them all in the same place at the same time. I’ve heard some wild things about the Manhattan
Project, but this is outrageous.”
Groves laughed. “It’s also true.”
Finn leaned forward, studying Groves as though he had never seen the General before. “You’re
serious,” he said. Then, “If we have weapons like that, what in Christ’s name are we doing
planning an invasion? No country could stand against that much firepower, especially a country
made up of densely populated islands!”
“Not bombs, Captain. Bomb.”
“Just one bomb? Just one plane?”
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Groves smiled and leaned back. “You continue to surprise me. First your tear-jerking report on
Okinawa, and now this. You’ve grasped in a few seconds what I’ve spent months – years – trying
to get across to other gun soldiers. There have been times that I believed that only the Russians
understand the importance of what I’m doing here.” Groves laughed too loudly, saw speculation
leap in Finn’s eyes, and stopped laughing abruptly. “You wonder if I’m crazy, don’t you? Don’t
you!”
“If what you said is true, the whole world is crazy.”
Groves rubbed his eyes. They were bloodshot and sore after too many nights with too little
sleep. Even when he lay down, he saw a clock on the back of his eyelids, and the clock’s hands
would inexorably point toward the moment at the Trinity test site when he would know whether
World War II would end quickly or a new Russian world would begin.
The phone rang, startling in the silence.
Imperial General HQ Tokyo
98 Hours Before Trinity
(Radio transmission received by Japan’s American Intelligence Section. Decoded.)
RUSSIANS ARE FRIENDS TO NO ONE, LEAST OF ALL JAPAN.
THEY REFUSE TO COOPERATE HERE, AS THEY REFUSED IN LISBON.
MANY RUMORS OF NEW, VERY POWERFUL AMERICAN WEAPON, IMPOSSIBLE
YET TO DETERMINE NATURE OF WEAPON.
RUSSIAN SPIES WELL ESTABLISHED IN LOS ALAMOS. RUSSIAN SPY MASAREK IN
JUAREZ. M PLANS TO STEAL AMERICA’S SECRET WEAPON AFTER IT IS SHIPPED
TO CALIFORNIA.
I WILL FOLLOW, AND STEAL FROM HIM. KESTREL
Los Alamos
98 Hours Before Trinity
Finn sat very still, his shoulders aching with tension. He stared at the box of chocolates on
Groves’ desk and tried to conceive of 40 million pounds of TNT exploding all at once. The
General’s voice as he spoke on the phone was a meaningless rasp. All Finn really heard was the
echo of his own disbelief: One plane? One bomb?
His mind could accept the bomb as one more stage in man’s long history of weaponry, but his
emotions were appalled by the deadly possibility. Only a man who had felt the sickening
intimacy of his enemy’s blood flooding over his hands, blood as thick and red as his own
pouring out in a final bright gush of life, only men who had fought and bled, killed and died
within sight of their enemies knew what death was and what it was not. Death was not glorious
or brave, cowardly or sublime. Death was irrevocable, green on green.
He wondered if Groves knew that simple truth, or if it mattered what the General knew or did
not know. Finn knew. Man had gone from caves and clubs to cities and bombs. The progression
was not accidental or incidental. It was inevitable. Today it was not enough to wage war on men.
You must also devastate the enemy’s ability to manufacture arms – his cities. The industrial
revolution had ensured that cities and the means of producing weapons were inseparable.
“Military targets” had become a phrase without meaning. Detroit made cars in peacetime, tanks
in wartime and the civilian population lived there all the time; Detroit was a city.
Groves’ voice rose, dragging Finn out of his own thoughts. He looked at his watch and was
startled to see how much time had passed since Groves answered the phone.
“Yes,” said Groves, “I know about that traitorous petition!”
Groves paused, then laughed harshly. “Humane war? For the love of Christ! What do scientists
know about humanity or war? It’s all a game to them, and the Army is supplying their toys!”
The silence stretched until Groves’ breathing seemed unnaturally loud. When he spoke again, his
voice was brittle.
Page 13
“Then tell those scientists that it is being arranged – over my protests. Tojo’s engraved
invitation,” Groves glared at Finn, “will go out this morning.” Groves paused. “Guarantees? I
can’t even guarantee that the goddamn bomb works, much less that we’ll find the Jap spy in time
for him to see it go off!” Pause. “No. It’s too late to get fancy. It’s set to go in forty-eight hours.
If your scientists don’t like it, Dr. Lawrence, they can sit and wring their hands at the bottom of
the tower!”
