'A lot,' Copeland said. 'A whole lot. For one thing, its potential as a power source is astronomical. Conservative estimates predict that a properly constituted thyrium reac tor would generate electrical energy at a rate six hundred times greater than all the nuclear power plants in the United States combined.
'But there's an added bonus. Unlike our terrestrial nuclear elements, when thyrium is used as the core element of a fusion reactor, it decomposes with one hundred per cent efficiency. In other words, it leaves no contaminated waste byproducts. As such, it is unlike any power source on this earth. Uranium waste must be discarded in radioactive rods. Hell, even gasoline produces carbon monoxide. But thyrium is clean. It is a perfectly efficient power source. Perfect. It is so internally pure that, based on our modelling, a raw sample of it would emit only microscopic quantities of passive radiation.'
Race held up his hand. 'All right, all right. That all sounds great, but last I heard, DARPA wasn't in the busi ness of providing America with power stations. What else does thyrium do?'
Copeland smiled, caught.
'Professor, for the last ten years, DARPA's Tactical Tech nology Office has been working on a new weapon, a weapon unlike anything this world has ever seen. It is a device code- named “Supernova”.'
As soon as Copeland said the word, something twigged in the back of Race's mind. He recalled a conversation he'd overheard between Copeland and Nash soon after he had boarded the plane. A conversation in which they had men tioned a break-in at Fairfax Drive and the theft of a device called a Supernova.
'What exactly is this Supernova?'
'Put simply,' Copeland said, 'the Supernova is the most powerful weapon ever devised in the history of mankind.
It's what we call a planet killer.'
'A what?“
'A planet killer. A nuclear device so powerful that when detonated, it would completely destroy nearly a third of the Earth's mass. With a third of its mass gone, the Earth's orbit around the sun would be corrupted. Our planet would spin out of control, out into space, further and further away from the sun. Within minutes the Earth's surface—what was left of it—would be too cold to sustain human life. The Super nova, Professor Race, is the first man-made device that is capable of ending life as we know it on this planet. Hence its namesake, the name we give to an exploding star.'
Race swallowed. In fact, he felt positively weak.
A million questions flooded his mind.
Like, why would someone build such a device? What possible reason could there be for creating a weapon that could kill everyone on the planet, including its own creators? And all that considered, why was his country building it?
Copeland continued, 'The thing is, Professor, the Super nova that we have at present is a prototype, a workable shell. That device the device that was stolen from DARPA headquarters last night—is useless. For the simple reason that the operation of the Supernova requires the addition of one thing. Thyrium.'
Oh, great… Race thought.
'In this regard,' Copeland said, 'the Supernova is not all that dissimilar to a neutron bomb. It is a fission device which means it operates on the principle of splitting the thyrium atom. Two conventional thermonuclear warheads are used to split a subcritical mass of thyrium, unleashing the mega-explosion.'
'Okay, wait a second,' Race said. 'Let me get this straight.
You guys have built a weapon—a weapon that is capable of destroying the planet—that is dependent upon an element that you don't even have yet?'
'That's correct,' Copeland said.
'But why? Why is America building a weapon that can do all this?'
Copeland nodded. 'That's always a difficult question to answer. I mean—'
'There are two reasons,' a deeper voice said suddenly from behind Race.
It was Frank Nash.
Nash nodded at the manuscript in Race's lap. 'Have you found the location of the idol yet?'
'Not yet.'
'Then I'll make this quick so you can get back to work.
First of all, what I am about to tell you is of the utmost secrecy. There are sixteen people in the country who know what am I about to tell you and five of them are on this plane. If you mention any of this to anyone after the completion of this mission, you'll spend the next seventy-five years in jail. Do you understand me, Professor?'
'Good. The justification for the construction of the Supernova is twofold. The first reason is this. About eighteen months ago, it was discovered that state-funded scientists in Germany had begun the secret construction of a Supernova.
Our response was simple: if they were going to build one, so were we.'
'That's great logic,' Race said.
'It's exactly the same logic Oppenheimer used to justify building the atomic bomb.'
'Geez, you're standing on the backs of giants there, Colonel,' Race said drily. 'And the second reason?'
Nash said, 'Professor, have you ever heard of a man named Dietrich von Choltitz?'
'No.”
