Something became obviously clear when a call came in from the Reverend Emmet Shoals. Apparently, Clancy knew what the hell he was talking about. Now, the real question was, to Nate at least, if this was actually a good thing. He was not so sure about that. Well, at least, he did not have to get an ‘I told you so from the man since Clancy had split town before he even had a chance to tell Nate. The news came in the form of a phone call from Dana, who was quite excited. A couple of hours later, when she called back, she was still excited but, this time, she had to tell Nate, “Clancy needs you to join him.”
Nate was not very enthused but he tried to be, “sure, where does he need me?”

“Atlanta,” Dana quickly replied. Then she spit out, “I’ll have Sara give you a ride to the airport, first thing in the morning.” Dana hung up before Nate could even suggest another alternative.

As it turned out, first thing in the morning was before the first thing. Sara was rapping on his hotel room door at times that would make a drill sergeant think it’s too early. She apologized as she walked in the door and said, “sorry, it was the only flight we could get, at the last minute, at least, a flight that would get you there on time.” That even woke up suspicions in Nate when he was still half asleep. When Nate asked how long he had, she told him, “oh three hours.” His eye brows closed ranks and she said, “well I got to have time to check you out.” When the eye brows did not relax, Sara back pedaled, “I mean you have to have time to check out.” Then the girl stood there for a minute, playing with her hair and meekly suggested, “or I could just drive you. It’s not like Atlanta is all that far.”

Nate stomped out of bed and began the task of getting ready. He packed and was out of the hotel in record time. Sara pouted all the way to the airport. She took the turn to the parking area instead of loading and unloading. Nate told her, “Sara, I think I can find the plane, on my own, just fine. You don’t have to come with me.”

She went into the pay lot anyway. When she was parked on the deck, she slammed the transmission into park, shut the car off, and then turned on him. Nate was wondering if he was about to get attacked and, if so, what kind of attack? That was not what happened though. Nate saw tears in her eyes so he relaxed and then asked, “are you ok?”

“I make you nervous,” Sara told him before turning it into a question, “don’t I?” Nate got the feeling that the girl was hoping her plain fact was wrong.

The problem was, as Nate told the kid, she was not wrong, “well yeah, you kind of sort of do Sara. Nothing personal but…”

“I’m sorry,” Sara said as her tears rolled. She actually sounded like that was more than a formality. “I don’t mean too. I just…”

“Sara,” Nate tried to say something to make her stop that crying! It was making him feel guilty, “I don’t know what you… you…”

She jumped over to the passenger side, grabbed his face in both hands, and kissed him. Nate was stunned, didn’t move, and fortunately the girl backed off. She took her own time before saying, “I had to do that. I’m sorry but…” When Nate did not respond, again, she said, “Nate, why are you here?”

Nate pointed towards the terminal building, “um, to get on a plane, I think.”

“No!” Sara grunted in frustration, “I mean why are you really here? I see it written all over your face. You don’t believe in anything we’re doing. Every time we talk about it you get nervous, or it looks like you’re not even here.”

“You know why Sara,” Nate told her. “I’m here for your sister.”

Sara crossed her arms and sat back in the car seat, “that’s not fair to you. You don’t need to do that Nate. I don’t think Angie would have wanted you too ether.”

Nate lowered his head, “I agree, with all the particulars. Only, we each got to find a way to live with it. I guess I just didn’t have any better one lined up. I’m not like Clancy, I don’t ever have a plan.”

“Thank god you’re not,” Sara rolled her eyes at that suggestion. Then her shoulders drooped and she said, “I don’t know, I think you’ve seen my way of dealing.”

“I don’t follow.”

