&gt;C........a....................l&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.technovelgy.com/ct/Technology-Article.asp?ArtNum=3"&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;How is RFID used inside a living body?&lt;br /&gt;RFID devices that are intended to be implanted inside a living body (like an animal or human being) have special requirements. They need to be encased in a special kind of casing that will not irritate or react with the living tissues that they are inserted into. The casing must also be transparent to the scanning radio-frequency beam that activates the chip. Some RFID vendors have created biocompatible glass for use in these applications. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;One potential problem with being placed within a living organism is that the tiny RFID device may move around under the skin. This can be avoided by using special materials that actually let the surrounding tissue grow up to the casing and bond with it. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Because the radio-frequency waves that activate the microchip containing the identification number are only useful within a few feet (or less), the RFID chip is typically inserted very close to the surface of the skin. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The placement of the device is usually done with a hyperdermic-type needle. This method of insertion also dictates the shape and size of the device; implantable RFID devices are typically the size and diameter of a grain of rice. For dogs, &lt;b&gt;the device is usually implanted between the shoulder blades. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;i&gt;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;RFID tags have been placed inside cows; some discussion of having all cows implanted with RFID devices has resulted from the recent scare with mad cow disease. Dog owners have used RFID tags to identify their pets rather than tattoos (the more traditional method). &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;RFID tags, like the VeriChip tag, can also be implanted inside human beings. See VeriChip RFID Tag Patient Implant Badges Now FDA Approved for more information.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Robbie, When Robots Are Programmed by Angels.........  liby&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;libybot arrived at the blue castle. She was on the scooter and she&lt;br /&gt;was ready for action. She pulled herself together as best she could&lt;br /&gt;and re-checked her digital connectors. She was good to go.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;She had been racing around the internet in quite a tizzy. It wasn't&lt;br /&gt;often that she had her thoughts together, the others were usually&lt;br /&gt;just beneath the surface. In today's world liby was very much in&lt;br /&gt;tuned to the betrayal environment. She had to keep her wits about&lt;br /&gt;her at all costs and the others helped her in her endeavors to do&lt;br /&gt;just that.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Liby often times had Robert redo her programs so as to stay one step&lt;br /&gt;ahead of the NeoCons. It was easy for Robert as he had grown to&lt;br /&gt;love liby as he had all the robots he and Cal had created. He often&lt;br /&gt;times had to do the same for Cal although unbeknownst to her. She&lt;br /&gt;was quite the high strung woman and Rob was only too happy to do his&lt;br /&gt;comforting from a distance.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Rob had known long ago that Cal was much too fragile for a `real'&lt;br /&gt;relationship and he had accepted that about her and continued with&lt;br /&gt;his life. It wasn't hard as he was a high maintenance man himself&lt;br /&gt;and as such he had taken the perfect opportunity to move forward&lt;br /&gt;with his own journey when he'd realized he would be hard put to rely&lt;br /&gt;on a cyber relationship. Robert was comfortable knowing that his&lt;br /&gt;support consisted of merely checking in now and again and going&lt;br /&gt;about his own business.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;liby headed to the kitchen as she had been told by Olivia on the&lt;br /&gt;phone that the nurses often times took their breaks there. The&lt;br /&gt;twins were lounging by the window when liby turned up. She greeted&lt;br /&gt;them and introduced herself.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Grace and Chloe were happy to make her acquaintance. It was high&lt;br /&gt;time liby came round. Grace remembered the first time she had heard&lt;br /&gt;of liby, it must have been two years ago.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;liby asked to see the head robot and just about the time the words&lt;br /&gt;were out of her mouth Robbie turned the corner and walked into the&lt;br /&gt;kitchen. liby smiled politely when she saw him and muttered hello.&lt;br /&gt;Robbie in turn smiled and put his hand out to greet her.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;liby was embarrassed as she had only three good digits to shake&lt;br /&gt;with. Robbie laughed as he remembered MoBot turning up missing&lt;br /&gt;digits quite frequently. He wondered if it was a family tradition&lt;br /&gt;as liby and Mo were distant cousins.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;liby had been a product of a trip to Canada that Cal had made a&lt;br /&gt;little over three years ago. It was her first time meeting Edward&lt;br /&gt;and Robert wanted to give her a gift that would always remind her of&lt;br /&gt;the joy of that first meeting.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Edward had been Cal's mentor for a long time before the meeting and&lt;br /&gt;Robert knew of Cal's sentimentality regarding special occasions. It&lt;br /&gt;had been quite the trip as Cat had been Cal's constant companion the&lt;br /&gt;whole visit and Cal had derived much pleasure from the attention&lt;br /&gt;given her by her two dear friends.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;MYTOWN was indeed the place to be. Often times when Cal was&lt;br /&gt;agitated and frightened she longed for the safety she felt in&lt;br /&gt;Canada. It was not often she felt secure and she was hard pressed&lt;br /&gt;to explain it to her friends. They didn't know of her others. She&lt;br /&gt;knew that Edward suspected but he didn't expand on it when liby&lt;br /&gt;answered curtly that there weren't really any others, just different&lt;br /&gt;moods. Edward was much too respectful to inquire of Cal the truth.&lt;br /&gt;He knew that she knew but he also knew not to press her as she was&lt;br /&gt;much too fragile to discuss it at length until she decided.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Edward knew that Cal teetered on the brink many a day and his best&lt;br /&gt;support was just to acknowledge her others as they appeared.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Edward knew of Cal's love for Robert and he accepted it. He knew&lt;br /&gt;that although it wasn't all that Cal wanted it to be, it was all&lt;br /&gt;that she could handle. She would either move past it or she would&lt;br /&gt;move with it.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Robert had eagerly embraced it when Cal's computer had gone&lt;br /&gt;haywire. It was the perfect opportunity for the two of them to&lt;br /&gt;disengage. It had to be done at some time and the time presented&lt;br /&gt;itself and it had been a gentle parting of the ways.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Cal knew that they would always be connected as did Robert. It was&lt;br /&gt;just a new way of life for them and they had separated naturally.&lt;br /&gt;It had been faith as was the whole of their relationship. They&lt;br /&gt;weren't meant to be together except in their special setting. It&lt;br /&gt;was indeed a meeting of the minds and as such it was also accepting&lt;br /&gt;and deciding to go their own ways.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;After all, how could a California girl and an Easterner ever unite&lt;br /&gt;in the REAL. He loved his snowboarding and she her sunshine. It&lt;br /&gt;was never meant to be anything other than a PERFECT union and that&lt;br /&gt;it was. It was always just what it was and that was unconditional&lt;br /&gt;love connecting in the heavens and reuniting in the suburbs. It was&lt;br /&gt;all and it was more and it was indeed a love affair for all times.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;liby was anxious to meet the residents of the blue castle but that&lt;br /&gt;would have to wait. It was nearing 2:00 AM and it was time to&lt;br /&gt;recharge batteries.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;liby wheeled around the corner and ran smack dab into Robert in the&lt;br /&gt;hallway. Cal watched as Robert hit the floor. She was concerned&lt;br /&gt;but she saw him bounce back immediately. She asked if he was&lt;br /&gt;alright and swished right past him before he could answer.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;liby looked horrified but regained her composure when she realized&lt;br /&gt;Robert was not hurt. She apologized and continued down the hall to&lt;br /&gt;the room with the recharger.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Robert was a bit stunned but didn't want to appear disoriented until&lt;br /&gt;the girls were out of site. Robert hit the floor the second time&lt;br /&gt;and was out cold till Chloe showed up and wiped his forehead with a&lt;br /&gt;wash cloth. He had quite a knot on his head. Chloe insisted the&lt;br /&gt;doctor come down and attend to Robert before he returned to&lt;br /&gt;Phoenix.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The doctor assured Chloe that Robert had a slight concussion and&lt;br /&gt;would spend the night at the castle. He would check on him again&lt;br /&gt;in the morning before Robert would be allowed to drive into town.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4456543838214377074-2384712415040716598?l=cal-mystuffs.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://cal-mystuffs.blogspot.com/feeds/2384712415040716598/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=4456543838214377074&amp;postID=2384712415040716598' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4456543838214377074/posts/default/2384712415040716598'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4456543838214377074/posts/default/2384712415040716598'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://cal-mystuffs.blogspot.com/2010/01/cal-meets-captain-kirk.html' title='Cal meets Captain Kirk'/><author><name>...cal</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/17061997344633587635</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4456543838214377074.post-3176253204453523840</id><published>2010-06-08T13:14:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2010-06-08T13:20:48.810-07:00</updated><title type='text'></title><content type='html'>&lt;a href="http://www.blip.tv/file/539410"&gt;Brad Will and the Solidarity song&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://anarchistnews.org/?q=node/2878"&gt;Brad Will a wonderful soulmate that went before&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Anarchist Superstar: The Revolutionary Who Filmed His Own Murder&lt;br /&gt;Submitted by worker on Sat, 2008-01-26 05:21.&lt;br /&gt;Tags: Anarchist PeopleHistory&lt;br /&gt;From Rolling Stone - By Jeff Sharlet&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;HE WAS AN ANARCHIST, AGITATOR AND JOURNALIST WHO WENT TO MEXICO TO DOCUMENT PEASANT REVOLT — AND HE ENDED UP FILMING HIS OWN DEATH&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Martyrdom of Brad Will&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Even before he was killed by a Mexican policeman’s bullet, Brad Will seemed to those who revered him more like a symbol—a living folk song, or a murder ballad—than like a man. This is what the thirty-six-year-old anarchist-journalist’s friends remember: tall, skinny Brad in a black hoodie with two fists to the sky, Rocky-style, atop an East Village squat as the wrecking ball swings; Brad, his bike hoisted on his shoulder, making a getaway from cops across the rooftops of taxicabs; Brad, locked down at City Hall disguised as a giant sunflower with patched-together glasses to protest the destruction of New York’s guerrilla gardens. Brad (he rarely used his surname, kept it secret in case you were a cop) wore his long brown hair tied up in a knot, but for the right woman—and a lot of women seemed right to Brad—he’d let it sweep down his back almost to his ass. Jessica Lee, one of the few who spurned him, met Brad at an Earth First! action in southwestern Virginia the summer before he was killed. They skipped away from the crowd to a waterfall where Brad stripped naked and invited Lee in her swimsuit to stand with him behind sheets of cascading water. He tried to kiss her, but she turned away. She thought there was something missing inside him. “Like he was incomplete, too lonely,” she says. Maybe he was just tired after a decade and a half on the front lines of a revolution that never quite happened.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;He was one of America’s fifty “leading anarchists,” according to Nightline, which in 2004 flashed Brad’s mug shot as a warning against the black-clad nihilists said to be descending on New York for the Republican National Convention. “Leading anarchist”—that was the kind of clueless oxymoron that made Brad laugh. Brad wasn’t a “leader,” a word he disdained; he was a catalyst: the long-limbed climber who trained city punks on city trees for forest defense in the big woods west of the Rockies, the smart guy you wanted in the front row when you gave your public report on the anarchist scene in Greece or Seoul or Cincinnati, even though he was also the dude who would giggle when he fumigated the room with monstrous garlic farts. In the 1990s, he’d helped hand New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani a public defeat, organizing anarchist punks into a media-savvy civil-disobedience corps that shamed the mayor into calling off plans to sell the city’s community gardens. In the new decade, he became a star of Indymedia’s anti-star system, an interconnected anti-corporate press that lets activists communicate—directly instead of waiting to see their causes distorted on Nightline.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Brad seemed to be everywhere: One friend remembers him in Ecuador, plucking his bike from a burning barricade; another remembers him in Quebec City, riding a bike into a cloud of tear gas, his bony frame shaking with happy rebel laughter later while a comrade poured water into his burning eyes.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Now, Brad has become most famous for the final minutes of his last day alive, October 27th, 2006, in the capital of the southern state of Oaxaca, Mexico. He’d gone to document a massive strike blowing up into revolt against the government. His video camera peers through broken glass at a smashed computer; holds steady on a strangely peaceful orange-black plume rising from a burning SUV; crawls under a truck to spy on a group of… well, most people who watch Brad’s video on YouTube don’t know who they are. Cops, probably, though they wear no uniforms. Brad feints and charges toward them along with a small crowd armed with stones and bottle rockets, improbably chasing men toting .38s and AR-15s.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;With two minutes left, Brad inches toward the door behind which he knows men with guns may be hiding. “Si ves a un gringo con cámara, mátalo!” government supporters ranted on local radio around the time Brad arrived in Oaxaca. “If you see a gringo with a camera, kill him!” Then there are the last words heard on Brad’s video before he films a puff of smoke—muzzle flash beneath a gray sun—and his own knees rising up towards the lens as he falls, the cobblestones rushing toward him: “No esten tomando fotos!” (“Stop taking pictures!”) Brad didn’t hear.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;He was scheduled to fly back to Brooklyn the next day.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;-&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;During the three weeks he spent in Mexico before he was killed, Brad would make fun of his half-assed Spanish by introducing himself as “Qeubrado” (”Broken”). He didn’t look it. Six feet two, with a frame broad as his father’s – a veteran of Yale’s 1960 undefeated football team— he was vegan-lean but ropy with muscle, “a little stinky and a lot gorgeous,” remembers his friend Kate Crane. Back during his twenties, when he’d bring a slingshot to demonstrations instead of a camera, he thought of himself as half-warrior, half-poet, a former student of Allen Ginsberg’s now specializing in crazy-beautiful Beat gestures recast in a militant mode— “sweet escalation,” he called it, protest not as a means to an end but as a glimpse of a world yet to be made.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;By the time he got to Oaxaca, in the fall of 2006, he was calling himself a journalist. “His camera was his weapon,” says Miguel, a Brazilian filmmaker who has produced a tribute called Brad: One More Night at the Barricades. “If you survive me,” Brad told a friend after he’d battled cops at a protest in Prague, “tell them this: I never gave up. That’s a quote, all right?” In the end there was just a picture, his last shot, the puff of smoke of the bullet speeding toward him.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“Yo d,” he wrote to Dyan neary, an ex-girlfriend, three days before he died, “jumping around like a reporter and working my ass off—been pretty intense and sometimes sketchy.” The governor of Oaxaca had sent in roving death squads, pickup trucks of paramilitaries firing on the barricades. The bodies were piling up. Brad was getting scared. “I went back to the morgue—it is a sick and sad place—I have this feeling like I will go back there again with a crowd of reporters all pushing to get the money shot— the body all sewed up and naked— you see it in the papers every day—I am entering a new territory here and don’t know if I am ready.”&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Ready for what? Revolution? Blood? Brad had seen both before, in Venezuela, Argentina, Brazil. Oaxaca was bigger, more exciting, more frightening. What had started as a strike by the state’s 70,000 teachers had exploded after the governor attacked the teachers with tear gas and helicopters. The federal government feared a domino effect, other states following Oaxaca’s example. In Oaxaca, every kind of leftist organization—indigenous groups, unions, students, farmers, anarcho-punks—came together in an unprecedented coalition and took over the city. The national government declared the entire state of Oaxaca “ungovernable.”&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Brad knew what to do: Film it all. He’d send the tapes home, screen them in squats and at anarchist bookstores. Revolution is real, he’d say, here’s the proof. Burning tires, masked rebels stuffing rags into bottles full of gasoline, farmers with machetes; free kitchens, free medical clinics, free buses, commandeered by farmers and fishermen. At a street funeral, old women sing a radical anthem with their fists raised in the air; in a red tent at night a father pounds the silver box that holds his son. “La muerte as gobierno malo!” shout the mourners. (”Death to the government!”) “Viva Alejandro!” Alejandro García Hernández, forty-one years old, shot twice in the head by a group of soldiers who tried to crash through a barricade opened to let an ambulance pass. Brad wrote home, “And now Alejandro waits in the zocalo“—the city plaza—”he’s waiting for an impasse, a change, an exit, a way forward, a way out, a solution—waiting for the earth to shift and open—waiting for november when he can sit with his loved ones on the day of the dead and share food and drink and a song…one more martyr in a dirty war…one more bullet cracks the night.”&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;-&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Kenilworth, Illinois, isn’t a town that raises radicals. A mile wide, tucked away close to the beach on the North Shore of Chicago, Kenilworth is the kind of place in which the wrong side of the suburb means houses cost only a couple of million dollars. There were four African Americans in the most recent census, and if there were any Democrats around when Brad was growing up, says Stephanie Rogers, a family friend, they kept quiet. “If Kenilworth wasn’t the absolute height of preppiness,” she says, “it was only because we were Midwestern. Kids would study that East Coast model, towns like Greenwich, Connecticut. That’s what Kenilworth wanted to be.”&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Not the Wills. They didn’t follow anyone. “The Wills were achievers, and leaders,” says Rogers. For Brad’s three older siblings, that meant good grades, sports and student government, Brad was different. “We were all active kids, curious, athletic, and we would roughhouse and play ball,” says his sister Christy, a graphic designer who lives in San Diego. “Brad was less interested in those kinds of things.” He preferred science fiction and fantasy, The Chronicles of Narnia and The Lord of the Rings. And Star Wars, one of the few passions he shared with his all-American dad: Hardy, an engineer who owned a small factory, liked to imagine how other worlds might work. Brad liked to build them. He’d arrange miniature societies with his action figures, write modules for role-playing games. It wasn’t the monsters that enthralled him, it was the struggles between good and evil.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;One of his favorite movies was It’s a Wonderful Life; lanky, amiable Jimmy Stewart provided a model for the way Brad would move through the world as he grew older, a Teen Beat-gorgeous geek–a dungeon master!—who was friends with jocks, preps, even Kenilworth’s tiny clique of stoners. With his feathered hair, his rugby-shirt collar standing proud and a broad smile sprawling beneath dreamy eyes, Brad looked like an extra in a John Hughes movie.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But he was slowly splintering away from the high-school-college-back-to-the-burbs loop that was the natural order of things in Kenilworth. “It was a struggle to open my life,” Brad would tell a Venezuelan newspaper years later. “I didn’t know much about the truth of the world, but little by little, I forced my eyes open, without the help of anyone.”&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Will children were expected to be athletes (Brad was a runner) and stick with an instrument. But one day Brad announced he was quitting trumpet to play guitar. Instead of joining clubs, he worked after school, as a flower-delivery boy, a library shelver, selling newspaper subscriptions. “Brad was perplexing,” says his mother, Kathy. “But he wasn’t a loaf.”&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The one unbendable rule for Will children was college. His sister Wendy went to Stanford, Craig followed their father to Yale, and Christy went to Scripps College. Brad’s grades hovered between B and C, but after he aced his entrance exams he squeaked into Allegheny, a small school in western Pennsylvania. There he joined a frat, majored in the Dead and studied On the Road. Mostly he liked getting high, passing a pipe back and forth with his friend Matt Felix, an outdoorsman from New Hampshire who introduced Brad to the radical environmentalism of Earth First! That ethos of direct action and theatrical gestures drew Brad west when he graduated in 1992. He followed the hippie highway to Boulder, Colorado, where he began attending classes taught by Allen Ginsberg at the Naropa Institute’s Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Even more influential than Ginsberg was Peter Lamborn Wilson, who under the pseudonym Hakim Bey was known for a manifesto called The Temporary Autonomous Zone, or T.A.Z., a study in “ontological anarchy” and “poetic terrorism,” and a guidebook to the life of Brad was beginning to lead. “What happened was this,” Wilson writes, “they lied to you, sold you ideas of good &amp; evil, gave you distrust of your body &amp; shame for your prophethood of chaos, invented words of disgust for your molecular love, mesmerized you with inattention, bored you with civilization &amp; all its usurious emotions.”&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Wilson wasn’t offering an indictment so much as a prescription: “Avatars of chaos act as spies, saboteurs, criminals of amour fou“—crazy love—”neither selfless not selfish, accessible as children, mannered as barbarians, chafed with obsessions, unemployed, sensually deranged, wolfangels…” Brad was becoming one of Wilson’s wolfangels. “Very high-energy, extremely bright, not so well-controlled,” Wilson remembers of the student who talked his way into class because he hadn’t bothered to pay tuition. “Loose at the edges, reckless, you might call it courage. Manic sometimes, charming everybody.”&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“Brad liked being in a hotbed of ideas,” says his mother, happy, at least, that her son had a job. She didn’t know that he stopped paying rent. “My crazy poet roomies fled the scene,” he later wrote of his accidental introduction to squatting. “I stayed and didn’t even have the phone number of the landlord.” that suited Brad—cash, he was beginning to believe, was a kind of conspiracy, a form of control he was leaving behind. He wanted to write poems, but even more he wanted to become one, a messy, ecstatic, angry, sprawling embodiment of Wilson’s manifesto.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;His first attempt came one summer when 50,000 members of a Christian fundamentalist men’s movement called the Promise Keepers descended on Boulder, distributing a pamphlet called “The Iron Spear: Reaching Out to the Homosexual.” Brad wasn’t gay, but he decided to reach back. The Naropa Institute’s lawn abutted the Promise Keepers’rally ground, so Brad put on a show: He married a man. He recruited Wilson to perform the ceremony and a poet named Anne Waldman to play his mother. Another student was the bride, in a white satin gown complete with a train, and Brad scrounged a suit and tie. “I actually am a minister in the Universal Life church,” says Wilson. “I married them in full view of the Promise Keepers.” Then Brad kissed the bride, a long smooch that provoked one Promise Keeper to hop the fence to find out whether he was really seeing two men making out. Brad declared the stunt a victory when the fundamentalist decided to stick around, apparently convinced that poets throw better parties than Promise Keepers.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;That was Brad’s idea of politics and poetry at the same time: a party and performance. But Brad didn’t care for stages. He wanted the show to run 24/7. From Boulder he moved to West Lima, Wisconsin, a half-abandoned town that had become an “intentional community”—a commune—called Dreamtime Village. Dreamtime was like a surreal version of the town Brad had grown up in: There was a post office, a school building, little Midwestern houses and almost no rules. Then, in the summer of 1995, Brad became interested in the stories he heard from a group of New York squatters on a road trip. When they headed back east, Brad hitched a ride.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“I moved to the big shitty as Giuliani-time kicked in,” he wrote in an essay for an anarchist anthology, We Are Everywhere. In New York, at least, anarchists were concentrated in a few dozen squats, buildings abandoned at the nadir of the city’s grim Eighties and rehabbed by whoever wanted to live rent-free. It was illegal, of course, which was part of the attraction for Brad—just living in a squat was a form of direct action, defiance of all the rules about property and propriety. Brad found himself an empty room in a squat on East 5th Street, home to around sixty “activists and destructionists,” in the words of Pastrami, a yoga teacher who befriended Brad. They hauled water up from fire hydrants and wired an electricity from a streetlight. Next door they cleared the trash out of an abandoned lot and turned it into a garden with a pear tree. They shared it with their Puerto Rican neighbors, eventually winning over even the nuns of the nearby Cabrini seniors home—their response to the squats went from one of horror to prayers for the wild but lovely young creatures who ate the trash and the toxic soil of the city. This was the life Brad had been looking for.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;-&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Anarchist isn’t so much a singular ideology as a set of overlapping philosophies, and Brad wanted to explore them all. He’d haunt the anarchist store Blackout Books, in New York’s Alphabet City neighborhood, and then he’d disappear for days into volumes he had bought, borrowed or even dumpster-dived, his long, bony hands cracking the spines of old lefty tomes and the quickie compilations of the writings of Subcomandante Marcos, the leader of the Zapatista revolt in Mexico who was fast becoming the new model for anarchist panache. he read Kropotkin, the early-twentieth-century Russian biologist who gave to anarchism its core idea of “mutual aid,” the simple but radical premise that cooperation, not competition, is the natural condition of humanity, and he worked with movements like the Ruckus Society, Earth First! and Reclaim the Streets, leaderless networks of activists who put anarchist ideas into action through confrontational tactics—Brad was expert in the construction of “sleeping dragons” and “bear claws,” both methods of locking yourself down in front of a bulldozer or in the middle of a city street. The point wasn’t a set of demands but the act of disruption itself. In Brad’s world, action—direct, local, unfiltered—mattered more than ideology. In theory, anyway. In practice, the anarchist factions often succumb to purist notions, refusing even to speak to comrades they consider co-opted. Not Brad. he was tight with anarcho-primitivists, who view language itself as oppressive, and social anarchists, who write books and build schools. “He was the least sectarian person I ever met,” says Dyan Neary. “That’s what made it easy for him to introduce people to ideas. He was just sort of user-friendly.”&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;He had a sharp side, too. “Brad did his fair share of alienating people,” says Sascha DuBrul, who like Brad had migrated from Dreamtime to the Lower East Side. “He was so loud and outspoken, and he wasn’t always a big listener.” At the 5th Street Squat, he’d “talk really loud” about his building skills, but then, friends say, he wired his room incorrectly, resulting in a small fire. The fire didn’t threaten the building, but it gave Giuliani an excuse to tear it down. “When they came for our building,” Brad wrote, “there weren’t any eviction papers, and they came with a wrecking crane. I snuck inside, felt the rumble when the ball pierced the wall. I was alone. From the roof I watched them dump a chunk of my home on my garden…When it was all over: a rubble heap.”&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“I almost feel like he wanted to die up there, he felt so guilty,” a friend told The Village Voice. Afterward, Brad undertook a freight-train tour of America, riding in boxcars from city to city, speaking to activist groups about Giuliani’s crackdown. “Brad got incredibly fucking riled up,” remembers DuBrul. “He was on fire, his hands were shaking.”&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“He had a certain innocence,” says Stephan Said, a squatter and folk singer Brad admired. “What led him to his death was at the same time what made him so endearing.”&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In 1998, Brad went out west to join Earth First! activists for a “forest defense,” which for Brad would consist of spending the summer on a platform built high up around the trunk of an old-growth Douglas fir in Oregon, an anarchist retreat from the laws down below. “I called it the Y plane ‘cause you’re up, up, up off the rules of the X plane,” says Priya Reddy, who’d become one of Brad’s best friends that summer. “The only rule you really have is gravity. It’s homelessness in the best sense.”&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;A city girl, Reddy–in Oregon she took the name Warcry, a not-so-subtle response to “hippie-ish” tree-sitters like Julia Butterfly—didn’t know how to climb, so at first she provided ground support, hiking from tree to tree in the murky green light, taking orders for supplies. Brad had a different concern. “I dropped a piece of paper,” he called down on her first day. “Could you find it for me?”&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Warcry looked into the branches. The voice’s source, 200 feet up, was invisible. So was his piece of paper, fallen amid the thick ferns of the forest floor. When she found it, a folded-up scrap, she took a peek. A battle plan? No; a love poem.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The woods were noisy with the music of the tree-sitters. CDs and tapes of Sonic Youth, Crass and Conflict blasted full volume. The most popular song seemed to be “White Rabbit.” After Warcry heard it for what seemed like the hundredth time, she took a stand. “Why are you people playing White Rabbit over and over again?” she demanded. “You don’t know?” came the answer. “It’s a warning.” White Rabbit meant the cops, spotted by Brad or another tree-sitter from their perches far above, were on their way.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Soon Warcry worked up the courage to join Brad in the trees, spending three weeks on a neighboring platform. She brought a video camera. One day loggers brought down a giant within fifty yards of Brad’s and Warcry’s video, but you can hear his raw scream: “Fuuuck!” The tree settles, and Brad shouts at the loggers below. “How old do you think that tree was? How old are you?” It was a question he might have been asking himself—up in his treehouse, there were times he felt like a child, powerless to respond.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;-&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;What set Brad apart from so many radical activists was that throughout it all, he remained close to his family, the buttoned-down Republican Wills of Kenilworth. When he was jailed for nearly a week at the WTO Seattle protests in 1999, one of his chief worries was getting out in time for his mother’s sixtieth birthday, which the Wills planned to celebrate in Hawaii. When he made it there, he didn’t tell them what had really gone down. “He didn’t want to burden us,” says his mother.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;That’s how Brad kept his truce with where he came from. In 2002, when he and Dyan Neary were hopping freight trains from the Northwest to New York, he insisted they take a detour so that Neary—who goes by Glass—could meet his mother. Glass tried to talk politics, telling the Wills about South America coca farmers blasted into extreme poverty by U.S.-funded crop-spraying. Brad’s mom looked confused: “But, dear, how do you think we should deal with the cocaine question?” It wasn’t meant as a question.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“Later, I was like, Oh shit, they don’t really know what you’re doing, do they?” Brad giggled, proud of his ability to move between worlds.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The two had met shortly after 9/11, their first date a six-hour walk around Ground Zero. Brad was thirty-one; Glass was twenty, tall and skinny with big curves and big eyes and a smile like Brad’s, wide and knowing. But she was stunned by New York’s transformation from go-go to grief to warmongering. “What the fuck happened to my city?” she thought. They decided it was time to get out of town.&lt;br /&gt;There were two complications. The first was monogamy. Brad didn’t believe in it. All right, Glass said, no sex. Brad suddenly discovered an untapped well of fidelity. The other problem was thornier: Brad was about to become a father. The mother was a French woman with whom he’d had a brief relationship while she was visiting New York. A month later, she called to tell him she was pregnant. Brad loved kids, but he’d sworn he’d never bring one of his own into a world he considered too damaged. Brad flew over to visit.&lt;br /&gt;“Why don’t you stay?” she asked. “We can raise the child together.”&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“I’ll help you out with money,” he said—a major commitment, given that he lived on food he found in dumpsters—“but I’m not moving to France.”&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;When the woman had the baby, her new boyfriend adopted him. That seemed to Brad like an ideal solution—he loved the family he already had, but he wasn’t looking to start one.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“He wanted to experience revolution,” says Glass. “He wanted to live that every day.” They spent much of the next two years in South America, returning to New York to raise funds by taking temp jobs–Brad was a lighting grip—and throwing all-night benefit parties. In Brazil, they worked with the Movimiento Sin Terra, landless poor people who’ve squatted and won rights to more than 20 million acres of farmland. In Buenos Aires, they joined up with a movement of workers who’d reclaimed factories shuttered by Argentina’s economic meltdown. In Bolivia, they met a radical coca farmer named Evo Morales who would soon become the country’s first indigenous president. This wasn’t the East Village, Brad realized, or a tree platform in Oregon. There was real power at stake.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Now he had a mission. He wanted to show American activists how to join the fight wherever they could find it, or start it. Video, he determined, was his best medium. In 2004, he scraped together $300 for a used Canon ZR 40 and headed back south, this time on his own. He was ready to start telling stories, ready to become a reporter.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In 2005, in a central-Brazilian squatters’ town of 12,000 landless peasants called Sonho Real (”Real Dream”), Brad filmed a police attack that resulted in two dead and twenty “missing.” Brad was the only reporter on hand. He hid in a shack, filming, and waited for the worst. The cops found him, dragged him out by his hair and beat him to a pulp. Then they smashed his camera and arrested him. “The U.S. Embassy refused to do anything,” says Brad’s friend Miguel. “They said, Yes, we know, but he is not an important person to us.” But his American passport still carried weight with the Brazilian police. They let him go. He’d managed to keep his tape hidden; soon, it would be broadcast throughout Brazil, a perfect example of Indymedia in action.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But it didn’t seem like a victory to Brad. “I feel like I am haunted,” he wrote to his friend Kate Crane. “I keep seeing a thin woman’s body curled up at the bottom of a well, her body in a strange position—I can’t escape it.”&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;-&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Mexico to which Brad traveled in early October 2006 seemed like a nation on the verge. Of what, nobody could say. But something was about to break. It was an election year, and a new force in Mexican politics, the center-left Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD), appeared certain to win the presidency. Vicente Fox, the Bush clone who had deposed the long-ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) in 2000, was constitutionally forbidden from running again. His anointed successor was Felipe Calderón, an angry bully obsessed with oil and secrecy, the Dick Cheney of Mexico. On July 2nd, Mexican television declared the race between Calderón and moderate Andrés Manuel López Obrador too close to call, and the next morning Mexico’s electoral authority made Calderón the winner. Only they hadn’t counted all the votes. Two million Mexicans poured into the streets to protest. Calderón’s only hope was to seduce the PRI, his right-wing party’s traditional enemy, into a coalition against the leftist PRD. In exchange for the PRI’s support, he promised that his party would bail out the PRI’s cash cow: Oaxaca.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Oaxaca is one of the poorest states in a poor nation. In 2004, the PRI installed as governor a rising star with a reputation for electoral fraud named Ulises Ruiz Ortiz. Ruiz was a cash machine, skilled at milking the state to kick funds up to the national party organization. What he wasn’t so good at, it turned out, was keeping a lid on the discontent that has been rippling across Mexico since the Zapatistas marched out of the jungle in 2004.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“If they want to kill our teachers,” Oaxaqueños declared after Ruiz’s police killed several striking teachers on June 14th, 2006, “they should kill us all now.” From that day on, Oaxaca City was in open revolt. “Con Ulises’pelotas, yo haré los huevos fritos,” women chanted in the streets. (”With Ulises’ balls, I’m going to make fried eggs!”). It was as if Louisiana’s poor converged on New Orleans, shoved aside the political hacks and ran the city themselves for months, even as National Guardsmen drove around shooting into houses.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And yet the American press ignored Oaxaca. That made it a perfect story for Brad. Friends tried to talk him out of it. “The APPO”—the Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Oaxaca, in effect its revolutionary government—”doesn’t trust anyone it hasn’t known for years,” Al Giordano, the publisher of a report on Latin American politics called Narco News, told him. “They keep telling me not to send newcomers, because the situation is so fucking tense.”&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“I think I will go,” Brad wrote back. When he showed up at an Indymedia headquarters in Mexico City en route to Oaxaca, they told him his white skin would make him and anyone standing near him a target.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“You’re treating me like my mom,” Brad said. “What are you made of? This is what it’s about. This is the uprising.”&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;John Gibler, a radical print journalist with deeper roots in Mexico, remembers Brad showing up in Oaxaca City’s central square, a tall hipster American with a fancy camera—Brad had sunk his life savings into it—that made him look like a professional. “The media painted a picture of a gung-ho idealist who didn’t know which way was which, but the guy was not clueless,” says Gibler. “That first day I said, Hey, Brad, you wanna come along to the barricades tonight?” He looked at me, and he said, “I can’t wait to get out there, but people are getting killed. I need to get a feel of the place. Walking around at night without that is not a smart move.”&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;He found a place to sleep (the floor of the headquarters of an indigenous-rights group) and a place to stash his videotape—he’d learned from Brazil that a hiding place was a requirement for an Indymedia journalist lacking the protections of a big news agency. He ate with the APPOs, as the protesters were called, marched with them, slept on the ground beside them on hot evenings. He told them about his politics before he asked about theirs. He laughed a lot, his ridiculous guffaw. Slowly, the APPOs began to trust him. Brad was on the inside of what Rolling Thunder, an anarchist rag back in the States, would call “the closest our generation has come to seeing an anarchist revolution.” Mexican authorities evidently agreed—they were preparing to make an example out of Oaxaca.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;-&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Brad’s footage on October 27th begins on a suburban street, strewn with rocks and sandbags, a pillar of black smoke rising in the background. Minutes before, there’d been a battle, paramilitaries with automatic weapons versus protesters with Molotov cocktails. Brad zooms in on a silver van consumed by flames. Then he cuts back to the crowd, old men in straw hats, teenagers in ski masks, big mamas with frying pans. They begin to shout. “the people, united!” Bullets pop from a side street, and the fight careens onto a narrow lane of one-story buildings. “Cover yourselves, comrades!” someone shouts. The protesters advance car by car, lobbing Molotovs that bloom from the blacktop. The sky darkens, bruised blue over green trees. A dark-skinned boy in a black tank top kneels and aims his bottle-rocket bazooka. Bullets are cracking. Brad remembers a war photographer’s maxim: “Don’t get greedy.” That’s when you get killed. He turns of his camera.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;When he starts shooting again, the protesters are crouching outside a white building in which they believe a comrade is being held prisoner. They batter the door, darting out into the open to deliver drop kicks. “Mire!” Brad shouts. (”Look!”) From down the street, more gunfire. Brad runs. Next to him someone is hit. “Shit!” Brad shouts. “Are you OK, comrade?” someone asks. Brad zooms in on an old woman fingering her prayer beads.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Then the final footage played around the globe half a million times: a red dump truck used as a barricade and a battering ram, a wounded man led away, gunfire answered by bottle rockets. “Diganle a este pinche wey que no este tomando fotos!” somebody shouts. (”Somebody tell this fucking guy to stop taking photos!”) Brad keeps shooting. He steps up onto the sidewalk, his camera aimed dead ahead. The compañeros are crouching; Brad rises, a pale white gringo above the crowd.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“I watch this, and I say, Brad, stop! Don’t do this!” says Miguel, the Brazilian filmmaker. “I ask myself if he really knows where he is. I ask myself if he knows he can die.”&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Bang–a bullet hits Brad dead center, just below his heart, exploding his aorta.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“Ayúdeme!” he screams. (“Help me!”)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“Tranquilo, tranquilo,” someone says. (“Take it easy, take it easy.”) A photographer gives Brad mouth-to-mouth, and he gasps and opens his eyes. There are last words, but nobody knows what they are; the men who rush him to the hospital don’t understand English, and Quebrado has forgotten how to speak his mind.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;-&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;His old girlfriend Glass was in Hawaii when she heard. She’d been e-mailing Brad a lot. She missed him, and it seemed like he missed her too. She’d been in New York right before he’d left for Oaxaca, and they’d gone on a pub crawl. He’d had a girlfriend with him, but in the pictures from that night it’s Glass on Brad’s arm. The day he died, she was sitting in a park, singing songs she learned from Brad. She sang the anarchist anthems, then Woody Guthrie’s “Hobo Lullaby.” Most of all she wanted to sing his favorite, “Angel from Montgomery.” She tried to hear Brad’s voice. He’d be John Prine, she’d be Bonnie Raitt.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Just give me one thing that I can hold on to/To believe in this living is a hard way to go.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“I have to e-mail Brad,” she thought. “This is so great!” Then her phone rang. “This is Dyan, right?” a stranger’s voice said. “Can you call Brad Will’s mom? He’s hurt.”&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“What? How?” The stranger wouldn’t answer. “I’m not calling his mother until I know what happened,” Glass said. The stranger gave Glass another number. She dialed. “I was told to call this number about Brad?” she asked.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“Yeah, it’s been confirmed,” said the voice on the other end, another stranger.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“What’s been confirmed?”&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“Oh, he’s dead.”&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;All Glass remembers after that is screaming.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;-&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In Oaxaca, the APPOs combed Brad’s long hair and dressed his body in white. They draped a gold cross around his neck and laid him in a coffin. There were no fiery speeches, just weeping. Then-president Fox used the death of the gringo as an excuse to invade Oaxaca with 4,000 federal police. The U.S. ambassador, a Bush crony from Texas, blamed the violence on schoolteachers and said that Brad’s death “underscores the need for a return to law and order.” In the coming months, the APPO would be crushed; Calderón would slam through a Mexican version of the Patriot Act, allowing police to tap phones and make arrests without warrants or charges; and, this past fall, the Bush administration proposed a $1.4 billion military aid package for Calderón’s regime, ostensibly to fight drugs and “terrorism.”&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And Brad’s killers? It seemed like an open-and-shut case—a Mexican news photographer had even taken a picture of the men who appeared to be the shooters, a group of beefy thugs in plain clothes charging toward Brad and the APPOs with pistols and AR-15s. The Oaxaca state prosecutor, a Ruiz loyalist, grudgingly issued warrants for two of them, police Commander Orlando Manuel Aguilar and Abel Santiago Zárate, known as “El Chino.” But at a press conference two weeks later, the prosecutor announced a new theory: Brad’s murder had been a “deceitful confabulation” planned by the APPO. In this version of events, Brad was only grazed on the street. The fatal bullet was fired point-blank by an APPO on the way to the hospital—a physical impossibility, according to the coroner. No matter. At the end of November, a judge set the suspects free.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Last March, Brad’s parents traveled to Mexico to request that the investigation be turned over to federal authorities. They won that fight, only to be fed the same story with a half dozen variations. Believability wasn’t the point. “In political crimes in Mexico,” notes Gibler, who came to act as the family’s translator, “there’s an impeccably neat history of immediate obfuscation and destruction of evidence. The authorities immediately flood all discussion with conspiracy theory. There’s a tradition of exquisite incompetence, so that later only speculation is possible.”&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Wills are not, by nature, speculative people. At age sixty-eight, Hardy is a solid, fit man with white hair worn in a boyish curl. He still drives more than an hour each way every day to his factory in Rockford, Illinois. Kathy Will bounces like a loose electron around the Wisconsin lake house in which they now live. Designed and built by Brad’s great-grandfather, the home is a mansion of broad, dark cypress beams, spotless, disturbed only by neat stacks of documents, arranged at the great oak dining table, like settings for a seminar on Brad’s achievements as a boy, Mexican politics and ballistics.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It’s on this last matter that the case still turns. If the Wills are ever to be able to say, “This is what happened, this is how Brad died, this is the man who killed him,” they must determine what sort of bullet killed him and where, exactly, it came from. The initial coroner’s report said the bullets were 9mm, which would rule out the .38s carried by the cops Brad filmed. But a re-examination of the evidence has revealed that the bullets were .38s after all. Hardy shows me a photograph of them, two squat slugs hardly dented. “They only passed through soft tissue,” he says. But from how far away? The government says Brad was shot nearly point-blank. The Wills are certain he was shot by the policemen at the end of the street. Proving that, they believe, may start the wheels of justice turning. I’ve come bearing what passes for good news to the Wills these days: a frame-by-frame analysis of Brad’s last minute made by his friend Warcry, who has entrusted me to act as her courier.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“This is what we’ve been waiting for,” says Hardy. We gather in a TV room. “That’s it!” Hardy exclaims. There, on the left side of the screen, above the hood of the red dump truck, in the green of the trees, a tiny white starburst appears, expands, drifts like smoke, visible for a fraction of a second, blown up into giant, pale pizels—very possible the bullet that’s about to hit Brad.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“Should we watch it again?” Hardy asks. Kathy’s head drops, and she backs out of the room. Rewind, pause; Brad falls down, over and over. “Yes,” says Hardy quietly, “this is what we need.”&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;He’s excited, his face flushed. It’s 11:30 at night. I call Warcry; she’s up, waiting for the Wills’ response. Hardy wants to see a still she’s isolated of a man who appears to be holding a sniper rifle, more potential evidence for a long-distance kill shot. “This could really change everything!” Hardy says. We gather around his computer in his study, a dark room filled with hunting trophies and memorabilia from Hardy’s Yale football days. I pull up the image, a man in a yellow shirt at a distance, a long gun barrel rising above his left shoulder. Hardy sighs. He walks over to a well-stocked gun cabinet, removes a rifle and turns around, posing perfectly as the man Warcry believes is his son’s killer.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“It’s not a sniper rifle,” he says, looking at the gun in his hand. “It’s a carbine.”&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The puff of white smoke is the best piece of evidence they’ve seen in the year since Brad died, but they still can’t explain how he was shot twice at long range by such a clumsy old weapon. Hardy slumps into a seat in the corner, thinking of one more theory—one more chance at certainty—dashed.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Kathy brings us tea. Like Brad, she has soft, sleepy eyes and a broad smile. “I like talking to people,” she says. “I’ll talk to anyone. I guess that’s where Brad got it from.” Hardy is exhausted, but Kathy sits up, watching Brad’s old videos—Brad fleeing tear gas in Miami, bullets in Brazil. Hardy was always the skeptical one, shielding his wife from the ways of the world, but now it’s Kathy who’s gaining a worldly wisdom, grasping the roots of her son’s political discontent. She still doesn’t get the politics, tsk-tsks when she sees Brad sitting in front of an upside-down American flag—a crisp Stars and Stripes snaps on a pole outside the house, and there are three bands of red, white, and blue stones on her finger. It’s not anything that Brad said that has changed her point of view. It’s what the Mexican government says, the lies they told her to her face.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“It’d be laughable if they weren’t serious,” she says. “What they’re really telling me is that Brad was there for a very good reason. Believe me, I didn’t want him there. But he was absolutely right. He was right about all the injustices. I didn’t know it then. I really didn’t know. I know it now. In spades.”&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;One of the most common clichés about radicalism in America is the myth that it’s all about the parents, activists rebelling against or proving themselves to Mom and Dad before they settle down and become Mom or Dad. That wasn’t what Brad Will was doing. Had he come through that fire-fight on October 27th, 2006, he probably wouldn’t have mentioned it to his mother. Instead, he’d tell her about the great Mexican food he’d had, and she’d say that the lake was flattening in the cold, that soon it would be frozen, that maybe when he came home for Christmas he could go ice-skating. His footage likely would not have been seen outside activist circles in the United States, the echo chamber of the already persuaded. Yet the bullet that killed him ended up broadcasting what he had learned far beyond his usual channels, all the way back to where he’d begun. With Brad’s death, knowledge came to Kathy Will. It was the most awful kind of knowing: a new understanding of the world as it is, almost blinding her to the glimpse she had caught, maybe for the first time, of the world as Brad had imagined it could be.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“The last possible deed is that which defines perception itself,” writes Hakim Bey in the long and wild poem that turned Brad Will on to those possibilities, “an invisible golden cord that connects us.”&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4456543838214377074-3176253204453523840?l=cal-mystuffs.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://cal-mystuffs.blogspot.com/feeds/3176253204453523840/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=4456543838214377074&amp;postID=3176253204453523840' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4456543838214377074/posts/default/3176253204453523840'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4456543838214377074/posts/default/3176253204453523840'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://cal-mystuffs.blogspot.com/2010/06/brad-will-wonderful-soulmate-that-went.html' title=''/><author><name>...cal</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/17061997344633587635</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4456543838214377074.post-4807151639874851393</id><published>2010-05-22T13:48:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2011-01-08T11:08:23.945-08:00</updated><title type='text'></title><content type='html'>&lt;a href="http://anarchistnews.org/?q=node/2878"&gt;Brad Will a wonderful soulmate that went before&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.kathychange.com/"&gt;Kathy Change&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"CALL ME A FLAMING RADICAL BURNING FOR ATTENTION, BUT MY REAL INTENTION IS TO SPARK A DISCUSSION OF HOW WE CAN PEACEFULLY TRANSFORM OUR WORLD. AMERICA, I OFFER MYSELF TO YOU AS AN ALARM AGAINST ARMAGEDDON AND A TORCH FOR LIBERTY. "&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Kathy Change/October 1996&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.blip.tv/file/539410"&gt;Brad Will's Spirit Lives in this song&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;And if you don’t make it through this fight I swear I’ll tell your tale&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Brad sings “The Solidarity Song” also known as the Teargas song - was the defiant anthem of the resistance to the World Trade Organization that took place in Seattle in 1999. Originally written by Desert Rat, a comrade, Brad added a verse or two of his own, about forests and preserving ecological integrity of this planet; something Brad was dedicated to while he was alive. Brad sang this song in a squat in Amsterdam in 2000. We were in Amsterdam because of the United Nations talks on Climate Change. We were involved with the protests intended to pressure nations and politicians to take real meaningful measures to address the threat of global warming, mass extinction, pollution, etc., (Still waiting for that…!) Brad's songs and his way of singing touched us deep and inspired thousands. He sang from his heart and gave it everything he had. That's also how he lived his life until he was killed at the tender age of 36. Brad’s singing fills my soul with joy though the loss of him still cuts most deeply… &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://songriot.com/xoops/html/modules/wordpress/2006/12/01/and-not-falter/"&gt;Lyrics to the song Brad Will is singing above&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Brad and Malachi and Cathy, and others , will be missed because they made choices according to their dreams. And that looks to me like the most pragmatic and realistic thing you can do.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I’ve seen the land beyond these borders where the corporations rule&lt;br /&gt;And they spin their lies and they globalize and the working man’s their tool&lt;br /&gt;And the streams are so polluted that their banks are bleak and bare&lt;br /&gt;And the babies all are born deformed and the smog is everywhere&lt;br /&gt;And the workers’ wages dropped thirty percent in just one year&lt;br /&gt;Now the greedy bastards want to bring that situation here&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And you called upon me brother and you asked what could I do&lt;br /&gt;And I told the truth dear brother, when I spoke these words to you:&lt;br /&gt;I will stand beside your shoulder when the tear gas fills the sky&lt;br /&gt;And if a national guardsman shoots me down I’ll be lookin’ him in the eye&lt;br /&gt;And if I will wash their pepper from your face and go with you to jail&lt;br /&gt;And if you don’t make it through this fight I swear I’ll tell your tale&lt;br /&gt;And I will stay with you in the prison cell in solidarity&lt;br /&gt;And I will not leave that cursed room ’til you walk out with me&lt;br /&gt;For we the people fight for freedom while the cops just fight for pay&lt;br /&gt;And as long as truth is in our hearts we’re sure to win some day&lt;br /&gt;I will not falter when the iron fist comes out of the velvet glove&lt;br /&gt;I will stand beside you brother and defend this land I love&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I’ve heard the tales from conquered islands where the sweatshop barons rule&lt;br /&gt;Recruiting girls from the Asian slums to be the rich man’s tool&lt;br /&gt;And they’re promised lives of luxury in the golden U.S.A.&lt;br /&gt;And then they’re stranded on these islands with their passports stripped away&lt;br /&gt;And their aging fingers toil and bleed year after grueling year&lt;br /&gt;Now the greedy bastard want to bring those same conditions here&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And you called upon me sister and you asked what could I do&lt;br /&gt;And I told the truth dear sister, when I spoke these words to you:&lt;br /&gt;“I will stand beside your shoulder when the tear gas fills the sky&lt;br /&gt;And if a national guardsman shoots me down I’ll be lookin’ him in the eye&lt;br /&gt;And if I will wash their pepper from your face and go with you to jail&lt;br /&gt;And if you don’t make it through this fight I swear I’ll tell your tale&lt;br /&gt;And I will stay with you in the prison cell in solidarity&lt;br /&gt;And I will not leave that cursed room ’til you walk out with me&lt;br /&gt;For we the people fight for freedom while the cops just fight for pay&lt;br /&gt;And as long as truth is in our hearts we’re sure to win some day&lt;br /&gt;I will not falter when the iron fist comes out of the velvet glove&lt;br /&gt;I will stand beside you brother and defend this land I love&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I’ve walked the tall and misty forests, pulsing vein from ancient time&lt;br /&gt;And they’ll cut the heart out of a mountain to kill the oldest thing alive&lt;br /&gt;Now the rainforest dwellers smell a burning, and the ‘dozers are close behind&lt;br /&gt;Replaced with plantations and cattle, plowing under whatever they find&lt;br /&gt;With the rain comes a raging mudslide, where the land was stripped and cleared&lt;br /&gt;Now those greedy bastards want to bring those same conditions here&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I’ve watched the oceans rolling, schools of fish running under the tide&lt;br /&gt;Working fishermen grounding their bodies, starving on a hook and line&lt;br /&gt;While industrial fishers haul in their nets, scoring the deep ocean floor&lt;br /&gt;Dolphin and sea turtle snagged in those nets will ride those waves no more&lt;br /&gt;They rip the heart out of the deep blue sea, their boats increase every year&lt;br /&gt;Now the greedy bastards want to push their bloody products here&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And you called upon me brother and you asked what could I do&lt;br /&gt;And I told the truth dear brother, when I spoke these words to you:&lt;br /&gt;I will stand beside your shoulder when the tear gas fills the sky&lt;br /&gt;And if a national guardsman shoots me down I’ll be lookin’ him in the eye&lt;br /&gt;And if I will wash their pepper from your face and go with you to jail&lt;br /&gt;And if you don’t make it through this fight I swear I’ll tell your tale&lt;br /&gt;And I will stay with you in the prison cell in solidarity&lt;br /&gt;And I will not leave that cursed room ’til you walk out with me&lt;br /&gt;For we the people fight for freedom while the cops just fight for pay&lt;br /&gt;And as long as truth is in our hearts we’re sure to win some day&lt;br /&gt;I will not falter when the iron fist comes out of the velvet glove&lt;br /&gt;I will stand beside you brother and defend this land I love&lt;br /&gt;I will not falter when the iron fist comes out of the velvet glove&lt;br /&gt;I will stand beside you brother and defend this land I love&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;- By Desert Rat and Brad&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/immigration/braceros1.htm"&gt;Braceros in latin-american studies&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Dallas Morning News &lt;br /&gt;January 27, 2002 &lt;br /&gt;Braceros want an old promise met&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Mexicans who worked in U.S. in '40s seek to recoup hundreds of millions in unpaid wages &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;By ALFREDO CORCHADO and RICARDO SANDOVAL / The Dallas Morning News &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;HERMOSILLO, Mexico – Every day it gets harder for Zenaido Ramírez Bernal to compete with the drone from the oversized air &lt;br /&gt;conditioner that keeps the torrid heat out of his tidy home in this desert city. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;While Mr. Ramírez has a sturdy body, strong hands and a prominent set of bright brown eyes, his reedy voice is fading. But if the &lt;br /&gt;94-year-old is slowly giving way to time, his recollections of his prime are not. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In the summer of 1942, Mr. Ramírez was the first Mexican laborer to sign up for work in the United States during World War II as part of &lt;br /&gt;a guest-worker program. He and thousands of other Mexicans came to help the United States fight the war. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The men, called braceros – Spanish for strong arms – were needed to tend farms, work on the nation's railroads and otherwise provide the muscle to keep &lt;br /&gt;America's economic engine churning and its people fed. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"I was the first. I was proud of that because it meant helping our neighbor when he needed it," Mr. Ramírez said, fumbling with a &lt;br /&gt;yellowed work card stamped No. 1 by the Mexican Labor Ministry. "In California, the bosses and the other workers would forget &lt;br /&gt;my name and just called me 'Uno.' &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"The other men seemed to look up to me because of that. But it never earned me anything special." &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The bracero experience in the United States has largely gone untold, but that may change. A group of aging braceros has filed a &lt;br /&gt;lawsuit seeking to recoup hundreds of millions of dollars in unpaid wages they say are owed them by the Mexican and American &lt;br /&gt;governments. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The money had been withheld from their pay between 1942 and 1948 and was supposed to go into saving accounts that the two &lt;br /&gt;governments had set up as incentives for the guest workers to return home. It was to be the braceros' nest eggs. