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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Thanks to all the folks I met and spoke with at the Air Force Research Laboratory Directed Energy Directorate and Airborne Laser Special Projects Office, Kirtland Air Force Base, Albuquerque, New Mexico. Special thanks to my old friend Colonel Ellen Pawlikowski, ABL SPO commander, for inviting me to visit her incredible staff and facilities; Lieutenant Colonel Joel Olsen, Lieutenant Colonel Mark Neice, Major Steve Smiley, Captain Carey Johnson, Captain Barrett McCann, Captain Dave Edwards, Captain Lynn Anderson, and Tim Foley, ABL SPO; and Rich Garcia, Lieutenant Colonel Tom Alley, Captain Eric Moomey, Conrad Dziewalski, Dr. Bob Fugate, Mike Connor, and Dr. Kip Kendrick of the Directed Energy Directorate.

Special thanks to Ken Englade, AFRL/ABL SPO public affairs, for all his hard work in setting up a great tour of all the facilities at Kirtland.

Thanks to David and Cheryl Duffield, Susan Bailey, Dean and Meredith Meiling, Sandy Scarcella, and Ed Bolecky for their extraordinary generosity.

Thanks to Robert Gottlieb, Neil Nyren, and Suzanne Tarantino for their help and support.

As always, To Diane for her love and support.

To the memory of the victims of the terrorist
 attacks on September 11, 2001,

and to the men and women who have answered
 the call to arms in the war on terror.

          AUTHOR’S NOTES

This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to real- world persons, places, events, or organizations is coincidental.

Your comments are welcome! Please visit http:// www.megafortress.com on the World Wide Web to leave your comments and to learn about upcoming works, projects, appearances, or events. I read every comment.

REAL-WORLD NEWS EXCERPTS

waiting on Cairo—STRATFOR Intelligence Update, www. stratfor.com. 13 October 2000—Within the Arab world, the Egyptians occupy a unique position, the very reason that they have been propelled to the center of the situation. Although it wields one of the largest Arab militaries, Cairo is also the largest Arab state to continue ties with Israel; even Morocco has called its diplomatic representative home for consultation . ..

... Arab nations—even those that have signed peace agreements with Israel—are under intense pressure to join together and take a unified stand against Israel. ..