Chapter I I The bus pitched east through midnight black and Luke Paxton sat with his head against the window, alone with his thoughts. Winter clawed at him through the glass but he kept himself nestled against it. He found the tinges of outside cold bracing, and wanted to keep awake. He wet his throat and stared out at the flurries of snow dusting the road. Dark, baleful forest lay beyond. A convoy of supply Humvees crested a small hill, pushing the other way, toward the border.