"Okay. In other words, the nuclei of hydrogen atoms are fused under the influence of great heat, resulting in a different element, less mass, a release of energy, and an explosion."
"I'm with you so far," Flinn said.
"Then you realize that once this fusion process commences, nothing in God's great universe can stop it?"
"Yes."
"And that after certain things are done, fusion must result?"
"Surely."
"Well, so all of us believed, too. But we were wrong about it."
"I don't understand. You just said—"
"So I said. But let me try to describe to you the situation as it happened." He paused, not for dramatic effect, but to take a moment to force himself to recall what Flinn could see must have been a very painful experience.
"We are on the command ship," Wilmer continued, "at a safe distance from the atoll. Everything is in readiness, checked and double-checked by me, personally. The automatic firing process is in progress. The last countdown has commenced. Five, four, three, two, one, zero. Nothing happens.