ht. That's all it took me. And I was

over thirty. Jeezuss, you're not even twenty yet! Stop complaining.

Just get in there and give it your best shot."

'Don't worry, sir. I will."

'You'd better - otherwise you could lose your star rating." Karlstrom

eyed the surrounding throng of men and women then adopted a friendlier

tone. 'Have you lined up anything for this evening?"

'uhh, no, sir? said Steve. If Karlstrom meant what he thought he

meant, that would have been asking for trouble.

'Good." Karlstrom checked his watch and began to move away. 'We're

due out of here in about fifteen minutes. Come back with us to Grand

Palisades. We're going to be running a little item that may interest

you .... ' Grand Palisades was the President-General's mansion - the

place where the very top echelons of the Family congregated. As he

dismounted from Karlstrom's carriage, his host pointed out a

dark-haired powerful-looking man who had buttonholed the P-G. 'That's

Theodore "Bull" Jefferson. Member of the Supreme Council, and

States-General of Texas. If you leave AMEXICO out of the picture, he's

the second most powerful man in the Federation - and the father of your

missing bed-mate." Karlstrom laughed. 'So keep well back because I

don't intend to introduce you."

After entering the mansion - which was even more spacious and splendid

than Savannah - another round of drinks and refreshments was offered to

the presidential party then a group of about thirty led by Jefferson

split off and filed out. Karlstrom signalled Steve to follow.

Thickly carpeted stairs took them below ground level into a room with

panelled walls, a stepped sloping floor and eight rows of five

comfortable armchair-type seats like the one he'd seen in the apartment

in Santanna Deep. Karlstrom signalled Steve to take a seat in the back

row, then walked on to join Jefferson and Fran's father at the front.

The P-G took the centre seat, facing a high curtained wall about

fifteen feet in front of them.

Turning round, Steve saw a line of four small square holes in the wall

behind him. Weird. Everyone was clearly waiting for something to

appear from behind the curtain - but what? He settled down in his seat

as the lights dimmed. Stirring music - richer than the usual stuff

piped through the Federation - issued from banks of speakers on the

side walls. The curtains parted soundlessly to reveal a large white

rectangle - several feet wider than the block of seats, then as the

music swelled, a ray of light shot from the back wall and filled the

screen with colour.

How strange! thought Steve. This is not a video-wall - this is some

entirely different process. This picture's being projected onto some

kind of special material. The colours are so bright! And the sound!

He watched openmouthed as the story unfolded. A story about a fight to

the death by a small band of heroes facing overwhelming odds. Steve

was watching his first cinemascope movie: The Alamo starring and

directed by the First Family's favourite hero. John Wayne ....

Incredible. And of course Steve believed he was watching the real

thing. He was still rooted in his seat while everyone else was heading

for the exit.

'You planning to stay there all night?"

Karlstrom's voice brought Steve back to earth. He leapt up.

'What did you think of it?"

'Staggering. To have a visual record of something that happened over a

thousand years ago."

."Yehh... 1836 - what's the problem?"

'Nothing, sir. It was kind of strange, y'know - the mexicans being the

bad guys."

Karlstrom smiled. 'They were the old kind. Nothing to do with us."

Steve followed him to the door. 'D'you mind if I ask you something

else? How did they make the cameras work?

There wasn't anything in that fort that used electricity.