Dante could only see dimly lit
corridors, he saw figures moving, he had been in these passages many times in
his dreams, but he had no idea where he was.

“You OK, young fella?”

Dante slowly regained
consciousness, he looked up and saw that he was still at the wheel of the car,
still in the corn field. He saw an old man at the window.

“What happened? Where am I?”
Dante asked.

“Fell asleep at the wheel by the
look of it.” The man replied. Dante got out of the car and stretched. Every
inch of his body hurt. He looked at the trail his car had made deep into the
corn field.

“Sorry about the corn. I can
pay for the damages.” He said apologetically.

“Don’t worry sonny, just find a
safer place to sleep at night next time.” The farmer said and walked back
along the trail to his tractor. He got back into the car, he noticed the small
box and cautiously peered inside. The small gray mouse lay sleeping inside.

“Great, just great. It wasn’t a
dream.” He said and reversed the car out and back onto the road. He was
hungry, he hadn’t eaten since breakfast the previous day. He stopped at a
convenience store. He looked at the pay phone. He wanted to call his Aunt Rita
or Uncle George, but he was to afraid of what he might learn. He gassed up the
car and bought a sandwich and a large cup of coffee. He drove off, lost in his
thoughts.

“Hey, that smells good, how
about sharing? I haven’t eaten in years.” A weak voice came from beside him.
He pulled to the side of a secluded country road. The mouse was standing
looking over the edge of the box, looking up at him. Dante broke off a corner
of his sandwich and handed it to the mouse, who eyed it hungrily and quickly began
devouring it. Dante searched the floor of the car and found a bottle cap. He
poured a few drops of coffee into it and handed it the mouse.

“I forgot to thank you back at
the lab, Dante. You saved my life.” Jonathan said.

“How do you know my name?”
Dante asked. The mouse smiled.

“Think back, don’t you recognize
me? We have known each other for many years, perhaps not directly, but we have
met many times before.” Jonathan said. Dante had a momentary flash of
recognition.

“I remember a rosebush, a
farmhouse, a cinderblock, you and some others.” He said in astonishment as he
grasped for any more details in the memory. The memory was brief but very
vivid.

“Yes, The rats lived in the
rosebush in front of the Fitzgibbons farmhouse. The cinderblock was where I
lived with my family. See, you do remember. I know its just bits and pieces
right now, but it’ll all come back to you.” Jonathan said encouragingly.

“Why do I remember you?”
Dante asked with panic in his voice.

“For now lets just say that we
have a strong connection because you are the son of our creator, Dr. Schultz.”
Jonathan said and continued eating. Dante sat there and soon his mind was
flooded with images. The farm, the cinderblock, sorrow, the rosebush. The
valley again, fields of grain, corridors filled with rats, one in particular
wore a necklace with a red stone. Then the memory faded.

“All these things I’m seeing are
the things from my dreams, the dreams I’ve had since childhood. Do you mean to
say they’re real?” He asked.

“As real as I am.” Jonathan
replied.

“Last night you said that Thorn
Valley was in trouble. Is that the valley I see in my dreams?”

“Yes, my friend and it’s in
terrible danger. We need to get there before it’s to late.” Jonathan said
with great seriousness.

“Why does all this involve me?
Why have I been dreaming about this all my life?” Dante demanded. Jonathan
quickly finished his sandwich.