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;About 300,000 braceros worked in the United States between 1942 and 1948. By 1964, an estimated 3 million braceros had held &lt;br /&gt;jobs in America. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The U.S. government maintains the lawsuit belongs in Mexican courts. The Mexican government insists it is immune from suits filed &lt;br /&gt;in foreign courts and says it has no documentation to support the braceros' claim. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But documents examined by The Dallas Morning News show that in the 1940s, both governments kept ample records of what &lt;br /&gt;each bracero was owed, and both governments recorded scores of complaints about missing savings. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The money apparently was mismanaged by Mexican officials in the 1940s or lost in the complex bracero bureaucracy, according to &lt;br /&gt;the documents. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"This is a classic human-rights issue where we're talking about the interest of individuals who were wronged," said Bill Lee, one of a &lt;br /&gt;team of lawyers who have taken up the guest workers' cause. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"This is also about a greater social issue. This is important to the Hispanic community because this is about the community's soldiers &lt;br /&gt;in the field who are now seeking justice," said Mr. Lee, a top civil rights prosecutor in the Clinton administration and now a partner &lt;br /&gt;in the San Francisco-based law firm Lieff, Cabraser, Heinmann and Bernstein. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Lawyers representing the U.S. and Mexican governments in the case refused to comment, as did U.S. Justice Department officials &lt;br /&gt;in Washington, and Interior and Foreign Ministry officials in Mexico City. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Privately, however, some officials suggested that if it's proved that braceros' savings were never repaid, some kind of settlement is &lt;br /&gt;likely. Both governments might contribute to a fund for payment to the few hundred surviving braceros, the officials said. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Some migration activists say the ex-braceros' lawsuits are a vital test case for the two countries now engaged in talks over another &lt;br /&gt;guest-worker deal. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"Before we do another program of this nature, we must take care of the old braceros," said Eliseo Medina, a Mexican immigrant &lt;br /&gt;who is AFL-CIO executive vice president and a member of a binational advisory group on migration. "It would be too easy to &lt;br /&gt;repeat the mistakes of the past, so we have to address those mistakes before we can move on." &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Documents in the U.S. National Archives, the Library of Congress and the Mexican National Archives indicate the bracero &lt;br /&gt;program leaked money everywhere and that money that did reside in various government-run banks was badly managed. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;For example, bracero complaints prompted a 1947 internal audit of the now-defunct Banco Agrícola of Mexico. It found that &lt;br /&gt;bracero savings accounts totaling at least 12 million pesos – about $4 million – had not been distributed. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Banco Agrícola was the primary holder of wartime bracero savings accounts. In the document, bank officials say the money was &lt;br /&gt;instead used to fund day-to-day branch operations. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Other documents, apparently from the Mexican president's office, show that government regulators scolded bank officials for &lt;br /&gt;diverting bracero money to cover day-to-day bank operations. But there is no evidence that the savings accounts were ever &lt;br /&gt;replenished. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In fact, another internal audit reports that Banco Agrícola was still millions of pesos in the red before it was merged with Banrural, &lt;br /&gt;Mexico's present-day rural development bank. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Official silence &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Behind the scenes, Mexican officials have quietly attended meetings with former braceros. Mexican Interior Minister Santiago Creel &lt;br /&gt;also has met with a Mexican congressional committee investigating the scandal, promising cooperation with the probe. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But publicly, American lawyers hired by the Mexican government support an expected bid by the U.S. Justice Department to have &lt;br /&gt;judges throw out the braceros' lawsuits, filed in January 2001 in San Francisco and Washington, D.C. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;If judges go along, analysts said, the case probably will die a quick death in Mexico's cumbersome civil courts. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Bracero lawyers allege that both governments broke their promises to make savings funds available. They have not yet disclosed a &lt;br /&gt;dollar amount that they seek. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The same lawyers discount the government moves. They point out that while U.S. officials contend it's a Mexican matter, American &lt;br /&gt;courts have a history of weighing human rights cases from around the world. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;These include the Holocaust survivors who were robbed of assets and Korean women forced into prostitution by the Japanese &lt;br /&gt;military in World War II. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"Besides, some of these braceros are actually now American citizens," Mr. Lee said. "And these men worked in the United States &lt;br /&gt;under contracts co-signed by the United States." &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The U.S. State Department reviewed the bracero program in 1943. Officials reported that "the War Manpower Commission shall &lt;br /&gt;send directly to [Mexico] a list containing the names of the beneficiaries and the amount corresponding to each of them for the &lt;br /&gt;above-mentioned fund." &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;'Established a system' &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In 1944, Mexican Labor Ministry officials responded in a letter to the U.S. War Manpower Commission about how to get back &lt;br /&gt;pay and savings fund withholdings to braceros already back in Mexico. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"The institution is technically and practically apt to return the total amount of savings funds to Mexican [workers] ... we have &lt;br /&gt;established a system of bookkeeping ... which allows us to have the individual accounts up-to-date," the officials replied. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Those passages have former braceros fuming. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"How could there be documents then, that are now in its own archives, while the government now says it can find nothing proving &lt;br /&gt;individuals were owed money?" asked Ventura Gutiérrez. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Mr. Gutiérrez is a California farm labor activist whose inquiry into savings withholdings from his late grandfather's bracero &lt;br /&gt;paychecks sparked the current legal fight. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Mexican officials have countered with evidence they say showed that their country's debt to braceros was largely paid off. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;A report published last year in the Los Angeles Times described a 1946 Mexican report that detailed the payout of more than &lt;br /&gt;three-quarters of the money in bracero savings accounts. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But elsewhere in the same document, Mexican officials acknowledge that record-keeping in the bracero savings program was a &lt;br /&gt;mess. They called it "another motive for discontent and protest." &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Bracero lawyers also insist the 1946 document is an unsubstantiated shell. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"There are no details, no supporting documentation on withdrawals by braceros, nothing but officials in Mexico City putting up &lt;br /&gt;simple numbers to satisfy an inquiry by the United States at the time," said Jonathan Rothstein, a Chicago attorney representing the &lt;br /&gt;braceros. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;He said the Labor Ministry did not offer receipts that would prove that braceros actually collected the money. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;$35 a week &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Jesus Ibarra Roque says he was one of the thousands cheated out of earnings. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;From March through October 1945, Mr. Ibarra pulled potatoes from wind-blown fields in Idaho. He was paid an average of $35 a &lt;br /&gt;week. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The money wasn't much, but it was better than anything the 30-year-old had seen in his life of hard work on the family farm near the &lt;br /&gt;village of Tepezala, 330 miles north of Mexico City. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But for all his work, he says he never received $90 owed him. That's what the U.S. government withheld from his pay for deposit &lt;br /&gt;into a savings account for him. Mr. Ibarra also figures he's owed 56 years worth of interest and compensation for his inconvenience. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;He said he vigorously pursued the money after his return to Tepezala, joining other braceros from his hometown in filing complaints &lt;br /&gt;about missing money. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;After a year, Banco Agrícola wrote to Mr. Ibarra, saying it had mailed him two money orders totaling 518 pesos – about $120 in &lt;br /&gt;1946 currency. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"I never saw the money orders. I never saw my money. And the amount they quote in that correspondence doesn't even sound like &lt;br /&gt;what I was owed," said Mr. Ibarra, who still wonders what happened to his money. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Mexican government officials counter that even if there is enough proof to sway a jury, the actual amount owed might be significantly &lt;br /&gt;lower than $500 million, the amount a Mexican congressional committee estimated the workers were due. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The bracero deal, signed in 1942 by presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Manuel Ávila Camacho, stipulated that the 10 percent &lt;br /&gt;withholding would not accumulate interest. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Bracero lawyers argue that it's always been illegal for a bank to hold someone's money without paying interest. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"Besides, they owe the interest because that's what's called for when a contract is broken," Mr. Rothstein said. "This contract was &lt;br /&gt;broken." &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;No bank accounts &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Before lawyers instructed Mexican officials not to discuss the bracero lawsuit, government officials said after an exhaustive search &lt;br /&gt;that they found no records supporting the workers' claims. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Bracero advocates have rejected that assertion, insisting that the money traveled via a clear paper trail between American farms and &lt;br /&gt;Mexican banks. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The process broke down from the start, it appears. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Archival documents in the United States and Mexico show that American diplomats monitoring the treaty in the 1940s warned &lt;br /&gt;superiors in Washington that misconduct in Mexico was resulting in the cheating of braceros. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Former bracero Reyes Piñón complained in a 1948 letter to President Miguel Aleman that a member of Mexico's Secret Service &lt;br /&gt;illegally withdrew all the money in his savings account. Even after filing a police report, the money was not returned, Mr. Piñón said. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Complicating the fate of the bracero savings fund were plans by the Mexican government to use the money to buy farm implements &lt;br /&gt;and fund irrigation projects in rural communities, an apparent violation of the contract with braceros. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"Fifty years later, we have neither the money, irrigation projects nor the farm implements," said Mexican Congressman Sergio &lt;br /&gt;Acosta, a member of the leftist Party of the Democratic Revolution, who heads the Mexican congressional investigation into the &lt;br /&gt;bracero issue. "The money could not have just gone up in smoke. There must be an explanation. We owe the braceros that much." &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The money trail &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The idea for the savings accounts apparently came from a desire to help braceros and to encourage their return to Mexico when the &lt;br /&gt;work was done. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;During Mr. Ibarra's Idaho stint, for example, 10 percent of his weekly pay was withheld by his employers. The money was sent to &lt;br /&gt;regional offices of the federal government's wartime manpower agencies, which forwarded the cash to Washington. From there the &lt;br /&gt;money went to Wells Fargo Bank in San Francisco, where the Mexican government maintained accounts. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Afterward, Mexico's central bank issued credits to Banco Agrícola and Banco Nacional del Ahorro – the national savings bank that &lt;br /&gt;was supposed to redistribute the funds. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Most former braceros interviewed by The News either say they simply forgot about the money, thought it was some kind of &lt;br /&gt;nonrecoverable tax or were put off by Mexican government red tape. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Mr. Ibarra has been on the family farm ever since he returned from his stint in the United States. Unlike many other braceros who &lt;br /&gt;stayed in the United States, Mr. Ibarra said he sought only to help his northern neighbors win the war. "I would have picked up a &lt;br /&gt;rifle and marched to the battlefield if they had asked." &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Mr. Ibarra is 86 but belies his age with smooth skin and the sinewy arms of a working farmer. He feels physically fit enough for one &lt;br /&gt;more fight, he says. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;He agrees with other ex-braceros that they deserve official recognition for their wartime contributions and preference in obtaining &lt;br /&gt;visas for visits to families in the United States. For now, though, he just wants an answer to the 50-year-old mystery of the money. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"At first, my bosses [in Idaho] told me I'd get the money when I left to come home," Mr. Ibarra recalled recently, sitting in the &lt;br /&gt;sun-bathed plaza of Tepezala. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"I was then told the money would come to me in Mexico. They said to be patient and wait a bit. But it's been more than 50 years now, &lt;br /&gt;and I wonder how much they owe me today."&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4456543838214377074-4807151639874851393?l=cal-mystuffs.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://cal-mystuffs.blogspot.com/feeds/4807151639874851393/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=4456543838214377074&amp;postID=4807151639874851393' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4456543838214377074/posts/default/4807151639874851393'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4456543838214377074/posts/default/4807151639874851393'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://cal-mystuffs.blogspot.com/2010/05/braceros.html' title=''/><author><name>...cal</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/17061997344633587635</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4456543838214377074.post-3937382982985395022</id><published>2010-05-22T12:46:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2010-05-22T12:49:36.624-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Insurgents attack NATO's southern Afghan base</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100522/ap_on_re_as/as_afghanistan"&gt;Insurgents attack NATO's southern Afghan base&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;By HEIDI VOGT, Associated Press Writer Heidi Vogt, Associated Press Writer – 24 mins ago&lt;br /&gt;KABUL, Afghanistan – Insurgents launched a rare ground assault against NATO's main military base in southern Afghanistan on Saturday, wounding several international service members in the second such attack on a major military installation this week, officials said.&lt;br /&gt;A Canadian Press news agency report from the base said artillery and machine gun fire reverberated through the area, about 300 miles (500 kilometers) southwest of Kabul, several hours after the attack began.&lt;br /&gt;No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack — the third major assault on NATO forces in Afghanistan in six days — but the Kandahar area is a Taliban stronghold.&lt;br /&gt;On Tuesday, a Taliban suicide bomber attacked a NATO convoy in the capital, killing 18 people including six NATO service members including five Americans and a Canadian.&lt;br /&gt;The next day, dozens of Taliban militants attacked the main U.S. military base — Bagram Air Field — killing an American contractor in fighting that lasted more than eight hours.&lt;br /&gt;Rockets started hitting Kandahar Air Field about 8 p.m. local time (15:30 GMT), followed quickly by a ground assault, said Navy Commander Amanda Peperseim, a spokeswoman for NATO forces at the base. She said the attack was still ongoing and did not provide further details.&lt;br /&gt;She said at least five rockets struck the base, wounding a number of service members, as militants tried unsuccessfully to breach the defense perimeter on the northern side. There were no reports of deaths and she did not have the precise number of wounded.&lt;br /&gt;Peperseim did not know how many insurgents launched the attack but said they did not appear to be wearing suicide vests, as had many of those who stormed the Bagram Air Field north of Kabul on Wednesday. In addition to the U.S. contractor's death, 16 militants were killed and five attackers were captured in the Bagram assault.&lt;br /&gt;Rocket attacks against the Kandahar base, located about 10 miles (16 kilometers) south of Kandahar city, are not uncommon. But ground assaults against such large facilities as Kandahar and Bagram are rare, and two attacks in the same week show that the militants are capable of complex operations despite NATO military pressure.&lt;br /&gt;The attacks came soon after the Taliban announced a spring offensive against NATO forces and Afghan government troops — their respone to a promise by the Obama administration to squeeze the Taliban out of their strongholds in southern Kandahar province.&lt;br /&gt;Kandahar Air Field is the launching pad for thousands of additional U.S. forces pouring into the country for a summer surge against the Taliban.&lt;br /&gt;Attacks in the south earlier Saturday killed three NATO service members — one American, one French and one Dutch — and an Afghan interpreter. That brought to 996 the number of U.S. service members who have died since the war began in October 2001, according to an Associated Press count. The Dutch death toll in Afghanistan now is 24 and the French toll is 42.&lt;br /&gt;A loudspeaker announcement at the Kandahar base said the ground attack was coming from the north, said Maura Axelrod, a reporter with HDNet who was inside the base. She said she could hear heavy outgoing fire and that commanders had come into the bunker where she had taken cover to order all Marines with weapons to help in establishing a security perimeter.&lt;br /&gt;An Afghan named Najibullah who works with a private security company on the base said that he heard rockets hitting for about half an hour. He only gave one name.&lt;br /&gt;NATO's current push is aimed at winning over the population in Taliban-friendly areas by establishing security and bolstering the local government. However, each military strike has created potential for backlash amid arguments about who is truly an insurgent.&lt;br /&gt;In the latest such incident, at least a dozen people were killed south of the capital Saturday after U.S. troops spotted two insurgents trying to plant bombs, an Afghan official said.&lt;br /&gt;The two were shot dead in Paktia province, district chief Gulab Shah said. Troops saw comrades drag the two bodies away and called in a helicopter gunship which killed 10 more people, whom U.S. officials said were all militants, Shah said.&lt;br /&gt;Shah said Afghan authorities will investigate to make sure the dead were all insurgents. &lt;br /&gt;Civilian deaths are a flashpoint issue in Afghanistan, where President Hamid Karzai has urged NATO to take all necessary measures to protect civilian lives. &lt;br /&gt;More than eight years into the war in Afghanistan, international support is also weakening. &lt;br /&gt;The defense minister of Britain's new Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government met with Karzai in Kabul on Saturday and said he hopes to speed the withdrawal of British troops. &lt;br /&gt;Defense Secretary Liam Fox is quoted in Saturday's edition of The Times newspaper he "would like the forces to come back as soon as possible," and wants to see if it is possible to speed the training of Afghan troops. &lt;br /&gt;___ &lt;br /&gt;Associated Press Writers Mirwais Khan in Kandahar and Mike Corder in The Hague, Netherlands, contributed to this report.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4456543838214377074-3937382982985395022?l=cal-mystuffs.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://cal-mystuffs.blogspot.com/feeds/3937382982985395022/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=4456543838214377074&amp;postID=3937382982985395022' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4456543838214377074/posts/default/3937382982985395022'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4456543838214377074/posts/default/3937382982985395022'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://cal-mystuffs.blogspot.com/2010/05/nato.html' title='Insurgents attack NATO&apos;s southern Afghan base'/><author><name>...cal</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/17061997344633587635</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4456543838214377074.post-9075149738935848929</id><published>2010-05-20T10:53:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2010-05-20T12:15:12.005-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Bill Clinton and Haiti........  Crying and lying</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href="http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/01/18/1432777/scene-moves-bill-clinton-to-tears.html"&gt;Scene moves Bill Clinton to Tears&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyM4TsjwRDY&amp;feature=related"&gt;Clinton is UN rep. to Haiti&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dH27jgGqXbE"&gt;17 Little Children&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1etgsNU46s4"&gt;Clinton and the NWO&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtTeDv5FbNw"&gt;Video apologizes for Haiti Mea Culpa&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u22mphQsn5s"&gt;Clinton apologizes for MK Ultra&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.opednews.com/articles/Haiti-Clinton-s-Apology--by-Jay-Janson-100403-114.html"&gt;Haiti Clinton's Apology&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ruth-messinger/what-bill-clintons-mea-cu_b_517328.html"&gt;Clinton and Haiti's rice devastation apology&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;What Bill Clinton's Mea Culpa Should Mean &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As many of us have been paying close attention to the long-awaited passage of health care reform last week, it was easy to miss something else that was absolutely extraordinary. Former President Bill Clinton said at a recent Senate hearing that he regrets the impact in Haiti of the free trade policies that became a hallmark of his presidency.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"It may have been good for some of my farmers in Arkansas, but it has not worked. It was a mistake," Clinton said this month. "I had to live everyday with the consequences of the loss of capacity to produce a rice crop in Haiti to feed those people because of what I did; nobody else."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Sadly, he's right. The rapid lowering of agricultural trade barriers in Haiti combined with misguided U.S. food aid policy allowed American agribusinesses to flood the country with cheap surplus rice and force tens of thousands of local farmers out of business. According to the Associated Press, six pounds of imported rice now costs at least a dollar less than a similar quantity of locally-grown rice. So how can a Haitian farmer compete? The past 15 years have shown they simply can't. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Prior to the era of so-called "free trade", Haiti could feed itself, importing only 19 percent of its food and actually exporting rice. Today, Haiti imports more than half of its food, including 80 percent of the rice eaten in the country. The result is that Haitians are particularly vulnerable to price spikes arising from global weather, political instability, rising fuel costs and natural disasters, such as earthquakes that register 7.0 on the Richter scale. In fact, since the January earthquake, imported rice prices are up 25 percent. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It is especially fitting that President Clinton's mea culpa comes as the Jewish community worldwide prepares to observe Passover. The story of Passover is a stark reminder that communities cannot rely solely on others to provide for their needs. Until people are empowered to help themselves, in-kind assistance from the outside is useful only in the immediate aftermath of acute emergencies. Long-term needs must be met principally through a community-led approach. The lesson we take from Passover is that once the Israelites spoke out against slavery their prayers for freedom were finally answered. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Today, the people of Haiti are speaking as loud as they can. They desperately want a voice and central role in the reconstruction of their country, including the ability to meet the country's nutritional needs with food produced by Haitians in Haiti. In fact, President Rene Preval, himself a rice grower, has asked for international food aid to be replaced by financial support for farmers and the re-development of the agricultural sector. Preval knows that sustained success in rebuilding depends on food sovereignty, or the ability for Haitian farmers to grow their own crops and feed their own communities.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Is the international community getting the message? It's hard to say. The AP also reported that the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has provided nearly four times as much in-kind food aid since January as it invests each year in Haitian agriculture. There is of course a need in grave circumstances for actual shipments of food - but for decades we've used in-kind food as a tool for destroying local agricultural markets on an ongoing basis, not as a last resort measure to be used in emergencies after all possibilities for local purchase have been exhausted. Until our government abandons a system that dumps surplus from American agribusiness on the developing world, its efforts at ending hunger will remain counterproductive. Then again, if you are the D.C. lobbyist for Big Ag, maybe that's the point. Maintaining the developing world's cycle of dependence is profitable business.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The time has come for us to pay attention, to heed the wishes of the Haitian people to be empowered. We must demand that the purpose of our work in Haiti is not to merely rebuild an export market for our surpluses, but rather to support a Haitian-led effort to create a country that can stand on its own, build a sustainable economy and feed its people. Over the next couple of months, Congress will be discussing how to allocate more than $1.6 billion in supplemental funding for Haiti. I urge you to contact your elected representatives and let them know that this money must be used to empower communities, not corporations.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Each year, during Passover, we say "let all who are hungry, come and eat." Then, ironically, we proceed to enjoy a wonderful meal with our families and friends while our front doors remain closed. If you will be celebrating Passover this year, I ask that you open your doors -- at least metaphorically -- and hear those calls from a country just a few hundred miles off our shore. Recognize that the people of Haiti may not need our food. Rather, they need us to listen as they tell us how we can really help.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://cal-mystuffs.blogspot.com/2009/12/children-of-world_11.html"&gt;Children of the World&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;EXCERPT from MYSTUFFS that reminds me of the Clinton ways.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Jill had moved out of mainstream America because of the dishonesty. The lack of humanity in the world was down right ugly. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Robert, on the other hand, had taken stock of his life and decided to live it in virtual reality. It was much better than trying to survive the greed and hypocricy of the ”real world”. At least on the internet, you didn’t come face to face with the enemy daily. They took on many identities and in doing so became the masses of the unknown. Somehow it took the human factor out of the picture. Hell, if you didn’t want to talk to them, you could ignore them, if you wanted to become young, you lied about your age, if you wanted to become beautiful you put someone else’s picture in your profile. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;You could become anything you liked on the net. It was an open forum and anybody could join. It drew people from all walks of life. Similar to the environment of the real corporate world, business became even more sleezy but NOT quite so real. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;If you couldn’t put a face to the people, how could you feel any kind of connection? How could you feel any responsibility? It reminded you of the eras of the past. People ran helter skelter and didn’t live by any rules. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The net provided many things to many people and the amount of knowledge you could find was infinitesimal. Decency didn’t matter in virtual reality. You could switch off the PC and become the person you pretended to be in real time. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;You might be the biggest rogue on the internet but the best dad in the world at home. You could be a CEO’s assistant from nine to five and a porn star at http://pornforhire.net, in the twilight hours. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Amazing as it seems, even the angels of the earth became someone different when the opportunity presents itself. Virtual reality became home of the paranoid, the abusers, the stalkers, the users and the wannabes. It wasn’t a pretty picture but somehow because of the anonimity it drew people in by the droves. =================&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4456543838214377074-9075149738935848929?l=cal-mystuffs.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://cal-mystuffs.blogspot.com/feeds/9075149738935848929/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=4456543838214377074&amp;postID=9075149738935848929' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4456543838214377074/posts/default/9075149738935848929'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4456543838214377074/posts/default/9075149738935848929'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://cal-mystuffs.blogspot.com/2010/05/bill-clinton-and-haiti-crying-and-lying.html' title='Bill Clinton and Haiti........  Crying and lying'/><author><name>...cal</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/17061997344633587635</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4456543838214377074.post-3720499095083810741</id><published>2010-05-20T10:20:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2010-05-20T10:44:09.805-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Clinton's Tears in Haiti</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href="http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/01/18/1432777/scene-moves-bill-clinton-to-tears.html"&gt;Scene moves Bill Clinton to Tears&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyM4TsjwRDY&amp;feature=related"&gt;Clinton is UN rep. to Haiti&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dH27jgGqXbE"&gt;17 Little Children&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1etgsNU46s4"&gt;Clinton and the NWO&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtTeDv5FbNw"&gt;Video apologizes for Haiti Mea Culpa&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u22mphQsn5s"&gt;Clinton apologizes for MK Ultra&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.opednews.com/articles/Haiti-Clinton-s-Apology--by-Jay-Janson-100403-114.html"&gt;Haiti Clinton's Apology&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ruth-messinger/what-bill-clintons-mea-cu_b_517328.html"&gt;Clinton and Haiti's rice devastation apology&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;What Bill Clinton's Mea Culpa Should Mean &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As many of us have been paying close attention to the long-awaited passage of health care reform last week, it was easy to miss something else that was absolutely extraordinary. Former President Bill Clinton said at a recent Senate hearing that he regrets the impact in Haiti of the free trade policies that became a hallmark of his presidency.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"It may have been good for some of my farmers in Arkansas, but it has not worked. It was a mistake," Clinton said this month. "I had to live everyday with the consequences of the loss of capacity to produce a rice crop in Haiti to feed those people because of what I did; nobody else."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Sadly, he's right. The rapid lowering of agricultural trade barriers in Haiti combined with misguided U.S. food aid policy allowed American agribusinesses to flood the country with cheap surplus rice and force tens of thousands of local farmers out of business. According to the Associated Press, six pounds of imported rice now costs at least a dollar less than a similar quantity of locally-grown rice. So how can a Haitian farmer compete? The past 15 years have shown they simply can't. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Prior to the era of so-called "free trade", Haiti could feed itself, importing only 19 percent of its food and actually exporting rice. Today, Haiti imports more than half of its food, including 80 percent of the rice eaten in the country. The result is that Haitians are particularly vulnerable to price spikes arising from global weather, political instability, rising fuel costs and natural disasters, such as earthquakes that register 7.0 on the Richter scale. In fact, since the January earthquake, imported rice prices are up 25 percent. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It is especially fitting that President Clinton's mea culpa comes as the Jewish community worldwide prepares to observe Passover. The story of Passover is a stark reminder that communities cannot rely solely on others to provide for their needs. Until people are empowered to help themselves, in-kind assistance from the outside is useful only in the immediate aftermath of acute emergencies. Long-term needs must be met principally through a community-led approach. The lesson we take from Passover is that once the Israelites spoke out against slavery their prayers for freedom were finally answered. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Today, the people of Haiti are speaking as loud as they can. They desperately want a voice and central role in the reconstruction of their country, including the ability to meet the country's nutritional needs with food produced by Haitians in Haiti. In fact, President Rene Preval, himself a rice grower, has asked for international food aid to be replaced by financial support for farmers and the re-development of the agricultural sector. Preval knows that sustained success in rebuilding depends on food sovereignty, or the ability for Haitian farmers to grow their own crops and feed their own communities.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Is the international community getting the message? It's hard to say. The AP also reported that the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has provided nearly four times as much in-kind food aid since January as it invests each year in Haitian agriculture. There is of course a need in grave circumstances for actual shipments of food - but for decades we've used in-kind food as a tool for destroying local agricultural markets on an ongoing basis, not as a last resort measure to be used in emergencies after all possibilities for local purchase have been exhausted. Until our government abandons a system that dumps surplus from American agribusiness on the developing world, its efforts at ending hunger will remain counterproductive. Then again, if you are the D.C. lobbyist for Big Ag, maybe that's the point. Maintaining the developing world's cycle of dependence is profitable business.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The time has come for us to pay attention, to heed the wishes of the Haitian people to be empowered. We must demand that the purpose of our work in Haiti is not to merely rebuild an export market for our surpluses, but rather to support a Haitian-led effort to create a country that can stand on its own, build a sustainable economy and feed its people. Over the next couple of months, Congress will be discussing how to allocate more than $1.6 billion in supplemental funding for Haiti. I urge you to contact your elected representatives and let them know that this money must be used to empower communities, not corporations.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Each year, during Passover, we say "let all who are hungry, come and eat." Then, ironically, we proceed to enjoy a wonderful meal with our families and friends while our front doors remain closed. If you will be celebrating Passover this year, I ask that you open your doors -- at least metaphorically -- and hear those calls from a country just a few hundred miles off our shore. Recognize that the people of Haiti may not need our food. Rather, they need us to listen as they tell us how we can really help.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4456543838214377074-3720499095083810741?l=cal-mystuffs.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://cal-mystuffs.blogspot.com/feeds/3720499095083810741/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=4456543838214377074&amp;postID=3720499095083810741' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4456543838214377074/posts/default/3720499095083810741'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4456543838214377074/posts/default/3720499095083810741'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://cal-mystuffs.blogspot.com/2010/05/clintons-tears-in-haiti.html' title='Clinton&apos;s Tears in Haiti'/><author><name>...cal</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/17061997344633587635</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4456543838214377074.post-3939527464253417767</id><published>2010-05-14T15:36:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2010-05-14T16:00:23.679-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Boycott...  Using both sides against this Shadow Gov., eh?  MSNBC and GE from the Right? OMG!</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&amp;objectid=10645061&amp;ref=rss"&gt;Officials slap Arizona with travel boycott&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2010/04/28/2010-04-28_ariz_law_leads_to_misfired_ire.html"&gt;Boycott Arizona Tea&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://boycottgemsnbc.weebly.com/"&gt;Boycott MSNBC and GE&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://images.ask.com/fr?q=arizona+boycott&amp;desturi=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.buzzflash.com%2Fpledges%2Fboycott-arizona.html&amp;initialURL=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.ask.com%2Fpictures%3Fl%3Ddis%26o%3D101881%26q%3Darizona%2520boycott%26qsrc%3D8%26qid%3D2164B8A1239B19D7296587A7CBDFD103%26pstart%3D72%26page%3D4&amp;fm=i&amp;ac=157&amp;fsel=1&amp;ftURI=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.ask.com%2Ffr%3Fq%3Darizona%2Bboycott%26desturi%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.buzzflash.com%252Fpledges%252Fboycott-arizona.html%26imagesrc%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.buzzflash.com%252Fpledges%252Fimages%252Fboycott-arizona.jpg%26thumbsrc%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fimgtn1.ask.com%252Fts%253Ft%253D8491590930352585920%2526pid%253D23565%2526ppid%253D3%26o%3D101881%26l%3Ddis%26thumbuselocalisedstatic%3Dfalse%26fn%3Dboycott-arizona.jpg%26imagewidth%3D224%26imageheight%3D257%26fs%3D53%26ft%3Djpg%26f%3D2%26fm%3Di%26fsel%3D1%26ftbURI%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fimages.ask.com%252Fpictures%253Fq%253Darizona%252Bboycott%2526page%253D4%2526o%253D101881%2526l%253Ddis%2526pstart%253D72&amp;qt=0"&gt;Boycott Arizona&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I Will Not Violate My Constitutional Rights.&lt;br /&gt;I Pledge to Boycott Arizona.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The United States Constitution was established to ensure and "secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity." The Declaration of Independence declares, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As a result of the discriminatory law aimed directly at non-white Mexicans, the state of Arizona is in violation of the democratic rights guaranteed in the Constitution and the revolutionary intent of the Declaration of Independence. My liberties could personally be curtailed by police action in Arizona due to this legislation.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As a result, I pledge to boycott Arizona as a travel destination, and I pledge not to travel through Arizona.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;First Name  &lt;br /&gt;Email Address  &lt;br /&gt;If I belong to any professional organizations, I will also encourage them and other members to boycott Arizona as a convention site, thus depriving the state of untold income and tax revenues.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I urge all supporters of the American Constitution, and supporters of personal freedom and civil liberties to join me in this boycott.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;First Name  &lt;br /&gt;Email Address  &lt;br /&gt;An Advocacy Initiative of BuzzFlash.com&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4456543838214377074-3939527464253417767?l=cal-mystuffs.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://cal-mystuffs.blogspot.com/feeds/3939527464253417767/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=4456543838214377074&amp;postID=3939527464253417767' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4456543838214377074/posts/default/3939527464253417767'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4456543838214377074/posts/default/3939527464253417767'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://cal-mystuffs.blogspot.com/2010/05/boycott.html' title='Boycott...  Using both sides against this Shadow Gov., eh?  MSNBC and GE from the Right? OMG!'/><author><name>...cal</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/17061997344633587635</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4456543838214377074.post-1741233547661946041</id><published>2010-05-13T15:54:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2010-05-13T16:03:06.213-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Hacker</title><content type='html'>ahhhhhhhhh, it happened again, I put an email here to forward and it suddenly disappeared.  hmmmmmmmmmmm  DUMBASS hacker!!!!............  and then the SOB says I'm parnoid.            ........ and the nerve to say I have a mental illness.  Oh yeah, BTW, Pinkersgill is an alcoholic!  .........dry for a number of years but several years ago told me he was buying me a computer and said he sent it after I told him I already bought one he said he sent the check.  hmmmmmmmmm  (another BTW, I never asked for a computer he just up and said he'd buy me one.)  ASSHOLE and a LIAR!!!   Another coiqidink... .....  I lived with a con-man back in the late 80's and then he went to prison for what he'd done to me.......... .  Edward hooked us up a few years ago???????  He also used to lurk on several sites I frequented acting asif he was a friend to me?????????   I trusted him at one time and even journeyed to Canada to meet up with him.......  NOPE, we never slept together as when I first arrived one of his harem women threatened to kill me.  OMG!!!  (Norla Antonero was her name.)   I swear to you guys, I COULDN'T make this shit up.   To: v-nv-resist@ yahoogroups. comI just finished the dvd.......&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4456543838214377074-1741233547661946041?l=cal-mystuffs.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://cal-mystuffs.blogspot.com/feeds/1741233547661946041/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=4456543838214377074&amp;postID=1741233547661946041' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4456543838214377074/posts/default/1741233547661946041'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4456543838214377074/posts/default/1741233547661946041'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://cal-mystuffs.blogspot.com/2010/05/hacker.html' title='Hacker'/><author><name>...cal</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/17061997344633587635</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4456543838214377074.post-7037979819784552090</id><published>2010-04-11T15:52:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2010-04-16T06:57:13.590-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Another Dream and this one was long long ago and I REALLY didn't understand it.  (GOD)</title><content type='html'>I hafta tell you that I've had these dreams all of my life and sometimes they were from folks I knew that passed over. (My Aunt Mabel for instance was mad at my dad after he didn't give her niece money from Mabel's estate.  Mabel came to me in a dream and when I woke up I asked that she give me a sign that it wasn't simply a dream and the shade in my bedroom zoomed up to the top of the window.)  Was it a sign?  You betcha!  At least I think it was.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Anyways to make another short story long...........  I had this dream before the other one about God.  (I'll try and remember to post that url here so you guys will know what hell I'm talking about, k?)  &lt;a href="http://cal-mystuffs.blogspot.com/2008/11/god-and-mystuffs.html"&gt;God&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In Dos Palos, Ca (My home town........  very small town when I was younger and the town was pretty damn tiny.... it had 2,500 people back in the day.)  .......anyways, there is a street (one street behind where my great-grand-parents lived and can't for the life of me remember the names of either of the streets but this street was right behind my g'parents house, eh?  The street I'm referring to only had houses on one side and on the other side was the drive-in theater.)  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;You know I can't make this stuff up as why the hell would I go into such details about the damn street, right?  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;For whatever reason I'm walking down the sidewalk on the side where the houses are and there's this huge shadowy figure walking w/me and he points to the screen across the street and he says, as he points; "You see that screen?"&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Well, duh, who couldn't see the screen but remember I'm walking w/this GIANT shadow Guy and I figure I won't smart mouth him cause I'm used to dreams where I can fly and I love to fly and what the hell is this all about?  It isn't really all that much fun walking with this DUDE, not at all like my flying dreams.  (I'll tell you what, FLYING is FUN!  I had those dreams from the time I was a little bitty whipper snapper till a few years ago and THEY are fun!  (I can't stress enuff how fun flying dreams are, whether they are in a small little house and I'm merely going around the house in circles to the ones where I am outside.  The ones outside definitely were great but when I was little, the ones inside did the trick.)  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;............  you want me back on topic, don't cha?  Alrighty then.  Anyways, the big dark shadowy figure points to the screen across the way and tells me.......  "THAT (meaning the movie screen) is all about YOU."  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Now, don't get me wrong, I was flattered but I'm the one who used to draw a blank and couldn't speak and ran out of my English class when I had to do a book report.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I was lucky cause I had a wonderful teacher who gave me a 'B' on the report cause I had gone in before class and done a superb job in front of her.  (She was one of many of my teachers that truly treated me great, as in teacher's pet as I think they knew me...........  simply....  and maybe they had drawn the same conclusion as me about those stupid state tests.)  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Anyways, now I seem to think I was in the presence of God or whatever when I was walking across from the drive-in and his way of talking to me was thru dreams???  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I remember at META Services when Wendy Ruiz in Human Resourses told me that 'Everything Isn't All About YOU'......... and it pissed me the hell off as, if you will remember I was trying to help folks and this damn woman was on the side of the bad guys.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I remember looking back at her and asking bluntly if she had ever been abused?  She looked guiltily away as the bitch knew exactly what I was talking about.  I was talking to her about the abuse of my people and my empathy.  (I'm feeling hot under the collar now as I remember that conversation and how I felt.)  I didn't back down and she then and there fired me on the spot.  BITCH!!!  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;.......hmmmmmm and now to the meat of this story, k?  I think I talked to God and he is now directing me to address the fact that 'It is all about ME'.  It isn't about me thinking I'm a big shot and the whole world is all about me but simply the dreams are directions for me.  K???  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Today I was sitting and I was thinking about putting together a play or an act or whatever in 'TV and movie' stuffs.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I 'Imagined' a play where there are 2 separate stages (Maybe it's just one giant one but it's set up separated as in 2.)  On one state Michael Jackson is singing 'They Don't Really Care About US' in the prison scene and the other he is singing 'They Don't Really Care About US'  (Hee hee, I copy and pasted and I think it took me longer than if I'd typed it.)  Sowy for my little bit of not being focussed but HEY, that's me.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;...........anyways that's one number.  Get IT, the two stages and syncronized singing?  Ain't that simply a wonderful scenerio?  I think so.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I love his 'Black &amp; White' video as well and maybe it could be part of the play.......... or act or whatever.  (Maybe some really good impersonaters could do it and maybe we could get Janet Jackson and Tyler Perry involved.)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I think Michael was murdered by the Elite and our proper revenge would be to have his stuffs used to help us in our movement.  What do you think, eh?  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Prison Version Of They Don't Really Care About US&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://vodpod.com/watch/1821111-dont-you-black-or-white-me"&gt;They Don't Really Care About Us&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Other Version&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNJL6nfu__Q"&gt;They Don't Really Care About Us&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://gordonkhoo.multiply.com/video/item/57/YouTube_-_Michael_Jackson_Black_Or_White_Full_Version_Bass_Amplify"&gt;Black or White&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;http://genealogy.about.com/od/surname_meaning/p/anderson.htm&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;EXCERPT:&lt;br /&gt;ANDERSON - Name Meaning &amp; Origin&lt;br /&gt;By Kimberly Powell, About.com Guide&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;ANDERSON Surname Meaning &amp; Origin:&lt;br /&gt;Patronymic surname meaning "son of Andrew." Andrew (man, manly) was the first of Jesus' disciples, and was a revered name in medieval times due to its church connections. St. Andrew is the patron saint of both Scotland and Russia. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I have heard over and over that the freemasons are not good.  Freemasons this.....freemasons that...........  all's I can say is that my own experience is what I can base my own story on.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;My Daddy was a mason he was the best example of a father one could have.  He was loving, caring, giving and simply WONDERFUL.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;My 2nd husband's Mom was an Eastern Star and his Dad was a Mason as well as his step-dad.  They were all WONDERFUL to me.  (They stepped in and helped my family when my Dad died and made it as easy as possible on me and my brother.)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I have been racking my brain as to how to address this here but figured, as usual, straight up is the best way, what do yaw'll think?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Personally I think the Freemason's were infiltrated by evil doers like Bill Clinton.  .................my2cents.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Order_of_the_Rainbow_for_Girls&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;EXCERPT:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The International Order of the Rainbow for Girls (IORG) is a Masonic youth service organization which teaches leadership training through community service. Girls (ages 11–20/21) learn about the value of charity and service through their work and involvement with their annual local and Grand (state or country) service projects.&lt;br /&gt;Contents &lt;br /&gt;[edit] History&lt;br /&gt;The order came into existence in 1922[1], when the Reverend W. Mark Sexson, a Freemason, was asked to make an address before South McAlester Chapter #149, Order of the Eastern Star, in McAlester, Oklahoma. As the Order of DeMolay had come under his close study during his Masonic activities, he suggested that a similar order for girls would be beneficial. The first Initiation consisted of a class of 171 girls on April 6, 1922, in the auditorium of the Scottish Rite Temple in McAlester. The original name was "Order of the Rainbow for Girls".[2]&lt;br /&gt;[edit] Officers&lt;br /&gt;Girls can hold many different offices in the local Assembly. Each requires some memory work and all but 2 serve for 1 term (4 to 6 months out of the year). Officers include: [3]&lt;br /&gt;Worthy Advisor (WA) Presides at meetings and plans activities for her term like a President: the highest office in an Assembly. (elected by Assembly)&lt;br /&gt;Worthy Associate Advisor (WAA) Duties similar to a Vice President. Presides over a meeting in the absence of the Worthy Advisor. (elected)&lt;br /&gt;Charity Teaches about charitable deeds. (elected)&lt;br /&gt;Hope Teaches that hope is always there for us. (elected)&lt;br /&gt;Faith Teaches that faith is our constant companion. She is the officer who guides new candidates throughout an initiation ceremony. (elected)&lt;br /&gt;Recorder Records minutes and handles correspondence: serves for 1 year and may be either elected or appointed depending on the jurisdiction.&lt;br /&gt;Treasurer Handles monies and bills and compiles reports about the balances of the Assembly's various money accounts: serves for 1 year and may be either elected or appointed depending on the jurisdiction.&lt;br /&gt;Chaplain Leads in prayers (appointed)&lt;br /&gt;Drill Leader Leads the officers in their floor work and leads guests around the Assembly room. (appointed)&lt;br /&gt;Seven Bow Stations Teach lessons about the colors of the rainbow and their corresponding virtues: (appointed) &lt;br /&gt;Love (red)&lt;br /&gt;Religion (orange)&lt;br /&gt;Nature (yellow)&lt;br /&gt;Immortality (green)&lt;br /&gt;Fidelity (blue)&lt;br /&gt;Patriotism (indigo)&lt;br /&gt;Service (violet)&lt;br /&gt;Confidential and Outer Observers Guard the inner and outer doors, respectively. (appointed)&lt;br /&gt;Musician and Choir Director Provide music for the meetings. (appointed)&lt;br /&gt;Some Assemblies and Grand Assemblies have other officers not specified in the ritual, such as Historian, Editor, Bible Bearer, Goodwill Ambassador, American Flag Bearer, State Flag Bearer, Christian Flag Bearer, Rainbow Flag Bearer, and Assembly Banner Bearer.[4]&lt;br /&gt;It is an unwritten law that each of the line officers (Faith, Hope, Charity, and Worthy Associate Advisor) advances to the next highest office, culminating in her term as Worthy Advisor. However, this is not a guarantee.[5]&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;http://www.fieldwerks.com/new_page_5.htm&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Rainbow Children"&lt;br /&gt;Excerpted from the book, Angel Medicine&lt;br /&gt;by Doreen Virtue, Ph.D. (Hay House, updated edition, September, 2004)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;There s a new generation of psychic and sensitive children who are just beginning to come to earth. They re called, The Rainbow Children.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Rainbow generation is here to bring us, rainbow healing energy, as this article explains. It begins with light. Sunlight is an important catalyst for production of the brain chemical, serotonin. Serotonin is a chemical involved in the brain s electrical transmissions that regulates mood, appetite, and energy levels.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Every night as we sleep, our brains create a supply of serotonin to use for the following day, since the chemical can t be stored. If we make enough serotonin during the night, we awaken refreshed and energized. But with too little serotonin, we feel hung-over and irritable. Low serotonin levels are also correlated with premenstrual syndrome, bed-wetting, mood swings, carbohydrate cravings, and depression.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Staying indoors too much, not exercising, and drinking alcohol or other sedatives at night can all interfere with serotonin production. With an unhealthful lifestyle, we wake up listless and often turn to caffeine and sugar to get going in the morning. Then, after using artificial stimulants all day for energy, we may use drugs or alcohol to fall asleep at night. This vicious cycle of chemical dependency is all-too-common.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Many people don t realize that the cycle can trigger depression and anxiety. So, they take psychoactive drugs which treat depression and anxiety by increasing serotonin levels. Millions of adults and children take drugs like Ritalyn and Prozac, when they could use natural means to achieve even better results without side-effects.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Getting enough sunlight and exercise is one way to insure that your brain creates sufficient serotonin. That s because sunlight converts from melatonin in the skin, into serotonin in the brain.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;My guides called, The Angels of Atlantis said to me about this: Many people turn a deaf ear to their angels guidance, because they believe the angels are trying to control them or ruin their fun. They don t want to hear the angels advice about improving their diet or taking better care of their bodies. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Yet, the guardian angels give guidance that will increase the flow and regulation of your serotonin. When they ask you to eat healthful foods, to connect with nature, and to exercise, these are ways to naturally improve your mood and energy levels.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Then the Angels of Atlantis talked to me about rainbow energy. They said, The bands of natural sunlight are composed of the colors red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet the colors of the rainbow. You ve seen these colors in prisms through water droplets and clear quartz crystals. Rainbows are associated with smiles and happiness, because the human body was designed to absorb and assimilate rainbow energy through sunlight. You each have a rainbow inside of you, which you call your chakras. The chakras are your natural connection to the Divine light, and to the physical sunlight. With sufficient sunlight and rainbow absorption, you feel naturally happy and alive.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Yet, when the air became dirty with pollution and humans began spending more time indoors, their absorption of the rainbow energy was diminished. This led to human aggression and suffering. Instead of recognizing the simple solution (going outside), humans tried to find happiness through increasingly artificial means.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Part of our answer to your prayers for happiness was in new ways that we sent you the rainbow energy that you need and crave so much. We first asked the dolphins to swim closer to your shorelines and to play and swim with you more often. Dolphins emit rainbow energy, much like humans once did. That s because dolphins are in the sunlight regularly, unfiltered by city pollution, and they exercise continuously. These two components give dolphins the joyful disposition that you always notice.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The second answer that we gave to you was through the attention we called to energy healing. The rainbow energy is concentrated in Reiki, Chi Gong, Pranic, and the other names given to channeling rainbow energy through your hands and hearts. The crystals also give you rainbow prisms by focusing and directing light into the colored bands. Their words reminded me of the Atlantian healing temple s pyramid of light. We priestesses directed the colors from the pyramid s rainbow prism into our patients chakras. Clearly, the healing power of rainbow light was powerful.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The angels continued. Now, we re bringing the rainbow energy indoors to reach more of you, through the birth of the new Rainbow Children. Many of you have intuited the birth of these new children, who are just now arriving upon earth.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The angels explained that the Rainbow Children were the generation after the Crystal Children. Rainbows are highly sensitive, loving, forgiving, and magical like the Crystal Children. The difference is that the Rainbows have never before been on earth, so they have no karma to balance. The Rainbows, therefore, choose entirely peaceful and functional households. They don t need chaos or challenges to balance karma or grow. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;For this reason, the Rainbow Children are being born to the older Crystal Children (the scouts who initially came to earth in the 1980's). As the other Crystal Children grow older, they will be the peace-loving parents who birth the new Rainbow Children. The Rainbows being born right now are the Scouts, and the large influx of Rainbows will occur during the years 2010 through 2030. This follows the 20-year pattern we ve previously seen with the Indigos being largely born during 1970 through 1990, followed by the Crystal Children in 1990 through 2010. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Rainbow Children are absolutely open-hearted and unconditionally loving. Unlike the Crystal Children who only display affection to people warranting their trust, the Rainbows are universally affectionate. They heal us with their huge heart chakras, and envelope us in a blanket of rainbow-colored energy that we so sorely need. They re literally angels upon the earth. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I ve personally only met two children who I know for certain are Rainbows. They both had a maturity well beyond their infant years. Both beings showed no sign of fear toward strangers (including closed-hearted strangers who Crystal Children are repelled by). Both Rainbows had a very centered-in-their-power energy. And both Rainbow Children were more interested in giving me energy treatments of a very high level variety, than they were in playing.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;We re in an exciting time right now upon Earth, and heading toward an even more exciting time as the Crystals and Rainbows mature and populate the planet. We re heading toward a time of great peace, cooperation, and healing. We re heading toward a time when the earth is encircled by rainbows once again.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Angel Stories for Woman s World Magazine&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Doreen has just accepted an exciting offer from Woman s World, a national American mainstream magazine, to write a weekly angel column. She considers this a wonderful opportunity to shine the angels light far and wide, especially since the editors want Doreen to include a channeled message from the angels in each column! Each week s column, which begins with the September 7, 2004 issue, will feature one or more true angel stories. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;If you have an angel experience that you d like to share with the Woman s World audience, please send it to AngelHealingBook@aol.com. Please include a sentence giving Woman s World permission to publish your story, and state how you want your name to appear. If your story is published, we ll contact you at your email address. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Angel Medicine Contributor Copies&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Signed copies of Doreen s new book, Angel Medicine, will be mailed at the end of this month to those whose stories were published in the book. We ll use the address that you gave to us at the time you submitted your story. If you know for certain that your story appears in Angel Medicine, please send an email with your current mailing address, name, and a synopsis of your story to accessangel444@yahoo.com. