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.“Look at us,” Packman said.“We’re just as dependent upon modern society as the rest of the world – and that makes us vulnerable.Every single goddamn cell phone is a potential spy.Anything we post on the internet – anything we download from the internet – becomes something they can use to track us.They can probably slip into our databases and alter details as they see fit, making it impossible for us to even remember the truth.How can we fight when we can’t even trust our own weapons or memories?”He shook his head.“They’re carrying out a goddamned soft coup and half of our population is probably quite prepared to welcome the New World Order,” he concluded.“And what’s going to happen to us then?”The Colonel nodded.He’d seen the studies.The Chinese Government had spent most of the Clinton Administration stealing every piece of computer software they could get their hands on, sometimes aided and abetted by members of an administration the Colonel considered a national mistake.And some folks in the CIA had wondered if that couldn't be turned to their advantage, if they couldn't penetrate systems the Chinese didn’t fully understand and take control of them.If they could do that, they’d thought, they could effectively control the Chinese nation – and no one would ever know what they’d done.How could the Chinese fight back when they couldn't trust their weapons?Nothing had ever come of the plan, of course.There were too many risks involved for it to be anything other than a theoretical study.But he could see how it applied to their situation.If Toby’s friends were right and the aliens had calmly hacked their way into every government database, they’d know everything they needed to know to draw up plans for the invasion.The implications were devastating.A poker player couldn't hope to win if his opponent knew what cards he was holding in his hand.“I’m in shock,” Packman said.“Twenty days ago, the world changed forever ; nothing has changed on the surface, but you can feel it moving underwater.This is the calm before the storm.God alone knows what will happen when the storm finally hits.”The Colonel shrugged.Packman had always had an imagination.It was one of the reasons his superiors had asked him to leave.“We’ll need to think about it carefully,” he said.He disliked cell phones personally and insisted that they be turned off in the house.He’d even ordered his guests to leave them behind when Toby had briefed them, something that might have saved their lives.It was quite possible to turn a mobile phone on remotely and transform it into a spy.“And we need to find a way of operating under their radar.”Susan stuck her head through the door.“Are you not coming?” She demanded.“The food is getting cold!”The Colonel knew better than to defy his daughter over her cooking.Like her mother, Susan was tough and very determined to control the female sphere – which included cooking and wedding planning.If he’d skipped dinner, she wouldn't have forgiven him for months, just like Mary.At least Mary had understood when he’d been called back to his unit for an emergency drill that had led nowhere.Susan’s husband was on the other side of the world.“Coming,” he said, hauling himself to his feet.He’d kept himself in peak physical condition for a man of his age, but he was suddenly chillingly aware that he wasn't anything like as strong or active as he’d been before his retirement.“Come on, Bob.You don’t want to get her angry at you.”“Quite right,” Susan agreed.Standing against the light, she looked terrifyingly like her mother.“And if you don’t eat a full plate of stew, you won’t get any desert.”***They reconvened in the living room after the dinner.The Colonel rubbed his stomach – he’d eaten more than was good for him, but it had tasted so good – and started to pour the coffee into a number of mugs.Susan and everyone else not directly involved with the resistance – for the Colonel had already determined to resist, whatever else happened – hadn't been invited to the meeting.There was no point in risking the lives of anyone who hadn't already committed themselves to the fight.He thought, just for a moment, of Toby.His youngest son was right in the heart of enemy territory, Washington DC.The Colonel, like many survivalists, treated Washington with great suspicion, an attitude that had only hardened over the years that Washington's politicians had fiddled while the country burned down around them [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]