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the heroes and heroines of last December 7. These are the wonderful people who may have saved us from nuclear winter or worse. And here, to tell you the true story of that great adventure, to describe the dangers and terrors of that dreadful moment, is a distinguished journalist, a man who volunteered to travel north with the Americans who dealt with the crisis. He stayed at ground zero, while the warhead ticked down.to the very moment of nuclear explosion. He is here to answer your questions. Our national number is 1-800-WARHEAD. Ladies and gentlemen, say good morning to JOE RYERSON!"
"Oh, my God," Anna said.
"He looks different, somehow," Amalie Hebert murmured.
"It's amazing what a toupee can do for a hairline," Kellner said, laughing.
"The little prick," Evan Harris said, "had a nose job!"
"You all can watch," Morgan said, "provided you roll up your pant legs when he gets going, I've seen him twice, and his role in defusing the bomb is truly remarkable. He all but guided my hands. I've got to change into my uniform."
"Do you think Caidin will be reelected, Vincent?" Ave asked. "I see by the polls he's running scared. Isn't this whole Rose Garden thing part of his campaign, a way to try to con the public that he was in control the whole time?"
"There is no such thing as being in control of everything, all the time, Avery. You of all people should know that. Ten days, that was all we had, to move mountains. The best we could do was to set the right people in motion at the right time, which is always a gigantic gamble."
"Just leave everything as it is," Anna said, when her guests began to get up. "I've got a lovely woman who comes in to clean up for me." She was laughing at something Amalie Hebert said to her and answering in kind when Morgan came back into the room, in his dress whites.
Anna stopped in midsentence, stunned by his appearance. I've never seen him in uniform before, she thought. He's gor-

 
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