Ch 112
The good thing about the big alligator at Joan's house was it didn't make a nuisance of itself. If there were people out, it would come up out of the water nearby, but didn't get close to anyone. When Joan or Allison approached it, it opened it's mouth for food. It was kinda-friendly, but not possessive friendly.
Knowing her Dad needed these tracks and gun assemblies done, Joan worked hard with Bob, Allison, and their crew to make them. Each truckload of pieces, they got assembled and to Dad's house if not the same day, early the next morning.
Then John called and asked to put finished tanks in the woods on their section of property. Joan was fine with that, Allison and Bob just shrugged. "Gotta put them someplace," he said.
Where John was putting them was down a narrow road through the woods, under every tree that had a good canopy, then the camo cover went on. Being very maneuverable, some were slipped between two trees.
Terminators helped at all four production places. Average 7 a day, by the weekend, they had 50 tanks finished.
Sunday, the state reps came to the high school again. John and Mr. Nader ensured they had tight security up, and stopped tank parts from moving on the road in town from Mark's barn-assembly area. None of the Connors went inside at first, but John and Cameron were called in.
They went into the auditorium the reps gathered around the front of the stage. On the front stage, papers were spread out from one end to the other. Groups of reps were talking and making their points - not quite arguing. It was a political scene.
The woman from Kansas saw John and Cameron, Called to them and waved. "Mr. and Mrs. Connor, come give your opinion on some of these!"
"What is all that?" John asked.
"The Constitution."
John held his hands up in surrender. "Whoa, that's your ball of wax. I'm not a politician."
"Neither am I," Cameron stated.
Others turned to see them and waved them closer as well.
"We should have stayed home," John grumbled.
"You started this, John," Cameron teased.
"Did not, that was Catherine!" he replied.
Cameron shrugged.
The woman ran over to them. "John, May I call you John?" she asked.
"Sure, and you are..."
"Emily. Look John, it some of us who should have started this. Who should have stood up and said enough is enough. Washington is full of backroom deals, payoffs and favoritism, the swamp some call it. YOU are the one who brought our attention to something that needs to be done. YOU are the one who stood up and laid out a few uncomfortable facts and had a solution instead of just complaining about the state our government's in. I truly think both major parties have forgotten they are there for the people, and not the other way around. By your ideas, and seeing things clearly, we all trust your opinion. There is even talk about putting you in as provisional President."
"What!" John cried and backed up a step as he warded her off, hands up in surrender. "No, I can't be president ... of anything, OK?"
"With our guidance and listening to people's needs, I think you would make a good president," Emily coaxed.
"No, I'd suck at it. First of all, if there is a skeleton anywhere in the Connor closet, the press will find it. We don't have a skeleton in our closet, you're get buried by them if you opened that door," he said firmly.
Cameron poked him on the shoulder. "Which closet is this?" She asked. She then tipped her head slightly and looked up.
John knew she was partially kidding. Still, he eyed her. "Cam, we live a private life. Being any public official is very public. We'd get scrutinized beyond belief. Think about that. It would be worse than after we went public about our family."
Cameron found the source of the soft sound coming from above. It was a tiny bug sized drone. It was headed away from them, back towards a gaggle of men. She shouted, "Everyone down NOW!" and brought out a plasma canon.
John grabbed Emily and pulled her to the floor. The men around the stage spun and seeing Cameron had some kind of weapon, they dropped too. The drone slowed and turned to her. Perfect. First bolt, she vaporized the drone and the ceiling beyond. Well, at least it was a clear day out, she could now see the blue sky.
"Cam!" John shouted.
"Stay down, I'm searching for more," Cameron announced. She scanned the auditorium high, low and scrutinized the walls.
"Searching for what?" Emily asked.
"There was a drone in here, watching and probably listening to us," Cameron stated. "The only agency I know of that uses bug sized drones is the CIA. If they were watching live John, we've been compromised."
"I thought the CIA only dealt with problems outside the country," John said.
"Look at the government lately, they don't go by any rules," Cameron replied heavily. "It's a good bet they got plenty of video and possibly audio." She finished her scrutiny of the room and her arm reformed into a normal forearm and hand.
"Cam, why did you blast it like that?" John asked, not happy she did.
