“Failure is not an option.” ~ Gene Kranz
THE COLD BARE concrete floor shook, began to crack, and splintered out like the electrical bloom of lighting in an angry night sky. Fog suspiciously hugged the malfunctioning equipment and probingly crept along the low-lying surfaces of the laboratory. A single, bare lightbulb dangled and hypnotically swung back and forth above Steven Scott’s face. It transfixed him as he laid immobile staring up from the Amaranth.
He could see the exposed wooden beams in the ceiling shift. Circuit boards, microchips, and wires balanced around him began to smoke and combust. A burly arc welder, in gray overalls, stood at the foot of the dewar, pulled down his auto-darkening mask and fired up his torch.
“Don’t worry, we’ll have ya outta there in a jiff.”
In the corner was an old RCA TV/Radio console, balanced on two wooden planks, between two metal drums full of jumbled computer parts. The nightly news was on, but the only sound heard was classical music, which lofted from the radio and was piped throughout the building. Behind it there was a large mirror. Staring through the glass sides of the Amaranth, Steven could see his reflection and the bulky piece of technology that held him. He thought that he looked like a baby swaddled in an assortment of metal items, reclaimed from electronic junk. He could see gleaming swaths of stainless steel being spot welded by the man with the torch.
Standing behind seven foot high steel cylinders of chemicals were two geeks in white laboratory jump-suits and black framed glasses. In the reddish glare of the Amaranth they madly flipped through an instruction manual on Lines, Tubes, and Drains: What to know about Acute Treatment. One of them shook his head wildly, slid back a sleek, floor to ceiling cabinet, and took out a sternal saw.
“Open wide,” he said.
AMAZON: (Paperback and Kindle) https://www.amazon.com/PSYCHO.../dp/B086Y4S4VH/ref=sr_1_1...
BARNES & NOBLE: (Nook) https://www.barnesandnoble.com/.../1136839263;jsessionid...
APPLE: (eBook) https://books.apple.com/us/book/id1516407948
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