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Beloved Saints&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Doreen s researching saints and wants to know who your favorite saints are, and why? Please send a list of saints who ve had special meaning to you to BelovedSaints@aol.com. You don t need to include stories about the saints; however, Doreen would appreciate it if you could include a sentence or two explaining why each saint is significant to you. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;MerAngel Surveys&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Doreen wrote about Mer people in her books, Earth Angels and Angel Medicine, and she s recently received a lot more information. She wants to survey those who believe they re mer-people (defined as those who look like mermaids or mermen; who must live or be near the ocean or lakes; who are vigilantly doing something to help protect sea creatures). &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;If you fit the above criteria without question, please send an email to MerAngelSurvey@aol.com to receive a brief survey that Doreen would appreciate you completing.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Doreen s Workshop Schedule:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Aug. 14 - 21 Tahiti Voyage to Paradise with James Van Praagh and Doreen Virtue. Enjoy white sandy beaches, warm sunshine, fresh air, dolphins, and angels! Doreen will take participants on a past-life regression to Atlantis and the healing temples. ron@worldviewtravel.com or (714) 540-7400, ext. 228.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Aug. 28 Sydney, Australia I Can Do It Expo with Louise Hay, Doreen Virtue, and more +61 (0)2 9669 4299 or info@hayhouse.com.au &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Sept 2 Brisbane, Australia Audience Angel and Mediumship Readings with Doreen Virtue and Gordon Smith +61 (0)2 9669 4299 or info@hayhouse.com.au &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Sept 4 Melbourne, Australia Audience Angel and Mediumship Readings with Doreen Virtue and Gordon Smith +61 (0)2 9669 4299 or info@hayhouse.com.au &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Sept 6 Perth, Australia Audience Angel and Mediumship Readings with Doreen Virtue and Gordon Smith +61 (0)2 9669 4299 or info@hayhouse.com.au &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Sept 8 Adelaide, Australia Audience Angel and Mediumship Readings with Doreen Virtue and Gordon Smith +61 (0)2 9669 4299 or info@hayhouse.com.au &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Sept 11 - 13 Sydney, Australia Angel Intuitive (AI) Certification Course +61 (0)2 9669 4299 or info@hayhouse.com.au &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Oct. 1 - 3 Laguna Beach, CA Mediumship Mentorship Program 1 (866) 444-0451 or (949) 305-2377 or AngelTherapy444@aol.com.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Oct. 8 - 10 Laguna Beach, CA Mediumship Mentorship Program 1 (866) 444-0451 or (949) 305-2377 or AngelTherapy444@aol.com.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Oct. 18 - 23 Laguna Beach, CA Angel Therapy Practitioner (ATP) Certification Program 1 (866) 444-0451 or (949) 305-2377 or AngelTherapy444@aol.com. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Oct 29 - 31 Laguna Beach, CA Mediumship Mentorship Program 1 (866) 444-0451 or (949) 589-4672 or AngelTherapy444@aol.com&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Nov 5-7 Phoenix, AZ "Celebrate Your Life Expo with Wayne Dyer, James Van Praagh, Don Miguel Ruiz, Alan Cohen, Doreen Virtue, and more" mishkapr@aol.com or (480) 970-8543 or www.mishkaproductions.com&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Nov. 14 Seattle, WA "Mystical Connections: A Full Day of Audience Psychic Readings with Doreen Virtue, Gordon Smith, John Holland, and Sonia Choquette." 1-800-654-5126, ext. 2 or http://www.hayhouse.com/events.php to sign up online. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;May 9 - 14, 2005, Glastonbury, England. Angel Therapy Practitioner (ATP) Certification Course Email: AngelTherapy444@aol.com or 1 (866) 444-0451 or (949) 305-2377 &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;http://www.rainbow.org/bio.php &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;(Note: the information in this biography, including pictures, has been taken from "Our Place in Time - IORG 75th Anniversary History", which is © 1998 IORG, McAlester, OK. This 152-page book can be purchased from Supreme for $40 (yes, it's worth it). Other information was taken from the back of my ritual. I have seen the biography from the back of the ritual posted elsewhere on the net, including Supreme Assembly's website. No infringement of copyright is intended; I merely felt this information belonged where people could read it.) &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;William Mark Sexson&lt;br /&gt;William Mark Sexson was born in the small town of Arnica Springs, Missouri, on July 8, 1877. He was the son of Thomas and &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;a younger W. Mark Sexson &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Hannah Sexson, who came from Illinois as pioneers in the early settlement of southwest Missouri, and lived on a farm in the valley of Soc River, Cedar County, Missouri, near the village of Arnica Springs. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;At twelve years of age he joined the church, and at fourteen began his ministry. At seventeen he was ordained a minister of the Christian (Disciples) church by Elder John H. Breeze. When he was twenty, he went to his parents' hometown of Windsor, Illinois, where he met Miss Edith Edwards. They married in 1898, when he was twenty-one and Edith was twenty. As a young married couple, they went to Bloomfield, Indiana where he became pastor of the First Christian Church. After serving for two years as minister of this church, he moved to Indianapolis where he entered Butler College in further preparation of his ministry. He served as Evangelist in the Christian Church conducting revival meetings in Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, and a number of western states. He came to Cleveland, Oklahoma, in 1906 as minister of the Christian Church at that place. He afterwards served the church at Cherokee and Stroud, Oklahoma. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Mr. Sexson was initiated, passed and raised to the sublime degree of Master Mason in Bloomfield Lodge No. 80, at Bloomfield, Indiana, in 1902, during the time that he was minister of the First Christian Church of that city. He immediately became identified with the craft as a lecturer and contributor of fraternal literature. He was a prolific writer and Masonic scholar who traveled extensively in 1909, spending some time in the near European Countries and then journeying to Assyria, Palestine, and Egypt as preparation for his work as a contributor to Masonic literature. He spent practically all of his life in this field of research work and as a result of such research has been honored by the Fraternity on many occasions.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;He wrote many books, articles and other works, most related to Rainbow or other Masonic organizations. His bibliography (incomplete, I am certain) includes: &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;1929 - History and Purpose of Rainbow, also Scriptural Quotations and Allusions in the Rainbow Ritual (found in the front of the "Rainbow" Holy Bible)&lt;br /&gt;1930 - History and Facts concering the Order of Eastern Star, with Scriptural Quotations and References (found in the front of the "OES" Holy Bible)&lt;br /&gt;1938 - The Power of Color ("a general story for all who love color and rejoice in its power")&lt;br /&gt;1939 - Little Boy Bo (a collection of stories and poems for children)&lt;br /&gt;1944 - Rainbow Building (topic unknown)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In 1912, when he came to McAlester to become Secretary of the McAlester Scottish Rite Bodies, he also came to the congregation of the First Christian Church in McAlester, agreeing to serve as pastor until the church could get someone to take his place. He served for eleven years, resigning in 1923 to devote full time to his work in developing Rainbow. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;His greatest work was the organization of the Order of the Rainbow for Girls. This is a junior organization for girls of the teen age from Masonic and Eastern Star homes. It also admits the girl friend or chum of the Masonic or Eastern Star home. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;One evening in the spring of 1922, Mr. Sexson had been asked to make an address before South McAlester Chapter No. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Mrs. Edith Edwards Sexson &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;149. As the DeMolay had come under his close study and observation during his masonic activities, he became more and more conscious of the fact that an Order for girls setting forth some of the truths of Masonry would be necessary. He made a stirring appeal for such an organization in his address and the Worthy Matron, Mrs. Sarah Church, immediately replied, "We would start it if we had someone to write the ceremony of Initiation." Mr. Sexson said, "I will write the Ritual." The next day, he wrote the Ritual, giving it the name "Order of the Rainbow for Girls." He dictated it to the Church stenographer, Mrs. Helen Ambrose, in the study of the first Christian Church of which he was then minister. He asked the regular officers of South McAlester Chapter No. 149, O.E.S, to exemplify the work and furnished them with typewritten copies of the Ritual. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;On April 6, 1922, the degrees were exemplified for the first time on a class of one hundred seventy-one girls in the auditorium of the Scottish Rite Temple, McAlester, Oklahoma. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Rev. and Mrs. Sexson traveled extensively in assisting with the development of Rainbow. The Supreme or Governing Body was formed by Mr. Sexson in June, 1922. He wrote the law governing the Supreme Body as well as the law governing the Subordinate Assemblies. At the formation of the Supreme Body, Mr. Sexson was made the Supreme Recorder and oversaw the business of running the Order. He was later given the title Supreme Worthy Advisor Emeritus.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In addition to his Masonic activities, Rev. Sexson was involved with several educational and civic organizations. He was very active in the Red Cross, especially during both World Wars. Also, he was a member of the Oklahoma Historical Society. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Rev. and Mrs. Sexson had one child; a boy, Thomas, born in 1905. Thomas died on May 26, 1943 in California. He is buried in Oak Hill Cemetery in McAlester. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Rev. Sexson's wife Edith died on March 14, 1951 after an extended illness and was also buried in Oak Hill Cemetery. Until her death, she had served as Supreme National Organizer of the Order of the Rainbow for Girls. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Mrs. Leta Sexson &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Rev. Sexson continued his work as Supreme Recorder after the death of Edith. After the July 1952 session of Supreme Assembly, held in Kansas City, Missouri, he married Mrs. Leta Summers, a widow, who had been with the Rainbow organization since its beginnning. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;On December 20, 1953, Mr. Sexson died in a McAlester hospital, following a short illness. The funeral service was held at the First Christian Church where he served as minister for many years and where the Ritual of the Order of the Rainbow for Girls was written. Burial was in the Masonic Section of Oak Hill Cemetery in McAlester, Oklahoma. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Mrs. Leta Sexson served as Supreme Recorder from 1952 until her death in 1968, and is buried in Oak Hill Cemetery in McAlester, Oklahoma.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;--------------------------------------------------------------------------------&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The list of Rev. W. Mark Sexson's Masonic affiliations shows his committment. They include: &lt;br /&gt;Master Mason, Bloomfield Indiana -- 1902;&lt;br /&gt;Demitted Bloomfield Lodge No. 80 -- 1913&lt;br /&gt;Affiliated with South McAlester Lodge No. 96 at McAlester, Oklahoma -- 1914&lt;br /&gt;Worshipful Master -- South McAlester Lodge No. 96 -- 1921&lt;br /&gt;Secretary Scottish Rite Bodies, McAlester, Oklahoma -- 1912-21&lt;br /&gt;Offices held in the Grand Lodge of AF &amp; AM of Oklahoma: Grand Chaplain (1920-21), Grand Orator (1923-24), Junior Grand Warden (1925), Senior Grand Warden (1926), Deputy Grand Master (1927), and Most Worshipful Grand Master of Oklahoma (1928-29)&lt;br /&gt;Member -- Order of the Eastern Star, South McAlester Chapter No. 149 -- 1923&lt;br /&gt;Worthy Patron -- South McAlester Chapter No. 149 -- 1923&lt;br /&gt;Worthy Grand Patron -- Grand Chapter of Oklahoma, Order of the Eastern Star -- 1925-26&lt;br /&gt;Member -- Ritual Committee General Grand Chapter, OES -- 1928-31&lt;br /&gt;Master of the Royal Secret, Oklahoma Consistory No. 1 at Guthrie -- 1907&lt;br /&gt;Knight Commander of the Court of Honor at Guthrie -- 1911&lt;br /&gt;Secretary of Scottish Rite Bodies, McAlester, Oklahoma -- 1912-21&lt;br /&gt;33rd Degree Mason and Coroneted Inspector General Honorary -- 1913&lt;br /&gt;Indian Chapter No. 1, Royal Arch Masons, North McAlester, Oklahoma -- 1916&lt;br /&gt;Royal and Select Master -- 1917&lt;br /&gt;Knighted a Knight of Malta -- 1917&lt;br /&gt;McAlester Commandery No. 6, Knights Templar -- 1930&lt;br /&gt;Noble of the Mystic Shrine -- Active Membership -- Indian Temple, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma&lt;br /&gt;Honorary Membership -- Bedouin Temple, Muskogee, Oklahoma&lt;br /&gt;Honorary Membership -- Akdar Temple, Tulsa, Oklahoma&lt;br /&gt;Amrita Grotto -- Ft. Smith, Arkansas&lt;br /&gt;Order of the White Shrine of Jerusalem -- 1937&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;--------------------------------------------------------------------------------&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Founder's Day&lt;br /&gt;July 8 is the birthday of Rev. William Mark Sexson, the founder of the International Order of the Rainbow for Girls. The Supreme Assembly, at its session in January, 1926, voted to celebrate this day in some fitting manner, acceptable to the girlhood of our Organization. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Maude&lt;br /&gt;by a woman known as cal &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Maude was only five when she heard her mother screaming and saw as she flung open the door all bloody.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"Maude, run in and get the sheet off of Mammy's bed, hurry."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Maude did as her mother said.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"Mam, daddy's not coming home, is he?"&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"Yes, sweet baby, Mam is bringing him home right now."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Maude's mam brought her young husband home to rest in peace in his own bed till the burial.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Maude's mam put the same suit on her husband he had worn on their wedding. She sat up all night holding his cold hands as did her daughter.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The baby slept through it all, he was only eighteen months old.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Time went by and the family grew accustomed to life with no man around.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;One day when Maude was only fourteen she heard her mother scream and slung open the door. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"Maude, get me the sheet off of Luther's bed."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"Mam, brother isn't coming home, is he?"&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"Yes, Maudie, I'm going to get him right now."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Maude's Mammy carried and dragged her youngest into the house all blood stained.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Luther lay in his own bed that night with his sister and his mother holding each of his hands. The next day, mother and daughter buried Luther Johnson besides his Daddy.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;One day, she walked down by the creek and there lay her Mammy.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Maude ran to the house and got a sheet.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Maude's Mammy lay in her own bed that night and Maude held her mother's hand.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Maude buried her mother in the family plot and was heading to the house when she saw them coming.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;There was no one to cover Maude with the white sheet or clean her up for burial.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Maude woke up as a tall black man carried her through a tunnel. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"Are you the Lord," Maude asked the tall man?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"Yes, I am, the lord answered."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Maude fell back asleep and woke up again a while later.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"Where did the Lord go, Maude asked the White one carrying her?"&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"Why I am He," he answered.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"But you was black a while ago......." and Maude fell into a deep slumber once again.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Again Maude woke up and this time, the Lord was red and had  long flaming black hair with a bird's feather in it.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"Sir, if I fall back to sleep, what color will you be when I awaken next time?"&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"Well, Miss Maudie, why not go back to sleep again and see."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This time when young Maude awoke she was surely surprised as the person who carried her was a woman with the same face only a softer skin tone and she was adorned in a wonderful white robe and a beautiful halo surrounded her head..&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Maudie looked around and she saw her mother only her mother wasn't black but yellow with slanted eyes. Her father stood by her mother and he was white with that smile that could only be his and her brother Luther was staring at her through blue eyes that still squinted in that same wonderful way that made her smile.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Maude had entered into Heaven and she wondered what she looked like now but knew that it didn't matter as she was truly home and it was truly wonderful to finally know what the Lord's plan had been thru all the hurt and pain of her family's time on earth.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;http://cal-mystuffs.blogspot.com/2008/11/god-and-mystuffs.html&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In my dream one night God&lt;br /&gt;appeared. He seemed puzzled.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;He spoke to me in a gentle&lt;br /&gt;voice and asked me why I&lt;br /&gt;didn't have faith in him.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I'm sure I looked shocked.&lt;br /&gt;My expression must have&lt;br /&gt;been complete awe.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I looked at him and smiled&lt;br /&gt;and shared that I thought&lt;br /&gt;HE knew every thought I had.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;He grinned and admitted that&lt;br /&gt;HE had a lot on His plate and&lt;br /&gt;didn't always know everything&lt;br /&gt;running thru the minds of the&lt;br /&gt;billions of people on earth.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I laughed and looked HIM&lt;br /&gt;straight in the eye. BTW,&lt;br /&gt;HE has wonderfully caring eyes&lt;br /&gt;and indeed the old saying that&lt;br /&gt;the eyes are the mirrors of the&lt;br /&gt;soul IS TWUE. I've gazed into&lt;br /&gt;similar eyes when I've gazed into&lt;br /&gt;my children's and g'kids&lt;br /&gt;and this&lt;br /&gt;time I knew that they did indeed&lt;br /&gt;get their eyes from their FATHER.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Anyways, back on topic here. I&lt;br /&gt;still have a hard time believing&lt;br /&gt;that HE didn't realize my faith.&lt;br /&gt;(I'm still pretty sure HE knows&lt;br /&gt;all and was just testing me earlier.)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I teared up a bit and trembled as I shared with&lt;br /&gt;HIM.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;SIR, I have never doubted, I&lt;br /&gt;have always had complete and&lt;br /&gt;total faith in YOU. It was me&lt;br /&gt;that I didn't trust, it was me&lt;br /&gt;that I questioned.I always knew&lt;br /&gt;that YOU were there.I always&lt;br /&gt;knew that YOU loved me especially&lt;br /&gt;after YOU sent me my first born.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a class="eLink" onmousedown="urchinTracker('/Events/Header/AdvancedSearch');" onclick="return toggleAdvSearch('', '', '', '', '', '', '', '')" tabindex="4" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MUP9EUCE74#"&gt;advanced &lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Loading...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#cc33cc;"&gt;McBride Martina- In my daughter's eyes (With lyrics)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MUP9EUCE74"&gt;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MUP9EUCE74&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I always knew that I would one&lt;br /&gt;day do YOUR work when YOU were&lt;br /&gt;ready to give my stuffs over to me,&lt;br /&gt;when I had learned that I could&lt;br /&gt;trust me to know YOU well enough&lt;br /&gt;to do YOUR stuffs.I had to learn&lt;br /&gt;first how to trust YOUR faith in me.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4456543838214377074-7037979819784552090?l=cal-mystuffs.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://cal-mystuffs.blogspot.com/feeds/7037979819784552090/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=4456543838214377074&amp;postID=7037979819784552090' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4456543838214377074/posts/default/7037979819784552090'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4456543838214377074/posts/default/7037979819784552090'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://cal-mystuffs.blogspot.com/2010/04/another-dream-and-this-one-was-long.html' title='Another Dream and this one was long long ago and I REALLY didn&apos;t understand it.  (GOD)'/><author><name>...cal</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/17061997344633587635</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4456543838214377074.post-1743022283822998070</id><published>2010-04-11T13:14:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2011-01-02T13:26:16.454-08:00</updated><title type='text'></title><content type='html'>Children Of The World &lt;br /&gt;By &lt;br /&gt;Cal &lt;br /&gt;Chapter 1      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;*The Ryder family, Steven 37, Jill 35, Angelica 13, Craig 11, Joshua 7, and Christian 18 months.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Steve and Jill had gone out for a ride that fateful Sunday afternoon and Angelica had been charged with watching her younger brothers.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The time the Ryder parents took on Sundays was a much needed, much deserved break away from the everyday living on a farm.  Life in the country was often hard and the young couple still needed time alone to keep their marriage fresh.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;*** Break to 4:43 PM, Sunday  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Angel was putting Christian down for his nap when she heard the crash.  She was to learn in a few minutes the noise was that of a car hitting a tree.      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;She put Christian in his crib and ran to the front door.  She could see something big in the road but couldn’t quite determine what it was.  She slowly opened the screen.  It looked like Tiny, the young calf that her daddy had  bought at the auction.  Angelica felt uneasy as she walked  toward the calf.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As she got closer to the calf she saw the jeep.  The left back tire was still spinning.  Oh God it was her dad’s jeep.  She felt her heart sink,  there was her dad.  She walked closer and felt his wrist for a heart beat.  There was none.          &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Angelica heard a moan and turned around to find her mom beneath the tree.  Jill had been thrown from the jeep and from the looks of it, her head must have hit the tree.  There was a gash in her forehead and a trickling of blood on the ground beneath her.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Angel was to learn later that the gash in her mother’s forehead was just a minor wound.  The bump on the back of Jill Ryder’s head seemed huge.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Angel ran to her mom and could see recognition in her eyes.  She lifted her mom’s hand and kissed it. Jill moaned and immediately told her daughter to take her home. She then asked about her husband. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Tears welled up in Angelica’s eyes.  Jill knew from the stricken look on her daughter’s face that her oldest child thought Steve was gone.  No time to waste on that.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Get me home baby, we have work to do.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Angel couldn’t believe her mom.  She would learn in the next couple of days why her mother had acted so strangely.   Angel ran home and got the riding mower.  She attached the flatbed her dad had built to the mower. She ran in the house and grabbed a bunch of blankets to make her mom comfortable.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;After she had thrown the blankets on the mower, she ran to the back yard and started yelling out orders. ”Craig, you come with me, Josh watch Christian NOW.”  Having said that, she grabbed Craig’s hand and took him outside.          &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Craig, Mom’s hurt, she left it at that.  We’ve got work to do.”   Angel didn’t pick up the phone like she wanted to do.  Her mom had specifically told her not to call for help.  Instead she jumped on the mower and drove toward the accident site.  Jill was still alive when the kids arrived.  Angel  &lt;br /&gt;and Craig loaded their mother very gently onto the covered flatbed.       &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Jill was formulating a plan as the kids took her home.  She knew she had to think quickly as she wasn’t going to be around long.  She would convey all of the information to her daughter as soon as possible.  She had to prepare Angelica for what was to come after she was gone.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Chapter 2   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Jill was an only child and at the very young age had been removed from her parent’s home.  Her parents had been alcoholics and couldn’t care for her properly.  She had been in several foster homes from the age of eight till she turned eighteen.  On her eighteenth birthday she had walked out of her  &lt;br /&gt;eleventh foster home onto the street.  She was ready for the world.     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As she lay on the couch she remembered her past.  Jill knew what she had endured and she would not, could not, allow the same fate to happen to her own flesh and blood.  She would teach Angel everything she knew and she would do it quickly.         &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Get my address book and calendar, sweetie,” she directed her daughter.  ”There is a number for Robert Stealth in the address book.  You’ll need that.”        &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Here it is Mom,” Angel answered.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Write his number down and put it some place that you will remember easily.  &lt;br /&gt;You will need it soon.”        &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Princess, you know I’m going to be leaving you, don’t you?  I can’t stay, I’m getting weaker by the minute and you have to understand the importance of what we are doing right now.”        &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Yes, I know Mom.”  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”OK sweetie we must make preparations for when I’m gone.  You have to know what to do and how to manage the children.  I’m here now and in the next day or so, I will teach you what you need to know when I’m gone.”        &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”You will need to call Robert in the next few weeks when things have calmed a bit. He will be able to help you for a while until you are on your feet.  You can trust him dear.”     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”I met him in one of the foster homes and he and I have stayed close.  We talk frequently and in the past we’ve discussed what to do in case anything like this ever happened.”         &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Sit down at the computer now and let’s begin our journey.  We have lots to do and not much time.”  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Craig, come here and listen to me.  You watch the children and give them peanut butter sandwiches and milk for dinner.  It’s ok but just for tonight. Tomorrow they will need to get back on track eating a healthy diet.  For right now, the sandwiches are just going to have to do.”     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Angel, after tonight I want you to make sure that the family eats properly.  The key to a healthy life is; good food, lots of water, and daily exercise.  Stick with that program child, and you will succeed in the mission that the higher power has seen fit to put on you.”            &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Oh and another thing, give thanks often and ask for personal guidance.... It’ll come in handy while trying to survive the every day life of raising this little group.”       &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Sweet daughter of mine, remember this always; stop and smell the roses, treasure the good times, and teach that to the others.  Family and friends and the love you have for them are the most important things that you will ever have in this lifetime.”          &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Craig Simon, you quit sniveling right this minute and feed your brothers.”        &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Jill knew her eldest son hated it when she teased him about his sniveling.  This time she did it to make him angry and strong.   She knew her daughter would need Craig’s support to get through the next couple of days.          &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Ok Angelica, turn on the computer and sit.  It’s time we get down to business.”        &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Open my documents file and go into the phone listings.  You will find old doc Swenson’s number and also a number for Crandel Murphy.  You’ll need those numbers in the days ahead.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Don’t cry baby, we don’t have much time.  You have to get through this ordeal and then you can cry.  Try to wait until Robert gets here and then go out to the old tree house by the barn. Give yourself some time and let it all out.”       &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Don’t let the mourning phase linger Angel, get through it as quickly as possible and get back to business.  You have to keep this family together darling and it’s going to take all of the strength &lt;br /&gt;you have.”        &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Ok, write this down: call Robert first thing.”        &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Now Angelica, you have to listen very carefully to this part.  You are going to have to take care of your father and me.  You will need to bury him first as he’s been gone the longest.  Take us out into the woods as far as you can and prepare the graves.  Dig his first and cover him up. When you’ve finished with your father, do the same with me.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Don’t ask Craig to help, he won’t be able to keep his emotions in check   &lt;br /&gt;and  in order to get through this you must be strong.  The next few weeks will be a crucial time for you so try and make it as easy as possible on yourself.”      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Now, inside of the document file is everything you should need to get by. There’s a bill file and a password file.  You will need those for the bills that aren’t on the computer yet.  You will have to figure it out but I think Robert can help if you ask him.”                                    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Insert...      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;***Robert Stealth, of ”Children of the Land” fame.       &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;History:  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;a) Robert legally changed his name from Smith to Stealth when he came of age.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;.... 1)   &lt;br /&gt;Robert became interested in computers at a very early age, it was something he could do that he was very good at.  He loved it and he excelled in it.  He played around on computers so much it was like he became an extension of the machine.  His life became better in the foster homes when he was online.  It was his out and he loved it.  He could create things and they worked.  Robert &lt;br /&gt;found his niche.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;.......  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Angel, you know that I answer the phones at night.  ’My Job’ file is on the computer with a ’direct deposit’ file that you will need soon.”      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”The money I make from my job has gotten this family by.  We’ve never needed a whole lot of money living the way we do.  Your father has worked hard to make it all flow together for us.”    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Angel, please remember your daddy and me lovingly, k?  You were our first born and as such, we learned all about being the people we’ve grown into.”  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Baby, thank you for being the wonderful young woman you’ve grown into.”        &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Back to business now, no time to reminisce; too much for us to do. Do you know what direct deposits are?”       &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Mom I’ve seen the file and I’ll read about it.  If I need more information, I’ll look it up on the computer.  Let’s not worry about that now, all right?  I think I can figure it out.”       &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Jill could tell her daughter was catching on.  She continued on with her instructions.       &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Steve and Jill had moved to the country to get away from the city and what it had become.  They were afraid to bring children into this world.  What with drive by shootings, kidnappings and guns in the schools, it was frightening to think of having children in this day and age.  The Ryders had become very self sufficient in the last fourteen years.         &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Mainstream America was a part of the past for Jill and Steve by the time their firstborn made her appearance.  They’d lived on the ranch for less than a year when Jill gave birth to the little bundle of joy they named Angelica.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Chapter 3  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Steve Ryder and Jill Hawthorne met in college.  He was in his last year of college and Jill was a junior.  Steve’s major was animal husbandry and Jill’s was horticulture.   They met at a local &lt;br /&gt;fast food restaurant while attending Cal Poly at San Luis Obispo, CA.      &lt;br /&gt;Angelica is in a kid’s group on the net.  She makes friends easily and Charity, &lt;br /&gt;Angel’s friend from Florida, started calling her Angel the first day they spoke.     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Angel was taught everything Jill and Steve could possibly think of teaching their oldest child. &lt;br /&gt;She knows farm animals and plants almost as well as the back of her hand.  She was raised on home &lt;br /&gt;grown-vegetables and fruits.  &lt;br /&gt;Steve taught her to milk cows at the age of six and she gathered eggs with her mom when she was &lt;br /&gt;a wee bit of a toddler.        &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;When Angel was seven her father taught her to clean a fish.  He took her to the lake and they would &lt;br /&gt;fish and whenever she caught a fish, Steve helped her clean it.       &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;By the time she was seven and a half she was proficient at it.   In the last year and a half,  &lt;br /&gt;Angel would take the boys on fishing expeditions. This was to help her mom and &lt;br /&gt;get them out of her hair for a while.       &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Angel often took a picnic lunch for the children when they went fishing.  It was fun for the boys &lt;br /&gt;and she loved being out doors and away from the ranch.         &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Jill jolted her daughter back to reality with a tiny chuckle.  Angel was startled when she heard &lt;br /&gt;her mother making that sound.         &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”What’s so funny, Mom?”      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Oh sweetie, you still have that way of disappearing without ever leaving the room.  Just now you &lt;br /&gt;were a million miles away and it brought back so many fond memories for me. Back to business, ok, &lt;br /&gt;honey?”       &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Jill knew she didn’t have much time and if she was going to teach her kid everything she needed &lt;br /&gt;to know, she had to work fast.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”You know all there is to know about the ranch already.  The only thing I’m really worried about &lt;br /&gt;is the information you will need when dealing with the outside world. Every thing you will ever &lt;br /&gt;need is filed on the computer.  You will just need to figure out my filing system and you’ll be  &lt;br /&gt;fine.”    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Let me sit in front of the PC for a moment.  Here’s a printout of all the things you’ll need till &lt;br /&gt;you settle in.   I have complete confidence that you’ll learn as the need to know arises.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Try and do menus weekly, Ange, it’ll make your life a lot easier.  I’ve been doing that for about &lt;br /&gt;a year now and it works great.  In fact, there’s a file in the menu documents that has the weeklies &lt;br /&gt;on it.”       &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Ok, now down to the business at hand.  Here are the five lessons on my job.  You will have to log &lt;br /&gt;in and retrieve a new password periodically.  You can do it.  Just don’t keep the girls from dispatch &lt;br /&gt;on the phone too long.  We don’t want them hearing that young voice any more than necessary.”    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Here are the work procedures and the phone numbers you’ll need to record your time.  Don’t worry, &lt;br /&gt;you’ll be talking after a recording and you won’t have to speak to anyone.  If you forget to do &lt;br /&gt;it on Friday, input the information as soon as you can on Monday morning.  That way, you will be &lt;br /&gt;sure and have the direct deposit in your next check.”       &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Now Ange, you have to sit with me, this is very important.  I have what is known as Gold accounts &lt;br /&gt;on the internet.  I usually reserve Tuesday night to do my input on these.  Here’s a list of the &lt;br /&gt;places to go.  You need to sit and read it over now and see if you understand it.  You have got &lt;br /&gt;to understand it before I go.”         &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”I’m going to write down a couple of numbers to call if you have a need for help with the accounts. &lt;br /&gt;They are numbers of people I have worked with for the last year and they should be willing to help &lt;br /&gt;if you explain the problem.  If they ask any questions regarding my whereabouts, just tell them &lt;br /&gt;I ran off with another man and you now live with your father.  Tell them how interested you are &lt;br /&gt;in learning about the programs and leave it at that.”       &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Here, take my place.  Read now sweetie and I’m going to rest.  When I wake up, we’ll continue your &lt;br /&gt;lessons.  Oh and by the way, the boys lessons are in the web file, www.lessons.com.  If you get &lt;br /&gt;a chance, check that file out too while you are waiting for me to wake from my nap.  You will need &lt;br /&gt;to memorize the file it’s critical.  You will use it daily when logging on for your class as well &lt;br /&gt;as the boys.”       &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”I’m really tired honey.  Come give your mommy a kiss.”      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Jill knew it was almost time to go.  ”Sweetheart, I’m going to be with your daddy soon.  It’s going to &lt;br /&gt;be tough but don’t let that stop you.  You’re a strong young woman and you’ll be fine.”      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Angelica walked over to her mother and leaned down to kiss her cheek.  As she pulled back from that &lt;br /&gt;kiss she saw her mom’s eyes flutter and her mom went on to meet with the love of her life.  At &lt;br /&gt;least that’s how it appeared to her daughter. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Angel began to cry, it was the first time since the accident.  She dropped to her knees, closed &lt;br /&gt;her eyes, and prayed for help.      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;She returned to the computer.  She would wait till nightfall to take her mom outside.  It was 4:30 &lt;br /&gt;in the afternoon and she needed to finish reading the file and then she wanted to nap for a bit. &lt;br /&gt;It would be a long and tiring night and she was exhausted.       &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Craig, I have something to do, wake up and watch the kids.”      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Time was moving right along and even though it was only 7:30 they both had slept for a couple of &lt;br /&gt;hours by now.  The two other kids were asleep too.  Angel had put them both in Josh’s bed when she &lt;br /&gt;lay down and they slept peacefully in their innocent slumber.     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Ah heck Angie, you watch them, I’m sleepy.  Why the heck did you wake me anyway, tell mom to watch &lt;br /&gt;them.”       &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Craig,” Angel spoke sternly to her younger brother, ”get in the kids room NOW.  I have to go out &lt;br /&gt;for a while and I need you to watch the children.  We’ll talk about Mom later.  Just do it and don’t &lt;br /&gt;ask any questions, Craig, please do it now.”       &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Craig could hear desperation in his sister’s voice and for once he paid attention.  He took his &lt;br /&gt;favorite pillow and his blanket to the kid’s room and climbed in bed with Josh and Christian.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Angelica began her task. She would take her mother out to the woods.  She dragged it to the mower &lt;br /&gt;and put it on the flat bed.       &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Angel took her mom straight to the final resting place.  She would come back and pick up her father &lt;br /&gt;and she would do as her mom had asked and bury him first.  She knew exactly where she would bury &lt;br /&gt;them.       &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;She remembered when she was three walking in the woods with her parents.  There was a waterfall &lt;br /&gt;at the lake.  She could remember her daddy kissing her mommy.  It was about half a mile from the &lt;br /&gt;house and it was close enough to take the kids to visit when they started asking questions.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;She would lay her parents together in the place where they had been so happy, so in love. Angel &lt;br /&gt;remembered over hearing her mom tell her daddy that brother Craig was conceived by the waterfall.       &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;She also remembered hearing her father laugh and say, ”Yes sir re sugar, while our oldest Angel &lt;br /&gt;napped, we made our second baby angel.”  That’s where her parents would be. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Together they would sleep through all of eternity.  She drove on and as she moved closer to the &lt;br /&gt;waterfall she saw the tree.  That’s where she had napped that day so long ago.  That’s where she &lt;br /&gt;would bury her parents.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Angel gently removed her mom from the back of the lawnmower.  She laid her on a heap of leaves and &lt;br /&gt;covered her with a blanket.  She dropped to her knees and took the blanket from her mother’s face. &lt;br /&gt;Angel leaned down and kissed her mom on the cheek one last time.  Her mom still felt warm to the &lt;br /&gt;touch.  It was a fleeting thought but Angel was to think of this later.     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;She turned around and climbed back on the mower.  She sat for a moment realizing that after today, &lt;br /&gt;she would never see her parents again.  She started the mower and returned to the scene of the accident &lt;br /&gt;to pick up her daddy.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It was about 9:45 PM when she returned to the house. She would begin digging tomorrow night after &lt;br /&gt;dinner.  She would read the younger kids a story before going on to the business at hand.      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The babies needed something normal and she would read to them just like her mom had done so many &lt;br /&gt;times in the past.       &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Angel slept off and on during the next day.  At around 3:30 PM she asked Craig to watch the children &lt;br /&gt;again.  She wanted to take some things out to the sight.        &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Angelica knew her mom didn’t wear her wedding ring around the ranch and she wanted to place it on &lt;br /&gt;her finger where it rightfully belonged.  She also wanted to put her Mother’s Ring on.  It had all &lt;br /&gt;the kid’s birthstones and she knew her mom would want that with her.      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;When Angel got to the site she was suddenly very very sad.  She reached down and picked her &lt;br /&gt;mother’s hand up to put the rings on.  She couldn’t do it.  She reached around and unfastened the &lt;br /&gt;gold chain that held her cross.  She put the rings on the chain and put them around Jill’s neck, &lt;br /&gt;and as an after thought she placed her cross back on the chain too.  That would have to do.        &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;She smoothed her mom’s hair one last time and then she wrapped her in the blanket.  She bent over &lt;br /&gt;and kissed her daddy.  She ran her fingers over his eyelids and nose and then around his lips. She &lt;br /&gt;would treasure the last touch of his face forever.        &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;She wrapped her dad in the other blanket and turned and climbed on the mower for her trip back to &lt;br /&gt;the house.     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Angelica, where are Mom and Dad,” Craig inquired immediately as she walked through the door.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Angel made a decision right then and there, she’d tell her brother.  She needed his help and he’d &lt;br /&gt;have to know.          &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Angel was surprised at her brother’s response.  He didn’t cry he didn’t run and he was totally calm. &lt;br /&gt;He did look stricken but he very softly walked to his big sister and he hugged her.  He smoothed &lt;br /&gt;her hair and he kissed her gently on the cheek.  He turned and walked into the kitchen.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Craig became a different boy that night.  He knew he had to grow up quickly and he showed his manhood &lt;br /&gt;straight away.  He picked Christian up and walked to the baby’s room and changed his diaper.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Angel smiled it had been a wise choice telling Craig.  He was, after all, his father’s son. They &lt;br /&gt;talked after the others were asleep.         &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;They decided they would take turns digging.  Angelica would start at 7:00 PM while it was still &lt;br /&gt;light outside.  She would take a lantern with her to the site where her parents waited.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;At 10:00 she would return and Craig would take her place.  They would each work three hours &lt;br /&gt;until the job was finished.  They had to do it swiftly now.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The calf had to be dealt with too.  It was important that they handle it as soon as humanly possible.        &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The first shift was coming close to being over when Angel decided to move the calf. It was nearing &lt;br /&gt;9:30 when she left the site.       &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;She arrived at the road and was stumped.  How could she move the little fellow?  The calf was much &lt;br /&gt;heavier than her parents and it might be a bigger task than both of them.  She couldn’t think.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;’Whatever’ she muttered to herself, she had been through a lot and the calf was the least of her &lt;br /&gt;worries now. She was very tired. She asked Craig what he thought about the calf and then walked &lt;br /&gt;away without hearing his reply.       &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Craig followed his sister into her room almost immediately.  He was surprised that she was sleeping &lt;br /&gt;already.      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;When Angel awoke around 2:00 AM Craig was just walking in the door.  He handed her the key to the &lt;br /&gt;mower.  They never spoke of the calf again.  It was gone when she headed out again and she never &lt;br /&gt;asked her brother about it.        &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As she drove over to the site where the accident had happened, not only did she notice the calf &lt;br /&gt;gone but the jeep was nowhere to be seen either.     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;She didn’t care she drove on to the mission at hand.  She had lots to do and the fact that a few &lt;br /&gt;of the problems had been resolved didn’t impact her much.       &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;When she arrived at her final destination, she was astounded, the bodies were covered and the hole &lt;br /&gt;was almost filled.  She began to shovel.  She worked a little over an hour and the job was complete. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Angel and Craig would place head stones later.  She needed to rest. Tomorrow was another day. &lt;br /&gt;She would begin her mom’s job the day after tomorrow.  Angel walked into the bathroom and showered &lt;br /&gt;and then put on her nightgown. It was the first shower since the accident.  She bent over  &lt;br /&gt;and kissed her younger brother on the cheek.  She curled up on the floor by Josh’s bed and fell &lt;br /&gt;asleep.         &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;She dreamed that night of the day with her parents by the waterfall.  The only difference was &lt;br /&gt;her parents were dressed in white and they seemed to float as they walked with her.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;When she awoke, she smelled something cooking.  She got up to Craig preparing pancakes for Josh &lt;br /&gt;and Christian.  He had them up and seated at the table.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Christian was in his high chair drinking apple juice from his sippy cup.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The eldest Ryder child was amazed at the change in her brother.        &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It was the first time she truly understood her parent’s pride in the children.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It was Thursday and the accident had occurred four days earlier, where had the time gone?  How had &lt;br /&gt;the children been cared for?   She couldn’t remember much.  Right now, there were things to do and &lt;br /&gt;remembering could come later.        &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Angelica was doing the dishes when the phone rang.  It was a service rep from Billing’s Jeep.  It &lt;br /&gt;was time for the jeep to be serviced.  She took the call and asked the CSR to call back later in &lt;br /&gt;the week as her dad wasn’t home at the moment.        &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The call had caught her off guard.  Next time voice mail could take the call.  As a matter of fact &lt;br /&gt;it could take all the calls until Angel had time to figure out how to handle these things.       &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;There was much to learn about this new life the children were forced to live now.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It was time for the children to start their lessons.  Angel realized she had to get organized.  &lt;br /&gt;It was imperative if her mother’s plan was to work. She got her mom’s calendar out.  Thank goodness, &lt;br /&gt;Angel whispered to herself the schedule was on the weekly list of to do’s.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Angel now truly began to appreciate her mother’s attention to detail.   Along with the lessons, &lt;br /&gt;Angelica found articles and information on home schooling.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Jill was always interested in keeping current on things dealing with her children.       &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Angel found diet, medical information and schooling information in her mom’s files.       &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;LESSONS: Josh 8:30-10:30 (jschool.com) &lt;br /&gt;Craig 10:45-12:45 (cschool.com) &lt;br /&gt;Angel 2:00-3:00 &lt;br /&gt;1)  http://www.city-journal.org/html/10_3_an_a_for_home.html  &lt;br /&gt;2)  http://www.gomilpitas.com/homeschooling/regional/California Trips.htm  &lt;br /&gt;3)  The Children’s Discovery Museum 180 Oz Way, San Jose 408-298-5437      &lt;br /&gt;4)  Fresno Metropolitan Museum of Art, History, and Science 1515 Van Ness Avenue, Fresno, CA 93721,  &lt;br /&gt;(209) 441-1444 5) Sacramento Museum of History, Science, and Technology  (DBA: Discovery Museum)  &lt;br /&gt;101 I Street, Sacramento, CA 95814 &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;(Put all of the paperwork on the computer.)    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;**Excerpt from Jill’s online calendar 2 days before the accident. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;1) Look into the trip to The Children’s Discovery Museum next Tuesday 408-298-5437.       &lt;br /&gt;2) Call Library in San Francisco and inquire to the latest Harry Potter book.        &lt;br /&gt;3) Call Robert and see if he can meet in Capitola for lunch on the 27th.      &lt;br /&gt;4) Ask if Robert can send me download file on the newest foster care facility in Santa Cruz.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Angel sat at the computer pondering this Stealth guy, who is he?  Why did her mom direct her to &lt;br /&gt;him?  She couldn’t remember any mention of his name.  Angel was intrigued she wanted to know if &lt;br /&gt;there was any reference of him on the computer.  She would dig in and check all the files, maybe &lt;br /&gt;he was hidden someplace.     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Angel knew her mom didn’t think like others.  She often wondered if that was why her daddy had fallen &lt;br /&gt;in love with her. Come to think of it what about their lifestyle.  From what she had gathered, not &lt;br /&gt;one of her friends lived anything like the Ryder’s.  NOT ONE.      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Patience, Charity, Hope and Faith and even Peace (Pebbles) had a hard time relating to Angel’s upbringing. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;UH oh, maybe she found something, a file of on the Stealth bomber.  (Angelica was &lt;br /&gt;trying to think like her mom.)  Why on earth would her mother, the peaceful woman that she was, &lt;br /&gt;have a file on that particular subject?      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Nope, doesn’t look like this has anything to do with this Stealth person.  Well dang, Angel &lt;br /&gt;thought, why would she have this file???  It goes deeper than that.  Angel decided not to give up. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The information she was seeking was here, she just knew it.   1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8, 9,10......... hum,  &lt;br /&gt;this looks funny. On Page 11, line 4 there is reference to a Robot, named Robbie.           &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;What’s this, ”Robbie the Robot” doing testing on a simulator  (Funny, this looks like something &lt;br /&gt;someone has input into the file, doesn’t look like the original file.) Angel was getting tired. &lt;br /&gt;She closed out the file and made a note of it in her memory.        &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Angel was curious, her mom’s thought process intrigued her.  Why the eleventh page and why line &lt;br /&gt;four?  She knew her mom; there was something to it?  Her mom always had ways to remember &lt;br /&gt;things and there was something significant here.  Oh well, she was tired and she would figure it out  &lt;br /&gt;later.    She got ready for bed.                                                              &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The mere thought of this guy, “Stealth” fascinated her.   Why had her mother kept her friendship with him so secretive? &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Angel tossed and turned all night.  There was something that didn’t quite add up.  WHAT was it?      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Thirteen was a very young age to have all of this responsibility thrust upon her. It was morning &lt;br /&gt;when she opened her eyes.  She glanced at the clock OMG, it was 8:30 and the alarm was going off. &lt;br /&gt;(It must have been buzzing for over an hour.) Angel jumped out of bed.  She turned off the alarm.  &lt;br /&gt;She had things to do, places to go and she was running late.       &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Craig was in the kitchen again this morning with the boys.  He had squeezed some oranges and Josh &lt;br /&gt;had helped him make biscuits.      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The kitchen was a disaster but Angel didn’t even notice.  Her brothers were smiling when she walked &lt;br /&gt;in.  Then, she looked at the baby.  Christian was sitting in his high chair with flour everywhere. &lt;br /&gt;it was in his hair, it was on his pajamas , and he looked like a ghost.  But, and Angel took note &lt;br /&gt;of this, he was gleefully laughing.  Today that was all that mattered.      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Angel sat down to biscuits, lumpy gravy, eggs and orange juice.  It was wonderful. They could clean &lt;br /&gt;the kitchen later.  That didn’t matter right now.  The love in the Ryder household was safe.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The children would make it they would survive.       &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Angel walked out of the kitchen and to the front porch.  She stood there for a minute looking at &lt;br /&gt;the ranch that now belonged to four children.  It was going to be a lot of work, she knew and she &lt;br /&gt;smiled.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The children’s parents were gone.  This was going to be quite a journey but she could feel in her &lt;br /&gt;heart, it would be ok.       &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;She looked up and right there was a couple of doves sitting in a tree.  They flew away as she watched. &lt;br /&gt;She felt a certain comfort in that.       &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Jill had told Angel a story about doves a few weeks before the accident.  Doves mated for life and &lt;br /&gt;just seeing them this morning made Angel think of her mom and daddy.       &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;One thing about her folks, even when they fought, they always seemed to do it with respect for one &lt;br /&gt;another.  In all of Angel’s life, she had never, not once, seen her mom or her dad sleep on the &lt;br /&gt;couch.  She had never seen them go to bed alone; well, on occasion her mom would stay up till her &lt;br /&gt;daddy was asleep but her mom always retired to the bedroom once she was sure her partner was sleeping.      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Angel thought to herself as she stared after the doves.  Even though she hadn’t had her parents &lt;br /&gt;very long, she felt they had taught her much.  She knew she would keep the family together no matter &lt;br /&gt;what.       &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Angel turned and walked to the barn.  She turned back and ran to the house.  What about the baby?  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;She walked in as Craig was sweeping the last of the flour into the dust pan, he had placed the mop &lt;br /&gt;in the sink.  She walked over and took Christian from his chair.       &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“Craig, what time was he up this morning?”    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“Sis, I got him up about 6:00”, Craig replied.     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Good, I’ll bathe him and then he’ll be ready to go down for his nap.”     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“Craig, after you mop the floor, do you want to watch the babies and I’ll go out and do the chores?” &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”That’ll work just fine sis, I’ll take a nap myself as I’ve been up since four.  Think I’ll take &lt;br /&gt;a quick shower before you take off, I think I smell bad. Funny how some of the mundane things we &lt;br /&gt;always took for granted don’t seem to matter right now.  Hey Ange, you like that word, MUNDANE? &lt;br /&gt;It’s the first time in my life I ever used it.  I saw it in a commercial the other night on the &lt;br /&gt;tube.”    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Angel smiled, even in the midst of crisis, her little brother could make her smile.  Her mom would &lt;br /&gt;be proud;, he was learning new things every day and that was important to her mother.  She walked &lt;br /&gt;to her room and clipped her hair up. She turned on the computer.  She would do a few things before &lt;br /&gt;going out and starting her day as a rancher/farmer.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Where was I with that Stealth guy? Oh yes, the bomber file.”     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Eggs gathered, cows fed and Bertha milked.  Ange wondered out loud to herself, ”Which one of &lt;br /&gt;my parents, named her Bertha? Must have been dad, he always named everything weird names.  Jonah &lt;br /&gt;the pig, humph. Angelica moaned then as she came back to reality.       &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Daddy was not here nor would he ever be again.  Angel sniffled.  ”No time for that now, Angelica &lt;br /&gt;Ryder, wipe Bert’s teet girl and get on with it.”      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;She picked up the eggs and headed to the house.  ”Drat, I forgot the stupid milk.”  Angel kicked &lt;br /&gt;a rock and turned back to the barn.  Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the land rover.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It was in the trees and had it not been for the sun’s reflection on the mirror, she would never &lt;br /&gt;have glimpsed it.       &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Angel had a funny feeling about the vehicle.  There was something going on, she could feel it.         &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;NO one ever drove up here.  Even on occasion when people were lost, they never drove into the &lt;br /&gt;bushes and trees like that.  That just didn’t happen, nobody in their right mind would drive over &lt;br /&gt;the rocks and bushes out there.          &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;She didn’t change her gait she just kept walking toward the house.  When she got inside, she crept &lt;br /&gt;to the window.  She knew the sun was in such a place that the people in the car couldn’t possibly &lt;br /&gt;see her.       &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Who was it?  It was gone.  Angel felt uneasy, this wasn’t something to let go of lightly.   When &lt;br /&gt;she got inside the house, she looked up his number.  She needed some help now and Robert Stealth &lt;br /&gt;was the only person in the world she could think of to call.   She took the phone into her room. &lt;br /&gt;She dialed the number.  It was voicemail.  He has a nice voice she thought.  She left this message; &lt;br /&gt;”Hi Mr. Stealth, my name is Angelica Ryder and I would appreciate it if you could call me back, &lt;br /&gt;my number is 408-371-5849.”    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Angelica had no more than hung up the phone than it rang again.  She answered it right away as she &lt;br /&gt;was caught off guard by the loudness of the ring.  ”Hello, yes this is the Ryder residence.  No, &lt;br /&gt;my dad isn’t here at the moment, may I take a message?  Billings Jeep.  Yes I told him and  &lt;br /&gt;he will have to call you back.  Oh, by the way, do you have an email, he may be able to handle this &lt;br /&gt;on the computer OK, then I’ll be sure to give him the message and have him CALL you.”     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”No, I don’t know anything about a late payment.  Sir, I’m thirteen and I don’t have any idea why &lt;br /&gt;the payment is late.”      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Angel went directly to the computer to check the status of the bill.  If that were a legitimate &lt;br /&gt;call, why, when this guy called the other day, did he say it was a service call?       &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Angel was feeling uneasy about this whole thing.  