"No, Tom!" There was fright in her voice; and I found that she had told
me one of the things I wanted to know. If it was not wise to remind
Slovetski that I was waiting his pleasure, the probability was that it
would not be pleasant for me when he remembered.
I said, "But you must know something, Rena. Don't you see that it could
do no harm to tell me?"
She said miserably, "Tom, I know very little. I did not--did not know
as much as you found out." I stared at her. She nodded. "I had perhaps
a suspicion, it is true. Yes, I suspected. But I did not _really_
think, Tom, that there was a question of bombing. It is not how we were
taught. It is not what Slovetski promised, when we began."
"You mean you didn't know Slovetski was planning violence?"
She shook her head. "And even now, I think, perhaps you heard wrong,
perhaps there was a mistake."
I stood up and leaned over her. "Rena, listen to me. There was no
mistake. They're working on that casing. Tell me what you know!"
She shook her head, weeping freely.
I raged: "This is asinine! What can there be that you will not tell?
The Company supply base that Slovetski hopes to raid to get a bomb?
The officers he plans to bribe, to divert some other nation's quota of
plutonium?"