there is no record of it, the Commander of JTF-7 must have ordered
all ships to proceed due south at the flank speed of its slowest
vessel in order to escape "Bravo's" radioactive curse.
While the
ships hared away from the danger zone, RadSafe planes crisscrossed
the area, like typhoon hunters, to determine the extent and direction
of the fallout and its intensity.
In their frantic search, they must
have missed a curious and chilling sight; a small Japanese tuna vessel
rolling peacefully in the sea--unaware of the fate about to befall it.
Thus it was, as the ships ploughed southward, and a gentle "snowfall"
of radioactive particles began dri=ting toward the ocean and three
inhabited islands, a second misbegotten decision was made, one which
would cause incalculable misery and suffering during many years to come.
THE LUCKY DRAGON
A lone fisherman, Shinzo Suzuki, stood on the deck of the Lucky
Dragon on the morming of March lst, bracing himself against the gentle
roll and pitch of the ship and listening to the familiar creaking sounds
of the working of the wooden-hulled vessel and the steady thump of the
diesel engine.
The sky was beginning to lighten in the east as he
became aware of a strange phenomenon--it appeared that the sun was also
rising in the west, for a huge yellow glow filled the horizon in that
direction.
Excited, he rushed into the crews quarters to awaken his
shipmates.
His amazed companions then were able to witness the second
rising of the sun, which was later accompanied by a "deafening explosion"
(62, p. 170) and a huge cloud rising in the western sky.
According to
their later reports, after an hour and a half, a white, gritty ash began
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