Not only had she lost her parents something just &lt;br /&gt;wasn’t right in her world.  Things were just not adding up since the accident.            &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;First there was the car in the trees and now this stupid call.   She accessed the bill file.  Nope, there &lt;br /&gt;it was, right there, the payment to Billings Jeep had been made right on the due date.       &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Angelica felt extremely uneasy.  She heard a motor far away.  What now, she thought to herself?  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;She listened but it seemed to be getting further away.  Good, now she could work on fixing lunch. &lt;br /&gt;She heard the baby crying and went in and picked him up.  He had been such a good baby these last &lt;br /&gt;few days.        &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;She could smell him, no wonder he was crying.  Poor baby.  She changed his diaper and put him on &lt;br /&gt;the floor in the family room where he could play and not get hurt.  She put the gates in place and &lt;br /&gt;could see him from the kitchen.      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Angel got out the macaroni and cheese box, ”Oh mom, I’m sorry, but I can’t worry about diet right now. &lt;br /&gt;I’ll do it when I have a better idea of what to do with all of these new responsibilities.”     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;She put on the water and she got out some peanut butter and celery.  That’s good food she thought. &lt;br /&gt;The kids could have that and apple juice and there was even some homemade ice cream in the freezer.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Maybe she would mix some peanut butter with the ice cream, sounded good to her. Craig walked in &lt;br /&gt;right then and laughed.        &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”What are you laughing about mister?”       &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Mom would turn over in her grave, if she saw this little meal you are preparing.”  He looked stricken. &lt;br /&gt;He couldn’t believe he had just blurted that out.         &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Craig, mom would love it.  Don’t feel bad, it happens.”      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”I’m sorry sis.”  Craig coughed and turned to go to the bathroom.  He didn’t want his sister to &lt;br /&gt;see him cry. Angel turned off the water.  She walked to the bathroom door and heard her little brother &lt;br /&gt;sobbing. She walked back to the kitchen.      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Hey Craig, can you bring the kids in? Lunch is served.”      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Craig gathered up Josh and Christian and walked to the table.  He looked at Josh and shook his head. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Josh, get in the bathroom and wash up.”        &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;He put Christian in the high chair.  Christian reached up and pulled his brother’s hair gleefully. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Angel put the macaroni and cheese on each plate and spread the peanut butter on the celery, she poured &lt;br /&gt;the apple juice and watered Christian’s down a bit.  She sat down as Josh walked back in the kitchen.      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Hey kid, I forgot the napkins will you bring some with you.  I think I got them out and put them &lt;br /&gt;on the counter.”   He picked up the napkins and handed them to his sister.     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Hey guys, let’s eat.”  When lunch was over, Angel suggested they all lay down for a while.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;She was pooped.  When she got up, she would address the dishes and she would try to call Robert &lt;br /&gt;again.      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;She awoke around 12:45 and went directly to the phone.  She pressed the button on the computer &lt;br /&gt;as she walked by it.   She then dialed Stealth’s number and this time he answered.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Chapter 4   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Robert was taking a break from work when the call came in.   He was wishing he could be snowboarding but that would come later when the work was finished.     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Robert had been doing some research for Jill.  It wasn’t always easy working around her thought process.  Often times she erased things that he needed but he was patient.  He realized that she didn’t always know what he was up to till after the fact.  Little things like dotted I’s and crossed t’s were flags for him.  His mind was brilliant and he understood but sometimes he wished her mind worked differently.  Maybe, in the long run, it could come in handy but for now, it was a pain in the butt.       &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Hello.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Hello, is this Robert Stealth?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Well, hello there, Little Miss Muffett.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Angel froze. Her mother had been the only person that called her that name and only then when something &lt;br /&gt;was up. It was a special code that only she and her mom shared.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Angel tried to think fast. What could she say?   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Hi Robert, my mom asked me to give you a call about the meeting you have with her on the 12th.”  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Well little girl, tell your mom it’s still on and tell her to call me at Droid’s tomorrow night, &lt;br /&gt;she has the number.”    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”You sound a lot like your mother on the phone Angel. I hope we can meet real soon. Hey kid, I’m &lt;br /&gt;on my way out the door to meet a friend and I need to get going. Maybe we’ll talk again, always &lt;br /&gt;did want to meet the off-spring of that mother of yours. Bye for now pumpkin.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”OK Robert, I’ll have her call you tomorrow.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Droid’s, where have I seen that name before,” Angelica questioned out loud.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Oh no, he didn’t tell me what time.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Angelica walked away from the phone. She’d call and ask about a time when she found out more information.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;For now all she could do was see what she could come up with. She opened the numbers file scanned &lt;br /&gt;over it and found nothing. Darn, what now?   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;She opened the desk drawer and looked down for the rolodex D. d. d...... no Droid there.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;She looked up and right in front of her on the shelf above the computer a comic book, ”DROIDS”. &lt;br /&gt;Just a coincidence? She grabbed the book and sure enough there was a bookmark with a number &lt;br /&gt;written on it.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;WHAT in the heck is going on? Angel sighed.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The number didn’t look like any area code she recognized. It was a very different number she was &lt;br /&gt;to find out later it was a number for a cell phone.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Angelica, if you ever need to call this number, don’t and I repeat don’t use the phone in the house. &lt;br /&gt;Call old doc Swenson and ask him to come by. Tell him your mom asked you to call and let him know &lt;br /&gt;you need him immediately as one of the boys has the croup.  He won’t say much, he’ll just give you &lt;br /&gt;a time he’ll be there and you can count on it, he’ll be there.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;He’ll understand and he won’t ask any questions. He’ll bring you an envelope. Inside the envelope &lt;br /&gt;there will be a set of instructions, read them carefully.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Angel went online and looked up phone numbers again... old doc Swenson she wrote it down in a note &lt;br /&gt;to herself and decided to call it a day.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;She walked over to the mirror and the reflection looking back was her mom’s. It only lasted a moment &lt;br /&gt;but it was so real. She smiled to herself then. It wasn’t the first time it happened. It was however &lt;br /&gt;the first time since her parents were gone. It gave her a warm feeling inside and she twisted   &lt;br /&gt;her hair. It was a habit she’d picked up from her mom and now it was soothing.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Angel changed her clothes and picked up the baby. He had been toddling around after her all night. &lt;br /&gt;He was such a cutie. Angel kissed him on the cheek and laid him on the bed and changed his diaper &lt;br /&gt;and put on his pajamas. He giggled and she gave him his blanket.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Tonight Christian was going to sleep in his playpen in Angel’s room. She had moved it this afternoon &lt;br /&gt;after cleaning up the lunch mess.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;She put the baby in the playpen and he immediately turned on his tummy and within five minutes his &lt;br /&gt;breathing was even. He was such a good baby.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Angelica turned on the nightlight and closed her eyes.  Tomorrow was another day and with it a &lt;br /&gt;whole new set of circumstances, of this she was sure.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Sis, sis, wake up......” it was Craig. ”Sis, the dogs are barking, I think there is something outside.” &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Dang it all, Craig, what does it take for a girl to get a bit of sleep around here?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Hey, I heard the dogs growling and I thought I heard voices.  So ok already if you don’t want to &lt;br /&gt;be bothered then go on back to sleep and maybe we’ll be murdered by some alien beings by morning.” &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Angel got out of bed. She tiptoed over to the window and sure enough the dogs were growling at something. &lt;br /&gt;The moon was full and she saw the owl in the tree above the dogs. Sure enough when the owl hooted, &lt;br /&gt;the dogs growled.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Hey scared e cat, it’s an owl. Look for yourself, see the dogs, now look what they are doing.  &lt;br /&gt;They are looking right at Old Mister Owl and that is what they are growling at, you happy now, Mister &lt;br /&gt;Brave Heart?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Fine, sis, make fun of me. You’re just like mom. She used to tell me to quit sniveling and now &lt;br /&gt;you’re making fun of me. Hey, it’s a damn owl, I’ll give you that but it could have been something &lt;br /&gt;else.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”HEY bud, don’t be cussing at me...” Angel lunged for her brother and they both fell on her bed. &lt;br /&gt;They laughed and Craig pulled Angel’s hair then jumped up and ran out of the room.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Craig, I’m glad we’re in this together. You’re a good kid and a great brother and if I had to pick &lt;br /&gt;someone to share this with me, it would be you. You’re ok, I don’t care what anyone says.”  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Angel ran back and jumped into her bed and under the covers.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The rooster crowed; it was sun up.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;*Note to self,  look up these numbers: Old doc Swenson/Crandell Murphy   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The first thought in Angel’s brain was to find out the time for tonight’s call. First, she would &lt;br /&gt;call ’old doc Swenson’.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Angelica had written the number down and looked it up. She dialed it only to get his voice mail.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;OMG, she thought to herself, it’s only 6 AM no wonder he didn’t answer.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;She decided to get the chores done. She was sure Craig would hear the baby if he woke up. She set &lt;br /&gt;the alarm by Craig’s bed to guarantee he was up when she got back.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As she was walking out the door, Josh walked into the living room.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Hey sis, can I go with you and milk Bertie?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Sure Josh, let’s put your tennis shoes on and you can come along with me.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Josh ran back to his room and came back with his rubber boots.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Josh, I said your tennis shoes,” his sister whispered. ”I almost forgot about those boots Josh. Daddy &lt;br /&gt;just ordered them from Sears a couple of weeks ago. Come on, I’ll help you pull them on.  Josh, don’t &lt;br /&gt;you think jeans would look better than those shorts with your new boots?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Aw sis, I wore these same shorts last time Dad and I milked Bert. I think it’s ok, who the heck &lt;br /&gt;cares how I look anyways? If I step in some cow Shit it ain’t a gonna matter, is it?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Josh Ryder, don’t you say that ’S’ word. What’s the matter with you?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Sissy, daddy called it cow shit the other day when I off and stepped in it, so why shouldn’t I &lt;br /&gt;call a spade a spade. Don’t go hog wild over it, ain’t nothin new to me, just ask Craig.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Joshua, what kind of language have you picked up around this farm anyway? Dad never talked like &lt;br /&gt;that when I was with him.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Well sis, Daddy never did a lot of things front of you and Maw that he did around me and Craig.”  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”He ever pull out his tally whacker and pee in front of you? Well, guess what big sis, he did it &lt;br /&gt;all the time in front of me and Craig.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”He ever spit a big loogie in front of you? Hmmmmm, must be different being a girl. Dad was always &lt;br /&gt;doing MEN things round us boys. Yep, that’s what he called em, MEN things.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Dang it all girl, me and Dad and Craig had a pissing contest once, to see who could piss the furtherest...hahaha! &lt;br /&gt;Well, did he ever fart in front of you............. huuuuummmmmmmm, just ask Craig about that one?” &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Josh, I’ve heard about enough, you want to help me milk Bertha or do you want to stay here and &lt;br /&gt;wash your mouth out with soap?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Ah heck Sis, you might as well let me go along with you so you can find out about our dad from &lt;br /&gt;his number one pupil.......... ME. Cause Craig never did get much into the MEN stuff like me and &lt;br /&gt;Dad.”    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Craig likes the farm stuff. He likes the fishing and the hunting. Hey I bet you didn’t know that &lt;br /&gt;my Big Tough brother once shot a dove and then started bawlin like a baby..... Dad felt awful and &lt;br /&gt;he helped Craig bury the ol dead bird. Hey, while we’re out with Bert, want me to show you where  &lt;br /&gt;we buried the dumb bird?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Guess Craigy got over that though cause he’s shot many a bird since then.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Maw never knew bout it cause Dad used to take em over to that ol Harpie lady out in the bushes &lt;br /&gt;near the dead oak tree.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”OOOppps, I wasn’t sposed to tell you bout her. Dad brought her out there one day and for about &lt;br /&gt;20 or 30 days, he worked on a little shack for her.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”He feeds her now and again with birds and with some of Maw’s veggies. He takes em to her bout once &lt;br /&gt;or twice a week. Maw don’t know nothin bout her but Daddy takes good care of her. He gets her fish &lt;br /&gt;and when the corn is full growd, he’s gonna give her some.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Josh, what in the world are you talking about. And what is up with the way you talk? I never noticed &lt;br /&gt;you talking like a hillbilly before.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Aw shucks Sis, me and Dad and Craig used to chew the fat all the time like this. We sort of made &lt;br /&gt;it a game between us. We’d have contests to see who could throw a stone across the lake and make &lt;br /&gt;the most ripples. Would you like to test me Sis? I bet you my whole allowance I can make more  &lt;br /&gt;ripples than you can.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;BUT, you gotta promise me that if I win I don’t have to buy something on the darned ol puter like &lt;br /&gt;Dad always did. I want to go into town and buy something, maybe a kite or maybe some bubbles.  I &lt;br /&gt;think Christian would like those bubble blowers, don’t you Ange?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Angelica smiled broadly. Josh was thinking about the baby even now. He loved to make Christian laugh &lt;br /&gt;and he always laid with him when he needed a nap and couldn’t fall of to sleep.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Nother thing I bet you didn’t know, Daddy was a great marble player. He has a sack of steelies &lt;br /&gt;that he hid off in the barn and we’d play marbles almost every Wednesday night. Maw would go to &lt;br /&gt;work early and he would sneak us out of our rooms to play marbles with him.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Well aren’t you just the barrel of information, Joshua Ryder, a bundle of hodge podge for sure.”  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”I’m gonna have a talk with Craig and see what he knows about all these little tidbits of things &lt;br /&gt;you’ve just shared with me.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Hey Angelica, don’t do that right now, ok, I don’t want Craig to womp on me. Could you just wait &lt;br /&gt;till I’m bigger than him. Pa always said in a couple years I was gonna be the biggest of the Ryder &lt;br /&gt;clan, he even said, oh never mind, I ain’t a gonna say it. You’ll just tell me that yer a gonna &lt;br /&gt;warsh my mouth out with soap again.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”OK, Sis, I’m ready, let’s go see if Bert’s gonna give us some of that tit water.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Little man, come on then and let’s get busy....” Angel ruffled her little brother’s hair. She thought &lt;br /&gt;to herself that she had to take Josh along more often and find out what in the world she’d been &lt;br /&gt;missing.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Bertha was waiting for the children. It was like she could tell something was different. She jumped &lt;br /&gt;a bit when Angel put the bucket under her. She calmed down when Angel patted her backside.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The day had begun at the Ryder Farm... it had started out a little different than the days before &lt;br /&gt;the accident.  Her brother’s sharing of his life, as a Ryder man was indeed a new experience for &lt;br /&gt;Angel. It had been enlightening for sure. She knew more about her dad now and smiled as she thought &lt;br /&gt;about all the stuff Josh had told her.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Boys will be boys her mom used to say when the boys acted up. Now she was starting to understand. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Tally Whacker, indeed, what kind of wording was that anyways????? She’d send an email off to her &lt;br /&gt;friends and see what they had to say about that one.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Angel had started her mom’s job a few nights ago. She was trying to do too much she could tell. &lt;br /&gt;After she and Josh had milked Bert earlier she was very tired. She had put in a mere four and one &lt;br /&gt;half hours on the phone but now she was just tired.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;When she and Joshua returned home, Craig and the baby were up and eating breakfast. Craig had made &lt;br /&gt;oatmeal and toast. Christian had the bowl upside down but was managing to get most of the oatmeal &lt;br /&gt;in his mouth. He did have the spoon working.  It was just that the oatmeal was all over the tray. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Angelica walked back to her bedroom. She needed to get some sleep. It was 7:00 and old doc Swenson &lt;br /&gt;would be by at 2:00. She should be able to get plenty of sleep between now and then.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Craig had agreed to watch the boys till 11:00 and that was going to work out great, Angel could &lt;br /&gt;get three or four hours sleep by then.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Angel woke up at 10:53 and was refreshed. She got up and showered and got a bite to eat. She had &lt;br /&gt;learned form her mother’s files that she could work anytime she wanted so she checked on the boys &lt;br /&gt;and asked Craig if he was ok to watch them for a while longer. She needed to get in some hours.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Robert Stealth was in the city today. He had to work on the new program and he needed to get it &lt;br /&gt;done before the call came this afternoon.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”What is going on with Jill?” Robert asked himself. He had heard the scuttlebutt on the &lt;br /&gt;Internet and he couldn’t believe what he’d heard.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The government had been cracking down on the banking industry. In his last conversation with Jill &lt;br /&gt;he had learned that she was in pretty deep. He was worried about her and her husband. This call &lt;br /&gt;from Jill’s daughter didn’t help his uneasy feelings.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The telephone rang. ”Hello, this is Robert Stealth, how may I help you?”   &lt;br /&gt;”Hey, I was just thinking about you, what’s up? No, I haven’t been to Bailey’s bar since the last &lt;br /&gt;time. Yeah Connie, I’ll see you there. OK, 7:00 tonight.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Well, Connie’s in town. That’s interesting. I haven’t seen her in a while. I wonder what she wants? &lt;br /&gt;The last time we had lunch, she wanted me to redo the program the agency was using to track explosives. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Robert looked at his watch, it was nearing 1:30 and he had to get the phone out of the box. He used &lt;br /&gt;a new phone every time something like this came up. He knew his friend Jill and he knew that it &lt;br /&gt;would be ONE OF THOSE calls.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The phone rang. It was Jill’s daughter, Angelica.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Hi little one, I see you figured it out. WHAT, NO, oh God NO. Sweetheart, don’t cry, tell me what &lt;br /&gt;happened.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Yes, last week you say. Tell me exactly what happened alright.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Honey, you have to stop crying I can’t understand a thing you are saying.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”A car accident you say.  No, listen Angel, when you get off this phone, you have to destroy it. &lt;br /&gt;I will be getting some information to you and then I want you to meet me on the 12th like your mom &lt;br /&gt;and I planned. Yes, we’ll handle it the same way.  You get the phone for the next call exactly like &lt;br /&gt;you did this one.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”I have to go now sweetie. I’ll figure out how to go forward with this and we’ll talk again soon. &lt;br /&gt;Until I do we have to keep this our secret, do you understand, WE have got to keep this a secret &lt;br /&gt;till I can figure it out.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Angel, don’t tell your brothers about this either or the guy that gave you the phone. Don’t tell &lt;br /&gt;anyone about me. In order for me to help you, you have to know that YOU DON’T KNOW me. I’ll start &lt;br /&gt;work on this as soon as I get back to my office. I’ll see what I can find out. By the way Angelica, &lt;br /&gt;where are YOUR parents.”  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Before we go can you think of anything else I should know?  What, what did you say, a black Land &lt;br /&gt;Rover, ok. You didn’t by chance see the license plate did you? No it’s ok, no really little girl, &lt;br /&gt;it’s ok. You’ve had a lot going on and we can only do what we can do.  Now I really do have to go. &lt;br /&gt;I’ll get the information for our next contact and we’ll be in touch.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Robert went in the side door and to his computer. He needed to do some work on the new program. &lt;br /&gt;He knew the folks at the site were waiting for his file and he had to give them something today. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;He typed for a while and then he had a thought. Something isn’t right. He couldn’t quite figure &lt;br /&gt;it out but he knew something just wasn’t right. He could feel it, damn it, what is it?   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Robert got up and went to the coffee machine. Thank goodness for the new machine, it was so nice &lt;br /&gt;having good coffee for a change. He sipped the coffee as he returned to his desk.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Connie, something about that call didn’t ring true to Robert. It didn’t sound like Connie.  Now &lt;br /&gt;he was really confused, he recognized the voice but it wasn’t Connie, he knew that as sure as he &lt;br /&gt;knew his own name.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Robert went back to work on the input. He hated boring input, he would much rather be programming &lt;br /&gt;new things. This project was one he couldn’t afford to let anyone else touch. He had to do it no &lt;br /&gt;matter how much he hated it.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Robert looked at his watch, he would continue this at home.  He could get home and wrap this up &lt;br /&gt;and then be back in town for the meeting. Hmmmmm, this meeting should be interesting. He was stumped &lt;br /&gt;by the call but it would be explained tonight when he met with ’Connie’  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Angel did nothing the rest of the day. She moped around the house and played with the boys.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;To acknowledge the loss of her parents was only recent in her mind. She had been so busy since the &lt;br /&gt;accident she hadn’t really had time to adjust to what the implications were.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The kids were busy watching ”Big Daddy”. It was their favorite movie and Angelica knew they would &lt;br /&gt;be spell-bound and she could take a break.  She needed it.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Robert left the house after finishing off the input. He was ready for a break. If only he knew what &lt;br /&gt;he had in store at the club. He was in for the shock of his life.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Connie was there ahead of Robert and winked at him as he walked toward her table.  He was happy &lt;br /&gt;to see her. She looked good as ever but there was something different. It wasn’t until she spoke &lt;br /&gt;that he realized what it was. Connie wasn’t Connie, she was in fact Jill Ryder in Connie’s body.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The voice was a dead give away..... no pun intended.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Jill took Robert’s hand and ordered him a Corona. She knew his preferences. Robert downed the beer &lt;br /&gt;in one gulp.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Connie”, he almost choked on the name, ”What the hell is going on?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Connie responded with a nod and looked into Robert’s eyes.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Robert, would you like to take a long lost friend on a moonlit drive?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Oh yes indeed I would Connie, ladies first.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Connie stood up from the table and walked toward the door, Robert was right behind her.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Robert pointed to his car but Connie declined with a shake of her head. ”No Robert, this way.”  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Robert was taken around the corner where a car awaited them. Jill, or Connie, reached under the &lt;br /&gt;car and found the key. Everything was to be new whenever she was away from a vehicle or a phone.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;No two phones were ever used and no two autos. The task at hand was safety and you could never be &lt;br /&gt;too safe with what Jill had in her head.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Jill drove away in silence and Robert was too shocked to form a thought much less to mutter a word.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;She drove for fifteen minutes and then they changed cars again. This time it was a black Land Rover.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Jill smiled as she saw recognition in Robert’s eyes. Good, he was as astute as ever and she knew &lt;br /&gt;that Angel had revealed to him the presence of the vehicle. It was soothing to know they were still &lt;br /&gt;of like minds.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Connie, Jill, what do I call you?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”NO matter, how could you do that to your own children? Your kids think you are dead.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Hush Robert, don’t talk just yet, we have to get to our destination and then I will reveal to you &lt;br /&gt;what is going on. Till then my sweet friend, you mustn’t project your thoughts into the universe &lt;br /&gt;you never know they might come true. Don’t you remember in the Smith’s house when you would get &lt;br /&gt;upset with me only to find out I had our best interests at heart?”    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As they approached the turn off leading to the house, Connie opened the gates. The house was about &lt;br /&gt;five miles down a winding road. It was in the Santa Cruz hills and located of Highway 1. It was  &lt;br /&gt;a beautiful home and nothing at all like the farm where the Ryder’s had lived.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The residence was in escrow for several months when the prospective buyer dropped dead of a heart &lt;br /&gt;attack.  Connie saw the ad on the internet, called her husband, made an offer, and it was accepted &lt;br /&gt;immediately.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The estate was a deal of a lifetime. The property value alone was easily $450,000. The proposal &lt;br /&gt;was far less but the owner had committed to a job over seas. He was down to the wire when the Smith’s &lt;br /&gt;offer came in.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In reality the Ryder farm and the home that Robert was now entering were physically five and a half &lt;br /&gt;miles apart. Access to the farm was created less than two weeks ago, just prior to the automobile &lt;br /&gt;accident.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Robert didn’t have any facts.  He had never been to the Ryder farm nor had he been here before.  He was to &lt;br /&gt;learn much in the next six hours about his former roommate/companion.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Robert took a seat in the huge living room and tried to relax. Connie asked that he make himself &lt;br /&gt;comfortable.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Hey Rob, would you like a milk shake? I think I’ll have one myself and if you’ll join me, I’ll &lt;br /&gt;double the batch.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Yes, I don’t mind if I do.” Rob remembered a milk shake or two at the Smith’s when he was growing &lt;br /&gt;up. She would mix up some incredible concoctions with that imagination of hers. He was always pleasantly &lt;br /&gt;surprised with the taste... and as such, never asked where she got her recipes.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Robert Stealth, how did you ever come up with that name? Yes now I remember, my crystal ball tells &lt;br /&gt;me it had something to do with a video game.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Robert leaned back and accepted the milkshake. True to her style Connie  &lt;br /&gt;had made quite the drink.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Robert was continually amazed in the presence of his friend.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The woman could cook, she could clean and from all indications she could grow intellectually superior children. He was  &lt;br /&gt;impressed with her daughter on the phone.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Robert sipped the drink. He knew Jill and he knew when she started talking, it was going to be something big. Bracing himself for the &lt;br /&gt;onslaught of information, Rob took a deep breath.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;She sat down in the chair opposite him and began unraveling the story.   Just as quickly as she had plopped down in the chair and started  &lt;br /&gt;talking, she jumped to her feet and exclaimed.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Rob, I need to take you step by step through this so you understand what we  are up against here.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Excuse me for a moment, will you? I need to change.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Jill returned dressed in a flannel shirt and jeans and her Nikes.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Rob smiled, he recognized her now, this was the girl he had grown to love and respect back in the old days. She may not look like &lt;br /&gt;the Jill of olden times but he could tell by the way she carried herself this was indeed Jill.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Rob, come with me, I have to take you somewhere.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Jill took his hand and proceeded up the stairs to the second floor bathroom. She told him to follow her. Oh sure, Robert  &lt;br /&gt;knew some of the pranks of her younger days and he knew he was in for it.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The laundry shoot, OMG, she’s climbing into the laundry shoot.   He followed her. He shot halfway to the basement when all of  &lt;br /&gt;a sudden the route changed abruptly. She had a remote control that opened the other door. But in the darkness, if no one  &lt;br /&gt;knew of the passage, it would be totally overlooked.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;They ended up outside under a very beautiful full moon and in a pile of sand.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Damn it Jill, why sand?” Robert got to his feet with sand in his shoes, in his shorts and in his hair.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Bitch bitch bitch, Robbie, it could have been worse, it could  have been cow shit.  Now come on, we have a ways to go.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Jill led him down a path to the lake. She pushed a button on the same remote she had used back at &lt;br /&gt;the house and a waterproof rectangular box emerged  from the water. She hit the other button and the box opened. A   &lt;br /&gt;strange looking vessel appeared. It was functional but it wasn’t  pretty.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Climb in my friend, we’re going for a little cruise.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Listen Rob, when we get to the other side, I’ll have to take care and hide the boat. We cannot jeopardize security ever.   &lt;br /&gt;My kids are involved and I need to guarantee their safety at all times.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”The reason I’m telling you this now is because the hiding place is not your ordinary sand dune so prepare yourself.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Sure enough, when they banked the boat, Robert wasn’t prepared for the hiding place. With a few adjustments here and there,   &lt;br /&gt;the boat became a riding lawnmower. Rob didn’t flinch. He   &lt;br /&gt;would learn later that the mowers were an important part of  &lt;br /&gt;the ”Farm.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It was nothing around the Ryder property to see a lawnmower on the side of the road piled high with hay. They had been  &lt;br /&gt;using the mowers for two years now. It was a great way to  transport crops, to move boulders and with a few minor   &lt;br /&gt;alterations, this mower seemed to be a great little aquatic  vehicle.      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Robert didn’t know the hardness that Jill had acquired. It didn’t come from her family life, she &lt;br /&gt;loved her husband and her children. It came from the dirty world that surrounded her. She had gotten &lt;br /&gt;into some very dark places on the internet.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Robert had no idea that Jill had a file on him. He didn’t realize the depth of her involvement. &lt;br /&gt;Even though he felt it must be very deep to fake the accident and put her children out on their &lt;br /&gt;own. He didn’t have any inclination what she had run across on the internet that had made her act &lt;br /&gt;the way she had.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Jill knew of Rob’s dealings on the internet and she knew what his capabilities were. In the circles &lt;br /&gt;she ran with she was sure she knew his vulnerabilities.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Jill wanted to trust this man whom she remembered with fond memories.  She knew, from previous &lt;br /&gt;experience not to trust anyone.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As they neared the farmhouse, Jill told Rob of the old woman.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Steve had planted her there to help stage the accident. She was an agent and she was vital in the &lt;br /&gt;plan to kill off the Ryder couple.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Steve had given himself the injection on impact. It slowed down his heart rate and it gave him the &lt;br /&gt;appearance of death. It wasn’t hard to fool Angel, they had counted on the shock value to win her &lt;br /&gt;over.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Jill knew her part was going to be harder but she knew she had to pull it off. This was different. &lt;br /&gt;It wasn’t going to change. She was out of her children’s lives now and there was no going back. &lt;br /&gt;It wasn’t like a bad dream it was like an ongoing nightmare.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Jill had to learn about Robert now. She had to know if he was made out of the right stuff. She had &lt;br /&gt;to know if he would step in and raise her children. She didn’t have a lot of alternatives. She had &lt;br /&gt;to find out if the boy he was had turned into a hardened man.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;She had read the file over and over. She remembered the conversations they had on the internet. &lt;br /&gt;She knew he was a hacker. She knew he listened to her when she talked to others. She knew he was &lt;br /&gt;capable of being a modern day Robin Hood. But she knew the dark side too.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;She didn’t know if he had any idea that she had talked to him on the net. She was sure she had covered &lt;br /&gt;her tracks but she wasn’t positive. Had she slipped up? Had she given herself away? She knew she &lt;br /&gt;had always talked to him on the isolated computer. The computer was on a different server but she &lt;br /&gt;wasn’t the expert and no matter what, she would never underestimate Robert.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;She had on occasion been tempted to connect with him on her laptop but not once had she done it. &lt;br /&gt;She didn’t have the computer skills she knew he possessed. He was a genius and she knew this.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;She was fairly positive that she was ok. She wanted very much to believe that even if he did know &lt;br /&gt;about her he would still step up to the plate for her. She had, after all saved his life while they &lt;br /&gt;lived at the Smith’s.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Jill remembered back to that day many years ago. Rob had been mowing the lawn when the youngest &lt;br /&gt;Smith child had thrown the ball. It rolled into the street and the baby ran toward it. Rob saw the &lt;br /&gt;ball and the car about the same time. He ran straight into the path of the oncoming car. Jill was &lt;br /&gt;in the driver’s seat backing out when she saw it happen. The only thing she could think was to back &lt;br /&gt;up quick and knock the car away. It worked. Rob and the baby were shaken but unhurt.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;She knew he had been hurt in life and he had the capability to turn cold as ice. Had he? She had &lt;br /&gt;to think faster and smarter than Rob. She had to figure it out and she didn’t have much time. She &lt;br /&gt;needed to know and she had to know tonight.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Did he still have enough humanity to let the goodness prevail?   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Jill led Rob to the window. They peered into the house together.  How Jill  longed to walk in and take  the pain away from her children. She knew that wasn’t going to happen. If she did &lt;br /&gt;it now, the children would be used in capturing her and Steve. They were at risk and NOTHING in &lt;br /&gt;her life was worth her children. NOTHING.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The bad guys were heartless. It had been apparent from the beginning. The attacks, the thefts on &lt;br /&gt;the internet. It all was just too much to comprehend and she didn’t have the time now to get into &lt;br /&gt;it.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;If the whole story wasn’t so sad, it would have made a great thriller. It could be a good novel &lt;br /&gt;but that wasn’t the case, this was real to Jill. It was her life and she had to take control.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;She looked up into Rob’s face as he stared in the window. She was trying to get a feel for what &lt;br /&gt;his thoughts were.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Was he a good guy? Was he going to understand the story she was about to reveal to him? Was he going &lt;br /&gt;to work with her toward a solution?   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;She remembered one particular conversation she had with him on the net. He was into some very high &lt;br /&gt;stake deals in his business. He was making a lot of money and she wasn’t sure he was above board &lt;br /&gt;with all of the things he did.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;She had the feeling that he had been hurt deeply and he was becoming reckless because of it.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Jill turned to walk away and Robert stopped her. He leaned down and kissed her lightly on the lips. &lt;br /&gt;He smiled as he whispered, ”good job lady.” She knew what he meant. It hadn’t been a sexual kiss, &lt;br /&gt;it had been a friend kiss and she knew it. They were on the same track. She knew she trusted him. &lt;br /&gt;It had all been said in the kiss.       &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As Jill drove toward the city she started thinking about the IMs she had connected on. She wondered, &lt;br /&gt;”Was it ever him?” She was sure he would do that. She was also sure he could find out where she &lt;br /&gt;was and he could track her down.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Robert, did you ever engage me in IM conversations on the net?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Huh, what are you talking about sis?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Hey, did you or didn’t you?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Jill, why would you ever think I would do that?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”We’re friends Rob and I’m asking you straight up, did you do that?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Nope, not me.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Robert Stealth, if you’re lying to me, your nose is going to grow bigger than your foot...heheheh, &lt;br /&gt;remember the reference to the size of your shoe? Which kid was that at the Smith’s house that used &lt;br /&gt;to say that?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”It was Tom Anderson, the guy with the curly hair and the BIG Feet, HA!”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Rob, did you ever do it? Did we talk in IMs? Please, if we did, tell me now, I need to know.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”OK, all right already, maybe once or twice. I sent you a couple of urls that were porn sites. You &lt;br /&gt;happy now, I’ve fessed up?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”That was you? I ought to stop this thing and kick your ass. That wasn’t you that sent me the web &lt;br /&gt;cam thing, was it?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”What web cam thing?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Robert Stealth, if that was you, I don’t ever want to know that was totally disgusting!”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Was it you?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Thought you said if it was, you didn’t want to know.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”That’s right, let’s leave it at that, I don’t EVER need to think that was you.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Jill thought to herself. ”If it really was Rob that sent me that stuff, at least I know he’s &lt;br /&gt;still playful and he’s not too far gone.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Jill forgot in her excitement over being with Rob to get a new phone. She picked the phone up to &lt;br /&gt;call Steve and instantly realized her error. She threw the phone so hard on the floor it broke into &lt;br /&gt;pieces.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Rob looked startled. He didn’t understand the importance of each little detail being adhered to. She could not afford to screw up, the stakes were too high.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Rob opened the door and got out, closed the door and waited. He thought she was going to get out. &lt;br /&gt;She drove away.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;He walked toward his car and drove home. It was 3:17 AM when he walked in his door. He was beat. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Jill gave herself a good talking to on the way back to the house.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;OMG, the gate was open. Had she left it open when she left, she couldn’t remember. She didn’t have &lt;br /&gt;a fresh phone to check, she had to be certain. She turned the Rover around and headed back into &lt;br /&gt;town. She would think of something. She had the printout with the phone numbers. Steve would have &lt;br /&gt;the next one on the list she was sure.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;She took out the paper and deciphered the code. She dialed from the payphone. He picked it up on &lt;br /&gt;the first ring.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Hello baby, you ok?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Honey, I screwed up I think. The gate was open when I drove up to the drive, did I forget to close &lt;br /&gt;it?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”It’s ok baby, I had opened it and I think I was just ahead of you when you were driving in. It’s &lt;br /&gt;all clear now come on home. The gate will be closed this time when you get here.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Ok I’ll be there in about 25 minutes.” Steve drove up to the gate and opened it again. This time &lt;br /&gt;he drove in.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;She had showed her hand. She had opened up to Robert, she remembered her relationship with Mark. &lt;br /&gt;It was right before she married Steve. In fact she was engaged to Steve at the time. She had met &lt;br /&gt;Mark when she was in school.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;He came into her life and swept her off of her feet. As it turned out, he was a con artist. No matter, &lt;br /&gt;her recollection of the adventure was great. It had cost her dearly but had taught her much. ”Things &lt;br /&gt;are not always as they seem.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Back to the present. She had definitely left herself wide open to Rob. Now, the ball was in his &lt;br /&gt;court, would he come through for her? Only time would tell.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The internet was similar to the ”Old West”. Would it turn out that Jill would fall victim to such &lt;br /&gt;bad guys of the old west as Robert Orlinger, a famous killer and sheriff?  Orlinger had been sent to hell at the &lt;br /&gt;hands of ”William H. Bonney” or as he was better known Billy the Kid?   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Or, would she end up companions to someone resembling Robert Goddard, still of the old west but &lt;br /&gt;much later ie; during the Roswell, New Mexico incident. Goddard became known as ”Moon Man” around &lt;br /&gt;Roswell.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Jill favored Goddard he seemed more similar to Robert. However, in her life’s journey so far, &lt;br /&gt;it was still open for discussion.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Jill had studied Goddard early on in her search for truth.  Here’s an excerpt of her research paper &lt;br /&gt;in college. *Note: This was before her choice of major.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Robert Goddard: &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The background of his life offers insight into his contribution to the space program. His schooling &lt;br /&gt;was haphazard due to poor health, so he resorted to self-education by studying scientific and mathematical &lt;br /&gt;texts. When he entered high school he was two years older than his classmates. He gave the commencement &lt;br /&gt;address at graduation, ending with; ”It has often proved true that the dream of yesterday is the &lt;br /&gt;hope of today and the reality of tomorrow.”   &lt;br /&gt;It was perhaps prophetic of his life......   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;(Did this resemble her own Robert’s pioneering spirit on the internet....... only time would tell.)  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;You surely must understand now, her wish that HER Rob resembled, if only in her mind Robert Goddard. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The dye had been cast. Jill would have to let Robert sleep on the situation. He was an important &lt;br /&gt;part of her children’s future and she needed to know if he was up for it.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Jill knew her safety was in Rob’s hands. She couldn’t leave the country knowing the kids didn’t &lt;br /&gt;have someone to watch out for them.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Jill was reluctant to leave the children without adult supervision even though she knew Angel was &lt;br /&gt;capable of handling the situation. She had demonstrated her maturity in the past, time and time &lt;br /&gt;again.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Angel was a confident and independent young woman but even so, thirteen was still very young to &lt;br /&gt;have the responsibilities of head of household thrust upon her.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The new house was Jill and Steve’s cover for the time being.  They had to be assured of their children’s safety  &lt;br /&gt;before moving on to the next step. After that, they would head out of the country. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Jill handed Rob a piece of paper on their way out that night. On it she had written her requests. She hadn’t &lt;br /&gt;logged onto the computer since the accident. She had to be confident that she was safe and the only &lt;br /&gt;way to ensure her safety was to stay off of the net completely.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Jill had written two specific requests on the paper she handed to Rob. First, it asked that he find &lt;br /&gt;and supply her information on Belgium. Second, Jill requested that he find some info about a tutor, &lt;br /&gt;they could trust, that could quickly teach her to speak French.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The plan was to settle in Belgium in the province of Luxembourg. The decision on Luxembourg was &lt;br /&gt;arrived at from the fact that Luxembourg was oriented towards tourism, agriculture and wood. It &lt;br /&gt;also had advanced industries in the agri-food stuffs sector. It fit right in with Jill and Steve’s &lt;br /&gt;lifestyle.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Luxembourg, a French speaking province made it imperative that Jill learn French as soon as possible. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Rob was busy at work but still he took the time, using his web contacts, to find a tutor for Jill. &lt;br /&gt;He then proceeded to research Belgium and jotted that info down also.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It was a real pain for Rob to write the information longhand. He was used to emailing everything &lt;br /&gt;and being the adept programmer that he was, he was confident that he could have taught Jill to be &lt;br /&gt;secure while using the net. All she had to do was adhere to his exact instructions and it would &lt;br /&gt;have been a piece of cake only problem, not enough time in the day to do what was already on his &lt;br /&gt;plate, much less, teach. (In the long run, writing the info down was the lesser of two evils.)   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;*Note to self and Jill:   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Included please find url for French Class (tutor info to come) and Belgium info.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;1) http://members.aol.com/Chicolynn/french1.html# useful  &lt;br /&gt;2) http://belgium.fgov.be/ (American Embassy)   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Rob then headed out and after locking the door realized he had forgotten to pick up the note.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Let’s try this again,” he muttered aloud as he walked out.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Chapter 5  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Jill hadn’t brought much to the new place.  She didn’t have time before the death scene.  She did &lt;br /&gt;however grab the one thing that she took with her always.  It was a love poem written long ago by &lt;br /&gt;someone she cherished.  It brought tears to her eyes again as it had so many times in the past.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;She read it as she prepared for bed.  She really didn’t have to read it as she’d memorized it years &lt;br /&gt;ago.. but she always held the faded paper as she recited it to herself.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;****************************************************** &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Together We Will Soar  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I touch your face  &lt;br /&gt;And I hold you tight  &lt;br /&gt;I know how you taste  &lt;br /&gt;And feel your warmth at night  &lt;br /&gt;You’re the woman I dream of each and every day  &lt;br /&gt;I’m amazed how you’ve touched me in that special way  &lt;br /&gt;Heaven opened and a dream fell that night  &lt;br /&gt;A new star appeared, what a lovely sight  &lt;br /&gt;It took away all of those lonely years  &lt;br /&gt;My eyes welled up with unshed tears  &lt;br /&gt;I whisper your name inside of my head  &lt;br /&gt;I hear your voice and the sweet things   &lt;br /&gt;you’ve said  &lt;br /&gt;I feel your touch deep within my soul      &lt;br /&gt;Your love has been my lifelong goal      &lt;br /&gt;Our love grows sweeter and constantly stronger     &lt;br /&gt;The passion I feel can’t wait much longer        &lt;br /&gt;You feel my soft breath against your cheek     &lt;br /&gt;My heart beats wildly and my knees go weak   &lt;br /&gt;The desire you feel comes from my touch     &lt;br /&gt;The comfort you want and you need so much    &lt;br /&gt;The precious star has found it’s rightful place     &lt;br /&gt;Our love will grow strong from a solid base     &lt;br /&gt;In my arms and my heart I’ll hold you tight     &lt;br /&gt;forever we’ll burn our love’s eternal light   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;******************************************************   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;She brushed her hair and put the paper inside the  locket.  She nestled down in bed and touched &lt;br /&gt;her husband’s gentle face.  She whispered into his ear as she snuggled  close......  ”You are my &lt;br /&gt;eternal light sweet Ryder of wild horses and dreamer of dreams.”  Jill dreamed of a waterfall that &lt;br /&gt;night.     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Morning came early for the Ryder children.  Chores had to be done and it was time to get up.     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Angelica didn’t see the man watching her.  She didn’t see the tears in his eyes.  He had gotten &lt;br /&gt;up early and he had made the trip across the lake.  He had built this place at  the same time he &lt;br /&gt;had built the hut for the old woman.  He wanted to guarantee that he could see his children even &lt;br /&gt;after the accident.     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Angel began collecting the eggs and he could hear her whistling  the song.  It was a song he had &lt;br /&gt;taught her when she first learned to whistle.      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;He reminisced about those times.  What a glorious life they had.   Their first baby taught them &lt;br /&gt;much.  They learned how to love and nourish together and it was a beautiful loving experience.      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The tears rolled down his cheek.  What a beautiful young woman  &lt;br /&gt;his child had become.      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;He had been here the night Jill had brought Robert here.  He had seen them.  He had watched as Robert &lt;br /&gt;Stealth had kissed his wife.      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;He had returned home in time to take a short drive.  He was the one that forgot to close the gate. &lt;br /&gt;He could never share that night with his wife.  He didn’t know yet how he felt about the kiss.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;He wavered did he feel betrayed?  Did he believe it was anything   more than old friends reuniting &lt;br /&gt;in one quick fleeting moment.       &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Jill didn’t seem any different.  She still felt warm at night, she still made love with him with &lt;br /&gt;the same passion.  He would save judgment till later.  He would watch her and decide what her true &lt;br /&gt;feelings were about this man, this Robert Stealth.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The beginning of the trip from Monterey to San Jose had been grueling.  Within twenty minutes the &lt;br /&gt;visibility was zero and Robert decided to stop off at Big Sur.  He would wait till morning to continue.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;He was pleasantly surprised when he saw the vacancy sign blinking at the office at least one thing &lt;br /&gt;was in his favor.  He stopped the car and went in.      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Gina was awake when Robert got in to move the car.     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Rob, what are you doing?”       &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Not to worry Gina, it’s just too damn foggy to make it home tonight.”      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”The cabin has two beds Gina.”       &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”What will the people at work think, Rob?”      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Well Gina sweet Gina, since you and I are the only ones here tonight, I won’t tell if you won’t.”  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Good idea.”      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Robert walked in, kicked off his shoes and promptly fell asleep on the bed.     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;When Robert awoke the next morning, the fog was gone and Gina was no where to be found.  Robert &lt;br /&gt;checked the bathroom but no Gina.       &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;He washed his face and walked outside.  Gina was talking to the manager.        &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Good morning Gina and good morning to you sir.”      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Good morning Robert, this is Allen.”       &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Pleased to meet you Allen.”         &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Gina, we probably should get going.  Do you need to do anything in the room or should I just hand &lt;br /&gt;the key over to Allen now?”       &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”I’m good to go Robert.”       &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Pleasure meeting you Allen.”       &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Pleasure is all mine, I’m sure.”       &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Thanks for the coffee Allen.”       &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”You’re welcome, Miss Gina, hope to see you again.”      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Robert opened Gina’s door and closed it behind her.  He walked around the car and seated himself, &lt;br /&gt;buckled up and drove on toward their destination.         &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Do you want to stop and pick up some breakfast?”      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”There’s a restaurant right around this curve.”      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Would you mind too much if we just got the order to go?   I need to get home.  I have an appointment &lt;br /&gt;at the office in an hour and a half and I need to change before I go in.”      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”That’s fine Robert.  Like I said last night, I don’t have to be at work till Monday.  That makes &lt;br /&gt;me free as a bird.”       &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Thanks Gina.”       &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Thank you Robert for agreeing to pick me up.”      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Forty-five minutes later Robert dropped Gina off at her place.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Robert walked into the office ten minutes after ten.   His appointment was scheduled to arrive at &lt;br /&gt;10:15.      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Mr. Greenley promptly arrived at 10:15 and Robert invited him into his office.        &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Yes Ryan, the program is all set for release.  Please sit down at my desk and I’ll show you what &lt;br /&gt;it does.”     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The phone in Robert’s office rang.        &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Excuse me Ryan I need to take that call.”      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Hey there woman, what’s up?”       &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Rob, don’t talk, just listen.  I have to learn French right away.  The date of departure has been &lt;br /&gt;moved up to next Saturday.”     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Yes, I made the arrangements last night, I’ll call you later and let you know what I can find out. &lt;br /&gt;OK.  Yes, I’ll be here, 2:30 this afternoon, see you then.”   Rob had agreed to meet with Jill &lt;br /&gt;that afternoon.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Sorry for the interruption Ryan.”      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”What do you think?  Does it fit your specifications?”     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Yes, and it exceeds my expectations.  I’ll give the receptionist a check on the way out.  Thanks &lt;br /&gt;again, Robert.   I’ll be calling you in a week or two and touching base with you regarding the other &lt;br /&gt;program.”       &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As soon as Ryan had left the office, Robert placed the call.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Hello, is Luce there?  Oh yes, here’s my number, could you have her give me a call as soon as she &lt;br /&gt;returns?”      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Yes, my name is Robert Stealth.  Let her know that I am the one she had dinner with last night. &lt;br /&gt;Thanks.”      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Just as Robert was walking out of the office the phone rang.  After some thought, he decided to &lt;br /&gt;answer.     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Hello, oh hello Luce.  Yes I did call.  Do you think you could meet with me again tonight?  I’ll &lt;br /&gt;have my friend with me.”        &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Robert would not have agreed to the trip for anyone else.  Returning to Monterey the same day would &lt;br /&gt;not have been an option. (Except for the fact that he knew Jill needed the French lessons.  She &lt;br /&gt;had always been there for him when he was a kid and in a very small way helping her in this time &lt;br /&gt;of need was helping to repay an old debt.)      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Yes, we’ll be staying over in Monterey until Wednesday, do you think that’ll be enough time to &lt;br /&gt;teach her the basics?   Ok, we’ll see you then.”                                  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Jill kissed Steve as she put on her Wranglers.  She already had her shirt on.  It was one of Steve’s &lt;br /&gt;denim shirts and Steve thought his wife looked great.  As she tucked in the shirt and zipped up &lt;br /&gt;her jeans, he stood behind her and nibbled on her neck.       &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Sweetie, I need to get my boots out of the closet, now please stop that.”     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Honey let’s make love before you go, please.”     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Steven Ryder, we just got out of bed not more than twenty minutes ago.”     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”I know my love but you’re going to be gone till next Wednesday.”     