Chapter Fifty

In a windowless conference room, Nikolai sat across a wooden table from General Ryong and a nuclear scientist dressed in an olive military uniform with four captain stars on his shoulder boards and sleeve stripes. The man held an important enough post to be given adequate rations, but his scarecrow body implied his passion wasn’t food.

Before the meeting Ryong told Nikolai, “You’ll be briefed on the device by an officer who knows nothing of your mission. Keep it that way.”

“Does he have a name?” asked Nikolai.

“Not for you.”

Like a world globe with all the countries erased, atop a low metal table, a one-meter diameter silver sphere sat cradled within a squat stand to Nikolai’s right. A square protuberance adhered to its outer steel shell with wires threaded through a fitting into the device.

Sunken cheeks gave the nuclear scientist’s visage a skeletal look. “What do you know about atomic weapons?” he asked.

“They go boom,” Nikolai said flippantly.

“I see.” He frowned, then continued. “Uranium is the heaviest unstable element in the universe. Its U-235 isotope occurs naturally only in minute quantities. Using centrifuges, we’ve concentrated the material to a level more than ninety percent pure. When the U-235 fissions – that is, its nucleus splits off one or more neutrons – energy is released. Each free neutron can collide with another uranium atom causing its nucleus to also fission. When sufficient material has been formed into what we call a critical mass, a self-sustaining chain reaction ensues and in nanoseconds an exponentially increasing flood of neutrons cause billions of uranium nuclei to fission generating huge amounts of energy. That’s when the device goes ‘boom.’ U-235’s critical mass is merely fifty-two kilograms, a ball measuring sixteen and a half centimeters. A somewhat larger amount easily fitted into the silver sphere on your right.”

“If I’m sitting next to a critical mass of U-235, why doesn’t it spontaneously explode?” Nikolai asked.

The scientist gave him a wry smile. “The uranium has been formed into a hollow subcritical sphere enveloped by a shaped charge of plastic explosives designed so that when detonated, the U-235 will be crushed into a supercritical ball, triggering the chain reaction and the explosion. This weapon will deliver a blast the equivalent of twenty-five thousand tons of TNT. An elegant solution, wouldn’t you say?”

Nikolai scoffed. “Elegant is a beautiful woman in an evening dress, not a bomb that can kill a million people in seconds.”

Ryong frowned. “Captain, complete the briefing.”

The scientist stiffened at the rebuke then spoke rapidly. “The small box attached to the sphere includes the communication circuit boards that trigger the bomb and a thermal battery. At the target, the weapon first receives an encoded signal to charge the battery, and when the threshold voltage is reached, a second message fires the plastic explosive detonators, collapsing the uranium sphere and initiating the chain reaction. A ground-level detonation will eject more contaminated material into the atmosphere creating a large fallout cloud and prevailing winds will blanket an area well beyond the blast zone with lethal radiation.”

Nikolai grimaced. “Horrifying. I take it I’m not being poisoned sitting next to this thing?”

“We wouldn’t be in the same room if you were.”

Ryong interrupted in a firm voice. “Captain, that will be all.”

The scientist saluted his superior before leaving the room without acknowledging Nikolai.

When he’d gone, Nikolai asked Ryong, “Can the bomb be discovered by radiation detectors?”

“Radiation sniffers can’t distinguish safe from unsafe sources, so they merely identify potential dangers for closer examination. Your greatest risk of discovery is being stopped and inspected by the authorities. Fortunately, traffic police aren’t issued Geiger counters.”

Ryong pressed a buzzer on the table and Lee Sol entered the room. She and Nikolai stared at each other without a greeting.

“This sergeant will accompany you on your mission,” Ryong said. “Her name is Lee Sol. A man and woman traveling together will draw less suspicion. She speaks English and has proven her loyalty to the State. For security reasons, the city where you’ll deliver the bomb will be revealed after you’ve arrived in the U.S. As a further safety and security measure, the nuclear trigger will be transported separately. How is not your concern.”

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