warrant, otherwise I might have some difficulty with the university administration."

warrant, otherwise I might have some difficulty with the university administration."

"I honestly don't know," Ramirez said. "I've never been involved in anything like this before."

"Well, let's hope it doesn't take too long," said Loomis. "I want to get this son of a bitch."

"So do I," Ramirez said grimly.

"Yeah. I'll see you later."

Ramirez nodded and Loomis closed the door. The squad car levitated and moved off in a silent glide

past the police barricades and the reporters, who were clearly displeased at not having the chance to ask

Ramirez any questions. As they drove back toward the college, Ramirez sat staring silently out the

window. The officer driving him sensed that he was in no mood for conversation and left him alone as

they drove through the picturesque town.

The Royal City of the Holy Faith had seen a great many changes since it was founded in 1610, a decade

before the first Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock. In the fourteenth century, its site was home to the

Anasazi, who called it the Dancing Ground of the Sun. In the early seventeenth century, Don Francisco

Vasquez de Coronado came with his conquistadores to claim the land of New Mexico for Spain.La

Villa Real de la Santa Fe became a Spanish colony. "The People," as they called themselves, were

renamed the Pueblo Indians by the Spaniards, from the Spanish word for village. They were the

descendants of the Anasazi and their peaceful and spiritual way of life, in harmony with nature, was

rudely interrupted by their Spanish conquerors, who came in search of treasure that they never found.

The conquistadores' harsh treatment of their reluctant subjects led to the Pueblo Revolt of 1680, when

the Indians succeeded in driving out the Spaniards, but the city was retaken in 1693 by Don Diego de

Vargas. More Spanish settlers came to the area, but Spain dealt harshly with foreign traders, imprisoning

them and sending them to Mexico. Among their captives was the American explorer Zebulon Pike,

whose writings after his release spread word of New Mexico throughout the United States.

Following the Mexican Revolution in 1821, Santa Fe fell under Mexican rule and was opened up to

trade, which saw the birth of the legendary Santa Fe Trail leading from Independence, Missouri, to what

was now the downtown plaza. In 1823 St. Francis was adopted as the city's patron saint and the official

name of the city becameLa Villa Real de la Santa Fe de San Francisco de Asis, The Royal City of the

Holy Faith of St. Francis of Assisi. After the war with Mexico in 1846, New Mexico became a U.S.

territory. The railroad brought more commerce to the area, but the culture of the city continued to remain

primarily Indian and Spanish. During the Civil War, the city was briefly in the hands of the Confederates,

but Union troops prevailed in the battle of Glorieta Pass and drove the Rebels out. In 1912, the territory

of New Mexico became the forty-seventh state.

Located at an elevation of seven thousand feet above sea level, on a plateau between the Sangre de

Cristo and the Jemez mountains, Santa Fe in the twenty-third century still possessed much of its original

charm and grace. Its residents had always been careful to preserve the authentic southwestern spirit that

made their city unique. Many of its historic adobe buildings still stood, lovingly preserved over the years,

and developers with their skyscrapers and office buildings had never been permitted to blight Santa Fe

with their steel and glass. The Historic Zoning Ordinance, dating back to 1957, insured that only Santa

Fe-style buildings could be erected within the city, with five stories being the maximum allowable building