“No,” the Major responded, “that’s what we called our research for the Joint Chiefs of Staff. It was crude and ill-conceived. I’m not really very proud of those years, as a matter of fact. However, it did provide the foundation for what was to come.”

“Obviously,” Eric said. “And what does your Bureau of Beautiful Names call what you have done here? ‘Brain Bending for Fun and Profit?’ Or how about ‘Self-Discipline Made Easy’?”

Nicole glanced at the Major, remembering how Eric’s rapiertongued comments could raise his ire, but if the Major had heard, he gave no sign. He was looking at Dr. Cameron and ignored Eric completely.

“Like Colonel Karl Lloyd, I sensed that the world’s insanity was plunging us toward the brink of annihilation. And like Eric’s father, I started to prepare.” He paused for a moment, his eyes wide and thoughtful behind his glasses. “However, instead of retiring from the military, I used the tremendous resources at our disposal. It was so closely related to the Benevolent Pacification program that, in those last hectic couple of years, no one took any real notice of our change in direction. We had tens of millions of dollars at our disposal.”

He smoothed his mustache with his thumb and forefinger, absently, as he thought back. “We chose this site very carefully. We figured Kalispell would not attract any direct strikes, which it didn’t. It has the natural resources we needed to survive afterwards—a relatively mild climate for as far north as we are, rich farmland, unlimited water and timber, a major hydroelectric plant nearby—it was the ideal location. We spent millions purchasing equipment—not just the supplies we needed to survive, but manufacturing tools, whole factories, and laboratories. And more importantly, we identified and gathered experts from a dozen fields we considered would be critical after the war was over. It took more than two years of intensive and extensive preparations, and we still weren’t ready when it came.”

“How did you escape the war?” Dr. Cameron was obviously interested in what the Major was saying, in spite of his outward coolness.

“We convinced the Pentagon we were setting up a model community in which to fully test our program. We stockpiled enough food and supplies to last a year, and then, like your group, rode it out. Once it was over, we began collecting survivors.”

The Major straightened, throwing off the somberness of the memories. “But the second way in which I differed from Eric’s father is that I wanted to do more than survive the war. I wanted civilization to survive—with the assurance that such a war would never happen again.”