Marlene paused briefly. Dorothy was still sobbing. Rhonda Fiedler had come up behind her and laid a hand on her shoulder. Russell was standing with his family at the edge of the gathering. He had another coughing attack, which caused him to sway. Ellen wanted to support him, but he pushed her hand aside. He looked terrible, and he had lost a lot of weight. For days now, Ellen had been worrying that he wasn’t eating enough.
In a few weeks I’ll be giving a eulogy for Russell. It’s so unjust!
She turned back to the coffins. “Igor and Stanislav died because our new world laid bare a new danger and they helped to recognize and eliminate that danger. With the gasoline and kerosene supplies we’ll be able to survive the coming months until the flood retreats and we find a new way into the valley. The preparations for igniting the bomb are almost complete, and once we’ve cut off the pass, no beasts of prey will be able to threaten our colony ever again. These two heroes will be the only ones to have lost their lives in the current crisis. When the sun sets tonight, the danger will be averted and we will be able to concentrate once again on building up our colony and conquering this world. The memory of how we overcame this crisis will remind us that we are the masters of this planet.”
Marlene stepped back as a small group of men, led by Sammy Yang, slowly lowered the coffins into the graves. She had a bad conscience. In her talk she had said very little about Igor and Stanislav, as would have been appropriate at a funeral, but she didn’t believe in retrospective adulation. Everyone had their own memories of the two men, and that would have to suffice. But she knew for sure that later in the day, Ben would accuse her of using the occasion for her own political ends, and perhaps he was right.
She hopped nervously from one foot to the other. She would have preferred to be in the canyon overseeing the preparations for the detonation. She hoped that everything there was going smoothly. She trusted Ty and Dr. Dressel, but the bomb was so important. She would only be able to relax again once the pass had been blocked.
Chapter 23
“How’s it going, guys?” asked Marlene.
Travis Richards didn’t remove his binoculars from his eyes. “Good. We killed three wotans an hour ago, and two snipers before that. We don’t even wait for them to get close to the post, we just shoot ’em down as soon as they come out of the forest.”
After the funeral, Marlene had driven straight to “Ground Zero,” as Ty Grazier had started to call the spot which they were about to blow up. The explosives expert and the physicist had completed their work and Marlene had sent them straight up to the canyon entrance in the highlands. Here they had established a small command observation post in a cave, from where the detonation would be carried out remotely. Marlene had driven on to the observation post at the bottom to pull out the lookout team. In an hour’s time they would no longer need this observation post.
“Good! Ty’s ready to carry out the detonation. It’s time for us to get back.”
Travis laid aside his binoculars. “It’s a good moment. The animals are all in the forest at the moment. I’m telling you: we’ve heard some sounds that would make your skin crawl.”
Marlene nodded. “That doesn’t surprise me. The wotans are defending their territory against the invaders from the east. I was worried we wouldn’t get the job done before the animals start to panic and disperse.”
“When will the flood reach the observation post?”
“Dr. Dressel thinks in two weeks. But the animals will start migrating to the highlands long before that. Nobody knows when exactly, which is why it’s high time to block their path.”
“I always enjoyed my shifts here. Until recently there wasn’t much danger, either. It always reminded me of my childhood. I often went hunting with my father. There are lots of woods in Maine. We’d spend the night in the hunting stand, and next day we’d often bring home a deer. Once we even shot a bobcat.”
Marlene looked at him in surprise. She had never heard the usually uncommunicative Travis talk about his feelings. But she did not respond.
Travis climbed down from the lookout, followed by Marlene. At the bottom, Travis looked almost wistfully toward the jungle. “I’ll really miss it!”
“Have you packed everything up?”
“Yes, all the weapons and equipment are loaded in the jeeps. We can leave right away.”
“Then let’s go. Ty is already itching to detonate the bomb. I don’t want to test his patience for too long!”
“As long as the damn thing doesn’t go off before we reach the top. . . .”
Travis called his men together. He made a short, unnecessary speech about duty and responsibility, which caused Sammy Yang to roll his eyes. Then they climbed in their vehicles and sped off. Marlene followed right behind.
Ten minutes later, they had reached Ground Zero. Marlene stopped, went to the little box on the wooden scaffold, and pressed a button. The remote detonation was ready to be activated.
Marlene looked around briefly. In a few minutes, once the bomb had caused the cliffs to cave in, there would be a wall of rubble here, over a hundred feet high. With a shudder she thought about what would happen to her if somebody now accidentally triggered the detonation. She would be dead in a split second.
She climbed back into her vehicle and drove to the upper canyon entrance. The last section was very steep and the engine howled as the jeep juddered up the final incline in first gear. The escarpment ended here and the grassland of the highlands began. Marlene took a sharp left and drove down into a flat hollow on the other side of the ridge. Two other jeeps were parked there already. Ty had blasted a cave into the rock, around fifteen feet deep. Grant Dillon was standing in front of the entrance, his head wrapped in a bandage. The master of disaster had been standing too close to the site of the explosion and a sharp stone had hit his forehead.
