“You’re not going to believe this,” the technician said, the humor clearly evident in his voice. “I have to provide you a little history, so bear with me. Back in the 1970’s the Soviets were pioneers in lithium battery technology. They used the technology to keep satellites working in space using the same type of lithium batteries only larger. These damn things would go on and on for the satellites lifetime, sort of like the battery bunny on the TV commercials.”
“Can you get to the point,” Forsythe said, a little annoyed, both CIA agents looking on in surprise.
“Okay,” said the technician, holding up his hands. “These units were meant to be self-contained, the unit and the explosion being powered by a lithium battery,” he replied, pointing to the battery compartment for him to view through the inch thick glass that separated them. “There’s only one problem. Back in those God forsaken years, the Soviet Union’s satellites only had a 5 to 10 year life span before they reentered our atmosphere, so that meant the batteries they built were only meant to have a life span of 10 years at the tops,” pausing for several seconds, waiting for Forsythe to get the point he was trying to make.
Forsythe started to smile, looking over at the CIA agents then back at the technician. “You mean, they…” Forsythe said, the lab technician now cutting him off.
“The units are dead. They couldn’t have fired without a modified external power source. They are dead as door nails — they never could have worked past 1990 in a best case scenario,” the technician said, hanging up the phone as he went back to work, shaking his head.
Forsythe rudely brushed aside the CIA officers as they awaited the outcome of his discussion, quickly walking down 3 flights of steps and heading to the outside of the FBI building. Once outside, he took a deep breath of the humid air, knowing he would never again complain about the weather, that being the least of his worries. Hell, he would never complain about anything ever again—life was too damn short for that. Looking off to his left he noticed a group of smokers congregating around a single ashtray. Having given up smoking 20 years before, he bummed a cigarette, lighting it up in a personal celebration. Taking a single, luxurious puff, he quickly flicked the cigarette to the curb. It would have to suffice.
Now he could enjoy his retirement in peace.
Russian officials reversed their earlier position and finally admitted to the existence of suitcase nuclear weapons having been in the Russian Military inventory for over 35 years. They went on to state that the weapons were being withdrawn from service for eventual destruction under cognizance of a committee composed of Russian Military officials with assistance from an unnamed foreign country.
The group was to be under the leadership of Russian General Poszk.
Several days later, the British foreign ministry admitted that they had undertaken and financed a deal with the Russian government to remove and destroy all of its small portable nuclear weapons.
The British had selected Sir Robert John to assist the committee as their representative.
Within months, with twenty-nine weapons identified and destroyed, the committee was disbanded with much fanfare, having accomplished a great service to mankind.
Only one problem still existed; General Poszk and Sir Robert John had destroyed only twenty-nine — one was still missing…
About the Author
Amazon Best Selling author Francis Joseph Smith has traveled to most of the world during his tenure in the Armed Forces (Navy & Air Force) and as an Analyst for an unnamed Government Agency, providing him with numerous fictional plot lines and settings for future use. His experiences provide readers with well researched, fast-paced action. Smith's novels are the result of years of preparation to become a fiction writer in the genre of Clancy, Griffin, Higgins, and Cussler.
Smith lives with his family in a small town outside of Philadelphia where he is currently in-work on his next novel.