If he had been tireless, aggressive and energetic before, that was nothing to the way he now threw himself, and his men, into action. Construction of the final Gate was begun immediately, and every vessel that could still fly or fire a shot, along with the Dreadnought itself, was issued to defend it. Let the red bastards come! It would take twice his own number to defeat him now. His men were battle trained and battle hardened, and what was more, they were desperate. (He continued to find it impossible to separate his own emotions from those of his men). But. . .ONE THING AT A TIME, AND NOT MISSING A SINGLE DETAIL. That had been his motto, and he stuck to it for all the current frenzy. He detached the mythical '21st Airborne' once more to Westmoreland, this time not to talk, but to fight. Along with it, and all in the same vessel, went the ground crews that had serviced and realigned the Detachment upon their return from the first encounter, including the man who had brought him the two canisters. These possible witness/subversives must not live to tell their tale. Hayes no longer cared if the fuel cells were lost. Who needed them, or anyone or anything else? They would find all the supplies they needed on Earth. Enough of this mucking around! He was going home in bloody triumph, and good-night sweet prince to anyone who stood in his way. He decided also, on one of the many sleepless nights spent waiting for the star gate, to tell his men the truth---at least that was how it then appeared in his mind. YES, OF COURSE. One thought followed another in rapid succession. STONE HAD BEEN MURDERED, BUT NOT BY THE ARCH-CONSERVATIVES. NO! BY THE SNAKE'S BELLY LIBERALS. AND BY THE COMMUNISTS AND THEIR SYMPATHIZERS, WHO FEARED THE SWORD HE HAD PUT IN HIS GENERAL'S HAND. PLANT WAS A MERE PUPPET. OF COURSE! HE HAD NO CHOICE BUT TO USURP HIM, AND DEAL THE AVENGING BLOW TO SOVIET SPACE. He could even use the footage of Stone's funeral, to commentary written by himself..... He dressed quickly, took out of its locked drawer the remaining microvideo, and made his way impatiently to the InterCommunications Studio, where he spent the rest of the night alone, cutting and editing, then in a late flurry, recording and polishing his own address. Age and fatigue tried to rankle, but he was not let them. The Gate was nearly completed and the Russian threat, unseen but strongly felt, grew nearer each day. Surely by now they had secured a lock on his position, and dispatched their Armada..... There was no time to lose. IV The Coalition had decided to attack the Belgians and Swiss at the place they were now weakest---the occupied Dutch holdings at Larkspur. There were several other considerations behind this choice.