Marlene gave Grant a nod and entered the cave, which was to serve them as a bunker during the detonation of the atomic bomb. A generator in front of the entrance provided electricity for light and the detonation device. Ty Grazier, John Dressel, Russell Harris and Ben Hawke were standing in front of a table. They were debating something, but stopped when Marlene walked in.
“What’s the status?” she asked.
Ty pointed at a green light that was glowing on a console. “Everything’s ready for the detonation. The flow of electricity is constant, the detonator and the bomb are ready.”
“Good. How’s the weather?”
“Could hardly be better. The wind is blowing steadily at twenty knots from the west. It will carry the radioactive fallout far out to sea. Because we’re detonating the bomb underground, only a little radioactive material will remain on the surface, and it will be washed away by the next rainfall. Theoretically, we could build a new road right over the site of the explosion without endangering anyone.”
“We’ll see in a few weeks when we’ve made the necessary measurements.” Marlene turned to Ben. “Are all the colonists in safety?”
Hawke nodded slowly. “Yes, I just got the report that the lookout team arrived in the colony. Everyone’s staying indoors until the explosion is over. Although . . .”
“Although what?”
“Although Donald Bell and a few others have set out for the mountains to get a better view. I couldn’t stop them.”
Marlene rolled her eyes. Couldn’t people follow simple instructions for once? “Where did they go exactly?”
“They were heading for Devil’s Cliff. Behind the spot where the whales sleep.”
She signed. “That’s far enough away. Let’s proceed. Ty, I give you the green light to detonate. But can someone please get Grant and tell him to come inside?”
Ben went out and returned with Grant. Meanwhile, Ty got to work at the detonation device. His face scrunched up in concentration and, muttering under his breath, he flipped various switches. “Trigger circuit one on. Test OK. Alternative circuit on. Test OK. Synchronized ignition on. I have a green light from the electrica
l detonator.” He took a key out of his pocket and stuck it in the console. “I’m activating the detonation mechanism.” He turned the key and a white light went on. A warning signal rang out twice through the bunker. “Ready!” He laid his right forefinger on an illuminated red button. “Detonation. In five, four, three . . .”
Instinctively, Marlene shut her eyes. She prepared herself for a mighty tremor, when a few miles away, tens of thousands of cubic feet of rock would be displaced by the force of the nuclear explosion.
“Two, one—DETONATE!”
Nothing happened.
“What the . . .”
Marlene opened her eyes.
“. . . hell . . .?”
She looked at Ty. “What happened?”
“Nothing, obviously!” whispered Ben.
“Shit!” Ty frantically checked the switches on the detonation device.
“Did the detonation fail?” asked Dr. Dressel calmly.
“No, dammit. The yellow light here says the detonation was successful.”
“But nothing’s happened,” said Grant.
“I can tell that myself, smartass!” Ty rolled his eyes.
Grant turned on his heel and went outside.
“Obviously the bomb failed to detonate,” said Marlene. “Secure the detonation device, then drive straight to the bomb and find out what happened.” She grabbed the radio that stood on the table in the corner. “Eridu, report.”
After a few seconds, Travis Richards answered. “Hello Marlene. What’s going on? Haven’t you detonated yet?”
“We just tried to. Unsuccessfully. Clearly the bomb isn’t working for some reason.”
“Oh Jesus!” static sounded over the loudspeaker.
“I need a troop at the observation post right away. Do you hear? We need to secure the observation post again. Grab the last lookout team and drive down.”
It took several seconds before Travis replied. “What if we drive through the canyon and the bomb goes off with a delay?”
“Ty is securing the detonating mechanism and driving down to Ground Zero himself. You don’t need to worry. Make sure that you set off immediately. If the beasts invade the observation post, and we’re not there to defend it, the colony is lost! Do you understand? Leave immediately!”
“Copy that, we’re on our way!”
Marlene laid the radio aside and turned to Russell. He looked as tired as she felt. This is all getting too much for me! “What now?”
Russell coughed and turned to Ty. “What could have happened?”
“I have no idea. Something is wrong with the bomb. We’ll have to get it out of the cliff and take it apart.”
“We’ve got a second bomb in the warehouse, let’s quickly bring it down to Ground Zero,” Ben butted in.
“They were stored together and they’re identical. We need to check out the first bomb before we try and do the same thing with the second.”
“How long will it take? Will you be able to repair the bomb?” asked Marlene.
“We should take it to the workshop in Eridu. Then it depends how quickly we locate the problem. We should be able to find out something today.”
“I hope so. Without blocking the pass, we’re screwed.”
Chapter 24
“Russell, you have to take care of yourself,” said Dr. Lindwill sternly. He pointed to the latest X-ray, which he had taken the day before. “Half of the left lung is useless and the right one is full of metastasis. You can’t carry on doing everything the way you are.”
Russell looked at the picture lying in front of him on the table. He cleared his throat, but said nothing. The excitement of the last few days had done him good, despite all his ailments. He had the feeling that he was needed, and for hours at a time, he was able to forget about his illness—at least until he was overcome by another coughing fit or dizzy spell. Now, after the detonation had failed and the colony was in danger, there was so much to do. Russell desperately wanted to be there when Ty and his team examined the nuclear bomb. He was annoyed that the doctor had dragged him to the infirmary. He had wanted to resist, but Ellen had also insisted on it.
