Crichton had finally gotten a chance to take off his protective gear and grab some food. Battalion had gone to the Domino's Pizza on Kirkman Road, one of the largest in the nation, and gotten pizza for Charlie Company at materials cost from the owner. By the time Crichton got a slice all that was left was all the way and it was cold. He preferred just pepperoni and hot, but it was food and he realized as he bit into the slice that it was the first food he'd had since a chicken biscuit for breakfast. He'd found a bit of rubble, the foundation for one of the university buildings, and was contemplating the activity around the hole when a small voice said: "Excuse me."

He turned around and, right at the edge of the light from the kliegs, a small child, a girl by her clothing and hair, was standing watching him. In her arms was what looked like a stuffed animal, probably some sort of "monster" animal. At least it looked stuffed until it climbed up her clothes and perched on her shoulder.

"Hello," he said as calmly as he could. "Where did you come from?"

"Home," the girl said. "I'm hungry." "What's your name little girl?"

"Mimi Jones, 12138 Mendel Road, Orlando, Florida, 32826."

"Are you lost?" he asked. He wondered where Mendel Road was and wondered who was going to hook this girl up with her parents, assuming they were alive. She seemed uninjured, so there was no way that she had been in the explosion. But there wasn't anything standing for a kilometer around the explosion. If she had come from outside the explosion area, then she'd walked a long way.

"Yes," she said. "I couldn't find my house or my mommy. And Mommy said I shouldn't talk to strangers but she said that soldiers were okay one time when we were at the mall."

"Well, there's a policeman here," Crichton said, standing up. "He'll probably be able to find your mommy. And we'll get you something to eat. Come on."

He wanted to ask what that thing on her shoulder was but he thought it might be a good idea to wait until he got her into the light and got a better look at it. It might be one of those robotic toys that were turning up these days.

In the light the thing was no better. It was almost entirely fur except for some stubby and goofy-looking legs; there seemed to be about ten spaced equilaterally around its body. And it didn't seem to be threatening anything, just sitting on her shoulder.

A command truck had been parked at the edge of the light zone and he led the girl over to the group that was standing around at the back. Weaver was there and the SEAL commander along with a sergeant from Orange County Sheriff's that had been sent over as a liaison. There was also a woman he hadn't seen before, a tall brunette, just on the far side of chunky, with long brown hair. She was dressed in jeans and a flannel work shirt.

"Hi," he said when he got to the group. "This little girl just wandered up to me. I think she's from in the TD area. She says her name is Mimi."

"Hello, Mimi," the woman said, squatting down in front of the girl. "I'm Dr. McBain. I'm not a doctor like you probably know, I'm what's called a biologist. I study plants and animals. This is Dr. Weaver, he studies stars and stuff. What's your name? Do you know your address?"

"Mimi Jones, 12138 Mendel Road, Orlando, Florida, 32826," the girl recited again.

"And what's that on your shoulder?" McBain asked, eyeing it warily.

"That's my friend," Mimi said, patting the thing. "His name is Tuffy."

"Do you know where your mommy is?" the biologist said.

"No, I was watching Powerpuff Girls and then I woke up in the dark. I was scared but Tuffy told me it would be okay and then I walked to the lights. I'm hungry."

"Tuffy told you?" Weaver said, squatting down by her also.

"Kinda," the girl said and giggled. "He doesn't talk, he doesn't have a mouth like us. But I know what hemeans. I was really scared but he made me be brave and told me to go to the lights and get some food.

I'm hungry."

"We're out of pizza," Weaver said, waving at the SEAL officer. "Would you like some nice MREs?"

"I dunno," the girl admitted. "I don't like peas, though."

"No peas," Weaver said as the SEAL, shaking his head, went to get some MREs.

"Dr. Weaver," the cop said, coming over and squatting down with the others. "That's got to be impossible."

"What do you mean?"

"Were you at home, Mimi?" the deputy asked, softly. "When you fell asleep that is?"

"Yes," Mimi said.

"That's impossible," the cop repeated. "Mendel is about three blocks from here."

"Did you have a basement, Mimi?" Weaver asked. "Were you in the basement?"

"No," she answered. "We had an apartment. On the second floor. I used to throw water balloons at Manuel downstairs until Mommy found out what I was doing with them and made me stop."

"That's really impossible," the cop said. "Where were you, really, Mimi?"

