had somehow managed to remain a bachelor. A wit who was in demand as a party guest and speaker, he was a gourmand who owned a wine cellar that was the envy of every society party thrower in town.
The serious side of his character was his tremendous knowledge of the deadly art of nuclear weaponry. Percy was in on the beginning at Los Alamos and stayed in harness at the Atomic Energy Commission and its succeeding agency for almost fifty years. Many a third-world leader would have given his entire treasury for Percy’s talents. He was one of a very small band of experts who could assemble a working nuclear bomb in his garage for the price of a power lawn mower.
“Dirk my boy!” he boomed. “How good to see you.”
“You look fit,” Pitt said as they hugged.
Percy shrugged sadly. “Damned Motor Vehicle Department took away my motorcycle license, but I can still drive my old Jaguar XK-One-twenty.”
“I appreciate your taking the time to help me.”
“Not at all. Always prime for a challenge.”
Pitt introduced Percy to Hiram Yaeger. The old man gave Yaeger a shoe to headband examination. His expression was one of benign amusement.
“Can you buy faded and prewashed clothes like that off the rack?” he asked conversationally.
“Actually my wife soaks them in a solution of camel urine, liverwort, and pineapple juice,” Yaeger came right back with a straight face. “Softens and gives them that special air of savoir-faire.”
Percy laughed. “Yes, the aroma made me wonder about the secret ingredients. A pleasure to meet you, Hiram.”
“The same.” Hiram nodded. “I think.”
“Shall we begin?” said Pitt.
Yaeger pulled up two extra chairs beside a computer screen that was three times the size of most desk models. He waited until Pitt and Percy were seated and then held out both hands as if beholding a vision.
“The latest state-of-the-art,” he instructed. “Goes by the name CAD/CAM, an acronym for Computer-Aided Design/Computer-Aided Manufacturing. Basically a computer graphics system, but also a supersophisticated visual machine that enables draftsmen and engineers to make beautifully detailed drawings of every mechanical object imaginable. No dividers, compasses, or T-squares. You can program the tolerances and then simply sketch a rough outline with an electronic pen on the screen. Then the computer will render them in precise and elaborate solid forms, or in three dimensions.”
“Quite astounding,” Percy murmured. “Can you separate different sections of your drawings and enlarge details?”
“Yes, and I can also apply colors, alter shapes, simulate stress conditions, and edit the changes, then store the results in its memory to be recalled like a word processor. The applications from design to finished manufactured product are mind staggering.”
Pitt straddled his chair and rested his chin on the backrest. “Let’s see if it can lead us to the jackpot.”
Yaeger peered at him over his granny glasses. “We in the trade refer to it as conceptualization.
“If it’ll make you happy.”
“So what are we looking for?” asked Percy.
“A nuclear bomb,” Pitt answered.
“Where?”
“In an automobile.”
“Expecting one to be smuggled across the border?” inquired Percy intuitively.
“Something like that.”
“By land or by sea?”
“Sea.”
“This have anything to do with the explosion in the Pacific couple of days ago?”
“I can’t say.”
“My boy, I’m unbeatable at Trivial Pursuit. I also keep up on nuclear affairs. And you know, of course, that, except for the President, I’ve carried the highest security clearance they’ve got.
“You’re trying to tell me something, uncle?”
“Would you believe I was the first one Ray Jordan consulted after the Pacific detonation?”
Pitt smiled in defeat. “Then you know more than I do.”
“That Japan is hiding nuclear weapons around the country in automobiles, yes, I know that much. But Jordan didn’t see fit to enlist an old man for his operation, so he merely picked my brains and sent me packing.”
“Consider yourself hired. You’ve just become a dues-paying member of Team Stutz. You too, Hiram.”
“You’ll catch hell when Jordan finds out you’ve taken on reinforcements.”
“If we’re successful, he’ll get over it.”
“What’s this about Japanese bombs in cars?” asked an incredulous Yaeger.
Percy put a hand on his shoulder. “What we’re about to attempt here, Hiram, must be held in strict security.”
“Hiram carries a Beta-Q clearance,” said Pitt.
“Then we’re ready to begin the hunt.”
“I’d appreciate a little background,” said Yaeger, looking at Percy steadily.
The old atomic expert met his eyes. “In the nineteen-thirties, Japan went to war to build a self-reliant economic empire. Now, fifty years later, they’re willing to fight again, only this time to protect it. With utmost secrecy they built their nuclear weapons arsenal long before anyone thought of verifying its existence. The weapons-grade plutonium and uranium were spirited from civilian nuclear facilities. The fact they had the bomb was also overlooked because they didn’t have a delivery system such as long-range missiles, cruise systems, bombers, or missile-carrying submarines.”
“I thought the Japanese were committed to nuclear nonproliferation,” said Yaeger.
“True, the government and the majority of the people are totally against atomic weapons. But forces deep beneath the mainstream of their bureaucracy clandestinely constructed a nuclear force. The arsenal was built more for defense against economic threat than as a military deterrent. Their concept was the bombs could be used as extortion in the event of an all-out trade war and a ban on their export goods into the United States and Europe. Or if worse came to worse, a naval blockade on the home islands.”
Yaeger was disturbed. Pitt could see it.
“You’re telling me we may be sitting on a nuclear bomb?”
“Probably within a few blocks of one,” said Pitt.
“It’s unthinkable,” Yaeger muttered angrily. “How many have they smuggled into the country?”
“We don’t know yet,” Pitt replied. “It could be as many as a hundred. Also, we’re not the only country. They’re spread all over the world.”
“It gets worse,” said Percy. “If the bombs have indeed been smuggled into major international cities, the Japanese possess total assured destruction. It’s an efficient setup. Once the bombs are in place, the chance of accidental or unauthorized launch of a missile is voided. There is no defense against them, no time to react, no star wars system to stop incoming warheads, no alert, no second strike. When they push the button, the strike is instantaneous.”
“Good God, what can we do?”
“Find them,” said Pitt. “The idea is the bombs are brought in by auto ship carriers. I’m guessing hidden inside the imported cars. With your computer smarts, we’re going to try and figure out how.”
“If they’re coming in by ship,” Yaeger said decisively, “customs inspectors searching for drugs would pick them out.”
Pitt shook his head. “This is a sophisticated operation, run by high-tech professionals. They know their business. They’ll design the bomb to be an integral part of the car to throw off an elaborate search. Customs inspectors are wary of tires, gas tanks, upholstery, anyplace where there’s an air space. So it has to be secreted in such a way that even the wiliest inspector would miss it.”
“Totally foolproof to known discovery techniques,” Yaeger agreed.
Percy thoughtfully stared at the floor. “All right, now let’s talk about size.”
“That’s your department.” Pitt smiled.