Cameron looked down on him. "I don't have a gun John. Guns are not allowed anywhere in the school except for the main office, or the coaching offices during the weekend when sports are being played. You should know that." She then stuck her hands out to help them up. She then announced, "The threat is gone, you can get up now."
"What in the HELL was that?" Emily cried as she gaped at Cameron.
In a flat tone, Cameron said, "Mark Two plasma canon. I have one in each arm."
"You have weapons like THAT? ... in your arms?" the Florida rep asked in a squeak. He looked again at the big hole in the ceiling.
Cameron looked over at him. "Yes. Since I just shot, that should be obvious."
"Holy Mother of God! How did you get those, let alone have them built into you?" the Georgia rep asked.
"One skeleton just escaped the closet," John grumbled.
Cameron eyed the Georgia rep and told him, "The public has a short memory, our family did an in-depth interview about us 17. 4 years ago. Now is not the time to go over it again."
The Texas rep strode closer. "Can we see it? That thing had some major fire power!"
"Later, you have a constitution to look at," Cameron said flatly, showing a blank face.
"Yes, later," John agreed. "We've been found out, so you have to get that done as fast and accurately as possible. Then make an announcement about what you're going to do to the public, and to every ranking military member, and of course, to the federal government."
"John's right," Emily agreed. "We have important work to do!" She started to walk away, then stopped and spun back to stare at Cameron. "You're THAT Cameron Connor? The Cyborg that came back from our future? The singer, football player and the woman who took three bullets in your back to save a Governor and walked away?" she asked in a high tone.
"Yes, there is only one of me. We also did a movie and follow on TV show."
"Saving Atlas," Emily agreed. "You don't look like you've aged at all."
"I won't. I'm a cyborg."
Emily stared at John. "Are you one too?'
"I'm human ... mostly, born in this time," he replied.
"Damn ... I mean, DAMN!" Emily cried.
"Emily, you need to concentrate on the constitution," John said evenly.
She looked at him and nodded, and went back to the discussions. John and Cameron went out to look for any suspicious vehicles. Running to the road, they checked the main street, then John called the sheriff and explained what happened. They needed to find out who had that drone if at all possible. Cameron went running up the street, looking for any strange vehicle.
.
In the van hidden in a low spot behind Joe's garage, three men watched and listened to what the drone was transmitting. One was flying the drone. He had successfully got it inside by clinging it onto the back to the man's coat, then dropped low to fly between the seats then up and flew high so it wouldn't be heard. The leader of the team told him where to focus for information, and the third man kept the recorder going.
"Damn, by the looks of it they are planning to take the government over!" the leader said. "State reps all of them. I count 42 here. That man and woman coming down the isle there. Get closer to them."
"Damn they even want that Connor guy to be president!"
"Guys, that woman is looking right at the drone. Move higher and away."
"She just yelled for everyone to get down, turn back, see what she'd doing!"
They all saw the silver end of her arm raised at them then the monitors went to snow.
"The drone failed?"
"No. We got made. Pack up and get out of here!"
The leader and the recorder closed up their equipment and put it in the 'Tools' box, the driver jumped in the front seat and got moving back across the overland path he'd come to town on.
"This is heavy shit! No matter what they are planning, with 42 states involved, they have a real possibility of taking over the government. Maybe we should just say we found nothing."
"If we found nothing the Director will want to know why. Our best bet is to hand over what we got."
"There were so many voices, we're going to have to separate them."
They were driving down a hillock at an angle, left side down. The left front tire blew. The driver let out a yelp and tried to steer downhill. The momentum of their tipping was too much. The van went over on it's side.
"GHAAA!" They all cried a the van tipped over, busting the drivers window and cracking the windshield as they skidded to a stop
Releasing seat belts and helping each other up, they went to the back and opened the rear doors, having to push on the left door to get it open.
Grab the tapes!" the leader said and helped push the doors open to see a sexy, dark haired woman in a skimpy black dress eyeing them just beyond the van.
"Have an accident?" she asked lightly. "You boys should be more careful. The sheriff wants to know, what are you doing here?"
"None of your business, lady!" the leader said in a hard tone. After a pause, he asked, "Did you cause this accident?"
She raised an eyebrow at him. "Oops, I mis spoke. Did you have an on-purpose?" she then giggled.
He pulled his pistol. "You're under arrest! On your knees, hands behind your back!"
