The morning after V-E Day, the mood throughout the Pentagon was decidedly relaxed and different from its normal machine-like tempo.

"I'll tell you," Steve chuckled as he went through a file folder, "I've gotten a real kick going over these old files of Nazi spies we've put away these last three years. I keep remembering all the pontificating about the endurance of the thousand year Reich they'd shout when we'd haul them off to jail. Right now, I'd give a million dollars to know what's going through their minds this morning."

Diana smiled thinly and sipped her coffee cup, "I only hope that all of them finally begin to see the light and that they can start straightening their lives out once and for all."

"Diana, Diana," Steve sighed, "Sometimes I think you're too much of an optimist about human nature."

"My mother always said that with the right values and the right understanding of truth, no one is beyond hope."

Steve leaned back in his chair, "My grandfather used to preach many a sermon about that too."

"Really?" she set her cup down and pushed up her glasses, "I didn't know you had a minister in your family."

"Oh yeah," he nodded, "My family produced several ministers on both sides. Religion's always been an integral part of the Trevor family."

Steve began gazing off into space, "It's been pretty big in my life too. Although, there were moments when I felt as if I'd lost my faith. Especially after Pearl Harbor and six friends of mine were killed. It's not easy to believe in a God who's supposed to be in control of the world when evil is allowed to run amuck and bring the suffering of war and death."

He looked up at her, "But yesterday, when I got the official word from SHAEF about the surrender, I had one of those little religious experiences that always put my mind at ease. When the war comes to an end, and evil is defeated, that's when you remember that God is in ultimate control of the world and of history. Mankind's capacity for evil can only be allowed to go so far before it's always turned back."

"Evil never triumphs," Diana nodded, "And that's why even Nazi spies like Baroness Von Gunther or the Falcon can never be considered beyond hope. Look at Fausta Gredel. She learned to see the light, and she turned out to be one of the most effective operatives inside Germany that we ever had."

Steve cracked a tiny smile, "Would you have said the same for Hitler?"

"No," she admitted, "With some people, evil takes control totally to the point where you can’t have any naive hope that they’ll change. But for the average person, the average German soldier for instance, you can’t assume that they’re all innately evil just because circumstances made them serve an evil leader."

"Maybe you should have been a theologian."

Diana smiled faintly. Perhaps, she thought to herself. But for Who? Her experience in America had forced her to reassess her faith in the reality of the ancient Greco-Roman gods and goddesses. And there were still too many distinctions in modern religion that confused her.

Religion is nothing without a Deity, she knew. But what was there in the single God that Steve worshiped, which she knew to be a direct descendant of the mysterious Hebrew God that her people had never fully understood. How was it that contemporaneous religion of her time had been able to survive, while the religion of her people had died off? And what of these distinctions between the present day Hebrews, or Jews, and the so-called Christians who both drew from the same Holy book, the Bible?

After three years, there were still too many questions about the world that fascinated Diana. Questions that she wanted to see answered, and only strengthened her desire to stay.

"I can name some definite exceptions though," Steve spoke up, "The Iron Brigade. They were without question the most ruthless bunch I ever came across."

"I'd almost forgotten about them. Aren't some of their operatives still at large?"

"Three of them. It's been more than two years since we pulled the plug on their operation, and the missing three members have never turned up. And according to the OSS, Nazi intelligence never seemed to know what happened to them either."

The Iron Brigade had been a tightly disciplined organization of twelve Nazi saboteurs who had operated out of Washington and been responsible for more than eighteen acts of sabotage against military bases throughout the northeast in a twelve month span. Their commander, Major Gunther Bolle, had been a ruthless cruel individual who had cold-bloodedly murdered more than ten U.S. servicemen while performing acts of sabotage.

Two years earlier, Steve had led the assault on the Iron Brigade Headquarters near the Washington Navy Yard that had ended in a bloody shoot-out. The end result saw six U.S. soldiers and two Washington MPD officers killed. Four Brigade members were captured, three escaped, and five were killed, including their leader Major Bolle. Steve had personally shot him dead when the Nazi had failed to stop after receiving three warnings to surrender. For his performance, Steve had received a special commendation as well as a promotion to Lieutenant Colonel.

For Diana, it had been a harrowing experience because she had just been returning from a week's trip home to Paradise Island and had been unable to help out as Wonder Woman. The experience had caused her to make trips home with even less frequency, lest she ever have to leave Steve unprotected on a major assignment ever again. And so, except for one visit at Christmas time in 1943, she'd never been back. A long absence that she knew was contributing heavily to her mother's desire to see her come home now.