“Your blood levels also look—there’s no other way I can put it—like shit. And I don’t know if that’s because of the cancer or the amount of stimulants and pain killers you’ve been taking the whole time.”
“I refuse to lie in bed, while all around me the colony is in danger,” retorted Russell.
“I’m not asking you to do that. But you have to accept that you’re not as fit as the others. You need to rest and leave the difficult missions to them. If I’d known that you were planning to drive out to the oil spring, I would have told Marlene to withdraw you from the mission.”
“That’s precisely why I didn’t say anything,” replied Russell. “We lost a good man on that trip. Yes, the mission was dangerous, and that’s exactly why I went on it. I’m as good as dead anyway, so it’s better to put my life at risk than someone else’s.”
“But it’s no use to anyone if you collapse in the middle of a combat mission. That would put the others in danger. I almost have the impression you’re looking for an opportunity to die.”
“And if I was?” The doctor had been clear about the fact that he couldn’t save him. If Russell decided to die an agonizing death in battle rather than peacefully in bed, then that was damn well up to him.
Lindwall raised his arms. “I can’t stop you. But I also can’t endorse it. You should at least rest. Go home and go to bed. At least for today, okay?”
Russell shook his head. “No, I can’t. We’re about to examine the atomic bomb. Then I’m driving down to the observation post in the valley. Every man is needed there. Nobody knows when the beasts will start storming the barricades.”
Dr. Lindwall shook his head slowly, the corners of his mouth pulled downward. “It’s up to you.” He went to the front door. As far as he was concerned, the session was over.
But Russell remained standing. “I need more Dexedrine.”
The doctor swiveled around. “You won’t listen to my advice and you want me to give you the strong stuff so you can kill yourself even faster?”
Russell stared at Lindwall. What was that about? He was as good as dead anyway. Nobody knew that better than the Doc; why did he have to make such a fuss about Russell wanting to spend the time he had left as productively as possible? After all, the colony was in grave danger!
Finally, the doctor sighed deeply and took out two little bottles from a cupboard. He looked down at them briefly before handing them over to Russell, who slipped them into the pocket of his parka.
“Thanks, Doc.”
The doctor only spoke when Russell had opened the door. “What I wouldn’t do for a cigarette . . . Just a single cigarette. . . .”
Russell went past the biology lab to the physics lab. After all these years, the containers looked considerably worse for wear. The once white-painted metal walls were full of black streaks, and the corners were covered in rust. Russell knocked and opened the door.
Pens, piles of paper, clips, cables, screws, electrical components, and other odds and ends covered the workbenches and dilapidated shelves that were gradually being eaten away by rust. LED ceiling lights cast a harsh, bright light. A big metal table stood in the center of the long room, and on an anti-static plastic mat lay the undetonated atomic bomb. Around the table stood Dr. Dressel, Ty Grazier, and Marlene Wolfe. Donald Bell was sitting in a corner taking notes. Ty looked up briefly and then went back to sorting his tools. Marlene and John Dressel were engrossed in a discussion.
“I have a bad feeling about this,” said Marlene.
“Nothing can happen. Don’t worry.”
“What if it suddenly detonates? Maybe a part that was blocked will suddenly unblock when we take it apart.”
“No, no. The detonation occurs electrically. If it isn’t triggered, there’s no way it will detonate without being repaired. And we don’t have enough time to set up a lab outside
of town anyway. That would take days.”
“We could have examined it at Ground Zero.”
“What? In the open air?”
“We could have put up a tent.”
Ty Grazier put down his screwdriver on the table. He snorted. “We need a decent laboratory to work on it.”
“Do you actually have any idea what you’re doing?” asked Russell.
“Weapon design was one of my subjects at military academy,” responded Ty.
“But you’ve never worked on an atomic warhead in practice,” said Marlene flatly.
Ty threw the screwdriver back into the toolbox. “No, dammit, I haven’t! But nor has anyone else here. Are we going to examine this thing now or not?”
Marlene raised her hands in the air. “Alright, alright. I just don’t have a good feeling about this. I know we’re screwed if we don’t have a functioning bomb. But I want to know exactly what you’re doing with this thing. You need to explain every step to me until I’ve understood it.”
Ty grumbled something under his breath, took a set of precision engineering tools out of a black case, and pulled out a thin Phillips screwdriver.
Russell felt queasy as the weapons engineer removed the first screw from the bomb. This thing, hardly bigger than a basketball, could wipe out the whole colony!
The outer shell shimmered silver. There was an electric control panel flange-mounted to the top. It consisted of a digital display, a switch and a dial for the time fuse. On the side, there were a series of plugs, presumably for remote detonation. After pulling out the fourth screw, none of which was more than two millimeters in diameter, Ty pulled the control panel out of the recess. A ribbon cable connected the detonation device to the explosive charge. Ty detached the cable and placed the control panel in a bowl on a little metal trolley.
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