My smile at the thought of using my power to save lives faded when I looked back at the situation map. I was resolved to the fact that not everyone could be redeemed and even if they could, logistically we couldn't just grab thousands of armed people off a battlefield and put them in psychotherapy. They chose their fates, and I wasn't happy about it, but I had to accept it. My real problem was that good people would die trying to stop them. The Guatemalan forces at the border would face huge casualties, they were outnumbered and even outgunned. Reports said the Chiapas crew had artillery, RPGs, drones with explosives, and fifty caliber automatics. At least the fifty calibers were out of action since we disabled the pick-up trucks in which they had been mounted.
I made a spur of the moment decision. "Joe, I can't let innocent people get killed. Patch me through to President Arroyo directly, change my voice to make me sound like a grown-up."
