Al-Maghred, The Barbary Lion

The pure force and ear-shattering sound of the explosion was beyond simple description. It was heard from as far away as San Juan, Puerto Rico, the capital city of this U.S. Caribbean Commonwealth. One man—drinking an early morning coffee with friends--immediately came out with the first thought that came to mind. And he knew instinctively it would be a wild guess at best. “It must have been an atomic blast of some kind.” Besides the almost ear-shattering sound, the ground trembled slightly, suggesting a possible earth quake. The island is part of a Caribbean earthquake zone. Thinking immediately of many ways all life could be brought to an end, the man did, however, try to apply some restraint on his own reaction to the sound and the small earth movement. He refused to say aloud still another part of his thinking: “This could be a part of a very large terrorist plot.” Using those words could have provoked unnecessary panic. Looking around quickly at the others seated near him, he guessed most likely they were going over similar mental options. It was also likely they would have agreed to remain quiet until they had more concrete information. If they could have been asked, they would have all most likely said that would be the only sure way to control wild and out-of-control thinking.