DAY 7 9:11 A.M.
The helicopter pilot pushed the doors open as we ran across the pad. We jumped in. Mae said, “Go!”
He said, “I’ll have to insist you get your harnesses on before—”
“Fly this fucking thing!” I yelled.
“Sorry, it’s a regulation, and it’s not safe—”
Black smoke started to pour out of the power station door we had just come out of. It billowed into the blue desert sky.
The pilot saw it and said, “Hang on!”
We lifted off and headed north, swinging wide of the building. Now there was smoke coming from all the exhaust vents near the roof. A black haze was rising into the air. Mae said, “Fire burns the nanoparticles and the bacteria, too. Don’t worry.”
The pilot said, “Where are we going?”
“Home.”
He headed west, and within minutes we had left the building behind. It disappeared below the horizon. Mae was sitting back in her seat, eyes closed. I said to her, “I thought it............