Eddie let out a disgusted breath. ‘Fucking diplomats. Always leaving loopholes!’
‘And I guess there were other loopholes in the treaty you negotiated with North Korea, right?’ said Nina.
The Icelander nodded. ‘Restrictions were placed on the production of fissile material in its nuclear reactors. This,’ he nodded towards the particle accelerator, ‘is not a reactor. Therefore it is outside the terms of the treaty.’
‘I doubt the US will see it that way.’
‘What the United States thinks is irrelevant. By the time they learn the truth, North Korea will already have an arsenal of thermonuclear ballistic missiles capable of striking South Korea, Japan, even mainland America. The balance of terror will be restored, North Korea will feel safer from American aggression — and a country that feels secure is less inclined to take overtly aggressive acts. You only have to look at your own country before and after 9/11 for proof of that, Nina.’
‘Peace through fear, huh?’ she said scathingly.
‘As the writer Heinlein — an American, I might add — once said, “An armed society is a polite society.” Soon, many more nations will be armed. When everyone has a finger on the trigger, they become very careful about pulling it.’
‘And what happens when someone sneezes when their finger’s on the trigger?’ Eddie demanded.
Before Mikkelsson could provide a smug answer, Sarah again whispered to him, more forcefully than before. ‘Yes, soon,’ he snapped.
‘No, now, Fenrir,’ she said. ‘I’ve got to know. We’ve got to know!’
‘We do, sir,’ added De Klerx, glaring at Nina and Eddie.
‘Very well,’ said Mikkelsson — but before he could say anything more, the group was distracted by the return of the two technicians from the lower chamber. They were carrying between them a small but heavy metal case.
‘Hold on,’ said Eddie in alarm, retreating until a jab from a soldier’s rifle brought him to a halt. ‘You’re bringing fucking plutonium in here?’
Mikkelsson smiled. ‘It is perfectly safe. Colonel, if I may?’ Kang nodded. The diplomat had a brief exchange in Korean with the senior technician, who then gave an order. The two men set down the case and opened it. Eddie tried to edge away, but the Icelander indicated the red box on the wall. ‘If the radiation readings were at even half a dangerous level, that alarm would have sounded.’
‘My sister thought that about her smoke alarm, until she burned some toast and it turned out the battery was flat,’ Eddie retorted.
‘I assure you, we are safe. If we were not, I would not do this.’ He reached into the case and — with effort — lifted out the sphere.
‘You can touch it?’ said Nina, both amazed and aghast.
‘I told you, it is pure plutonium-239. It produces almost no radiation; it is plutonium-240 that is dangerous. This emits only alpha particles, and they are so weak they cannot even penetrate the skin.’ He held it out to her. ‘Here. Touch it.’
She hesitated, but Kang and Bok’s expressions made her fear that refusal might not be a choice. Instead, she gingerly brushed the sphere with a fingertip — and involuntarily flinched back.
‘What is it?’ Eddie said, alarmed. ‘Is it electrified?’
‘No, it’s just… warm.’ She put her finger on it again. The metal felt hotter than body temperature, but not uncomfortably so. Nevertheless, she withdrew after only a few seconds.
‘You have had a rare privilege,’ Mikkelsson told her. ‘Few people have touched pure plutonium with their bare hands.’ He looked at Eddie. ‘And you?’
‘I’ll give it a miss, thanks,’ said Eddie firmly.
Mikkelsson shrugged, carefully returning the sphere to its case and closing the lid. The head technician spoke with the officers, then Bok used a walkie-talkie to issue a command to someone elsewhere in the base. ‘So now what?’ Nina asked as the other technicians began another series of checks and the two men who had brought the plutonium sphere up from the lower level headed back down the stairs.
‘Now, the particle accelerator is being readied to convert another sphere of uranium to plutonium,’ Mikkelsson said. ‘While this one,’ he gestured at the canister, ‘will be transported with the others, along with their warheads and missiles, to a launch facility at al-Sulayyil in Saudi Arabia.’ He crossed the room to the case Nina had brought. ‘As for the second Crucible, Colonel Kang agreed that we should let you bring it to North Korea, but I am wondering if I should buy it back. It does belong to the Legacy, after all. And soon it will be a great advantage to have our own gold factory. The markets always panic in times of instability and buy gold, raising the price.’
Kang frowned. ‘The Crucibles are ours.’
‘I am sure we can negotiate something to our mutual benefit. My gold will be too heavy to take it all in our jet. Perhaps some could be left with you for… safe keeping?’
Bok understood his meaning at once and grinned slyly; Kang took long enough to translate the suggestion that the guide began to do so for him before being curtly shouted down. ‘Yes. We can negotiate. For the good of North Korea,’ the colonel added, giving the translator a stern look of warning that he should never tell anyone else what he had heard. The man quailed.
Several more soldiers entered, led by the broad-jawed captain Kang had spoken to outside. He snapped to attention before his commanding officer, his team following suit. Kang acknowledged with a salute of his own, then reeled off commands. The captain responded smartly, his men loading the canister holding the plutonium on to a small cart, though with the same wary trepidation as Eddie.
‘How come they’re not juggling the thing about if it’s so safe?’ said the Englishman.
‘The dangers of a small amount of knowledge,’ the Icelander replied. ‘North Korea operates on the principle of need-to-know, and its soldiers do not need to know anything. They probably believe, like the uneducated in the West, that all nuclear materials are equally dangerous and instantly deadly. Captain Sek is responsible for delivering the plutonium and the warheads; all he needs to know is that if anything should go wrong, he is accountable.’
‘I guess they don’t need to know English either,’ said Nina. ‘Otherwise they’d wise up with us talking about it.’
‘It is not encouraged,’ said Bok with a smirk. ‘Not for the ordinary people.’
Kang gave more orders. The team wheeled the cart out of the control room. The particle accelerator started to build up power again, its noise rising. ‘Fenrir,’ said Sarah in a tone of pent-up frustration.
‘In a moment,’ Mikkelsson answered, turning to Kang.
‘No. Now.’ She rounded him to stand before Nina and Eddie. ‘Where’s Anastasia? What happened to her, where is she? Where’s my daughter?’ Frustration was replaced by desperation, her voice quavering.
Nina couldn’t help but feel a pang of empathy. ‘She’s… I’m sorry. She’s dead.’
Sarah’s expression froze as she struggled to take in the words. ‘What?’ barked De Klerx, his own shock holding back anger. ‘What do you mean?’
‘I mean, she’s dead.’
‘She…’ Sarah’s face crumpled into anguish. ‘No, no, she… she can’t be. Not my girl, she…’ Behind her, Mikkelsson was unreadable, staring silently at the couple.
‘I’m sorry,’ Nina repeated.