“I wish we had the luxury of
doing this the easy way, but there just isn’t time.” Jonathan said and to
Dante’s astonishment, Jonathan’s eyes glowed bright white and then he raised a
hand toward him and suddenly Dante felt something touch his mind. He felt his
mind filling with images, the dim and vaguely remembered thoughts and images
that had cluttered and accumulated in his mind over a lifetime were suddenly
made clear. Some things were vague and incomprehensible, but collective
memories were strong and very vivid. What he saw was life through the eyes of
the rats and mice that had been part of project Titan. He was with them in the
cages, he was with them in their escape, he felt the sorrow for those that were
lost, he traveled with them as they wandered, looking for a home. He was
there with them at the rosebush. He remembered Nicodemus, Justin, Jenner and
all the others. He saw Jonathan and his family. He witnessed the death of
Nicodemus and mourned his passing, He saw Jonathan’s wife use the stone to save
her children and the rats hurried flight to Thorn Valley. He saw the community
that the rats built and he witnessed their hardships and triumphs. The last
feeling he had was that of impending danger. All these things were more than
just images, they felt as real to him as anything he had ever experienced, it
was like living an entire lifetime in moments. Then he felt Jonathan’s grip on
his mind withdraw.

“I’m sorry to have had to do
that. But as I said we haven’t much time.” Jonathan said. Dante was to
shaken by the emotional overload to respond. Deep within himself he felt the
urge to help the people of Thorn Valley. It felt like his duty.

“I...still don’t understand.
How could I have seen these things? They feel so real, so personal to me.” Dante
said, his voice trembling with emotions. Jonathan sighed.

“Do you really want to know why
you are a part of us?” He asked. Dante shuddered, remembering what happened
the last time someone asked him a question like that.

“Yes.” Dante said with
determination.

“Are you sure? Your not going
to like it.”

“I’m ready for anything, nothing
you can say could possibly shock or surprise me now.”

“When I tell you, you may change
your mind about that.”

“Please, tell me!” Dante
shouted.

“Very well, Dante, that scar you
have on your head, you didn’t get that from falling out of a tree.” Jonathan
said calmly.

“What are you talking about.
Where else would I have gotten it?” He asked, already growing nervous.

“It goes across the right side
of your skull, from here to here.” Jonathan said and he drew a finger across
his own head to demonstrate.

“How did you know that?” He
asked with panic in his voice.

“Because all the lab animals
from project Titan had the same surgery as part of the experiment.” He
responded. Dante was silent with shock. Jonathan continued.

“Your father removed tiny parts
of our brains and implanted them into your brain. You were the first human
subject of project Titan. Your father wanted to see if the parts of our brains
that contained these strange powers would cause any manifestations in you.
Unfortunately, the only manifestation he saw were your dreams and
hallucinations, which were in fact telepathic contacts with the animals that
were in the other part of the experiment. You see, your conscious mind was
with the human race, but your subconscious mind was with the ‘Rat race’. You
are part of us, one of us. You now have a chance to discover and experience
this other part of your life that has been hidden from you for so long.”
Jonathan concluded.

Dante sat silent for several
minutes. Then he flung open the door and ran into the grassy meadow beside the
road, he threw himself to the ground and just looked up at the sky. Several
minutes later Jonathan came running up beside him, holding his side, panting
from the exertion.

“Don’t do that, your legs are a
lot longer than mine.”

“You were right, Jonathan. I
wasn’t ready for that.”

“Its understandable. How could
a person prepare themselves for news like that?”

“I just can’t believe my father
would do something like that to me. I’m his son, how could he experiment on
his own son?” Dante asked in anguish.

“Your father was a man obsessed
with his work, in his mind there was nothing in the world more important than
the experiment. Not even family.” Jonathan said comfortingly. Dante lay on
the grass, his mind filled with the new memories.

“Its just not possible. Our
brains are just to different, it would be impossible for your brain tissue to
be successfully transplanted and function in a human brain. The physiology of
our neural...” he struggled to end that sentence. He wracked his brain for
the knowledge of science, biology, chemistry and genetics he had spent the last
four years studying. It was as if it had all been wiped away. He grabbed
Jonathan and stood suddenly.

“Why can’t I remember anything
scientific? I spent a fortune at an ivy league college to learn that stuff and
now I can’t remember a single thing about any of it. What have you done to my
brain?” Dante shouted and shook Jonathan. Jonathan’s eyes glowed white and
Dante felt the touch on his brain again. Against his will he dropped to a
sitting position and opened his hand, releasing Jonathan. Then he felt his
mind released.

