by J C Ryan
All three countries made noises about claiming their share of the Mediterranean, but unfortunately for them, the “dig” site was off the coast of the Kingdom of Morocco, with whom the United States had good relations dating back to 1786. Morocco remained one of America's oldest and closest allies in North Africa. They had a zero-tolerance policy towards al-Qaeda, ISIS, and any of their affiliated groups. Morocco wanted nothing to do with the whole thing and granted the USA ten-years of exclusive rights to explore the site as they saw fit.
When he read the briefings supplied by Bill via James, Carter sighed. “So much for secrecy. It’s only a matter of time before they figure it out, steal it, or a traitor sells it to them.
“And — I’m almost too scared to think of it — if we learn the technique used to neutralize those nukes, we’re going to have another migraine to deal with.”
Confused, Mackenzie had to ask. “Why do you say that? Wouldn’t it be great if we could neutralize all nuclear weapons?”
“You’d think so, but look at it from an international, non-USA, perspective. We’ve got the library and the nukes. We’ll eventually find it. I mean, not just us, but the United States. Then suddenly we’ll be able to choose to neutralize everyone’s nukes but our own. Where’s the deterrent to use our nukes and balance of power then?”
“Carter, I see what you mean, but I’d rather have that capability in the hands of the USA than anyone else. Besides, we, the USA, is one of the few who would use it responsibly.”
“Would we?” Carter retorted. “Remember a little matter where the Vice President of the US was a Nabatean plant? Working with some Saudis to abduct our family and Liu so that we could help him and his cohorts develop technologies, including nuclear weapons, for the most fanatical Muslim group on earth, the Wahhabi sect, who is funding every crazy, fanatical Muslim terrorist out there? That man was this close to being President. Would you have wanted him to be in control of such an awe-inspiring power?”
“Well, if you look at it that way . . . No. Definitely not.”
“Mackie, we have to look at it ‘that’ way,” Carter said, making air quotes. “Just imagine for one second what would happen if the world’s nuclear powers, including our NATO allies, wake up one morning and find out their nukes have been turned into very expensive but useless toys, and we were back in the era between 1945 to 1949, when the USA was the only nuclear power on the planet.”
Mackenzie was nodding her head as the full impact of Carter’s words sank in. She stared at Carter and started whispering, “We” —she pointed to him and herself— “should find a way to turn mutually assured destruction by the nukes, into mutually assured destruction of all the nukes.”
~THE END~
The next book in the Carter Deveruex series is
The Nabatean Secret
US Army Garrison Patch Barracks, near Stuttgart, Germany, 2 a.m., January 11
Sentries at the Main Gate of Patch Barracks had turned away the last of the local Fasching revelers an hour or so before, laughingly joking with them that the Barracks were too quiet for their parties. A few soldiers, somewhat worse for wear after joining the locals for the opening night of Germany’s “Fifth Season”, straggled in around midnight. They were cheerfully waved through the gate by the envious guards, who had pulled duty that night and didn’t get to celebrate.
Since then, the night had been still, only the night sounds typical of the region breaking the silence. The cell and radio tower behind the thick trees was lit by an eerie glow from the remains of the Fasching bonfire a few miles away. It would be six long hours until sunrise and their relief.
The peace of the night lulled them to silence.
Behind them, an eerie blue-white blinding flash bloomed.
No sooner had it lit the night sky than the first sentry opened his mouth to ask, “What was that?”
But the words never left his lips—before he’d even formed them, his lips, along with the rest of him, vanished. Had his mate not been meeting the same fate at the same time, he would have been shocked to see his comrade in arms evaporate into nihility.
Every living being, structure, and object within an 800-yard radius of the epicenter disappeared as if he, she, or it had never been there.
No one in the circumference of the blast zone survived to describe the beauty of the majestic, but fatal, blue-white flash. A few souls, lucky enough to be farther away, saw glimpses of it through the surrounding trees.
No one knew what it was.
The next person to arrive at the Main Gate of Patch Barracks found, much to his drunken confusion, nothing.
