Do the broad emission line clouds see the same continuum that we see?

Recent observations of quasars, Mrk 335 and the HST quasar composite spectrum, have indicated that many quasars have remarkably soft ionizing continua (f_v∝v^-2, 13.6-100 eV). We point out that the number of photons with hv > 54.4 eV is insufficient to create the observed strengths of the He II emission lines. While the numbers of photons which energize C IV λ1549 and O VI λ1034 are sufficient, even the most efficiently emitting clouds for these two lines must each cover at least 20%-40% of the source. If the typical quasar ionizing continuum is indeed this soft, then we must conclude that the broad emission line clouds must see a very different (harder) continuum than we see. The other viable possibility is that the UV-EUV SED is double peaked, with the second peaking near 54 eV, its Wien tail being the observed soft X-ray excess.