”She shrugged and put my order in. I pulled out The Economist and started reading about the end of the KGB and the major changes in the Soviet Union... To me, though, the more immediate problem was Yugoslavia. There was an all-out civil war in progress by my estimation, and I could only see it ending with the dissolution of the country. My concern was my knowledge of history. World War I had started in that same area, and basically in the same way. Bosnia and Serbia going at it, and the rest of. "Oh, sorry," I gave a half laugh."Oh don't worry, it's a gonna be a flamin' hard job. You're gonna be workin' your nuts off, and you are not gonna be safe too often. Potentially it could be quite dangerous." Oh?" I only know the overview. Wilkerson will give you the project details, and tell you your role." If Wilkerson was the bad news, what's the good?" You get a promotion." He stuck out his hand. "Congratulations. You are now Major Carter."I was too surprised to do anything but shake his. North of Gutandor is the island's capitol of Morgent, and inland to the East the foreboding Dragon's Spine mountains, where mythical creatures of all types are said to dwell. Beyond these mountains is said to be the city of the damned, where cursed souls became trapped when they fled the mortal coil. Legends speak of the armies of this city, the dead and their tormenters, marching on Morgent and all of the island. But this, this happened long ago and was of no concern to the king and his people. He’d carried a torch for Mary for a long time.When John had started sniffing around her, Ben had sent him off to college. Mary had been in her forties at the time, but she was still the hottest looking forty-year-old in town.While many of the women around her true age had started letting things slip, Mary still had the body of a twenty-year-old and hadn’t gotten into the habit of hiding it. Most people put it down to her single status as to why she still looked so good.Ben had been worried.