She delicately changed the subject, "What's the latest information from SHAEF?"

"Well now that the surrender's official, they're making preparations to round-up some of the top Nazis for possible war crime trials. Unfortunately, Himmler just turned up dead as the result of suicide so it looks as if all of the top tier were able to take things into their own hands just like Hitler did."

"What about those rumors about the detention camps for the Jews and the East Europeans?"

Steve's expression grew grim, "Every one of those rumors is turning out to be true, at least as far as what we've uncovered, and the results would make you absolutely sick to your stomach. Mass graves of Jews shot, tortured, gassed in ovens. God, it’s unreal to think that barbarism like that could happen in this day and age."

Diana nodded.

"East Europe is a different matter because the Russians are keeping all of their occupied territory under a tight grip." he shook his head slightly, "I still have my doubts about whether we're going to be able to hammer something permanent with them. I just don't trust Stalin."

Diana bit her lip and decided to gently probe for some answers.

"Why?" she inquired gently, "I've only seen him in the newsreels but he seems fairly soft-spoken."

Colonel Trevor leaned back and sighed, "There's something I've never told you Diana, but I've gotten a lot of bad feedback from the State Department on what Stalin wants to do when the war is over. A lot of them, including our Ambassador in Moscow, Averell Harrimann, don't think Stalin will ever give up his occupied territory and allow democratic governments to resume control."

"Are you serious?"

"Very," he said, "Stalin severed relations with Poland's government-in-exile last year, on the pretext of indignation over the Poles request for a Red Cross investigation of the massacre of Polish soldiers in Katyn forest back in '39."

"I thought that story was only a piece of Nazi propaganda to rally the Poles to their side."

"That's probably what the Nazis wanted, but it’s looking more and more like the story is true in spite of that. The reports I’ve gotten indicate that the mass graves are there, and that the Russian troops slaughtered them all. So naturally, the Poles are concerned because they aren’t comfortable with the idea of trading off Nazi dictatorship for Soviet dictatorship."

"Is Stalin capable of that?" her expression was intense.

"You should spend some more time in the Soviet division, Diana. He's capable of anything. Before the war, he ordered the execution of thousands of people he considered potential threats to his domination. Purge trials, they called them. And before that, he practically starved the Ukraine out of existence."

"I didn't know any of that," she shook her head in disbelief.

"And you haven’t forgotten about the Pact Stalin and Hitler had from ‘39 to ‘41, have you?" Steve inquired. "For the first two years of the war in Europe while the Nazis were bombing London, Stalin just stood on the sidelines and was practically cheering Hitler on. Didn’t feel the need to come running to us for help until June 22, 1941 when Hitler broke the Pact and invaded Russia."

"I haven’t forgotten about that....but still. All those other stories about what Stalin did before the war, that....I never would have suspected that."

Steve smiled without mirth, "Wartime alliance has made us bury a lot of the unpleasant things we know about Stalin. But if we're going to make any headway in the post-war world, we have to keep a close eye on him."

"You mean there might be conflict between America and Russia?" inside, Diana shuddered.

"Who knows?" Steve threw up his hands, "All I'm saying is that once the war's done with for good, none of us should have any overly optimistic ideas that a permanent world peace is beginning. Granted, the new United Nations organization is a good step toward preventing the old League of Nations debacle, but whether Stalin is willing is the problem."

Steve's phone rang and he picked it up. As he spoke, Diana settled down in her chair looking ill at ease.

"General Blankenship needs to see me," he hung up and rose, "He says its so urgent I can't even have you present. You don't mind, do you Diana?"

There was no response. Diana simply stared off into space.

"Diana?" he came up to her and waved his hand in front of her face.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she said as she jolted herself back to reality, "No Steve, it's okay. I don't mind."

"I'll be back later," he headed for the door, "Just take it easy for now."

"I will," she smiled weakly.

But when Steve was gone, Diana felt anything but easy. The dreaded uncertainty she'd felt yesterday was now returning.

What it boiled down to, was that those who distrusted Russia like Steve, envisioned the possibility of something just as bad as the Nazis. But how could that be? As Wonder Woman, she'd worked on assignments with the Russians and never seen any of the evil arrogance she'd seen in the many Nazis she'd locked horns with. She'd even taken a special tour of Russia once and they had shown her a poor country struggling valiantly to get back on its feet. Perhaps their economic system wasn't right for America, but why did so many in this country fear Russia more than they had feared Germany prior to the war? Why had men like a Senator Robert Taft of Ohio, wish that Germany and Russia could have only destroyed each other? Why had attitudes toward Russia been the reason why Henry Wallace had been replaced as Vice-President a year ago, thus ensuring that Harry S. Truman was now the President?

