Now, however, with Federal forces actually rolling through Idaho with guns blazing, there could be no hiding from reality. Looking back at the letter, Thomas shook his head. It was clear that Saunders had awakened to the truth. Now it was time for him to do so as well. “All reports indicate,” his letter went on, “that Federal forces are avoiding bloodshed whenever possible. I see this as a good sign and have ordered our Guardsmen to do likewise. Naturally that means I will need to abandon our positions here around Twin Falls almost immediately.

“This brings me to my next decision, one which I am certain you will find no fault with. Regardless of the outcome of this conflict, the people whom we are sworn to serve will still be here when all is said and done. They will need to continue with their lives under whatever conditions the Federal government imposes. It would, therefore, be ruinous to their future prospects if I executed the barrier plan I had briefed you on earlier. The destruction of highways, bridges, and the communications network would do little to hinder the advance of Federal forces. Instead, it would place an unnecessary hardship on our fellow citizens. Therefore I have ordered that all prepared demolitions be disarmed and removed as time permits. Those which cannot be removed will be left unexecuted and clearly marked. Again, the people who are coming to crush our rebellion will, in a few short days, be our fellow countrymen once more.”

Carefully, Thomas folded the letter and placed it in a pocket of his suit jacket. Walking back over to the window he looked at the undiminished crowd below. This time, his eyes didn’t fall upon the sullen journalists and their accompanying technicians. Rather he stared at the oddly uniformed militiamen who kept both the journalists and him in check. The common sense that was guiding Saunders’s actions would not go over well with those people and the men who were their self-appointed leaders. They would not go back into the political and social shadows from which they had emerged as gracefully as his Adjutant General was preparing to do. These men were dangerous men, Thomas told himself. They were not pledged to serve the people of the state of Idaho. They fancied themselves to be patriots dedicated to principles that they believed could only be defended by making a blood sacrifice. Just how much blood it would take to convince these men that this was not the time or place to save the nation they claimed they so dearly loved was unknown.