“I’m sorry if I was a little too strong,” Sara told him. “You just make me feel closer to her, and it’s like you’re the last thing I have left of her. The funny part is, we weren’t even that close before she left home. I mean, years ago when we were a little, sure. By the time she graduated I don’t think we saw each other twenty minutes a week. Back then I thought all that was fine. I didn’t even miss her when she left for the army. Now I feel…”

“Guilty?” Sara nodded but would not say the word. Then Nate continued, “now you know how I feel. Angie didn’t just leave a hole in my life. When I woke up and she wasn’t there, right at that moment, I failed her and I knew it. Just a few days before that, she had jumped in my shit, telling me I was supposed to be taking care of her and I was falling down on the job. I just didn’t realize, right then, how bad it was going to be.”

When Nate finished he looked over and Sara had this serious look on her face. When their eyes met she said, “you’ve never told anybody that before, have you?”

“No,” Nate relented.

“It might have been Angie that drew me to you but,” Sara told him, “but that’s not why I stayed Nate. It’s not why I kissed you.”

When she said no more, after that, Nate burst out with, “well?”

Sara huffed, turned to him, leaned closer and said, “you’re all I got.” When Nate tried denying that, she told him, “no just listen. In all this, I haven’t had anybody I could talk to. I haven’t had anybody that would talk to me. You did and, you did it without even thinking about it. That’s why I’m sorry I made you nervous. I just didn’t know what to do and…”

Nate reached out and took her hand, “that’s called being a friend Sara. That’s what we are. That’s why I’m more than happy to let you ramble on, all day long.” Now she tried to talk and it was Nate’s turn to stop her, “no, let me finish. Even if you were ten years older and we actually had something in common besides your sister, I still wouldn’t be ready. That’s how much got torn out of me when your sister died. You’re looking to fill your hole where I’m just covering mine over with some plywood.”

“I’m going to miss you,” Sara told him bluntly.

“I’m just going to Altanta darling,” Nate responded. “I don’t figure I’ll be gone too…”

“You’re not coming back,” Sara said without changing her serious flat tone. “I knew it when I saw you this morning. I also don’t think you should. There’s just something in your eyes.”

“We’ll see each other again,” Nate said and he got out of the car. As he was walking towards the elevator, Sara pulled the car up beside him. She rolled down the window and handed him a big envelop. Nate looked at it and realized it was the one he had gotten at the hotel, right before the rally. Sara mentioned, “kept forgetting to give you that. You left it in the glove box.” Then she put the car in drive and stepped on the gas as she said “oh and by the way, Mom thinks you’re pretty hot too.”

The girl drove off without another word. She left Nate standing there with a perplexed look on his face. He finally yelled at the departing vehicle, “I did not need to know that!” Then he shoved the envelop in his back pocket and walked off mumbling, “what is it with the women in this family!”

A couple of hours later, in Atlanta, Nate found himself picked up at the airport and, he was rather surprised by this. He had never expected to see a guy in a black suit, holding up a sign with his name on it. When Nate stepped up to the guy and waived his hand with a smile, the man looked perplexed at what turned out to be Nate’s lack of baggage. Nate told him, “I travel pretty light, I was in the army.”

“That so sir,” the man replied in a very disinterested manner as he took Nate’s bag. The guy led Nate to a limousine and, Nate was suitably impressed. Then the man even opened the back door for him, “after you sir.”

As they drove off, and Nate suddenly realized he had no idea where the destination was, he found himself more interested in the toys in back. The one odd thing about all of it was, the car even had it’s own liquor! Nate was actually more surprised about that than even the car itself, “I thought this guy was supposed to be a preacher.”

The driver finally pointed out the building they were going too and it turned out to be a pretty good sized hotel in the downtown area. The shape of the building left Nate with the distinct impression that the building was pregnant. He took a picture of it with his phone and thought his mother would get a kick out of it. The driver thought Nate was insane. Nate didn’t care and realized he wanted the address. He asked the driver and the answer made him wince in confusion before telling the driver, “it’s on Peachtree? We just passed a half dozen streets with that same name?”

“What can I say sir,” the driver replied, “you’re in Atlanta.”

Nate was dropped off at the front doors and the driver said his bag would be delivered to a room that he was, apparently, already checked in to. The driver already had his key card. Nate was glad the guy didn’t want a tip, he was pretty lacking in cash at the moment.

