As students standing at the dawn of a brand new century, we face certain choices. How do we prepare for the future?

Melody Powers knew how she was going to prepare, as she checked the fit on her tooled leather shoulder holster. She thought about all the communists she would be taking out tonight. Melody harboured no illusions about unilaterally stemming the resurging red tide, but, she reflected with a grim smile, what special agent could resist the opportunity to fill a few Bolshevik cemeteries...

*****

As Melody sun-bathed on the Rio beach she looked back over the last few days with a certain quiet satisfaction. Twelve dead Russians; five dead Chinese, and three or four dead Cubans. The world was once again safe for democracy she reflected, while watching Tonio's exquisite chest rise and fall with his light snoring. Safe for democracy, or almost safe .....

Melody brushed some errant grains of sand from her fingers, tied her top back on and reached into her beach bag, Tonio heard nothing ,and that was a pity, because he would never hear anything again. So long Tonio, she thought as she calmly stood up. I could have loved you if you weren't as red as the blood stain now spreading across the sand.

Melody walked calmly away to the hotel. There would be a message there from HQ, no doubt.

She hoped she had time to shower.