Owen Matthews - Black Sun

“So you will say that Korin the traitor murdered his young, brilliant colleague just to protect his own hide?”

“Exactly. Then he forged the record to make it look like Petrov committed suicide.”

“Quite the snake, this Korin of yours. And Axelrod?”

“Axelrod knew Petrov well. Very well.” Vasin shot a glance at Masha. “They were lovers, in fact. Axelrod suspected that his friend’s death was not suicide and came to me with his suspicions. But it was only when he and I checked the laboratory records together that we found Korin’s name on them.”

“And where does Sherlock Holmes come into this? I mean you, Major.”

Vasin ignored Adamov’s sarcasm.

“Korin was present at the dinner where Petrov was poisoned. I heard him listening to American radio. When I interviewed him in Olenya and here in Arzamas, he was defensive and told me many subversive stories against Soviet power.”

“Richard Jordan Gatling?” Masha piped up. “Marshal Zhukov’s nuclear test on our troops?”

“All that. Yes. I tell the kontora I had strong reasons to believe that Korin was a dangerous element. And then, when Axelrod and I found out about the forged records, I decided to bring this information to you, Professor. Privately. You were shocked. Korin was your old friend and colleague. You wished to hear this story from the mouth of his accuser. Axelrod. So you asked me to bring Axelrod here, to the Institute, tonight. And then you made a fatal mistake.”

“I told Korin?”

“Yes. You called Korin. No point in denying it. The kontora would have listened in to the call; it went through the central exchange. You could not credit what I told you. Your impulse was one of loyalty to an old comrade. You regret it now, of course. But you could not believe in the Colonel’s treachery. And Korin was such a very good liar, to survive all these years in the heart of our most secret city. Such a good liar that Korin persuaded you he would meet Axelrod down in the registry and ask to see the evidence in the files for himself. Korin promised to show the boy he was mistaken, then bring him up to your office. Where you were waiting. Where you are waiting still, right now.”

Vasin glanced at his watch. Twenty minutes had passed since he had shot Korin. In an hour the body would start to stiffen. They had to work fast. Adamov began to answer, but Vasin spoke over him.

“I went to Axelrod’s apartment, told him you wanted to speak to him. He was nervous. Axelrod and I arrived here in the basement, at the registry, as you requested. We found Korin waiting for us. Then what happened, happened. He enticed us into this laboratory. Knocked me out. Dragged Axelrod into the chamber. I recovered, and tried to switch off the machine. After a struggle, I shot him. Then I called my colleagues in the kontora . They informed you of the tragedy. You were the unwitting cause of Axelrod’s death. But no blame will attach to you.”

The light of another papiros illuminated Adamov’s drawn face as he dragged on it.

“No. I will not spin such lies about Korin. He did not live by lies, nor will I.”

The solidity of the story that Vasin had spun seemed to dissipate like Adamov’s cigarette smoke in the vastness of the hall. He saw only Adamov’s exhausted face, proud and resigned to its own destruction.

“Professor, you told me yourself. If we do not do this, you will be condemned. Removed. Your work will be undone. Petrov will have died in vain. Korin too. Without you, we are all doomed.”

Adamov sighed deeply and shook his head.

“RDS-220 is not an invention, it is a discovery. This is not a creation of any human mind, it is physical truth made real. I did not create it, I revealed it. We have discovered how to create a sun, right here on earth. It cannot be undiscovered. It will be taken to its conclusion. Not by me, but by others. I can change this one device. But I can no more stop the nuclear age than I can end fire, earthquakes, or the wind. Korin was wrong. There will always be a new Petrov, a man who sees the bomb as a path to worldly power. What they call the arms race is a race between nuclear weapons and ourselves. And they will very soon outrun us.”

A quiet followed Adamov’s words. It seemed that the whole dark world inside the Professor had collapsed into a silence so deep that all future words would die in it. Vasin could think of no argument to set against the Professor’s despair. To mention his own survival, Masha’s, seemed trivial compared to the void that Adamov had conjured.

Masha moved toward her husband.

“Yura.” She threaded her arm into his. “Free yourself from your cruel logic for a second. There is another logic.”

Adamov tried to push her away, but Masha only entwined herself more tightly.

“Remember what you said to me in Leningrad. When I was just a young scarecrow, and you an old goat? The goal of science is not universal truth. Instead, you said that the goal of science is the gradual removal of prejudices. A modest but relentless goal. You said that bit by bit, generation by generation, science frees men from their susperstitions. And as they lose their prejudices, men see that the human world is not the center of the cosmos. Remember?”

“I remember.” Adamov’s voice had softened. “I remember, Masha.”

“You said, the discovery that the earth revolves around the sun convinced men that the earth was not the center of the universe. The discovery of microbes showed them that disease was not a punishment from God. Evolution, which showed humans that they are not some separate and unique creation of God but an animal like the rest. Remember? You said that a lot. ‘We are all animals, like the rest.’ Not gods but walking apes.”

“Apes that are bent on killing each other, child. That’s the point. That is our nature. As we have discovered in this bloody century.”

“No. No, Yura. Our nature is to learn. To change. And you have spent your life creating a machine, your device, which shows men that they have finally the means in their hands to destroy themselves. Killing may be in our nature. Killing ourselves is not. It’s the opposite of nature. Remember what Korin used to say—about that American who invented the first bomb? Oppenheimer? His new promised land where weapons would become too terrible to use? So. You reached it. You brought us all to the border of this land. After your bomb, there will be no others. But only you can bring this story to an end. Don’t you see? Korin was right. Nothing can be allowed to stand in your way. Nobody. Not Petrov, not Axelrod. And Korin gave his own life for it. For you. The last blood to be spilled. Listen to Vasin. We must save ourselves. Save you. So that your precious bomb is finally tested. And then your work will be done.”

Masha ran her hand over her husband’s bowed head. Adamov said nothing.

“Maybe you will come to love me as much as you loved your bombs.”

Adamov looked slowly up at his wife.

“A clever one you are, Masha. Korin always said so.”

Adamov’s eyes moved from his wife’s face across the carnage around him. Korin’s powerful body crumpled beside the control panel. The barometric chamber with its empty window. The three spent cartridge cases glinting dully on the floor. Then he nodded, not meeting Vasin’s eye, and stood.

“Perhaps I will do as you say.”

Vasin ran through the plan that he had formulated in his mind, trying to find fault with it. He knew how the kontora functioned: the excitement over finding an apparently real American spy with an operating secret radio would eclipse any minor inconsistencies. He faced Adamov squarely, putting all hesitation from his mind.

“Go. Now. Professor, get to your office. Don’t let anyone see you going there. Take a back staircase. Call Axelrod’s home number. The call will be logged. You are anxious. Don’t leave until someone comes up and tells you what happened here. And when they talk to you, the men from the kontora, don’t play dumb. You are racked by guilt that you did not see Korin for what he was. Talk to them as you talked to me. Arrogantly. You are a cloud dweller. You are a man who holds the defense of the Motherland in his hands. You are above these sordid stories. Got it?”