“Under ideal conditions, yes. But meteorological disturbances such as wind or storm or extreme temperatures can dilute the lethal dosage of a nerve or toxic agent when it’s released over a wide area. An outbreak of QD, on the other hand, can ignore the weather and produce a localized plague that is extremely tenacious.”

“But this is the twentieth century. Surely epidemics can be controlled?”

“If the microorganisms can be detected and identified, then it’s possible. Decontamination procedures, inoculations with serums and antibiotics , will in most cases slow down or halt a raging epidemic. But nothing on this earth could stop QD once it grabbed a toehold on a city.”

“Then how did QD come to be loaded in an aircraft in the middle of the United States?” Pitt demanded.

“Elementary. The Rocky Mountain Arsenal outside of Denver was the nation’s primary manufacturer of chemical and biological weapons for over twenty years.”

Pitt remained silent and let the old man go on.

Bass looked out at the panorama below, but his eyes were unfocused. “March of fifty-four,” he said, as long-buried events began unfolding in his mind. “The H-bomb was set to burst over Bikini. I was placed in command of the QD tests because Dr. Vetterly was funded by the Navy and I was an expert on naval ordnance. I thought it logical at the time to conduct experiments cloaked under the excitement of the nuclear explosion. While the world was concentrating on the main event, we conducted our tests on Rongelo Island, four hundred miles to the northeast, totally unnoticed.”

“Rongelo,” Pitt said slowly. “The destination of Vixen 03.”

Bass nodded. “A raw, bleached knob of coral poking through the sea in the middle of nowhere. Even the birds shy away from it.” Bass paused to shift his position on the bench. “I scheduled two series of tests. The first was an aerosol device that scattered a small amount of QD over the atoll. The second included the battleship Wisconsin. She was to lie back twenty miles and lob a warhead with QD from her main batteries. That test never took place.”

“Major Vylander failed to deliver the goods,” Pitt surmised.

Salvage I 131

“The contents of the canisters,” Bass acknowledged. “Naval shells armed with QD.”

“You could have ordered up another supply.”

“I could,” Bass agreed. “But the real reason I halted the test series was because of what we learned after the aerosol drop. The results were godawful and filled all who shared in the secret with a feeling of horror.”

“You talk as though the island was devastated.”