What you are about to read takes place within the same universe as my young adult / sci-fi novel "Excelsior." In the chronological timeline, this story starts after Excelsior's is finished (although I'm not going to spoil how his story comes to a close). However, these characters were created over five years before the main character in that trilogy-in-the-making. The current plan for this storyline is to turn it into a series of novellas, but since I have so much else going on at this time (including the writing & editing of the first of two "Excelsior" sequels), I'm anxious to introduce you all to John Baker, Joanne Leonard, Cyclone, and all the rest that are involved in this struggle between East & West America. This was originally written as the final project of my Writing for Television class in college, and I've made a lot of changes to it since 1998, expanding the storyline and bringing in more elements of the overall mythology. All I can say is that I hope you guys like it. :)