sir.’
‘Ounces!’
‘Yes, sir, perhaps about the weight of a saucepan full of water, and about the size of, say, a baseball.’
‘Good God, that doesn’t sound like a lot! Are you sure the Germans haven’t been able to make that amount of the stuff?’
‘We are pretty certain, sir.’
‘Very certain, sir,’ Donovan added. ‘The discovery of the laboratory in Strasbourg showed they had only managed to refine much smaller amounts. And as yet, the German scientist, Heisenberg, has not relayed news of any other nuclear research projects. As far as he is concerned, his was the only atom bomb project.’
Truman took a moment to digest the information. He directed his attention towards Wallace. ‘Well, thank you, son, what’s your name?’
‘Wallace, sir.’
‘Thank you, Wallace, for bringing me up to date. I’m surprised that I actually understood your description. Well done.’
Wallace took a step back behind Donovan, aware that his moment of glory had passed and his contribution to the conference was more than likely complete.
‘I presume that means we can rule out the possibility that the threat is one of these atom bombs, then,’ Truman said, displaying a little relief.
Donovan awkwardly corrected the President. ‘Not rule out, sir, but it seems highly unlikely.’
‘Noted, Colonel Donovan.’
Wallace looked around the men at the table. All of them seemed to some degree comforted by the information he had imparted. One of them, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Leahy, stirred.
‘Mr President, there appears to be another issue we can perhaps debate here.’
Truman shrugged curiously. ‘Yes?’
‘Maybe this might represent an opportunity to… ’ the older man scratched the end of his nose awkwardly ‘… turn the war around against Russia, sir.’
Silence met the end of that sentence. Wallace could see many of the men around the table holding back their reaction to the comment, waiting to see Truman’s response and, as important, the response of others around the table. Wallace suspected by the silence that passed, that mixed opinions were waiting to emerge.
‘Well sir, I think I know what my predecessor would have made of that suggestion,’ Truman said, breaking the silence.
Wallace wondered what the President had meant by that comment.
‘So…? You gentlemen have opinions on this?’
Admiral Leahy decided to further the discussion. ‘Mr President, I think Colonel Donovan will agree that the communist state of Russia will be our enemy after Germany is defeated. Maybe not this year, maybe not next year, but pretty soon we’ll be fighting in Europe again, this time against Stalin.’
‘Donovan?’
Donovan continued. ‘He may be right, sir. Strategically, this may represent an opportunity to curtail that possible outcome. Pushing the Germans back over the last two years has drained their military resources, if — if — we were to turn this around and declare war on Russia, we would probably win, and win quickly.’
Truman nodded as he listened to him and contemplated his words in silence for a full minute before speaking again. ‘If we were to do that — and of course, gentlemen, I am speaking completely hypothetically, as I’m sure we all have been — if we were to do that, we would be extending this war by how long, would you suppose?’
There were no answers.
‘A month? A year? Several years?’
Wallace watched the military men at the table shuffle uncomfortably. Years, that’s what they’re thinking.
‘In all honesty, this hypothetical debate has run its course. Our people are simply not ready to send their children into the meat grinder for another war. I think I understand the strategic thinking here, and perhaps we need to schedule a briefing to bring me up to date on postwar strategic issues concerning our Russian friends.’ Truman directed a firm look towards the generals grouped together at the far end of the conference table. ‘But right now this nation is tired, Europe is tired, the world is tired. Perhaps… perhaps if this atom bomb threat from Germany was a realistic possibility, this might have been an avenue for discussion. But for now I suggest we can treat this communication as nothing more than a futile attempt at a bluff.’
Truman turned to Donovan. ‘Have your man there, Wallace, put together a complete report on the Germans’ efforts to make one of these bombs. They may not have been able to make one, but I’d like to be sure they haven’t left something that the Russians can pick up and use, especially if they are likely to be a worry in the future.’
Donovan nodded and made a note.
Then the meeting was adjourned. Wallace watched as Truman dismissed them all, and they filed out of the conference room in an awkward silence.
Wallace’s eyes focused on Chris as his mind swiftly travelled sixty years back to the present.
‘Are you all right there?’ asked Chris.
Wallace smiled tiredly. ‘I’m just tired.’ He looked back down at the photographs he still held in his liver- spotted hands. ‘A bit of a shock seeing these, and, I’m on some pretty strong medication. It takes it out of you.’
‘So what is this all about?’ Chris asked, frustrated that the old man had yet to reveal anything that he hadn’t already known.
‘Are these all the pictures you have?’ Wallace asked, looking up from them and ignoring Chris’s question. ‘Some of them are not very clear.’
‘It was very muddy down there, but yeah, I’ve got others. I’m going to do another dive down there and see if I can get some better shots. But, of course, it would help if I knew what to get better shots of.’
‘Yes, I understand. But you need to be careful, Chris. Very careful. There could be people watching me, following me. I’ve been very careful, coming down to meet you, and I’m sure, for now, we are alone. But we do need to be discreet.’
‘What people?’ asked Chris.
Wallace put a finger to his lips. ‘Just be careful who you talk to for now.’
The old man looked down at his watch. It was nine o’clock.
‘I’m sorry, but I’m feeling pretty beat up and tired. I’ve done a lot of travelling today and I could do with some sleep. I think the excitement has taken it out of me.’
‘What? You can’t leave now!’ blurted Chris.
‘I’m sorry. I’m tired and I find it hard to concentrate these days when I’m tired. My mind isn’t as sharp as it once was.’
Chris looked at the old man’s face and noticed for the first time how pale and unwell he looked. His eyes were red-rimmed and puffy, and he wobbled uncertainly as he pushed the chair back to stand up. Chris found himself instinctively helping him out of the chair and up onto his feet as if he were a dutiful grandson to the old man.
‘My legs get so stiff if I sit down for too long,’ he muttered in a voice that sounded weak and thin.
‘Well, can we meet tomorrow for breakfast then?’ Chris asked as he helped the old man into his windcheater.
‘Yes, yes of course. I should like to come out on the boat with you, if you’re planning on another dive… you know, to see where she went down.’
‘Okay, sure. I’ll organise that, but we can do breakfast tomorrow?’
‘Of course. I’ll be a little more with it, I hope,’ Wallace said with a worn smile.
‘So, where are you staying?’
‘I booked into a place just along up the street. A nice little place, Joe and Jan’s I think it’s called.’
Chris knew of it. It was a quaint boarding house with an old-style colonial porch on the front.
‘Okay then, Mr Wallace, I’ll come by and pick you up tomorrow morning and we’ll go and find somewhere quiet to have something cooked.’
Wallace nodded. ‘Don’t come knocking before nine o’clock.’