“I understand your emotions,
really I do. But don’t do anything like that again. Do I make myself clear?”
Jonathan said menacingly.

“Yes, I’m sorry. I over
reacted.”

“Two things. First, remember
that you are trying to convince a talking mouse with magical powers that what
your father did was impossible. Second, there is a reason you can’t remember
any of your education, but its not my fault. It was your own doing.” Jonathan
responded, sitting down also.

“I don’t understand.”

“Think back, didn’t you find it
the least bit strange when, you, being a below average student but an
exceptionally gifted athlete, practically overnight became an scientific
genius? You have had these powers to a limited degree all your life, just like
some of the escapee’s from the lab. Some of us manifested that power in our
strongest abilities or talents. Nicodemus, he had exceptional knowledge and
wisdom. He had the strongest manifestation of the power. To a lesser extent
people like Arthur, he became an exceptional builder and mechanic. Mr. Ages an
exceptional physician.”

“That doesn’t answer my
question.”

“What happened was that you used
your powers to create a knowledge reservoir that you used to store that
information. Science wasn’t your true gift. So your mind just recorded the
information and stored it like a computer, you didn’t really learn the
material. The only reason you went into the field of science was to try to win
your father’s approval by following in his footsteps. Then yesterday when you
realized that you didn’t want to complete his work your mind simply discarded
the information. Its as simple as that. The reason you ache all over is that
now your body is being modified to suit your true gift. That is how you were
able to fight like that yesterday and how you were able to survive such
attacks. You are a natural born athlete and warrior.” Jonathan said.

“How is it that you know so much
about me and my thoughts?” Dante asked.

“Just as you share our memories,
we share some of yours. The connection is strongest in your favor, but as we
are in such close proximity I can see into your mind very clearly.” He
responded. Dante sat silently, digesting all these revelations.

This world, the unexpected side
effect of his father’s work. He thought back to his own empty life. No
friends, no goals or direction. Was that because he had spent more of his life
with the rats than with his own kind, was their world more real to him than his
own? He thought about these questions and he found the answers very
disturbing.

“Dante. I have to know, will
you help me or not? I can’t get there in time on my own. I can’t do this
without you.” Jonathan asked earnestly.

“I’ll help, how could I not?
Knowing, feeling, after what I just experienced. But how will they react to
me. I mean, I feel like one of them, but look at me. I don’t think their
going to feel all that happy when I show up on their doorstep.” Dante said.

“Obviously you can’t arrive
looking like this, but not to worry, my friend. There are ways to deal with
that. Lay your hand on the ground, palm up.” Jonathan instructed. Dante did
so and Jonathan stepped onto his hand.

“Close your eyes, Dante.”

“I have a bad feeling about
this.” He replied and hesitantly closed his eyes.

“Trust me.” Jonathan said. Now
Dante had a very bad feeling about this.

Dante sat with his eyes closed
and waited for something to happen. He could still feel Jonathan in the palm
of his hand. Suddenly, he felt as though he was being picked up and then
became aware that he was laying down. Then all of his senses seemed to become
overloaded with sensation. He was beginning to feel very afraid.

“Don’t open your eyes yet,
Dante. Relax, this is going to be very intense for the next couple of
minutes.” A strange, deafening voice said comfortingly. Dante tried to cover
his ears, but they seemed to no longer be where the should have been. His fear
continued to grow. He moved his hands over his head and found that his ears
were now on top of his head and seemed to have gotten much larger. He opened
his eyes and screamed. He was laying in the palm of a human hand.

“Relax, Dante.” The voice said
to him. Panic was overwhelming him. He looked at his hands and then to his
body and saw to his horror that he was now covered in light gray fur. They had
switched bodies. Dante was so blinded with panic he just curled up in a ball
and laid there trembling with total abject, blinding terror. Jonathan gently
raised his hand and cupped the other over Dante’s tiny trembling form.

