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."And they're not shy around here."They kept walking and saw another king snake moving through the dirt, then athird one sunning itself on the road.All the snakes had black bodies, but thepattern and color of their bands seemed to vary.White.Cream.Pale yellow.More snakes appeared on the road and Gabriel stopped counting.Dozens ofreptiles coiled and slithered and looked around with their little black eyes.Maya appeared nervous almost frightened."You don't like snakes?"She lowered her arms and tried to relax."You don't see many in England."As they got closer to the windmill, Gabriel saw that it had been built next toa rectangular concrete area about the size of a football field.It looked likean enormous machine-gun bunker abandoned by the army.Directly south of theconcrete area was a small aluminum trailer that reflected the desert light.Aparachute had been set up as a sunscreen over a wooden picnic table andplastic boxes filled with tools and supplies.The Pathfinder was kneeling near the base of the windmill, welding aPage 162 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlreinforcement strut.He wore blue jeans, a long-sleeved checkered shirt, andthick leather gloves.Awelder's helmet covered his face and he appeared to be concentrating on theflame as he fused two pieces of metal.A four-foot-long king snake slithered by, almost grazing the tip of Gabriel'sboots.He could see that the sand on both sides of the road was marked with thousandsof faint Scurves, a sign of reptile movements across the dry land.Thirty feet from the tower, Antonio shouted and waved his arms.The Pathfinderheard him, stood up, and raised the welder's helmet.At first Gabriel assumedthat thePathfinder was an old man with white hair.As they got closer he realized thatthey were about to meet a woman who was more than seventy years old.She had abroad forehead and a straight nose.It was a face of great strength without anounce of sentimentality."Good morning, Antonio.You brought some friends this time." "Dr.Briggs, thisisGabriel Corrigan.He's the son of a Traveler and wants to know if ""Yes.Of course.Welcome." The doctor had a brisk New England accent.Shepulled off one of the welder's gloves and shook Gabriel's hand."I'm SophiaBriggs." Her fingers were strong and her blue-green eyes were intense,critical.Gabriel felt like he was being evaluated and then she turned awayfrom him."And you are.""Maya.Gabriel's friend."Dr.Briggs noticed the black metal case hanging from Maya's shoulder andunderstood what it contained."How interesting.I thought all you Harlequinswere dead, slaughtered after various self-destructive gestures.Perhaps you'retoo young for this business.""And maybe you're too old.""There's some spirit.A little resistance.I like that." Sophia returned toher trailer and tossed the welder's gear into a plastic milk crate lying onthe ground.Startled by the noise, two large king snakes came out of theshadow beneath the trailer and slithered over to the windmill."Welcome to the land ofLampropeltis getula, the common king snake.Of course, there's nothing commonabout them.They're brave, clever, perfectly lovely reptilesanother one of God's gifts to a fallen world.What you're seeing is subspeciessplendida, theArizona desert king snake.They eat copperheads and rattlesnakes as well asfrogs, birds, and rats.They just love to kill rats.Especially large, nastyones.""Dr.Briggs studies snakes," Antonio said."I'm a biologist specializing in reptiles.I taught for twenty-eight years attheUniversity of New Hampshire until they forced me out.You should have seenPresidentMitchell, a silly little man who can barely walk upstairs without huffing andpuffing, telling me that I was too frail for the classroom.What nonsense.Afew weeks after the retirement dinner, I started getting messages from myInternet friends that the Tabula had discovered I was a Pathfinder."Antonio dropped his canvas food bag on the table."But she wouldn't leave.""And why should I? I'm no coward.I own three firearms and know how to usethem.Then Antonio and Martin found out about this site and lured me here.Youtwo are clever schoolboys.""We knew you couldn't resist," Antonio said."You're right about that.Fifty years ago the government wasted millions ofdollars building this ridiculous missile site." Sophia moved past the trailerPage 163 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmland pointed at the site.Gabriel saw three enormous concrete disks set in rusty steel frames."Rightover there are the silo lids.They could be opened and shut from the inside.That was where they stored the missiles."She turned on her heel and pointed to a mound of dirt about half a mile away."After the missiles were pulled out, the county turned that area over thereinto a dump.Beneath nine inches of dirt and a plastic tarp is twenty years of rottinggarbage that sustains an enormous population of rats.The rats eat the garbageand multiply.The king snakes eat the rats, then live and breed in the silo
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