A few days later two men with guns were walking along the shiny path that led to the old hermit's cave. "It's incredible to me," 52044 said, "that an old hermit could have survived this long living the Old Ways." 63944 agreed. "I know what you mean," he said, running his fingers through his jet black hair. "If it hadn't been for that kid who spotted white smoke coming from this area, we might never have known." "Yeah." 52044's youthful face was thoughtful. "But what bugs me is that we have to go and get the old guy. Apparently he's never damaged anyone's property or morality or anything" 63944 shook his head. A black line of a scar that he had earned in the War moved right and left. "That's not the point. You know the Spy Report revealed that the old geezer didn't have a Box in his cave and hadn't followed orders for years." 52044's smooth cheeks and chin shook. He was still skeptical. "But he didn't hurt anybody." 63944 barked out his impatience. "Look, it's the Box's orders. Do you want me to put you down in the report as rebellious in nature?" "No, no! Don't do that!" His blue eyes revealed 52044's pain. "Okay, then! Don't worry about a piece of trash like this old man. Just follow orders!" 63944 rubbed his stubbled chin. This fellow had a lot to learn if he ever wanted to reach 53000. The two men had traversed the distance to the old man's cave. It was now plainly in sight, a wide mouth beckoning for strangers to come and stay. 63944 cocked his gun. "You'd better get ready," he said. "There might be trouble." Nervously 52044 did the same, "right!" "Helloooo!" 63944 called. The old man came hobbling out. His face was grim and his mouth and lips formed a straight line. "Welcome, gentlemen," he said. "I've been expecting you." "You therefore must know what we want," 63944 said in a monotone. "You have violated for many years the Moral Code Article 1, Part 3, Section 123077B by not having a Box in your place." He looked around distastefully. "I'm aware of that," the old man said. "Good." 52044 sighed with relief. "Then there won't be any trouble?" His colleague spat on the ground. The old man looked at 52044 very carefully. He admired the youthful face with its blue eyes. He smiled. "That's right," he said. "That is IF you'll do a favor for me." "A favor?" 63944 was suspicious. His finger touched the trigger of his gun. The old man looked at him and sighed. "Yes," he said gently. "I have a treasure at the back of the cave and I want someone to look after it for me." He looked again at 52044. Then he looked at the other officer with his closely cut black hair, the scar cutting into his skin like a piece of string, his formidable Roman nose and unshaven chin. He smiled, and reached inside his clothing. Immediately 63944 crouched down, his face hardening. He pulled the trigger of his gun and fired. The old man shuddered and then fell over like a cut timber tree, a clean round hole smoking where his heart had been. "W-what did you do THAT for?" 52044 blurted, his face a ghostly pale. "He might of had a gun," 63944 said gruffly. "Or he might of been trying to scratch himself," the younger one countered. "You know the code," 63944 retorted. "Shoot now and ask questions later. You've never going to reach the 53000 mark if you don't KNOW and OBEY the code. Now c'mon. Let's get the treasure he was babbling about." The two men walked into the cave. The old man's candle was still going, shedding a little light "He said the treasure was at the back," 63944 said. "Let's start looking." They looked everywhere, ransacking through food, (and eating some of it) tearing up bedding, and hunting through clothes. They found nothing. "Keep looking," 63944 ordered. "It's got to be around here somewhere." After an exhaustive search 63944 finally noticed a recess in the back of the cave. He walked up to it and noticed that a passage opened up to the side. "So that's it," he muttered. "I've found something," he called to his companion and then entered the darkness. His hand groped along the wall of the passage. It was cold and wet. Finally he reached a bend. Then he saw it, a pillar of light piercing through the darkness. He approached it hungrily, adrenalin pouring through his veins. "What's this?" he thought, looking down. Spotlighted by the shaft of light was a shallow bowl. In its center a lily was carefully planted. The moist earth gave evidence it had been watered recently. Now it stood proud, with it's delicate spotless white petals and firm stem. Puzzled, he stared at it as 52044's footsteps crept up softly behind him. "What is it?" 52044 said. 63944 started. "Hell if I know," he said. 52044 noticed a crumpled scrap of paper in the light HE, picked it up and started to read it slowly. "Well, what is it?" 63944 growled. "Looks like a message," 52044 said, peering at it intently. "Well read it," his companion muttered impatiently. 52044 read aloud. "Goodbye, my friend. I'm sorry to leave you, but they're going to take me away. I thank you for your friendship. You're the last living thing left on this dead planet." "The old geezer was nuts," 63944 said. "The last census indicated there were over 4,293,741,000 people on Earth." 52044 stared silently at the paper for a minute. "Is there more?" his superior said gruffly. "Yeah, listen to this." It was a text from an ancient manuscript. IT read, "Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they do not judge, neither do they compute; and yet I say unto you that even the Box in all its glory was not as the least of these" 26 "That's a treasure?" 63944 said, disgusted. His booted foot stamped the flower's fragile petals. "Let's get out of here," he said, his footsteps echoing in the hollow recesses of the cave. 52044 paused, gazing at the crumpled remnants of the flower scattered in the mud. Outside the misty black clouds obscured the sun, choking off the source of life for the flower for so long. The cave was plunged into total darkness. He folded carefully the crumpled scrap of paper and slipped it into his pocket. "Coming," he said. FAITH by Brent A Godfrey I threw a solid fact at the wings of Faith but the gravitational pull kept it from gaining the elevation necessary to stop its flight. Lucinda Shuft 27