“It will eventually come out,” Adonia said. “It has to.”
“But in the right place at the right time,” Shawn said.
Full signal reception showed on the face of the cell phone’s screen.
Shawn locked eyes with Adonia as he handed the phone to her. “You know the Secretary’s number?”
“Nuclear plant site managers have a direct line.” She looked at Garibaldi. “You said I could hold something over the government, ensure they’ll follow through. What did you have in mind?”
Garibaldi coughed. “Set the phone to record and encrypt this conversation. Then send the coded file to Sanergy… but you keep the password. If the government doesn’t come up with a realistic solution to this nuclear waste debacle, then this recording will be your ultimate ace in the hole to release the hounds of hell, bring in the press, whatever you think.” He hesitated. “I’ll tell that to the Secretary… and that she’s got only two weeks to get things rolling. I won’t be around any longer than that.”
Adonia drew in a breath. “And… she’ll believe you? Not take it as a threat?”
Garibaldi nodded. “She was the young lawyer who represented me at Oakridge after my accident there. She was rolled over by DOE once and swore she’d never let it happen again.” He smiled. “How do you think I really got on this review panel?”
Adonia quickly punched in the settings, then took a moment to enter a long password. She dialed the number. When it began to ring, she handed the phone to Garibaldi. “It’s recording now and will send the encrypted file to Sanergy as soon as you hang up.”
“Thank you.” Closing his eyes, he took the cell and held it tightly to his ear. After a long moment he said, “Madam Secretary, this is Simon Garibaldi. I may not have much time.” He caught a quick breath and his voice grew more somber. “Not much time at all.”
As he explained in a measured voice what had happened, Adonia wrapped her arms around Shawn, and he responded by folding her into an embrace. They watched a distant plane take off from the Albuquerque airport, miles to the northwest; below them, approaching guards jogged up the rocky path, closing in as they stood outside the shaft.
“With Garibaldi talking to the Secretary, I don’t think we’ll be in custody long, if at all. I’ll insist on speaking directly to the President, give him the whole story about what really happened,” Shawn said. “And the disaster Dr. Garibaldi prevented.”
“We’ll both add to Garibaldi’s testimony and explain the need for transparency. Stanley won’t be able to keep us quiet.”
“Now that I know Garibaldi’s past with the Energy Secretary, van Dyckman is toast,” Shawn said. “Garibaldi will get top medical care, but we both need to make sure whatever he has to say isn’t swept under the rug.”
She was silent for a moment, then whispered something to him under her breath.
Shawn glanced at her, not understanding. “Excuse me?”
“The password — just in case anything happens to me.” She turned to him. “You’ll recognize the line. ‘Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.’”
Shawn nodded and turned back to watch for the guards. “Oppenheimer’s quote from the Bhagavad Gita. At Trinity Site, just after the first atomic bomb test.” He drew her close. “I’m confident we’ll never have to use it.”
“I hope you’re right — but I won’t hesitate.”
“Neither will I.”
Next to them, Garibaldi kept talking in a rush. He looked up as the security teams closed in. “Are you sure you’ve got the specifics, Madam Secretary? Everything? From now on, it’s up to you.” He nodded, and ended the connection.
As they watched the approaching guards, she whispered, “Actually, Dr. Garibaldi, after this, it’ll be up to us. All of us.”
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Dr. Marv Alme; Dr. Mark Barnett, M.D.; Dr. Ed Bucheron; Dr. Ron Fursteneau; Dr. Sharif Heger; Dr. Steve Howe; Andrew Hundley; John Kienholz; Dave Schneider; our agent, John Silbersack; and our editor, Bob Gleason.
ALSO BY KEVIN J. ANDERSON AND DOUG BEASON
Lifeline
The Trinity Paradox
Assemblers of Infinity
Ill Wind
Ignition
Virtual Destruction
Fallout
Lethal Exposure
Magnetic Reflections
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
KEVIN J. ANDERSON is the number-one international bestselling author of more than 150 books, 56 of which have appeared on bestseller lists. He has won or been nominated for the Nebula Award, the Hugo Award, the Bram Stoker Award, and the Shamus Award, among others. He is also the publisher of WordFire Press and the director of the publishing concentration at Western Colorado University. You can sign up for email updates here.
DOUG BEASON is a Nebula Award finalist whose fiction has appeared in numerous magazines, books, and anthologies, as well as an expert on national defense security and a retired colonel in the Air Force. He has worked as the White House’s key staffer for space science and technology, and as the associate laboratory director for threat reduction at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, he was responsible for the programs and people that reduced the global threat of weapons of mass destruction. A Ph.D. physicist, he was chief scientist of USAF Space Command. You can sign up for email updates here.