Groves put down the receiver with enough force to jangle the bell. He looked through Finn.
Then Groves blinked and seemed to snap into focus.
“Did you hear enough?” asked Groves.
“The more I hear, the less I believe.”
“Get used to it. Have you seen any new Japanese faces in Juarez?”
“I was watching one when your men found me.”
“Describe him.”
“Mid-thirties, silver at temples, military bearing, looks fairly impressive. I didn’t get close
enough to see more.”
“Sounds like him.” Groves smiled. “He was the Emperor’s chief operator in Europe,
headquartered in Lisbon. Code name, Kestrel. He specialized in technological matters, a
scientist as well as a spy. I want you to lure him to the bomb test.”
“You want me to give the biggest secret of the century to an enemy spy?” asked Finn, cutting
across Groves’ words. “That’s a textbook definition of treason, General.” His voice was calm
but he felt adrenaline sliding into his blood and questions hammering in his mind.
“Those are your orders,” said Groves, smiling.
Finn shook his head in disbelief. “I’d like those orders in writing.”
“So would I, Captain. So would I. But neither of us will get them.” He looked at Finn with eyes
that were sane and desperately tired. “The President has been pressured into offering the Japs a
preview of what hell will be like if they don’t surrender.”
“If the President read my Okinawa report, he knows there’s nothing we can teach the Japs about
hell.”
Groves looked down. He fiddled with the chocolate box, lifting and replacing the lid. His
expression was haunted, his hands clumsy. Finn had seen other men act like that when caught
between two conflicting impera- tives. Finn sensed that one imperative was Groves’ legendary
obsession with secrecy; the other was a direct order to forgo secrecy. Finn would have had more
sympathy, had he not guessed that he was caught in the same box.
“Christ on a crutch!” Groves snarled, staring at Finn. “I never know what you’re thinking and
I’ve got to know before I trust you with the whole goddamn world!”
Finn waited tensely, but Groves did not continue. “I’m thinking,” said Finn at last, “that you’re a
man in a box. I’m thinking that I’m in the same box. I’m thinking that I wish to hell I had some
idea how big the goddamn box is!”
“As big as the world. As small as an atom.” Groves laughed oddly, watching Finn. “No, I’m not
crazy – no crazier than I have to be to get the job done. You’ve got a head full of questions
about Los Alamos and the bomb and Kestrel and you and me, but believe me, you don’t want
to know the answers, not really, because then you’ll be as crazy as I am. You’ll have to measure
every blink, every breath, every thought you have or don’t have against one awesome truth: in
your hands will be the power to save or lose a world. Not just a war, Captain. A world.”
The hair on Finn’s arms and neck moved in an animal reflex. He wanted to believe that Groves
was insane, because no man should have the power to save or lose a world. Yet he did not want
to believe that the most secret project in America, the project he was sworn to protect, was in
the hands of a madman.
Finn did not know which alternative was worse – Groves sane or Groves insane. Finn was not
even sure he wanted to choose. All he-was sure of was that his body was flushed with adrenaline,
poised to fight, to kill, to flee if necessary, jungle reflexes screaming at him until he sweated, but
Page 14
there was nothing to fight, nothing to flee, nothing to do but sit and listen to a man who might
or might not be mad.
“Welcome to the Manhatten Project,” said Groves, watching Finn. “That was just the start.
You’re going to hear it all, beginning to end, and then you’ll know why for the next few weeks
you’ll be the most important man on earth.” He smiled and gestured toward a hot plate on top
of a filing cabinet. “Pour us some coffee, Captain.”
“It should be tea,” said Finn as he handed Groves a cup. Then Finn took his cup, sat down, and
stared at the General. “Convince me that I’m not in Wonderland.”
“And that I’m not the Mad Hatter?” Groves’ smile was grim. “That shouldn’t take long. The
OSS reports that the Russians are gearing up to invade Japan and plan on taking China along the
way.”
Finn nodded. He had guessed as much. It was Stalin’s style to take and control. But Finn knew
the Russians; if they held that much of the world, there would be no peace until America was
annihilated.
“The only way we can prevent that is to end the war before the Russians can invade China or
Japan,” continued Groves, “or before we’re sucked into invading Japan ourselves. The only way
we can do that is to use the atomic bomb to end the war.” Groves looked haunted for a
moment. “Assuming the damn things works,” he muttered. “No, it will work. It has to!”
“What do you mean? Aren’t you sure?”
A curt gesture from Groves silenced Finn.