In a flash, she was right in front of him, his gun arm was pushed up in the air by one hand. He felt he'd gotten stabbed deep. He stared at her smiling face briefly, then looked down at the pain. The fingers of her other hand were just below his ribs, angled up. It felt like knives inside him.
"Naughty boy," she chided. "That position is for blow jobs. You're not getting one. Though, it's safe to say, you are fucked." She pulled her hand out and her long fingernails just kept coming out. They had to be eight or nine inches long.
He let out a weak gasp, he couldn't breathe. Blood was pouring from the wounds. He dropped to his knees, and the world went black.
The two other had their guns drawn, and were shaking. The woman now bore large leathery wings, super long fingernails that just killed their leader and long horns that curved back on her head. Behind her, a long thin tail swished.
"A bit afraid?" she asked smoothly. "I would be if I was you. See, I am a demon, your guns won't hurt me. They will piss me off. If you shoot, I kill you."
The men just stared, holding their guns on her.
"Drop!" she said in a hard, loud tone.
Their guns clattered down.
She hooked a finger at them. "Come out here."
Neither man moved.
"This isn't possible," one whimpered.
Aliana let out a sigh. "Come out or burn with the van," she stated.
Neither man moved.
"Fine then, just be fuel," she said and took a long deep breath which expanded her chest and made her ample breasts look bigger. When she exhaled, it was fire. The flame blew into the van all the way to the front. Both men screamed and flailed in the inferno until they dropped to moan a bit, then died as they burned.
Aliana watched the burning van briefly, then tossed the one she killed in. Going to the exposed bottom of the van, she swiped hard at the gas tank, tearing slashes into it with her nails, then leaped back.
Yes, that made the fire even bigger. She returned to the sheriff to inform him of what she did. He still wasn't pleased, he had wanted the recordings they had.
Oops.
.
After being assured the drone operators were dead and the van burned up a mile and a half out of town, would not be found for a while, if not years from now, John and Cameron returned to the auditorium. They reps there were still going over the constitution, and still wanted John and Cameron to help with things they were not decided on.
The first thing they wanted to get settled was the Second Amendment, which was currently a hot topic. After a few voice their opinions, many looked at John. He sighed. "What I believe is the question to keep and bare arms by states and law abiding citizens will not be questioned."
"And state Governors will be the Commanders in Chief of the Guard units in their state, the Federal Government has no jurisdiction over Guard units." The Texas rep added.
Many smiled. They did a vote, it passed, so they wrote that down.
This was going to be a real long day.
.
News channels on TV and radio warned about a hurricane on the Gulf of Mexico building and heading for Texas. Lily and JJ watched the weather channel show the path this storm was to take. From the reports and predicted path, it was going to land mid-coast in Texas, then curve north and east as it passed through the state. An edge of the storm was predicted to clip Austin in two days. Driftwood was right on the outside edge of the storm. They would probably get 2-3 inches of rain due to it.
"I've never seen a hurricane before, that storm is huge!" Lily said.
"Happens every year. So far none have come near us. This is like the closest one to us ever," JJ told her. "Don't worry though, Dad and Moms had all our houses build to withstand a CAT 5 hurricane. Those are the strongest ones."
Jackie ran in and asked, "Hey guys, we're going down to the fencing center. Want to come with us?"
JJ said, "Naw, you go and play with Daniel's sword."
"OK I get it, you want Lily to play with yours. We'll be down there is anyone's looking for us." Jackie replied and ran out.
Lily blushed. "Johnny, she was implying..."
"I know," JJ said with a smirk. "Remember, Jackie teases, but but she doesn't intend to be mean."
.
Jackie and Daniel went down to the fencing center to find someone was already here. Not the people who usually came, by three men and Carol Tanner, who sat in a chair in front of them. Jackie also quickly noticed all three men had pistols. "Daniel, leave, find the sheriff, quickly!" Jackie snapped.
"No, don't go, or we kill her!" The man in the middle said. The other two pointed their guns at Jackie and Daniel.
"You do, and you are dead!" Jackie stated in a hard tone.
The man grinned. "You will be, and your boyfriend too. Storage room, get in!"
Jackie looked at the door. Yes, there were people in there, she could see their infrared signatures. From the ceiling in back of the men, she saw a tile move. Duncan's head peeked out. Jackie had just come in, Daniel was behind her. She tuned around and said, "Daniel, leave quickly."