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”You know I don’t have time. Robert will be waiting and I  still have to get the phone I’m taking &lt;br /&gt;and have it activated.      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Kiss me then you little wench.”      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Jill stood on her tiptoes and kissed her husband full on the lips.     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”You aren’t meeting him at Droids are you?  You are being careful aren’t you, Jill?”     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Of course I’m being careful.”      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;========================      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Angelica saw the Ford Ranger driving up.     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;She walked outside with Christian in her arms.     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”May I help you”, she asked the man behind the wheel.     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Is your mom here?”      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”My mother is taking a nap at the moment and I can’t wake her.  She’s had a slight case of the flu &lt;br /&gt;and hasn’t slept much in the last few days.”     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Is your dad around then?”      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”He’s out feeding the stock right now, is there anything I can do?”     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Would you give your mother my card and ask her to give me a call?”      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Sure, I’ll give her your message.”      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Ryan Greenley got back in the Ranger, backed up and left.     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Whew, Christian, that was a close one,” Angel muttered to the baby.     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Angel went back in the house and started peeling the corn for dinner. She took the pie out of the &lt;br /&gt;oven.  It was nice and brown and looked wonderful.       &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It was the last pie her mom ever made.  Actually she had made two but the family had eaten the first &lt;br /&gt;one for dinner the night before the accident. Jill always baked two pies at once.  That way she &lt;br /&gt;could freeze one.     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;========================        &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Jill grabbed her bag and walked out to the rented car.  She would ask Robert to return it in Monterey. &lt;br /&gt;She would fly back to San Jose on her return trip and then rent another car at the airport.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Robert would return the day before Jill.  He had another appointment with Ryan Greenley on Tuesday. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Robert couldn’t get Greenley out of his mind.  There was something about him.  He just couldn’t &lt;br /&gt;quite put his finger on it.      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;========================      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Ryan Greenley had been surfing the net earlier that year, it must have been the last week in February &lt;br /&gt;or the first week or so in March.       &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;He had come across a name that sounded familiar.  Stealth Enterprises.  An interesting name for &lt;br /&gt;sure, and one he thought deserving of some investigation.  He had been looking for a programming  &lt;br /&gt;business to do some work for him.     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Ryan had been in touch with the Smiths and he knew Robert’s last name.  He definitely wanted to &lt;br /&gt;look him up.  If it hadn’t been for Robert, Ryan might be dead now.     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Ryan called the number and made the appointment.  He met with Robert and he gave him the project. &lt;br /&gt;Ryan didn’t feel comfortable at first telling Robert who he was.  He would wait and see if Robert &lt;br /&gt;recognized him.      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Ryan had visited the Smith’s during the holidays.  Several of the Smith’s foster children had been &lt;br /&gt;there and it was quite a reunion.        &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;After a very nice turkey dinner Ryan had pulled aside Mother Smith and asked about Robert.  He would &lt;br /&gt;never forget how Robert had saved his life.       &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Mother Smith was full of information and proceeded to tell Ryan all about the Smith children.  She &lt;br /&gt;found it funny that Ryan didn’t ask about Jill.  With a little prodding and poking she finally came &lt;br /&gt;to the conclusion that Ryan didn’t know that Jill also had a hand in saving his life that day.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Maryanne Smith pulled out a photo album and showed Ryan some pictures of when he was a baby.  He &lt;br /&gt;asked about the girl who held him.  That’s when Maryanne spoke of Jill.  She told Ryan the full &lt;br /&gt;story about the day of the near tragedy.   Ryan left the Smith’s full of questions.  He wanted to  &lt;br /&gt;see if he could find Robert and now he was curious about Jill.      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Mother Smith had Jill’s address.  She remembered the day Jill had come to talk to her about Steve. &lt;br /&gt;Jill had kept in touch from that day forward.      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Jill had mailed Mother Smith a letter with the new address when they had moved out of the city. &lt;br /&gt;She had also sent Mother Smith birth announcements for each and every one of the Ryder children.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Steve was gone when Jill walked into the house.  She worried about him incessantly as he seemed &lt;br /&gt;to have slumped into a depression since the accident.       &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;He was at the farm again watching the children.  He didn’t seem to be able to get enough of them. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;He had formed such a bond with the children that he thought he would die when he had to leave them. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;He remembered his own childhood with sweet memories.  He remembered throwing stones across the river &lt;br /&gt;with his grandfather.   He remembered hearing his Gramps and his Gram bickering on occasion about &lt;br /&gt;the boys.        &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Gramps would look at her and wink sometimes it worked sometimes not.  When it didn’t he would just &lt;br /&gt;mumble and walk away always whispering the same thing.”Boys will be boys Aley.”     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;She would hear him mumble and as loud as could be she would holler, ”HEY John, the name’s Aleine &lt;br /&gt;not Aley.... got that ol man, we been married ni onto 40 years and you can’t even remember my name.”  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;He’d hear his grandpa say under his breath, ”Aley hell, that     &lt;br /&gt;ol woman’s name should of been Alien.......HA!”    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Steve walked back to the lake and drove away on the aquatic Titan.       &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;When he was walking up the walk to the house Jill was pulling out in the LandRover.  She stopped &lt;br /&gt;and said, ”Hi hon, didn’t know if you’d be back before I left, dinner’s in the oven.   I’m going &lt;br /&gt;to meet Robert and get that information he’s gathered for me.  I should be home before 9:00.”    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Robert had been fortunate he had found a tutor easily enough.   It was Scott Le Trek.  Scott’s family &lt;br /&gt;owned Le Trek Travel out of Reno-Sparks and Northern Nevada.       &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Robert met Scott at the airport in Monterey when he had to pick up a co-worker from the airport. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Robert spotted Gina from across the terminal.  She was walking with a gentleman that looked to be &lt;br /&gt;about Robert’s age.  Gina introduced them and asked if Robert would like to join them for a drink &lt;br /&gt;at the bar.       &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Scott handed Robert his business card.      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;&lt;&lt; Scott LeTrek &lt;&lt;&lt; 750 No. McCarran Blvd. &lt;&lt;&lt; Sparks Agency Phone : 775 331-3833 &lt;&lt;&lt; Nevada Toll Free: 800 332-9759 &lt;&lt;&lt; Fax: 775 331-4937 &lt;&lt;&lt; Email: letrek@powernet.net Robert noticed the name right away and inquired if Scott spoke French.  ”Oui”  Scott was in Monterey scouting for an office for LeTrek travel. They were planning on merging with a company in Carmel.  Robert sat and listened intently as Gina and Scott conversed in French.  ”You seem to speak fluent French Inspector Clouseau,” Robert teased.  Scott it seems is an avid fan of the great Inspector Clouseau of Pink Panther fame.  ”Oui”  Robert asked if Scott knew anyone around Monterey that might be able to do some tutoring.  ”Qui”  Robert was getting a bit sick of Scott’s retort of Qui but kept  his cool.  Scott finally acknowledged Robert’s presence and began to speak  freely with him.  ”I do have a friend in the travel business here in Monterey that may be available for tutoring.” Scott pulled out his wallet and with it his business card holder. He took out the cards and handed Robert the card with Luce LeDoux’s information.  Luce LeDoux  tel. +1 831.624.2669  8940 Carmel Valley Road  Carmel, CA 93923  email: luceledoux@yahoo.com  ”Luce works part time at Highland’s Inn as a hostess so you might want to inquire when you call about her hours. She doesn’t have voice mail and it might be hard to touch base with her.”  ”Hey, better yet folks, why don’t we go on over to Carmel and have dinner and I’ll introduce you to Luce.”  ”I’m up for it, you Gina?”  ”Hey, don’t have to be to work again till Monday, so why not.”  ”Luce this is Gina Gragnani and her friend Robert Stealth. Robert, Gina, this is Luce LeDoux.”  ”Scott tells me you might be up for a tutoring job, is that correct?”  ”Depends on the situation I guess.”  ”Here’s the deal, I have a friend leaving for France in two weeks and she needs to get the basics.”  ”Can this friend come here? If so, I’d be happy to offer my services.”  ”Deal?”  ”Deal!”  ”Can I get hold of you on the number Scott gave me?”  ”Yes and if I’m not there, I’ll call you back with-in the hour. I don’t have much of a life these days except work work work.”  ”Great idea about dinner Scott, thanks. Come on Gina, we need to get going, it’s a bit of a distance and it seems the fog is rolling in.”  ”Night Scott it was nice meeting you.”  ”Same here Robert. Gina, it was my pleasure, I’ll give you a call.”  Jill met Robert at The Old Alligator Bar and Grill in Los Gatos. They had planned their meeting the last time they talked. They weren’t sure when they would meet but they did decide on the rendezvous place.  It was a quaint little restaurant upstairs on the main street of Los Gatos, California. It had a Mardi Gras atmosphere and specialized in Cajun food.  Robert ordered oysters and Jill made a face when they arrived. She had never eaten oysters and from the looks of the things in front of her friend, she wouldn’t try them now. She ordered cheese sticks instead, and onion rings.  Robert paid the bill and they left the restaurant. Gina had dropped him at the airport and he had taken a cab from the airport to the restaurant.  He still wasn’t sure what was going on with Jill but he did know it was big. Why else would his friend change her looks. Besides that, what on earth would ever possess her to leave her children?  She would come clean with him at some point or she wouldn’t. It was as simple as that. He knew he trusted her and if she wanted to open up to him, he would be there for her.  They drove in silence to the summit. Jill asked Rob to pull off the road. He proceeded to pull into a gas station and promptly ran into the men’s room. Upon his return Jill opened up to him.  ”Rob, I want to start by saying thank you for being here for me. I have much that I want to tell you. You must be aware that it could be dangerous for you. In fact, just knowing me might turn out to be hazardous to your health.”  ”Well, if that’s the case, then telling me isn’t going to hurt either way, is it?”  ”Guess you’re right.”  ”Here goes.”  ”You know I do all of our family business on the internet, right?”  ”Yes, I picked up on that from bits and pieces of the conversations we’ve shared.”  ”Well, Robert, I have found some programs on the net that I really think will grow into something big. However, I think I’ve discovered a hornet’s nest out on the web.”  ”Do you follow me, Rob?”  ”Jill, I am not entirely ignorant of the goings on in cyber space.”  ”Good, then I won’t go into great detail. I will tell you that I think there is a conspiracy to shut down financial gain on the net. I think it’s big Robert and I think I may have stirred up some folks in high places.”  ”You could be right Jill but I don’t get it, what has happened that you believe you need to stage your own death and leave the country? More importantly than that, my friend, how can you leave your children?”  ”Never mind, Jill, that is none of my business and I don’t want to intimate anything.”  ”Damn it all, Jill, leaving your kids, after all we went through as youngsters doesn’t make any sense at all.”  ”Robert, I can’t explain it. It would take days to tell you the reasons I’ve come to the conclusions that I have. Eventually I am hoping it will all make sense and you will understand. Right now I have to take it one day at a time and my actions now will protect my children in the long run.”  ”I will tell you this; Steve and I are in grave danger and getting out of the country is our number one priority now.”  ”They’ve already tried to kill us once Robert. I have proof of it but what good is proof when the players are ’The Powers That Be’?”  ”Before we go any further, Robert, I need you to do something for me. Can I count on you?”  ”Jill, you know you can, what is it?”  ”I know you’re a programming genius Rob. I need you to see if you can get into some files? Are you that good, Robert? The files are extremely sensitive and if what I think is true, you had better cover your ass.”  ”Are you smarter than their best programmers? They’ve been trained  and they’ve been updated on any and all of the techie stuff out there.”  ”You’ve got to know that if you decide to help me, you’re going to be in trouble too.”  ”I’ve got the expertise Jill, now what is it?”  ”Listen, let’s get this week out of the way and we’ll meet up again and discuss your involvement when I return from Monterey.”  How could it be that Jill felt the connection with Robert.  It had been there from the beginning. She remembered it from  the first time she had held him at the Smith’s.  She tired very easily of trying to converse with people. It  was boring. Similar minds seemed to meet on a different plane.  It wasn’t something one spoke about with everyone. Hell, Jill  didn’t understand it herself. How could she explain it to  others?  Robert had Jill’s email address and had communicated frequently  with her before the accident. They spoke of the bond a few  times when emailing back and forth. He was reluctant to admit it  existed.  Jill knew Robert was intrigued with the concept of telepathic  communications. She could feel him testing it on occasion.  The problems the two of them had with the concept was simple and  basic, it was ”human nature” . Even if he did believe, it  was not something one discussed at dinner at the neighbor’s house.  Neither Jill nor Robert trusted of other people. How could  they? Jill had moved out of mainstream America because of  the dishonesty. The lack of humanity in the world was down right  ugly.  Robert, on the other hand, had taken stock of his life and decided  to live it in virtual reality. It was much better than trying to  survive the greed and hypocricy of the ”real world”.  At least on the internet, you didn’t come face to face with the  enemy daily. They took on many identities and in doing so became  the masses of the unknown.  Somehow it took the human factor out of the picture. Hell, if  you didn’t want to talk to them, you could ignore them, if  you wanted to become young, you lied about your age, if you  wanted to become beautiful you put someone else’s picture in  your profile. You could become anything you liked on the net.  It was an open forum and anybody could join. It drew people  from all walks of life.  Similar to the environment of the real corporate world, business  became even more sleezy but NOT quite so real. If you couldn’t  put a face to the people, how could you feel any kind of  connection? How could you feel any responsibility?  It reminded you of the eras of the past. People ran helter skelter  and didn’t live by any rules. The net provided many things to many  people and the amount of knowledge you could find was infinitesimal.  Decency didn’t matter in virtual reality. You could switch off the PC  and become the person you pretended to be in real time. You may be  the biggest rogue on the internet but the best dad in the world  at home. You could be a CEO’s assistant from nine to five and  a porn star at http://pornforhire.net, in the twilight hours.  Amazing as it seems, even the angels of the earth became someone  different when the opportunity presented itself.  Virtual reality became home of the paranoid, the abusers, the  stalkers, the users and the wannabes. It wasn’t a pretty picture  but somehow because of the anonimity it drew people in by the droves.  =================  After Jill left the house, Steve quickly dressed and headed to the  farm. He knew his days of watching the children were numbered. He  wanted to take in as much as possible before leaving. He didn’t  know if he would ever see his children again. He was having a  very difficult time coming to terms with that.  Steve was not prepared for what he encountered. The farm was under siege. They were exuuming the bodies and the kids were being held at the house.  He desperately wanted to go to his children’s aid but knew it wasn’t possible. He knew it would be futile and no matter what, he had to try and get away. He couldn’t believe he had gotten this far.  Steve took the phone out. OMG, it was the same one he had used last time. OH well, it was a chance he had to take. At least if he got to her and told her about the phone she would know to revert to the back-up plan.  Steve moved back to the lake and dialed.  ”Hello, oh hi babes. Noooooooooooo, Steve, tell me it isn’t so.”  ”Stevvvvvvvvveeeeeeeeeeeeeee, honey, Steve.”  Jill could hear commotion on the other end. She heard a shuffle going on and then she heard voices and leaves rustling. Then she heard a voice.  ”Hello........ Mrs. Ryder, this is agent Terance Mason. Where are you Mrs. Ryder?”  The phone went dead. Jill put the phone on the floor of the rental and stomped it to pieces and then flung it out the window.  ”Robert, we need to change our plans. I have to use your phone and make a call. I have 3 other phones in my bag but now, yours will have to do.”  ”Robert, they have Steve and the children but.....” Jill burst into tears but regained her composure almost immediately.  ”Listen Rob, can you call Connie, I need her NOW! If you make the call to her after I set the plans in place she should be able to meet us there when we arrive.”  ”We need to stop for lunch, that’ll give her time. Let’s go to Capitola and to Marguiritaville”. Rob parked the rental and they walked into the restaurant.  ”Thank you, Miss, we’ll go ahead and order now. I’ll have the Clam Chowder in a Bread Bowl. Robert, what will you have? Robert, Never mind Miss, two Clam Chowders please. No, nothing to drink well, yes two waters.”  ”Hewo Jill, I would have preferred the chili in a bowl.”  ”Well damn it Robert, just like when you were a kid just a little too much, too little too late for my liking.”  Jill had a fleeting thought even then of the car incident when he almost got himself and Ryan killed.  If it hadn’t been for her quick thinking they would have been flatter than a damn pancake. This was one of those take charge kind of things and Jill wasn’t about to wait for anybody. She had a mission.  ”Bitch bitch bitch, missy.” Robert muttered under his breath. (Thinking to himself ’she always has to be in charge, in control.’)  To himself once again. I cannot get off topic like that. He knew better than to let personal feelings interfere.. IT WOULDN’T happen again, it could jeopordize their lives.  ”You know we can’t go to Monterey now. Listen Danny’s folks have a cabin here in Santa Cruz. Better yet, Danny still lives in Berkeley. Yes, we can have Connie meet us there but we have to hurry. I need to figure this all out now and get to the meat of the back-up.”  ”Surely we can bide some time somehow. I’ll talk to Dan, then we’ll call Shirley in Napa....  ”Who the Hell is Shirley? Now Jill don’t go making this too complicated. We have to be rational about it. I realize with all that you have going on right now, your mind is a bit scattered but we have to focus. If we are to succeed in getting you somewhere safe, we have to lay out a plan and stick to it.”  One thing Jill and Rob both knew was this; capturing Steve had taken the time factor out of the equation. Identifying the bodies wasn’t necessary now.  Autopsies wouldn’t give them any extra time. (There would definitely be autopsies of this Jill was certain.) After all, if the agents thought Steve and Jill had murdered someone, they could use that against them in any court.  Boy, were they in for a surprise oh well, that’s an entirely different story and once forensic medicine kicked in, that’s one story that won’t be front page news. (To think the Ryder’s had used the research of the big guys to implement even part of this plan was going to knock the bad boys off  their high horses.)  ”OMG, Jill turn around, look at the TV screen. It’s my robots.”  ”Miss, miss, could you change the channels, please. Miss, I don’t give a rat’s ass about the game and if everybody and their brother wants to see the damn Lakers. Sorry, please just switch the channels.” ”Listen lady, as you can see they’ve pre-empted the game now anyway with this late breaking news, please, can we just see what they are saying on ABC?”  ”Jill, we need to get you situated, I need to find out what this is all about.”  Robert’s phone rings.  ”Yes, Jon, I’m watching it right now.”  ”I can’t now...... I can’t drop everything and fly there.”  ”You don’t understand, I have a crisis here.”  ”Yes I’ll be on the first plane out AS soon as I can.”  ”YES Jon, I will and I do understand the implications.”  ”OK, talk to you then. Hey Jon, let me be the one that calls you, alright? Yes, I do understand that we’re partners but YOU have to trust me on this. OK, yes, I’ll call you within the hour and let you know.”  Rob thinks to himself. ”Did it look credible? Does Jill think something’s up, does Jon?????”  Robert did understand the significance of Jill’s predicament.  When he realized how big her story really was, he knew he had to do something. He had done his research.  Ryan had tried to follow in Rob’s footsteps, he made all the connections to get the robots programmed for the caper. (Rob had counted on Ryan to do the do..... He had to trust someone and once he realized what Ryan did for a living he’d done his own due diligence. He found Ryan to be almost  a clone of himself.  Ryan had studied everything he could about his BIG brother he had stayed up nights, he had been an active member in the program Robert co-founded.  Tell me this, who would ever have thought an SUV full of robots would show up robbing a bank.  Robert had out done himself again. (AND to think folks out in cyber space thought he was a mere genius....... he’s damn AWESOME to the letter.) (Hey, Rob, you out there, how do u like it so far........ I know, I know a little  scattered but hey, a little fine tuning and we got the best story line on the net!!!  ***  Now, audience, remember this, Robert can program the robots to do anything he wants including, but not limited to deletion of information .... He’s good, you gotta admit that. He thinks fast and, well shucks, what else can we expect from Robo man....... hehehehehehehe.....!!!  Angel was frightened by the way those people stormed in and  grabbed up the baby.  Christian started wailing. He was jerked out of his crib  and grasped so tightly that he was all but hysterical.  ”Excuse me miss, may I please have my baby brother? He is  really scared and if you let me have him I’m sure I can  quiet him down.”  ”Thank you, I can tell you aren’t a mother. Otherwise the  little bit of pee running down your arm wouldn’t freak you  out so much. OOOOOps, is that spit up on your blouse, sorry,  he does that on occasion. No, it isn’t that he doesn’t like  you, MUCH, he just regurgitates when he’s swung around like a  rag doll.”  ”OMG, what did that brat do to me?”  ”Excuse me, Miss Etiquette, my little brother IS not and I  repeat IS NOT a brat. What if some monster came into your  bedroom while you were sleeping peacefully and grabbed you  up? Would it not scare the piss out of you?”  ”OMG,” Angel thinks to herself, ”I’m starting to sound just  like Josh.”  ”Listen you little snot, I’m an agent and I won’t have you  talking to me like that. Get me a wash cloth now so I can  clean this puke off of my blouse.”  ”I’m sorry, I haven’t had time to wash clothes in the last  couple of weeks. I don’t have a wash cloth. Here though,  you might wanna use this, it’s called a BABY WIPE......  ASIF you would know what that is.”  ”Listen to me missy, keep your trap shut or I’ll.......”  ”Or you’ll what? Gonna sling me around like you did my  brother? Gonna black my eye and say I caused it? Go right  ahead, take your best shot bitch.” Angel whispered this  to the female agent as she didn’t want others to hear  what she was doing.  The agent walked away muttering under her breath.  ”What the hell is going on, I just got a call. Grab the  kids and we’re out of here......... OH HELL NO, leave the  kids, the boss said we have to fly out on the double. If  we take them we’ll have to go through all the red tape of  the child protection services.”  ”Yeah, yeah, take him..... this way, maybe we can bait the  wife back here. She’ll wonder what’s going on and maybe  try to contact the children. We’ll be waiting for the call.”  ”No, we already have the phone tapped, that won’t be a problem.”  ”Ok little girl, we know you have a cell phone, where is it?”  ”Which one, damn damn damn........” Angel whispers.  ”AH, let’s have all the cell phones.”  ”Ok Craig, get the phone mom got you for your birthday.  Yes, and the one she had put up for Dad’s father’s day  present.”  ”Here, are you happy now?”  Angel was aware of the stash of cell phones. It was well  hidden inside the walls of the pantry, and one was even  hidden in a cereal box. Her mom’s directions were to use  only the phones that the doc gave her. But now, because  of the incidents of late, she had to call Robert and she  had to do it now. (What Angelica didn’t know was that her  mom had taken the phones except for the one in the cereal  box.)  The agents didn’t know the cunning of this thirteen year old.  They were in for a big surprise when all was said and done  what this young woman child could accomplish.  The agents left as abruptly as they had arrived. The children  didn’t know about their father. He had been remanded into  custody and raced away to an unknown location.  Angel had heard the agent on the phone say something, ”Yeah,  yeah, take him..... this way, maybe we can bait the wife back  here.”  ”What was that about”, she wondered to herself? ”There is  something going on here.”  Angel sat in the rocker and rocked the baby for a bit.  ”Craig, come here please. Watch the boys for me, would ya?  I have to go out for about an hour. No, we will definitely  talk when I get back. I just need to check something and I  don’t have time to talk about it right at the moment.”  Angel slammed out the screen door and ran to the waterfall.  ”OMG, what is going on? What did those bastards do?”  Angel ran as fast as she could back to the house.  ”They took mom and dad, Craig.”  ”No, NO, wait, I have to think. Craig please shut up.  OMG, Craig, they are alive. Mom and Dad are alive.”  ”They have dad, I just know it. BUT, where is mom?  How can this be?”  ”Craig, Mom and Dad are alive, I just know it!!!!!”  Angelica was out of breath but also very excited. She  knew it was true, she could feel it.  Angel knew Robert was the key. He was the link that  would connect her back with her mother.  She turned on the television. It always seemed to sooth  her when she needed to think. The lull in the background  helped her to concentrate better.  Angelica looked at the screen and didn’t take it in at  first. What, a sky fi flick? No, that looked like the  regulars on the ABC News. What the heck?  ”Craig come here”, she yelled to her brother.  ”What do you see?”  ”Looks like four robots to me, sis.”  ”Yes Craig, is that all?”  ”Get to the point Angel, what do you want me to say? I  told you it looks like four robots......in a bank jeese,  looks like those robots are robbing that bank!”  ”What do you make of it sis?”  ”I don’t know, but I do know this, those people that left  out of here a while ago were mumbling something and I  thought I heard robots mentioned.”  ”Craig, I want you to watch the boys. I am going to call  Ol Doc Swenson and have him drop by. I can’t use this phone  either and I’m going out by the lake. I’m going to use one  of the cell phones mom hid.”  ”I’ll be back in a little while. Put the boys to bed at  7:30 and I should be back by eight.”  Angel’s mother and father read constantly.... She grew up  with the following quotes posted on the bulletin board in  the kitchen.  A nation of sheep will beget a government of wolves. -- E.R. Murrow  You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you mad.  -Aldous Huxley  You may be disappointed if you fail, but you are doomed if  you don’t try. -Beverly Sills  When her mom or dad found a new quote it was posted to the board.  They would play a game with the children to let them know something  new had been added. Tiny red white and blue American flags  would be placed around the house.  Angelica remembered the first time this was done. Her mom had made napkins with red white and blue colors. On another occasion, her mom had a red white and blue tie dyed shirt on.  Even though her parents loved the United States they believed there was much work to be done to make it representative of the American Constitution.  Jill and Steve no longer believed America was truly ”The Land of the Free.” They knew it was the Home of the Brave but WAS it true to the American spirit?  In all of her thirteen years Angel had never heard her mom or her dad say they hated their country.  She would hear conversations about the sad state of affairs. She would hear them discuss politics on occasion....... and time and time again, she heard this phrase, it was said so often she swore she heard it in her sleep...... ”WE must Love America and Fix It”.  Were the children of the country being led astray by the RULERS that be? Were they blindly being led to war by GREED? How does one find the answers?  The state of the land where Angel lived was truly free. The family grew their own food and lived independently of the political forces that existed except of course till now.  Angel and her brothers were due to learn of the real world in the next few weeks. It was to be an extraordinary experience.  Were the children prepared for the topsy  turvy world they would soon encounter?  Chapter 6 Angelica was remembering tonight.  What had she heard her mother      say?  It was something about the reason people had come to the new      land to begin with.       What had that quote been, ”Taxation without representation.”       Angel decided to look that up.............     What did it mean?        She remembered the night when her parents seemed to be arguing.       Now looking back, she understood one thing.  Her mom wasn’t arguing,      she was upset and she was ’Venting’.       Venting WAS different than arguing and now she understood.  When      she was upset these days and just wanted to voice an opinion, it      very much resembled being argumentative.  (She  would try and      explain that to Craig.  He seemed to be constantly on the defense      with her lately and she only just now understood the reason.)        She would have to sit with her brother and explain all of this.       She didn’t want to alienate him. She loved her brother and she      wanted him to be her ally in this journey they now had encountered.     Angel found the following advertisement while looking through her      mom’s files. It was so typical of her mom to keep something like     this.  Knowing her mom as she did she knew at some point she     would have used it to influence her kids in their growth.        Angelica Ryder worshipped her parents.  Everything they stood for         represented what Angel hoped to grow into.       Excerpt: Computer advertisement 1991       If there was ever a time to dare to make a difference and to embark      on something worth doing, it is now.  Don’t do it for any grand cause,      do it for something that tugs at your heart and is your aspiration.       Dream your dream and fulfill it.      You owe it to yourself to make your days count.  Have fun, dig deep,      stretch and dream big.  Recognize however, that things worth doing      seldom come easy.      There will be good days and there will be times when you want to      turn around, pack it up, and call it quits.  When those days      happen, tell yourself, you are not afraid to learn by trying.      ’Persist’.      With an idea, determination, and the right tools, you can do      great things. Let your instincts, your intellect, and your heart      guide you. ’Trust’.       Believe in the incredible power of the human mind. Believe in      doing something that makes a difference. Believe in working hard,      laughing and hoping. Believe in lazy afternoons and of lasting      friends.  Believe in all of the things that will cross your path      this year.       The start of something new brings the hope of something great.      Anything is possible. There is only one you and you will pass      this way only once. ’Do it right’.      Ryan had come across the following advertisement when he     was surfing the net that day.  He would have missed it but     for the lightening storm outside his office. It was strange     that the thunder caught his attention.  He was surprised the     computer hadn’t shut down.  He stepped up to the window to     view the lightening and noticed the second paragraph of the     add when he sat back down at his desk.  He was in the process     of looking for a tool online to help him with a project when     he happened on this particular page.      STANDARD WEBSITE REDIRECTION    http://www.myexample.com  http://www.someisp.com/user/     Enter Your Domain  &gt; Displays Specified Site    &lt;br /&gt;Your domain automatically redirects to the site of your choice    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;STEALTH WEBSITE REDIRECTION    &lt;br /&gt;http://www.myexample.com  http://www.myexample.com    &lt;br /&gt;Enter Your Domain &gt; Maintains your domain while displaying    &lt;br /&gt;specified site Your domain automatically redirects to the    &lt;br /&gt;site of your choice and retains your domain’s address in the    &lt;br /&gt;web browser Ryan had come across the following advertisement    &lt;br /&gt;when he was surfing the net that day.  He would have missed    &lt;br /&gt;it but for the lightening storm outside his office. It was strange     &lt;br /&gt;that the thunder caught his attention.  He was surprised the     &lt;br /&gt;computer hadn’t shut down.  He stepped up to the window to     &lt;br /&gt;view the lightening and noticed the second paragraph of the     &lt;br /&gt;add when he sat back down at his desk.  He was in the process     &lt;br /&gt;of looking for a tool online to help him with a project when     &lt;br /&gt;he happened on this particular page.      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Now one might ask, yeah right robots robbing a bank? &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Consider this, the country is in the middle of a war in the Middle East.  The biggest financial &lt;br /&gt;fiasco the world has ever seen is being played out on Wall Street.  What makes anyone think a robot &lt;br /&gt;bank robbery is so unbelievable?       &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Robert knew it would have to be something big and something       &lt;br /&gt;unexpected.  He knew it would have to divert attention from       &lt;br /&gt;Jill.  It had to get the FBI away from the farm.  Nothing       &lt;br /&gt;less than a major catastrophe seemed big enough.  He had to       &lt;br /&gt;get the people of America centered and he had to do it in a grandiose   &lt;br /&gt;way. Why not in such a way as to have a good laugh on the government and at the same time, not devastate &lt;br /&gt;the people?  Why not  &lt;br /&gt;a practical joke that could, in the long run ease the tension of the masses?          &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Why not the robots?  It definitely got the press’s attention.        &lt;br /&gt;It was on every affiliate television station countrywide and within an hour or two, it would be &lt;br /&gt;seen round the world.         &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The politicians would be forced to pull out the big guns or       &lt;br /&gt;be made a laughing stock. (In doing so the attention would    &lt;br /&gt;be diverted from the farm.)       &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The FBI, CIA and the Pentagon were already under fire. They seem to have an ongoing feud that often &lt;br /&gt;times led them to contemptuous behavior amongst themselves.  This frequently takes the focus away &lt;br /&gt;from their main objectives.      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Competition within the individual agencies was no different.        &lt;br /&gt;The rivalry between agents was well known in political circles.        &lt;br /&gt;(Politicians often times used these differences to their own means.)         &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Robert, being privy to this information, recognized that an incident as outrageous as a handful &lt;br /&gt;of bank robbing Robots would wreck havoc within the government. How could something as ridiculous &lt;br /&gt;as this happen when the country was under siege?       &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Why hadn’t someone within the three agencies heard something or at the very least, seen something? &lt;br /&gt;After all, it wasn’t every day that a bunch of robots frequent the streets of New York City.  Why &lt;br /&gt;had no one reported it?  Was the country in such a state of chaos that no one believed what their &lt;br /&gt;eyes told them?        &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Following please find information gathered by Robert and Ryan in their pursuit of an answer to the &lt;br /&gt;above question. It also demonstrates the state of unrest within the agencies in charge of America’s &lt;br /&gt;security.       &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;REPORT: CIA/FBI/PENTAGON issues #14 (Excerpt from Pentagon file)    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;One Pentagon official said the antagonism between Defense and       &lt;br /&gt;CIA operatives is the result of each side preparing to blame the other when there is a question. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”When no one is having a great deal of success, there is always       &lt;br /&gt;a lot of moaning and pointing fingers,” says Joseph Coehlo, a former CIA counter terrorism chief. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Right now, none are covered with glory. Senior officials at the       &lt;br /&gt;Pentagon, CIA and FBI say they are unaware of any difficulties between their agencies.      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Everything we have heard has indicated to us that they are very pleased with the level of cooperation &lt;br /&gt;we have given them,”       &lt;br /&gt;CIA spokesman Ben Carrington says. But other sources say the tension reaches all the way to Kennedy &lt;br /&gt;and CIA Director George Wellington.       &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The CIA and the Pentagon have voiced strong opposition to the       &lt;br /&gt;way the FBI has handled home front issues.  Accusations that the       &lt;br /&gt;FBI knew before hand of the events of the last two years has       &lt;br /&gt;been tabled due to unresolved issues amongst the agencies.        &lt;br /&gt;(It’s as if they don’t want to wash each other’s dirty laundry       &lt;br /&gt;in public for fear of retaliation from the other guys.)      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;BULLETIN:  Four robots filmed outside the Bank Of New York       &lt;br /&gt;at 277 Park Avenue this morning at 11:30 Eastern Time.        &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”We interrupt this program to bring you live coverage at the       &lt;br /&gt;site of the country’s latest bank heist.  Stuart Sandavol      &lt;br /&gt;speaking to you now from 277 Park Avenue New York City.”        &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Stuart, what have you got for us?”  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Dan, I am standing here with an eye witness who encountered the       &lt;br /&gt;robots on their way out of the bank.”       &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Sean Resnick, I understand that you were in the vicinity of the       &lt;br /&gt;bank when the perpetrators were viewed leaving the scene of       &lt;br /&gt;the crime?”      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Yes, Sir, I did.  They walked right in front of me as I was going over to see one of the live talk &lt;br /&gt;shows here in New York.”    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“Sir, do you suppose I could get a replacement for those tickets?       &lt;br /&gt;I’ll be in town for a couple of more days before I have to return home, I’ve never been out of my &lt;br /&gt;home town before and I may never get to New York again.”        &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“Mr. Resnick, did you notice anything different about these robots?”     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“Well yes as a matter of fact I did, I’ve never seen a real robot before.     &lt;br /&gt;I‘ve seen them on television shows and at the movies but to my knowledge, today is the first time &lt;br /&gt;I’ve ever seen one face to face.”      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“Thank you very much for your time Mr. Resnick, now back to our studio.”        &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Stuart.  Dan here, have you been able to speak with any of the bank officials?”      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”No Dan I haven’t, it seems there are several eye witnesses that were   &lt;br /&gt;detained by the robots while the robbery was going on.  The police are with them now and we haven’t &lt;br /&gt;been allowed in as yet.”  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Thank you Stuart, we’ll be back with you and any late breaking news as we learn it.”     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”You’re welcome Dan.  I’ll be standing by.”     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”This is Dan Hollingworth, and I will standing by with any updates.”    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Please join us later tonight on our regularly scheduled NEWS hour     &lt;br /&gt;at 5:00 Eastern.  We will be bringing you updates throughout the day     &lt;br /&gt;on this ongoing story of the Robbery of the Century here in New York     &lt;br /&gt;City.”       &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Dan, are we off camera now?”      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Yes, Stuart, we are.”      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Dan, what will they do if they catch the robots?  How do you punish robots?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“Stuart, I think the culprit is the programmer, not the physical       &lt;br /&gt;robots.  I think the police department will be more interested       &lt;br /&gt;in finding the programmer than the robots, wouldn’t you agree?”      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Dan, I just got something over the radio.  It seems they have     &lt;br /&gt;found the SUV the robots used to pull off this heist.”     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Sir, this is Stuart Resnick and I am with ABC television, can     &lt;br /&gt;I have a word with you?”     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Excuse me, excuse me, we are clearing the area......... I’m Terance Mason of the FBI.  Tape off &lt;br /&gt;this area now boys, it is now a crime scene.”     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Well, Dan, I have been asked to leave the site so will be headed     &lt;br /&gt;back in to the office now.”     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Stuart, can you see anything?  Do you see anything slightly resembling robots?”     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Dan, it looks from here like the doors of the SUV were left open, as if the occupants were in a &lt;br /&gt;hurry to get away.  I can’t say for sure though as I’ve never known of a crime where robots had  &lt;br /&gt;to flee the scene.”     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”The forensic team is just arriving and everyone has been asked to disburse the scene.”     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Dan, this is something we might consider interesting, the SUV seems to have a United States Government &lt;br /&gt;license plate on it.”       &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Sir, sir, you there, would you mind to move aside now?”      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Dan, as I was relaying that information to you about the plates, the man in charge seemed to have &lt;br /&gt;picked up on my observation regarding the plates.  He is now having one of the techs place something &lt;br /&gt;in front of it.  No, I can’t see what it is, it appears to be a sign of sorts but from here I can’t  &lt;br /&gt;be sure.”       &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Dan, he dropped the object and it looks like it is a Michigan plate.  I think he replaced the Government &lt;br /&gt;plates with the Michigan ones sir.”     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”No I can’t be sure.......... oh yes I can, Dan, the plates are now Michigan plates.  What do you &lt;br /&gt;mean, am I sure?  Dan, the plates that I see now say Michigan.  OK, I’ll see if I can get a picture.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Ahhhhh, there’s a spectator over on the sidewalk and she is     &lt;br /&gt;taking a photo.  I’ll walk on over and see what I can do.      &lt;br /&gt;Maybe I can buy the film off of her.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Dan, I don’t know, unless there is some evidence at the bank,     &lt;br /&gt;I can’t prove there were ever government plates on that SUV.”     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”OK, yes my wife’s brother is married to a New York traffic     &lt;br /&gt;cop.  Yes, I’m sure she may have the access needed to get     &lt;br /&gt;that information.”     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”You’re right, I better beat it over there before one of     &lt;br /&gt;the feds thinks of that.”      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”OK already, Dan, give me the addresses of the intersections     &lt;br /&gt;of a 4 block radius of the crime scene and I’ll see what I     &lt;br /&gt;can do.”       &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Dan, I have to go, it’s my wife, she’s probably frantic     &lt;br /&gt;with all of this going on.”       &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”OH hi sweetheart, yes, I’m fine.  I think I’ll be home for     &lt;br /&gt;dinner, what time is it?  Oh sure, that shouldn’t be a problem.”    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Hey Rosie, why don’t you call Toni and ask her to stop over.   Tell her to pick up a 12 pak of Coronas....... &lt;br /&gt;ok, alright,  ok already Rosie, I’ll call the pizza place and have three pizzas  delivered.  YOU &lt;br /&gt;DON’T have any money, Rosie, I just gave you, yes,  Rosie, I’ll pick the pizzas up.  I’m leaving  &lt;br /&gt;right now on an  assignment but I should be home by 7:15.”     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Yes, Rosie, I’ll get Pepperoni for you, a Salami and Mushroom for me and the kids and I’ll get &lt;br /&gt;cheese for Toni, Ranch dressing/red  pepper........ yuck, Rosie,  ok already, I’ll get a side of &lt;br /&gt;those damn anchovies too for  that nut case Toni........ OK, yes, Rosie, I’ll give the girl a tip. &lt;br /&gt;I remember how hard it was for you to get through school..”     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Toni Pedroni please?”      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Hey Toni, what’s up girl?  I have something I need to ask you and I need you to get right on it, &lt;br /&gt;I need it before the feds get to your building and if I’m not mistaken they are probably on the &lt;br /&gt;steps right there as I speak.”      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”There’s a radius around 277 Park Avenue that I need the camera stills for.  OH heck Toni, I can’t &lt;br /&gt;be sure, probably a six block radius.  Yes Toni, all of them if you can.   You have got to hurry &lt;br /&gt;though Toni as the Feds are bound to be hot on this.  Sweep them if you must.  Hell, Toni, think &lt;br /&gt;of something, this is big.  OK, and by the way, bring the evidence with you when you stop over for  &lt;br /&gt;pizza tonight.  YEAH, I know cheese and lots of little fishy creepy things, oh yeah right, anchovies.”  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Toni, I’ll owe you for life for this one.”    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Yeah, Toni if there’s anyway to make copies, do it, you better cover your butt on this one girl. &lt;br /&gt;OK, see you tonight.”      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Toni got the tapes of the morning and had them all copied and back in place in twenty minutes.  &lt;br /&gt;She had been a cop for a long time and she had been on the internet almost as long as some of the &lt;br /&gt;seasoned cops had been on the streets.  She knew urgency when it knocked.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Toni was just stacking the new inventory as the Feds walked in.  She had already had the courier &lt;br /&gt;take the tapes to the field office where she would pick them up later.      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Excuse me miss, you’ll have to help us box all of today’s film up for a federal investigation.”  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”What did you say,” Toni asked?    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”You heard me, we have jurisdiction over these tapes now and we will need them as soon as possible &lt;br /&gt;for deliverance to FBI headquarters.”    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Do you have paperwork on this, Sir?”    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Here’s my badge, that should be enough paper work for you Miss  Pedroni,” the agent retorted.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Well, I’m afraid it isn’t sir.  If you don’t mind, I need to call my super on this.  Excuse me, &lt;br /&gt;may I please get to the phone?”      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Helen, Toni here, there’s a guy here that wants our film.  Oh, ok then, I’ll help him and in the &lt;br /&gt;mean time you’ll bring me the signed paperwork.  Thanks Helen, I’ll do it right away.”      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Excuse me, you might just want to stand back while I do my job.   I’ve been doing it for years &lt;br /&gt;now and it’ll take me less than twenty minutes if you don’t get in the way.”    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Yes, as a matter of fact, I am taken.  My boy friend is a Body Guard for Mayor Giovessi.”    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”No, it’s ok, I get it all the time.”    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;***  The Girl Robots Ready for the Fashion Show    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Robert is no fool and as such, the Robots doing the heist is just the   &lt;br /&gt;beginning.      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Agent Mason arrived home in time to catch the excitement from his    &lt;br /&gt;daughter.      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“Mom, I have to be able to watch it.  It’s the first fashion show for teens and it’s on the internet &lt;br /&gt;tonight.  Mom, it starts at 8:30 and it’s over at 9:30, please, mom, please?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“What is this all about?” Terrance asks his wife as he walks in the    &lt;br /&gt;door.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“Oh, it’s nothing dear, something Kendra heard at school today.     &lt;br /&gt;It’s a fashion show of sorts that’s  going to be done on the internet.  She says it’s going to show &lt;br /&gt;some wild and crazy new fashions   &lt;br /&gt;for teens and she wants to be one of the first to see it.”    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“Why is that so wild and crazy?”  Terry asks his wife.  “It seems tame enough for me.”    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“It isn’t all that crazy sweetie, it’s just that all of the models are robots.”    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“ROBOTS, NO, it’s out of the question, I’ve had my fill of robots and my daughter is not going to &lt;br /&gt;be watching some stupid robots on some stupid fashion show, not tonight, not ever.”    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“Kendra, the answer is NO, you go to bed at 9:00 as usual, they’ll be NO robot fashion show for &lt;br /&gt;my daughter.”    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“Terrance, don’t you think you are over-reacting just a bit?  For crying out loud, sweetheart, you &lt;br /&gt;just bit your daughter’s head off and now she’s crying and doesn’t know what is going on.  For that &lt;br /&gt;matter, either do I?”    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“Let me sit down for a minute and get my thoughts together honey, I’ll see to Kendra in a minute. &lt;br /&gt;I’ll make it up to her, I promise.  I’ve just had a day from hell and now this.”    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“Kendra, honey, unlock your door.  Kendra, Kendra.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“Sara, please come and have Kendra open the door, maybe she’ll open up for    &lt;br /&gt;you.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“Kendra let me in.  Your father is sorry and he’d like to talk to you.”    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“Kendra, sweetheart, let me in.”    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“Terry, she won’t answer and I can’t hear a thing.  Usually when she’s upset, she’ll play her music.” &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“Kendra, open this door this minute young lady.”    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“Sara, I’m going outside and I’ll climb in through her window if I must.”    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“She’s not in here honey, she must have climbed out the window as it was open when I got out side.”  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“She’s probably just gone over to Charity’s.  I’ll go give the family a call.”    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“Terrance, she’s not there, and Charity hasn’t heard from her.”    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;***  The Fashion Show Begins    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“Come on in Kendra, the show is about to start, isn’t this great?”    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“Hi Ryan, didn’t know you would be here, how’s business?  I heard you were in town.”    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“I can’t complain.  Isn’t this exciting about this show?  I really haven’t heard much about robots &lt;br /&gt;until this thing with the bank robbery and NOW this.”    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“It is sort of remarkable, or maybe just a sheer coincidence.”    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“Well, rumor has it that there are robots being seen in a few different places.  I heard from one &lt;br /&gt;of the older boys at school that there was a robot dancing at the club he goes to night before last,” &lt;br /&gt;Faith interjects.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“No kidding, how cool,” says Kendra.      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“Here it is, look at that hair, OMG, I love it.”  Faith.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“Mom, come here, look at these clothes, I want that blouse.”    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“MOM, get in here, please mom, you can fix popcorn after the show, you have got to see these clothes.” &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“Kendra, that headband is awesome and with your hair, it would look so kewl, Charity.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“I wish we could get through to Angelica and have her watch this.  I wish I knew where she lived.” &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“Maybe we could get it downloaded somehow and send it to her.  She would love this.”  Faith.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The kids loved the show, it was a hit. Kendra knew she had to go home. Her parents would be frantic. &lt;br /&gt;Ryan volunteered to walk her home.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;When they got outside Kendra burst into tears.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”What’s wrong lil girl?” Ryan inquired.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Why don’t they see what they are doing?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Who?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”People, Ryan, people?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Sweetie, you are going to have to be a little more specific than that.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Ry, what have we done to our earth?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Kendra, you can’t be taking on the weight of the world”  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”But Ryan, my parents generation isn’t doing a whole lot about it.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Do you read the papers? The US is going to go to war Ry and the people don’t seem to even know &lt;br /&gt;bit.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”I have some Muslim friends Ry. Can you imagine how they feel living here? My friend at school is &lt;br /&gt;frightened all the time. Her family moved here to live in peace and harmony.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”I have a friend in Arizona who emails me Ry, do you know a man was killed in Mesa because he wore &lt;br /&gt;a turban. Ry, he was Indian. No sooner had the family buried him and his brother was killed in San &lt;br /&gt;Francisco.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”My friend told me that the guy in Arizona was such a good guy. He used to help the poor kids in &lt;br /&gt;the neighborhood. Once right before he died a friend of hers didn’t have enough money to buy a loaf &lt;br /&gt;of bread, the owner gave him the bread and told him to forget it.”    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Can you imagine that poor family? Ryan, his brother was a taxi driver in San Francisco and he &lt;br /&gt;was just murdered last week.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”My dad is an FBI agent Ry, he’s a good guy but I don’t believe in what he does. I love my daddy &lt;br /&gt;but he believes all the crap that the government tells him.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Kendra, maybe things will change.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Ryan, please, we have to wake up. It’s time for the whole world to wake up. I’m only thirteen and &lt;br /&gt;I see it.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”How do we get the world to help us? The kids at school see it. They cannot believe how naive our &lt;br /&gt;parents are. When are we going to take our country back? But then again, when did we ever really &lt;br /&gt;have it.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Ryan, have you ever studied history?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”There are so many cover-ups and the American people just accept it.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”I’ve heard my dad talk about the Kennedy assisination. Ryan, how stupid is that? They locked away &lt;br /&gt;everything on it and the public has no idea what really happened.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”You know what I think Ry, I think our government killed our own president.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Kendra, you have no proof of that.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Well duh, Ryan, how can anybody prove it when the government locked up all the proof.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Kendra, how did you get so smart, you’re only thirteen?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Ryan, my parents are busy all the time and I have a straight A average in school and I am bored &lt;br /&gt;out of my mind. I go onto the internet and my friend Angelica got me interested in history.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Angelica? That’s a beautiful name.” Ryan thinks something is really strange here. In the last couple &lt;br /&gt;of weeks he’s heard Robert speak of Angerlica and now this.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Ryan, do you hear all the kidnappings and murders of young girls? What about the Priests in the &lt;br /&gt;Catholic church? Ryan, my grandpa is Catholic.?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Did you know last week that they found a Japanese submarine ship that proves that we started WWII? &lt;br /&gt;The news media is making light of it but, Ryan, but it proves our country has been doing this for &lt;br /&gt;years.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Ryan, how much of our history that we’ve studied in school is true, is our whole country based &lt;br /&gt;on lies?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Hey, Ryan, here’s a joke I got from one of the boys in my class today, maybe you’ll understand &lt;br /&gt;it....... oh and remember this, Kennedy was assasinated in Dallas, Texas, and our President’s family &lt;br /&gt;is from Texas, k?”     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Kendra, stop, you are working yourself up.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Ryan, the Presiden’t father was in the CIA during President Kennedy’s presidency, hmmmmmmmmmm. &lt;br /&gt;Did you know there were rumors that maybe the CIA and Castro or was it Kennedy’s Vice President &lt;br /&gt;or was it the CIA and the mob had Kennedy killed?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”I’m sorry, Ry, my friend in California got me started and it was like I became addicted. I want &lt;br /&gt;to know what my life is going to be like. Ryan, maybe I’ll move to another country. I’m sure it’s &lt;br /&gt;not much better in other countries Ryan but at least I’ll know not to study and learn all of this  &lt;br /&gt;crap. Maybe, I’ll just let it go and watch my world end by the time I’m twenty.?   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Here’s the joke Ry.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Three strangers at a small terminal in the Texas Panhandle are   &lt;br /&gt;awaiting their shuttle flight. One is a Native American Indian   &lt;br /&gt;passing through from Oklahoma.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Another, a local ranch hand on his way to Fort Worth for a stock   &lt;br /&gt;show.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The third passenger is a fundamentalist Arab student, newly   &lt;br /&gt;arrived at the Texas oil patch from the Middle East.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;To pass the time they strike up a conversation on recent events,   &lt;br /&gt;and the discussion drifts to their diverse cultures. Soon the   &lt;br /&gt;Westerners learn that the Arab is a devout radical Muslim.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The conversation falls into an uneasy lull.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The cowpoke leans back in his chair, crosses his boots on a   &lt;br /&gt;magazine table, tips his big sweat-stained hat forward over his face.   &lt;br /&gt;The wind outside blows tumbleweeds and the old windsock flaps.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Finally, The Native American clears his throat and softly, he   &lt;br /&gt;speaks: ”Once, my people were many, now we are few”.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The radical Muslim raises an eyebrow and leans forward, ”Once my   &lt;br /&gt;people were few,” he sneers, ”and now we are many. Why do you   &lt;br /&gt;suppose that is?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Texan shifts the toothpick to one side of his mouth and from   &lt;br /&gt;the darkness beneath his Stetson says in a drawl, ”That’s ’cause   &lt;br /&gt;we ain’t played Cowboys and Muslims yet.................”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Good joke, huh Ryan? I cried all day cause I thought the kid that sent it to me was an understanding &lt;br /&gt;person. Hmmmmmmmmm, what a thought, someone who could understand what I think of the whole world.” &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have told you all of this. My dad would be so mad if he knew how I felt. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;He’s a proud man Ryan and he’s not a bad guy. I feel that he’s sort of like the people in our military, &lt;br /&gt;he’s been duped.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Kendra, you are wise beyond your years my dear. I don’t know what to tell you. How do you deal &lt;br /&gt;with all of these things? Are you in counseling?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Actually, I do see and counselor at school. She’s amazed that I see all of this. She thinks I have &lt;br /&gt;a lot to deal with and she also thinks I’m a bit of a nut.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”I don’t give a damn what she thinks, She’s old enough to be my grandmother and she won’t be around &lt;br /&gt;to go through MY life. You know what, Ryan, there’s not a damn thing I can do about any of this,is &lt;br /&gt;there?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Kendra, honey, we’re here.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Ryan, you better not come into the house with me, my dad may not understand, isn’t that a joke? &lt;br /&gt;He lives with his head up his ass and thinks our government is the good guys. He would have a heart &lt;br /&gt;attack if he thought I was with a boy.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Wouldn’t he just crap if he thought I might have sex at thirteen or fourteen because I may not &lt;br /&gt;have a world by the time I’m sixteen.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Ryan walks around the corner as the door opens and Kendra’s father takes her in his arms.