Sammel didn't need Minnesota's excuses. He may have denied it, but he knew the truth. He only lied because it was habit, years of trying to do good and screwing up and being so afraid of the consequences, of being judged. He learned to lie in a panic-stricken gamble to save himself from confrontation.

But Sammel knew the truth. Knew he had been avoiding the bomb, unwilling to go too close, feeling the twinge in his side deeper and more painful the closer he came to the device, ...