No gate, no trees, no cell tower. No barracks. No buildings. No guards.
Only emptiness.
Not finding the Main Gate where he was sure it must be, the soldier sat down on the ground. Alcohol and rationality have never been good stablemates.
His inebriated brain could not handle the duel, and mercifully, he passed out. He never heard the screams of pain and horror from the injured survivors far enough from the epicentre and fortunate enough to escape obliteration.
Later, first responders approached with caution, finding the drunk soldier passed out where the gate should have been and the void beyond, which had always been occupied by buildings.
They moved into the base to search for survivors. They found few, most of them critically injured and out of their minds with shock and confusion.
Everyone capable of speaking asked the rescuers the question the rescuers had wanted to ask the survivors: What happened?
Also by JC Ryan
The Carter Devereux Mystery Thrillers
myBook.to/CarterDevereux
Here’s what readers are saying about the series:
“Omg this series is awesome. Full off adventure, action, romance, and suspense. I've you start reading you are hooked. Carter and all characters are awesome, you will fall in love with all of them they become like family. I love the way J C weaves the human and animals together in the story. Try it you will love it.”
“The best! What a joy to read these four books about Carter and Mackenzie Devereux bad their adventures. A very good read. I will look for more of JC Ryan's books.”
“Suspenseful! Fabulous just fabulous! I enjoyed reading these books immensely. I highly recommend these books. Bravo to the author! You won't regret it.”
“What a wonderful and intriguing book. Kept me glued to what was going to happen next. Not a normal read for me. But a very enjoyable series that I would recommend to everyone who likes adventure and thrills.”
The Rossler Foundation Mysteries
http://myBook.to/RosslerFoundation
Here’s what readers are saying about the series:
“All in all, a brilliant series by a master of the techno thrillers turning old much debated mysteries into overwhelming modern engrossing sagas of adventure, heroism and a sense of awe for the many mysteries still unexplained in our universe. Enjoy!”
“I LOVED this series! It's readily apparent that the author drew from a large body of knowledge in writing this series. It's just believable enough to think it could happen someday, and in fact, aligns quite well with some of the current relationships that exist between present day countries and the USA.”
The Exonerated
http://myBook.to/ExoneratedTrilogy
Here’s what readers are saying about the series:
“J.C. Ryan is an author that writes tomes. The great thing about that is that you get great character development and the plots are all intricate, plausible, suspenseful stories that seems to draw you in from the first scenario right up to the end.
The Exonerated series is no exception. Regan St. Clair is a judge. Together with Jake she has her own way in pursuing justice in ensuring that the legal system is applied ...well, justly.”
“What if you had the power to make a difference? Would you? Could you? What if in order to do so you had to join a super-secret organization that might not always play by t
he rules? What if you stumbled across this mysterious organization only to find out it had been polluted? What if you were a judge that has been worn out and disillusioned by the very justice system you thought you loved?”
“What a great series of books. It seemed like one book instead of three books. The story flowed seamlessly through the three books.”
Brain Storm Series
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B076X8J5S3/
Here’s what readers are saying about the series:
Read this book now!
“J.C. Ryan has done it again. A stunning page turner that reflects the technology and times we're in. A Ludlum like novel that will keep you up all night.”
Excellent series
“It’s no secret, I am a JC Ryan fan. Read all his books so far and enjoyed every one of them. When I saw the cover and the description I thought I was in for a hard science fiction story. But I forgot that JC Ryan is the master of blending real science with fiction in such a way that it is at times impossible to distinguish between the two.
As always, Ryan did his homework, the research that went into this book must have been massive. Combined with Ryan’s vivid imagination the result is a masterful plot, an excellent story, and believable science. At times it's outright scary to realize just how much of what Ryan has weaved into this story is true and real—scientists are really working and succeeding in editing memories, altering moral judgment, creating false memories, and hacking into people’s brains.”
JC Ryan strikes gold a third time!
“JC Ryan is one of my favorite authors.
