Project Stargate. This was a real program run out of the Stanford Research Institute and funded by the CIA. Their strange successes into remote viewing are factual.

Brain manipulation. There was much speculation in the book about brain plasticity, about augmentation with transcranial magnetic stimulation, and about how humans are natural-born cyborgs. How much of that is true? All of it. For an enlightening and entertaining exploration into the mystery of the human brain, I suggest you read The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science by Norman Doidge, M. D. As to Monk's induced amnesia, there are chemical techniques employed today that can erase selected memories, specifically through the use of propranolol.

Can we see the future? Nobel Prizewinning scientists say yes. The experiments on gamblers and soldiers described in this book are real and have been repeated at universities around the world. According to those distinguished researchers, we do seem capable of seeing for about three seconds into the future. How is that possible? That remains unanswered. As to the stories about the amazing savants in India like the Indian boy who was taken to Oxford and the woman who met Einstein they are based on fact. You can read more about these histories in

Intuition: Knowing Beyond Logic by Osho.

India and Gypsies. The history of the Romani and their roots in the Punjab region in India is factual. This origin is also the reason the chakra wheel is prominently centered on the Romani flag. As to India's caste system, the plight and status of the untouchable classes is a true concern. In fact, some historians believe it was just such a friction among castes that drove the Gypsy forefathers out of India. For more details about this struggle, there is a disturbing article in National Geographic in the June 2003 issue, titled India's Untouchables. Oh, and if you're ever visiting the Taj Mahal, there truly is a revolving restaurant atop the Deedar-e-Taj Hotel. I recommend the pani pani or golguppa.

Russia's radioactive legacy. The descriptions of Pripyat and the planned closure of the old Sarcophagus under a giant arch of twelve-meter-thick steel is factual. Details about the old Soviet Union's plutonium factories in the Ural Mountains, as disturbing as they may sound, are also true. There are indeed underground cities where prisoners were housed to work the uranium mines. Most miners died before ever earning their freedom. And today, the Chelyabinsk region of the Ural Mountains remains one of the most polluted places on the planet. In fact, Lake Karachay does exist, and according to the Natural Resources Defense Council in Washington, D. C., the radiation level on the shore is sufficient to deliver a lethal dose to someone in less than an hour. So as Konstantin warned, it's not a good place for a picnic. Worse yet, the lake is leaking radiation into the neighboring Asanov swamp. Fault lines do cross under the lake. An earthquake potentially threatens to do just what Savina Martov sought to accelerate. Such a disaster would kill the Arctic Ocean and sweep over northern Europe.

Strange weapons. In this book, I employed sonic flares, radiosensitive poisons, whip-swords, shotguns that shoot Taser rounds, even a cell phone that converts into a gun. As you might guess, they're all real.

Autism and Autistic Savant Syndrome. While the exact cause for autism remains unknown, the latest research initiated by the Autism Genome Project in collaboration with the National Institute of Health has found that certain genes, along with environmental factors, contribute to the presentation of the disorder. For a better understanding of such unique minds, I highly recommend Dr. Temple Grandin's book, Thinking in Pictures: My Life with Autism. Another book that I found insightful about autism and savant syndrome was the memoir by Daniel Tammet, Born on a Blue Monday: Inside the Extraordinary Mind of an Autistic Savant.

In fact, the seed for this novel came from a quote by Dr. Temple Grandin. She was kind enough to permit me to use it: If by some magic, autism had been eradicated from the face of the earth, then men would still be socializing in front of a wood fire at the entrance to a cave. To my mind, it echoes the quote at the beginning of this novel from Socrates about the Oracle of Delphi: The greatest blessings granted to mankind come by way of madness, which is a divine gift. It makes one wonder if such unique minds truly guided the path of mankind's history.

To answer that, I'll end with a partial list of famous historical figures who are believed to have displayed some level of autistic tendencies.

Hans Christian Andersen Jane Austen

Ludwig van Beethoven Emily Dickinson

Thomas Edison Albert Einstein

Henry Ford Thomas Jefferson

Franz Kafka Michelangelo

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Isaac Newton

Friedrich Nietzsche Mark Twain

Nikola Tesla Henry David Thoreau

Alan Turing Nostradamus

You be the judge.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

While it may be inspiration that starts a novel, it's the dedication of the folks that surround an author that turn such inspiration into a finished product. In my last novel, I acknowledged the fantastic dream team at

HarperCollins, upon whose guidance and expertise I can place no greater value.

In this note, I'd like to spend a few words to especially recognize the writers of my critique group. I've been with this group since the beginning of my career (when I was writing horrible short stories that are now safely buried in my backyard), and it was through their counsel and criticisms that I have become a better writer. I'd first like to acknowledge Penny Hill, Steve and Judy Prey, and Dave Murray, whom I lean on too heavily at times for last-minute input. Then there is the core group, who has been with me through the trenches from the beginning: Caroline Williams, Chris Crowe, Lee Garrett, Jane O'Riva, Michael

Gallowglas, and Denny Grayson. And the new blood to the group, who always brings refreshing input: Leonard Little, Kathy L'Ecluse, and Scott Smith. Last, there is one gentleman who has since moved across the country but deserves special acknowledgment here as friend, mentor, and colleague: Dave Meek. Beyond the group, Carolyn McCray and David Sylvian stand on either side of me and keep pushing me to loftier heights. I also want to thank J. A. Konrath, author of the wonderful Jack Daniels series, for being there when I needed him during a moment of crisis; Jotu J. Kamlani, for his help in bladed weaponry; and Anthony Ossa-Richardson, for his personal help with the history of Delphi. As to the core of this novel, I would like to especially acknowledge Temple Grandin (author of Animals in Translation) for both the inspiration behind this book and for allowing me to quote her. And finally, a special thanks to the four people instrumental at all levels of production: my editor, Lyssa Keusch, and her colleague May Chen, and my agents, Russ Galen and Danny Baror. And as always, I must stress any and all errors of fact or detail in this book fall squarely on my own shoulders.

About the Author

New York Times bestselling author JAMES ROLLINS holds a doctorate in veterinary medicine and runs his own practice in Sacramento, California. An amateur spelunker and a certified scuba enthusiast, he'll often be found either underground or underwater. www.jamesrollins.com

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