Chapter 20
As sunrise broke over the Mojave Desert, sparkling cheerfully on the silver exterior of a deteriorating travel trailer, a shimmer of heat rose from the sand and scrub. Being the last day of the year, even the desert was not hot enough for a mirage, and, sure enough, this proved to be an illusion. A second glance revealed a force of abnormally tall men, robed in white. They represented every race and color on earth, and yet seemed somehow not of earth, at least not entirely. A matching number of ordinary-looking men fanned out among them. Some were tough and battle-scarred, others young, fresh-faced and flushed with the excitement of their first battle, but each man showed terror in their shifting eyes and tense posture. At their head, on the steps of the trailer, sat a man wit
