[Webstral]

Honestly, I avoid the subject as much as possible. The fate of children under 10 in Twilight: 2000 is too awful for me to contemplate. I think of the things that could and would happen to my little guy in the event of a nuclear exchange, and I lose my power of speech. I don't like to think about who I would become if I survived the deaths of my children. So I avoid the subject entirely.

Thomason thinks about it, though. Metro Phoenix has hundreds of thousands of children in 1997. By early 2001, a few thousand are left. Though I haven't finalized the details yet, I'm strongly considering having the Joint Chiefs make the trial of Thomason by court martial be the condition for bringing Fort Huachuca back into the fold. Thomason agrees over the objections of all of his people. He pleads guilty and tells the court in Colorado Springs that they must execute him and execute him promptly for his crimes against the United States and humanity. Of course, sanity prevails in Colorado Springs when they realize that executing Thomason will only delay the process of reunification; he is pardoned in light of the extenuating circumstances--his contributions in the Second Mexican-American War.