"They will shoot Mrs. Tanner!" he said nervously.
"If they do, I will kill them. Go," Jackie said and pushed him into the door, which opened. "Move!"
Daniel did.
Someone shot. Jackie felt the bullet impact her upper back. She slowly turned to the men eyeing them with red eyes. She brought her plasma canon out. "Ouch," she said calmly. "So, who is it who wants to die first?"
The men gaped at her.
"Shooting me in the back, how cowardly," Jackie growled. "Well? Which of you scum bags do I kill?"
"She has body armor," the one behind Carol said.
While they talked, Duncan slowly lowered himself down out of the ceiling.
"I have body armor all over me," Jackie told them. "Someone, please, take another shot at me. Come on, or is all of you chicken shits can do is shoot a girl in the back?" she asked louder to cover Duncan's drop to the floor.
The one on the right pulled up to aim at her head. Jackie pulled up and shot. The plasma bolt hit him before he pulled the trigger, vaporizing the gun and his upper body. From his belly button down, the partial corpse collapsed to the floor.
"Who's next!" Jackie snapped.
Duncan lunged at the man in the middle. He knocked his gun hand down and punched the man hard. The man on the left broke his gaze to see Duncan in front of him. Duncan bowed low and spun to kick up in a roundhouse, kicking the man's head and knocking him down.
Jackie ran up to help. While Duncan kicked the gun out of the hand of the one in the middle, Jackie jumped at the other one who tied to get up. She kicked him in the head again. He laid limp. Duncan beat the other man until he was out.
"Thank for the help, get Carol and the others in that closet out of here," he told her.
Jackie ripped the ropes holding Carol free, scooped her up an ran to the door. Once Carol was outside, Jackie ran to the other down and flung it open. "Everyone, out the front, go!"
They ran out. Jackie returned to Duncan who had the last survivor of the gunman on his back, tying his hands behind his back with some of the rope Carol had been tied up with.
"Who are they?" Jackie asked.
"Didn't say. They came in and made everyone but Carol go into that room. I managed to get in the ceiling and get behind them. Wasn't sure I could pull it off, then you came in. Good timing," he said and offered her a grin.
"It's getting nuts around here, isn't it?' Jackie asked.
"I'tis. They kept askin what was going on in the high school," he explained and searched the man for his ID. Finding in inside a jacket pocket he took it out and shook his head. "Wallet, but no ID."
Jackie searched the man with the broken neck, She found his wallet and went through it. "None here, no credit cards or license either. These guys didn't want anyone to know who they were."
"Someone getting the sheriff?"
"I'm calling Mom," Jackie said.
.
Delilah slapped the man's cheek until he came around to see he was tied up and slouching against a wall in a cave. Above the the entrance. Below was a flat sticky area with bugs crawling all through it. He was also naked. "What the hell?" he asked the red eyed blonde that was staring at him. "Where am I?"
"You shot my daughter. You don't get to ask questions," she said flatly, then flicked something at him. It hit him and stung. It was a flattened bullet.
"I didn't shoot anyone, that was..." he words were stopped by a hard slap across his face that turned his head and knocked it against the wall. He saw her hand hit him, but he swore she'd just used a hammer. His eyes teared and his ears rang from that slap. It felt like his cheek was on fire.
"Who are you?"
Looking at the bugs crawling through the smelly mess that was a floor, he said, "I think I'm a dead man."
"You are. You can answer me and die quickly, or I will torture you for a very long time. Who are you?"
Blinking to clear his eyes, he said, "Nathan Gregory."
"Why did you go to Driftwood?"
He swallowed and looked at the floor of creeping insects. "If I'm dead anyway, why should I answer?"
She grabbed his left ankle hard, then the little toe on his left foot. She crushed his toe, twisted it and pulled it off.
Belting out a scream, he flailed and tried to kick at her as she ripped his toe off. She then showed it to him.
"Watch!" she said and tossed his toe into whatever that was on the floor. She grabbed him by his hair and made him look. His mutilated toe was set upon but those bugs, they covered it.
"Why did you come to Driftwood?" she asked again and grabbed another toe.
"I was ordered to!"
"By WHO, be specific!" she snapped and squeezed that toe.
"STOP! Agent Michaels in DC!" he yelled.
"What is his position? Where is his office?"
