Woolsey emerged from under the stands wearing some sort of white padded getup, a helmet under one arm. He talked with two men who were doing something...important under the hood of some kind of souped-up Dodge. Dark green with a lot of decals and the number 14 painted on the two doors.I wandered through the crowd standing along the oval track. Two miles. Most of the people seemed to know one of the drivers; there was a lot of friendly bantering.I was bored about five minutes into the noisy race.. But what was the meaning of the zero? The five is a low number could it signify someone important?" Could I be the fifth most important person in the country?" she asked herself. She shook her head in disbelief.A deer or some other creature jumped in the road. She slammed the brakes stopping well short of the creature. It looked at her; then made six steps before a left turn. The creature disappeared into the snow-covered forest. A quick look in the rear-view mirror revealed that the half-track. May Day was the annual festival of the bath and that was months in the past. These people had bathed much more recently, even the children.Gregor had gone to the Captain of the garrison to determine when they would get their clothes and possessions back. They had heard talk that everything coming from outside had to be fumigated, whatever that meant. Gregor, being the senior member of the two, had the obligation of figuring out "whatever that meant."As Stefan made his way back to the garrison. It was obvious just from the memories of what had happened in the last cycle, and the time after, that love played a huge part in the ancient rituals that were a major part of our power. The ceremony followed when certain parts of their power was used, the 'Do you love me?' and 'Do you trust me?' mantras showed how the love and trust of others, particularly, apparently, those enjoying the status of "parents' or 'leaders' or 'adults' was critical to the full exercise of our powers. It also.