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Now Kendra, my baby, thank God you are alright. Now what the hell were you thinking?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Daddy I’m sorry, I just wanted to watch a stupid fashion show.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”I know baby and I over-reacted, I’m sorry. We’ll talk about this later, right now, you need to &lt;br /&gt;go to bed. I’ll see you at breakfast and we’ll discuss your punishment.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Dad, what about your punishment for not being reasonable?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Ok, Kendra, we’ll talk about that in the morning also. Right now to bed with you. I’ll be by to &lt;br /&gt;tuck you in.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Kendra, I love you.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”I love you too Daddy.”    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Chapter 7  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Kendra turned on her light after her dad left the room. She pulled out the robot book and began &lt;br /&gt;to read. Her dad would really have a fit if he knew of the book. Oh well, it was more fun than anything &lt;br /&gt;else at the moment. Except of course the internet, but the computer was in the other room and it &lt;br /&gt;was her bed time.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;She’d only read a couple of paragraphs when the idea came to her. She would make copies and give &lt;br /&gt;them to her friends. They would love it after the fashion show. Maybe, if all turned out nice enough, &lt;br /&gt;she would give the books as Christmas gifts.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;She started to read again and another idea. She could make up the books at school. It wasn’t like &lt;br /&gt;she would be abusing any copywrite laws, the book was bought at a yard sale and from the looks of &lt;br /&gt;it, it was homemade too.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;She knew from the tour of the library at her new school that they had the material to make the books. &lt;br /&gt;She would ask the librarian to show her how to do it. She remembered seeing the cones and the hole &lt;br /&gt;punch and it didn’t look very hard.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Kendra wondered to herself what this book was really about. Parts of it didn’t make sense. She had &lt;br /&gt;really liked the content up to this point and even though she didn’t understand the origination &lt;br /&gt;she decided to continue. (She reminded herself to inform the girls and Ryan that if they got into &lt;br /&gt;the book they would like it.) She couldn’t think of anything else to say.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Kendra began where she left off a few days ago. She had really been interested after the boy at &lt;br /&gt;school had made that comment about seeing a   &lt;br /&gt;robot at a club.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;.........the story continues   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;AUDRA and the Robots  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I had been so involved in business that I seemed to have been negligent in my care of the robots. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;That being said, I took most of yesterday and all of last night updating myself on the activities &lt;br /&gt;of our much beloved robots. I must admit this was not an easy task. I had to adjust my schedule &lt;br /&gt;to theirs. That in itself is a feat for wonderwoman. What with delivering to the membership, I found &lt;br /&gt;out the robots still pursue an outside life.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I spent yesterday with R2INU and Goldie. R2 has become very involved in the world of BMX. We spent &lt;br /&gt;part of the time at a competition in Kentucky. The competition we watched yesterday is exhibition &lt;br /&gt;riding. I must tell you it is something to watch. Those young men are very skilled and talented &lt;br /&gt;and I was very impressed. R2 was glued to his seat and seemed to be in awe of the young men performing.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Goldie was in and out for the first hour we were there. She was unavailable for communication until &lt;br /&gt;it was time for her to retrieve R2 and me from the competition.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;When R2 and I arrived at the SUV, we were surprised to see the whole interior full of toys and gifts. &lt;br /&gt;I inquired of Goldie about the presents. Boy was I in for a shock. So too was R2, he didn’t know &lt;br /&gt;this part of Goldie either. Following you will find a most heartwarming story of our rich, flashy  &lt;br /&gt;robot that will indeed bring tears to your eyes.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It seems when Goldie left the competition for that first hour she was headed over to the Ronald &lt;br /&gt;McDonald house in Louisville. She got a list from the administrator of the toys and gifts that the &lt;br /&gt;children wanted. She then went out with her assigned credit card and purchased all of the things  &lt;br /&gt;the children asked for.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Were we in for a treat. While Goldie was out on her shopping excursion the volunteers at the house &lt;br /&gt;were busy decorating. Guess what we found when we walked in the door? You betcha, a giant tree….. &lt;br /&gt;not exactly your typical Christmas tree, but who knew? The decorations that covered the tree far  &lt;br /&gt;made up for it not being a boring pine tree.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In the short time that Goldie had been out and about the people at the house pulled together and &lt;br /&gt;got busy making decorations. It was beautiful. It did have the traditional Christmas tree lights…. &lt;br /&gt;That being said, the other decorations were anything but traditional. I won’t even try to describe &lt;br /&gt;the tree, it was the most beautiful tree I have ever had the pleasure of laying eyes on.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The children were excited and I must say the excitement was contagious. Everyone in the room seemed &lt;br /&gt;to be star struck. It was almost as if there was a presence that exuded a golden aura throughout &lt;br /&gt;the room. It was truly dreamlike.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Goldie seemed to be partial to one of the little girls in a wheel chair. From the looks of Audra, &lt;br /&gt;you could feel that maybe the GLOW was there for Audra.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The presents were given out and Audra received the first one. Audra’s mom knelt beside Audra as &lt;br /&gt;she opened the gift. It was last year’s Christmas Barbie. Audra smiled and you could see a tear &lt;br /&gt;on her mom’s cheek.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Audra looked very tired and after opening the gift her mom excused herself and Audra they went back &lt;br /&gt;to Audra’s room.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Audra’s mom returned a little while later to enjoy the rest of the celebration. Audra had gone home &lt;br /&gt;to Her Father.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Goldie looked at me for some sort of explanation. R2 was spellbound with a bike book one of the &lt;br /&gt;boys had given him.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I walked over to Audra’s mom and hugged her. She smiled and said it was time. Audra was tired. She &lt;br /&gt;also smiled and said, ”I am tired too. I can go home now and see to my other three children and &lt;br /&gt;give them some solace that Audra is not in pain now.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Goldie looked at me and said we had to go. She gave Audra’s mom a big hug and told her to email &lt;br /&gt;her and handed her a small piece of paper. I’m not sure but I don’t think Goldie understood any &lt;br /&gt;of it. She just knew that Audra seemed to need the party and knew she was able to give it to her.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I got into the SUV and waved at the children. R2 was still excited about the little boys bike and &lt;br /&gt;Goldie drove off with a sweet smile on her lips.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I’m proud of our robots, they are growing into fine young adult robots……   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Thank you for letting me be a part of their growth.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;=================   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Kendra put the book back in the drawer and turned off the lights. She hugged her stuffed Elmo and &lt;br /&gt;closed her eyes. It had been a tough day and it wasn’t long before she fell asleep.     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Kendra, wake up, what is Elmo doing on the floor?” Kendra’s mom asked with a grin.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Ma, give me Elmo. You know those big ol eyes of his poke me sometimes in my sleep.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Well sweet angel of mine, why do you insist on sleeping with him?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Don’t you remember how I found him in the back of Uncle Fred’s truck?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”No honey, I don’t remember that story. Do you want to remind me?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Mother, for crying out loud, can’t you remember anything? I’m sorry Mom. Mom, I’m sorry, please &lt;br /&gt;don’t cry. I forget sometimes.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Kendra jumped up from bed and gave her mom a big hug and brushed away the tear.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Mom, I’m just a kid, remember, I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings. I forget sometimes about it. &lt;br /&gt;You always seem so smart and when you forget things, it seems funny.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Ma, do you forgive me?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Ok, one day, I was over at Uncle Fred and Aunt Carol’s. I was getting ready to get in the car with &lt;br /&gt;dad when I saw Elmo, still in the package in the back of Uncle Fred’s truck. I asked him what Elmo &lt;br /&gt;was doing there.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Uncle Fred looked at me and laughed and told me he was there for the next time he went to target &lt;br /&gt;shoot. He told me he was going to use Elmo for target practice.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”I just put the package down on the seat of the truck and gave Uncle Fred a big hug and asked him &lt;br /&gt;if I could please take Elmo home.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Do you remember now Mom?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Yes, honey, now I remember.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”You better get going, your dad is running late and he wanted to talk to you this morning.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”I’ll hurry Momma, I already know what I’m going to wear today. It looks a little like one of the &lt;br /&gt;outfits one of the robots had on in that fashion show last night.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Tell Dad I’ll be right there.”     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Claire, is my dad there,” Kendra asks of the receptionist at FBI headquarters.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Claire, if I could get him on the cell phone..... GET ME MY DADDY damn it!”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”I don’t care, get him out of the damn meeting and do it now, it’s an emergency. Claire, I’m sorry, &lt;br /&gt;I need daddy and I need him NOW.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Daddy,” Kendra is crying, ”do you know where Mom is? Daddy, I think she’s going to kill herself. &lt;br /&gt;Daddy, just come home I’m going out and see if I can find her. Daddy, do you have a gun in the &lt;br /&gt;house? DO YOU OR DON’T YOU?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Just come home, I’ll find her by myself.” Click.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Mom, are you here? Mom, where are you? Mommie, wake up. Mommie, please wake up.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Kendra picks up the phone and dials 911.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”I need help, sniff, sniff, ”I think my mom is going to die, she’s out cold and I can’t wake her &lt;br /&gt;up. Yes, it’s 110769 Thomas Drive, I’m out by the greenhouse. Yes, she’s still breathing but it &lt;br /&gt;seems shallow. NO, I’m with her now and I’m shaking her.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”She’s on medication for depression. No, I don’t know the name of the drug.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Can’t you just get over here now? Oh, ok, they are already on their way. OK, I hear a siren now, &lt;br /&gt;ok, thanks.” click.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”This way, she’s out by the greenhouse in the lounge. Yes, I’ll see if I can find the bottle.  No, &lt;br /&gt;I don’t know. All I know is I found this note on the computer. That’s when I started to look for &lt;br /&gt;her. Yes my dad is on his way.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Miss, could you just step aside and we’ll see what we can do.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Yes, vitals are good. Yes, she seems to be breathing fine, a little shallow but I think she’s ok. &lt;br /&gt;Yep, ETA, seven minutes. We’re on our way.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Miss, do you want to go along with your mother?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”I think my daddy just drove up and if he did, we’ll follow, ok?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Jim, grab the printout of the note and bring it with us. Miss, can I have the bottle please, is &lt;br /&gt;there anymore?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;=========================   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Insight Into Insanity All the things I learned growing up VOID   &lt;br /&gt;Rearranging my thought processes to include Change Constant and continual Change.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;MY Mother Cancer What Cancer? Yes Radiation.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;MY Father What Chemotherapy What? Medication is worse than the disease If the disease doesn’t kill &lt;br /&gt;me the medication will!   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;They won’t take their child to the doctor. Natural is better. Put them in jail. Doctors know best.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;RACING THOUGHTS - doctor patient conversation &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;*Take this drug.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;*NOOOOOOOO, I won’t.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;*Take it or you won’t get the care you need to survive.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;*Noooooooooo, I won’t.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;*Fine then, be damned.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;*Alright I’ll try it, NO it makes me sick.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;*You didn’t give it time.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;*It made me vomit  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;*Take it, give it time, and if it still doesn’t work…… We’ll try another.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;*OK, I’ve been on it a month and I vomit every day.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;*OK, let’s try this one.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;*OK Doctor, I have a rash  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;*Come to my office in three weeks.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;*What about help till then?  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;*Take the drug I gave you and I’ll give you an anti rash drug too.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;*Doctor, I’m going to get fired, the meds you gave me make me sleep and I cannot get up. (How many &lt;br /&gt;times do I have to do this to find the right one, how many times does my family have to endure this? &lt;br /&gt;Doctors are jerks and I wish he’d get hurt so he knows how it feels.. I wish he’d have to have  &lt;br /&gt;medication that some dumb doctor gave him, I wish someone understood.)  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;*Two days later. Doctor, I had to go to emergency  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;*Why?  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;*My heart hurt.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;*It’s in your head. Cut the dosage in half. I’ll call the pharmacy.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;*Doctor, I can’t sleep.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;*It’s only a week till your appointment.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;*Doctor. Doctor. Answering machine.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;*Doctor, I couldn’t wait the week. The vomiting, the rash, the insomnia, MY HEART? BANG!!!!!!!  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;==========================  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Kendra and Terrance followed the ambulance to the hospital.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;.......two hours later..  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”She’s going to be fine. She didn’t take too much. It looks to me like she just wanted to sleep &lt;br /&gt;and it looks like she took just enough to get her into the deep sleep. We’ll keep her here for the &lt;br /&gt;night.”  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Yes, you can see her. She’s still groggy and she probably will be till tomorrow. In my opinion, &lt;br /&gt;she’ll sleep fine and she’ll just have to watch corners for a bit. She’ll be a bit off center for &lt;br /&gt;a couple of days but that’s normal.”  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Mom, you scared me half to death. Was it what I said this morning? Mommie, I am so sorry.”  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Kendra, it wasn’t what you said. I didn’t realize those new pills were so strong. The doctor told &lt;br /&gt;me to take three a day and I haven’t been able to sleep so I just took the three.”  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Sara, what was that note?”  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”What note dear?”  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”The one about you know, the suicide note?”  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Honey, I don’t know what you are talking about.”  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”The note on the computer Mom!”  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Oh my goodness, I had copied that from a long time ago when I was having trouble with that doctor. &lt;br /&gt;I printed it out today and wanted to file it into my meds file. I wanted to remember what it was &lt;br /&gt;like when I was under that other doctor’s care.? Did I forget to file it?”  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”No Mom, when I couldn’t find you I picked up the file on the desk and it fell out. I was looking &lt;br /&gt;to see if you had gone for a walk or something and left a message.”  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Kendra, I’m so sorry, I am so sorry, baby. I didn’t even think about that. I never thought you’d &lt;br /&gt;ever see that note. I can barely remember writing it now but when I found it, I wanted to remember &lt;br /&gt;and I was going to file it and keep it.”  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Baby, I never want to leave you. I’m just now finding out about the illness and it’s helping.  &lt;br /&gt;You know what, sweetie? The reason I finally started doing the research is because you seem so excited &lt;br /&gt;about the internet. I’ve learned so much and it’s all been because of my own sweet Kendra.”  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Terry, honey, I’m sorry, I know you......................zzzzzzzzzzzz....”  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Daddy, we might as well go home now.”  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Daddy, are you crying?”  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Daddy, she’s fine now, we’ll be fine.”  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Kendra, will you teach me that internet stuff?”  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”What are you talking about, Daddy, don’t you know all of that internet stuff. I would think on &lt;br /&gt;your job, you’d have to know.?  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Yes, I do use a computer at work but this is different. I’m not in a department that uses that &lt;br /&gt;stuff. I very rarely access the internet. They have a whole ’new age’ younger department that ONLY &lt;br /&gt;does that.”  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Daddy, we’ll switch it on when we get home and I’ll get you started. Do you want to start learning &lt;br /&gt;about Mom’s illness? I think it’s time we do it together. This can bring us closer and surely help &lt;br /&gt;Mom if we can support her with better knowledge.”  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Dad, did I ever tell you, I think you’re a pretty cool ol man?”  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”I love you baby.”  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”I love you too Daddy.”  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Chapter 8  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Robert is wondering about Ryan. What is going on with Ryan, he thinks to himself? He comes back &lt;br /&gt;into my life and now, he seems uninterested. I really thought he was going to stick around. I wonder &lt;br /&gt;what happened.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In the mean time, Ryan is working on finding out if Kendra, from New York and Angelica, from California &lt;br /&gt;are friends. It all didn’t quite fit together yet but he wanted to know now. It seemed more than &lt;br /&gt;a coincidence.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Hey Rob, what are you doing,” Ryan asked.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Who is this?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Rob, don’t give me that, it’s Ryan Greenley, of course. You know, your little brother.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Well, it’s been a while Ryan. I thought after what we did with the robots I would have heard from &lt;br /&gt;you.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”I didn’t really want to make anybody suspicious, so I just stayed away for a while.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Rob, I have a question.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Yes Ryan.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Is there any possibility at all that an FBI agent that was out at the farm could possibly have &lt;br /&gt;connections with the Ryders?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”What are you talking about?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Here’s the deal. I know a little girl in NY that knows another young girl in California and her &lt;br /&gt;name is Angelica.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Ryan, how young are we talking here?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Rob, it isn’t like that. I just know this kid. Robert, I think there’s a connection between the &lt;br /&gt;two. I think this Angel Ryder and Kendra Mason are friends. I think they met on the internet and &lt;br /&gt;I think Kendra’s old man was out at the farm.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Ryan, that is just way too much of a coincidence. It’s almost an impossibility.”      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Robert, what if somehow, some way these two girls got connected. Maybe they have something in common. &lt;br /&gt;Maybe, I don’t know, maybe there is something they are both interested in and they hooked up on &lt;br /&gt;the net.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Well, Ryan, after what we went through with the robot incident, you do know I may have a way of &lt;br /&gt;finding out. Let me see if I can ask around. I have some people I know and they know some people &lt;br /&gt;in the bay area.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Sure Rob, I’ll leave it in your hands.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Ryan to self, ”He is quite the networker,isn’t he? He thinks I don’t know that he doesn’t have to &lt;br /&gt;lift a phone or go online and email someone else. That man has capabilities that far exceed your &lt;br /&gt;average bear. Oh well, one day if he trusts me enough, he’ll tell me, or he won’t.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Listen guy, I’m gonna head out. You will let me know when you talk to your friends in California, &lt;br /&gt;won’t you. I’d really like to know if what I think is real.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Sure Ryan, give me a few days and I’ll get back to you.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Robert thinks it over and decides this might not be a good thing. What if Ryan finds out the truth. &lt;br /&gt;That could put the kid in danger.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Robert gets on his computer right away and starts doing what he does best.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;====================   &lt;br /&gt;Now ladies and gents out in Storyland, we won’t give any secrets away here but Robert Stealth is &lt;br /&gt;a genius on the computer. He can do things that other’s only dream of.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;If the FBI thinks they can train youngsters to do what he does, well they can keep on dreaming. &lt;br /&gt;Nuff said on that subject.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;====================   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Robert defies human capabilities and within four hours realizes what Ryan believes is true. He now &lt;br /&gt;knows that Kendra Mason and Jill’s daughter Angelica are indeed friends. (He’s known it all along &lt;br /&gt;but fact is, that was just too easy.)   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Robert has to do something. He has got to warn the Ryder’s. It may not ever turn into anything but &lt;br /&gt;Steve and Jill need to know. At least, they will know what to look out for and not be caught off &lt;br /&gt;guard if and when something happens.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;+++++++++   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The fashion show was a success. There were quite a few watchers. The counters showed 1013 viewers &lt;br /&gt;in 3 days. That wasn’t bad for not advertising the show. Word of mouth got the show watched and &lt;br /&gt;with the 1013 viewers and the next show due out in five days, maybe the numbers would increase substantially. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Kids of today are very savvy on the net. They enjoy instant gratification. They also like science &lt;br /&gt;fiction. The robot fashion show combined not only those two elements but it brought in fashion, &lt;br /&gt;something teenagers world wide absolutely crave.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Judging from the small party that Kendra Mason attended, the accessories were a very important item. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The headbands seem to be a real hit. If the kids only knew that the headbands were a mere cover &lt;br /&gt;for maintenance. They would probably like that even more. Maybe that is a tidbit of information &lt;br /&gt;that might be considered leaking to the teens.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The designer of the clothes is considering a boys line too. That will be somewhere in the future. &lt;br /&gt;At the moment the market is directed at the younger teenage girl population.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The feathery look seems to be a hit. Several of the outfits are adorned with the feathers and the &lt;br /&gt;kids commented postitively on that.     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Jill had figured out what Angel was doing. She had gone underground so to speak and taken over her &lt;br /&gt;daughter’s identity when she found out Angel was talking to an FBI agent’s daughter.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;She had uncovered lots of information. She had the skills and connections to find out the truth. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The first time she and Steve were run off the road, the wreck looked for all intensive purposes &lt;br /&gt;that it had taken them out.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;What the agents didn’t know was that there was a ledge about four hundred and fifty feet down the &lt;br /&gt;hill. How she and Steve were both thrown out of the way, is a miracle. Maybe someone was watching &lt;br /&gt;over them that day. Jill had been sitting on the console beside her husband and didn’t have on  &lt;br /&gt;her seat belt. Steve had taken a safety class and instinct that day told him to get out of his. &lt;br /&gt;They were both scratched and shaken but, no broken bones and no major injuries.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;When Jill had arrived home that day, she took things into her own hands. She had started planning &lt;br /&gt;the REAL accident that was to take their lives. She had all of the plan well laid out before she &lt;br /&gt;shared it with her husband.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Steve was shocked that Jill was that fastidious in her plan. It was worked out to a T. He was very &lt;br /&gt;impressed with his beautiful intelligent wife. He would never have been able to conjure up such &lt;br /&gt;a plan.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Unbeknownst to Terrance Mason, the plan to kill the Ryders was put into place. His internet line &lt;br /&gt;at home had been hacked. Someone knew of the connection and Jill was just thankful she had taken &lt;br /&gt;over Angel’s friendship with Kendra.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;When Jill had first started connecting with Kendra, it was apparent she had to learn a bit about &lt;br /&gt;being young again. She was already in the habit of spending lots of time with Angelica but after &lt;br /&gt;she learned of their friendship, it took on a whole new meaning.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Jill became an undercover cop in her own right. She had to learn how to hide files from her daughter, &lt;br /&gt;she had to learn to take on her daughter’s identity. There was much she had to do to protect her &lt;br /&gt;children.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Looking back it was amazing that she had pulled it off. Angel never seemed to suspect anything. &lt;br /&gt;Maybe because Jill had always been able to get her friend to help.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;There weren’t too many folks in the world that Jill Ryder trusted. If the truth were known, she &lt;br /&gt;would trust her friend more so than her husband in this particular area. Not to say that Jill wasn’t &lt;br /&gt;in love with Steve. He just didn’t have the aptitude that Stealth had for what she needed.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As Robert began to reflect on his relationship with Jill Ryder, it had never been dull. That is &lt;br /&gt;for sure. He still thought of the accident Jill diverted in their youth.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;What next? What can she get into next, Robert wondered?   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Robert hadn’t heard from her in a while and he thought he better try and touch base. If he knew &lt;br /&gt;her, she would be into mischievous by now......    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Kendra had her father in the right place. She had found a few sites her mom had put on-line.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;http://www.nami.org/   &lt;br /&gt;http://www.healthyplace.com/   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;She was confident that he would be busy for a while. She pulled out the next volume of the series &lt;br /&gt;of robot books.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Kendra really liked these books. The more she read, the more she liked.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Audra had been a sad story but in a way, it made her smile. She liked the way the author did the &lt;br /&gt;robots. She knew they weren’t real people and in some ways they seemed very sensitive and yet non-human. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Kendra really liked that the robots seemed to be kind, polite, courteous and respectful of not only &lt;br /&gt;each other but to REAL people too.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Kendra put the book down. She forgot to brush her teeth. She would do that, check on her dad, and &lt;br /&gt;get a glass of water and then she was good to go.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;She climbed back into bed and realized that Elmo was across the room, wrapped in a blanket and neatly &lt;br /&gt;tucked into the chair, as if someone had done it with a great deal of love. ”Mom, I love you”, Kendra &lt;br /&gt;whispered as she picked up Elmo and gently slid him under her covers.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;She opened the book and began to read...   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;PRINCESS IN DISTRESS  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;No one knew of her existence. As history would have it, she had left Phoenix long ago.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The robots had come to Phoenix on one of their many trips to visit. It seems with the program being &lt;br /&gt;on hold for the time being, they needed to get away. Robert had agreed that it would be a good time &lt;br /&gt;to take a trip to Phoenix.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Canada is very cold during the winter months and anyone who knows anything at all about robots knows &lt;br /&gt;that the moisture in the air isn’t good for them.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;........ Robots arrive in Phoenix   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;She was happy to see the bots. It had been New Year’s Eve when they had last been here. With her &lt;br /&gt;son and his family living with her, she hadn’t much time to think about her robot family. It was &lt;br /&gt;a treat to see them pull up.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;She had heard the rumors about the castle being found. She suggested to Linus that it might be a &lt;br /&gt;fun outing for the bots to see what the big hullabaloo was about. It had been plastered all over &lt;br /&gt;the papers and it had been a great find for history.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As the story goes, the castle had burned down centuries ago. It was in such a remote part of Phoenix &lt;br /&gt;that the find was indeed remarkable. The shrubs, bushes, weeds, trees and greenery were unbelievable &lt;br /&gt;in the Phoenix area. No one would ever have known except for the car accident.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;There had been numerous papers written on the Princess of Phoenix.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;PRINCESS IN DISTRESS the story   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The princess lived in the high tower of Phoenix. She lived alone for hundreds of years never aging &lt;br /&gt;and always longing for her knight ’in shining armor’ to come to her rescue. (Unknown to anyone how &lt;br /&gt;shining armor might present itself.)   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;On occasion Phoenix would crash and burn only to be rebuilt around the tower where the princess &lt;br /&gt;resided.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Much the same as the princess the tower seemed to be indestructible. It would survive violent flames &lt;br /&gt;and never burn when all about it crumbled.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The princess longed for companionship and to grow old naturally. She spent many hours on the phone &lt;br /&gt;connecting with people all over the world. Making friends came easy for her as she was a true people &lt;br /&gt;”person” and could empathize with most everyone she met.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The only problem with the invention of the phone system was that she would make friends and time &lt;br /&gt;would pass and the friends would disappear. As the princess never aged, she never understood, much &lt;br /&gt;the same as Puff the magic dragon, her friends would pass on and she would be left wondering.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;She often times connected via conversations and craved the touch of another. In all of the hundreds &lt;br /&gt;of years, it evaded her. She often thought that in past lives she had angered the gods and this &lt;br /&gt;was her eternity of punishment.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;There were times, like now, when she longed for a one on one interaction.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Had the princess only known what the day had in store. Had she known that history was about to be &lt;br /&gt;made in the form of an SUV full of Robots. .............the story begins   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The princess, sitting high in her tower had resolved herself to a life time of loneliness and was &lt;br /&gt;virtually sipping on her virtual second cup of coffee when she heard the SUV pull up. She was used &lt;br /&gt;to the tourists by now, the accident had happened a week ago. It had been chaos.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The city had sent over a crew to clean up the litter and another to cut the weeds, shrubs, trees, &lt;br /&gt;and vines. Boy, were they in for a surprise when they came upon the structure. Who would have thought &lt;br /&gt;that there was a castle hidden away behind all of the greenery.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The robots excitedly got out of the SUV. R2 was driving today as Goldie had wanted to view Phoenix &lt;br /&gt;this time instead of drive.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;LINUS seemed quieter than usual and had any one of the robots been noticing, he seemed to be in &lt;br /&gt;a trance (that’s quite a task for a robot, but none the less, he was not exactly LINUS-like today.)~~~  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;For any of you newbies out in storyland, LINUS is the manager of the robots and on the quiet side. &lt;br /&gt;He’s always in the shadows watching and making sure our famous robots are carrying on in an acceptable &lt;br /&gt;manner.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As this was not so out of character for LINUS, the other bots went about their business.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;LINUS looked up at the window where the princess was watching. As he gazed upward a spot of moisture &lt;br /&gt;appeared near his eye socket maybe a drop of moisture from the sill above.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;LINUS moved slowly toward the archway. His memory bank was going over and over information. Somewhere &lt;br /&gt;he knew there was information concerning this place. He stopped and he seemed to be thinking........ &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;0110001010001010100010110101010.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;LINUS flew into action. The other robots were startled, they had never seen LINUS move so fast in &lt;br /&gt;all of the time they had known him. He ran past Robbie, R2 and Golda. He almost knocked Goldie down &lt;br /&gt;as he plowed right into her and when he ran past m0bot, he knocked off m0’s little digit on his &lt;br /&gt;left hand. m0 didn’t flinch, he had been there before. He leaned down and picked it up and put it &lt;br /&gt;in his pocket and made note in his memory bank to have R2 stop by RobotsRus on the way back to her &lt;br /&gt;place.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;LINUS ran up the stair case and into the master bedroom. Princess Olivia still sat on the balcony. &lt;br /&gt;She turned when the intruder threw open the door. She was taken aback, who was this creature? Princess &lt;br /&gt;Olivia shook her head as if to clear the cobwebs. She recognized this strange looking robot.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;When the princess awoke, she looked around. There stood Goldie, Golda, and m0. She seemed to be &lt;br /&gt;dazed. As she looked at the female bots, she recognized herself in each one. She saw Golda, with &lt;br /&gt;the red hair and she thought of her own mother bot.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;When she looked at the outrageous clothes that Goldie had on, she could see her aunt Bara bot looking &lt;br /&gt;back at her.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;She saw LINUS standing near the door and once again she felt light headed. She put her hand to her &lt;br /&gt;forehead and wondered if she was dreaming.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Who was this robot that brought back something from Olivia’s past? She knew him and he had brought &lt;br /&gt;these familiar fembots to this place.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The princess reached up and switched the on/off key into the off position. She was now at peace. &lt;br /&gt;Her programs would be safe and her memory bank could do the search.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;LINUS walked over and asked that the bots please leave them alone. He left Olivia’s switch off until &lt;br /&gt;the others had gone.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;He hesitantly turned the switch to the on position. She opened her eyes and stared into his. She &lt;br /&gt;smiled that robot smile that he knew so well. He gleamed, as if just having an oil change.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;OliviaBot struggled to an upright position. LINUS helped her to stand. LINUS brushed her golden &lt;br /&gt;tresses away from her face. Olivia smiled and turned to walk away. Not before LINUS saw the moisture &lt;br /&gt;on her golden cheek beside her nostril.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;LINUS cleared his throat. ”Princess, princess, Princess Olivia, come to me.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The princess strolled out the door away from LINUS. She yearned to know the other bots. She wanted &lt;br /&gt;input, who were these robots that looked like her family of bots?   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The years disappeared and Olivia was running down the stairs in the castle. Her love, the King was &lt;br /&gt;at the bottom of the stairs and Olivia nearly crashed into him.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”PaPa, where are my children bots?” Olivia inquired. (She often times called the King PaPa as that &lt;br /&gt;is how she referred to him when speaking to the children.)   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The KING flinched. How could he tell his beautiful princess (he hated the word Queen and he always &lt;br /&gt;referred to his love as his princess, except in public when it was required) that the need for the &lt;br /&gt;robots had come to an end. How could he tell the love of his life that he would save her but their &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;babies had to be stored?   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Thus began the story of the princess that you are reading today. Queen Olivia had been the only &lt;br /&gt;one of the Royal family to survive the budget cuts. The KING had made sure of that. He had his servants &lt;br /&gt;switch her to off and hide her during the time the children had been taken. He had Goldie impersonate &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;her mother when the time came to leave. The imbeciles that had been sent for the robots didn’t have &lt;br /&gt;a proper count when they arrived.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Unbeknownst to the Queen, Goldie had been built by the servants of the castle under the King’s guidance.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;He never trusted the government and had spies in important places to keep abreast of hidden political &lt;br /&gt;agendas. ............. back to the present   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;When Robert and his partner had decided to create the program they had gone to a warehouse that &lt;br /&gt;stored robots and robot parts. Robert had a strange feeling when he came upon LINUS, it was almost &lt;br /&gt;like a premonition. He felt warmness in his heart. His partner had been aloof but when he met LINUS, &lt;br /&gt;he too felt something akin to De javu.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;When Robert insisted on the robots, his partner agreed without hesitation hence, the Robots. ............... &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Kendra wondered, was this someone’s wild imagination? It read strangely and then ended abruptly.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;.................... back to the present.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It obviously is someone’s imagination but I sure wish I knew what it was all about. Oh well, I’ll &lt;br /&gt;just enjoy these stories. I do definitely want to copy them for my friends. It’ll give us yet another &lt;br /&gt;thing to talk about online. I wish there was a picture in the book of the robots. I would love to &lt;br /&gt;see what the ”Princess” looks like.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Kendra closed her eyes and said her nightly blessings. She smiled tonight thanking her higher power &lt;br /&gt;for her mom. She also didn’t forget to say thanks for her dad. He seemed to have a side to him that &lt;br /&gt;she was only just now learning about.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Thanks”............ ”Good-night Sweet Elmo, please don’t poke me tonight with those giant eyes.” &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Kendra’s mom was tired. She had found ways to find happiness, even with the illness. She loved to &lt;br /&gt;draw and she loved to write.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It’s funny, because the day Kendra had met with the doctor and her mom, he seemed sensitive. Today, &lt;br /&gt;it was a different story.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Sara reflecting on her doctor’s appointment. ”I took the pictures to the shrink.......I tried to &lt;br /&gt;explain how it helps to draw the pictures and write the stories and guess what his attitude is?” &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Can you make any money doing this?” The same old sensitivity flairs up again.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”NOPE, can’t make a damn dime........!” Sara blurted out.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Sara’s whole problem with his reaction was that he didn’t understand the importance of her drawings &lt;br /&gt;and writings to her mental health. Just once it would be nice if someone understood how it made &lt;br /&gt;her feel good.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Why is it different from someone who enjoys bowling or golf. If a man were to sit here and tell &lt;br /&gt;the doctor of his golf score, would he be asked if he made money doing it?   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This doctor was the one that shared with Sara and Kendra the suicide rate of bp. Looking at it now, &lt;br /&gt;he is probably tired of the disease too.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;He seems like he really cares about people but maybe some days, it is just mechanical to him. He &lt;br /&gt;doesn’t question the issues of money. You can tell by the patients he has.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I saw him get into his car after my appointment, he drives a Tauras. Funny, I was impressed.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I would imagine with this new guy that he can’t always carry the weight of the world. He has to &lt;br /&gt;deal with insurance companies and day to day garbage too.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I guess my biggest problem is always the optimism. Huh, always hope I guess. Of course, there has &lt;br /&gt;to be, I have a beautiful daughter and a loving husband and I have much.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Took one of the sleeper pills today. I guess it shows in my pity party attitude. I wish I could &lt;br /&gt;convince this new shrink that I’m just fine on my Parnate. It seems I function fairly well on them.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I thought of Frank today. He was my first therapist. It was long before I met Terrance. I learned &lt;br /&gt;more from him than I did all the others put together.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It really hurt when he told me he couldn’t see me anymore. I didn’t know how he could do that.  &lt;br /&gt;We went to lunch that day and he explained it.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;He was married and had three small children and he didn’t think it was fair to them or to him how &lt;br /&gt;he had come to feel about me. Nothing would ever come of it because I didn’t reciprocate his feelings.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I guess I was oblivious to his situation. I hadn’t considered a psychiatrist could be interested &lt;br /&gt;in me. I had been raised thinking doctors were gods. As such, I didn’t think one would walk away &lt;br /&gt;from a doctor, patient relationship. I didn’t have a clue that he had feelings like that. Frank &lt;br /&gt;was a very decent man and at least he was honest.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I never told Terry the whole story, what good would it have done. Frank was a part of my past.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Damn the tears...... damn the feelings, wish it all would STOP!   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Yes, when I feel like this, I do wish it would stop. When the morning dawns and I see my daughter’s &lt;br /&gt;beautiful young face, I know it’s all been worth it.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;One day, hopefully within my life time, there will be answers to some of our questions. I would &lt;br /&gt;like for Terry to take some time off and go with me to the West Coast.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I understand there is a doctor in Palo Alto, Ca. who is having wonderful results with some testing &lt;br /&gt;he is doing. He takes a hair strand and if I’m not mistaken, he does something similar to a DNA &lt;br /&gt;test. He has a small following that raves about his success on the net.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;He has been written up in the AMA. He is working closely with a Chinese student who is studying &lt;br /&gt;under some of the best known doctors in the world.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Maybe there is hope.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Kendra, honey, when did you say the next fashion show is? Maybe, you and I can watch it together. &lt;br /&gt;I think I’d like that.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Oh, it’s tonight mom. I would like it very much if we watched it together.   &lt;br /&gt;Would it be alright if I have the girls come over and watch it too? I’d like them to start coming &lt;br /&gt;to my house for a change. Since Faith first moved here three months ago, she hasn’t visited us yet.” &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Mom, I was kind of scared to ask them over before. I didn’t want anybody to upset you.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”By all means, Kendra, call your friends. Should I run to the store and pick up something to munch &lt;br /&gt;on? I’d like to do that.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Mom, I’ll go with you and we’ll have a chance to get in a little bit of girl talk too. I can’t &lt;br /&gt;wait to show you some of the accessories this designer does.”    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Honey, are you home?  Kendra and I just went out for a bit shopping for some munchies.  Terrance, &lt;br /&gt;are you here?”  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Hi honey, hi baby.  Yep, I just walked in.  I cut the day a bit short and decided I’d just hang &lt;br /&gt;out at home tonight, maybe be just a couch potato and watch tv for a while.  Do you girls think &lt;br /&gt;that’s ok?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Sure Dad, if you don’t mind watching in the bedroom.  Mom and I are having a little girl group &lt;br /&gt;over tonight for the fashion show.”  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”That’s fine sweetie, I think I’d like to just hang out in my boxers in my room.  Ahhhh, but you &lt;br /&gt;will bring me a bowl of popcorn won’t you little girl?”    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Sure Daddy, anything, just Pleeeeaaaaazzzzzze don’t come out in your boxers, k?”  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”OK, if you promise to keep me supplied in popcorn and soda?”    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Terry, there is a doctor in Palo Alto, CA that is doing some testing on bp’s. I would like to know &lt;br /&gt;if you’d like to take a week or two and go with me to do some testing?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Terrance Mason considers for a moment what his wife is saying. The Ryders farm isn’t far from Palo &lt;br /&gt;Alto.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”I can take some time in about a month sweetheart.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Terrance considers all of the pre work he needs to do and he could possibly pull it together in &lt;br /&gt;a month. He didn’t want his wife to be suspicious and he did need to get it cleared.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Sara, honey, what about Kendra? What will she do?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”I’m not sure at the moment but we’ll figure it out.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”I think I’ll call your mom and see if she will consider coming here and staying with Kendra.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Terry is thinking in the back of his mind about the trip to Ca. It may resolve some of the problems &lt;br /&gt;of the last month if he goes to Ca and does some  &lt;br /&gt;work on his own.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Sara, I think I’ve changed my mind, I’m going to go over to the office tonight if the girls are &lt;br /&gt;going to be here.  I have some work that I can catch up on. As long as you are ok with it, I might &lt;br /&gt;as well do it while you are having a girls night with Kendra.”     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Oh, Terry, thanks for understanding. After spending the night in the hospital the other night, &lt;br /&gt;this might make it up to Kendra.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Great then, it’s a deal. I think I’ll leave about 6:15. I should be back around 9:00 if that’s &lt;br /&gt;ok with you?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”That sounds perfect. Thanks for being so understanding. It really helps with all that’s happened &lt;br /&gt;in the last few days. You’re a good man Terrance Mason.”    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Chapter 9  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Robert is programming steadily these days and hasn’t had much extra time. He gets caught up in things &lt;br /&gt;and loses sight of time and days.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Jill is working her way to New York..... The latest news report only strengthens her theory.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Excerpt.....   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;AP) - Intelligence agencies failed to anticipate terrorists flying planes into buildings despite &lt;br /&gt;a dozen clues in the years before the Sept. 11 attacks that Osama bin Laden or others might use &lt;br /&gt;aircraft as bombs, a congressional investigator told lawmakers Wednesday as they began public hearings &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;into the attacks. Just a month before the attacks, intelligence agencies were told of a possible &lt;br /&gt;bin Laden plot to hit the U.S. Embassy in Kenya or crash a plane into it.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;========================   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Jill wonders if the reports will get worse? How can that be?   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;She is driving this time. It is easier on her and with everything going on, she needs the time to &lt;br /&gt;rehash what she’s learned.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Angelica’s friend Kendra is the first project upon arrival in NY. ”How am I going to get this little &lt;br /&gt;girl away from her family and friends and see if she can help with my ideas? I’ve got some thinking &lt;br /&gt;to do on this trip.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Jill printed out the directions, she erased the ones in Ca. as she knew how to get out of the state. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;She would get to New York and then she could get her bearings. She took the paper w/the directions &lt;br /&gt;and the computer print out of the map and stuffed them in her purse.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;=======================   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;16. Continue on US-101 11.4   &lt;br /&gt;17. Continue on I-10 CONNECTOR EAST 1.0   &lt;br /&gt;18. Continue on I-10 EAST 39.0   &lt;br /&gt;19. Take the I-15 NORTH exit 0.9   &lt;br /&gt;20. Merge on I-15 NORTH 468.9   &lt;br /&gt;21. Take the Exit 132 exit 0.1   &lt;br /&gt;22. Continue on RAMP 0.3   &lt;br /&gt;23. Merge on I-70 EAST 305.4   &lt;br /&gt;24. Continue on I-70 WEST 0.2   &lt;br /&gt;25. Continue on I-70 EAST 194.8   &lt;br /&gt;26. Take the Exit 269B exit 0.0   &lt;br /&gt;27. Continue on RAMP 0.4   &lt;br /&gt;28. Merge on I-76 EAST 185.6   &lt;br /&gt;29. Take the Exit 102 exit 0.2   &lt;br /&gt;30. Continue on RAMP 0.6   &lt;br /&gt;31. Merge on I-80 EAST 352.0   &lt;br /&gt;32. Continue on I-29 SOUTH 2.6   &lt;br /&gt;33. Continue on I-80 EAST 118.8   &lt;br /&gt;34. Continue on I-235 NORTH 14.0   &lt;br /&gt;35. Take the I-80 EAST exit 0.3   &lt;br /&gt;36. Merge on I-80 EAST 151.1   &lt;br /&gt;37. Take the Exit 290 exit 0.5   &lt;br /&gt;38. Continue on RAMP 0.1   &lt;br /&gt;39. Merge on I-280 EAST 17.3   &lt;br /&gt;40. Continue on I-74 EAST 9.5   &lt;br /&gt;41. Continue on I-80 EAST 168.0   &lt;br /&gt;42. Take the Exit 16 exit 0.1   &lt;br /&gt;43. Continue on RAMP 1.1   &lt;br /&gt;44. Merge on I-80 EAST 353.1   &lt;br /&gt;45. Take the Exit 15 exit 0.1   &lt;br /&gt;46. Continue on RAMP 1.5   &lt;br /&gt;47. Merge on I-80 EAST 4.  &lt;br /&gt;48. Take the Exit 226 exit 0.1   &lt;br /&gt;49. Continue on RAMP 0.1   &lt;br /&gt;50. Merge on I-80 EAST 390.9   &lt;br /&gt;51. Continue on I-95 NORTH 5.9   &lt;br /&gt;52. Take the Exit 1C exit 0.0   &lt;br /&gt;53. Continue on RAMP 0.7   &lt;br /&gt;54. Merge on I-87 SOUTH 2.7   &lt;br /&gt;55. Take the Exit 1 exit 0.1   &lt;br /&gt;56. Continue on RAMP 0.2   &lt;br /&gt;57. Merge on I-278 3.2   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;=======================   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;She decided to rent the car at the station by IBM on Cottle. She had never used it before and it &lt;br /&gt;would be a good starting place. She would drive the first leg to LA. She would call Robert from &lt;br /&gt;there and get his suggestions about another rental. He was always good for these things.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;She had made arrangements to get several credit cards. As it turned out Robert helped her get around &lt;br /&gt;part of that with the new anonymous debit card. She didn’t have to leave much of a paper trail. &lt;br /&gt;(She had practiced and practiced the signatures.)   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;She wouldn’t use the credit cards for anything but the cars.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;He was definitely a sleuth that’s for sure. She had become very educated on the net but he always &lt;br /&gt;seemed to be way ahead of her. Thank goodness.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;She knew that the auto place would require a credit card for id. She pulled out the one she had &lt;br /&gt;Luce get for her in Monterey. After she used it, she decided she would destroy it in LA after picking &lt;br /&gt;up the second vehicle.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;She had the new phones stashed by her seat. She had bought them over the net and had them mailed &lt;br /&gt;to a friend in Florida. Dan then sent them on to Jeani and then Jeani sent them directly to one &lt;br /&gt;of Jill’s friends in Hollister.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Jill often thought she was a tad paranoid but one could never be too safe. She had learned that &lt;br /&gt;the hard way. The first accident had taught her much.   &lt;br /&gt;Jill wondered to herself if she would do it all again if the option presented itself???? She didn’t &lt;br /&gt;wonder long... ”Of course I would do it all again. I have my kids to consider and their future rests &lt;br /&gt;on what we do about our country now.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Steve and Jill had spent their last night together in a wonderous thunder of wild love making. It &lt;br /&gt;always amazed Jill how they still loved each other after all this time.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Steve was reluctant to let Jill go. He knew, as always, it could be the last time he would ever &lt;br /&gt;see his beautiful mate. He also knew that he had been through the last couple of years at her side. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Steve always asked for guidance. He knew their life together had been a blessing. He knew others &lt;br /&gt;NEVER got to have what he had with his lovely wife. He was thankful too for the children.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Jill kissed her husband. They were at Sizzler’s on Cottle. They ate together and were going to part &lt;br /&gt;company now. Jill stood back and looked at Steve. He had a tear welling up in his eye. She stood &lt;br /&gt;on her tiptoes and kissed his nose. He laughed.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Steve leaned down and Jill wiped the tear away. It was on his cheek now and he didn’t care if the &lt;br /&gt;world saw it. He was a strong man. He loved his wife dearly and no matter what, a dang tear was &lt;br /&gt;the least he could feel with the situation.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Steve pulled Jill into the men’s room on their way out. Jill was amazed that he was actually still &lt;br /&gt;trying to get in her pants.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Honey, this is crazy.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”OK, but kiss me you sweet vamp and I promise I’ll sneak out the door quietly and see you when you &lt;br /&gt;get back.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Jill looked up at her husband and pulled his head to her’s. The kiss was soulful and deep.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Aha, excuse me.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”OMG, I am so sorry,” Jill stuttered.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Steve laughed and went over to the urinal.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Jill walked out the door and headed to the 76 station to pick up the car.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Steve drove in the opposite direction but kept his eye on the rear view mirror. He looked at that &lt;br /&gt;cute butt walking toward the station until it disappeared.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;They had taken a chance being in public. It was the first time since Jill had the surgery that they &lt;br /&gt;had chanced it.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;There were just days that one had to put things away and try to live as normal as possible. This &lt;br /&gt;had been one of those times.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Robert was at his desk when he got the call from Jill.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Hello.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Hi Stealth, s’up?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Well hello there Ms. Ryder.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”I need you to do me a favor Rob.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Oh sure, always wanting something from me. Do you suppose you could just call once in a while and &lt;br /&gt;ask how I am?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Stealth, don’t give me any nonsence. Can you help me get a car in LA?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Huh?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”I need an address of an out of the way rental place where I can rent a car.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”OK, hold on.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”How bout East LA, sweetie, that out of the way enough for you?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Get real Robert. I’m just on the out skirts and I need a place that won’t be high visibility.  &lt;br /&gt;NOT one where I’ll stick out like a sore thumb.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Ok, me lady, let me do a search and see what I can come up with.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Should I let you go and you call me back in say, ten minutes?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”That’ll work for me. Let’s make sure our time is the same.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”I have 4:23, how about you?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”I have 4:17. Ok, I’ll call you back in ten minutes.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Robert hung up the phone and wondered about her thought process. Their times weren’t ”right on”. &lt;br /&gt;Oh well, with the way she thinks, he’ll get the call at 4:23 his time. He could deal with that. &lt;br /&gt;After all he wasn’t going anywhere. He was working from home and it would be nice just to hear her &lt;br /&gt;voice again.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Stealth accessess the web. Ok, one on 14 street and Blair. It’s only 3 blocks from the freeway. &lt;br /&gt;Here’s another one at 75th and Juniper.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Ok, just to be safe, I’ll get one more.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;142nd and Locust........ ”Na, don’t like the name,” he thinks out loud.    &lt;br /&gt;93rd and Bedrock. ”Yessssssss, that’s it.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Phone rings at precisely 4:23.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Hello, I have three addresses.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”OK, I’m near a turn off right here, what do you have?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Fourteenth and Blair.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Nope, that won’t work, I’m past it already. If I know anything at all about LA, I don’t want to &lt;br /&gt;try and turn around out here.