Weaver didn't have children but he did know that they would make things up. However, there was no logic to Mimi lying and he felt she wasn't.

"I don't think she's lying, Sergeant," he said, quietly. "And do me a favor, don't bully her on it. I don't want her, or that thing, agitated."

"She can't have come from Mendel, Dr. Weaver," the deputy protested. "It'sgone ."

"Quod erat demonstratum," the physicist answered. "That which is demonstrated. Wheredid she come from, then?Everything for a half a mile in every direction isgone . She's six; there's only so far she could have walked. Ergo, she came fromsomewhere she could not have and Mendel is only one of many equally implausible possibilities."

"So how did she survive?" the cop asked, angrily.

"I don't know," Weaver said, honestly.

"Some sort of toroidal effect?" McBain asked.

"Nope," the physicist answered. "If there was a minimal effect toroid, and it doesn't look like there was, it still would have taken out an upstairs apartment. And she wouldn't be unscratched. Look, none of this is making sense according to standard theory so I'd have to go out on a limb and say that another gate opened and she fell in it as the blast front came across. Problem being even if it opened under her she wouldn't have had time to fall." "Opened up on her?" the woman asked. "Then she fell out after the blast had passed?"

"Maybe," Weaver shrugged. "Or maybe Tuffy saved her."

"That's what happened," Mimi said, stoutly. "Tuffy told me he saved me."

"Well, then, that's the answer," Weaver said, smiling. "Problem solved."

"Not all of them," the deputy said. "We're supposed to isolate any ET stuff. And if that's not an ET I don't know what is. It could be carrying a plague for all we know. And she won't be able to take it to a shelter."

"And it doesn't explainhow it saved her," McBain pointed out.

"The point is, we need to isolate that thing," the deputy said. "And her, come to think of it. Mimi, I'm sorry but you're going to have to give me Tuffy," the cop continued, pulling out a pair of rubber gloves.

"I won't," Mimi said, stubbornly. "Tuffy's my friend and he saved me. You're not going to take him away and put him to sleep."

"We won't put him to sleep, child," the woman said. "But he might be carrying germs. We have to make sure he's safe."

"He's not," Mimi said. "He told me he's safe."

"Well, you still have to give him to me, Mimi," the deputy said, reaching for the creature.

"No!" Mimi answered, backing up. "I won't give him to you. Leave me alone! You're a bad man!"

"Mimi . . ." Weaver said, just as the thing reared up. He caught a glimpse of what might have been a mouth and then two of the thing's legs extended enormously, forming or extending claws at the end. The claws caught the deputy in his upper arm, just below where it was protected by body armor. There was a sizzling sound and the deputy was flung back to shudder on the ground.

Weaver rolled up and back into a combat stance as the woman stood up and backed away as well. The deputy was shaking from head to foot and then stopped. He was still breathing, though.

"Medic!" Glasser called, dropping the MRE packet he had just carried over and grabbing the deputy.

He dragged him to the rear of the command Humvee and then drew his sidearm.

"Mimi," Weaver said, as calmly as he could. "Tell Tuffy we're not going to try to take him away, okay?"

"Okay," Mimi said, turning her head and murmuring at the thing. "He says the man will be okay."

"Okay," the physicist replied.

"It looks like he's been tasered," Glasser said, walking over with the MRE packet. "Mimi, this is chicken ala king. It's got some peas in it, sorry, but it's one of the best ones we have. I heated it up for you." He pulled a folding knife out and slit the top of the MRE packet, then opened it up and carefully handed it to her along with a spork. Mimi looked at the contents with the doubtful indecision millions of soldiers around the world understood, then poked at the contents. She spooned some of the mess up and tasted it, then picked at it greedily, pulling out the chicken bits.

As she did "Tuffy" climbed down her chest and, holding onto the front of her shirt, extended its legs to fish into the contents. It seemed to be rooting through for vegetables. Since the girl was only eating the meat it was a fair apportionment. Weaver watched in amazement as the thing fished up the bits in the sauce, hooked on small claws, transferring them to its underside where they were, presumably, consumed.

"Mimi," the biologist suddenly said with a tone of horror. "I just realized something. That might not be good for Tuffy."

"Tuffy says it's okay," the girl said around a mouthful of chicken. "He said that he can uh-just his fizz-ee-o-logical in-com-pat-ib-ility." She clearly didn't know what it meant or care.

"Holy shit," Weaver muttered.

