The Second Coming

The silence hung eerily like a heavy shroud that stifled all life then crushed it without thought of fear or remorse. Morani strained through the headphones to catch a fragment of conversation, but all he got was an scratchy record of Glenn Miller playing "In the Mood" on a transistor radio. He certainly wasn't so happy, so he pushed the stick back and headed in an easterly direction to Moscow. Major Thompson switched on the radar screen and tracked the helicopter, then shouted, "Do we intercept?" President Baker pointed a finger at the major and in a bitter voice, screamed, "You will keep peace at all times, or you will be shot." At this point, Senator Beavers sneeringly said, "What are you a man for, all the world to respect or to be a mouse that cowers in the corner, forgotten?" Or perhaps one day, someone might say who was President Baker, for he is not in any history book. Visibly shaken, his face turned to an ashen gray; he then thumped the table very hard with knuckles that were taut and white. He would not look into the senator's eyes as he was the next vice president with very powerful business friends, and he was most anxious to avoid a row at all costs.