Vista

The house of Jashen and Leliel was too cramped for Ithuriel to properly show his father what he had come up with so he led him to the top of the little knoll which was still adorned with Dory's tree house. Anael was waiting for them up there, with the saucer lying upside-down. Ithuriel could not hide his pleasure at the rare presence of hyz father, the seraph Michael, who was the absolute lord of the entire Earth and arguably at least half of Kemen.

To the north from the hilltop they could see where the Squaw River forked to form an island, but it was just a trickle now. Ithuriel brought that to Michael's attention. He said, "The town is dying a little bit every day, father. I've come up here many times and I've watched it gradually shrivel to a husk."

"There is no wisdom in completely stopping the flow of water," Mi- chael said, knowing that Ithuriel was well aware the source of the Squaw River was actually in Nyduly Wood more than four years away as the photon flies. "But as you have seen I am reducing it by degrees. I keep it just below the level it needs to be to fully support the de- clining population of the town as it is from day to day."

"I understand," said Ithuriel. "That serves to keep them moving out. Eventually DECON will own the whole town, but by then they'll need to bring all their water in by truck. But one consequence I've noticed, father, intended or not, is that the White Wingers who thought it was a bargain buying up Red Wing homes at seventy cents on the dollar are now grateful to sell their own homes to the United States government for thirty cents on the dollar."

Michael allowed hymself a sly smile, and he glanced briefly at Anael. "Over the centuries many have attributed to me the virtue of divine justice." And Anael smiled gently back at him.

To the north and west they saw the island that formed the center of Headwater, anchored at one end by the courthouse and on the other end by the sheriff's station. But half of the business were closed so hard they weren't even boarded up. They were simply abandoned by their former owners and left for Clyde Tolson of DECON to remake them in whatever sorry image he had in mind.

But Tolson himself had not been around for several months. The War in Europe had entered its final year and J. Edgar Hoover had given Tol- son's leash a tug. He made Tolson put whatever side project he had going on in Headwater on hold to hunt down actual domestic enemies, not phantoms, infiltrators who were Third Reich saboteurs and spies. Special Agent Bill Sullivan and Dr. Trochman were likewise nowhere to be found. Paul Bergin had been sent to the Chair, Klaus Hansen rotted in Leavenworth, and Special Agent Mark Felt had left when they left.