Lion, Tiger, Bear | 35 Agreed, sir, said Marshall. Its already been assigned to the Non-Terrestrial Science Special Committee per your order. Good. Keep on, smiled the president. Polish intelligence operatives claim that AEG and LG. Farben are perfecting their Version Three chemical laser for isotope purification, but actual confirmation on performance is hard to come by. Telefimken and Siemens miniaturized transistors are being used in radar and U-Boat torpedo calculators and will likely end up in their rocket and advanced experimental aircraft programs. The Zuse Z3 digital computer is of course essential for all their high technology projects, and thats alarming in my book. But… whats really troubling are the unconfirmed rumors of special SS mining units thatre scouring everywhere high and low for thorium, which is found in rare earth materials such as monazite and euxenite. Mining units? asked Churchill worriedly. Thorium? Marshall coughed. Yes, sir, a possibility. Professor Trump told me thorium is used to coat tungsten filaments which are then fitted inside electronic devices such as radar. Its also used in making high-powered scientific equipment and high-quality camera lensesZeiss and Agfa come to mind in regards to optics on tanks, ships, subs, and aircraft. But those are just the nifty little side benefits, he said. If the rumors are true and I believe them to be, the Germans arent just looking for itty-bitty inferior-quality amounts here and there in occupied Europe or captured Russian territory, but tons of high-grade ore found in select geological pockets mostly in the Middle East, northern India, and Egypt, and much more than is estimated for a bomb enrichment or electronics program. Here he paused, the enormity of the complex issues almost indigestible, the details unbelievable at best. These elite units are in bed with the Thule, Vril, and Ahnenerbe societies. And, of course.. .we all know.. .what that means. In a rare display of hot temper, the president pitched his coffee cup and saucer to the front panel of his desk where it shattered. Damn! Nervous and overwhelmed, Churchill ground his cigar stub in the ornate John Adams ashtray, thought fondly of his wife, family, and finally his grandniece Beatrice, the hard-drinking, randy, always-on-report, irreverent Godless libertine he admired so much, mostly because she reminded him of his younger self gone irreparably wild and feral, only more so. He then low-growled: Now we know exactly why the Foo-Fighter pilots are watching us all so closely: Quick advancement armed with little wisdom.