On Standby — George W. Barclay Jr.

Ice Age begins, and the four horsemen of the Apocalypse descend on Houston, Guadalajara, and Mexico City. Marshal law is declared and troops take over amid ethnic riots and plague. Father Jesus Llano Juarez de los Guadalupe Hildalgo stirs the imagination of the impoverished and starving Mexican Indians, and they march en mass north toward the Rio Grande to recapture their birthright. Two U. S. Army Armored Infantry divisions are deployed to defend the 2000 mile border with instructions to employ tactical atomic weapons. Five U. S. Army Divisions standby to invade Mexico led by the fighting 44th Armored Infantry under the cover of air superiority and battlefield nuclear attack. President Clinton loans Mexico more money, and the pesos becomes worthless. Lieutenant General Tuffan Mean hires Private Investigator Derrick Strong to find out who took a pot shot at him and wounded his Aide-de-Camp with friendly fire. Captain Jerry Billings DPS and Sandra Lerner book a flight to Costa Rica and are placed on standby by Continental. Later Sandra accompanies Evita Garza into the jungles of Costa Rica to find General Emil Fernandez. Snowbirds double the enrollment of SNU, and Maria Tantalia changes the name to USN, cancels all sports and fraternaties, prohibits cohabitation, raises academic standards, and offers R.O.T.C. Dr. Peter Rockford and Tisha find adventure, romance, treasure, and Quetzacoatl in an alpine cave in the Siera Madre of Aguascalientes, Mexico. NASA announces that the Ice Age is real, the duration uncertain, and recommends rationing energy and resources. When the going gets tough, Homo sapiens adapt. Not for dummies.