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Where are you exactly then so we can do this right?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”I’m near the 91st Exit.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”GREAT, then it’s Bedrock and 93rd for you.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Can you get me there?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Woman, I can get you anywhere.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Take that 91st Exit and go north two blocks and take a right, go around the corner and make a left &lt;br /&gt;and then take an immediate right and drive 3 miles to Juniper and then .......... HA!”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Robert Stealth stop that, come on, I’m on the exit now.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”OK, take a left at the stop light as you’re getting off the freeway. Drive past the first red light &lt;br /&gt;and there will be a Circle K on the right. When you see that, look directly across the street to &lt;br /&gt;the left a couple of buildings and there should be a Sure Rental. I think they are Alamo.  That &lt;br /&gt;is what you’re using isn’t it?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”How did you know that?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”I’ll never tell.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”OK, Rob, I’m here, I’ll talk to you later. Thanks for your help cuteguy.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Robert sits at his desk thinking about things. He knows that on occasion he does what he has to &lt;br /&gt;do to get by in the world he lives. The internet world is indeed like the wild west of long ago. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;There is a big difference in that the population has grown so much. In reality, the wild west was &lt;br /&gt;probably mild in comparison.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;That surely doesn’t make it easy.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;He thinks about the call from Jill. ”She’s at it again, I wonder what she’s getting herself into &lt;br /&gt;this time? I wonder if she’s going to need my assistance in getting out?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;He picks up his water and walks to the window. He shakes his right leg and then his left. He’s been &lt;br /&gt;at the computer for over 9 hours today and his legs are tired. He reaches up and massages his shoulder, &lt;br /&gt;it still hurts. He walks out to the kitchen and pours himself a glass of bourbon.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The bourbon helps relax him. He sips it on the way back to the computer as he thinks to himself, &lt;br /&gt;”another long night.” He sits the glass down.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;He walks back to the window and looks out. His bike is propped up against the pole. He smiles to &lt;br /&gt;himself and thinks about what life would be like without computers. What would his life be like? &lt;br /&gt;He can’t imagine.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;He turns around to sit back down and decides to move his bike. The weather can’t be good for it &lt;br /&gt;and he needs to put it inside. He slips on his shoes and walks out to the bike.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;He takes it by the handle bars and on impulse climbs on. A ride will feel good. He pedals off and &lt;br /&gt;inhales a nice breath of fresh air.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;He starts to think about all of the things on his plate at the moment. He pedals on and puts the &lt;br /&gt;thoughts of work behind him.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Back at the house, Jill is leaving a message on his voice mail.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Hey Stealth, it’s me. I have a favor to ask. Could you meet me in New York on the 27th?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”I know, I know, who the heck do I think I am? I’ll call you later to firm up your trip..........  &lt;br /&gt;HA, that’s what I call a positive attitude, don’t cha think?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”It’s now about 4:00 Pacific time, I’ll give you a call back around 6:30. That should give me time &lt;br /&gt;to get to a Oklahoma City. I think I’ll stop and grab a bite before finding a room.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”I guess I need to change my watch but heck, by the time I get to New York, I’ll just have to change &lt;br /&gt;it again”, Jill thinks aloud as she puts the phone down.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Robert is enjoying the ride, it helps his body. His legs are getting a work out and his neck doesn’t &lt;br /&gt;hurt as much. He pedals on enjoying the outdoors.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Robert puts his bike inside. He walks to the door and opens it. The phone is ringing.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Hello, oh hello again.”    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Robert, what do you think, can you meet me in New York?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”What are you talking about?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Rob, the message I left earlier.........like hello, where have you been?   &lt;br /&gt;Never mind, it’s none of my concern.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”I still do not know what you are talking about, would you mind to share?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Could you meet me in New York on the 27th?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”HUH?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”I need your help Rob. BTW, cuteguy, would you mind to bring 2 laptops, mine seems to be failing &lt;br /&gt;me at the moment. I don’t have time to take it to the shop and wait for it to be fixed. I know you &lt;br /&gt;can’t possibly live without your’s so that means you’ll have to bring two.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Jill, wait just a minute, I need to sit down and have a sip of bourbon.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”OK, now, what about New York? Let’s start this whole conversation over again, alright?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”What makes you think I can drop everything and fly out to New York. I do have a life and at the &lt;br /&gt;moment I am bombarded with unfinished projects that need my attention.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Hmmmmmmm, Rob, I think a flight into JFK is the best bet, don’t you?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Jill, were you listening to me? I’m not sure I can make New York on Friday.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Alright then, I’ll figure out another way around it.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Rob, do you think it would be safe for me to talk to Kenra Mason? I really need to talk to her.”  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Jill, who is Kendra Mason?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Rob, Angelica’s friend in New York, the FBI agents daughter. Do you remember now?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Jill, listen, I can be in New York on Sunday. Don’t do anything about Mason’s daughter until I &lt;br /&gt;get there.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Let me get a flight and we’ll meet. No, I don’t want you picking me up at the airport. I’ll get &lt;br /&gt;a rental and we’ll talk then.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Jill, my plan is to be in New York around 11:00 their time.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”I need to check on something while I’m there anyway. This will give me the chance.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Ok, don’t do anything about the FED’s daughter till we meet.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”I’ll pick up the rental and call you as soon as I get out of the airport.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Ok, call me if you need me. I am assuming you are covering your ass with the phones, right?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Ok Jill, talk to you soon, bye.”      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I need to call Ryan and find out where the robots are in New York. I’ll find them and have them &lt;br /&gt;shipped home. It’s probably a good thing that Jill asked me to meet her in New York. I hadn’t even &lt;br /&gt;thought of the robots in a while.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Hey Greenley, how are you?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Hi Robert, I’m fine, how are you doing.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”I’m well Ryan, thank you. Could you drop by my office tomorrow, I have some new additions to the &lt;br /&gt;job I was working on for you.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Of course Mr. Stealth. What’s a good time?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”I have a 10:30 appointment and then I will be open until 1:00. Would you like to have a quick lunch?” &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Let me check my schedule and see, just a second, the computer is already on so should only take &lt;br /&gt;a second.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”How is 11:45? That will give me plenty of time to get there from the airport.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”You’re coming from the airport?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Yes, I have to make a quick red eye to Portland tonight. My aunt had a stroke and I am going to &lt;br /&gt;check on her.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Eleven forty-five sounds fine. I’ll see you then Ryan. Oh and by the way, I’m sorry to hear about &lt;br /&gt;your aunt.”    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Jill had taken her time crossing the country. She now had the worry of getting into New York before &lt;br /&gt;Robert. She had no real time frame except of course to be there when he got there.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;She wasn’t going to do much until she met with him on Sunday. She knew that two heads were better &lt;br /&gt;than one and if she was going to have any success at all on this trip, she needed to put some kind &lt;br /&gt;of plan in place.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Robert will be very upset if he arrives before she does. She knows him and after the fit to get &lt;br /&gt;him to meet her, she better at least be in the vicinity.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Maybe she should call and let him know. Naaaaaaa, that won’t work.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Jill had been adhering to the speed limits the whole trip. She sped up now trying to make up for &lt;br /&gt;lost time.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;She noticed a car behind her and decided to let up on the gas. She knew better, a tiny little thing &lt;br /&gt;like a speeding ticket could be disasterous now.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The car passed and she breathed a sigh of relief. What had she been thinking?   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;If Robert made it to New York before she did, so be it. The least she could do was arrive safely. &lt;br /&gt;Even if he was a bit peeved at her, it was better than the alternative.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Jill drove on. She turned on her headlights and headed into the turnpike. She decided her timing &lt;br /&gt;wasn’t that far off. She was doing ok and with that, she relaxed.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Robert had a paperless ticket and was good to go. He would call Jill as soon as he got off the plane &lt;br /&gt;and they could set up a meeting. It was better that way.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;He made the decision to call her while still at the airport after much consideration. When he had &lt;br /&gt;spoken to her last, he told her he would call her after picking up the rental. Now, however, it &lt;br /&gt;seemed that it would work better if he called her asap. That would give them both more time to get &lt;br /&gt;to the address of the rendezvous.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;He had been thinking about the meeting place and decided it should be close to the robot location. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;He knew where they were stashed, and strange as it sounds, he was anxious to turn their buttons &lt;br /&gt;back to the ’on’ position.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;He missed those robots. It was funny how attached he had become to them. He had been their creator &lt;br /&gt;and he felt fatherly toward them. He admired his own work when it came to the bots.      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;He had taken bits.........(hehehe, no pun intended)...... and pieces and he had programmed the bots &lt;br /&gt;to be wholesome and good. He was damn proud of those robots.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This trip was really going to be a reunion. Who would have thought, after everything, that the RockinRobots &lt;br /&gt;would be a part of his life again. He had put them behind him for a while. It was now time to reopen &lt;br /&gt;the book, to write a new chapter.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This trip to meet his old friend Jill took on new meaning for Robert. He had a mission of his own &lt;br /&gt;now.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Jill drove into the New York City Limits at 8:45 PM Saturday night. She had done it.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Jill pulled into a station to get gas and took out the directions to the airport. Her locket fell &lt;br /&gt;out of her purse and she took it as a sign. She took the poem out and held it to her chest.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The children and Steve, and yes, Robert too and even baby Ryan. Those were the important things &lt;br /&gt;in life. They kept her going when all else failed. Her love of her family would get her through &lt;br /&gt;whatever the next few days held.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Jill wasn’t quite sure she was up to learning the truth but she had to know. She had to understand &lt;br /&gt;at least in part what was going on.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;She took the money out of her purse to pay for gas. She walked inside and paid and then returned &lt;br /&gt;to the rental. The attendant wore a turban and made Jill very aware of the reason for this trip. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As she pumped the gas she realized she didn’t have a plan. Robert would be helpful.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;First things first. She would get as close to the airport as possible before renting a room.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;She walked back in and asked the attendant for a map. She paid for it and then asked him how to &lt;br /&gt;get to JFK. A general idea of where she was in relationship to the airport would help in reading &lt;br /&gt;the map and figuring out her next move.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;She walked to the car and opened the door. She was fatigued now and ready to sleep. Thank goodness &lt;br /&gt;Robert was getting in close to noon. That would give her time to rest up.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;. Chapter 10   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Jill drove on and yawned as she got closer to her destination.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Tomorrow is another day she thought to herself. She thought of Angelica and wondered how she was &lt;br /&gt;doing with the boys. She turned on the radio and opened the window.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The radio was on a classic rock station and Abraham, Martin and John was playing. Hmmmmmmm, funny &lt;br /&gt;how life is, Jill thinks............   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;http://www.clinton.net/~sammy/abraham.htm   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Abraham, Martin, and John   &lt;br /&gt;( Dion )   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Anybody here seen my old friend Abraham?   &lt;br /&gt;Can you tell me where he’s gone?   &lt;br /&gt;He freed a lot of people but it seems the good they die young   &lt;br /&gt;You know I just looked around and he’s gone   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Anybody here seen my old friend John?   &lt;br /&gt;Can you tell me where he’s gone?   &lt;br /&gt;He freed a lot of people but it seems the good they die young   &lt;br /&gt;I just looked around and he’s gone   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Anybody here seen my old friend Martin?   &lt;br /&gt;Can you tell me where he’s gone?   &lt;br /&gt;He freed a lot of people but it seems the good they die young   &lt;br /&gt;I just looked around and he’s gone   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Didn’t you love the things that they stood for?   &lt;br /&gt;Didn’t they try to find some good for you and me?   &lt;br /&gt;And we’ll be free   &lt;br /&gt;Some day soon, it’s gonna be one day   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?   &lt;br /&gt;Can you tell me where he’s gone?   &lt;br /&gt;I thought I saw him walkin’ up over the hill   &lt;br /&gt;With Abraham, Martin, and John   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Jill to self, ”did they all get Ambushed??? Maybe not Abe? Hmmmmmm.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It’s time for some answers, America’s people deserves that.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The phone rang, it was Robert and he was in New York. He wanted to get to the place where the robots &lt;br /&gt;were stored.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Like hello yourself Robert. So glad you’re concerned with me.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Sorry sweetie. Now that I’m here, I’m anxious to get to the robots. I need to see if I should have &lt;br /&gt;Ryan working on them. They may need a little tweaking before I take them home.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Sure, Rob, whatever you say.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”How was your flight?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Fine, and your trip, Jill, how was that?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Uneventful. I’m sure glad to be here though.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Here’s the address, Jill, I’m headed there now and I’ll meet you when you get there.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Whew, guess that means I can take my time getting ready. I know you and you’ll want to play with &lt;br /&gt;the bots for a while.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Yes, Jill, take your time. There are four of them here so I’ll be busy for a bit checking and making &lt;br /&gt;sure they are in peak condition.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”I might just rent a car and take them home instead of shipping them.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”You do remember what they are doing here?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Renting a vehicle sounds like the only way to go really, now that I think of it.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Yes, indeed it does Robert. They did rob a bank after all and the secrecy might be better kept &lt;br /&gt;if you take them home personally.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”After September 11, they might call attention to themselves what with the metal and all in their &lt;br /&gt;make-up. If they get screened, it might not be a good thing.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Yes, I have a couple of days till I go home so I’ll think it over. Maybe I could ship them privately &lt;br /&gt;on a plane. I’ll think it over and weigh the pros and cons.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Jill, I’ll see you when you get here. Drive safely and take your time.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Not to worry Rob, I’m going to shower and dress and then I’ll be over there.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Do you want to have lunch somewhere?” Jill.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Would you mind to stop and pick up a sandwich or Chinese or something easy? I really would like &lt;br /&gt;to spend as much time going over the robots as I can today. I’ve really missed them.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Rob, I’ll get there in about an hour or a little longer. I’m really looking forward to seeing you.” &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Right.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Bye Rob.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Bye Jill.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Jill could tell where Rob’s mind was. It wasn’t on her and her plight at the moment. That was ok &lt;br /&gt;though, he was at least here. Sometimes she had to remind herself that even though it didn’t show &lt;br /&gt;through, he did care a great deal about her.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Jill knew Rob so well. He had such a good heart but getting to see it could be a BIG challenge.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Robert was excited. Seeing the bots again would be good. It had been a while and he wondered how &lt;br /&gt;it had worked out when they got to the hiding place.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Robert walked through the gate and up the first flight of stairs. He then went into the second building. &lt;br /&gt;He had the combination and after going up the supply elevator, he took out the paper.  Three turns &lt;br /&gt;left to the 11 one turn back to the 4 and then two turns to the 1.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;He tried the door and it opened. There they were. But, only the girls were there. (The girls had &lt;br /&gt;been disguised and looked quite different but Rob had changed the looks so he knew.)   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;He started to panic. He flicked on Goldie’s switch.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Where is Rob and R2, Goldie?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Hello Robert, how are you?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Goldie, do you know where R2 and Robbie are?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Robert, Robbie was instructed to turn off our switches, so I don’t know anything after that.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Robert flicked on Haley’s switch.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Haley, do you know where the boys are?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Hello Robert. How are you? Good to see you.” Haley.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”HaleyBot, do you know where the boys are?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Robert, is it time to go home now?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”HaleyBot, do you know something about R2 and Robbie?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Robert, I would like to have a word with you in private.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”HaleyBot, DO YOU KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THE BOYS, answer me NOW.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”My my Robert are you having a bad day, I detect agitation in your voice.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”HALEYBOT, I can dismantle you right here and right now if you don’t answer me pronto.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Robert, Robbie and R2 will be back in 2 hours 32 minutes and 12 seconds.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Haley, where are they and how did this happen?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Robert, may I have a human heart?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Haley, how did this happen, how did the boys get switched on?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Robert, you of all people should know the answer to that question.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”What do you mean Haley?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”You programmed Robbie to be your clone in robot form, did you not?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”What exactly are you getting at, Haley?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Robbie is very ingenius Robert, and very creative.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Haley, get to the point.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Robert, I am not sure how he did it. I do know that when Ryan shut us down after the heist that &lt;br /&gt;I was awakened by Robbie a few days later.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Haley, why do you have that silly look on your face?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”I don’t understand Robert, what do you mean, silly look?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”I’ve seen that look before Haley.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Haley, I am going to switch you off for a time and run some diagnostics and see if you need any &lt;br /&gt;work before going home.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Whatever you say Robert.”  Robert switched off HaleyBot.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”What has he done?” Robert wonders to himself.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”How did he do it, he’s just a mere robot and how did he figure out how to turn himself back on &lt;br /&gt;once Ryan programmed him off.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Robert knew that HaleyBot wouldn’t have the answers. He knew how his own mind worked and he was &lt;br /&gt;sure that Robbie was the only one with any answers to this HUGE question. IF anything, Robbie would &lt;br /&gt;have told R2 what was going on before the girls.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;How could it be a gender issue? Yet Robert knew it was. He knew how his own mind worked and it WAS &lt;br /&gt;a gender question.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Robert began the examination on Haley. He was sure she had more answers than Goldie. He knew that &lt;br /&gt;for whatever reasons, Robbie had chosen Haley as the chosen one.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;He ran the tests and nothing unusual turned up. He started the second tests and found out why the &lt;br /&gt;silly smile.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Robbie is a sly one, that is sure. Haley had no recollection of m0bot. She did have some very interesting &lt;br /&gt;data since the bank robbery however. Haley was now very much involved with Robbie.  That robot. &lt;br /&gt;Robert smiled to himself. He saw himself in Robbie now more than ever.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The tests on Haley could wait. Robert wanted to see what Goldie had in her memory bank.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;He started the tests on Goldie only to find that she had very little data since the robbery. It &lt;br /&gt;looked in fact like she hadn’t been switched on except one other time since that day.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Robert was anxious now for the boys return. He wanted to call Ryan but decided against it till after &lt;br /&gt;his initial exam of the other bots.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;He flicked on the girl’s switches and had them do the physical exercises to see if all of the parts &lt;br /&gt;were funtional.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Haley distributed some very different movements than Goldie.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Robert was becoming fascinated. Haley acted very womanly and even though she was just a robot, Robert &lt;br /&gt;got the distinct impression that HaleyBot understood what being a woman was all about.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Robert switched Goldie off again and decided to do some extensive testing on HaleyBot.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Haley, I have some questions I would like you to answer for me.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Yes Robert, anything you say.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Haley, what date is Christmas?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”December 25.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”What is the capital of Arizona?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Phoenix, Arizona.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”What is 12 x 12?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”One hundred forty four.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”What is love?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”It is wonderful.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”What is sex?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Sex is the act of making love for procreational purposes.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Do you love Robbie, HaleyBot?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”I feel wonderful.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Does that mean yes, Miss HaleyBot?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”I don’t understand the question, Robert.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”I asked you if you love Robbie?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”I do not know Robert. I do know that I enjoy spending time with him very much. I do know that he &lt;br /&gt;is very creative and I admire him. I do know that he reminds me very much of you, sir.”    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Robbie and R2 walked into the room....   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Hi there boys, how are things?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Robert, what are you doing here? I thought you were going to have a delivery company take us home.”  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Yes Robbie, I just bet you did. How do you explain this Robbie?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”What sir?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”You Robbie, how do you explain the fact that you were out who knows where, jeopardizing everything &lt;br /&gt;we’ve worked for?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Robert, I wouldn’t do that. R2 and I weren’t far, we were just in another room in this very building. &lt;br /&gt;We do get bored you know.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Robbie, you are a robot, for crying out loud, how do you get bored and how did you manage to get &lt;br /&gt;turned on without......... ahhhhhhh, you talked Ryan into it, didn’t you?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Boss man, please don’t blame Ryan for this. He just trusted me. He knows I’m a trustworthy sort, &lt;br /&gt;right R2?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Rob, I am not getting in the middle of this.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”R2, you are in just as much trouble as Robbie in this situation, so don’t think differently. OMG, &lt;br /&gt;I am acting like you two are human, and talking to you as if you are.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Robert reaches over and switches the robots off.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Robert starts his diagnostics.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Since he knows where to look and what to look for, the trail runs right back to Ryan. ”Yes, I’m &lt;br /&gt;going to have to talk to that young man too.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Robert looks at his watch and decides now is as good a time as any.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Robert starts to dial his phone and then thinks better of it.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;He’ll call Ryan later, Ryan is not what this trip is about. He thinks of Jill and decides to disconnect &lt;br /&gt;the robots completely. Even if they are programmed to activate at a given time, NOW they won’t. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Robert again considers flying the bots home on a private plane. ”Yes, that’s what I think I’ll do.” &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Robert takes out his palm pilot and type himself a reminder.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Robert looks around the room and considers taking the robots tonight. No, that won’t work. He will &lt;br /&gt;have to pick up the packing material and package the robots for travel. UNLESS of course, he can, &lt;br /&gt;NO, he will need to package them.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;He thinks of a company. AHHHHHHHHH, he remembers the trip to Monterey and he thinks of.... ”Hmmmmmmm, &lt;br /&gt;do I still have that business card, ahh yes, here it is.... I’ll give this guy a call tomorrow and &lt;br /&gt;see if he’ll do it, he seemed like a trustworthy sort.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Robert considers a local transport.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”I’ll decide tomorrow after I’ve rested for a bit. I’ll be fresh and better able to make good decisions.” &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Robert hurries down the stairs after locking the robots in. He’ll call Jill once he gets in the &lt;br /&gt;car.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Robert headed out away from the robots secure in the fact that they were safely turned off this &lt;br /&gt;time. Let Ryan try and log them back on now.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Robert took out his cell phone and called the number he had for Jill. No answer. ”Where is that &lt;br /&gt;woman?” he asked himself.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Jill knew when she left California she wasn’t coming back. Her plan was to go on to Belgium. She &lt;br /&gt;would meet up with the others from the group. The only way to fight for the US was outside of the &lt;br /&gt;US. She had figured that out long ago.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Around 6:00 PM Jill had called Maggie Hott (code name). Maggie had agreed to pick Jill up. The car &lt;br /&gt;would be driven over to the airport and dropped off by one of Maggie’s friends. It was a deal Maggie &lt;br /&gt;had with Thomas. It had worked numerous times in the past and he no doubt would make it   &lt;br /&gt;work this time.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Jill knew the plan was to meet with another member of the group, she just didn’t know yet who it &lt;br /&gt;was to be. She had spoken several times to a couple of the women but she wasn’t sure this time who &lt;br /&gt;she would be introduced to.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Maggie drove around the neighborhood several times before she parked. She took Jill into the house. &lt;br /&gt;Maggie kept walking and Jill was getting confused. Maggie walked through the house and proceeded &lt;br /&gt;down the stairwell into the cellar. Jill didn’t question, she just followed.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The cellar was dark and damp. Maggie moved a huge oak barrel and there was another on the floor &lt;br /&gt;on it’s side. Maggie took the lid off of the barrel and instructed Jill to follow her. She crawled &lt;br /&gt;through the barrel and then stood on the other side. As soon as Jill was through the barrel, Maggie &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;pulled the rope and closed the barrel lid. (”That is ingenious,” Jill thought to herself.)   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Maggie looked around the shed they had entered. Jill was amazed, they were standing in an old shed &lt;br /&gt;and Maggie once again created a door from nowhere. This time, there was an old engine of a car sitting &lt;br /&gt;on a rack. Maggie walked over and moved it with one hand. Jill stuttered something and then touched &lt;br /&gt;the engine. It was made of something very light. Maggie was to explain later that  &lt;br /&gt;the group had these things built for a play they put on at the local school, a school the children &lt;br /&gt;attended.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This time, when the women got on the other sideof the door, Jill realized they were in a closet &lt;br /&gt;in a house. Maggie listened at the door for a moment and then opened it.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Jill Ryder, this is Sara Mason, Sara, Jill Ryder.” Maggie introduced the ladies.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Jill looked for an exit immediately. She recognized the name. This was the woman she had come to &lt;br /&gt;find in New York. This was the FBI agent’s wife.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Won’t you sit down Jill?” Sara suggested.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”If you don’t mind, I think I’d like to leave.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Jill, let me explain. Please.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Explain what?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Jill, I know what you’re thinking.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”I don’t think you do.”    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Yes, I know all about the surgery and I know all about the attempted murders of you and your husband.”  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Well, then you must know why I’d like to leave this place.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Jill, I also understand that you came to New York looking to find me.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”How do you know that Mrs. Mason?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”I can’t explain now. We have too much material to cover and that is a mute issue. Please, won’t &lt;br /&gt;you sit down?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Do I have a choice?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Yes, you can go back with Maggie now if you’d like, but I think it would make more sense to stay &lt;br /&gt;and listen to what I have to say since you are here.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Shoot...... hmmmmmmm, guess that’s a dumb thing for me to say, isn’t it?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Jill, you have nothing to worry about.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”That remains to be seen I would say.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Here, sit with me.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Jill took a deep breath and sat down.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Jill, I have some very interesting things for us to discuss tonight and if you’ll relax and absorb &lt;br /&gt;this information, I think you’ll agree to what I’m offering.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”As you know, my husband Terrance is an FBI agent. Now let’s put that issue to bed.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”My husband is a good man Mrs. Ryder, he really is and before it’s over, you’ll realize the risks &lt;br /&gt;he’s taken to get you safely here to me.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Let me begin by explaining that Terry didn’t know about the group, he found out quite by accident &lt;br /&gt;right before your alleged death.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”My husband was furious with me, Jill. He didn’t understand how I could become involved in a covert &lt;br /&gt;group like the lilgirls.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”I explained to him about some information I had come across on the internet. I showed him the files &lt;br /&gt;and I downloaded everything I could and I convinced him that I needed to do what I was doing.”  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Mrs. Ryder, I can assure you, the best protection you can possibly get from now until you reach &lt;br /&gt;your destination is through our efforts. My husband has done his homework on the internet and he &lt;br /&gt;knows what the government is up to. He is still employed and he is in constant danger and feels &lt;br /&gt;like a double agent of sorts.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Since my husband began this quest he has uncovered crimes by our government going back forty years &lt;br /&gt;in history, detailing dirty unspeakable deeds. He has become a devout supporter of our cause.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Now, having said that, I know that you must realize in order to have gotten to my home, you were &lt;br /&gt;indeed prioritized by our group.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”We will be supporting you every step of the way from now until you walk off of the plane at your &lt;br /&gt;destination. You must however realize when you get off of the plane you’re on your own. We cannot &lt;br /&gt;help you at the other end of your journey.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”I’m not saying there aren’t people on the ground waiting to help you. There are, but to safeguard &lt;br /&gt;you, it is best that our responsibility ends there. We won’t know where you are staying, we won’t &lt;br /&gt;know what you are doing and as far as we are concerned our job is done.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”There are many sectors of our group world wide and none of them exist to each other. It is only &lt;br /&gt;on rare occasions that we even acknowledge the existence of one another.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Jill, do you have any questions?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”I have your passport and your identification. The flight arrangements have already been made and &lt;br /&gt;you will be picking those up in the morning at half past eight. I do not know nor do the other lilgirls &lt;br /&gt;where you are going or what time your flight is leaving. Those arrangements were made by another &lt;br /&gt;sector in New York. You will be meeting with one of their lilgirls from that group tonight at 11:50. &lt;br /&gt;Maggie will drive you to another address tonight and a taxi is due there at 11:27 to take you to &lt;br /&gt;your next appointment.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Now, do you have any questions my dear?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Why should I trust you, Mrs. Mason?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”I will tell you as I told my husband the night he discovered my involvement with the lilgirls group. &lt;br /&gt;”Children of the Land”, I do this for my daughter, Mrs. Ryder. I do this for your daughter and &lt;br /&gt;I do this for all of the children of the world.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Our children are our heritage and if I know anything at all about you Jill, it is that you love &lt;br /&gt;your kids. I love my daughter more than my own life and I do it for her future. I cannot say anything &lt;br /&gt;more on the subject, if you look into my eyes, you will see truth there, Jill Ryder and you will &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;know in your heart that you are in good hands in my home and in my care.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Go with God’s blessings Jill and do what you can for our ”Children of the Land” and make a difference. &lt;br /&gt;Make the people listen, make them understand the seriousness of the situation.”    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Chapter 11  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Jill looked into Sara Mason’s eyes and she saw a tear forming. It was a tear of sadness at the state &lt;br /&gt;of the world their kids faced. Jill knew she was safe in this house. She knew she would be safe &lt;br /&gt;on her trip to Belgium, as she had God’s work to do.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Jill leaned down and kissed Sara on the cheek. Sara embraced her friend and kissed her cheek lightly &lt;br /&gt;and the tear slid down her face. The world had indeed changed. The day of reckoning was fast approaching &lt;br /&gt;and Jill and Sara shared that knowledge now.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Mothers of the world, this message is to you; stand up and make a difference. The time for sitting &lt;br /&gt;still is past. You must wake up the world. It is imperative for your children’s sake to take time &lt;br /&gt;to SHOUT STOP.... and make your presence known.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;================   &lt;br /&gt;Two days after Jill’s departure to Belgium, headlines in New York Times.   &lt;br /&gt;================   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”FBI Agent’s Wife Murdered By Sniper in McPherson’s Parking Lot”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;...... Just released, Sara Mason, wife of FBI agent Terrance Mason was shot and killed as the couple &lt;br /&gt;were loading building material into their vehicle in the McPherson parking lot.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The shooting appears to be unrelated to the fact that Mr. Mason is an FBI agent. It does however &lt;br /&gt;have the earmarks of the twelve shootings as late in the New York area.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Mrs. Mason is survived by husband Terrance and a thirteen year old daughter.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Sara is proceeded in death by her mother, June Forester and father Jack.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Sara Mason was born November 22, 1963 in Dallas, Texas. Internment arrangements are pending.  The &lt;br /&gt;family has asked that instead of flowers and donations a moment of silence be observed.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Terrance Mason shared his thoughts on his  wife and his comment to us follows.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Sara Arlene Mason Was God’s Angel. She lives on in our hearts and in our pursuance of Freedom and &lt;br /&gt;Truth. She dared to go where our country’s people today are afraid of treading. May my beautiful &lt;br /&gt;Angel rest in PEACE.”  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Terrance had gotten the word on the internet about the    &lt;br /&gt;intent to do harm to his family.  There are secret places    &lt;br /&gt;on the net that he had found and he had run across the plan    &lt;br /&gt;quite by accident.  He was researching information for    &lt;br /&gt;Jill’s trip.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Sara Mason walked off of the same plane that Jill had    &lt;br /&gt;been on.  She was disguised and Jill as yet wasn’t aware    &lt;br /&gt;of Sara’s presence.  She had in fact just read the    &lt;br /&gt;headlines and was feeling sad at the world’s loss.     &lt;br /&gt;It would be later in the week that Jill would spot    &lt;br /&gt;Sara as they were both getting on a bus.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“What are you doing here?  I thought you were dead,”    &lt;br /&gt;Jill whispered to the lady sitting next to her on the bus.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“Please can we discuss this when we are in private?    &lt;br /&gt;I’ve just been through hell and I’d like to tell you    &lt;br /&gt;about it when I am in better spirits.”     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“What do you suggest?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“I’ll get off at the next stop and I’ll meet you at the    &lt;br /&gt;restaurant around the corner from the INN.  I didn’t know    &lt;br /&gt;you were there until this morning.  Terrance and I didn’t    &lt;br /&gt;have much time to make arrangements for this trip so when    &lt;br /&gt;it got down to the wire, we decided you had some experience    &lt;br /&gt;in this undercover life and that I might be safe if I tried    &lt;br /&gt;to connect with you.”       &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“I’m sorry if I startled you.  That was not my intent.     &lt;br /&gt;This is all so new to me and I am not sure I’m prepared    &lt;br /&gt;for this change in lifestyle.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“Do you think I am?  I don’t have a clue how to go about    &lt;br /&gt;any of this.  At least now, we can have two brains to try    &lt;br /&gt;and work it out instead of one.  By the way, Mrs. Mason,    &lt;br /&gt;welcome to the living!”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Thanks Jill, it looks like we may be in this together for    &lt;br /&gt;a while.  Have you met with any of the people yet from our    &lt;br /&gt;talk?  I really don’t know anything about the plan they have    &lt;br /&gt;in store for you.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“Sara, we’ll talk at the Inn.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The ladies went their separate ways and met later at the Inn.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“Hi, glad to see you made it.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Sara took Jill’s hand and hung tightly to it for just a moment    &lt;br /&gt;longer than Jill had anticipated.     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“It’s ok, Sara, you can let go of my hand now.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“I’m sorry, I’m just so glad that I have you here with me.     &lt;br /&gt;I haven’t traveled much inside of the states and never been    &lt;br /&gt;to a foreign country before so you’re being here is definitely    &lt;br /&gt;something I am pleased with.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“I understand, Sara, now, let’s talk a bit.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“I haven’t been in touch with the group yet.  I did get a    &lt;br /&gt;message in my box at the inn and I am to meet with them tomorrow.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“Let’s take this slow, shall we Sara?  I’ll meet with them    &lt;br /&gt;and get the feel for what we are up against and then you    &lt;br /&gt;and I can talk again.  We should make a tentative plan    &lt;br /&gt;for the day after tomorrow to meet.”    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“Just tell me where and when and I’ll be there.  I have    &lt;br /&gt;a problem with French but have been able to get by with    &lt;br /&gt;the little I remember from school.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“YOU took French in school?”     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“THANK GOD, I have absolutely no knowledge of the language    &lt;br /&gt;at all.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“We’ll talk about getting us a tutor when we meet next time.     &lt;br /&gt;It seems that we need it now and we might as well get started    &lt;br /&gt;with learning the language as soon as possible.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“Before we leave here today, what are you doing about a    &lt;br /&gt;residence?  I know you are at the inn now but what about    &lt;br /&gt;your long range plans?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“Jill, I have no long range plans.  The fact that I’m    &lt;br /&gt;alive and sitting here with you is a miracle and I am    &lt;br /&gt;just taking this adventure one day at a time.  Terrance    &lt;br /&gt;and I didn’t have much warning before we knew I had to    &lt;br /&gt;leave the country.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“OK, I have a notepad here, we will start taking notes    &lt;br /&gt;and I will try and think of a plan of action when next    &lt;br /&gt;we meet.  Would you kindly do the same?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“I have a cottage that I am looking at this week-end.     &lt;br /&gt;Maybe we should consider sharing a place for the time    &lt;br /&gt;being until we decide on a more secure long range plan.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“I would like that Jill, I feel very much out of my    &lt;br /&gt;element here and I’m frightened.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“Ditto, Sara, but we’re two strong women and we’ll    &lt;br /&gt;figure it out as we go.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“I must say good night for now, I’m rather tired and    &lt;br /&gt;I need to be fresh in the morning.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“Jill, before you go, what would you suggest I do if    &lt;br /&gt;I need to visit a doctor?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“Are you ill, Sara?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“No, but I am almost out of my prescription and I will    &lt;br /&gt;need a refill very soon.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“Let’s put that on our list.  It’ll be easier once we    &lt;br /&gt;settle into a place of our own.  We can then focus on    &lt;br /&gt;our every day lives.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“It’s time to go now, I’ll meet you back here day after    &lt;br /&gt;tomorrow same time.”     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“I would suggest you lay low till then.  Do as little    &lt;br /&gt;as possible and try and not go out unless you   have to.     &lt;br /&gt;We need to figure out a plan of action.   We need to know,    &lt;br /&gt;other than your husband if anyone else knows you are still    &lt;br /&gt;alive.  It will make it easier and we can get a better    &lt;br /&gt;idea of our situation.  If folks are looking for you, we    &lt;br /&gt;need to know that.”    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“It will be nice if we know we have free reign without    &lt;br /&gt;outside intervention.  It will certainly make our life    &lt;br /&gt;style less hectic if we can rest up for a while before    &lt;br /&gt;beginning a new chapter in our lives.”     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“I’ll pick up enough food till our meeting and I’ll sit    &lt;br /&gt;tight till then.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“Good idea.  I’ll be in touch if anything changes.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“You go ahead of me, Sara.  I’ll hang back and take a    &lt;br /&gt;walk before I go back to the inn.  I’ll see you later.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“Sara.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“Yes Jill.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“We’re going to be fine, we’ll find our way and we’ll    &lt;br /&gt;be back on track soon.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“Jill, do you miss your family?”  Sara inquired.     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Sara, my family is the whole reason for this predicament.     &lt;br /&gt;I love my children and my husband more than life itself.     &lt;br /&gt;I have to keep thinking that to go on.   I’ve been away    &lt;br /&gt;from my children now for some time and there isn’t a    &lt;br /&gt;moment in the day that I don’t hurt inside with THAT loss.”     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“Sara, we’ll beat this and one day, hopefully in the    &lt;br /&gt;near future, we’ll be reunited with our families.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“Thanks Jill, I needed to hear that.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Terance and Kendra proceeded with their lives as if    &lt;br /&gt;Sara was indeed dead.  It wasn’t easy for a child of    &lt;br /&gt;Kendra’s age to live in this world without her mom’s    &lt;br /&gt;guidance but she knew she had to do it.     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Kendra worried that her mom wouldn’t take the proper    &lt;br /&gt;care of herself.  She knew with the Bipolar that her    &lt;br /&gt;mom was indeed vulnerable to deep depression.  She    &lt;br /&gt;prayed every day for her mom’s safety.  It was something    &lt;br /&gt;she was growing to depend on in her life.  Prayer was,    &lt;br /&gt;after all, the only thing she had left to cling to,    &lt;br /&gt;except of course her daddy.  She prayed for him too.     &lt;br /&gt;He needed every bit of strength he had to continue on    &lt;br /&gt;without her mom.     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;For her age, Kendra had lived a lot in the last few weeks.     &lt;br /&gt;Her parents had briefed her on the plan.  They didn’t want    &lt;br /&gt;Kendra to believe her mom was dead.     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It was enough to ask a child of her age to go through what    &lt;br /&gt;they had planned but at least, they knew if Kendra could    &lt;br /&gt;keep the faith, it would give her strength to endure the future.     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;A child needs truth in today’s world and Sara and Terance    &lt;br /&gt;had believed enough in their offspring to know she would    &lt;br /&gt;keep their secret safe.  After all, it was her secret    &lt;br /&gt;too.  It was their family unit as a whole that would    &lt;br /&gt;make it succeed.     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Kendra prayed tonight for strength.  She was returning    &lt;br /&gt;to school tomorrow.  It would be difficult to maintain    &lt;br /&gt;the secret but she knew in her heart it was worth it.     &lt;br /&gt;She knew that if she could get through the next few weeks    &lt;br /&gt;things would be fine.     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“Jesus, please keep me strong and safe and oversee    &lt;br /&gt;everything my family is going through.  Help my mom to    &lt;br /&gt;stay healthy through this.  PLEASE guide my daddy in    &lt;br /&gt;his life too.  He needs that now and, Jesus, please help me    &lt;br /&gt;to keep the faith.  Amen.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Kendra turned over and hugged Elmo and closed her eyes.   &lt;br /&gt;Chapter 12  &lt;br /&gt;Earth’s Children.......  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Come what may, the children were survivors.      &lt;br /&gt;If Armageddon was upon the world, the children     &lt;br /&gt;hadn’t been told yet.  They were strong, this new    &lt;br /&gt;generation.  They hadn’t been raised on the internet    &lt;br /&gt;for nothing.  They had learned and what the opposition    &lt;br /&gt;didn’t realize was they had implemented plans far ahead in time.      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;They were the hackers, they were the caretakers too.      &lt;br /&gt;They had built their own morals and they had grown     &lt;br /&gt;excellence where excellence was required.     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The children were intent on working a deal with the    &lt;br /&gt;BAD guys. They now had the power within their reach.     &lt;br /&gt;The money was there for the taking.  They had the    &lt;br /&gt;advantage of youth.  The opposition, although not    &lt;br /&gt;always the elders, were much older and as such, not as quick.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The children of the opposition had been raised in wealth......     &lt;br /&gt;but, not with love.  The children on the net had united and     &lt;br /&gt;as such, the tyrants own bloodline had covertly joined     &lt;br /&gt;’Earth’s Children’.  (They learned very early on in life     &lt;br /&gt;how to manipulate the system.  This was to be a huge     &lt;br /&gt;advantage to the children’s cause.)      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The time for overcoming the media had arrived.  It wasn’t     &lt;br /&gt;the children that were hynotized by the hype.  It wasn’t     &lt;br /&gt;the children that had followed blindly down the path of     &lt;br /&gt;destruction.  IT was however the children that would put     &lt;br /&gt;a stop to the insanity.  They would use what it took to     &lt;br /&gt;take back the Earth.  They would survive and they would     &lt;br /&gt;seek out the supporters of their movement.      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The time for sitting around and watching the boob tube     &lt;br /&gt;was past.  It was an evil medium and as such, it had to     &lt;br /&gt;be stopped.  The internet also had the commercialism BUT,     &lt;br /&gt;it had the truth also.  It was often hidden but if the     &lt;br /&gt;urge to find it was within one, it could be found.      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The thirst for knowledge although deeply hidden in some,     &lt;br /&gt;was still there.  The net provided it in most forms and     &lt;br /&gt;yes, one could go the wrong route and be overtaken by     &lt;br /&gt;THE evil.  Children, being children however didn’t always     &lt;br /&gt;take the path of least resistance.     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;There were enough children that recognized the impending     &lt;br /&gt;danger who struck out for truth.  Many children from many     &lt;br /&gt;lands had connected on the net.  Many children had learned     &lt;br /&gt;the evils of mainstream America and as such had connected     &lt;br /&gt;to save the earth.      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It was to be an exciting time for the Earth Children.  They     &lt;br /&gt;had many advantages over their enemy.  They not only had youth     &lt;br /&gt;they had LOVE in their hearts.  The love of children worldwide     &lt;br /&gt;had been developed and nurtured.....     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;If the leaders of this giant fiasco believed they could out     &lt;br /&gt;smart these youngsters, they had another think coming.      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;PEER pressure was unheard of in the land of Earth’s children.      &lt;br /&gt;Nothing was going to over power these kids and it was obvious     &lt;br /&gt;from their daily ritual of prayer that they would work toward     &lt;br /&gt;Earth’s unity.      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It was understood early on, in the children’s endeavor to     &lt;br /&gt;take the Earth back, that each child would pray to his/her     &lt;br /&gt;own higher power.      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This was never questioned by Earth’s Children.  Each one     &lt;br /&gt;of the children accepted the differences of Earth’s People     &lt;br /&gt;and as such, accepted the different religions.  It was     &lt;br /&gt;imperative for them to do that if they were to succeed.      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Highest Spirit had intervened with this generation of     &lt;br /&gt;Earth’s children.  It was obvious when you heard their     &lt;br /&gt;conversations.  They weren’t hell bent on competing,     &lt;br /&gt;they weren’t hell bent on destruction.  They were content     &lt;br /&gt;to work toward a peaceful co-existance that worked for all.      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It was asif the higher powers of the Heavens had united     &lt;br /&gt;when creating this generation of children.  There was     &lt;br /&gt;something angelic about the children and it showed in     &lt;br /&gt;the patience and care they exibited in their dealings     &lt;br /&gt;with one another.      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Satan still lurked in the form of the ’Powers That Be’    &lt;br /&gt;and as such, was only biding time to attack the youth     &lt;br /&gt;of the world.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;He watched and he sent his own to intervene when he     &lt;br /&gt;thought he could accomplish his work.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The daily prayer ritual of the children worked to their     &lt;br /&gt;advantage however.  Satan had a much harder time accessing     &lt;br /&gt;the children when their spirits and souls were engaged in     &lt;br /&gt;uniting world wide for PEACE.      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;There were the few children who had been born under Satan’s     &lt;br /&gt;spell.  These children infiltrated the Group but were easily     &lt;br /&gt;identified and dealt with.  It will be interesting to see     &lt;br /&gt;the outcome of this story.  How will these individuals fair     &lt;br /&gt;in the environment the Earth Children provides for the     &lt;br /&gt;tormented souls of these youths?    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The children will be known worldwide as the bearers of Peace.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Hope prevails in the lives of Earth’s Children.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The children had something none of their parents    &lt;br /&gt;or ancestors had, they had each other.  They had    &lt;br /&gt;the openess to communicate over the net.      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;They wouldn’t be fooled by false advertisements.  They    &lt;br /&gt;couldn’t be fooled by their parents values.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The children searched far and wide for ways to avail    &lt;br /&gt;the less fortunate of food and clothing until the    &lt;br /&gt;resolutions of the elders were found.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It wasn’t that all of the elders were the enemies but    &lt;br /&gt;there were those that were.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;During the holidays in the year 2002, the children    &lt;br /&gt;worked in soup houses.  The children volunteered their    &lt;br /&gt;time to the needy.  They struck out to find safe places    &lt;br /&gt;for the homeless.  They found empty stores and they     &lt;br /&gt;scrounged for food.      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;They went to the supermarkets and met with like minded     &lt;br /&gt;children who worked in the stores.  They snuck around at     &lt;br /&gt;night and when busted by the police, they did the time.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Doing time often times meant meeting up with the others     &lt;br /&gt;from the group. It meant finding old friends and more     &lt;br /&gt;often than ot it meant making new friends.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The children had ideas that went over and above what     &lt;br /&gt;adults would think of.  One day two weeks before     &lt;br /&gt;Christmas they decided to go from house to house and see     &lt;br /&gt;about collecting pennies.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It worked, at the end of the day in Phoenix alone,     &lt;br /&gt;they collected 12,000$.  It was put into coffee cans     &lt;br /&gt;on that day and then a meeting was held.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”What shall we do with the money?”    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;One of the children’s dad is an accountant.  He asked     &lt;br /&gt;his dad for advice.  He asked him if somehow he had     &lt;br /&gt;gotten a huge amount of money what would be the best     &lt;br /&gt;way to increase it.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;His dad was open with him thinking he was eager to learn.      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The teenager then took the money and invested it as his     &lt;br /&gt;dad had suggested.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The plan was to build a home for the homeless.  There     &lt;br /&gt;were projects and as such, the children would look into     &lt;br /&gt;them.      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;With so many children involved, they always knew that     &lt;br /&gt;the information would be not long in coming.  You could     &lt;br /&gt;always count on the children to come up with resolutions.      &lt;br /&gt;It wasn’t the same as the days of old when    &lt;br /&gt;fights would ensue, they all had a common goal now.      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Saving the world seemed like a monumental task for     &lt;br /&gt;grown-ups.  They couldn’t think of it as a reality.      &lt;br /&gt;It was TOO late they thought.