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Max listened closely to the last thirty seconds of the countdown. James Longhurst stood stiffly beside him and Longhurst’s wife had finally fallen silent. A half-dozen of their team members had been flown to Florida for the launch. Dean Pershing was enjoying drinks at a NASA VIP viewing area, but Max wanted to be closer to the action. To see the first blasts of flame and feel the thunder.
In the LC 39 Observation Gantry, he was still maybe eleven kilometers away, but he had a great view of Launch Complex 41 through his binoculars. The pre-dawn sky was still dark with only a few low clouds and no fog. The water in front of him was dark and free of reflections because of several small spits of land between him and the rocket, but the lights of the launch pad cut through the night, illum
