Part 46 (1/2)
”It's apples and G.o.dd.a.m.n oranges,” Jabba said.”We've got gamma rays against electromagnetic pulse.Fissionable against unfissionable. Some is pure. Some ispercentage. It's a mess!”
”It's got to be here,” Susan said firmly.”We've got to think. There's some difference betweenplutonium and uranium that we're missing! Somethingsimple!”
”Ah ... guys?” Sos.h.i.+ said. She'd created asecond doc.u.ment window and was perusing the rest of the Outlaw Labsdoc.u.ment.
”What is it?” Fontaine demanded. ”Findsomething?”
”Um, sort of.” She sounded uneasy. ”You know howI told you the Nagasaki bomb was a plutonium bomb?”
”Yeah,” they all replied in unison.
”Well ...” Sos.h.i.+ took a deep breath. ”Lookslike I made a mistake.”
”What!” Jabba choked. ”We've been lookingfor the wrong thing?”
Sos.h.i.+ pointed to the screen. They huddled around and read thetext: ... the common misconception that the Nagasaki bomb was aplutonium bomb. In fact, the device employed uranium, like itssister bomb in Hiros.h.i.+ma.
”But-” Susan gasped. ”If both elements wereuranium, how are we supposed to find the difference between thetwo?”
”Maybe Tankado made a mistake,” Fontaine ventured.”Maybe he didn't know the bombs were the same.”
”No.” Susan sighed. ”He was a cripple because ofthose bombs. He'd know the facts cold.”
CHAPTER 126
”One minute!”
Jabba eyed the VR. ”PEM authorization's going fast.Last line of defense. And there's a crowd at thedoor.”
”Focus!” Fontaine commanded.
Sos.h.i.+ sat in front of the Web browser and read aloud.
... Nagasaki bomb did not use plutonium but rather anartificially manufactured, neutron-saturated isotope of uranium238.”
”d.a.m.n!” Brinkerhoff swore. ”Both bombs useduranium. The elements responsible for Hiros.h.i.+ma and Nagasaki wereboth uranium. There is no difference!”
”We're dead,” Midge moaned.
”Wait,” Susan said. ”Read that last partagain!”
Sos.h.i.+ repeated the text. ”... artificially manufactured,neutron-saturated isotope of uranium 238.”
”238?” Susan exclaimed. ”Didn't we just seesomething that said Hiros.h.i.+ma's bomb used some other isotopeof uranium?”
They all exchanged puzzled glances. Sos.h.i.+ frantically scrolledbackward and found the spot. ”Yes! It says here thatthe Hiros.h.i.+ma bomb used a different isotope of uranium!”
Midge gasped in amazement. ”They're bothuranium-but they're different kinds!”
”Both uranium?” Jabba muscled in and stared at theterminal. ”Apples and apples!
Perfect!”
”How are the two isotopes different?” Fontainedemanded. ”It's got to be something basic.”
Sos.h.i.+ scrolled through the doc.u.ment. ”Hold on ... looking... okay ...”
”Forty-five seconds!” a voice called out. Susan looked up. The final s.h.i.+eld was almost invisible now.
”Here it is!” Sos.h.i.+ exclaimed.
”Read it!” Jabba was sweating. ”What's thedifference! There must be some difference between thetwo!”
”Yes!” Sos.h.i.+ pointed to her monitor.”Look!”
They all read the text:
... two bombs employed two different fuels ... preciselyidentical chemical characteristics. No ordinary chemical extractioncan separate the two isotopes. They are, with the exception ofminute differences in weight, perfectly identical.
”Atomic weight!” Jabba said, excitedly.”That's it! The only difference is their weights!That's the key! Give me their weights! We'll subtractthem!”
”Hold on,” Sos.h.i.+ said, scrolling ahead. ”Almostthere! Yes!” Everyone scanned the text.
... difference in weight very slight ...
... gaseous diffusion to separate them ...
... 10,032498X10134 as compared to19,39484X1023.**
”There they are!” Jabba screamed. ”That'sit! Those are the weights!”
”Thirty seconds!”
”Go,” Fontaine whispered. ”Subtract them.Quickly.”
Jabba palmed his calculator and started entering numbers.