SO HOW'S THIS work?” the president asked.

     “We figure out how Ruskjer wants to acquire the documents. We comply fully with whatever he says -- courier, FedEx, Priority Mail -- whatever. Then sit back and relax.” Tidwell had a Chessie cat smile on his face.

     “How does that solve anything?”

     “The envelope will be hermetically sealed. But before we insert the documents, we sprinkle a little angel dust on them,” Tidwell explained.

     “You mean anthrax?”

     “No, no, no. Too obvious and primitive. We call it angel dust because anyone who touches it soon rests with the angels after suffering a massive coronary -- which doesn’t take place for a full seventy-two hours after contact and is absolutely untraceable at autopsy,” Tidwell replied, grinning.

     “And it’s legal! In spite of the fact that you’ve pardoned them, armed with the technology they have, they’re still considered terrorists -- even though they’re U.S. citizens on U.S. soil. You’re good to go! It’s just less paperwork if they die from untraceable heart attacks.”

     But we don’t know who his accomplices are,” the president said.

     “We will -- if he wants them included in the pardon,” Tidwell grinned.