“Dante, the fear you feel will
pass. Its just your mind adjusting to strong animal survival instincts.
Remember, the humble little mouse is about rock bottom on the food chain and to
just about everyone you look like lunch. You’ll need these instincts if your
going to survive when we get to Thorn Valley.” Jonathan said reassuringly. For
about ten minutes Jonathan sat there holding Dante in his hands. Eventually,
Dante’s rational mind began returning. He stood weakly.

“Was this absolutely
necessary?” He asked looking up fearfully at his former body.

“If I just gave you a quick
change into a form like this and you go marching up to Thorn Valley still
thinking like Mr. Big Shot human, ultimate predator, before you know what hit
you an owl will swoop down and crush you in its claws or a fox would sneak up
on you from up wind and pounce, kill you and eat you. You need to have these
instincts, whether you like them or not.” He said and gently lowered his hand
down to the ground and opened his hand. Dante took a cautious step onto the
ground. His depth perception was a little off, his senses were still in
overload. He could seemingly hear and smell everything in his environment, he
was amazed at how big everything was. The tall grass seemed like a forest and
his old body was like a sky scraper. He could see, smell and hear far better
than any human ever could have. As his mind adapted to the changes he grew a
little bolder and took a few hesitant steps away from the hand. His new body
was built somewhat differently and it took him a little while to get used to
walking. He felt something strange moving behind him, he looked and realized
he now had a tail. It felt very unnerving, above all else, that he now had a
new extremity. Soon his fear turned to what he could only describe as acute
awareness. To the human eye this environment would seem devoid of any life or
activity, but for his current incarnation it was teeming with life and
activity, animal and insect life in abundance. It was astonishing to him.

“It’s astonishing to me.” Dante
said in awe.

“It’s astonishing to me that you
humans are the top of the food chain. Poor sight, poor hearing, poor sense of
smell. You seem to have no instincts at all.” Jonathan said in amazement.

“Jonathan, this is all well and
good, but what does this accomplish? What are we supposed to do, share one
body?”

“No, I can change this body into
a more suitable form. But I felt it would be easier on you if you were just
switched with a ready made body rather than go through the full transformation
all at once. This way allows you to ease into a new form.” He said and to
Dante’s amazement his old body began to glow faintly and started shrinking. As
it grew smaller he could see it beginning to change and in seconds, there stood
a white mouse before him, still dressed in Dante’s clothes.

“Close your eyes again Dante.
I’ll switch you back.” Jonathan said. Dante quickly closed his eyes and soon
felt the strange sensation of motion and when he opened his eyes he was there
looking back at Jonathan, whose eyes continued to glow, he was glad to be back
in his own body again, even if it was in a somewhat different form. To his
surprise he was quickly growing accustomed to this new form, in fact, it felt
natural.

“See, Its not so bad, remember
you’ve seen the world from this perspective, through our eyes for most of your
life.” Jonathan said. Dante did a series of lightning fast martial art moves
just to test this body out. It seemed to have the speed and size equivalent
strength of his human form.

“Will I be able to fight like I
did last night while in this form?” He asked.

“Absolutely, better in fact.
Now that you have heightened senses.”

Dante went through another
series of moves, faster than the first. Dante noticed that Jonathan began to
glow lightly for a few moments and to his surprise an identical set of clothes
appeared on Jonathan.

“Its a good look, maybe we can
start a fashion trend when we get home.” Jonathan said and laughed. Dante
continued practicing for a few minutes. Jonathan looked at his new watch.

“Hey, a Rolex! Dante, we must
go now.” He said seriously and raised his hand and Dante could feel himself
changing, growing larger, but to his surprise his senses remained very acute.

“I have left your senses remain
the way they were, so that by the time we get home you will be accustomed to
them that way.” Jonathan said. Dante picked Jonathan up and hurried to the
car. Dante was about to start the car when a thought occurred to him.

