Henry the Honey Badger The Lighthouse Keeper on the Moon

As everyone knows, most honey badgers are scrupulous about keeping promises, none more so than Henry. As everyone also knows, all honey badgers love to eat, none more so than Henry.

Danger Dan Coetzee and Dr. Patti the Stewardess were getting married. Henry said the air was thick with oxytocin whenever the two of them were together. That stimulated Henry to go off tomcatting' in the wild bush. He promised to be back well before the wedding. But he didn't show up. And that worried his people creature friends, especially the women who lived at the Heifer Boma, and his very first people creature friend, Verity Olabumba. Henry always kept his word. And he never passed up an opportunity for a free meal. Had something happened to Henry? Indeed, it had, and it was not something good.

Chief Inspector Cecil Richardson was worried about Henry, but also worried about a well-dressed young man who was caught shoplifting a pint of whiskey at Morunga's Market. He claimed to have studied at Cambridge, and had an upper crust British accent. He wore expensive clothes, but carried no money and no identification. He gave his name as Sulabot Mongogo, and said if Cecil wanted more information, he should talk to his lawyer. The trouble was that he claimed not to know who his lawyer was. And so, he remained in Cell #2 in the Nyati jail.

Meanwhile, the traitor, former Lt. Col. Dennis Adrian Windham had divulged that terrorists had designated specific sites for an invasion along the Bokone River, Malinda's northern border. Defense against them fell to Major Riley and his commandos. They were the sharp tip of the army's spear; they were very good, but they were a tiny force. Plans were underway to expand Riley's band of snake eaters, but expansion takes time, and time was something they didn't have. So Ghost Force would be involved.

Riley's wife, the extraordinary Cassandra (Ghost Force name Enigma) was pregnant. And because pregnant women are far too valuable to risk in combat, she was ordered to remain clear of any combat area. But as everyone knows, combat areas can pop up anywhere.

And it appeared doubtful that Solomon Olabumba could or would take part in the defense. Malinda's greatest war hero, twice awarded the Order of the Elephant for heroism, had been overcome by the darkness that had plagued him since the war thirteen years earlier.

Alexandr Solzhenitsyn wrote "Evil people always support each other; that is their chief strength." But often, good people support each other, and like lighthouses, illuminate the darkness and save others from destruction.