He'd driven her to the airport this morning, since the Gunny had been told he had a staff meeting to attend, one taking place earlier than usual. She ...ondered what that was about, but the Gunny would tell her when she called tonight.Lenore felt uneasy. Not, as she had earlier, like a fake in her uniform, but her unease was more uncertainty that she'd measure up against the other Enlisted enrolling in the Officer Candidate NROTC program. She'd gathered that the class being sworn in (the purpose. They intercepted U.S. Highway 2, flew through the Stevens Pass notch, then turned and flew eighty miles southwest. They went direct to Camp Murray, the Washington National Guard Headquarters near south Tacoma. General Mikelsen was waiting with his aide.Tib spoke briefly to the General, who stared disbelievingly at Tib and his crew for a moment. He then barked at his aide: "Son, run ahead and clear the way to my office. I want nobody standing around or peeking out of their office door. Get the. . ... Reserve power unit not responding... ... Error Back up systems disabled... ... Critical system failure in 20 minutes... That was it, in 20 minutes I would be nothing more then a pile of burnt of computer chips and wires. With my back up systems gone and no power, when my battery died I would die with it. Even without this I was in such a bad state I wouldn't have made the night.I lay there a mass of metal, praying that there was a god and wondering if he would take pity on a creation of. "Just think of this as field research." Heather laughed.Heather caught the barmaid's attention and ordered two beers. She spent a few moments chatting with the six-foot muscular blond after the two bottles had been deposited on the bar. The conversation was long enough for the older girl to realize that Heather was a regular here."Cheers," Heather said as she handled Amber her bottle and took a long pull from her own.Amber took a small drink as well, watching as her companion tilted her bottle.