Read 1634: Turn Your Radio On for Free Online

as. In other relatively level parts of the yard, men and women were busy building new buildings to house new projects for this bustling new world.
    Gayle Mason turned toward John Grover. "Who would have believed it the day I went in to talk to Coleman Walker? What was it? Less than a year and a half ago. Not quite a month after the Ring of Fire happened."
    Gayle laughed. "And Coleman named it Voice of America, even though he didn't want to fund it at first. Come on in and have a cup of something hot."
    What had been—until recently—a little three bedroom, two bath, with a combination living-dining room and a galley style kitchen home, was now the headquarters of the most state of the art electronics corporation on the planet.
    "It's all so scary, John," Gayle said, allowing herself to show her uncertainties. "All I ever wanted was to fiddle with my ham rig and do my electrical thing in the mines until my pension vested. Maybe someday, find a guy who isn't afraid of letting me be who I am."
    She pulled her feet up under her and wrapped her arms around her midriff. "Now, we've signed the papers to make me Chairperson of General Electronics, Incorporated . I just signed a deal with the government for unlimited funding and who knows how many guaranteed profit contracts for redeveloping an entire electronics industry, and Mike wants me to take personal charge of equipping an entire army and navy with communications gear as soon as I can finish turning everything over to you, Mr. Chief Executive Officer and Station Manager."
    She allowed her shoulders to slump and frowned, "It's just too much."
    John Grover smiled and wondered again at the way some strong women often seemed to want to hug their daddies for comfort when things were going good. "Yeah. It is more than a bit overwhelming, isn't it?
    "I know exactly how you feel. When they made me vice president of the construction company back up-time in Fairmont, I remember thinking, 'Wow, and me a high school drop out.'
    "But you've made some really good decisions so far and we are so far ahead of where we have any right to be simply because of you. So take your time, get used to it, and then forget about all the titles. It's just you and me and Deanna Dee, just like always."
    Smiling, Gayle allowed herself to come back to the present. "So how long do you think it'll take to get the tube research project going?"
    "Well, when the new building is finished, we can finally move our jewelers and glassblowers into the same facility. We should be able to start training new supporting staff by the first of the year. It's going to be an example of having to build the tools to build the tools to build the tools. The rest of it . . . " John reached over to the desk and picked up a pile of freshly signed government contracts and read a few bits from them. "The first thing we've go to do is build radio receivers to go along with all those crystal set instruction flyers you've been spreading around. That's the only way our new neighbors can start getting the hang of seventeenth-century radio! For sure we won't die of boredom!
    ****
    It was a warm late September morning as the Council of Elders of the Grantville Pentecostal Church gathered together at the spot on the banks of the new Ring-of-Fire-created lake where they had become accustomed to performing their baptisms. Brother Chalker's message had been somewhat nebulous as to what the event was that they were meeting about.
    Pete Enriquez, as chair of the council, arrived first and set up the chairs. Elder and choir director Jennifer Copenhaver and her husband Roy brought drinks and some fresh homemade cookies, and Elder Paul Nemeth and Ingrid arrived in their newly-converted natural-gas-powered company pickup truck just on time. Ingrid had driven and had to help her husband out.
    "We passed Brothers Chalker and Fischer along the way." Paul smiled faintly as he added, "Esau was a bit ornery this morning and fought taking the bit, so they're