"He's the Captain of our section, third floor, you sadistic Bitch!"
Delilah grinned a menacing grin at him. "You haven't seen anything yet, asshole. What were you looking for here?"
"Something, anything! I was told a coup on the government was being formed here. We were here to find out who is involved!"
"Why the hostages? You and your dead buds usually hold hostages to ask questions?"
Nathan shook his head. "No. That is not ... We were told you are all terrorists. We were told you all know what was going on here and do anything, even kill to get answers."
"Which criminal organization is this?"
He gaped at her. "The FBI," he said weakly.
"Wow, so you perform criminal acts on innocent people to get answers, huh? You're making me feel much better about snuffing your ass out," Delilah growled.
"We were ordered to do it!" he shouted.
Delilah backed up to the far wall and brought both plasma canons out. "You deserve this," she stated.
He remembered that girl had one of those things too. That girl had been shot close range, square in the back and she hardly flinched. "What are you?" he cried.
"For you, death." Delilah shot both her canons, obliterating him and making the wall blow rock out from behind his cindered remains. He was only smoking ash and a pit was dug out of the wall with bits of rock on the floor. She left and went home to let everyone what she found out.
.
It was eleven o-clock at night before the state reps decided they had to take a break. Emily approached John and asked, "Do you know a secure place we can stay until morning?"
"You don't have hotel rooms?" he asked.
"No, none of us wanted to register. We are doing out best to keep this location secret."
"Great. There's school in the morning, so you can't stay here," John said in a musing tone. So, where did you hide 42 people on short notice? If they went anywhere, the long train of cars would be noticed.
Cameron was thinking the same thing. "John, I'll call John Henry to make sure no satellite is looking at this area. It will be tight, but we do have enough room at home so they can eat and sleep. Tomorrow, we're going to need groceries."
"Cam, we'll need the tonight just to be sure everyone gets something to eat," John countered. "Besides the people here, it's all their bodyguards as well!"
"We better hurry, the store closes at midnight."
John grimaced. "OK, I'll call Delilah and have her bring a box truck. Send in their guards on your way out. I'll explain it to everyone."
"How about a school bus instead?" Emily asked. "We leave our cars here."
"Tomorrow is school," John said. "Further debate will have to be in our living room. Plus, they are going to need the parking lot."
"I'm on my way." Cameron said and strode out.
.
On her way to the store, Cameron got John Henry to ensure there would be no satellite images from the area around Driftwood, especially their lake. She then called a sleepy Joan and asked for help shopping in the next hour for 220 people. She then called the store and figuring how much of everything she was going to need, she asked them to stay open until she could get there and purchase what they needed.
It was a good thing they still had plenty of pork and ham. The were going to need it.
.
The mass of cars John led around the east side of the lake, so Delilah could bring the box truck down the west side. Parking was going to be a problem also. Jackie and JJ weren't happy about being rousted after settling down with their mates for the night, but agreed to put the cars at the house into the garage, and get flashlights to act as parking directors. The driveway had to stay open so the box truck could get to the house. They also backed up the EV and the dozer tank as far as they could in the barn so some cars could fit in there.
Four cars behind John's, Emily watched the scenery go by. The road they were on, she'd only seen a couple houses on. The lake was off to her left. Sitting in between two of her bodyguards, she saw another house by the lake. Here, men were working on something inside a barn. Then nothing but more woods and brush.
"This is out in the sticks," she noted.
"Good, less chance of us being discovered," a bodyguard replied. "I'll just rest in the car tonight."
"I got the back seat, you take the front," the other guard by her said.
The line of cars slowed. Ahead, Emily saw they were turning down a driveway. Her car turned and she saw a girl point at a barn. John drove in. The girl then motioned the next car forward and got by the driver's window to point at the barn. They their car also got pointed at the barn. as they drove up to get directed, Emily looked into the barn.
Tanks. They were both different and nothing like the army had, but both were sitting on tracks. The girl told the driver, "See those two cars? drive in on he right so we have room for everyone."
"Yes, Ma'am," he agreed, and pulled them in cols to the futuristic looking tank.
Emily got out and watched the two young people directing traffic. Beside the girl, there was a boy farther down to guide more cars to park in front of a large garage. People walking to the house did so on the side.
"Jackie" the boy yelled. "I can fit five more here, and seven in the driveway. Feed them to me one at a time!"
