The Pen is Mightier • 139 A Pathan-designed pengun in 25 ACP shown (left) next to an ordinary fountain pen (right). which was obviously a metaphorical written invitation to the SOE and OSS designers to hide something more deadly than a poison-pen message. These fairly large OSS and SOE penguns, both in .22 and 9mm, were triggered by the pocket clip, a projecting button that turned the cap or released the striker from its "L" slot. Some designs were very clever, and many of them did, in fact, also write as a real pen should. During one interview, an elderly World War II OSS vet said, "Those penguns which also wrote not only fooled the enemy, but we always felt that one might find a postwar civilian market among suicides who want to leave a farewell note written with the (Courtesy of Helms Tool & Die) War II penguns a slimmer, more space-age look and capability. For example, as early as 1959, Soviet penguns fired with electrical resistance circuits and piezoelectric elements that ignited a powder charge to send the projectile on its way. These battery-fired penguns allowed more barrel length and a simple circuit-dosing switch to actuate the firing. As this book is written, though, the Cold War has been declared over, and the Soviet Union is no more. Now we all await the reaction of the International Professional War Machine to this concept that threatens its profits and prophets. However, war still continues in the streets of