The soldier looked at her doubtfully.

Angie removed her wallet from her purse, and extracted her driver's license. She handed it over to the man. "Glad I had my name changed back," she muttered. "This doesn't need to be any more complicated."

Mike prudently just kept his mouth shut, for a change.

Kerry leaned slowly over and handed her own ID over, in a leather folder that held not only her driver's license, but her passport and corporate ID. "Here you go."

The soldier took both ID's and stepped back. Another man joined him and shone a flashlight on the documents.

"Got mom's cell phone number?" Kerry asked, keeping her voice low.

"Yep," Angie answered. "Hope we don't need it." She glanced behind her. "Give me your license Mike."

"I don't have it with me," he answered, in a small voice. "I left my wallet in my car."

Angie closed her eyes and exhaled. "And you called me a retard."

"Can you open the trunk please, ma'am?" the guard said.

Angie and Kerry exchanged looks. "Oh boy." Angie triggered the trunk lock. "I'm trying to remember what I have in there. Hope it wasn't the diapers."

Kerry faced forward and folded her arms over her chest, very aware of the men watching through the window. "I guess given what happened Ang, they don't have any choice. I'd rather be sure, even though this is creepy as hell."

"True." Angie looked out as the soldier came back. She heard the trunk slam.

The soldier handed her back her ID, then he leaned forward and handed Kerry hers with a little duck of his head. "Ma'am."

"Thanks." Kerry took the leather portfolio, and put it back in her briefcase. Then she gave the soldier a smile. "Long night?"

"Long day," the man responded. "Gonna be a lot of them." He looked back at Angie. "Go down the road there ma'am. There is a guard in front of that little terminal. They'll ask for ID again. The Senator's not here yet, but I got a radio call that she's on the way and will be here in a few minutes. Said she was expecting you."

"Thank you." Angie said. "Very, very much."

"You ladies be careful, okay?" the soldier said. "This is not a night to be out driving." He lifted his hand, and the other soldiers went over to pick up the barrier, moving it aside to let them through.

Angie put the car into drive and eased through the gates, passing the cluster of soldiers and their trucks and gaining the relative safety of the short road that led to the airport terminal building. "I don't think he noticed Mike."

"Not if he called me a lady he didn't." Mike finally scraped up the courage to lean forward and sling his arms over the seat. "I think he liked Kerry. He was nice to her."

"Yes, he was." Angie glanced at her sister, with a grin. "But then, she was always the magnet in the family."

Kerry eyed them. "He probably recognized the logo of the company that handles his paycheck," she remarked dryly. "But if it's like this here, what's it going to be like where we're going?"

Angie parked the car. "I don't know, but no matter how much it's needed, I don't like it." She indicated the squad of armed soldiers waiting for them, complete with helmets and side arms.

"Me either," Mike agreed. "Too forties movielike."

Kerry zipped up her jacket and opened the door letting in a rush of pine scented cold air. "Well, let's just hope for the best." She got out of the car and picked up her briefcase, seeing the bright lights on the small plane in the field beyond. "Cause I'm not sure we've got a lot of choice right now."

"Crazy," Angie said, as they walked toward the line of armed soldiers. "Just crazy."

KERRY SLIPPED PAST the crowd of aides and found a seat near the front of the plane where it was quieter. The aircraft had eight seats, plush and comfortable, and she settled into the one nearest the cockpit and stowed her briefcase.

Her mother and her three aides were clustered toward the rear of the plane where the four seats were turned facing each other with small tables to work on.

Kerry leaned back and crossed her legs at the ankles, glancing at the two empty seats nearby and wishing her siblings weren't back in Angie's car waiting to watch them leave.

Safety in numbers? Kerry had to admit she'd always felt more comfortable and a bit more anonymous in the presence of her siblings at family events. Even though she tended to stick out with her fair hair and shorter stature, it still had diluted the attention.

Well. She folded her hands in her lap and twiddled her thumbs. Here she was.

"Kerrison?" Her mother was looking around the plane.

Kerry looked past the set of seats opposite her. "Over here." She lifted one hand and let it drop. "Thought I'd stay out of the way."

"Oh." Her mother studied her for a moment. "If you like, one of my aides can sit over there, and you can sit here with the rest of us."

