1990 More than 1,500 six-month-old black and Hispanic babies in Los Angeles are given an “experimental” measles vaccine that had never been licensed for use in the United States. CDC later admits that parents were never informed that the vaccine being injected into their children was experimental.
1994 Senator John D. Rockefeller issues a report revealing that for at least fifty years the Department of Defense has used hundreds of thousands of military personnel in human experiments and for intentional exposure to dangerous substances.
1995 The U.S. government admits that it had offered Japanese war criminals and scientists who had performed human medical experiments salaries and immunity from prosecution in exchange for data on biological warfare research.
1995 Dr. Garth Nicolson uncovers evidence that the biological agents used during the Gulf War had been manufactured in Houston, Texas, and Boca Raton, Florida, and tested on prisoners in the Texas Department of Corrections.
1996 The Department of Defense admits that Desert Storm soldiers were exposed to chemical agents.
1997 Eighty-eight members of Congress sign a letter demanding an investigation into bioweapons use and Gulf War syndrome.
Acknowledgments
A book is seldom the work of the author alone, but usually the collaborative effort of many folks. This novel is no exception. First, Steve Prey must be mentioned as the chief engineer and draftsman for this novel, whose painstaking work on constructing the station schematics both inspired and changed the story. Then I had a posse of language experts who helped with countless details. Carolyn Williams, Vasily Derebenskiy, and William Czajkowski helped with the Russian translations, while Kim Crockatt and Nunavut.com were integral to finding my Inuit translator: Emily Angulalik. I also must thank John Overton of the Health News Network for his assistance in collating historical information used in this novel.
Additionally, I must heartily acknowledge my friends and family who helped shape the manuscript into its present form: Carolyn McCray, Chris Crowe, Michael Gallowglas, Lee Garrett, David Murray, Dennis Grayson, Penny Hill, Lynne Williams, Laurel Piper, Lane Therrell, Mary Hanley, Dave Meek, Royale Adams, Jane O’Riva, Chris “the little” Smith, Judy and Steve Prey, and Caroline Williams. For the map used here, I must acknowledge its source: The CIA World Factbook 2000. Finally, the four folks who continue to remain my most loyal supporters: my editor, Lyssa Keusch; my agents, Russ Galen and Danny Baror; and my publicist, Jim Davis. Lastly and most importantly, I must stress that any and all errors of fact or detail fall squarely on my own shoulders.
About the Author
James Rollins is the nationally-bestselling author of five adventure novels: Subterranean, Excavation, Deep Fathom, Amazonia, and Ice Hunt. An amateur spelunker and scuba enthusiast, he holds a doctorate in veterinary medicine and has his own practice in Sacramento, California. Please visit www.jamesrollins.com.