When Smuts did not respond, Dr. Sabri said, 'You are looking at three
fully operational nuclear weapons, sir.'
Hauer studied the bespectacled young Arab. 'And you are ... ?'
'He's a Libyan physicist,' Gadi said irritably. 'We've established that
already.'
'Hauer,' Stern said evenly, 'the situation is hopeless. You know that
as well as 1, and General Steyn knows it better than both of us.
There is no way out of this building. In a matter of minutes the
Libyans will break through. When they do, Israel is lost. Unless-'
'Unless you blow the northern half of South Africa to hell?' General
Steyn bellowed.
Ilse's voice rose above the others. 'How much time do we have? I
haven't heard any explosions for a few minutes.'
Hauer rubbed his chin with the back of his hand. 'I think some of the
Arabs are already inside, but they won't be able to breach those shields
with light weapons. The main force is trying to drag their big gun
across that bowl. Three hundred meters. Plus, our armored car is
blocking the door to the house. I'd say we have fifteen to twenty
minutes before we have to fight.'
'Thank you, Captain,' said Stern. His voice softened as he spoke to
General Steyn. 'Jaap, the, damage from these weapons might be far less
than you imagine. Dr. Sabri, what are these bombs capable of.?'
The young Libyan answered in a shaky voice. 'I've only examined one of
the weapons closely. It's a forty-kiloton bomb. That's a fairly low
yield by today's standards, though it's twice the size of the Hiroshima
bomb. If it were detonated as it was designed to be-in an air burst-the
results would be catastrophic. But here ... I would guess we're about a
hundred meters underground. The walls look like inforced concrete,
that's good.' He frowned. 'Such ings are difficult to predict, but if
only the one bomb exploded, the result could be similar to a
medium-sized underground nuclear test. If, however, the other weapons
detonated with the first-and if they are of the same approximate
size-the explosion might blow upward and break through the surface.
Where we are standing would be the epicenter of a large crater.
As for the above-ground effects, estimating blast radius and such, my
rough guess would be ... perhaps five kilometers? The radiation is the
real problem. But if the wind is right, the whole cloud might drift
right out to sea.'
'Or it might drift south and kill everyone in Pretoria and
Johannesburg!' General Steyn exploded.
Hans stepped tentatively forward. 'You said you brought an armored car
with you. Is there some way we could sneak the bombs out of here?'
Hauer shook his head. 'Even if we could fight our way up to the
vehicle, we'd never get the bombs up to it. God only knows how much
they weigh.'
'Sixteen hundred and fifty kilograms each,' Dr. Sabri volunteered.
'There it is,' said Stern with a note of finality. 'The bombs cannot be
gotten safely away. That leaves only one option.'
'That's ridiculous!' roared General Steyn. 'All we have to do is find
a way out of here ourselves! We can leave the bombs right where they
are. As soon as we reach a phone, I can call Durban airbase. The air
force can shoot these Arab pirates down before they even leave our
airspace!'
This suggestion found immediate favor in the group. But while General
Steyn expanded on his idea, Gadi Abrams eased slowly across the room to
where Hans and Ilse stood listening.
When the general finished speaking, Stern put his foot on the nearest
bomb, laid an elbow across his knee, and leaned toward the South
African. General Steyn stared back with the tenacity of a bulldog.
Behind him, his masked soldiers stood with their shotguns at the ready.
'Jaap,' Stern said softly. 'I simply cannot allow these weapons to fall
into Libyan hands. Not even for an hour.
The risks are simply too great.'
General Steyn raised his right hand. The gesture had a distinctly
military quality to it, and it brought an immediate response. Both
South African commandos pointed their shotguns at Stern.
Their futuristic garb gave them the look of hostile aliens, and their
command over the group was total.
Or almost total. At the moment they brought their guns to bear, Gadi
swung the barrel of his assault rifle up from behind Ilse and fired from
the hip.
Ilse screamed.
Gadi's accuracy was startling. Fully aware that the South Africans wore
body armor, he fired two consecutive bursts straight through the black
gas masks, killing both men instantly. General Steyn groped for the
pistol at his belt. Gadi put one round through the general's left
shoulder, spinning him around and knocking him to the floor. Then he
darted back into position behind Stern and pointed his carbine at the
rest of the group.
Dr. Sabri's face had gone white. Smuts was grinning. Ilse was still
screaming, but Stern shouted above her: 'Everyone stay calm! He had no
choice!'
'No choice!' Hans cried. 'He murdered them!'
General Steyn struggled slowly to his feet, his face flushed with pain
and outrage. Hauer had already relieved him of his pistol. 'You will
pay for this, Jonas,' he vowed.
'Israel will pay! And you know South Africa can make it pay!'
'Yes,' Stern acknowledged. 'The problem is, some of you were already
planning to make us pay.'
'A few fanatics!' General Steyn spat. 'You've gone too far!'
Stern spoke in a monotone. 'We are talking about the survival of
Israel, Jaap. If these weapons explode here in the Transvaal, it will
be a disaster, to be sure. But if only one of these bombs were to
explode over Israel, our tiny state would cease to exist, and the entire
world might be sucked into the vortex of war. It's a devil's choice,
but it's that simple. Tragedy versus a worldwide holocaust.'
There was a high-pitched cackle from the far wall. 'An excellent choice
of words, Jew!' Even in his helpless position, Rudolf Hess wore an
expression of triumph. 'A holocaust is exactly what is going to happen!
