Page 46 - Tales Apocalyptic and Dystopian

Into the Tempifuge

“Shivalingam? You mean the twentieth-century physicist who
worked on the neutron bomb?”
“Yes, exactly.” John Smith appeared eager to control the
discussion again. “You probably know as much about him as anyone
living today. Your publications on that era and its significance are
well known here in the agency.”
“Maybe so, but I don’t know about any time capsule.”
Smith raised a cautionary finger.
“And now we are definitely in top-secret territory. The government
has taken great care to erase all public knowledge of this item, which
for decades has been referred to as the Package; we shall continue
that practice, to maintain maximum security. Now, here is what is
germane: as you know, the neutron bomb was designed to kill people
without destroying property. Dr. Shivalingam, while working on that
project, discovered a totally different method of achieving the same
end. Or so we must believe from his lab notes and diary.”
“Wait a minute,” said Underwood. “I’ve read those documents. I
saw nothing in them about a weapon like that.”
Smith and the other two men smiled, insiders enjoying the
revelation of their secret knowledge to an initiate.
“Of course not. You saw only a highly edited version of his papers.
Evidently he suffered pangs of guilt and anxiety about his discovery,
torn between subcultural tendencies to pacifism and his obligations
under a defense department contract. In any event, he told no one
about it, but didn’t destroy the plans. Shortly before his death he
resolved his dilemma by locking them in the Package, leaving them,
as he wrote, for a later, more enlightened generation to find a way to
use peacefully. He set the timer on the Package for two hundred fifty
years and left a warning inscribed on its container that opening it
sooner would cause its contents to be destroyed.”
The historian digested this information.
“So now you want to open it and use his design to build a new
super-weapon.”
“Exactly. That is why we need you.”
“Me? I’m not an expert in nuclear physics. I’m no good at
defusing, uh, Packages, either. You must have experts who can figure
out how he constructed it.”
Colonel Cruz pounded the table; once, with quiet emphasis.

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