Alan E. Nourse & J. A. Meyer by The invaders are Coming Read Free Book Online Page B

suburban centers, and it reassured everyone and
explained everything, even though it was a complete and deliberate lie.
    North
of Wildwood, Road
Washed Out signs
went up on all wheel-strips leading within twenty miles of the crater, with DIA
field units spread out in a wide perimeter around the site of the blast.
'Copter units maintained air coverage to keep unwanted small craft out of the
area. Major Harvey Alexander's absence was covered, and the cordon of young,
serious-faced DIA men circulating in the plant area proper was convincingly
explained as a team of auditors evaluating the plant operations to prevent
another breakdown. i In the great Vanner-Elling calculators in Verdon Caverns, the key words "Wildwood,"
"atomic," "explosion," "demolition,"
"DIA," "alien," "mystery," and scores of other
journalistic leak-words were unobtrusively loaded into the electronic censors that tested every story, column, ad and byline for
any contextual association with the Wildwood raid, with results screening
continuously into the huge BURINF clearing house.
    Likewise,
an integrated check-system monitored the TV-casts, and thousands of concealed
microphones in playgrounds, washrooms, cafeterias, bars and other strategic
places—long the standard emotion-samplers and information-gatherers of the
government Stability program—went on active to test the rate of occurrence of
any of the key words.
    And
all this was done so swiftly, so silently, that even the TV stations, press
rooms, and standard information services did not suspect that a continental
alert was on.
    Which was why, when the leak came, it was so unexpected.
    Station
WDQM-TV in Jefferson City, Illinois, reported on a newsbreak flash that a local
hunter in the bush had been wakened during the night by an explosion in the
region of the Wildwood Power Plant. A forest ranger had also seen the blast,
and noticed the concentration of helicopters in the area.
    Bahr only caught the last few lines before
the commercial, after a frantic signal came through from the local telecast
monitor, but that was enough. Cursing, he ordered the story squelched, and the
phone line to WDQM began buzzing. In New York an ace copywriter had a recording
of the broadcast and Bahr's personal instructions ringing in his ears began to
create, out of nothing, a cover-lie. DlA ground cars
intercepted the station's TV field unit en route to the scene, and took the
driver and technicians into custody for interrogation and indoctrination.
    But
the move was not fast enough. Even while the cover-story was being written,
Station BCQN in Canada, on a network that was not under DIA censorship, called
WDQM for details. Someone at the station blundered and said the story had been
killed. Fifteen minutes later, in a scheduled newscast, the Canadian station
opened the dike.
    "A
mysterious explosion last night in the vicinity of the Wildwood, Illinois,
Atomic Power Project, has become the subject of a furious DIA censorship
move," the announcer said. "Earlier this evening Station WDQM-TV
reported two eye-witness accounts of the strange blast, which occurred shortly
after midnight, but further details have been totally suppressed. In spite of the
censorship move, however, an amateur radio group TBX-57HC3 picked up some
police-frequency radio chatter last night, tentatively identified as
originating in the blast area. TBX has been able to provide us with a tape
recording of this chatter, which we have edited somewhat in preparation for
this rebroadcast."
    Bahr
was on the phone personally before the first sentence of the newscast was
finished. He listened as the call went through to make sure it was going to be
as bad as it sounded. Finally he was connected with the manager of the BCQN
station.
    "This
is Julian Bahr, Assistant Director DIA, speaking for the director," he
said. "We've just caught the beginning of your broadcast, and you seem to
have some misinformation about the situation here at Wildwood."
    "Really?"