What did that kind of an attitude mean for the future?

Had she fought for this for three years only to see a new war dawn? Was there any hope for real peace at all?

Mother, she thought, is it true that maybe you're right after all?

"Good morning sir," Steve said as he entered General Blankenship's office.

The general did not look up at him, "Good morning Steve," his voice was flat and his expression grave.

"Something wrong sir?" Trevor settled into a chair.

Blankenship looked up at him, "Last night, while I was out celebrating V-E Day, I got a call from General Marshall telling me that he wanted to see me immediately at his house. When I got there, not only was Marshall present but so was Secretary Stimson and an unexpected guest. General Leslie Groves."

"Groves?" Trevor frowned, "Wasn't he heading some project out in New Mexico?"

The director of military intelligence smirked, "Not just any project Steve. Groves has spent the last three years on the most important Top Secret program of the entire war. A project so secret, that not even I, the director of military intelligence, was allowed to know the details."

Steve's frown deepened, "You're kidding."

"I’m not," Blankenship didn’t bother concealing the bitterness he felt, "Marshall and Stimson apologized for having kept me in the dark, but they said that to avoid the risk of Nazi spy detection, it was best to keep all information on this project out of my office."

"Why should they have been worried about that?"

He smiled thinly, "Because if I was clued in, then you would be too. And it seems that there were people on Stimson’s staff, as well as some people at the White House who weren’t impressed by the fact that three years ago, you had a secretary who turned out to be part of a Nazi spy network."

Steve flushed slightly in anger. It was an embarrassing incident that he'd always tried so hard to forget. "They thought I was a security risk because of....Marcia?"

"Exactly," Blankenship sadly nodded, "But don't feel offended Steve. They were really more interested in keeping only a bare minimum of people informed. And because the decision was made at the same time of that unfortunate incident, I really don't think you can blame them."

"I guess not," he sighed in resignation. There wasn’t much one could say in defense of the secuirty lapse that had seen his secretary of five years turn out to be part of a Nazi spy ring. "How serious is this?"

The general thrust a folder at him, "Read it and see."

Steve picked it up. In bold black letters on the cover was the title, MANHATTAN PROJECT.

"The Manhattan Project," he said aloud, "But I already knew about the atomic research program at Oak Ridge."

"So did I," Blankenship nodded, "But neither of us were ever clued in about what was happening in New Mexico. Read it and see."

With slight trepidation, he broke the seal on the folder.

An hour later, an awed Steve Trevor was back in his own office.

"How did it go Steve?" Diana casually inquired.

"Incredible," he muttered as he sat down at his desk, "Absolutely incredible."

"What?" she came up in front of his desk, frowning.

Steve shook himself out of his stupor, "Oh, Diana I'm sorry. I...I'm kind of overwhelmed by what General Blankenship just briefed me on."

"Can you tell me what it is?"

He shook his head, "I can't tell you the specifics Diana. Not for several weeks. But if what I read comes through without a hitch, then we'll be able to force Japan to surrender without having to invade the mainland."

For the first time all morning, Diana's expression brightened, "That's wonderful."

"But there's no guarantee yet," he cautioned, "We won't know for sure for a couple of months, but I have a feeling it's going to look good."

"I hope you're right."

But in the back of her head, Diana realized all too clearly that if the key to beating Japan had been discovered, then her long-postponed appointment with what to do next was also drawing closer.

And she still wasn't certain about what she was going to do about that.

Far away in the area that several years later would gain notoriety as the "Bermuda Triangle" lay an uncharted island. A lush, peaceful island that for 2500 years had been the home to a mighty race of women. The ancient Amazons of Greek antiquity. The race that Diana belonged to.

According to their sacred history, the Amazons had been created by the goddess of love Aphrodite with her own hands as part of her never-ending struggle with the god of war Ares. Upon creating them, she bestowed the gift of a magic girdle to the Amazon queen Hippolyte that would make her and her people totally unconquerable.

Under Hippolyte's rule and protection, the Amazons had been able to live their lives as a proud tribe who lived their lives according to a philosophy of sisterhood and peace. But they had seen their fortunes change when Hippolyte had been tricked by the powerful Greek warrior Hercules, who stole her magic belt from her and was able to subjugate the Amazons into slavery.

After many months of agonized prayer to Aphrodite for forgiveness, Hippolyte finally was able to lead an escape from captivity and recover the magic belt. They then boarded a ship to flee to safety, and had been led to Paradise Island. An island that held mysterious powers that caused their normal life spans to expand by a thousand. An island that held a magical mineral called feminum that gave them the ability to form indestructible shields of protection. An island that enabled them to live in peace, safe from the brutalities and barbarism that men had wrought on them.

