She straightened and pulled up her zipper. When she looked at me, her face was ashen. Suddenly, she was in my arms and she was shaking. "I can't tell you-"

"Huh?"

"That asshole on the phone! There're no fucking secrets in this city! He said, 'Don't even tell the little boy you're sleeping with where Mommy's going!"'

"I'm not little," I said.

"I know," she sniffed again. She was holding me tight. "Do you really love me?"

"Yes, I do." I held her as tightly as she was holding me. "More than I've ever loved anyone." I buried my face in her hair. I loved the smell of her, the warmth of her.

We stood that way for a long moment.

"I've got to go," she said. She didn't move.

"I know," I said. I didn't let her go.

"No, really." She pulled away. She looked at me. "I don't know how long I'll be gone. Will you wait for me?"

I nodded. "It'll take a nuclear weapon to get me out of your bed."

She went ashen. "I wish you hadn't put it that way." She kissed me. Hard. And then she was gone.

What the bloody hell?

I padded back to the bed and switched on the TV.

The president's face filled half the wall. She looked old.

". . . clear and certain proof of our willingness to win. We arc tonight giving ourselves again to the battles ahead. We are rolling, up our sleeves and saying, 'We will fight.'

"With your support, your partnership, and your prayers, we shall inevitably triumph.

"I thank you, and good night."

Her image faded, and an announcer came on. "That was the statement released by the president of the United States just fifteen minutes ago. For those of you who may have just joined us, we will be repeating the president's statement throughout the evening."

I picked up the phone, and stopped. I didn't have anyone to call.

I put the phone down again.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the president of the United States." The presidential seal dissolved to the president herself.

"My fellow Americans, twenty-eight months ago, when I assumed this office-under tragic circumstances-I knew that I was assuming a great responsibility. This is the greatest nation on this Earth-and this is the most perilous moment of our history.

"The human race is caught in a war we barely understand. Even our best advisors are stunned at the scope of this invasion, this ecological infestation. This nation, the United States of America, is perhaps humanity's last best hope for victory in that war. "When I accepted this responsibility, I knew that the size of the lusk confronting me-and all of us-was an awesome one. I did not shrink from that responsibility. Nor do I think that any American shrinks from the responsibilities ahead. We are all together committed. Whatever must be done, will be done.

"Since I took the oath of office, not a day has passed that I have not realized anew the sacred trust that has been placed in me. There are difficult decisions to be made. I must choose the course nf action that will best serve not only this nation, but all of humanity.

"l know that I act in your name and on your behalf. That trust is not lightly taken. At this time of crisis, I know that I must come again to you to renew that trust and support. Tonight I must ask ynru to join with me in a most difficult decision.

"Let me give you some of the background. It has been the job of this administration to form a global battle plan for combatting the extraterrestrial infestation. Toward that end, we have gathered ihr finest surviving minds on the planet together. This advisory board is continually assessing the course of the infestation and the consequences of the responses open to us.

"I am given daily reports by this advisory board. I pay the closest attention to these reports. Let me stress the care with which tliis body assembles and investigates its facts. Let me stress the tlmroughness of its deliberations. The choices that we are presented with are deeply considered.

"For some time, we have known that the infestation in certain parts of the country is-due to circumstances of geography-unruntrollable. These areas, particularly certain areas in the Rocky Mountain District, function as reservoirs of infestation for the rest wl the nation. Those reservoirs must be neutralized, sterilized, or rliminated by whatever means possible, and as soon as possible.

"Toward that end, we have devoted considerable time, energy, and materiel. Our efforts have been successful, yes, but not on the scale necessary to insure the security of the American people living near the infested areas.

"It has been the difficult duty of the advisory board to inform wr that conventional weapons will be unable to do the job that needs to be done. In our best assessment of the situation, the Rocky Mountain infestation cannot be contained or controlled, let alone stopped, by the weapons we have been using. Even if it were possible to greatly expand the scale of our efforts, still it would not be enough to resist the ecological imperative of the Chtorran infestation in the affected areas.

"Therefore, we have been looking at alternative courses of action.

"Our research divisions have shown great progress in their development of specific biological weapons to use against the infestation. Unfortunately, nothing in their armament is in a state of readiness to handle the scale of problem confronting us tonight. "We cannot wait any longer. We must act.

"The United States Ecological Infestation Advisory Board has therefore reluctantly advised the use of low to medium yield nuclear weapons on selected sites in the following areas-"

"What?!" I came off the bed like a rocket and stood naked in front of the TV, hardly believing what I was hearing. She'd done it after all!

"-Western Colorado, Northern California, and parts of Oregon, Washington, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida. The Advisory Board has also suggested making specific nuclear weapons available to the governments of Mexico, Canada, and Central and South America-if they so request.

"I have accepted that report. Reluctantly, I must agree with the conclusions of the Advisory Board. I have therefore signed the order authorizing the United States Army to use nuclear weapons in those areas designated as Critically Infested. As I speak to you, our bombers are already in the air and on their way to the target sites."

"Oh, my dear God in Heaven-that's where Lizard's going-" I sat down on the edge of the bed and stared at the screen.

"Let me stress here that this is not an indiscriminate bombing of infested areas. Rather, this is a carefully targeted counterattack against specifically dense clusters of gastropede infestation. The gastropedes are the shock troops of the infestation. Tonight's action will destroy their largest staging areas.

"This action is not intended to be, nor can it be, a permanent solution; but it will retard the advancement of the infestation long enough for our scientists to prepare our more sophisticated biologically-specific counterweapons. This action will buy us the necessary time to develop the next level of our resistance. It should be seen as a sign, not of our desperation, but of our commitment."

The president stopped then and looked out at us. I knew that look. Now, she was going to get serious.