Andy McDermott - The Midas Legacy

‘Yes, I am,’ she said, laughing. ‘Ah, children. I’d forgotten how direct they can be.’

‘They’re fun, aren’t they?’ said Nina with a grin.

‘They are. Oh, I wish I’d met you at this age…’ Olivia’s eyes became wistful for a moment, then she looked back at her visitors. ‘But at least I know you now. I shouldn’t regret what I didn’t have, but be thankful for what I do have.’

Nina nodded. ‘Good words to live by.’

‘Can I smell your flowers?’ Macy cut in. ‘They’re very pretty.’

‘Of course you can,’ replied Olivia, passing the bouquet to her.

‘What do you say, Macy?’ Nina prompted.

‘Thank you, Great-Gamma!’ Macy cried, hopping from the bed and scurrying to a chair to examine her gift.

The old lady smiled after her, then became serious as she addressed the couple again. ‘Is there any word on Fenrir or the Crucible?’

‘Yeah, and none of it’s good,’ Eddie told her.

‘We just came from the UN,’ Nina elaborated. ‘It looks like he delivered the Crucible to North Korea.’

Olivia’s face fell. ‘Where is he now?’

‘China, apparently. Where he’s going to go from there, I have no idea, but I imagine he’s got something planned.’

‘I have absolutely no doubt about that. Fenrir always thinks three steps ahead.’ She paused, regarding Nina with curiosity. ‘Laura used to get exactly the same look when there was a problem preying on her mind. There’s something else, isn’t there?’

‘You could say that,’ Eddie rumbled.

Nina nodded. ‘Yeah. They — by which I mean the UN and the State Department — want us to go to North Korea to find out if they really are using the Crucible to make plutonium for H-bombs.’

‘They want you to go?’ Olivia exclaimed. ‘Why you?’

‘Because we’re the only people the Koreans might accept as willing to sell the small Crucible. If we offer to deliver it in person, we might be able to confirm what they’re doing, so action can be taken to stop it.’

‘Action of the wheee, boom kind,’ added Eddie, miming a bomb being dropped and exploding.

Olivia nodded. ‘Fenrir told you how to profit from the Crucible, so it’s not beyond the bounds of plausibility that you might want to cash in.’ She caught her granddaughter’s disapproval. ‘Since they don’t know you personally and know that you never would, of course.’

‘Of course,’ Nina echoed. ‘It’s all academic, though. Because there’s no way we’re going.’

Eddie reacted with mild surprise. ‘Thought we were going to think about it first.’

‘What? Oh come on, Eddie. You can’t possibly want to go.’

‘God, no. But it’s not just about what we want, is it? Some fat dictator with hair like Dilbert’s boss’ll be able to crank out nukes like Volkswagens if the Crucible does what Fenrir said. That’s not a good thing.’

‘No,’ she protested, ‘but as you’re so fond of saying, we don’t work for the UN any more. It’s not our problem. And you stopped being a soldier a long time ago. You’re a dad now. You want to risk leaving Macy on her own?’ Their daughter looked up from the flowers in alarm.

‘It’s okay, love, don’t worry,’ Eddie said to her, before glowering at his wife. ‘See, that’s why we need to talk about this properly, in private .’

‘I don’t think there’s anything to discuss,’ Nina replied, bristling.

‘Before you get any deeper into an argument, may I offer some advice?’ said Olivia quietly. ‘From a historical perspective.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘I mean that while you’re both old enough to remember the Cold War, neither of you can really appreciate what it was like at its height.’

‘What’s the Cold War got to do with anything?’ asked Eddie.

‘Everything. I’m talking about what it was like to live under the constant threat of nuclear armageddon. It was a frightening time, especially in the 1960s and ’70s. When Laura was growing up,’ she added, giving Nina a look laden with meaning. ‘An anxious, fearful time, because there was nothing you could do about it. Unless you were willing to live in a concrete bunker in some godforsaken desert wilderness, money couldn’t offer you any protection. And if there’s one thing parents should always do for their children, it’s try to protect them.’

Nina lowered her voice so as not to scare her daughter. ‘Our ending up in some North Korean hellhole, or worse, is hardly going to protect Macy.’

‘There’s a bigger picture to consider, Nina. It’s not just your child, it’s everyone else’s children too. We’re living in dangerous times, just as dangerous as the Cold War — and more unstable. Fenrir giving a megalomaniacal madman a way to mass-produce nuclear weapons is not going to help matters. North Korea already has rockets; they’ll be able to target hydrogen bombs on Seoul, Tokyo, Honolulu, San Francisco… maybe even further afield. And who’s to say he won’t start selling them to other countries, or terrorists? That threat, that fear , isn’t something I want to live through again — and I certainly wouldn’t wish it upon anybody’s children.’ She gazed at Macy, who was counting the petals on a flower.

Eddie looked thoughtful. ‘Me neither. I remember when I was a kid, twelve or thirteen, I was on my way to school when an air-raid siren started up. I thought it was the four-minute warning! Never did find out what it was, but it scared the’ — a glance at his daughter — ‘poop out of me. Thought everyone I knew was about to get nuked! It was probably one of the reasons I ended up joining the army. At least that way I’d actually be fighting against it in some way.’

‘I didn’t know that,’ said Nina.

‘Hadn’t thought about it until now. But I don’t want Macy to have to fight against it. The world’s got enough bad stuff going on already without adding this.’ His face became as grim as she had ever seen it. ‘Especially when we’ve got a chance to stop it.’

‘You really do think we should go, don’t you?’ she said, dismayed.

‘It’s not that I want to, believe me. But that guy from the State Department was right that we’re the only people who could offer them the second Crucible and be believed.’

‘ Might be believed. It’s a big difference.’

‘It’s that or nothing. And we know the Crucible works with a particle accelerator, ’cause we saw it in Greece. If they’ve built one already…’

‘Oh God.’ Nina turned away from him, heavy-hearted.

Macy immediately picked up on her expression and crossed the room to her. ‘What’s wrong, Mommy?’

‘We… might have to go away again, Macy.’ It took an almost physical effort to force out the words.

The little girl was distraught. ‘But you only just came home!’

‘I know, honey. I know. We’re still thinking about it; we haven’t decided for sure yet.’ Even as she spoke, though, she knew with an increasingly leaden sense of inevitability that the choice had already been made. ‘But we’ll be as quick as we can. I’m sure Holly will look after you. You like Holly, don’t you?’

Tears were forming in Macy’s eyes. ‘Yes, but she isn’t you! You keep going away! I don’t want you to go away!’

Nina felt a tear run down her own cheek. She smiled sadly and hugged her daughter. ‘I love you, Macy.’

Eddie joined her. ‘I love you too. We both do. And we’ll be back before you know it, okay?’

‘Why do you have to go?’ Macy cried.

‘Because nobody else can,’ said Nina, kissing her.

‘But that’s not fair!’