"K, many are going to have to park on the side!" the girl yelled back. "And keep the gators down in the yard!"
"I will. Momma's already getting nervous. Where's Joan?"
From ahead, John said, "Shopping. A box truck is going to need to get to the house. Make sure we have room."
"K, dad."
"Where's Peggy and Lily?" John asked.
"Cooking, Daniel is getting tableware out. Someone's going to have to wash and dry or else we'll be running out of dishes."
Emily noted they had a good sized house here. She still didn't see how they were going to fit all these people in. The house was maybe ten, twelve bedrooms at the max. She hoped she at least got a couch to lay on.
Getting inside, Emily saw a pair of white haired girls in the kitchen, the stove and the oven were going, as was two microwaves. One of them lifted the lid on a chafing dish to show it was already piled up with ham steaks. She added two more that just came off the stove.
John had disappeared. Not knowing what else to do, Emily went to the kitchen to see if she could help. "What can I do?" she asked the girls who were sweating in the hot kitchen.
The girl closest to her pointed and said, "Stay by the front door, no one can go out into the front. Allie Gator is out there."
"There's an alligator in your front yard?"
"Yes, and she doesn't like strangers."
"Peggy!" the boy called in through the window. "One of you have to go calm the gators, down. Momma gator is hissing and her back is hunched up!"
"I'll help here," Emily quickly said.
"I'll go!" Peggy called back out the window. She took her apron off and ran over to hand it to Emily. "Make sure the pork and ham out of the freezer goes in the microwave on low for two minutes before it goes into a pan. The pans on the left have three minutes to go, Lily cam help you more. I gotta get out there." she then ran out of the kitchen.
Afraid for the girl who was running out in the dark to tend to an alligator, Emily called, "Someone go help that girl!"
"No!" Lily barked, "Let Peggy go by herself. Allie knows her, Allie will bite a stranger. Watch the microwave, the meat in there is almost done. When it dings, put it on the left side of the stove, then put two more slices in."
It was hot in here, and these two girls had been working their hardest. Emily got to work.
In the mass chaos, somehow John and his family controlled it. The dinning room table became a make-shift cafeteria line. Slow, but people moved along and got something to eat. After, they brought their used dishes to the coffee table that was now by the kitchen. The used dishes were taken into the kitchen by JJ, washed and dried by Kaede, Nana and Mayu, then Cameron Yuka and Emily making food, refilled the clean plates and silver for the next people in line.
Joan, Allison and Bob were currently working on the problem of where to put people so they could sleep. No one was expecting a restful night's sleep, just to crash for a while and get some rest so they could keep working. Two per car took care of some of the problem. Six people per bedroom also helped. Other just lounged back in a chair, four sitting up on couches. It wasn't prime solutions by anyone, but it worked.
John hung around the front door to ensure their guests didn't go out the front. Looking out in the yard, he saw Momma gator lying there with Peggy and Lily on either side of her, their heads on her back. All three were asleep. He was never so glad those girls were here. Earlier, that alligator was getting very nervous with this mass of people around. Their Empathic ability had calmed the alligator down.
"They are really outside, sleeping with an alligator," Emily said from the side in wonder.
John glanced at her and chuckled. "Yeah. I know what JJ sees in them. They are very sweet and helpful. All the kids are special in their own way. Peggy and Lily just have their own special quirks."
Emily smiled briefly. "I'd say all of your family have quirks. Your wife Cameron has canons build into her arms. If it's to be believed, she's indestructible."
"Just very tough," he offered. "She and Delilah were very vulnerable also, mentally. They have come a long way from what they were."
"And Delilah gave birth to that Jackie girl?"
"Yeah, her daughter. JJ is Cameron's son, Joan is her daughter." John then grinned and said, "Joan's boyfriend Bob calls her the Energizer Bunny on steroids. She just can't seen to sit still. Growing up we found the worst way to punish Joan, was to make her sit in one place."
Emily grinned with him. "I'm beginning to think you could take Washington with just your family."
John frowned and shook his head. "That's not our place. Make it so you can do your thing and change the government, yeah, we'll do all we can."
Emily eyed john with a smirk. "I still think you'd make a good president."
"I'm sure you can find someone better," he told her as he watched the girls cuddled up to the alligator that was bigger than both of them.
.