On the day they had landed, Hippolyte had built a temple to Aphrodite in thanks for their deliverance, and had pledged to train her people in the ways of peace and universal sisterhood for all eternity. And to never allow the presence of men to corrupt their ways or inflict bondage upon them again.

"Mighty Aphrodite has led us to Paradise Island," Hippolyte had declared that day, "May all of us keep it that way for eternity!"

For 2500 years, the Amazons had enjoyed a sheltered, protected existence that had seen contact with the outside world only once, 500 years later when some of their descendants had escaped the bondage of ancient Rome and made their way to Paradise Island to be welcomed into the community. After that, there had been no more contact, as Greece and Rome fell, and the Amazon race itself had been consigned to the realm of myth and legend by human history. During that time, the Amazons lived by their disciplined ways of sisterhood and peace. And Hippolyte watched as her eldest daughter Diana grew in wisdom and strength, ready to one day take her place as the new Queen of the Amazons.

Then, in April 1942, Paradise Island received its first contact with the outside in 2000 years when U.S. Air Corps Major Steve Trevor crashed his plane off Paradise Island after a dogfight with a Nazi spy plane, and been washed ashore near-death with bullet wounds.

The crown princess Diana had discovered Trevor and taken him to the advanced medical facilities of Paradise Island, where their mystical treatments had saved his life. And as Diana watched Trevor recover, she found herself attracted to the stranger.

Though Trevor had been blindfolded to prevent him from learning where he was, Hippolyte knew that an Amazon had to take him back to America. And concerned by her daughter's attraction to the man, she explicitly forbade Diana from being the one. Instead, she decided to hold an athletic contest where the winner would be chosen to escort Trevor back.

But Diana, growing all the more infatuated with Trevor, had tricked her mother by wearing a disguise and winning the contest. And with reluctance, Hippolyte had watched Diana take Trevor back to America. But before leaving, Hippolyte had given Diana a special costume and magical powers that would enable her to retain her powers and wisdom away from Paradise Island. Outfitted with a magic golden belt, and a golden lasso that could compel anyone to tell the truth, she would be a Wonder Woman in the world of men.

For the last three years, Hippolyte had followed her daughter's activities as Wonder Woman in America, and had grown more disconcerted by how Diana had become more and more attached to America. But each day, Hippolyte prayed to Aphrodite that when Diana's primary reason for staying, to defeat the evil Nazi Empire ended, she would return to Paradise Island and resume her place as the heiress to the Amazon throne. And hopefully, she would get over her misguided infatuation with Major Steve Trevor.

And so, when Hippolyte had learned over the short-wave radio Diana had given her as a birthday present that Germany had surrendered, hope filled her heart. And she had sent her younger daughter Drusilla to America to tell Diana that now, it was time for her to come home to her people.

But now, as Drusilla related her conversation with Diana from the previous day, her hope was replaced by shock and anger.

"She wants to stay?" Hippolyte's voice rose to a near-shriek as she began pacing about the palace throne room, "How can she? How can she give up her people? Her way of life? Give up what I've spent 2000 years trying to build inside her?"

Drusilla stared at her mother in faint disgust, "Diana's old enough to decide to have a life of her own, Mother."

"She's the heiress to the throne!" Hippolyte spluttered, "It's her destiny to lead us. And she wants to give all that up for the world of men?"

It took Drusilla considerable effort to hold her tongue. There was so much she wanted to say back to her, but she knew it wasn't her place. That would have to come from Diana.

"I won't stand for this!" the Amazon queen continued to rant, "I'll force her to return if I have to!"

"How?" her daughter quietly interrupted.

Hippolyte stopped and glared at her.

"How would you do that?" there was an underlying contempt in Drusilla's voice, "And if you did, then what? Diana would hate you for the rest of her life. And she'd be a miserable, ineffective queen. Then where would you be?"

Her mother took in her words, and resumed her uneasy pacing, although much of the fire seemed gone from her.

"If you want Diana to come back it's going to have to be on her terms," Drusilla said pointedly, "You haven't got any more right to force her against her will than any Greek male had to enslave us."

Hippolyte made her way to the open window and stared out at the ocean surf rolling in.

"She'll come back," she whispered as she clenched her fist and pounded it against the ledge, "She'll realize that. She'll realize that even without Nazis, it's still an evil world of men making wars. Then she'll want to come back and stay forever."

Don't bet on it, Mother. Drusilla said to herself. Don't bet on it at all.