Ex nihilo nihil fit. I began this novel with the advantage of notes accumulated for previous books as well as my own experiences at sea and ashore. In addition to those cited earlier in the series, the following sources were helpful for this volume:
Hector’s chapters benefited from earlier comments by Peter Gibbons-Neff and Katie Davis. Other useful references included: “What to Expect When Someone You Love Is on a Ventilator,” UPMC Health, March 24, 2016. Nicole E. Jenabzadeh, RN, MS, BSN, “A Nurse’s Experience Being Intubated and Receiving Mechanical Ventilation,” Critical Care Nurse 31; no. 6 (2011): 51–54. W. J. Bowman, “Neuromuscular Block,” British Journal of Pharmacology, January 2006. Medical passages were commented on by Dr. Frances Williams, MD.
Blair’s Zurich, White House, and Pentagon scenes were mostly based on personal experience. Other references that proved useful for her chapters included: Jack Perkowski, “Negotiating in China: 10 Rules for Success,” Forbes, March 28, 2011. Walter Lippmann, U.S. Foreign Policy: The Shield of the Republic (Boston: Little, Brown, 1943), 82–83. Eric Heginbotham et al., “China’s Evolving Nuclear Deterrent: Major Drivers and Issues for the United States,” RAND Corporation, 2017. “It’s Time for China to Free Float the Yuan,” Investor’s Business Daily, August 1, 2015. And Richard Javad Heydarian, “Can China Really Ignore International Law?,” National Interest, August 1, 2016.
For Nan’s passages: References cited in previous books, plus Joao Cabral, “Water Microbiology, Bacterial Pathogens and Water,” International Journal of Environmental Resources and Public Health, October 2010.
For Navy passages: Previous research aboard USS San Jacinto, USS George Washington, USS Wasp, Strike Group One, USS Rafael Peralta, and M80 Stiletto, among others. Aaron DeMeyer, Phil Wisecup, and Matthew Stroup were especially generous with their advice. The following additional sources were valuable as background: COMNAVSURFOR Instruction 3120.1, “Zone Inspections.” Naval Education and Training Command, “Navy Announces FY-20 General Military Training Requirements,” Navy News Service, August 13, 2019. Megan Eckstein, “Navy Planning for Gray-Zone Conflict; Finalizing Distributed Maritime Operations for High-End Fight,” USNI News, December 19, 2018. Hal M. Friedman, “Blue Versus Purple: The U.S. Naval War College, the Soviet Union, and the New Enemy in the Pacific,” 1946. Naval War College Monograph no. 46, Naval War College Press, 2016. Also Joint Training Manual for the Armed Forces of the United States, CJCSM 3500.03E, Joint Staff, Washington, DC. “Russia’s Massive New Helicopter Carriers Could Displace 35,000 Tons and Deploy Fighter Jets,” Military Watch, July 7, 2018. And Office of Naval Intelligence, The Russian Navy: A Historic Transition, December 2015. Descriptions of the human aftermath of a nuclear strike benefited from Susan Southard’s Nagasaki: Life After Nuclear War (New York: Viking, 2015) and Samuel Glasstone et al., The Effects of Nuclear Weapons, U.S. Dept. of Defense, 1977.
For Teddy Oberg’s strand of the story, the references listed in previous volumes, plus Peter Brugger et al., “Hallucinatory Experiences in Extreme-Altitude Climbers,” Neuropsychiatry, Neuropsychology, and Behavioral Neurology 12 (1999): 67–71. “New 105mm Light Tank for Chinese Marine Corps,” Global Defense Security, July 20, 2018.
For overall help and encouragement along this pilgrimage, I owe recognition to the Surface Navy Association, Hampton Roads Chapter; Charle Ricci and Stacia Childers of the Eastern Shore Public Library; the ESO Writers’ Workshop; with bows to Bill Doughty, James W. Neuman, Alan Smith, John T. Fusselman, Richard Enderly, and others (they know who they are), both retired and still on active duty, who put in many hours adding perspective and leading me down the path of righteousness. If I left anyone out, apologies!
Once more: these sources were consulted for the purposes of fiction. The specifics of tactics, units, and locales are employed as the materials of story, not reportage. Some details have been altered to protect classified capabilities and procedures.
My deepest gratitude goes to George Witte, editor and friend of over three decades, without whom this series would not exist. And Sally Richardson, Young Jin Lim, Ken Silver, Janna Dokos, Martin Quinn, Paul Hochman, Naia Poyer, Adam Goldberger, Sarah Schoof, Amelie Littell, and Kevin Reilly at St. Martin’s/Macmillan.
And finally to Lenore Hart, anchor on lee shores, and my North Star when skies are clear.
As always, all errors and deficiencies are my own.