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calmly at the head of the table.
    “Will you suffer these filthy soldiers here?” he asked.
    Schulz launched his chair backwards as he shot up to his feet.
    “Will you shut up!” he yelled.
    Taylor smiled as he saw the shock in Dupont’s face, and the man’s shoulders slump as he was humiliated before them all.
    That’s right, you son of a bitch, thought Taylor.
    Dupont went silent and lay back with a smirk. Schulz sighed as he sat back down and pulled his chair into the table. He took look around the room and took one last deep breath before he addressed them all.
    “Tensions have been high. There have been some hot headed actions and enough scorn and bitterness to last a lifetime. This is war, so let us not forget that all of us here are on the same side.”
    He paused for a moment for his words to settle in. Taylor, for the first time since he had met the General, began to understand his position. Schulz wasn’t an inherently bad person, far from it. He was a plotter and a thinker, and a man who saw the big picture; and had no time to fret over one soldier’s single death. Taylor sometimes wished he could have commanded some of the battles in the war but also saw the toll it took.
    “Soldiers and civilians alike are slaving every day to try and clear roads, and get this country back on its feet. Major Chandra, you are probably not aware that we have had substantial resources put into Paris. The capital is an important symbol for this world, and it must be operational as quickly as possible.”
    “Is there much left of it?” muttered Taylor.
    Schulz heard his quiet words and stopped to address the question.
    “Enough that it is, and always will be, Paris. The two of you are more than aware of what the enemy were doing with the former capital.”
    “Actually, Sir, we may have seen a lot, but we understood little of it.”
    “Exactly so. The city has been deemed safe, and what is left of the government is already being re-instated there. The leaders of many of the key armies of the world are assembling there to witness first hand the sights which you yourselves uncovered.”
    “To what end, Sir?” she asked.
    Taylor could see that Dupont was desperate to leap to his feet and shoot them down in flames, but he held his tongue in the knowledge he would only receive a second ridiculing.
    “What your reports described was deeply disturbing. Experts from around the world have been let into the site in the last few weeks, and we all hope they have some answers. I would like both of you to join us on this journey. Perhaps you can shed more light on whatever was going on there.”
    Taylor turned to Chandra, and she could see in his eyes that he didn’t want to go. She also knew that Schulz was making a determined effort to repair the relationship with her Company, and specifically with Mitch.
    “What about our unit, Sir?”
    “Captain Jones will be more than capable of managing. I am sending an infantry company with a detachment of engineers to assist them. They’ll be arriving this evening.”
    “Thank you, Sir. We’d be more than happy to accompany you to Paris, but I cannot promise that we’ll be any assistance in understanding what is there.”

    * * *

    Jones paced cautiously along a roadside, looking in every window and alcove as he passed. Abandoned cars still littered the roads. Some were burnt out wrecks, while others seemed to have past through the conflict like a time capsule. Brick dust and other grime covered every visible surface, and huge craters were still littering the streets.
    “Need to get those bloody engineers here, and get these holes filled in!” Monty shouted.
    Jones stopped and turned to watch his unit pass through the rubble and debris of the city. He shook his head in astonishment. It was hard to believe that it could ever return to its former glory. He caught a glimmer of light in the distance as light reflected off a moving object. The Captain quickly lifted his binoculars.
    His