Chapter 23

Erin returned to her own time. Junior was crying. She quickly cleaned and changed the boy then flopped her tit out of her silky robe to feed him. She sat in the rocker humming softly to her son. Her mind searched their pent house apartment to show that her husband was still sleeping. It was just starting to dawn. She recalled what Mr. Olson told her about the Insurrection.

It at first seemed like a race riot between three major factions. Blacks, Hispanics, and Whites. However this was a ruse on the part of the Elites to gain absolute power over the entire population. Units of the marines and army were sent in to quell these uprisings. They were no match for the big tanks rolling down all the streets of the major cities in America. There were napalm and flastic bombs dropped on these people. Flastics were a brand new weapon which was so powerful that the concussion alone killed more than the initial blast alone.

Rifles and automatic weapons like AK-47's were no match for these tanks using their laser enhanced weaponry. Behind the armor, the casualties were one sided. A few soldiers were wounded by stray bullets but the wholesale slaughter brought the Insurrection to a quick halt. The Elites had won. Olson had given her names of the leaders. Most were in college or in the business field planning a run in politics at this time. As far as she could gather these people had committed no crime as yet. How could justice be met if the person had not done the crime yet? Erin had to think of a way to steer these future criminals into an entire new direction.

But how? Alter their lives to the point where all involved would have other interests? What if others of the Elite group came and filled the void? Erin knew that she had to find who these people are. She had to look up the names Mr. Olson then find out what colleges they attended and if they belonged to any secret societies. Erin would have to research their biographies. Now most of them were either in high school or college. Another component was if any or all of them were Blenders/Breeders! These and more ideas came to her as Junior ate his fill.

"Our best Destroyer hasn't been able to find 1142. Has it found a way to to mask its identity?"

"That is most likely the case," the other conspirator said. "That is why 3232 hasn't been able to find 1142. That is the only way to explain why it was able to disappear like that. We have to call in 1247 to find a way to pierce whatever it has put up between it and us. Then we can deal with 1142 appropriately."

"See to it at once. Once we learn we will be able to find it, then we can either convince it to serve our cause or liquidate it. The last we heard of it was when it slew our Destroyer many Earth years ago. How it could disappear from sight or was able to dodge our tracking it is still an enigma to us. When it is in our hands, we'll make it tell us."

Kent, Erin, and Junior flew down to McPherson Island February and March. Duane and Barbara left the place spotless as they landed on a warm and sunny day. Being in the Southern Hemisphere the weather was perfect. Erin told both Barbara and April to come down to be with them and meet their new nephew. Barbara couldn't take the time off so soon after their recent vacation but April and Lana grabbed the opportunity to leave the cold Alaskan winter for a month in the tropics. Kent flew back to Tahiti to pick them up while Erin took Junior to the falls to teach him to swim.

Though he was only three months old, Junior, with his mother's help, took to the water like a fish. Already he acted about a year old and was able to crawl. Erin would sit in the sun and watch her child dog paddle back and forth in the small pool. She made sure that he wouldn't go over the edge down the swift moving stream and into the ocean where her chance of rescuing him would be limited. Of course she'd sacrifice herself for her son but she was fast enough to race to downhill to be on hand when he reached the bottom.

"It's good to see you, Aunt Erin," April said as she hugged her mother.

"We don't hug enough," Erin said. Then she turned and welcomed Lana into the family with a firm hug.

"Thank you for inviting me," Lana said with a big smile. She had Auburn hair with a short cut, blue eyes, plain face but pretty nonetheless and it looked like she labored to keep the pounds off. She had a nice body for the moment but once she stopped working out, Erin could see she'd have trouble keeping her weight down. April, on the other hand, had the figure of her mother when she was May Marks.

"How are your parents doing?"

"Making money hand over fist with all their apartments," April laughed. "As you know Daddy wanted to be a dentist but now he owns a large portion of Fairbanks."

"Your father was always smart," Erin picked up Junior and leaned back into the arms of Kent. He nibbled her ears and kissed the back of her neck. Erin elbowed him to behave himself. At least until they were alone in their room.

Erin gave them the grand tour of the island starting with the house. Lana was awed by the modern conveniences and the tons of canned goods stored in the attached shed and the walk-in freezer that kept all the meats and other perishables from spoiling. Both April and Lana now knew that Barbara's boasting of the house was not exaggerated. She had prepared a light lunch for all with lemonade. All sat at the table eating as they made plans to walk around the island the next day.