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.Understand Me?" Roger clenched his jaw, wishing he had that arrogant Ivy League prick onthe other end of the speakerphone close enough to choke.His face was red andhis head pounded and there was no telling what his blood pressure was.There was no response from the other end of the line.* * *Ret Ball:My friends you will not believe this but I have the Deputy Secretary ofDefense for Advanced Defense Concepts and Testing Dr.Roger P.Reynolds onlinewith us this evening.Great to have you here on the Truth Nationwide, Mr.DeputySecretary.Caller:Thanks, Ret.Ret Ball:Why are you contacting us tonight, sir?Caller:Well, you see Ret we have posted all the information we have on the alienmenace on our website at www.neighborhoodwatch.gov.Again, that iswww.neighborhoodwatch.gov.We would like all the smart folks across the globethat can still access it to look it over.If you have any insights pleasecontact us immediately through the contact lists on the site.Ret Ball:That doesn't sound good, Mr.Deputy Secretary.If the United StatesDepartment of Defense is asking for help what does that mean?Caller:Just the way it sound,s Ret.More than half, nearly two-thirds of the world,our planet, has been overtaken by these alien machines and we have lostcontact with those occupied regions.We have rallied our troops, evacuated ourcities, and gathered as many brilliant minds as we can find to help solve theproblem and stop these alien machines.But we aren't certain of our chancesand will listen to any, and I mean any, advice.Ret Ball:I see.Anything else?Caller:Yes Ret, there is one more thing.We desperately need to speak with one ofyour regular callers.He uses the name Megiddo on your show.We have reason tobelieve that Mr.Megiddo is actually a quite brilliant scientist and wouldvery much like to speak with him.Ret Ball:You heard it fans.Megiddo, if you are out there, your country, no, humanityneeds you.Chapter 22Richard and Helena had spent the better part of the last two weeks movingeverything they wanted to keep and everything the Von Neumann probes hadn'ttaken into the mine.Richard patched the hole in the cabin where the stove hadbeen but did not see the need to waste further time on fixing the interior.The cabin had been a convenience and a temporary location from the beginning,but Richard just could not see leaving a gaping hole in the side and roof forthe weather to intrude through.It was still a decent shelter and had takenhim months to find, fix up, and move into.Page 179 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlAfter her conflict with the alien machines, Helena had come around on thesubject of leaving the cabin for more underground digs.The mine suited herjust fine, although she did insist on carrying a large piece of stove woodaround with her everywhere she went.She had even carved and sanded down oneend of it for a handle and wrapped it with cloth and tape.Richard at first had thought Helena would be a humorous sight wielding heroversized handmade billyclub.But there was something about her slender five-nine Russian frame andaccent, her long black hair, her insistence on wearing low cut worn-out jeansand skin-tight tank-tops, no bra, canvas sneakers, and toting around a mammothwar club that gave her a "warrior princess" quality that really got Richardgoing.Other than science and solving problems, getting Richard excited was usually ahard thing to do.He even debated with himself at times whether he actuallyloved her though he knew it was quite likely that she didn't really love him.Mutual convenience best described their marriage.He had needed companionshipand she needed to get out of Russia.But he found he liked it a lot when shewandered around with her club.The mine was fully operational at least to within the limitations of the poweravailable by the waterwheel.The little hydroelectric plant that Richard hadput together would power the water heater, refrigerator, freezer, a fewlights, a television, a computer, and maybe one piece of scientific equipmentat a time.Using the backup battery systems at the same time enabled him topower a few more of his scientific instruments.The batteries had to rechargeall night.He had hoped for a little more horsepower out of the undergroundstream, but the flow rate was just too low to create enough torque forinstantaneous power needs."I wish I could have found enough fissile material to go nuclear," he said tohimself.As it was he didn't have the power to drive the electron microscope."Would be nice to do some X rays and some microscopy of your friend." Henodded at the bot laid out across his workbench at the edge of the entranceinto the lab shaft from the main chamber."You don't tink dat you could've stolen plutonium and gotten away with it?"Helena peered over the book she was reading and glanced at Richard.He hadbeen quietly working for some time now, but when he spoke out loud to himselfHelena had a hard time ignoring him.He was her entertainment."Huh? Plutonium? Oh, no
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