After being in his room for all of five minutes, the door began to shake as someone knocked pretty rapidly. Nate could figure out who that was. He opened up and, sure enough, Clancy was standing there. The guy seemed rushed, so, Nate figured, all was normal. Clancy pointed up, “come on big guy, we got to go visit a sweet little suite.”

Nate had to wonder what the Clancy meant by that until they actually arrived at a suite, that was being guarded by a couple of big guys. They let Clancy and Nate walk right in and closed the door behind them. That’s when Nate finally saw who it was they came here to see. Not only was he instantly recognizable because his face was on television every day but, Emmet Shoals was definitely at the center of attention here. He was sitting in what Nate could only describe as a dentist chair. The guy had a huge paper bib on and three women were working his face and hands. Were they putting make up on the guy?

When Shoals noticed his guests he waived them over and from his chair he said with a smile, “you must be Mister Caldwell, the one that that Mister Oldham here has told me so much about.” Shoals eyes wandered up and down Nate and it made him self conscious. What was worse was that Shoals seemed to notice, “yes Mister Oldham, I think you are quite right. He would do well in front of a camera. I suppose it’s a good thing that I was down here doing interviews. Course half of them were canceled, so, again, fortunate that I had the time to meet with you.”

Nate did not know what to say, so, he just humbly replied, “slow day I supposed. Time to catch up on,” Nate watched the make up girls working and then said, “um, things I guess.”

“Slow for me,” Shoals told him. “Still, slow in a good way. The fact is, it’s a hot news day and that’s why most of my interviews were canceled. When all of this mess starts to wind down, I won’t have time to sit. By then it won’t matter, at least not for you, I can let Brenda handle everything from there.”

A woman with a pinned up hair do, in a conservative looking business suit and skirt, was sitting across the room. She was busy doing something but, heard her name called. She raised a hand and smiled when she did. Nate just kind of waived back, still not sure what to make of all this.

Shoals went on, “she handles my appointments, staff, things like that. I’ll have her read up on you soon enough.” One of the make up women started to do more touching up on his face and Nate thought it was time to leave. Shoals raised his hand to stop them and, when he was done he said, “I’m just wondering Mister Caldwell, you being a former soldier and all, what do you think of the war?”

“Um,” Nate only shrugged, “well to be honest, I never really thought much about it. Not since I left Feyland at any rate.”

Shoals then asked, “what do you think of the elves?”

Again Nate shrugged, “that they should have stuck to selling cookies? Again, I don’t know. We didn’t have that much to do with them while I was over there. I take it you’re not a fan?”

“Well I’ve never met any,” Shoals admitted. “I don’t suppose it’ll come as a surprise to you but, none of them want to meet with me, particularly on camera. I don’t suppose it’s really all that important though. That’s not really what it’s all about.”

Now the guy had Nate’s curiosity, “how so? I thought your stance on the elves was not that different than them Muslim guys I heard on TV.”

Shoals found it amusing, “what I think of them, personally or professionally, isn’t the point either, Mister Caldwell. Do I believe they’re demons or some other rubbish like that, of course not. It doesn’t really matter does it?” Nate was not sure how to answer so Shoals did it for him, “what matters is our civilization. That’s what nurtures us and takes care of us after all. Our culture, our religion, our knowledge, all of that is what gives us who we are, it lets us raise our children, it puts food on our table. The elves are a threat to that.”

Nate exchanged glances with Clancy who simply gave Nate the eye as a signal for him to speak his mind. Nate then replied, “well I wouldn’t know about any of that. When I was over there, the elves kind of came off to me as stuck up jerks but, I didn’t see where they were out to get us.”

“Their intentions,” Shoals replied “are really of no consequence. If you hit someone with a car, your intent is irrelevant, is it not? That is to say that it is of no importance to the person you hit. The very existence of the elves will impact how we see ourselves and, in turn, it will impact how well we can take care of ourselves. If they make us believe that we are the inferior species then, we will become just that, Mister Caldwell. So, if you ask me if I care what the elves do, I do not. I do however, care what we do or, in this case, what we believe. That is what we are doing here, what we are fighting for.”

