As he waited, Kevin thought of all that had happened in the last few years. He
thought of all the violence and death. He thought of all the hope and promise of
the project leaders. He thought of the future. He had no idea what was Up
There, no one did, but he was ready to find out.
   "Ready as I'll ever be..." he muttered to no one in particular.
   Soon the rest of the team arrived in the briefing room. Dark-skinned, good
natured Ray, crazy but lovable Doc, and last, silent and typically mysterious,
Jerry. All of them were here together. The project leaders had picked them
because of their various talents and because they were some of the few
people who actually wanted to leave the sanctuary of the Compound. They
had worked well together and now it was time to put their collective
skills and months of training to the test. 
   "Well, we're all here," said Ray, "where's the boss-man?"
   As if on cue the security shaft which led to the offices of the project leaders
slid silently open and out stepped Project Leader Nikita Vosj. Slim and
beautiful she walked with the grace of one seemingly born to rule. It was
rumored that she was distantly related to the leader of the fallen Empire of
Yeltic States, which was one of the instigators of the War.
   "Good morning gentlemen," she said, "I am pleased to see you all here,
ready to embark on this dangerous, but vitally important mission."
   "Well, we're all pleased to see you, Project Leader," said Kevin courteously.
   "Although I'd sure love to see a lot more of her," whispered Ray.
   "Good," she said. "Now that we've concluded the pleasantries, its time to get
down to business. As your the project leader assigned to this mission it is my
duty to provide you with the following information:" She pressed a button on the
keypad behind her and a screen descended from the ceiling revealing what
appeared to be a map of the former United States of America. "This is  where
we are," she said pointing to the spot on the map marked with an X. "We are
currently 2,000 meters below the ground. You will be lifted to the spot directly
above the compound. You will then proceed to take readings and record data
with the equipment you have been using for the last ten months. Hopefully, the
information you provide will be sufficient to determine if the Above Ground is
suitable for re-colonization.  You will also travel to the major cities on the east
coast and take readings there as well.  you will have 1 year to complete your
mission.
	"We are, as you know, inside and under what was known as bear
mountain, that puts you about an hours travel outside of your first destination,
New York City.  Then you will procede south, to philidelphia, DC, Atlanta, and
Miami.
	"Your equipment is waiting in the lift.  It consits of all the
mesuring equipment you trained with,Ó with the naming of each item it flashed up on the
screen "two transports, a large and a small.  Foodstuffs, medical equipment,
water trailer, and a few other basic pieces of survival equipment.  Any questions
so far?"
	"Yes Project Leader, one question, what weqponry will we be issued?"
asked a slightly nervouse jerry "I mean, your not going to send us up there
defensless, are you?"
	"No not defensless, you will be given tranqueliser guns."  Agian the item
flashed up onto the screes.   "With a range of 300 yards, night sights and 2-8x
scopes, you will not be defensless.  The darts themselves carry a lode of
20ccÕs of sodium pentithal, this dosage can be changed but more or less
destroys the balance of the dart and the range drops by about a hundred yards. 
You will also be given side arms, .45 caliber desert eagles, and 4 clips each. 
Does that fit your needs Jerry?"
	"uhm, yeah"
	"excuse me, project leader, but after all that has happened up there,
what do you expect us to run into that we will need weaponry?"
	"Good question kevin. I donÕt know, but I would rather be safe than sorry. 
There is no reason for us to take unneccasary chances. If there are no more
questions, I suggest you get some sleep, tommorow morning we have one
more breefing and then we begin.  Good night gentlemen."
"Good night project leader." came the unified response.