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“Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee,” Thorn said in a clear voice. “Blessed art thou amongst women…” He skipped the next line and went to the end because there wasn’t going to be time. “Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.”

He nosed the C-47 over.

The airplane reached terminal velocity, heading directly for one of the large nuclear craters.

Just before it hit, Thorn whispered, “Amen.”

AUTHOR’S NOTE

I write factual fiction. I gather real events and add in a fictional premise and characters.

Area 51, aka Groom Lake, does have the third-longest runway in the world, and it was an alternative landing site for the space shuttle.

On August 21, 1945, Harry K. Daghlian did receive a fatal dose of radiation at Los Alamos and died twenty-five days later.

On May 21, 1946, Louis Slotin did receive a fatal dose from what Enrico Fermi did call the demon core.

There have been sixty criticality accidents involving nuclear material. So far. That have been reported.

Operation Paperclip did exist.

Unit 731 did exist.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Photograph © Bob Mayer, 2004

New York Times bestselling author, West Point graduate, and former Green Beret Bob Mayer weaves military, historical, and scientific fact through his gripping works of fiction. His books span numerous genres — suspense, science fiction, military, historical, and more — and Mayer holds the distinction of being the only male author listed on the Romance Writers of America Honor Roll. As one of today’s top-performing independent authors, Mayer has drawn on his digital publishing expertise and military exploits to craft more than fifty novels that have sold more than 5 million copies worldwide. These include his bestselling Atlantis, Area 51, and The Green Berets series. Alongside his writing, Mayer is an international keynote speaker, teacher, and CEO of Cool Gus. He lives in Knoxville, Tennessee.