First and foremost, I’d like to publicly thank John Ringo for allowing me to not only participate in a world of his making, but actually play a bit with one of the most beloved characters of all time in the Ringoverse. Additionally, I genuinely appreciate your patience and tuition as we argued the fine details—like why contractions are a “good thing”! Like hundred of thousands of others, I’ve loved your books from the first read and now I’ve been allowed to help build one. John, thank you for inviting me to come along on a hell of a ride.
I owe a debt of thanks to Toni Weisskopf for taking a leap of faith on a new guy—her investments in people and willingness to take a chance make this possible. Seriously, I’m just glad that when I received her message out of the blue inquiring when I might be submitting a book proposal there were no witnesses on hand to observe the manly and top secret Navy SEAL “tippy-toes dance of surprised joy” that accompanied my fifteenth reread of her communication.
Thank you to the many folks who made themselves available to assist us with details of the National Guard, police procedure, virology, anesthesiology, rotary wing aviation and general encouragement—too many to name, but most certainly Mike Gantz, Jamie Ibson, Aaron Mays, John Holmes, Josh Barnett, Kevin Tucker, Kevin Partridge, Tamar Newberry, Frankie Terzoli, Kelly Lockhart and of course the indomitable quartet of Griff, Speaker, KC and Chris!
—MM