SEATTLE - Science and science fiction are colliding in a basement laboratory in Shoreline, where local inventor Monty Reed has plans for a robotic "life suit."

More than 20 years ago, Monty Reed was in a hospital bed with a back injury, his legs useless. Doctors told him he wouldn't walk again.

He decided not to believe them, and drew inspiration from a "shoot-em-up" sci-fi novel – "Starship Troopers," by Robert Heinlein. The 1959 classic about interplanetary warfare gave Reed the idea that has driven his research for decades.

"In chapter seven he describes the exosuit - the power-suit that allows people to carry 2,000 pounds," Reed said. "I thought, 'hey I just need to carry 175 pounds of Monty.'"

KING

More than 20 years ago, doctors told Monty Reed he wouldn't walk again.

His paralysis proved temporary. But the concept of an exoskeleton power suit for those who can't walk stuck with him. He calls it a "life suit." The latest techno-child of his research is prototype 14.

"It's nuts and bolts yeah," he said. "It disassembles for shipping; we have to take it apart when we move it."

Reed will demonstrate the current prototype at a fundraising walk-a-thon Saturday. It starts at 11 a.m. in the east parking lot of Sears in Shoreline. All the money raised will support his non-profit organization, "They Shall Walk."

His workshop in Shoreline is strewn with bits and pieces of 14's predecessors. Reed admits he still has a long way to go, but he has taken big steps over the years. He tested prototype 12 in the 2005 St. Patrick's Day Dash, tested prototype 13 at the Robot Olympics in San Francisco, and demonstrated prototype 14 to doctors and therapists at Northwest Hospital.

He sees it initially as a tool for physical therapy, but eventually as a real-world miracle for the disabled.

KING

Monty Reed demonstrates a prototype of his "life suit" invention, which he is developing to aid those unable to walk.

"Somebody who has no use of their legs - just upper body movement," he said. "Once they get strapped in and with the help of a physician. Push a button and stand up. And then grab a joystick just as you would an electric wheel chair and steer it."

"They shall walk" operates on a shoestring budget and with lots of volunteer help. NASA has chipped in with a few small grants, but fundraising is a constant battle - a battle Reed is happy to fight.

"Sometimes I get a little exhausted, and then I get an e-mail for a paralyzed kid who thinks it's awesome. Who thinks it's not science fiction that it is real. So happy I didn't quit and he's glad he's going to be able to walk sometime in his life," Reed said. "And that is just priceless."

Reed says the next model - prototype 15 - will be able to balance and walk by itself. The human can just steer. He'll be testing it next year and hopes to have new versions in hundreds of hospitals and rehab centers for on-site testing by 2010.