“I suppose Reverend,” Nate responded, “that I can go for that. I have to say it’s not what I expected to hear from you today. It was a sight better than, um, reciting the ten commandments.”

Again, Shoals found Nate amusing and he told Clancy, “he’s got a certain humble quality about him, that will sell very well.” Then the reverend looked back to Nate, “funny you should mention the commandments. People often quote them without knowing what they are. You see, a moral is something that, taken alone, is very inconsequential. If you brake one, it really is of no great danger to anyone. When god gave the commandments to Moses, he didn’t prescribe a punishment for breaking them. That was, as you say, built into the system.”

Nate wanted to laugh but, instead, he just said, “we’re talking sinning here, right?”

“In a manner of speaking,” Shoals said, “you see, what morals do, is hold things together. They let people work together. One person breaking one moral is inevitable and even many of them over time, however, if enough people break enough commandments the society becomes weak. As was with the Israelites, when they strayed from the codes, they became weak and the barbarians who were waiting at the gates, then came and conquered them. That is the situation we have here Mister Caldwell. If we don’t hold our center then it all comes apart.”

Nate sat back down in his hotel room and sighed. He was not thinking so much about what Shoals had said. His mind kept drifting back to Sara and the parking lot in Orlando. He was feeling guilty for another reason now. He had actually felt like kissing that little girl back. What could he say to that? He was a man and, no matter what he told her, he had the same needs she did. His mind then crossed subjects and he chuckled to himself as he mumbled, “morals. Yeah, I’m not breaking that one, sorry. Seventeen will get you twenty.”

He rolled his fingers on his desk and wondered what the hell he would do now. He wasn’t thinking about his dinner choices either. All of his cards, all of his future, was sitting right in front of him now. The choices he would make were far reaching and, Nate was not prepared to do it. If only he could just see something, anything, right in front of him. So far, the only damn thing that was really there was the envelop from his mother.

Nate went ahead and opened it. He was surprised to see another envelop fall out. He picked it up and realized that envelop was post marked from Coven Hill, England. It was also from Patty? Nate quickly opened that one up and yet another envelop fell out. This one had already been opened, apparently resealed, and then opened again. It was the kind of envelops that the elves used. It had a post mark from, “RAF Merlin? Who the hell do I know that would still… be… at…” Nate’s voice trailed off as he began reading the five pages that came out. There was no name on it. There was no date either. Someone had obviously taken their time to write it since the letter used three different colors of ink. Some places had been scratched out and other words written in. Most important of all, there was nothing specific in it about locations, times, or even really intent. There was also no doubt, in Nate’s mind, as to who wrote it.

“Oh my god,” Nate said and he sat there, maybe for an hour or more, rereading the letter. When he could do so no more he picked up the phone and wanted to call Sara. He realized that he could not do that or, at least, not yet. “There has to be a way.” Nate thought about that for a minute and then he realized, he needed to call his mother. “Mom… no I… Yes I’ll email you that picture in… No… Look, I need you to go snooping in my room for me. I know I told you not to do that but… oh? You know where it is? How? I didn’t even tell you what it is yet! Yeah, that is what I was going to ask for but...”

Nate got the phone number from the little card that he had left on his dresser. He dialed the number and after a couple of beeps some guy said, “please wait Mister Caldwell, she’ll be right with you.”

Nate was stunned, “how the hell did…”

The woman picked up, “this is Didi. Hi Nate. I really didn’t expect to be hearing from you. Have you changed your mind?”

“Well,” Nate told her, “I’d like a chance to look and see what you want me to do first but, got a question for you. Would any of these duties involve going back to the Feyland Empire?”