3.

"We're going to use the junior man rule, General," Lieutenant Glasser said, gesturing at a schematic on the whiteboard.

Brigadier General Hank Fullbright was the Assistant J-3 (Operations) of Special Operations Command.

There was apparently a battle royale going on in Washington over who was to control the investigation of the gate but due to proximity SOCOM had control at the moment. Fullbright had been dispatched nearly as fast as the SEAL team and now sat in a rolling chair in the command Hummer nodding at the briefing.

The "junior man rule" was well known to most of the military and certainly to the guys on the sharp end.

In the event that you had no way to test for, say, poison gas, the junior man was the person you used for a guinea pig.

"Seaman First Class Sanson has been briefed for the initial entry," Glasser added, tapping the shoulder of the young SEAL standing at his side. He was wearing a blue environment suit and carried the full-face mask under his arm. "Just a reconnaissance. He will enter, ensure his own environmental and physical safety, do a brief video of the far side and then return."

"You up for this, sailor?" the general asked.

"SEALs in, sir!" the sailor blurted, nervously.

"Drop the hoowah, son," the general said, mildly. "I admit that the junior man rule makes sense, but I want to know if you have reservations about this."

"Am I worried, sir, yes, sir," the young SEAL said. "But I've been well briefed and somebody has to doit. I'm willing, trained and able, sir."

"Okay, you go," the general said, looking at his watch. "It's 2330. You planning on doing this tonight, Lieutenant?"

"Yes, sir," Glasser said. "The initial entry. It's been suggested that we do so as soon as possible due to potentiality of gate failure and to assess any threat on the far side."

"Other than bugs falling through," the general said, smiling faintly. Another had fallen out of the gate less than an hour before and was being examined by Dr. McBain.

"Yes, sir," Glasser answered.

"I don't know all this science fiction stuff," the general admitted. "You sure you've covered everything?"

"Everything that we can, General," Weaver answered. "We don't know anything about air conditions on the far side except that the bugs have book lungs, so thereis air. And they can survive for a time on this side. Sanson will be wearing a full environment suit. He won't pop it open. We've come up with a very rough and ready air sampling probe. He could experience significant gravitational changes, significant light environment changes and the ground level may be different on the far side. Basically, he doesn't know what he'll find and we just hope he comes back at all. We sent in a roughed out rover set to roll in and roll back out. It didn't come back."

"That's not good," the general noted. "What about just sticking a video camera through on a stick?"

"We did, sir," Glasser noted. "The stick sheared off."

"Son, you still want to go?"

"Yes, sir," Sanson said.

"Well, good luck," the general said, standing up and shaking his hand.

The group moved out into the lights again. A platform had been rigged up under the globe. It was rickety as hell. At the base a man wearing a hard hat was looking up at it and shaking his head.

"Who are you?" Weaver asked when they reached the bottom of the stairs.

"Bill Earp, FEMA," the man said. "I'm the FEMA safety coordinator." He was tall and very heavyset, with a salt and pepper beard that had been cut back along the sides for a respirator; the blue jumpsuit that he was wearing made him look like a bearded blue Buddha.

"If you're going to tell me that platform is unsafe," Weaver said, "we'd sort of noticed. But we've got to make a penetration tonight."

"Oh, the whole thing is unsafe," the FEMA representative said, grinning. "I'm just here to do the required safety briefing. Who's doing the penetration?"

"Seaman Sanson," Weaver said, gesturing at the SEAL.

"Okay, Seaman Sanson, this is your safety briefing," the rep said, grinning again. "Be aware that theplatform you are using for entry is poorly constructed and may collapse. Be aware that on the far side of the gate you may experience reduced air quality. Be aware that on the far side of the gate you may experience increased or decreased gravitational field. The far side of the gate may not be at ground level and you may experience vertical movement on exit. Upon returning you may find that you do not hit the platform in which case you will experience an approximately twenty-meter fall to ground level. The gate may not return to this same location at all in which case you may find yourself in any location in this universe or in any other universe. The environment suit that you are using is not warranted by the manufacturer for use in any nonterrestrial environment and, therefore, you are using it at your own risk.

Do you understand this warning?"

"Yes, sir," the SEAL said.

"Has your mask been tested for fit?" the FEMA representative asked.

"I did a breath check," the SEAL said.

"Not good enough," the FEMA rep replied. "Come with me."