“Where exactly is Thorn
Valley?” Dante asked.

“Its near a little town called
Bolair, West Virginia. It borders Thorn Mountain National Park.” He replied.
Dante reached behind him and drew out his laptop computer. He booted up and
surfed to a map site and as Jonathan watched enthralled, the computer came up
with the route, time and distance it would take to get to their location.

“From Cabot, Vermont to Bolair,
West Virginia will take an ideal driving time of 14 hours and 51 minutes
covering a distance of 825 miles. Its about ten a.m. now so that would put us
in Bolair by about one a.m. Less if we hurry.”

“Could we conceivably take a
plane?” Jonathan asked.

“I wouldn’t recommend it. It
took me ten hours to fly from New Jersey to Vermont just two days ago. Air
travel is just to unpredictable. We could get tickets and then get bumped from
the flight at the last minute, our plane could be delayed. I think driving
would be our best bet.” Dante replied.

“Well then, lets get rolling.”
Jonathan said. Dante started the car and off they went.

“We need to make a quick stop on
the way.”

“Where? Why?”

“We need to prepare for war.”
A quick stop at the sporting goods store Dante bought a hundred rounds of
shotgun shells, a duffel bag and improvised slings to use for the gun and sword
and good set of binoculars.

“Justin, wake up. Captain Owen
is here to see you.” Isabella said softly in his ear. Justin dragged himself
out of bed dressed quickly and met Owen in his study.

“Justin, I have increased
patrols and guards and Arthur reports that the sanctuary is prepared and
adequately stocked with provisions and supplies. We appear to be ready for
anything.” He reported.

“Excellent work. Have we gotten
any response from the Rangers yet?”

“No, but we are expecting the
first reports within the hour.”

“You may find it necessary to
inform the people as to what is going on. The rumor mill has been busy since
last night. The people are getting worried.”

“I was hoping to have a little
more time before this happened, let me think about that for a while and I’ll
address them later. I want to be at the communications center for the first
check in.” Justin said as they left the room.

Mercy easily slipped past the
rats guarding the narrow entrance to Thorn Valley. A rough path had been cut
directly into the sheer rock face that surrounded the valley. She looked out
over the valley with amazement, for years she had listened to the Master speak
of this place. Sometimes with bitterness, sometimes with envy. But to stand
here and look at it was simply amazing. In the distance she could see the
plowed fields, growing tall with corn and wheat. On the lake she could see
boats, with rats casting nets into the water. She continued down the very long
path on the cliff face. At the bottom she headed in the direction of the most
visible activity. She saw rats and to her great surprise, even a few mice
going about their business. She saw children of both species laughing and
playing together. To her these people had not a care in the world. She envied
them. If only my parents had made it out of the ventilation system at NIMH
with the others, then I could have been one of you. She thought bitterly.
Now she had come to Thorn Valley as the harbinger of its doom. She hated
herself and hated doing what she was about to do even more. She soon found her
way to the main entrance. When the guards saw the strange robed mouse they
drew their weapons.

“Halt, state your business.” A
frightened rat asked as they watched her with great suspicion.

“I am here to speak to Justin.”
She replied. A rat quickly ran inside. A few minutes later two rats came to
the entrance. The larger one was gray and looked very disturbed to see her,
she knew him to be Owen, the captain of the guard. The other was light brown,
tall and extraordinarily handsome and around his neck hung the coveted magical
stone that her master so desperately sought, she knew him to be Justin.

“Who are you and what do you
want?” Justin asked. Captain Owen drew his sword.

“Do not draw your weapons, I am
here to talk not to fight. My master sent me to offer you the chance to
surrender. We had hoped to take you by surprise and avoid unnecessary
bloodshed, but now that is impossible.” She said seriously.

“We will not surrender Thorn
Valley.” Justin replied with equal seriousness.