“Um,” Didi hesitated and then said, “would that be a problem for you? I know you’re probably still a little shaken up from your…”

“No!” Nate wanted to jump out of his chair, “I might be interested but…”

“I know,” Didi told him, “how about you grab the first flight down to Atlanta and…”

“Atlanta?” Nate blinked, “I’m in Atlanta. Are you in Atlanta?”

“Yeah,” Didi sounded really easy going, “you know I work for the CDC. Right now I’m at our big facility here, it’s up on…”

“Peachtree,” Nate blurted out.

“How did you know that?”

The real question was, which Peachtree but, Nate was not picky right now. After a few more minutes of coordinating, Didi finally decided to pick Nate up at his hotel. As she drove past endless Peachtree Streets, without the first actual peach tree in sight, Didi explained, “we finally decided to move operations down here. Since I spend most of my time at the CDC anyway, I don’t need much of an excuse to be here. We also have Yerkes and a few other places that we need help from. So it was the perfect place to move too.”

They entered a residential neighborhood full of old houses and Nate was sure hoping the CDC was not located in this place. As he wondered what the property values were like in this area, he didn’t see anything that was all that out of the ordinary. It made him wonder where he was going and what kid of day had he woke up to. Then they stopped at a drive that had a chain link gate in front of it. The fence was ‘blacked out’ with plastic strips woven between the chain. The fence opened up with a remote that Didi had on her sun visor. There were no signs, no anything that said what was behind the fence except trees.

Nate speculated, “some super secret government facility?”

“Something like that,” Didi replied, “only around here, it’s called the Atlanta Zoo.”

Nate blinked and he was still a bit confused when they got out of the car. He was in some gravel filled back lot that had a few non descript buildings, a few small construction vehicles, and not much else of interest. Once inside one of the cinder block buildings he saw how much of a mirage that was. The place was not really super science like nor was it even that big but, just inside the door, there were a couple of dudes in Navy uniforms, armed to the teeth, and not all to friendly looking.

Didi signed them in and the guards paid them no mind as they walked right past the combination lock and retinal scan that was required to get in the inner door. Didi explained as they walked down a hall of glass and painted cinder blocks, “they used to house sick gorilla’s in here. We’ve converted it for what we need.”

“And what might that…” Nate froze when he looked past the thick transparent wall to one side. There were two orc’s in there! What was even more surprising, they were infants! “What the hell?”

“This Nate,” Didi said, “is why you were really in Feyland last year. This is what your friend gave her life for.” Nate knelt down next to the glass and watched the two infant’s play tug of war with an oversized baby rattler made of hard rubber and ball bearings. One of them wound up chomping it in half. Didi laughed at them, “meet Pooh and Tigger.” Nate gave her a strange look so Didi told him, “don’t ask, my associate named them and it stuck.”
Nate stood back and he was still a little confused. The only word he could say was, “um, why?”

“Why what?” Didi asked in response. “Nate, these things are the single most dangerous threat that we’ve ever encountered. I know it doesn’t seem that way now but, it’s only a matter of time before they either wipe us out, or we do it to them. This isn’t war, this isn’t politics, it’s nature. That’s what nature does, Nate. Don’t you think we should know as much about them as we can?”

“Um” Nate thought about it and said, “guess you got a point there but, you know, I hate to make this all about me. I’m still wondering, what do you need me for?”

“You’ve fought them,” Didi told him. “You were on the ground, alone, and you survived. Besides that, I seriously need some help right now and I can’t find anybody else that already has the right security clearances for this.”

“I’m not a doctor,” Nate said.

“You don’t have to be,” Didi replied. “I have that kind of help. Sometimes too much of it when Mike’s on a roll. I’m not looking for specifics here Nate. I’m looking for general qualities that can help contribute to this project, in a lot of different ways. I think you can.”

Nate put out his hand, “sign me on, Doc.”

When Nate walked back outside, it was under the excuse of grabbing a smoke. It was a lie since he had quit not long after Angie vanished. He pulled out his phone, patted the papers in his pocket, smiled, and then he said into the phone, “Sara. I’m going back to Feyland. Angie’s alive and I’m bringing her home.”