When he finished no one spoke. Only the sad, mournful howl of the wind whipping across the land broke the stillness. With everything of importance having been said and no one able or willing to add to it, the gathering dispersed. Brigade commanders returned to their units to pass on their warning orders and begin their own precombat preparations. Staff officers scurried back to the division’s main command post to finish pulling together the well coordinated plan of operation that would, in less than twenty-four hours, hurl thousands of combat troops and hundreds of combat vehicles and aircraft into battle.

BOISE, IDAHO AFTERNOON, NOVEMBER 10

The change in attitudes of the officials was palatable. Where there had been copious amounts of bombastic rhetoric flowing freely through the streets of the state capital, there was now silence. Press briefings were now curt, stifling affairs where questions were unwelcome and went unanswered. Most disturbing was the fact that no one of any account such as the governor, lieutenant governor, the Adjutant General, or the State Attorney General was seen in public. With the increased presence of militiamen manning key points throughout the city, speculation began to spread among the press corps in Boise that there had been a shift in power. While few believed that there had been a coup in the formal sense, no one who had been following the ebb and flow of events in Idaho had any illusion as to who was now calling the shots.

As a result of this change in the manner in which the affairs of state were carried out in Idaho, solid news of any value was now all but impossible to obtain in Boise. Still, journalists like Jan Fields stayed and did the best they could. “Rather than despair,” Jan told her crew, “think of this as an opportunity to excel.”

In her usual fashion, Jan’s cameraman, Angela Carter, tried to have the last word. “Thank God we weren’t on the Titanic.’Cause if we had been, I’m sure you’d have tried to talk us into staying behind in order to get an exclusive with Captain Smith as he watched the last of the lifeboats lowered away.”

Jan smiled. “Ah, yes. And you would have done it, wouldn’t you?”

Angela said nothing. Though she had found herself in situations that were far more dangerous than the one she now faced, she didn’t believe in taking unnecessary chances. There were far too many militiamen roaming about for her liking. Though the press credentials she carried offered her a degree of protection, Angela Carter decided it was time to call upon an old friend of hers.