“Later,” said Groves. “For now, just listen.” His voice became angry, then thickened with
contempt as he spoke. “A few of our own scientists are petitioning the President not to use the
bomb. They act as though it’s morally superior to kill the enemy one by one with bayonets.”
“And then,” he continued, “there are the scientists who want to arrange a demonstration – invite
the Japs over, explode the bomb, and then say, ‘Now that we’ve frightened you, why don’t you
be nice boys and surrender.’” Groves grinned. “Scientists.”
“Perhaps they have the right idea. Seeing the equivalent of 20,000 tons of TNT go up at once
might make even the most fanatical soldier surrender.”
Groves looked sour. “Maybe, maybe not. But between the sob sisters crying not to use the
bomb, and the gun soldiers crying about their guts-and-glory invasion, Truman has his ass in a
sling. Politics – God, the messes the politicians get us into.” Groves glared at Finn. “So there
will be a demonstration, and it by God better work!”
Groves unlocked a drawer, reached in and pulled out a thin file. “The test is scheduled for 0200
on the 16th. Two days from now. I want this Jap spy to see it, but I don’t want him to know we
want him to see it. I’ll give you as many men as you need to track him down.”
“More warning would have helped,” said Finn. “If he’s any good, he’ll smell a setup.”
“Truman didn’t make up his mind until yesterday. I called you in immediately.”
Finn took the folder and read it quickly. There was little hard information, a testimony to the
Japanese spy’s skill and elusiveness. Once the padding of speculation was stripped away, all that
remained was that Kestrel had been born of an old Japanese family, had been raised in the
samurai tradition, entered the Imperial Army as an officer, studied physics in the United States,
spied in Lisbon and was a master of unarmed combat.
There was one picture, taken when Kestrel graduated from the University of California at
Berkeley. The picture was twelve years old, but Finn recognized the man he had seen in the
Green Parrot. The clean line of the chin, the tilt of the head, the alert eyes, the smile that was
confident without being aggressive – all were unchanged by the years between Berkeley and
Juarez.
“Is that the man you saw?” asked Groves.
“Yes. He was in the Green Parrot yesterday, talking to a Mexican whore called Rubia. She’s very
good at sucking information out of GIs. She gives the information to Refugio and he sells it to
whoever is interested. I’ll just make sure that Rubia gets the right information.”
Page 15
“Won’t she be suspicious?”
“You haven’t seen my agent. Twenty and looks fifteen. That red-headed son of a bitch is the only
person I know who lies better than a whore. He’s been to Rubia a lot lately. She won’t be
suspicious.”
Groves grimaced. “I don’t like depending on a prostitute.”
“She’s just the bait. I’ll give Kestrel the hook myself, through a more reliable source. Ana
Oshiga, Takagura Omi’s secretary.”
“That traitorous bitch,” muttered Groves.
“If Kestrel is any good as a spy – and that skinny file says he’s damn good – he’ll have collected
enough information by now to be red hot on the subject of Los Alamos. And he’s a samurai as
well as a spy. What I’ll tell him will make the test irresistible.”
“You’re sure?”
“The only way I can be sure is to sack him up and bring him myself.”
“No. It can’t be official. Anyway, I want you at the test site. Or rather, above it.” Groves smiled
grimly. “You don’t believe me yet, not really. After the test you will. Then you’ll know how
important the rest of your job is – guarding the uranium on its way to Tinian.” He drummed his
knuckles on the table. “Could you send one of your agents with Kestrel?”
“Why don’t I just give him an engraved invitation signed by President Truman and the Joint
Chiefs of Staff?” Finn closed the folder and dropped it on the desk. “Where do you want him,
and when?”
“By 0100 of the 16th, Kestrel should be on the north side of Oscura Peak. That’s fifty miles,
north-northwest of Alamogordo. That should give him a good view of Trinity Site, where we’ll
detonate the bomb.”
“If I’m that specific, he’ll know it’s official. I have to give him just enough pieces to let him
discover the answer himself.” Finn frowned. “How close does he have to get to be impressed?”
“Any closer to the blast than five miles and he’ll be cooked.”
“How about just curling his hair?” suggested Finn dry-
“Ten miles. Twenty. Thirty. Maybe more.”
“Thirty miles!”
“If the atomic bomb works, it’ll be as obvious as sunrise.”
“You keep saying ‘if.’ Don’t you know?”
Groves slammed his hand on the desk. “There’s more to this than whores and coded messages,
Captain. We’re dealing with a totally new kind of energy. It comes from the binding force of the
