Thicker Than Blood | Page 2

decent shape, I am announcing version .5. I have no edits pending
now so feel free to share your corrections.
v0.27 2/21/2006 - supplemental -- Sorry about the long delay between
versions, I was working on the web site.
v0.26 1/29/2006 -- So now I wield a grammar checker Moo ha ha! It
seems that a program called Language Tool works with Open Office
2.0. I had to check one chapter at a time but it caught lots of errors. I
have a whole edited manuscript from Bobbie Peters and some edits
from Giselle I want to fold in, but I thought I'd release this version for
now.
v0.24 1/22/2006 -- Fixed some grammar errors submitted by Simon.
Looked for some subject ownership errors document wide. Ran another
pass with the spell check. I learned three grammar rules today. It's sad,
but this is what happens when things like books and people are flying
at your head in English class. On the bright side, I know them now. I
am trainable.

v0.23 1/15/2006 -- Had to finish a few more CK stragglers. Looked for
some style points, another spell check and a couple of specific grammar
errors. Rewrite of an unclear passage in chapter 1.
v0.22 1/15/2006 -- Chris Knadle handed me a bucket of changes.
Including line by line changes for the entire book, and three repeating
grammatical errors. (Hey at least I'm consistent) Thanks for saving me
Chris, only I could misspell a word I made up. *hangs head*
v0.21 1/13/2006 -- Regenerated the .pdf file with the courier font and
novel style chapter breaks. This totally changed the page numbers.
Caught a time-line error, in chapter 28.

License
Please See http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/ for the
full text of the license. Copyright 2005,2006,2007 M. A. Newhall

Acknowledgments
Special thanks to my mom Christine, Brad and Jeannine Dillon, Brian
MacEllwee, J Vallati, Rich Seckel, Joe Wood, Vinny Vallati, Pat and
Jeannie Boyle, Shirley, mama Ketty, my sister Janet, Ribal, Phil and
Seth from animal-57, the folks from FLAT, especially Tony Santiago,
Tom Rothemel, Pete, and Lori, Everybody from LILUG, especially
Matt Suricco, Jim Browne, Tim Sailer, Chris Knadle, Jason Katz, Mark
Drago, Jeff Sipek, John Palmieri, and Peter, all the folks at BNL
especially, Ian, James, and Akin, Michael Lee from ULS, all my great
coworkers at CSHL, especially, Simon Ilyushchenko, Carlos Gomez,
Derek Johnson, Bart and Janine Mallio, Myke Malave, Gerald
Mccloskey, Elizabeth Cherian-Samuel, everybody from the VMC
especially Bob Piacente, Lee Wilbur , Slashdot, everyone at
Foresight.org and nanodot, the EFF, nerds at large, Everybody at "The
Cup" coffee shop in Wantagh, Dawn Zacharakis, Wes Roepken, the
guys from Korn, Hatebreed, Disturbed, Static X, and Slayer for writing

great music to write to, Mayor Bloomburg, Benjimin Franklin, Linus
Torvalds, Martin Luther, Jesus, Mohammad, Abraham, Buddha, and
especially Shotgun Trucker, wherever you are, you saved our asses that
day. Special thanks to Chris Knadle, Bobbie Peters, Simon
Ilyushchenko, Giselle, and Jason Katz for their heroic editing efforts.
Extra special thanks to Jeannine Dillon who is systematically agonizing
over every word in the book! And to any friends, family, Linux nerds
and coworkers who have either given me a place to write, given me
feedback, or even just listened to my insane rants who I have forgotten,
I'm not being a jerk on purpose. Just poke me in the ribs and I will
include you. Seriously that's the best part about not going into print
right away.

Dedication
This book is dedicated to my wife Giselle Newhall. For her endless
feedback, infinite patience and boundless love.
Chapter 0
Sergio Vallone stared at his reflection in the small mirror over the sink.
I look terrible, he thought. His pale face was contrasted by his sunken
eyes. His face was swollen from a lack of sleep. A dark shadow
covered his jaw. He splashed water over his face. The muscles in his
forehead and cheeks felt taut against the cool liquid. He opened the
bathroom door. "Mr. Vallone?" Sergio felt his stomach wrench. He
reached his hand to the wall to hold himself upright. He turned to his
sister in law, Teressa. She looked horrified. Oh God this is it. She's
finally gone. Sergio hadn't cried since he was a boy. Now he was
crying so hard he couldn't speak. Teressa was holding him. She was
wearing one of Monica's favorite perfumes. It made him cry harder. He
imagined her as he had for years, on their honeymoon. She seemed so
beautiful it was unreal. Teressa led him by his hand back to the gray
and brown folding chairs. Sergio felt stronger after he sat down. He
looked up and noticed the woman doctor had gone. She had delivered
her message without saying a word. He looked at Teressa through his

tears. She