39.The call came out at 9:00 in the morning. There was a meeting for all in the central bay of the base.
The entirety of the populace was assembled by 9:10.
Colonel Stonedragon was the last to arrive, and he walked to the podium to speak.
He was hesitant to start, but no one else even began to ask a question.
“Secrecy,” The Colonel announced, “Is one of the reasons we as Inheritors, have a great deal of distrust for the major nations of the world. Each new administration comes with its own agenda, and tends to obfuscate their policies to hide their real motivations.
“As an international, neutral organization we have always tried to avoid secrecy and promote transparency in all our activities.”
Mickey was struck by how much this was sounding like a political speech.
“That distrust over the years coalesced into a true dread toward the nations that have entered the atomic age. Those countries who had strong ideologies and weapons of nuclear power to threaten others with became a focal point of our concern.
“We could do one of two things. We could join the race and try to maintain the balance between rational persons, or we could refuse to join and petition perpetually for the end of the idea of a ‘survivable nuclear exchange.’
“Then one of our most brilliant members came to us with a third possibility. We could move away from the ransom mindset that all the nuclear nations employed. We use ours if you look like you are going to use yours. We could just stop it.
“He has since passed away, but his name was Justin Bavier and was known as ‘Main Frame’ and he developed a method to use electricity to change only enriched uranium into inert material.
He also designed a network to distribute the charge that could do this magnificent work to all the centers of atomic weaponry.
“We have spent the last 20 years building a secret network of connecting conduits to all the sites that waited to launch death around the world.
“This was the secret we kept. If any spy from any nation knew and could side step the process without letting anyone know they had, they would, in essence become the only super power in the world. We would have nothing to do with that.
“So only five living humans on the Earth knew about ‘The Project.’ One of those most trusted individuals was Benjamin McCauley an Immorti who had, in an earlier life, been a member of the Manhattan Project, and was adamant about ending the atomic threat forever.”
Mickey, David and Maria reflexively all looked questioningly at each other. How many secrets did the world keep from them?
“But, among those who were compromised by Vadid Shastan was Lindsey Peters, known as ‘Stone Cutter’ and one of our most trusted members,” Stonedragon said, with a visage that told of his personal betrayal, “And with that knowledge the Sleepless Knight began to pervert the idea itself.”
A rumble of discussion was a wave through the crowd. The Colonel waited a moment and the silence returned.
“The devices, as they are now constituted, will do just the opposite of what they were created to do. In four hours they will send a signal that will trigger all the atomic weapons on the planet in unison. The resultant explosions will scour all life from the face of this Earth.”
“How do we stop it?” Someone yelled.
“There is no better security shielding on any device on the planet than that protecting the device. We have been locked out of that security. Our most powerful member cannot break through without setting off the device prematurely,” The Colonel said, “We have been building scenarios all night and have found nothing within our knowledge that can reach the point of a . . .a positive outcome.”
The words exploded from around everywhere.
The Colonel just looked out from behind the podium. He looked like a defeated man.
“The end of the world,” Mickey thought, “And I’m there.”
© 2005 by C. Wayne Owens
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