“I was thinking about Greece or Rome,” Wolfe said, trying to force a straight face. “Maybe the catacombs.”
Val stood. With a complete lack of ceremony, she grabbed his chair and pushed it over, sending him face down into the water. Wolfe rolled as she came after him, stuck out his feet and tripped her. Val came crashing down on top of him. Locked in each other’s arms and each other’s hearts, they rolled over and over, the sand working its way into their hair and sticking to their oil coated bodies. Curses turned to laughter and laughter to kisses. They stayed on the beach a long time.
It would be their own private joke how their swimsuits went out with the tide, and how Wolfe got sunburned in the most unusual of places.
The Kremlin
Office of the President
Russian Federation
In an office once reserved for the head of a communist empire, the Russian President spoke to his American counterpart on the “Hot Line” phone link once reserved to avert nuclear war.
“I am very glad,” the Russian President said, “we resolved the matter to our mutual satisfaction. I deeply regret the casualties.”
“Our Congress has passed a bill authorizing funds to assist in the cleanup and marking.”
“I read as much in our newspapers. I wished to discuss the amount with you. We believe a significant increase will be necessary.”
“There would not be anyone in your administration,” the American said, “suggesting that you might leverage this tragedy for monetary advantage?’
“No one here would so much as consider such a thing. We are, after all, Russians.”
There was a pause on the line.
“Mr. President, we had reports,” the American chief executive said, “of genetic and biological experiments at a place called Ditchnesk.”
“Such reports were greatly exaggerated,” replied the Russian. “The primitive clinic at Ditchnesk was destroyed, along with all the experimental material produced.”
“Good. I feel better about the future.”
“So do I, Mr. President,” said the Russian. He slowly twirled a sealed test tube in his hand, then replaced it next to the nine others like it in its cushioned metal case. “So do I.”
~The End~
About the author of The Best Defense…
From to tanks and infantry to a tour de force through wealthy suburbia’s wholesome appearances and sordid realities, from military to mystery, former Army Airborne Ranger Todd Stone has made his mark on the print and e-book worlds. Stone is the author of the “profiling procedural” and 2002 Digital Literature Institute Best of Fiction Winner, 2002 INDIE Mystery Winner, and 2002 EPPIE finalist Close to Home (Hard Shell Word Factory) and the NY Times Review of Books acclaimed military techno thriller Kriegspiel (previously published by Lyford Books/Presidio Press, coming July 2003 from NBI). He is a member of the Author’s Guild, Mystery Writers of America, EPIC (the Electronically Published Internet Connection), the Author’s Guild, the National Writers’ Union, the Crime Writers’ Guild, and is a graduate of his local Citizens Police Academy.
When not writing fiction, Stone writes marketing communications materials for a major telecommunications manufacturer, teaches copywriting at a local community college, and presents at writers’ conferences throughout the Midwest.
An avid motorcyclist, Stone is a former Army Airborne Ranger Infantry officer whose military assignments included duty as an Assistant Professor at the United States Military Academy at West Point. He has his undergraduate degree from Indiana University and his MA in English from Northwestern University. He lives with his family in a perfectly normal suburb outside Chicago, IL. He can be reached through his web site www.tntstone.com, or by e-mail at [email protected]
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