“My master is offering generous
terms. If you surrender without a fight then no one will be killed. You may
continue to go about your business, but you will obey him as your master. Some
of your people will move to our colony to provide technical and medical
assistance and we would send some of our people here to learn and to help the
colony grow. If you resist us, there will be terrible bloodshed. All the
defenders will die by the sword. Your women and children will be spared to
help repopulate the colony and we will take all that you have learned and
created for ourselves.” She replied.

“This colony is the result of
our blood, sweat and tears. Years of labor have gone into the building of this
colony. We will not give up our homes and our work to any petty tyrant who
covets our success.” Justin said, slowly feeling his rage growing.

“Don’t be fools, We know your
numbers, we know your strengths, we know your weaknesses. We know everything
about you. We have the valley surrounded, there is no escape Justin. Are you
willing to gamble with the future of your two children.” Justin was barely
able to control his rage, he looked at the mouse for several seconds in
silence.

“Who is your master?” Justin
asked through clenched teeth.

“My master has chosen for the
time being to remain nameless.”

“Tell your master that if he
chooses to try to take what is ours, his army will pay for every inch of Thorn
Valley with its blood. We will not yield an inch without force. We will fight
to the last. The blood of all the dead will be on his hands...and on yours.”
Justin said with finality. A look of horror came over her face. Justin
realized he hit a nerve with that one.

“I do not seek bloodshed, I am a
healer. It will fall to me to pick up the pieces after this conflict. Isn’t
survival a good enough reason to accept our offer? Why must you die to protect
this place? You cannot possibly prevail over us. It will all be ours no
matter what.” She pleaded.

“Because for the first time in
the history of our two races we are free. We are people now, not just vermin.
This isn’t just a colony of rats and mice, this is a civilization of rats and
mice. We have created it through sheer force of will. It is the most precious
thing in the world to us. Now you come and just expect us to yield our hard
won freedom. We escaped human bondage and now you ask us to accept a yoke of
bondage from another. We live free or die. There is nothing more to discuss,
return to your master.” Justin said and dismissed her with a wave of his hand,
then turned to return to the entrance.

“You have twenty four hours to
decide. Choose wisely, the destiny of your children depend on it, Justin.”
She called out.

“Owen, make sure she is escorted
out of the valley and have the guards who were on duty report to Lieutenant
Snap for a little refresher course in guarding the entrance.” Justin called
out as he walked down the hall, he didn’t want to give her the satisfaction of
seeing his terror at the threats she made against his children. He ran to his
apartment and threw open the door. He found Isabella standing there holding
the twins. She looked stunned by his unexpected entrance. He quickly walked
up to her and hugged her and the children tightly. Then he kissed her and then
the children.

“Justin, what’s gotten into
you?” She asked.

“We are all in great danger. In
twenty four hours, unless we surrender we will be attacked by a force of rats
of unknown strength, they want to take over Thorn Valley. They want to make us
their slaves.” He replied. Isabella had a look of shock, but it quickly
faded.

“We must never surrender. No
matter what the cost. How could we face our children if we let someone make
slaves of them.” she said.

“That’s what I told her. But
standing here looking at the twins, just how much would I be willing to
sacrifice to save Thorn Valley?” He said, strong emotion evident in his
voice. They stood in silence, still in an embrace. “I am the leader of Thorn
Valley, they all look to me for guidance. It is not just my children that will
suffer if we submit, all the colony is counting on me. We must defend it at
all costs.” He said as he looked down at his children. Justin could see tears
in Isabella’s eyes. He kissed her again.

“I swear on my life that no harm
will come to you or the children.” He said and released them.

“I love you, Justin, never
forget that, we all love you.” She replied.

