"Yes, she's done her penance and isall yours now, Colonel."The older man nodded. "Very good. Thank you, I'll take it from here." Good, I'll leave her ...ith you then." He shook the woman's hand. "It'sbeen a pleasure. I look forward to seeing you later." Thank you, Jeff." Nicole smiled at him as he left, then turned back tothe Colonel. The smile was gone; his face was stern."Ms. Harrison, please take a seat." There was no hint of warmth in thevoice.Nicole quickly took her place in one of the. The Queen took a deep breath and for the hundred time tonight tried to push her fear for her daughter’s safety out of her mind. Chandra was in the goddesses hands now, Kailya had to be ready. She stood up and walked around her study, it was early in the morning and she hadn’t slept at all. Whatever she did, the mother of three could not shake the feeling of dread. She calmed herself down and sat down again, resolutely picking up her pen. At least Valdis had been scarce tonight, she had been. She could sense a number of her children converging on this city, coming to enforce the one and only true law that bound them. In the holds of ships, the cargo bays of planes and in the backs of trucks they moved ever closer, as cold and implacable as a glacier. Had humans witnessed any of the titanic conflicts that would have ensued if Arthur had still been alive upon the arrival of the others, no mortal would have rested until every last nook and cranny of the planet had been thoroughly. ”He used the two remotes, first turning the TV on, then turning the cable box on. There was a written guide showing the stations we’d get, so while we finished up breakfast, he tuned it first to a Kansas City news station, then to CNN.There was a commercial that played, then the screen switched to a man sitting behind a desk. “Welcome back, to CNN, I’m Lou Dobbs. In international news this morning, Reuters is reporting that the Mehrabad Airport has been shut down, possibly due to Iraqi.