Kerry smiled. "I'm sure you have work to do," she demurred. "I'm fine over here. After all, I'm just hitching a ride." She caught a look of relief out of the corner of her eye from the aides. "It's not that long a flight."

"True enough. Possibly two hours," Cynthia said. "Very well, we will continue our business." She went back to her discussion, dismissing Kerry to sit quietly in her corner.

That suited Kerry just fine. She fished in her briefcase and removed a magazine from it, laying the pages open on her lap and turning the reading light on.

Colorful fish faced her. She turned to an article on underwater photography and relaxed, leaning against the chair arm as she read.

She glanced at her watch, and then went back to the review of new models of underwater cameras. She had seen divers with rigs the size of small minivans taking pictures and she knew the results were often spectacular. She herself was more prone to moderation in her gear, preferring to trade off professional quality for ease of use and handling.

However, the enticing possibility of filming Dar swimming underwater in high resolution, now--

"Kerrison?"

"Huh?" Kerry looked up to find her mother looking back at her, two of the soldiers at her side. "Ah, yes?"

"This gentleman wishes a word with you." Her mother indicated one of the men. "I hope there's no problem."

Kerry wondered what problem her mother thought would involve her and the Michigan National Guard. "Sure, what can I do for you?" she asked, closing the magazine and setting it aside. "Sit down. " She indicated the seat across from her.

The man came over and sat down gingerly, moving his automatic rifle out of the way. "Sorry to bother you, Ms. Stuart," he said, "but I got a favor to ask."

Kerry was aware of a silence behind the man, as everyone else listened in. "If I can help, sure." She gave the soldier a smile. It was her friend from the gate, she realized, a tall man with sandy brown hair and a square, Midwestern face.

"My brother Joshua works for your company," he said, without preamble. "He works out in Manhattan. He runs cable for you all."

"Okay." Kerry nodded. "We have a service office there, yes."

"We haven't been able to talk to him since last night and my mother's having a heart attack," he said. "Do you know if he's okay?"

Yikes. Kerry took out her PDA. "Let me see if I can find out for you," she said. "His name is Joshua."

"Douglass," the man supplied. "He's my brother."

Kerry typed out a quick message to Mark. "I'll give that a minute, and if no answer I can log onto our systems and check," she said. "I know there are a lot of people that couldn't be contacted. The phones are jammed up and a lot of lines are down."

The soldier nodded. "That's what they said on the television." He glanced behind him. "Sorry to cut in here, ma'am," he addressed the Senator. "Uh, and you know--the press is here too, wanting to take pictures, I guess."

"Are they?" Cynthia asked, sharply. "Oh my. I didn't think we notified them we were leaving tonight, did we Charles?"

"I'll go see them." One of the aides immediately rose. "Shall I bring them onboard?"

"Well--"

"Let me see what their angle is," the aide said, scooting for the door. "It could be a good op."

"Guess I should have said that first," the soldier said to Cynthia. "Sorry about that Ma'am."

"Please." Cynthia held a hand up. "Your family is more important than the press, or I should hope!" She came over and took the seat on the other side of Kerry. "Let's hope for good news."

Kerry's PDA beeped and she opened it, crossing her toes as she scanned the note. "Hm." She picked up her cell phone and dialed a number. "Let's see what this is about--Mark?"

"Hey, Kerry."

Mark's voice sounded relaxed, which made the sudden knot in her gut relax. "What's up? Do we have anything on the name I sent you?"

"That's why I'm calling," Mark said. "I thought it was so completely freaking weird that you sent me that note when I was actually on the phone with that same guy," he said. "How did you do that?"

"You were?" Kerry asked. "Oh, wow!"

"Still am," Mark said. "So what's the deal with him? He's one of our line techs. Spent the whole damn day getting out of Manhattan and ended upstate near Buffalo," he said. "He got the alerts on his cell but couldn't answer and then turned it off for a while."

Kerry looked up to see her mother and the soldier watching her anxiously. Behind them, the sound of people approaching echoed. "Can you conference me in? I have his brother here."

"For sure," Mark said. "Hang on a sec." He clicked off, and then clicked back on. "Okay, we're here. Say hi to Kerry, Joshua."