“I will keep that in my heart
always. I must return and begin preparing for war.” He said sadly. Justin
went to the bedroom and grabbed his sword, he kissed his wife and children
again then set out for his office. He ignored all the people whom he passed,
all the way to his office. He locked the door behind him and sat at his desk,
he looked at the microphone for the public address system. He stared at it, it
was one of many things that seemed amazing to him. His people had created it.
Here he was sitting in his office, with electric lights. At his desk, on which
there was a large mug with his name on it, filled with pencils and pens, there
also sat on his desk a folded newspaper, the latest edition of the Thorn Valley
Herald. He was just amazed, there was a time when he and others here had been
ordinary street rats, to whom all of life was just a day to day struggle to eat
and stay alive. Now he sat here as elected president of a democracy. One that
was facing a grave threat to its sovereignty by a enemy colony of their own
kind. He turned on the system and picked up the microphone, he sat silently
for a few moments to collect his thoughts.

“Attention people of Thorn Valley.
As many of you now know, yesterday we became aware of a threat to our valley.
Within the last half hour we have had confirmation of that threat. An emissary
was sent to offer us terms of surrender. There appears to be another colony of
rats and mice, different from the natural creatures, the way we are. They
asked us to surrender to prevent bloodshed. If we were to surrender they would
become our masters, they want to take some of our people and relocate them to
their own colony and they would send some here to be educated by us and to
expand this colony. If we refuse, all defenders will be killed and only the
woman and children will be spared and then they will come in and take over
everything that we have created. We have faced threats before, some human,
some natural and some supernatural. But for the first time we are facing an
attack from our own kind. The emissary made threats and offered dire warnings,
so I am advising that all non-essential personnel begin moving to the
sanctuary. All day and night patrol personnel are now on active duty. This
will be the end of the world for us if we fail. We will not surrender to
protect our children. We must fight to protect them. Pray. For them, for all
of us.” Justin turned off the microphone and sat back in his chair.

“Jonathan, you were right, we
are in big trouble. Your warning prevented a sneak attack that would have
undoubtedly taken us by complete surprise. Hurry home, we are going to need
all the help we can get.” Justin said with a bemused smile. He remembered
that he wanted to be there for the first contact with the Rangers, he exited
his office and rushed to the communications center. He burst through the
door. Everyone in the room turned to look at him. He walked up to the line
of a dozen rats who sat at their telegraphs, copying transmissions and tapping
out orders to the various guard posts and levels. It had taken a over a year
and a half to string the wires out and to set up the communications points in
the woods, hopefully it would now be worth the trouble.

“Rangers teams one, seven and
ten have reported in, no sign of the enemy yet.” Owen said. Justin paced the
room silently.

Cynthia and Carl finally reached
their check in point. Before them loomed an enormous stone. She walked around
its base and found the object of her search, near the base of the stone were
several distinct gashes cut into the stone. To anyone else they would appear
to be nothing more than scratches, but they were the marker indicating the
buried location of a communication unit. She unpacked her trench shovel and
unburied the unit while Carl stood guard. Wrapped tightly in plastic was a
telegraph. She hooked it up to the buried wires, looked at her codebook, put
on the headphones and began tapping out a message.

“Thorn Valley. Rangers five.
Check in.” she tapped out.

“Rangers five. Mercury, Zeta,
Civil.” was the reply.

“Thorn Valley. Comet, Legend,
Castle.”

“User confirmed. Anything to
report?”

“Negative, no enemy has been
sighted. Will begin first recon.”

“Be advised, enemy has delivered
ultimatum, they threaten surrender or death in twenty four hours. They claim
to have valley surrounded and knowledge of our security measures. Be on your
guard they may know about you. Will await next check in four hours. Thorn
Valley out.” That message sent a shiver down her spine. She quickly
disconnected the unit and reburied it. She looked around carefully, if an
enemy was going to ambush them it would seem the best time would be right after
check in. They slowly began moving out of the area.

“We’re in trouble. The enemy
wants Thorn Valley to surrender and they may know that were out here.” She
said calmly.

“Well, this is precisely why we
volunteered for the Rangers. Come on, No guts no glory.” Was his reply

“Our stealth against their
strength.” She said with determination.

