~Chapter Two~

Eileen knocked on the door of Clyde's study room. She knew her husband stayed up late tracking the enemy's progress and/or working on either his computer system or finding solutions to any problems with other spies' computer systems. All in all, he was a very busy cyborg. A bit too busy though. His career had now become so consuming that he was left with little to no time with his family.

"Then again," Eileen thought, "I'm at least TWICE as guilty."

As one of the head assistants to Sir Dalhart, she was almost always away at Control Central. Her visits could last anywhere from a couple hours to a couple months. Though Sir Dalhart, being the kind ruler that he was, tried to make the need of her assistance as short as possible. Coming from a family of seven, he knew all too well how important it was that she be with her spouse and children. Still with the increasing threats to overthrow their ruler -along with the government- every governor, every spy, every politician, and anyone else associated with the cyber ruler was needed now more than ever. But the worst part was this: Because Clyde knew the most about Abaddon and his plans and because Clyde was the most intelligent of all Cyberspace's spies, Abaddon had specific plans to eliminate him from the picture. (As well as anybody associated with him.)

"Once you and your precious husband are gone," his men had written to her in a blackmail, "Nothing will stop Abaddon from getting rid of that idiotic Dalhart! We WILL hunt you down Benson! You and your entire family will perish miserably!"

Eileen acted as though she were not intimidated at all by all the blackmailing. Yet underneath that brave exterior was a petrified woman who worried more about the lives of her husband and children than of her own fate.

She opened the door and, as she suspected, there was her darling Clyde pouring over his recent findings. He had dark circles around his golden-brown eyes and his normally dark blue skin was paler than usual. Clearly he had not been sleeping much since she was gone.

"Clyde dear!" she whispered lovingly.

Clyde looked up to see his lovely wife smiling at him. He rushed over to Eileen and kissed her soft, pink lips. "Oh darling I've missed you so much!" He said softly.

"And I you my dear!"

"How are things going over at Control Central?" Clyde asked, his arms wrapped around her neck.

"Oh Clyde," Eileen sighed, "Sir Dalhart is worried sick about the future of Cyberspace. According to him, we're in the darkest times since the Great Cyber War."

"I have to agree with him darling," the blue-haired cyborg replied hopelessly, "We are in a very serious situation." He paused a moment, then said, "I assume Sir Dalhart has informed you of the recent blackmail I received."

"Yes Clyde," Eileen answered as her blue eyes filled with tears, "Oh what are we going to do?! Just what will become of the children?"

"We mustn't let them know." Clyde sighed and said to her, "I can tell Melissa is already suspicious of there being some sort of dilemma…I emailed Alexa about letting the kids possibly stay with her for a while. I also requested that Sir Dalhart send you back with two Skwak Pads for them, in case the unthinkable happens."

"Yes. They are in my purse. We'll give them to the children tomorrow morning."

Clyde nodded and went back to his computer.

"Eileen?"

"Yes Clyde?"

"Know that whatever happens to me," Clyde said, his golden-brown eyes now watering, "Know that I love you. I've loved you since the day we met at the Cybrary and I'll love you until the day I die. And there's not a thing in Cyberspace that can change that!"

Eileen smiled at her handsome spouse. "I love you too Clyde," she said as she knelt beside him and rested her head on his lap. "More than you'll ever know…"