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for a worthy foe?” she asked carefully.
    Beth watched him and after three breaths realized he wasn’t going to give her an answer. She knew there was no way of knowing what motivated the aliens – or the Colonel, for that matter. He finally shook his head and turned back to the monitor glowing with alien structures. She continued to watch him, her mind no longer on the alien base.
    So much had happened during their first week as partners, and that week was about to end on the Moon! She thought about her old partners. How many had there been? They were good, but they all had their weaknesses . The Colonel didn’t seem to have any weakness. In fact, it seemed like he was forged from a single piece of steel. No. He isn’t the problem . The problem was that they were weak as a team and that could only be her fault.
    A few days ago, she thought they were starting to bond as partners when they squared off in the gym. He stood almost two meters tall. He stared down at her with piercing blue eyes and black hair, cut marine-style. When he took off his shirt, what had appeared to be tattoos at first were really scars – some more colorful than others. The “tattoos” only added to his mystique. His muscular torso tapered to a very lean waist with a chiseled six-pack. His powerful body reflected how hard he trained in the gym. She struggled to maintain her composure and began throwing jabs and kicks so that no one would notice. He reacted like a machine with plenty of speed and agility to block her punches and keep her guessing.
    As the fight progressed, there were a few times that he could have really hurt her, but he pulled back. He was always one or two steps ahead, which gave the fight a choreographed feel. Beth wasn’t interested in dancing. Her frustration finally gave way to fascination as she worked against the more skilled opponent. Mercifully, he could see that she was getting tired. He ended the match by stepping back with a respectful bow.
    That had been the longest interaction they had shared. When she suggested that they discuss their first mission over a drink after work, he declined saying that he had other plans. When she suggested another time, he added that his plans extended over the entire week. Beth hoped that they could bond sooner than later to avoid jeopardizing the mission and causing someone to get hurt.

 
    Chapter Two
     
    New York City:
    Bright sunlight poured through the large penthouse window. Earth Chancellor Jonathan Visen stood in contemplation and made a brooding silhouette. New York City lay far below. His lavish office filled the entire top floor of Manhattan’s tallest skyscraper. The whole effect of the office was intended to overwhelm visitors with sophistication: professionally decorated, the large suite’s centerpiece was an enormous hand-brushed mahogany desk. Oversized leather chairs strategically dotted the room while rows of bookshelves were filled with classic literature. 
    Normally, his attention was drawn down to the city – he would watch as people and hovercraft moved along in various vertical and horizontal lines, going about their business hundreds of feet below. Like looking through a microscope, he imagined their significance as not much more than the insects they mimicked. Today, however, his attention was on an almost transparent sliver of Moon hanging in the hazy afternoon sky.
    High above the old Empire State Building – now dwarfed by spires of new construction projects from the last twenty years – Jonathan wasn’t considering his next conquest, which was his normal practice. He was thinking about his newfound awesome power. The United States had led the way when President Westover signed congressional legislation giving Jonathan what had been the president’s Commander-in-Chief authority over and control of the Department of Homeland Security. This was done in a desperate response to counter major terrorist activity. No one knew that Jonathan had