As the giant wave receded, a man-made peril began. A cloud of radioactive steam rose from the remains of Japan’s infrastructure. It traveled across the Sea of Japan and the Korea Strait to Korea. Korea’s water became radioactive. Its lakes, its streams, its reservoirs were now poisoned.

The cloud spread beyond Korea to the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea to the heavily populated coastal cities of China. From Shanghai to Beijing, the reservoirs received radioactive aerosols. The streams and rivers were polluted with radioactive particles. The grass was radioactive, and the milk was radioactive.

In one brief moment, 250 million people in Korea, China, and Japan had received sufficient radiation to cause death, or lingering illness from cancer and leukemia. In one night of horror, Japan had ceased to be a nation. Almost 97 million people had died from the earthquakes, the fires, the tidal wave, or nuclear radiation. Its infrastructure was demolished. Its housing was demolished. Its financial wealth was gone. Part of its precious topsoil was washed away. Much of the rest was damaged by seawater.

Yet, Ito Watanabe and his wife and children survived. Kubi Nomura and his wife had survived. The Japanese government had survived. They had overseas assets. They would rebuild.

Chapter Fifteen

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

MANUEL AND CATHY QUINTANA fell exhausted into the king-sized bed in Charley McAtee’s regal guest suite. They slept the sleep of the dead. There was not even a flicker of remembrance of the horror they had survived—just twelve hours of blissful, undisturbed sleep.

They woke refreshed, then sat bolt upright in bed, shocked at their unfamiliar surroundings. Suddenly they remembered—they were in Albuquerque at the home of a friendly man whose name they had forgotten. After they washed the sleep from their faces, they slipped on the thick, oversized terry cloth robes and slippers their host had left for them, and went down the hall into the spacious living room.

“Well, good morning,” Charley McAtee boomed out. “I’m so glad you could rest. In case you forgot, I’m Charley McAtee, and you are my most welcome guests. Would you like some coffee and breakfast?”

“We can’t begin to thank you enough for your help, Mr. McAtee,” Cathy said. “But, in answer to your question, we are starved, and breakfast sounds great! Are our boys still asleep?”

“Are you kidding? There’s no way those fellows are going to sleep long when there’s an NBA star around the house. The last I heard, they were outside shooting hoops with Dave. They’ve already had their breakfast. Come on, let’s go to the kitchen.” As they walked down the hallway, Charley turned to Cathy and said, “By the way, please call me Charley. I’ve never been too much on formalities.”