Sidney Sheldon - The sky is falling

«Yes?»

«They must agree never to leave.»

«You mean—»

«They cannot go outside. Ever. They must cut themselves off completely from the rest of the world.»

Dana looked at the people walking along the warm streets and thought to herself, This can't be real. «Where do they make the plutonium?»

«I will show you.» A tram was approaching. «Come.» Shdanoff boarded the tram, and Dana followed him. They rode down the busy main street, and at the end entered a maze of dimly lit tunnels.

Dana thought of the incredible work and all the years that must have gone into building this city. In a few minutes, the lights began to get brighter, and the tram stopped. They were at the entrance to an enormous, brightly lit laboratory.

«We get off here.»

Dana followed Shdanoff and looked around in awe. There were three giant reactors housed in the immense cave. Two of the reactors were silent, but the third one was in operation and surrounded by a busy cadre of technicians.

Shdanoff said, «The machines in this room can produce enough plutonium to make an atomic bomb every three days.» He indicated the one that was working. «That reactor is still producing half a ton of plutonium a year, enough to make a hundred bombs. The plutonium stockpiled in the next room is worth a czar's ransom.»

Dana asked, «Commissar, if they have all that plutonium, why are they still making more?»

Shdanoff said wryly, «It is what you Americans call a catch-twenty-two. They can't turn the reactor off because the plutonium furnishes the power for the city above. If they stop the reactor, there will be no light and no heat, and the people up there will quickly freeze to death.»

«That's awful,» Dana said. «If—»

«Wait. What I have to tell you gets worse. Because of the state of the Russian economy, there is no longer the money to pay the scientists and technicians who work here. They have not been paid in months. The beautiful homes they were given years ago are deteriorating, and there is no money to repair them. All the luxuries have disappeared. The people here are getting desperate. You see the paradox? The amount of plutonium stored here is worth untold billions of dollars, yet the people who created it have nothing and are starting to go hungry.»

Dana said slowly, «And you think they might sell some of the plutonium to other countries?»

He nodded. «Before Taylor Winthrop became ambassador to Russia, friends told him about Krasnoyarsk-26 and asked him if he wanted to make a deal. After he talked to some of the scientists here who felt betrayed by their government, Winthrop was eager to make a deal. But it was complicated, and he had to wait until all the pieces fell into place.»

He was like a crazy man. He said something like «All the pieces have fallen into place.»

Dana was finding it difficult to breathe.

«Shortly after that, Taylor Winthrop became the American ambassador to Russia. Winthrop and his partner collaborated with some of the rebel scientists and began smuggling plutonium to a dozen countries, including Libya, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, North Korea, and China.»

After all the pieces had fallen into place! The ambassadorship was important to Taylor Winthrop only because he had to be on hand to control the operation.

The commissar was going on. «It was easy, because a mass of plutonium the size of a tennis ball is enough to make a nuclear bomb, Miss Evans. Taylor Winthrop and his partner were making billions of dollars. They handled everything very cleverly, and no one suspected a thing.» He sounded bitter. «Russia has become a candy store—only instead of buying candy, you can buy atomic bombs, tanks, fighter planes and missile systems.»

Dana was trying to digest everything she was hearing. «Why was Taylor Winthrop killed?»

«He got greedy and decided to go into business for himself. When his partner learned what Winthrop was doing, he had him killed.»

«But—but why murder his whole family?»

«After Taylor Winthrop and his wife died in the fire, his son Paul tried to blackmail the partner, so he had Paul killed. And then he decided he could not take a chance that the other children might know about the plutonium, so he ordered the other two murdered and arranged for their deaths to look like an accident and a burglary gone wrong.»

Dana looked at him, horrified. «Who was Taylor Winthrop's partner?»

Commissar Shdanoff shook his head. «You know enough for now, Miss Evans. I will give you the name when you get me out of Russia.» He looked at his watch. «We must leave.»

Dana turned to take one last look at the reactor that could not be shut off, that was turning out deadly plutonium twenty-four hours a day. «Is the government of the United States aware of Krasnoyarsk-26?»

Shdanoff nodded. «Oh, yes. They are terrified of it. Your State Department is working frantically with us to try to find a way to turn these reactors into something less lethal. Meanwhile…» He shrugged.

In the elevator, Commissar Shdanoff asked, «Are you familiar with the FRA?»

Dana looked at him and said cautiously, «Yes.»

«They are involved in this also.»

«What?» And then the realization hit her. That's why General Booster kept warning me away.

They arrived at the surface and stepped out of the elevator. Shdanoff said, «I keep an apartment here. We will go there.»

As they started to walk along the street, Dana saw a woman dressed as she was, clinging to the arms of a man.

«That woman—» Dana started.

«I told you. Certain men are permitted to use prostitutes during the day. But at night the prostitutes must return to a guarded compound. They must know nothing of what goes on below the ground.»

As they walked along, Dana noted that most of the shops' windows were empty.

The luxuries are gone. The state no longer has money to pay the scientists and technicians who work here. They have not been paid in months. Dana looked at a tall building on the corner and noticed that instead of a clock it had a large instrument mounted on top.

«What is that?» Dana asked.

«A Geiger counter, a warning in case anything goes wrong with the reactors.» They turned into a side street filled with apartment buildings. «My apartment is in here. We must stay there for a little while so no one will be suspicious. The FSB checks on everyone.»

«The FSB?»

«Yes. It used to be called the KGB. They changed the name, but that is all they changed.»

The apartment was large and was once luxurious, but it had become shabby. The curtains were torn, the carpets were worn, and the furniture needed re-upholstering.

Dana sat down, thinking about what Sasha Shdanoff had told her about the FRA. And Jeff had said, The agency is a cover-up. The real function of the FRA is to spy on foreign intelligence agencies. Taylor Winthrop had once been the head of the FRA, working with Victor Booster.

I would stay as far away as you can from General Booster.

And her meeting with Booster. Can't you fucking journalists let the dead rest? I'm warning you to stay the hell away. General Victor Booster had an enormous secret organization to carry out the murders.

And Jack Stone was trying to protect her. Be careful. If Victor Booster knew I was even talking to you…

The FRA spies were everywhere, and Dana felt suddenly naked.

Sasha Shdanoff looked at his watch. «It is time to leave. Do you know yet how you are going to get me out of the country?»

«Yes,» Dana said slowly. «I think I know how to arrange it. I need a little time.»

When the plane landed back in Moscow, there were two cars waiting. Shdanoff handed Dana a piece of paper.

«I am staying with a friend at the Chiaka Apartments. No one knows I am there. It is what you call a “safe house.” Here is the address. I can't go back to my own place. Come here at eight o'clock this evening. I must know your plan.»