Aphelion

The weird-symbols-instead-of-punctuation is my fault, since I did the final prep of the HTML file. There are certain 'special characters' inserted automatically by Word that show up as graphical symbols in at least some browser / font combinations, specifically "smart quotes", em-dashes, en-dashes, and ellipses. I try to catch them all and replace them with more reliable equivalents (-- for em- or en-dashes, three periods for ellipses, plain double-quotes for "smart quotes"), but apparently I missed a few.

As for the AK-47s -- if the U.S. team were 'Black Ops' types not meant to be easily identified, they might use non-U.S. weapons... AK-47s being the most copied, most widely available assault rifle around (with Russian, Chinese, and other versions, all with interchangeable ammo). Or if the Republic of Texas guys were not officially U.S. forces, again, they might opt for the easiest-to-obtain assault rifle in the world.

(I didn't "read" the story, I just made a quick pass through to check HTML tags, so the above may not make any sense...)

RM

The story held my interest from beginning to end, and that by-itself is one of the most important points of story-telling, at least I think so.

An Electrical Engineer fresh out of college would not have the experience or training to handle a project of this scope. A team of highly trained computer scientist along with seasoned electrical engineers or physicist from a company like Honeywell would have to be the starting point of an endeavor such as this one. Not one lone recent college grad!!

The story encompasses much and stretches over ancient Atlantis, to Three-mile-island, to political nuts such as Norton Burden Hurtt. We go back to Jimmy Carter, Iran, old computers like the Texas Instruments of the '70s, and the technology of Atlantis. I have a hard time believing that a missile would still function after all those years! 50,000 the story said!! That one I can’t buy!!!

The New Republic of Texas sounds like one of the many anti-government groups that pop-up from time to time. However, one led by a multi-billionaire could cause some damage!

The Special Ops squad leader with an AK-47? That I don’t buy either. He would have an assault M-16. A shorter version. Unless these were mercenaries contracted by the U.S. government. But the story suggests American Military-Styled Special Ops.

A good one that was enjoyable and easy to follow yet not simple in style or tone. Fiction should entertain and this one certainly did!!

Great Job!!