NOW LIVE! Today's the day you meet your new best friend. You don’t have to leave Wolfy behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' your companions level up with you!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="talien" data-source="post: 5373244" data-attributes="member: 3285">Music of the Spheres: Part 12 – The Dish"I don't like it any more than you do," said Judy.  "But the Durango's not going to make it with that flat tire.  We've got to find a new vehicle that can hold all of us.""But Judy, you said yourself that this might be where it all started…" began Donny.The GPCA radio telescope facility was located four miles due west of Hayden.  "Would you rather drive through the center of town?" snapped Judy.  "Or take the Durango into the woods?  We've got to get another vehicle and the parking lot of the GPCA is the closest.  If we can get another car there we can take the main road out of town. Nearing the facility, they could see a set of rails stretching across the flat plain.  Large, moveable radio dishes were mounted on these rails while other, still-larger dishes were permanently stationed nearby.  The entire array was nearly five miles long from east to west, two miles north to south.  At the junction of the cruciform was a small cluster of buildings, including a four-story tower topped by a gigantic dish over a hundred feet in diameter. There was no one in the parking lot. Judy inched the car in, scanning the horizon.  The Durango crept under the shadow of the main dish. "It looks deserted," said Judy."Where is everybody?" asked Randy, suspicious.  He spotted a black minivan. "There's Dr. Neal's van..."  The vanity plate read: DRNEAL.  The border read "Astronomers Peak After Dark". Judy nudged the SUV in the direction of the minivan.A body exploded into hood of the Durango.  Judy slammed on the brakes. The girls screamed."Keerist!" shouted Donny.  He and Bob hopped out of the Durango, leveling their weapons in all directions at once.Bob pointed.  "There!"There was a sniper on the edge of the dish above them. Randy tore the Durango's SUV open, positioning himself between the shooter and the girls. "Run to the minivan!  Go! Go!"  Bob and Randy returned fire. "Donny, get it open!"Donny ran over behind the girls and, discovering that the minivan was locked, put a bullet through the handle.  He yanked it open. "Stay inside and stay down.  Don't come out until we give you the all clear."  Judy thrust Crystal and Alexis into the minivan and dove inside, slamming the door behind her. Donny pawed through the driver's seat, desperately looking for keys.  No luck. He got out of the minivan…Windows shattered in a car near Donny's head.  He ducked and ran back towards Randy."Are there keys in the minivan?"Donny shook his head.  "What are we gonna do about the nutjob on the roof?""Bob!  Get the tranq rifle!"Bob already had it in his hands.  "Way ahead of you."Donny reached for the rifle to grab it from Bob's grip.  "I have rifle training—"Bob yanked it back.  "He's mine.""I've seen Bob hit a deer from a couple hundred yards," said Randy. "He can do it."Bob clambered up to the top of the SUV by bracing his feet on the passenger window.  He leveled the rifle on its bipod and took careful aim.Bob's comb-over fluttered. Another car's tire squealed in protest as the sniper's bullet grazed his scalp."Take the shot!" shouted Donny."Quiet!" snarled Bob.  He slowly adjusted the scope.  Then, taking careful aim, he squeezed the trigger.Another rifle shot rang out, but the shot went wide.  The sniper, whoever he was, tumbled off the edge of the dish.  The normally non-lethal tranquilizer dart had become a death sentence.The man spattered onto a car's windshield, setting off a blaring car alarm."Well if there's any more psychos inside, they know we're here now," said Donny ruefully.Randy spun the chamber of his pistol.  "Let's go pay the doctor a visit."</blockquote>

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