"When did you get here?" Marc asked when he could. "Just fifteen minutes ago," Julie said cheerfully. "I drove all night to get here. I had no idea you'd be at the beach so early. I thought I'd have to drag you out of bed." She sighed contentedly. "I just couldn't stand another day without you. I just couldn't face it." "What about the separate vacations?" Julie's eyes became wide and innocent. "What are those?" she asked. "All over it?" She nodded, flushed just a little. Through their conversation, Marc had been vaguely aware of a man's voice within the house. It seemed excited. "Who's that?" he asked. "Oh, that!" Julie laughed. "It's the radio!" She looked suddenly excited, as though having just remembered something important. "You should just hear what's going on! It's absolutely fantastic!" "Going on?" "Yes. It's the strangest thing. Early this morning there was some sort of disturbance all through the earth's surface. In some places, it was so severe, it knocked down whole buildings. I really don't understand it very well, but at first they thought it was just an earthquake, but scientists proved somehow that it couldn't have been. Now, they've decided that it must have been some sort of weird bombardment from another planet ... Mars or the moon, or one of those places. Russia even claims to be holding Orson Welles responsible. "Anyway, the most amazing things have been happening ever since! Already, they've formed a World Army in case of further attacks. And everyone's talking about a United World. They're really sincere about it, too. The world has really become united in just the last few hours. It's odd how swiftly these things can be accomplished when they really get down to it. They've settled matters that no one ever thought they'd agree on. It's almost unbelievable. It seems we just had to have some sort of outside threat to pull us all together." "Are you sure about all that?" Marc asked. "Oh, yes!" Julie nodded positively. "Some places got a real jolting." She drew closer to him. "I'm so glad you weren't in any of them," she went on softly. "I'm so thankful you were safe here, where nothing ever happens ... where you could have a nice, quiet vacation." Marc's mouth flew widely open, then snapped shut. Grinning, he slipped an arm about Julie's waist and pulled her gently toward the house. "So am I," he said quietly. THE END