Mavis’s chest clenched. Dog tags. Brian Acreman. Ensign. US Navy. She raked them from the table. “He won’t be forgotten.”
Falcon scooped up the blond girl and held her close. “No, ma’am. He won’t.”
Without another word, they tromped up the hill and were swallowed by dark mine entrance.
“You shouldn’t blame yourself. They volunteered to go.”
“I wasn’t.” She didn’t know what that said about her. That she could cast aside lives so easily.
“So what were you thinking?”
“Something John F. Kennedy said.” It was corny but the words touched her like a live wire. “Let every nation know, whether it wishes us good or ill, we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure our survival.”
“We’re going to do more than survive, Doc.” David laced his fingers through hers and tugged her toward the mine’s entrance—a dark hope in the fight ahead. “We’re going to live and be happy.”
She sighed. “I think I like that quote better.”
Author’s Note
Should any of you refer to the information in this book about Palo Verde to plan nefarious activities, you should know that I’ve deliberately altered key bits and was vague on others. As a long time resident of Phoenix, I do not want to wake up with a Radiation Tan.
Ever.
The quote at the end by John F. Kennedy is deliberately changed to reflect the trials that occur in the story. The actual one reads:
Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and success of liberty. Inaugural address, January 20, 1961.
Other Books by Linda Andrews
Thank you for purchasing a copy of Redaction: The Meltdown. Look for the sequel featuring our survivors in the caves of Colorado coming December 2012.
If you’re interested I have two scifi horror short stories available:
Intelligent Design: LifeNeeds Corporation’s Board of Directors are looking for the next big thing to meet the demands of an ever-changing market and fill their pockets. While the heads of LifeNeeds Research and Development departments scramble to survive in their cutthroat business, C’Bre Rah designs a marketing plan to die for. Will he save his project from budget cuts and make humanity the latest commodity hawked on the universal market? Intelligent design: Sometimes it’s better to make up your own purpose for being than to discover your creator’s true intent.
2012: Winter Harvest: Out of the galactic equator comes a race intent on harvesting every last human on Earth. Now on the longest night one man and one woman will find the key to prevent the human race’s extinction.
I’m also on twitter http://twitter.com/#!/LindaAndrews
And facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Author-Linda-Andrews
And have a blog: http://lindaandrews.wordpress.com/
About the Author:
Linda Andrews lives in Phoenix, Arizona with her husband, three children and a menagerie of domesticated animals. While she started writing a decade ago, she always used her stories to escape the redundancy of her day job as a scientist and never thought to actually combine her love of fiction and science. DOH! After that Homer Simpson moment, she allowed the two halves of her brain to talk to each other. The journeys she’s embarked on since then are dark, twisted and occasionally violent, but never predictable. If you’ve loved one of her most demented creations so far, she’d love to hear from you at lindaandrews at lindaandrews dot net
Copyright
Kindle Edition
Copyright © 2012 by Linda Andrews
Published by Linda Andrews at Smashwords
Cover Design by Linda Andrews
Photos by Marijus Auruskevicius, Svetlana Romanova
Edited by Serena Tatti, story-editor.com
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