Every member of the UN received the note which
said: "... Give us peace within a month or I shall
destroy the earth utterly." And only two men believed
the sender to be capable of carrying out his threat--two
men, bucking red-tape, trying to find the terribly
sincere atomic physicist, Chetzisky, before the deadline!
[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from
Science Fiction Quarterly May 1951.
Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that
the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]
[Illustration: Chetzisky held the world in his hand. Would the United
Nations act to end war, or was the world doomed?]
_EXTRACTS, HOSPITAL CASE HISTORY No. 3007:_
_Patient admitted 11:45 A.M. in coma and severe shock. Pulse weak.
Temperature 95. White cell count less than 2,000. Blood draining off
into tissues, indicating generalized purpura. Immediate whole blood
transfusions given._
_DIAGNOSIS: Radiation illness. Exposure considered lethal. Probably
about 1,000 roentgens._
_2:30 P.M. White cell count now down to 500. Response to aureomycin
treatment favorable.... 3:10 P.M. Hematocrit reading remains high at
101.... 3:55 P.M. Lab reports show karyorrhexis developing swiftly
as more and more cells are ionized by 'hot' isotopes in patient's
body.... 4:40 P.M. Geiger counter set up at bedside to check
progressive radioactivity of the human atomic pile.... 5:10 P.M.
Guided by hematocrit readings, blood transfusions increased,
supplemented by albumen.... 5:50 P.M. Patient conscious. Suffers
violent spasms of pain. Morphine barely suffices. He appears
thoughtful, moves head weakly...._
With a great effort I turn my head and see the sun going down behind
the color-splashed ridges of the Coastal range. It's the last sunset
I shall ever see and the end of a day that a mad-man with an atomic
stopwatch meant to be your last.
Every cell inside me seems a glowing coal. The geiger counter clicks
off a slow, steady staccato. Suddenly I find my body arching itself
convulsively in a wracking outbreak of pain. There is the quick
sharpness of a needle in my arm and mercifully I am numb.
Armstrong, his giant frame hunched over in the chair, watches me with
a suffering look new to those hard, cold eyes of his. A good man and a
loyal friend. If he weren't as stubborn and resolute as a bull-dog, you
might not be sitting down to your supper tonight.
My mind is strangely clear and calm, as if washed by cool, clean winds
from distant space. I remember everything vividly, the whole sequence
of events that began a month ago.
I was chatting, I recall, with some students about the transuranic
elements after my lecture on "The Chain Reaction of Uranium" when a lab
instructor tapped me on the shoulder.
"There's an army colonel waiting upstairs in your office, Doctor
Bailey."
I was frowning when I left. A reserve officer who served in Military
Intelligence on the Manhattan Project, I sensed something ominous in
the visit. The Korean situation already had me in an uneasy mood.
My spirits picked up, however, when I entered the office and recognized
the tall dignified figure, with grizzled hair, standing by the window.
"Jim Armstrong, you old blood-hound."
"Hello, Arnold," and my hand was lost in his big fist.
Armstrong is a powerfully built man. He played a bone-crushing left end
in his college days. You used to need a convoy of light tanks to make
a sweep around him. I know; I played against him when I was a blocking
back on the Princeton varsity. A former F.B.I. agent, he had one of the
toughest and finest minds in Intelligence. Once he picked up a trail,
he followed it doggedly. Like the time during the war when he went
after government-contract profiteers. Despite faked invoices, bribed
witnesses, and strong pressure from higher-ups, he tracked his men down
and landed them in jail.
"Now, Jim, what's on your mind?" I said after we were both comfortably
seated.
He put his hand in his tunic and brought out a letter which he handed
me.
"I want you to read that, Arnold. Yesterday every member of the United
Nations received a similar note. No one takes it seriously, regarding
it as the work of a peace crank. I'd like to hear what you think about
it."