“That’s the spirit.” He said
and patted her on the back. She envied his confidence, he had been in the
regular guard and just transferred to the Rangers while she was raw recruit.
Together they made their way into the undergrowth.

“We are entering Pennsylvania.”
Dante said as they flew past the sign.

“Jonathan?” Dante asked.

“Yes?”

“There’s something that’s been
puzzling me since we started this.”

“What’s that?”

“After you were nearly eaten by
Dragon, how did you end up in my father’s lab years later? I know you said you
were absorbed by the Power, but how did you end up in the box, where did those
guard rats come from and who is this enemy were running to fight?”

“Well, your father was
determined to control the Power, he had over the years managed to access a
small degree of it. He couldn’t really focus or control it. When he used it
he was just sort of flailing around with it. During one of his last uses of it
he discovered me, just sort of floating there. He was able to recognize me as
one of his escapee’s. He drew me out, but he was afraid that if I was loose I
could stop him from gaining control of the Power. He interrogated me quite
thoroughly. I was doped up and starved. He wanted to keep me as weak as
possible so that I could not interfere with his plans, which were very near
completion. He was afraid that if he tried to kill me, I would get sucked back
into the Power and once there I could stop him. So he was going to wait until
he had the Power and then he would dispose of me, however the accident at the
lab changed all that. Then some other person came onto the scene and he also
did not want me killed for the same reason as your father. But he had one of
his magical henchrats keep me in suspended animation. When that henchrat was
killed, I was freed. Now I grow more powerful by the day. I don’t know how Nicodemus
had the self-control he did. I certainly feel tempted to use it often and for
the most mundane uses. As soon as this mess is over, I’ll have to shut it down
and let my body rest. Its a strain to keep it active all the time.” Jonathan
replied.

“There is something else I
wanted to ask you. Why is it you and Mr. Ages both have last names while none
of the rats do?”

“I never actually thought about
it before, but you’re right, it is odd and frankly I don’t think I could give
you a reason. We discovered many things about ourselves during our wanderings,
We discovered modesty and discovered that falling in love and getting married
was more important than just simply choosing a mate. We discovered guilt,
hate, conscience, remorse, compassion and love. I’ve wondered from time to
time if we should thank you or hate you for what humanity has done to us.”
Jonathan said and finished his Yoo-Hoo that Dante had gotten for him when they
stopped at the interstate rest stop for gas and food. Dante had at first
thought it odd that a tiny mouse would ask for three foot long hot-dogs, a
pickle and a Yoo-Hoo, but when he brought them back to the car Jonathan had
simply shrunk them down to his size to consume them. Dante was hesitating to
respond to Jonathan’s last remark, he decided not to say anything and tried to
change the subject.

“Do you think that we are in any
danger as we travel?”

“No, I don’t think they would
have any real understanding as to how to track a car traveling at high speed
through several states. I expect them know where we are headed, so they will
be waiting for us when we get to Thorn Valley.

No amount of time in a college
classroom could compare or prepare Dante for the sheer mind numbing boredom of
a car trip this long. They had been on the road for over nine hours. Traffic
had been lighter than expected so they were making good time. The car radio
was broken, it had a working 8-track player, but the only tapes available were,
A Polka Christmas, Perry Como in Vegas, Andy Williams greatest hits, the
Original Broadway cast recording of Fiddler on the Roof, with Zero Mostel as
Tevye and the Motion Picture soundtrack of Fiddler on the Roof with Topol as
Tevye. He was really starting to hate this car.

Jonathan was sleeping most of
the time to recover his strength. Dante still ached all over from his
continuing changes.

“Jonathan? How do you think
they will react to me when we get to Thorn Valley? After all, I am the son of
Dr. Erhard Schultz.” Dante asked with a little concern in his voice.

“I think it will take them some
getting use to. But if you’re one of us, I doubt that they will be able to
hold a grudge very long. Especially since you are coming to help them. Relax,
they’ll love you.” Jonathan said comfortingly. Dante could only hope he was
right.