No one knew if these old devices, mothballed for decades, would even work. Sensors indicated that the device had functioned as intended but with blinds protecting the crew from the flash, and strict radio silence they wouldn’t know for certain until they’d landed and been debriefed.

30 hours earlier, at preflight they could scarcely believe what they were being asked to do. Could humanity, having once stepped away from this abyss , be heading again towards the same madness?

Homeward bound, but still over the ocean, they turned on the radio and requested vectors for landing.

Silence.

They tried alternate frequencies, civilian channels, even broadcast networks.

Nothing but that cold awful silence.

Two hours later they crossed the coast. The reason for the silence was disturbingly clear. From 50,000 feet you can see a long way. The earth was scorched from horizon to horizon. The enemy’s old nuclear weapons had been as effective as their own.

Mutually assured destruction. There was nowhere left to land.