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puzzled about where you’re calling from. You seem to be outside of our equipment, so to speak.”
    “Yes. I knew Jake would notice.”
    “How do you know about Jake?”
    “I am who you think I am, Luke. Do you need another sign? Your baby will be a boy. He’ll be born 238 days from today.” Luke just sat doing the math in his head. He didn’t care about the dead air. “I don’t know what to say.”
    “I know you believe. That’s why I chose you.”
    “Why have you come?”
    “We’ll talk more another time. There’s a lot to be said. It’s enough for now that people know I’m here and that I’ll reveal more soon.” The station’s telephone banks went wild. In thirty minutes, Pacific Bell called out 20 emergency switching crews to try and release the main telephone feeder lines that were jammed all over the city. They got the hospital, police and fire department and the station’s circuits back up, but that was all.
    The next day, Zack Osfelder was in top form. “We have a contract for those lines, and you’re gonna keep them up. I don’t care how much cable you have to run or what it costs.” The telephone lawyer huddled at the other end of the huge conference table. They had him by the throat, and he knew it. The attorney looked ill. “OK. But can you keep this visitor or whatever off the air until we can gear up? If we have a major emergency, this city is cooked, and so am I.”
    “Yeah. We can keep Luke off the air until you’re ready. But you gotta move ass and get this done.” On the way out, Zack pulled Luke and Jake aside. “You guys have gotta dummy-up on this. Don’t talk to the press or anything. I owe Pac Bell and the city that much. Just refer everybody to me until they get the new lines in. By the way, I have a feeling this is for real. And I’ve been an atheist for a long time.”
    The local news reports ranged from skeptical to sarcastic, making all the obvious arguments. The national media picked up the story next, feeding off the local coverage. Even Cronkite had an amused “kicker” report at the end of his newscast, but his usual, “And that’s the way it is,” closing carried a more solemn undertone that night.
    Luke remained above it. He believed in what had happened and it offered him some measure of confidence, as it would in the months to come.
    Zack met him for lunch up the coast in Carlsbad, to avoid reporters. “The network is already calling me about picking you up but I’m stalling them. If your visitor doesn’t come back or turns out to be a hoax, we’ll both be looking for another line of work.”
    “I know this is real, Zack. I’m certain and I can’t tell you why.”
    “Yeah, but let’s just cool it a little longer. I also got a call from Ray Volpe. He’s the top agent in the country and he wants to represent you. He’s a decent guy though, and he’ll take good care of you. You oughta talk to him.”
    “I don’t care about money right now, and besides, KOGO and I have a contract. You’ve been more than good to Eileen and me.”
    “That’s fine, but you’re gonna need him with the networks. He knows all the angles.”
    Luke and Eileen talked endless hours about what was happening, but kept coming back to the same place. “Nobody knew about the baby except the doctor. I haven’t told anyone yet, not even my folks or yours. But your friend had my due-date exactly.”

Chapter 8
    The extra telephone lines were installed in a week, and Luke was back on the air. The callers were all the usual suspects. But the subject was the same. As the nights wore on the skeptics became the majority, counterpoint to the religious zealots who were becoming more extreme as the nights of silence continued.
    Luke had mixed feelings, hoping the visitor would return and wishing not.
    By the following Monday, new topics were slipping into the show. Then the voice was there. This time, Luke tuned-in to something that had stirred him before, but below his conscious