Sigma Wave represents a new (and different) series of books he is writing - one that is far different than his previous two series that tended to focus on ancient civilizations. With Sigma Wave we are introduced to a new family of protagonists that are knee deep in research into the human brain. Starting by looking to create the ultimate, unfallable lie detector, their research takes them into a completely different direction. Unfortunately, that direction is also being used by a nefarious group who attempt to put a stop to them.”
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About JC Ryan
An interview with the author by the editor of Books 'N Pieces Magazine, http://www.altpublish.com/jc-ryan/
JC Ryan
Editor’s note: “JC Ryan and I enjoyed an extensive two-hour Skype session where we spoke of all manner of things, especially his ranking as an author. The visibility of an author is often at the hands of readers. If you look at JC’s ratings, each book enjoys several hundred or more four and five-star reviews, enough to make him notable, and on par with mainstream novelists. I encourage you to read one of his books, or listen to his audiobooks, now in production. You’ll be hooked.”
Table of Contents
Prologue
Chapter 1 - Judicial processes
Chapter 2 - The Vice President’s way out
Chapter 3 - Mayon and Aisha’s way out
Chapter 4 - The Council of the Covenant of Nabatea
Chapter 5 - One battle in the war
Chapter 6 - Seven days is a long time
Chapter 7 - Unwavering and stouthearted
Chapter 8 - We will be free
Chapter 9 - We didn’t win; we only survived
Chapter 10 - Appropriate steps
Chapter 11 - Consider her ways and be wise
Chapter 12 - The strategy
Chapter 13 - The human tail
Chapter 14 - Back to business
Chapter 15 - They’re inconvincible
Chapter 16 - I took their advice
Chapter 17 - It ain’t over till the fat lady sings
Chapter 18 - Tala camp
Chapter 19 - Sounds-like
Chapter 20 - The new members
Chapter 21 - Induction
Chapter 22 - Close encounters
Chapter 23 - Did you know . . .
Chapter 24 - The million-dollar question
Chapter 25 - The job offer
Chapter 26 - The risk-reward ratio
Chapter 27 - The wolves of war
Chapter 28 - Wise counsel
Chapter 29 - Double crossing
Chapter 30 - Fix this immediately!
Chapter 31 - In touch soon
Chapter 32 - On the train to Paris
Chapter 33 - One conclusion
Chapter 34 - He didn’t answer Charlie
Chapter 35 - The library of the giants
Chapter 36 - Accepted
Chapter 37 - A strange bedfellow
Chapter 38 - The offer
Chapter 39 - Where did you get this information?
Chapter 40 - The conspirators
Chapter 41 - The counteroffer
Chapter 42 - Succumbed to human nature
Chapter 43 - The biggest crisis
Chapter 44 - Counter measures
Chapter 45 - Where did they go?
Chapter 46 - The hunt is on
Chapter 47 - A new expedition in the cards
Chapter 48 - Giantese
Chapter 49 - Dolphinese
Chapter 50 - Hold onto your skivvies
Chapter 51 - Everything you thought you knew
Chapter 52 - We can talk to them!
Chapter 53 - Sir, I need a boat
Chapter 54 - I will teach you
Chapter 55 - Bit by agonizing bit
Chapter 56 - We MUST have that information
Chapter 57 - The battle of Freydís
Chapter 58 - Religious experiences
Chapter 59 - We have your men
Chapter 60 - We speak English only
Chapter 61 - Hot pursuit
Chapter 62 - A funeral
Chapter 63 - The preparations
Chapter 64 - Set sail for the Strait of Gibraltar
Chapter 65 - Into the Alboran Sea
Chapter 66 - Contact
Chapter 67 - Brainstorming
Chapter 68 - Land-human caves
Chapter 69 - Take over that dig
Chapter 70 - In Memoria
Chapter 71 - Diplomacy with a thud
Chapter 72 - A first time for everything
Chapter 73 - Earned a nice Scotch and a cigar
Chapter 74 - The bunker
Chapter 75 - The strangest cargo
Chapter 76 - Permission to stand down, sir?
Epilogue
Also by JC Ryan
About JC Ryan
