Black Order (50 page)

Novel writing, despite the time spent alone with the blank page, is a collaborative process. There are scores of people whose fingerprints are all over this book. First, let me especially acknowledge Penny Hill, for the long lunches, the thoughtful commentary, but mostly for her friendship. And the same goes for Carolyn McCray, who still kicks my butt to challenge me to stretch a little further. Then, of course, I’m honored to acknowledge my friends who meet every other week at Coco’s Restaurant: Steve and Judy Prey, Chris Crowe, Lee Garrett, Michael Gallowglas, Dave Murray, Dennis Grayson, Dave Meek, Jane O’Riva, Dan Needles, Zach Watkins, and Caroline Williams. They are the cabal behind this writer. And a special shout out to author Joe Konrath for his energy, support, and thoughtful debate on some of the topics in this book, and to David Sylvian for lugging a camera everywhere, even atop the highest peak in the Sierras. As to the inspiration behind this story, I must credit the books by Nick Cook and the intriguing research of Johnjoe McFadden. Finally, the four people instrumental at all levels of production: my editor, Lyssa Keusch, 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 fall squarely on my own shoulders.

J
AMES
R
OLLINS
is the bestselling author of seven previous novels:
Subterranean, Excavation, Deep Fathom, Amazonia, Ice Hunt, Sandstorm,
and
Map of Bones.
He has a doctorate in veterinary medicine and his own practice in Sacramento, California. An amateur spelunker and a certified scuba enthusiast, he can often be found either underground or underwater. www.jamesrollins.com

Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins author.

Thanks for accompanying me on this latest journey. As usual, I thought I’d take this last moment of your time to
deconstruct
the novel, to reveal where research ended and imagination continued.

First on the minor side:

DARPA has indeed developed prosthetic limbs using revolutionary technology (though I don’t think they have incorporated flash charges into their plastic composites).

Similar to the book’s
ukufa,
Stanford University has actually produced a chimeric strain of mice whose brains contain human neural cells. Scientists are now contemplating trying to produce mice whose brains are one hundred percent human neural cells.

A German boy was born in 2004 with a mutation in the gene for myostatin, which resulted in a condition called double-muscling, resulting in increased strength and muscular tone. Is this the first natural-born
Sonnekönig
?

Shangri-La was discovered deep in the Himalayas in 1998, a lost oasis of free-flowing water and lush vegetation in the middle of the frozen peaks. What else might be hidden up there?

Moving on to the larger concepts:

As mentioned at the beginning of the book, the Bell itself is indeed real, proving truth is often stranger than fiction. The Nazis had constructed a strange device, fueled by an unknown compound named Xerum 525. Little is known about its true functioning, only that when it was powered up, a strange illness afflicted the scientists involved, reaching as far as neighboring villages. At the end of the war, the Bell vanished, the scientists involved were executed, and to this day, what became of the device remains a mystery. If you’d like to learn more about this strange bit of history, about the postwar race among Allied forces for Nazi technology, and about the Germans’ fascination with quantum research, I refer you to one of the research bibles for this novel:
The Hunt for Zero Point
by Nick Cook.

In this novel, I also spent considerable time describing Heinrich Himmler’s fascination with runes, the occult, and his search for the Aryan birthplace in the Himalayas. All of it is based on fact, including the set piece of Himmler’s Black Camelot of Wewelsburg. For more information on these topics, I suggest Christopher Hale’s
Himmler’s Crusade
and Peter Levenda’s
Unholy Alliance
.

Lastly, one book was instrumental in stimulating the core of this novel:
Quantum Evolution
by Johnjoe McFadden. This book offers a fascinating treatise on quantum mechanics and its possible role in mutations and evolution. It also delves into the evolution of consciousness, which is touched upon at the end of the novel. For a more comprehensive analysis on these topics, I highly recommend you pick up a copy.

Which brings up the final tenet of the book: the question of intelligent design versus evolution. I hope this novel raises as many questions as it provides answers. But ultimately, I firmly believe much of the current debate is misguided. Rather than focusing so intently on where we have come from, a larger question deserves even more fervent attention:
Where are we headed?

To answer that, to follow that path, is mystery and adventure enough for anybody.