You speak strangely. Is something wrong?

NO, EVERYTHING IS ACCORDING TO PLAN. I EXPECT YOU WILL FULFILL MY WISHES.

Of course, that is the arrangement. But what has changed?

NOTHING. I AM FULFILLING MY DESTINY.

As am I.

THEN YOU WILL UNDERSTAND.

Alexander Spiradon relaxed in his Alpine aerie home overlooking the hilly suburbs of Zurich while watching a satellite feed of the Simpson"s on his TV. He found that he learned American colloquialisms best from American television. They brutalized the language under the guise of entertainment. During a commer- cial for "The Quicker Picker Upper", his computer announced a call.

He put the VCR on Quick-Record and sat at his Compaq Deskpro com- puter watching the screen display the incoming identification.

>

Alex entered the code displayed on his personal identification card.

G4-YU7-%T64-666.009

Alex figured it was h.o.m.osoto since this was a very private com- puter. His other computer, an AST 386SX with 330 MB of storage was the one his recruits called with reports. The 25 Sir George"s of his army called twice a day. Once to get their a.s.signments and once to send him the results of their efforts.

They didn"t have to call long distance, though, and never knew that Alex ran his part of h.o.m.osoto"s operation from Europe. Sir George and his hidden compatriots used their untraceable cellular phones and merely called a local phone number within their area code. Alex"s communications group had set up a widely diverse network of call forwarding telephones to make tracing the calls impossible. They exploited all of the common services that helped make his and h.o.m.osoto"s armies invisible.

MR ALEX.

Yes, sir.

THE TIME HAS COME.

So soon?

YES. MONDAY IS GROUNDHOG DAY.

Monday? Are you sure? With no warning?

HAVE I EVER BEEN WRONG?

No

THEN DO AS I SAY. PLEASE.

Alex started at the word "please". He had never seen h.o.m.osoto ever use it before.

Of course. As you wish.

WHAT ARE THE FIRST TARGETS OF THE GROUNDHOGS?

It is complex.

TELL ME!

The reservations systems of American, Delta, Pan Am and TWA. It will shut down air travel for weeks.

GOOD. AND?

The NBC, CBS and ABC communications computers. We have people working in each network. Plus, we have land based transmitters to garble and override network satellite transmis- sions. Quite a neat trick actually. I"m impressed with the technology.

I DON"T CARE ABOUT YOUR TECHNOLOGY. I WANT TO KNOW THAT THEY WILL WORK. WHO ELSE?

The list is long. Groundhogs are at the Home Shopping Network, American Express and other credit card companies. The Center for Disease Control, Hospitals, the IRS, Insurance Companies. Within a week, their computers will be empty and useless.

THAT IS WHAT I WANT TO HEAR. THIS ENDEAVOR HAS BEEN MOST PROFITA- BLE FOR YOU, HAS IT NOT?

Very much so. It is appreciated.

THEN YOU WILL NOT MIND IF I INCREASE YOUR PAYMENT.

No. Why?

YOU MUST MAINTAIN THE SANCt.i.tY OF OUR ARRANGEMENTS. NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS. DO YOU UNDERSTAND?

Yes. I a.s.sume I ask no questions?

YOU KNOW MORE THAN YOU SHOULD, BUT YOU ARE A MAN OF HONOR AS LONG AS I PAY THE MOST. THAT IS TRUE.

At least you know where I stand.

WILL YOU CONTINUE?

Consider it done. How much more?

ENOUGH. MORE THAN ENOUGH.

>>>>>

He couldn"t believe it. Scott had just watched Nightline, and who was the guest? Madonna. How ridiculous. She badly needed English lessons not to mention a brain. He was relieved when the call came.

WTFO?