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and gave them a wink. “The world is coming to an end,” he said. “It’s your lucky day, kids.”
     

 
    Chapter Fifteen
    I stopped at the front steps of the Hound Dog Wedding Chapel. It was a two storey cream colored stucco building with a small bell tower and signage on the front indicating a selection of various wedding packages. They ranged from a traditional service conducted by a certified minister to the full performance where you could be married by a rock n roll singing and dancing Elvis.
    Wow , I thought. If Brodie and I ever decide to tie the knot…
    A Chinese restaurant sat to one side of the building. On the other was a small hotel. They even had deals where you could combine a three day weekend package with a complimentary Elvis wedding.
    “This is too weird,” Chad moaned. “How did it all come to this?”
    “Do you really want an answer to that?”
    “No.”
    We rung the front bell and it chimed a little ditty for a few seconds. I thought it may have been Can’t Help Falling In Love by Elvis. The door opened and the King of Rock and Roll – or a fairly reasonable facsimile – stood in the entrance. He was wearing a white jumpsuit with a bright red collar and flared pants. The entire outfit was decorated with gold grommets and colored rhinestones.
    “Hello boys,” he said. “Lookin’ to get hitched?”
    “Not to each other!” Chad exclaimed.
    “I have a card,” I said. “I’m here to see Mr. Floyd.”
    Elvis nodded. “Come right in boys. You’ve arrived at the right place.”
    He opened the door wide and we stepped inside. We found ourselves in a short corridor. The walls were painted lilac pink. The interior smelt of cologne. Plastic flowers decorated the corners. Pictures of Elvis decorated the walls as well as dozens of photos of just-married couples.
    “I’m in Hell,” Chad muttered.
    Elvis ignored him. “Come on through to the chapel, boys.”
    We followed him into a clean and neat chamber with rows of seating on both sides. A small enclosed gazebo sat at the front. Its ceiling was made of hanging pink satin sheets and plastic white and pink roses. An organ was located to the left of the gazebo. An elderly lady was practicing the organ.
    She looked up at us. “Hello boys.”
    “Ma’am,” I greeted her.
    “They’re looking for Mr. Floyd,” Elvis said.
    She nodded.
    Elvis hit a button on the left hand side of the gazebo. There was a soft click and the entire structure lifted up into the ceiling. Directly below it was a small and modern looking elevator enclosed in steel and dark glass.
    “Mr. Floyd is right this way,” Elvis said.
    We wordlessly stepped into the elevator.
    Elvis winked. “If you rethink that marriage…”
    Doors slid across and Chad and I looked at each other. Before we could say a word we felt the elevator smoothly drop a few feet. The doors slid open. A modern office lay before us. We could see about twenty desks with people working at wide screen computers.
    We stepped out of the elevator. On both the left and right of the chamber were walls with various maps of parts of the world displayed on them. Military personnel were all over the place, speaking to administrative staff.
    A woman aged about twenty-five with short black hair and round rimmed glasses suddenly appeared. She wore a neat, blue office suit and flat shoes.
    “You are looking for Mr. Floyd?” she said. “You’re names are -?”
    “Axel,” I said. “And Chad.”
    She nodded. “Follow me.”
    Leading us through the heart of the office, we reached a barrier and I abruptly realized the entire office was actually only a mezzanine area. Beyond it lay an even larger room, hundreds of feet in length. At the far end lay a massive video display made up of small screened television sets. There seemed to be hundreds of different channels playing at once. Hundreds of other desks had people sitting at them, typing or speaking over hands free phones.
    “Wow,” said Chad.
    “You’re