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;They hadn’t given the children much thought, credit or     &lt;br /&gt;responsibilities to think the children would be the ones     &lt;br /&gt;who would accomplish it.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Even the best of parents still had the baggage from     &lt;br /&gt;their own lives.  The children had learned early on to     &lt;br /&gt;put that away.  They had learned early on to pray for     &lt;br /&gt;guidance.  They had learned early on that the only real      &lt;br /&gt;chance the earth had was them.  They knew that their     &lt;br /&gt;parents hadn’t really understood but they did.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;THE earth came first, it had to.  It had to be nourished.      &lt;br /&gt;It had to be nurtured and it had to be rebuilt in it’s     &lt;br /&gt;natural habitat.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Returning the earth to nature wasn’t going to be easy     &lt;br /&gt;but it could be done.  There were laws to unlearn and     &lt;br /&gt;rules to be broken in order for it to be accomplished,     &lt;br /&gt;but it could be.      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The children knew this from their prayers.  They    &lt;br /&gt;often times over lapped their prayers with each other’s    &lt;br /&gt;HPs.  They tried to incorporate good things from each    &lt;br /&gt;religion to make it work world wide for peace.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The first time the children realized one of theirs had     &lt;br /&gt;been killed the reaction was devastating.  He had been a     &lt;br /&gt;great mind and he had a woderful spirit and his name had     &lt;br /&gt;been Zachery.      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The children didn’t mourn for long over Zachery though     &lt;br /&gt;as in his religion, it wasn’t a bad thing to go to the    &lt;br /&gt;other side.  He was well known for his thoughts on that    &lt;br /&gt;issue and as such, his spirit wasn’t earth bound for long.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Zachery had been thought of in the highest regard as     &lt;br /&gt;were the majority of the children.      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Zachery had been killed by one of Satan’s deciples     &lt;br /&gt;and a youngster at that.  Jordan had been ruthless     &lt;br /&gt;since birth.  It was a well known fact that Jordan     &lt;br /&gt;worshipped the devil.  He didn’t try to hide    &lt;br /&gt;it and in fact flaunted it.      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Jordan was taken aside the day Zachery was freed     &lt;br /&gt;and given advice.  Jordan laughed his evil laugh and     &lt;br /&gt;went about his business, eyeing his soon to be next victim....    &lt;br /&gt;he assumed.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Jordan was to be watched.  He was to be followed and the next     &lt;br /&gt;incident, Jordan was to be dealt with.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It happened not long after Zachery’s departure.  Jordan    &lt;br /&gt;met Ann in an alley.  He accosted her and pulled his knife    &lt;br /&gt;out.  At the same time Jordan opened the switch-blade, he    &lt;br /&gt;was surrounded.      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Jordan was  taken into custody by the children.  He was    &lt;br /&gt;taken a work farm and kept. Jordan was watched over   &lt;br /&gt;by many of Earth’s Children at the farm.     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The children had many tools to use and as such implemented   &lt;br /&gt;them as time progressed.  (It is hard to understand the    &lt;br /&gt;true power of love until one is surrounded with it daily.)   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Jordan progresed nicely in his new environment.  He walked    &lt;br /&gt;with the children that had come before him.  He was openly   &lt;br /&gt;hostile at first.  This was to be expected.  The love never    &lt;br /&gt;waivered however as miracles were rampant at the farm.     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Jordan now is one of the providers at the farm and has decided   &lt;br /&gt;to reside there for the time being and help others.     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;LOVE and the power of our Great Provider is boundless at the   &lt;br /&gt;farm.  It is the driving force that dwells in the hearts of   &lt;br /&gt;all that have the opportunity and good fortune to visit.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The farm has many faces of the Children of the Land.  There    &lt;br /&gt;are kids from all lands. There are kids with handicaps and    &lt;br /&gt;broken hearts.  There are orphans, and there are rich kids.     &lt;br /&gt;One thing in common at the farm is the LOVE they all share.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It is miraculous and love is felt everywhere............ it is    &lt;br /&gt;truly a wonderful refuge for children of all races and colors.     &lt;br /&gt;It gives the to the ones that had none upon their arrival. It    &lt;br /&gt;also gives the children of the privileged the opportunity to    &lt;br /&gt;give of themselves and find their TRUE humanity.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As of this writing the success rate has been 100%.  The Children of   &lt;br /&gt;the Land are truly living in the spirit of perfect unity.     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Bless the farm and bless the children.  Continued success is    &lt;br /&gt;expected as the farm is watched over personally .......... by   &lt;br /&gt;HOPE/Charity/Love/Peace and Thanksgiving daily.        &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Chapter 13 &lt;br /&gt;The children had been doing fine at the farm but when the war hit, there were decisions to be made. &lt;br /&gt;Algelica and the girls decided to get in touch with    &lt;br /&gt;Robert.     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Angel knew that she needed an adult to help her.  The kids wanted to do all they could to help the &lt;br /&gt;people of Iraq.  They didn’t know where to start.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Angel knew something was going on at the castle and one night she and the others decided to find &lt;br /&gt;out what it was.  They sneaked up to the castle and saw the robots working.  It looked similar to &lt;br /&gt;a hospital now.      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Angel had moved to Arizona with the family a while back.  It was better as Cal, one of Jill’s long &lt;br /&gt;time friends, lived in Phoenix and could check on the kids periodically.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Pebbles, Angel’s friend from the internet, also lived in Phoenix so that was a plus too.  When Angel &lt;br /&gt;needed a friend to confide in, she could pick up the phone and ask Peb to come over or just talk &lt;br /&gt;on the phone.        &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Robert had gotten the money together for the move through one of his programs. It hadn’t been easy &lt;br /&gt;but it worked.  He had been in contact with Jill and knew she was sending the money as she could. &lt;br /&gt;She often time just transferred it into Rob’s egold account on the net.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Although Robert had been appointed as the executor of the kids trust, he didn’t want to use the &lt;br /&gt;money except if it was absolutely necessary.  That had been a decision he and Jill made together. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Angel could see that there was a kid in one of the rooms.  She didn’t have one of her arms.  Just &lt;br /&gt;then, she saw Robert walk into the room with a guy that looked like a doctor.  The man sat on the &lt;br /&gt;edge of the   &lt;br /&gt;bed and showed the girl something resembling an arm. Robert walked  &lt;br /&gt;over to the bed and took the artificial limb from the man.     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Robert smiled as he started moving the fingers and the hand.  He’d done good.  Wow, that is like &lt;br /&gt;the coolest thing, Angelica thought to herself.  With that she motioned for one of the others to &lt;br /&gt;join her and check out the scene in the room.     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The war had begun about six weeks ago and the young girl had been one of the victims.  The hospital &lt;br /&gt;was being renovated for this very cause.  The girl was the first patient of Robert’s, if you could &lt;br /&gt;call her that.  After all, Robert Stealth is a programmer and computer nerds aren’t famous for having &lt;br /&gt;patients.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Angel could tell Cal had been around.  The room was decorated completely with toys and paints of &lt;br /&gt;all different colors.  It also had drawings of Cal’s everywhere.  There were pictures of Robbie &lt;br /&gt;and Haley; before and after.  If one didn’t know better, one might believe Cal had copied the decor &lt;br /&gt;from her own place.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;There were different pictures of castles that Cal had dreamed of and drawn up.  The room reminded &lt;br /&gt;you of a house built just for children.  There were books and there were appliances everywhere with &lt;br /&gt;the robots smiling out at you.  It looked great and Angel laughed when she climbed down.  It doesn’t &lt;br /&gt;take Cal long to get her way.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It was obvious to Rob and Olivia that Cal knew her stuff when it came to children.   She knew how &lt;br /&gt;to be a child and as such was sure the children would be pleased with the warmth that presented &lt;br /&gt;itself in the castle.  There was soft lighting around too.  That made the ambiance complete.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Cal also had a fountain ordered for each of the rooms.  The water trickling would bring calm to &lt;br /&gt;the children as it did to Cal at her place.  She had ordered the materials needed for the fountains &lt;br /&gt;but except for the one in this room, she would build each and every one for the kids.  That was &lt;br /&gt;the least she could do after what the children had suffered and endured.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;================  &lt;br /&gt;Back to the beginning. ...........  Angel had been reading about the war on the net.  She knew the &lt;br /&gt;places to find the real stats and as such, she had been aghast at what was really going on.  It &lt;br /&gt;was asif the TV and newspapers weren’t even reporting on the same events regarding the war as she &lt;br /&gt;was seeing.     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Robert had talked to Angel about Olivia when he had come out to check on the family.  He had told &lt;br /&gt;her of an impending plan.  He promised when he knew more she would know. He knew that Angel was &lt;br /&gt;still very young, but he also knew she would want to be a part of the rehabilitation of the youngsters. &lt;br /&gt;He trusted Jill’s daughter as he did her mom.  She was a beautiful young woman  &lt;br /&gt;with the best heart and mind in the world.  Not only that, but she seemed to surround herself with &lt;br /&gt;like minded individuals.     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The terrorist attacks had stirred up America and well it    &lt;br /&gt;should. It was devastating to the people and it was a horrific    &lt;br /&gt;tragedy.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The politicians seemed to take advantage of the psychology in America after the tragedy of September &lt;br /&gt;11, 2001.  They plotted to engage a war in the Middle East and without proper agreement went forward. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The general population of the American people were oblivious to the   &lt;br /&gt;War and it’s true reasons.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The military had been programmed by the evil doers and as such did    &lt;br /&gt;not hold the responsibiliy for these attrocities. They would learn    &lt;br /&gt;later in their lives that their deeds were planned and implemented in    &lt;br /&gt;a fashion that they would never fully understand.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;America was content for a while but not the leaders. They wanted    &lt;br /&gt;more blood and took full advantage of the people’s hysteria. Money and oil   &lt;br /&gt;were the objects of this horrific deed, but that wasn’t what was presented to the American people. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Iraqi people needed to be liberated from their evil leader.  This was the reason used by the &lt;br /&gt;government to wage war against a sovereign nation.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;What the American people didn’t know was that all of it was a ploy to take over the rich land of &lt;br /&gt;Iraq.  The war was an excuse to claim the oil in Iraq and therefore trillions of dollars.     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It was also reason for the government to take more and more control of the American people and their &lt;br /&gt;own freedoms.  The Constitution may as well have laid shredded on the floor of the White House. &lt;br /&gt;That is how it was treated by the leaders of the country.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Many lives were lost including American military lives but the    &lt;br /&gt;horrible war didn’t last long. It was a grand show for the American  &lt;br /&gt;government. It showed the world who had the fittest military. It    &lt;br /&gt;showed the world who had the most sophisticated weapons.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The people in power flaunted their superiority on many levels.    &lt;br /&gt;The Iraq history was virtually wiped out as looters and thieves    &lt;br /&gt;burned and ravaged the cities. Museums were destroyed to such a    &lt;br /&gt;degree that it was impossible to identify the buildings, much less    &lt;br /&gt;the treasures that formerly had been housed in these buildings.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Iraqi people were homeless and without food or water for many    &lt;br /&gt;many days. Cholera set in and had begun to kill the children. The    &lt;br /&gt;hospitals were already full.  The war had maimed and dismembered    &lt;br /&gt;many people and the future of these already devastated people looked very bleak.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The children suffered the most. Many of the bombs used lay    &lt;br /&gt;unexploded all over the land. The children were fascinated with the    &lt;br /&gt;brightly colored objects and would pick them up.  Some were blown up while others were injured by &lt;br /&gt;the flying parts.  Many     &lt;br /&gt;arms and legs were lost in the terrible explosions and much internal damage incurred.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Much of the ammonition used by the military contained depleted uranium and this would affect the &lt;br /&gt;population of Iraq for generations.  It would also affect the military from America.  This had been &lt;br /&gt;proven during the first Gulf War but that didn’t stop the use of these terrible weapons.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It was a life of much sorrow and pain for the Iraqi people. It    &lt;br /&gt;seemed to be never ending.  This war was just a rehash of one that    &lt;br /&gt;had been fought in Iraq only nine years earlier. The    &lt;br /&gt;country and it’s people had not recovered from the last one when this    &lt;br /&gt;one was forced on it.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;One report that Angel read was of a mother who had lost her only son in the first Gulf War.  She &lt;br /&gt;was pregnant during this war and worried that she would lose this child to the new war.      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Princess Olivia cried daily as she read of the war. After all, her    &lt;br /&gt;main concern in life had always been her children. She saw the    &lt;br /&gt;devastation of the land of Iraq and she felt the pain as only a    &lt;br /&gt;mother can.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;One night she cried herself to sleep and dreamed of her     &lt;br /&gt;castle.  (Robert had outdone himself with this robot, she was even programmed to dream.  Could it &lt;br /&gt;be that Robert had dreams of the war?)   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Olivia dreamed of a little girl with only one arm and it came to be with the first Iraqi child’s &lt;br /&gt;arrival.  Olivia had seen the girl vividly in her dream.     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;When the princess awoke, she was delirious with anticipation. She    &lt;br /&gt;couldn’t wait to begin work.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;First things first. She had to call and talk to Linus.  She was excited to share her news with him. &lt;br /&gt;She also wanted to speak with Robert.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The renovation would be taxing but she wouldn’t consider that    &lt;br /&gt;now. She was sure she would be able to get it done.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The material was the only real issue and she was sure there was enough of the original bricks in &lt;br /&gt;the shed to accomplish the job.  She thought about labor for the work.  The robots had done it all &lt;br /&gt;so far and she was sure Robert wouldn’t mind if they continued.     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;She wondered how Robert would fit into the plan. She knew she wanted    &lt;br /&gt;him to do the artificial limb work.  He was the only PERSON she trusted to do the job. Robert was &lt;br /&gt;the only humanoid she truly had enough confidence in to take care of the children with just the &lt;br /&gt;right amount of care and tenderness.      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Olivia would do most of the ground work.  She would get the children here, with assistance from &lt;br /&gt;Cal, Jill and Sara.  She would do the paper work and the travel plans.  She spoke with Cal first &lt;br /&gt;and asked if her plan was feasible?   &lt;br /&gt;She knew if anybody would be realistic about such a plan, it would be Cal.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Olivia started drawing up the blue prints for the hospital. The    &lt;br /&gt;rooms needed the most work. The children had to be comfortable and secure.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;After what those darling youngsters had been through, it    &lt;br /&gt;was imperative that their stay at the hospital be as positive and    &lt;br /&gt;upbeat as possible.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Olivia knew she had tons of toys, and what she didn’t have, she was sure Cal had.  After all, Cal &lt;br /&gt;had been drawing and building and sewing for many years.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The theme for the hospital would be Joy in Toyland. It would be Cal’s art and her toys and her creations &lt;br /&gt;that filled the children’s hearts and surrounded them while they visited the hospital.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Olivia had been adamant about that. After all Corporate America had    &lt;br /&gt;brought the children to her in the first place and all of the theme    &lt;br /&gt;parks in America and around the world were big business.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Cal’s work was not and never would be. NO ONE would take the SPIRIT out of her work, Olivia would &lt;br /&gt;see to it.  It was from her heart and built for just such an occasion and Olivia sensed that from &lt;br /&gt;the beginning.      &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It would be their gift to the children. Her’s, Cal’s and Robert’s. After    &lt;br /&gt;all, Robert had been partner in all of it. He had been an   &lt;br /&gt;inspiration and he didn’t even know it.  But on occasion she was sure    &lt;br /&gt;he sensed it.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;No, Olivia was not made from the rib of a man but she was made from    &lt;br /&gt;the union of a man and woman. She was Robert and Cal’s ultimate    &lt;br /&gt;achievment. She was sensitive and creative, loving and giving and    &lt;br /&gt;strong. She was the perfect woman, altho a robot.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Olivia looked outside, it was dark. She had not talked to Robert and    &lt;br /&gt;she had not been aware that the day had already passed. She had her    &lt;br /&gt;work and she had held steadfast to it through the day.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;She picked up the pages she had been working on and filed them in the    &lt;br /&gt;drawer. She would try and call Robert tomorrow.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Olivia climbed the stairs to her room. She walked over and opened    &lt;br /&gt;the patio door and stepped outside. The sky was lovely. She sat in    &lt;br /&gt;her chair and she gazed at the moon.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;=====  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It was late in New York and Kendra was sleeping peacefully.  Thomas was on the internet reading &lt;br /&gt;the Arabian News.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Jill and Sara had just sat down to eat.  Belgium had proved to be a nice place for them.  It had &lt;br /&gt;many beautiful sights and it had given them freedom to create their own life style.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Jill had finally learned enough French to get by.  Sara had been a patient teacher.  Sara, after &lt;br /&gt;all, knew much of patience with her illness.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Jill was very impressed with Sara Mason.  She proved to be Jill’s best friend and supporter.   It &lt;br /&gt;was important to have that in their similar situations.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Sara had her bouts with her illness but she always seemed to maintain and come out of it with Jill’s &lt;br /&gt;loving help.  Jill, after all understood as she often times longed for her children and found herself &lt;br /&gt;depressed too.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;One day they would be able to either bring their families to Belgium or France or they would feel &lt;br /&gt;safe enough to return to America.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;============  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Pebbles was restless and couldn’t sleep.  It was one of those nights for her and she had decided &lt;br /&gt;to see who was on the net.  There was Cal.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;peb: u busy?  &lt;br /&gt;cal: sorta kinda, y, what u need?  &lt;br /&gt;peb: nothing, i just can’t sleep.  &lt;br /&gt;cal: well, i’m going to be logging out soon and try to sleep  &lt;br /&gt;do u need to talk?  call me and let’s talk a bit before i go to bed.  &lt;br /&gt;peb: it’s ok, u go on to sleep  &lt;br /&gt;cal: no, if u need to talk, let’s do it, k?  &lt;br /&gt;I don’t want u having a bad nite cause we didn’t talk  &lt;br /&gt;peb: ok, i’ll call u  &lt;br /&gt;cal: give me 10 mins then i’ll log off. i need to read my email  &lt;br /&gt;peb: ok  &lt;br /&gt;cal: gotta go cya bye ttys  &lt;br /&gt;peb: byeeeeeeeeeee  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;10 mins later and peb doesn’t call so Cal calls her........... talk talk talk, chat chat, chat........... &lt;br /&gt;click  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Chapter 14  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Robert walked into the hospital room where the young patient lay sleeping.  He had a surprise for &lt;br /&gt;her.  He had twin baby robots.  They were much like Haley before she decided to look like a regular &lt;br /&gt;bot again.  They looked very human.     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The babies were teeny tiny and they would keep the young patient company.  Robert knew the youngster &lt;br /&gt;had lost her younger brother and sister.  These tiny bots would give her something to do with the &lt;br /&gt;time she had to spend here.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Robert had given Cal the specs for the children.  He knew Cal didn’t understand specs per se but &lt;br /&gt;boy, could she create good souls and high spirits within the artificial bodies he created.  He knew &lt;br /&gt;he would do the programming but he could always depend on Cal to come up with very unique personalities &lt;br /&gt;to go along with his genius prototypes.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The patient woke up soon after Robert departed.  She saw the baby bots and started to smile.  Robert &lt;br /&gt;had left the tell tale paperwork on her visitor’s chair to inform the young lady that the roboBabies &lt;br /&gt;were indeed robots.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;She picked up one of the remote controls and watched the baby come to life.  It was the little girl &lt;br /&gt;bot.  She picked up the paperwork to see if they had names and sure enough Robert had named her &lt;br /&gt;HopeBot after Angelica’s friend.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;She looked at the name for the boy and Mr. Stealth had named the baby boybot Scott.  He had always &lt;br /&gt;liked that name and it reminded him of Scotty from Star Trek.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;She activated the little boy too.  That didn’t last long as the two of the them proved to be too &lt;br /&gt;much for the one armed little girl.  That would pass though as soon as Robert had the time to finish &lt;br /&gt;up the programming.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;She turned off the remotes and lay down to nap.  She had placed the babies in bed with her in their &lt;br /&gt;little blankies and she snuggled right down and fell asleep.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Robert walked into the room before he left for the night and tucked the blanket over his first little &lt;br /&gt;patient.  He smiled as he looked at the babies.  They looked so darn real.  He would take them in &lt;br /&gt;and work on their programs.  He would make them appear to be human too while sleeping.  It would &lt;br /&gt;be his sleep program.  He was having fun with this new project.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Robert began to remember RoboGold and his creation of Robbie, R2INU, Goldie, Golda and Linus and &lt;br /&gt;moBot, the M zero robot.  That had been great.  There was much excitement then and yes, there had &lt;br /&gt;been sadness too but it was all new to us then.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Robert felt the same glow within when he thought of the baby bots.  He had always planned on doing &lt;br /&gt;a little RobbieBot to be his partner but he hadn’t ever gotten around to that.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The only real robot that he’d actually created and still worked for him is Haley.  She still works &lt;br /&gt;at OGP and she stays busy.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Of course Robbie and the group still sing and get together on occasion and do gigs.  I think there’s &lt;br /&gt;a DJ in Canada that actually plays their songs too.  He must have taken a liking to the music way &lt;br /&gt;back when.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Robbie and Haley still write music together and Haley writes her heart out in poetry.  Maybe one &lt;br /&gt;day, she’ll even write something about Robert’s patient.  She does so like to be involved.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;===============  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Robert had rented a truck on that long ago day when he brought the robots back from New York.  He &lt;br /&gt;decided it was the only way not to raise suspicion.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The reason for the inference to the NY trip is that Robert is looking to bring the rest of the medical &lt;br /&gt;supplies and furniture to the hospital and he needs to have a transport for it.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;He’s also considering buying the truck and renovating it to carry the children to the hospital. &lt;br /&gt;It has to be kept secret as the government has made it known that there will be no interference &lt;br /&gt;in the caring of the people of Iraq.  It will all be done through the military and the money spent &lt;br /&gt;will be minimal.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In a news report, the president made it known that the recovery of the people of Iraq was not to &lt;br /&gt;be high on his priority list.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Robert didn’t care what the reports had said.  After meeting this young lady with the missing arm, &lt;br /&gt;THE children would be high on his list.  That’s just the kind of man he is.  He would do what it &lt;br /&gt;takes to help this girl and the others be as normal as possible with the cards fate had dealt them.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Cal’s cell phone rang, it was Jill.  ”When will you all be ready for your next patient? I have a &lt;br /&gt;baby, only 18 months old that needs to be there immediately.  If we don’t get him fixed up soon, &lt;br /&gt;I’m afraid we’ll lose him.”  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”You just get him here my dear.  I’ll get done what needs to be done to fix him right up.  I’ll &lt;br /&gt;call Linus and the doctor as soon as we hang up and they’ll be someone at the airport as soon as &lt;br /&gt;we hear back from you.”  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Great.  How’s the kids?”  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Your kids are great Jill.  I talk to Angelica almost every day and when I don’t I hear from Pebbles &lt;br /&gt;and she always updates me on them.  Robert asks every time he calls so I try and keep him informed. &lt;br /&gt;Steve called the other day too.  Is he there with you?”  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Yes, thank goodness, he finally made it over here about two months ago, it has been heaven.  Now &lt;br /&gt;all we have to do is get the children here and my life will be wonderful again...... all in good &lt;br /&gt;time, all in good time.”    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”What about Sara, is her husband going to be moving over there too?”  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Yes, Kendra is here already and they are working on a way for Terrance to come over now.  It shouldn’t &lt;br /&gt;be much longer.”    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”In fact, if all goes as we’ve planned, he may be bringing the kids to me.  That’s another story &lt;br /&gt;though and I’m still afraid to hope.  BUT, who knows, maybe a miracle for all of us.  It’s time &lt;br /&gt;something like that happened for this family.”  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Yes it is, Jill, you’ve been so strong through this whole thing, I have to say I admire your guts. &lt;br /&gt;That had to be the hardest thing in the world.”  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”It was, I had great faith that our HP would see us through and knock on wood, he has.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Listen, Jill, I need to run.  I have much to do to prepare for the kids you’re sending next.  Oh, &lt;br /&gt;did I tell you about the twin bots that Robert built for our first little patient.  He’s still that &lt;br /&gt;same wonderful man that you and I both know and luv.  HA!!! Wouldn’t he just love hearing me talking &lt;br /&gt;like that about him.  After all, I’ve mothered him to pieces since you left.  He’s easy to mother &lt;br /&gt;you know.”    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Ahhhhhh, come on Cal, you know you love it.  You love mothering everybody, that’s your biggest &lt;br /&gt;asset my dear.  I always felt it when we were around you, it shows.  You and those mother hen ways. &lt;br /&gt;We’ll have to make sure when you die that it’s on your tombstone...... Here lies the mother of &lt;br /&gt;all the Stealth Robots and the Ryder kids ........ HA!!!”  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Listen Jill, tell Sara hi and we’ll talk again soon.  Do you want me to mention to Angel that we &lt;br /&gt;talked?”  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Sure, if you talk to her, let her know I’ll call her tomorrow night at 8:00 her time.”    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Ok, ttys.......” &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Chapter 15  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Kendra in Belgium.....    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Kendra joined her Mom and Jill in Belgium.  She was sad to leave her homeland and especially Ryan. &lt;br /&gt;They had grown close on the net even though there was a huge age difference, it didn’t seem to &lt;br /&gt;matter.  She was old beyond her years.  She had lived much, what with her mom’s illness and going &lt;br /&gt;through the staged murder this last year.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Ryan had been aware that she was indeed still a child.  He worried about her.  &lt;br /&gt;He knew at her age she was probably very vulnerable and only wanted her well being and so he oversaw &lt;br /&gt;every thing she did on the net.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Little did he know he would become so involved with a woman child.  He felt like a big brother and &lt;br /&gt;he couldn’t help but be concerned.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;When he was alerted to the man who was in contact with her, he did his research and found the man &lt;br /&gt;a very dangerous sort.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Ryan, took a plane to New York at that time and arranged to meet with Terrance Mason; Kendra’s father. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;After he laid out his cards and told Terry what was happening, Terry trusted this young man to help &lt;br /&gt;protect his daughter.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Little did Ryan realize the depth of this child-woman’s feelings for him.  He watched over her daily &lt;br /&gt;and until the last few weeks was a constant in her life.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Kendra had become very dependant on him and as such was bewildered when his watch slowed.  She cried &lt;br /&gt;and wrote in her diary and thus, the following poem came to be.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;GOD’S SPECIAL WATCH  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I hurt so much when he’s not around my heart beats with a different pound.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The warmth inside feels oh so cold, that’s what I get for being bold.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I remember the times he was everywhere, I’d hardly log on and he’d be right &lt;br /&gt;there.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But now it’s different, he’s gone away, I said too much and he couldn’t stay  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But deep inside my spirit; My God speaks to me, you’ll be ok and so will he.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I’m here for you and also for him, so go forward my dear it isn’t so grim.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Your journey with him isn’t finished you know, so hand it to me AND TAKE IT SLOW &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;You’re special to him and he to me, I set it up and that’s the way it’s to be.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;You give to him and he to you, it was meant to be and it’ll get you through.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Encourage him and watch him, it’ll make him smile and it’ll help you grow.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;He’s a special guy and you know it too, give him support and he’ll shine for you.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Now my child it’s up to you, you know your journey and he does too.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;You’ll make a difference walking hand in hand.  You’ll leave four footprints in the sand.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It isn’t like when I carry you through, you’re a girl and a guy and it’s meant to be.  Your love for each other sets the both of you free.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Be patient my child you’ve a ways to go.  With him by your side YOU’LL LEARN TO FLOW. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;He already cares but in a different way, now let it go and he’ll never stray.    &lt;br /&gt;The difference my child is Me, it’s the way I’ve planned it to be.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So stay in touch with the guy that you love, he’ll realize one day that it’s  &lt;br /&gt;was sent from above. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Elmo, it’s time to sleep now so watch those eyes, k?”  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Mom, I am so glad to be here.  I missed you terribly.”  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Oh sweet daughter of mine, I cannot express my happiness at finally having my little girl back &lt;br /&gt;in my life.  Does Elmo still get thrown against the wall on occasion?”  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Mom, he pokes me with those big ol round eyes of his, of course I accidently knock him off the &lt;br /&gt;bed sometimes.  The only difference was that no one was around for a while that understood.  You &lt;br /&gt;know dad, he’d just pick him up when he checked on me and he’d throw him in the window box with &lt;br /&gt;the rest of my stuff.  Elmo really missed your tender loving care Mom, same as me.”    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Ahhhhh, Kendra, I’m so glad you’re here.”  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Me too mom.  Good-night, sleep tight and.......  hey mom.. ”  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Yes sweet daughter o mine?”  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”I luv you mom!”    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”I luv you more Kendra.” &lt;br /&gt;Chapter 16   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Olivia was devastated, she’d received the info in an email from Cal.  She had learned much in the &lt;br /&gt;last year and it wasn’t to her liking.     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;She didn’t realize the situation was so far reaching.  The email was in regards to Viet Nam.  It &lt;br /&gt;seems the war of three generations ago still is impacting the births of babies.  They are still &lt;br /&gt;being born without arms, legs, and some have their stomachs on the outside of their bodies.  Others  &lt;br /&gt;have heart problems and no money to get help.     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Olivia was now sure that the hospital would be built for others besides just the Iraqi children. &lt;br /&gt;She would see to that.  She had the url for the Red Cross in Viet Nam and she would contact them &lt;br /&gt;first thing in the morning.  She had the names of three children too that she would inquire about.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It isn’t a job for Robert this time.  It’s Olivia’s own plight.  The heart surgeries would not require &lt;br /&gt;Robert’s programming.  Either would the issues of the stomachs.  Olivia didn’t know what she would &lt;br /&gt;do about that but she would deal with it.     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;She would talk over the children’s limb issues with Robert.  He would want to be involved in that, &lt;br /&gt;of this she was sure.  She didn’t know if the process would be different for him with the children &lt;br /&gt;being born disfigured. The Iraqi children had recently lost their limbs but these children had never  &lt;br /&gt;had them.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Olivia had the names of the doctors in Germany.  That would be a starting point for her.  She also &lt;br /&gt;would inquire when calling the Red Cross about doctors and staff that cared for the children in &lt;br /&gt;their own country.  She made a list and she would start on it tomorrow.  She had forgotten tomorrow  &lt;br /&gt;was Sunday but that didn’t matter at the moment.  Her priority was the list for now.     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Putting things in order was the task at hand tonight.  It was important to make the arrangements &lt;br /&gt;as soon as possible.  For now the Iraqi situation was going slowly.  It would be a good idea to &lt;br /&gt;try and get the others here before a big influx of the newly injured children showed up.     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Olivia was adamant about this.  PEACE and recovery had to begin now.  How could God’s children do &lt;br /&gt;such things to each other?  It was beyond Olivia’s comprehension.     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”I am only a robot”, she thought to hereself, ”but I could never hurt a living being the way these &lt;br /&gt;humanoids do.  How is it possible that I have more heart and spirit than live beings have?”     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”I must now check on my patient.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The little girl slepts as Olivia walked into the room.  Olivia smoothed her hair and glanced out &lt;br /&gt;the window.  Robbie was still on the roof working.  She also noticed Haley in the moon light.  She &lt;br /&gt;watched as Haley handed Robbie the tools he needed.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Once again, Olivia ponders...... robots vs humans.  She watched the gentle way that Rob treated &lt;br /&gt;Haley and she marveled that her robots are so caring.  She is thankful that they all have Robert &lt;br /&gt;and Cal to do their internal and external work.  They are fortunate that the two of them are together. &lt;br /&gt;They seem to compliment each other in their skills.     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Robert is growing weary, it’s been a long day.  He’s been busy building his new program and he works &lt;br /&gt;far too many hours.  He does however take great pride in his work and he knows he does it for the &lt;br /&gt;right reasons.     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;His eyes grow heavy and he realizes he needs to sleep.  He finishes up his tasks at hand and he &lt;br /&gt;walks to the kitchen to get a drink.  He’ll unwind with a glass of bourbon and watch the beginning &lt;br /&gt;of a movie.  When the bourbon is gone, he’ll probably be sleeping in his chair.     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Cal’s eyes are tired too.  She’s been on the net all day doing research and relaying all she’s found &lt;br /&gt;to Olivia.  She’s thinking of calling Pebbles and talking for a bit as that usually helps her mind &lt;br /&gt;slow down.     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Maybe she’ll sew for a bit or even draw a picture.  She has so many things going on it’s hard to &lt;br /&gt;decide.     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;She thinks of Olivia and realizes that she’s probably opened a whole new can of worms with the email. &lt;br /&gt;She doesn’t care.  It hurts her to think of the children.  She can’t stand the thought that newborns &lt;br /&gt;and young children are in the middle of such a horrific world.     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;These people that start a war and do devastating things to one another, how can it be?  How can &lt;br /&gt;they drop bombs on innocent people?  How can they kill and maim children and their parents.  It &lt;br /&gt;does not compute.     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Olivia hangs her head and there are droplets of moisture that comes to her eyes.  Olivia does not &lt;br /&gt;understand where the moisture comes from but she knows that it begins inside of her chest.  She &lt;br /&gt;feels the pain as if she were human.  She knows that feeling, she remembers it well.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Olivia does not like experiencing these human feelings.  She reaches up and turns her on button &lt;br /&gt;to off..............   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Cal stands up and logs off.  She walks to the bedroom and turns on her light.  She picks up her &lt;br /&gt;phone and she turns off the light in the kitchen.  It’s time to retire for the night.     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;She changes her clothes and climbs into bed.  She closes her eyes and she opens them again  and &lt;br /&gt;finds HER Elmo.  Yes, she has an Elmo also, same as Kendra.  She lays him gently beside her and &lt;br /&gt;covers both of their bodies.  She closes her eyes and her mind starts to race.     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;She opens her eyes and looks at the phone.  Should she call Peb?  It’s late but she knows Pebbles &lt;br /&gt;always likes hearing from her.  No, not tonight, she’ll try a little harder to sleep now.  Maybe &lt;br /&gt;if she makes up her mind, it’ll just come.  She knows that it doesn’t happen like that most of the &lt;br /&gt;time, but who knows, maybe it will tonight.     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Robert dozes off in his chair.  He had not even turned on the movie.  He knew he was a tired lad &lt;br /&gt;tonight and he had barely sat down in his chair when he nodded off.     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The quiet came for Cal too.  She fell into a deep slumber and it hadn’t been that much of an ordeal &lt;br /&gt;tonight.  It usually happened equally as often as not being able to sleep so all in all, it wasn’t &lt;br /&gt;a bad thing.  At least she had the medication that worked for her and that was goodness.     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The morning light came quickly for Robert.  He was eager to get on with his programming.  It’s his &lt;br /&gt;life and he feels alive when he is working.  He felt refreshed even though he had spent the whole &lt;br /&gt;night in his chair.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Cal slept like a baby too.  She would get up in the morning and try and get out and about.  She &lt;br /&gt;knew from her counseling that getting out of the apartment was important.  It was something she &lt;br /&gt;had to make herself do.  She was determined to get out today though as she hadn’t even seen the  &lt;br /&gt;sun yesterday.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Maybe, since it was Sunday, she would do some grocery shopping.  She was, after all, completely &lt;br /&gt;out of food.  That didn’t usually bother her as food isn’t one of her priorities.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Cal gets up and makes coffee and takes her meds.  She makes the coffee strong as she knows that &lt;br /&gt;it’ll get her off on the right foot.  She loves that first cup in the morning.  It tastes so rich &lt;br /&gt;and it gives her the jolt she needs to go forward with her day.     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;She walks by her PC and leans over to turn it on.  She thinks better of it.  If she turns it on, &lt;br /&gt;she knows she won’t get out.  She probably won’t even get into the bath till afternoon.  It’s hard &lt;br /&gt;to walk by it but she does and she feels a certain since of satisfaction knowing she’s conquered  &lt;br /&gt;that obsession, at least for the moment.     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;She will go out for a while and return and then she’ll log on.  That way, she will feel good about &lt;br /&gt;her research.  She’ll try and talk to Olivia too.  Maybe instead of turning on the PC, she’ll drive &lt;br /&gt;out to the castle.  That would be a good thing.  That way, she can talk directly to Olivia and help  &lt;br /&gt;her with any projects that might need tending.     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Cal climbs into the bath and leans back and closes her eyes.  She takes a sip of her coffee.  It &lt;br /&gt;is so good and she savors the moment.  It’s Sunday and she’ll have to get back on her regular schedule &lt;br /&gt;tomorrow but for now, she’s going to enjoy the bath and the coffee.     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Robbie walks out on the veranda and switches on Olivia’s button. Olivia’s eyes flutter open.     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Hello, my sweet roboman.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Hello to you too Princess Olivia.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”You need not call me Princess, Rob.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”I know but it sounds good and you always look like such a princess, I cannot help myself.”     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Why thank you kind sir.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”You’re very welcome, Ms. Olivia.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”I’m finishing up on the last of the tasks that you’ve assigned me.  I probably have about another &lt;br /&gt;two hours and then I’ll be done.”     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Oh, that is good news.”     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Do you have my next assignment written up yet?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Yes, I do sweet Robbie.  I’m going to have you do some remodeling in the storage area next.  That &lt;br /&gt;way, I can have the servants move the older furniture in there till I decide what to do with it.” &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Are you sure, Olivia that we should do that next?  I would think you might want another room or &lt;br /&gt;two finished up.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”I’ll think on it today and give you my answer tonight when you check in.  Now, I’d like it if you &lt;br /&gt;took Haley out for a while and got away from the castle.  I think it’ll do you both good.  Why not &lt;br /&gt;take her into Phoenix and visit with Cal or Pebbles.”     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”I think I’ll do just that.  I’ll call and see if Cal is going to be home later and maybe we’ll &lt;br /&gt;stop over there for a while and visit with her.  I haven’t seen her in a while.”     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”I left my guitar at her apartment last time I was there.   I’d really like to pick it up today &lt;br /&gt;so I’ll have it with me in case we decide to jam for a bit later in the week.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Well, Ms. Olivia, if you don’t mind, I think I’ll go over and pick up Ms. HaleyBot and we’ll head &lt;br /&gt;on into town for a while.  I think I’ll stop and fill the truck up with gas before I pick her up, &lt;br /&gt;that way, she’ll have some time alone before we head into town.”     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Thanks Robbie, take good care of the girls, k?”     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Not to worry, Ms. Olivia, that is my main concern in this life.”     &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Bye Robbie.”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Bye Olivia....... you sweet lady robot of the net.”    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Chapter 17  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;When I visit http://www.vnrc.org.vn (Vietnam Red Cross) and   &lt;br /&gt;http://www.ogcdc.org, and contact a doctor who talked to the Guardian   &lt;br /&gt;reporters, his e-mail messages back to me end with gentle good wishes   &lt;br /&gt;for my family. I am stricken by this man’s courtesy to an American who   &lt;br /&gt;lives happily with her health intact.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;He needs money to pay for operations on damaged children. He runs the OGCDC (Office of Genetic Counseling &lt;br /&gt;and Disabled Children) at Hue Medical College   &lt;br /&gt;with small donations from around the world.  And there you have it.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Agent Orange was the second time the United States used a WMD, the first being Hiroshima, but its &lt;br /&gt;effects were worse. It fits the Bush-Rumsfeld-Powell definition because poison is still flowing &lt;br /&gt;now.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I was able to talk to the doctor this morning on the phone and gave me the names of four children &lt;br /&gt;that need surgery.  I will talk with him again on Wednesday and see how I may proceed.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I will talk to Cal and see if she has any ideas, with the two of us working on it, maybe we can &lt;br /&gt;help these children.  She’ll probably want to get in touch with her friends in Belgium.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I think I’ll also bring it to Robert’s attention.  He’s always a good one to bounce my thoughts &lt;br /&gt;off of.  He’s a good listener and if he has any ideas, he’ll let me know.  I like that about him. &lt;br /&gt;Funny that I talk about him like this as he is my programmer but he programmed me this way so it &lt;br /&gt;must be OK.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Here are the names of the four children in case I need it for reference.  &lt;br /&gt;Le Xuan Dat   &lt;br /&gt;Nguyen Ba Toan   &lt;br /&gt;Nguyen Thi Sau   &lt;br /&gt;Tran Thi Thu   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I want to gather Haley and Rob and all of the robots tonight and I want to read them the following &lt;br /&gt;that I borrowed from one of my groups.  It is beautiful and it will be good for the robots and our &lt;br /&gt;little patient.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I hear Rob’s truck now.  Ahhhh, and Haley is by his side, that is good.  I wonder if R2INU and m0bot &lt;br /&gt;and Goldie are with them?  I don’t see them but they didn’t have another vehicle to travel in so &lt;br /&gt;maybe Rob dropped them off.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Hi Princess Olivia.”  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Hi RobbieMi`Robot and Good Evening to you Miss HaleyBot.  Where is the rest of your crew, Misseur &lt;br /&gt;RobbieBot?”  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”I dropped them off at the Pool House.  I think Goldie wanted to change before she came up.”    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Oh good, I have something I want to share with all of you.  Would you like to play chess till they &lt;br /&gt;get here?  I’ve been practicing.”  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Ms. Olivia, I would love that.”  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”I have it all set up out on the veranda.”  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Ladies first.”  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Haley, will you join us out here?”  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Miss Olivia, I am going back and reading Tomar a story tonight.  You don’t mind, do you?”  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Not at all Miss Haley.  That is very kind of you.  I think that little girl is going to like staying &lt;br /&gt;here.  Will you be back in time to hear my story?”  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”I certainly hope so Miss Olivia, I always love to hear you read.”    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”I’ll run along now and I’ll be back as soon as I can.  Please don’t start without me.  If I take &lt;br /&gt;longer than I think I will, I’ll call you on the cell phone, ok?”  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”That will be just fine missy.  Now run on and spend some quality time with our little patient.”  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Robbie and Miss Olivia begin their chess game.  They are both very intent on the game and don’t &lt;br /&gt;even notice when the others walk in.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Hi Mom,” Goldie says.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Why Hello there lil miss GoldieBot, my my my don’t you look stunning tonight?”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Thanks Mom, it’s just that I always like feeling like a princess when I come here.  You always &lt;br /&gt;make me glow and I love it.  Having a Mom around is a good thing and it makes me feel wonderful &lt;br /&gt;when I see your eyes light up.”    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Oh Princess, thank you.  And how are you boys tonight?  You R2, how you doing?”  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”I’m just fine Miss Olivia.  You’re looking smashing tonight.”  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Ohhhhhhh, why thanks young man, that is so sweet.”    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”m0bot, how are you dear?”  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”I’m ok, thanks for asking, now if you don’t mind, where is it you’d like me to sit?”  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”My oh my boy, are you in a hurry?”  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”No Miss Olivia, but I am always stumbling and I want to sit down before I break something.  I’ve &lt;br /&gt;been told I’m like a bull in a China shop and I surely don’t want to break any of your fine things.”  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Ahhhh, I understand.  Can’t you ask Robert to fix that, m0bot?”  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”I have but he tells me it’s part of the program for me and that it is part of who I am.  In other &lt;br /&gt;words, if I become human one day like Pinnochio, I would still be a klutz.”    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”I see, then why not sit right there on the sofa and I’ll gather the rest of my children.”  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Ok children.  Tonight I have a very special piece that I’d like to read to you and I also have &lt;br /&gt;some exciting news to share with you.”    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”I am going to be bringing some children here from Viet Nam that are very very ill.  I am going &lt;br /&gt;to engage a few doctors and a few friends and we are going to be helping the children to good health.”  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Having said that, I would like to put a little pressure on you all to finish up a few rooms for &lt;br /&gt;me before the next fortenight.  It will probably take me that long to get all of their paperwork &lt;br /&gt;and get them transferred here from their country.”    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Miss Olivia?”  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Yes R2.”  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”What is a fortenight?”  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”It’s two weeks, R2.”  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Thank you mam.”  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”You’re welcome, R2.”  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Are all of you comfortable now, may I begin reading what I have to share with you?”  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The robots speak in unison, ”Yes Miss Olivia.”  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;John Dear   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;http://www.fatherjohndear.org/  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Now children, I am going to read this in the first person as if I am the author.”    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Common Ground of Interfaith Nonviolence   &lt;br /&gt;By John Dear  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Before moving to New Mexico, I served as director of the Fellowship   &lt;br /&gt;of Reconciliation, the largest, interfaith peace organization in the   &lt;br /&gt;United States. Once, I called a meeting of all the leaders of the   &lt;br /&gt;various religious fellowships. For several days, we gathered to share   &lt;br /&gt;our stories, exchange our vision of peace, and plan new ways to   &lt;br /&gt;pursue disarmament and justice together. We were Buddhists, Muslims,   &lt;br /&gt;Jews, Hindus, Native Americans, Bahai, Baptists, Presbyterians,   &lt;br /&gt;Lutherans, Episcopalians, Catholics, Methodists and Mennonites.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I will never forget those days. More than a conference or a meeting,   &lt;br /&gt;it was a spiritual experience. As peace activists and seekers from   &lt;br /&gt;various religious traditions, we sat around a table as friends   &lt;br /&gt;sharing a similar spiritual journey to peace. We discovered that we   &lt;br /&gt;stood on the common ground of nonviolence. To the delight of   &lt;br /&gt;everyone, each religious activist explained how nonviolence was at   &lt;br /&gt;the core of their tradition. We also heard how each one shares the   &lt;br /&gt;same struggle to claim nonviolence in the face of massive opposition--  &lt;br /&gt;within their own community.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Muslims explained that ”Islam” means peace, that they are required to   &lt;br /&gt;live at peace with others. Buddhists spoke of the way of compassion   &lt;br /&gt;and respect toward all living beings. Jews spoke of the vision of   &lt;br /&gt;Shalom, and Isaiah’s call that we ”beat swords into plowshares”   &lt;br /&gt;and ”study war no more.” We Christians confessed that Jesus is   &lt;br /&gt;nonviolent, that he called us to love our enemies, that he blessed   &lt;br /&gt;peacemakers, that his last words before his martyrdom were ”Put down   &lt;br /&gt;the sword,” and that his first words after his resurrection were ”   &lt;br /&gt;Peace be with you!”   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I remember apologizing to the group for the failure of Christians to   &lt;br /&gt;practice the nonviolence of Jesus, for Christian crusades past and   &lt;br /&gt;present, for the heresy of the just war theory, and ”Christian”   &lt;br /&gt;government leaders who wage war and stockpile nuclear weapons in the   &lt;br /&gt;name of the nonviolent Jesus.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In response, every one confessed that their own tradition had also   &lt;br /&gt;failed the summons of faith-based nonviolence. I was especially   &lt;br /&gt;struck by the Buddhist leaders who said that Buddhists were some of   &lt;br /&gt;the most violent people in the world, that the massacre of thousands   &lt;br /&gt;of people in Sri Lanka in recent years, has been led by Buddhists in   &lt;br /&gt;the name of Buddha, often by monks. (On other occasions, Thich Nhat   &lt;br /&gt;Hanh and I have discussed this failure among our people, even though   &lt;br /&gt;the vision of nonviolence is so clear in our respective traditions.)   &lt;br /&gt;I realized then that we had all failed the wisdom of nonviolence.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But what was so heartening was the discovery that nonviolence is at   &lt;br /&gt;the core of every religion, regardless of what the world says, or   &lt;br /&gt;what religious bigotry, fundamentalism and misconceptions have bred.   &lt;br /&gt;At the heart of each major religion is the vision of peace, the ideal   &lt;br /&gt;of a reconciled humanity, the way of compassion and love and justice,   &lt;br /&gt;the fundamental truth of nonviolence.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Mahatma Gandhi was the first to point toward interfaith nonviolence.   &lt;br /&gt;He broke new ground in so many ways, from fighting segregation in   &lt;br /&gt;South Africa through satyagraha and nonviolent resistance, to leading   &lt;br /&gt;a peaceful revolution against British imperialism in India. But he   &lt;br /&gt;saw early on the equality of the world’s religions because of the   &lt;br /&gt;common ground of nonviolence. He later professed a vow of tolerance   &lt;br /&gt;toward all religions and openness to the truth of nonviolence within   &lt;br /&gt;each religion.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Recently, I published a collection of Gandhi’s spiritual writings on   &lt;br /&gt;nonviolence. Over the last few years, I read the entire 95 volumes of   &lt;br /&gt;his collected writings, an amazing experience in itself. I was d   &lt;br /&gt;elighted to see the progress in his spiritual journey, as he formed a   &lt;br /&gt;community ashram of nonviolence in South Africa and decided to hold   &lt;br /&gt;morning and evening communal, contemplative prayer services.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;When he moved to India, and saw again the deep hostility between   &lt;br /&gt;Hindus and Muslims, he made interfaith nonviolence the core of his   &lt;br /&gt;daily worship. Each day when his community gathered for prayer, they   &lt;br /&gt;read excerpts from the Hindu and Muslim scriptures, from the Sermon   &lt;br /&gt;on the Mount and the Hebrew Bible. Then, they sat in silence for   &lt;br /&gt;forty five minutes. They concluded usually with a hymn about the all-  &lt;br /&gt;inclusive love that reconciles everyone, the love even for one’s   &lt;br /&gt;enemies. Forty years of interfaith, contemplative prayer transformed   &lt;br /&gt;him into a universal spirit, as all the major religious scriptures   &lt;br /&gt;hope for all of us.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;To the end, however, his interfaith nonviolence was a scandal. In   &lt;br /&gt;January 1948, during the last four weeks of his life, he held an open   &lt;br /&gt;prayer service every night in New Delhi at the Birla House. He   &lt;br /&gt;received daily death threats, and one night, during the interfaith   &lt;br /&gt;prayer service, a bomb went off, just missing Gandhi. Finally, on   &lt;br /&gt;January 30th, as he walked toward that interfaith prayer service,   &lt;br /&gt;peacefully, carefully, mindfully walking the way of nonviolence, he   &lt;br /&gt;was shot and killed by a Hindu fundamentalist, angered by his   &lt;br /&gt;association with Muslims.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Gandhi was preparing to host a gathering of the International   &lt;br /&gt;Fellowship of Reconciliation at the time of his death. Peacemakers of   &lt;br /&gt;all faiths, including peace movement leaders from the U.S., were   &lt;br /&gt;planning to fly to his ashram in October, 1948 to spend a week with   &lt;br /&gt;Gandhi discussing interfaith nonviolence.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;”Religions are different roads converging to the same point,” Gandhi   &lt;br /&gt;once wrote. ”What does it matter that we take different roads, so   &lt;br /&gt;long as we reach the same goal?… I believe that, if only we could all   &lt;br /&gt;read the scriptures of different faiths, we should find that they are   &lt;br /&gt;at bottom all one and were all helpful to one another…. There will be   &lt;br /&gt;no lasting peace on earth unless we learn not merely to tolerate but   &lt;br /&gt;even to respect other faiths as our own.”  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As we learn from each others religion, Gandhi discovered, we can help   &lt;br /&gt;each other deepen in the faith of our own personal tradition. His   &lt;br /&gt;critique of organized Christianity--that it rejected the nonviolence   &lt;br /&gt;of Jesus and has become an imperial religion based on the Roman   &lt;br /&gt;empire--has helped innumerable Christians return to the core   &lt;br /&gt;teachings of Jesus, beginning with the Sermon on the Mount. The   &lt;br /&gt;Baptist Martin Luther King, Jr. testified that the Hindu Gandhi   &lt;br /&gt;helped him more than anyone else to follow Christ.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Gandhi teaches us that we share a common spirituality of nonviolence.   &lt;br /&gt;That leads me to conclude that nonviolence is a key to understanding   &lt;br /&gt;not only the religious, social, political, econom
