The sergeant came in with a notebook and sat down erectly and formally. Dugan closed his eyes and began to dictate:
"Major Michael A. Dugan proceeded to the location indicated in his instructions and confirmed the reported existence of a Soviet installation at the latitude and longitude hitherto provisionally assigned.
"A partial topographical map of the area has been prepared, combining data from the air-photo reconnaissance and the ground visit.
"The extent of scientific development could not be ascertained with any accuracy. However, a large collection of scientific data has been mailed to the post office at Nakhtakhu on the Siberian coast. Nakhtakhu is very near the coast. It possesses inadequate communication with the interior. At about 45°58" N. Lat., it is within easy reach of Japan. Should these papers be desired, they will be found enclosed in a package containing a leather jacket and addressed to a certain Comrade I. Loginov. There is, of course, no definite assurance that the package has arrived in Nakhtakhu or, if arrived, that it has not been seized—"
"You don't have to put all that in," said Landsiedel. "Some Navy people went to get the papers yesterday. We can send the papers right along with the report."
"You didn't tell me," said Dugan.
"No need to bother you." The colonel's face lit up with a triumphant grin.
Dugan frowned. "I hope you don't compromise my trip…"
"Don't you worry about that, Major."
Dugan went on:
"Don't take this down, Wilson. If I were going to get those papers, I would send a fishing boat full of Japanese, get them smelling of sake, have them sack the post office, get them back out to sea, pick the papers up with a submarine, along with non-expendable personnel, and then have the fishing boat run for it."
"You would, would you?" said the colonel.
"I would," said Dugan belligerently.
"You want me to tell you what we did do, don't you?"
With a complete change of manner, Dugan laughed out loud. "I am very inquisitive."
"Find it out for yourself, then, Major. I turned it over to the Navy and I am explicitly prohibited from telling anybody. Even you. It ought to be easy for you to do a little espionage on American personnel for a change."
"Don't think I won't," laughed Dugan.
Even formal young Sergeant Wilson thought that funny, which, in a curious way, it was. Dugan resumed dictating:
"Attached to the full-length report will be the technical papers which happened to fall into American hands. One of them is the Kuznets Syllabus, Section 204, which was stated by scientific personnel at the location to have high operational interest.
"The city is known as Atomsk. Sometimes it is referred to as Atomnii Gorod, or Atom City. German and Russian personnel work together. A German technical expert named Hundeshausen stated that there was only one pile in operation as yet.
"Location of four other Soviet atomic weapons installations was indicated in conversation by the same Hundeshausen. These are indicated on the attached map."
Dugan opened his eyes, sipped his drink, then leaned back in the chair again. He went on:
"The installation appears bombproof for its essential parts. However, human beings are used as experimental material and it is possible that trouble could be caused, in the event of war, by the dropping of a select force of parachutists.
"That's all, I guess."
Landsiedel looked at him "If you're not going to say it, I will—"
"What?"
"About you. How you got there."
Dugan sighed. "One more sentence, Wilson. Major Dugan encountered difficulty in both approach and egress. It is believed certain that Soviet officials are aware a visit has been made. It is not recommended that Atomsk be subjected to further visits until the other locations have been checked. The nature of the forest cover is such that no weapons testing could be performed without total spoilage of the camouflage. It is also suggested that the entire subsoil, down to the water table, may become heavily radioactive in the near future. If that occurs, Soviet personnel will presumably be evacuated and American visitors would be subjected to hazards."
Dugan looked at Landsiedel. "Do you want to spell out the conclusions?"
Landsiedel nodded, "Let me talk it.
"The fact that Atomsk has been penetrated destroys its primary mission — the preparation of radioactive material other than a bomb. It would therefore appear likely that the Russians now have one less weapon than they thought they had. Though they will not be able to trace the interference to the United States, they may suspect the presence of American clandestine operations. This prolongs the period of peace in strictly strategic terms and allows more time for the reasonable political settlement of outstanding international difficulties.
"Experience of the representative who visited Atomsk suggests that the possession of violent weapons is not as great a threat to peace as the possession of secret weapons. The loss of the secrecy of Atomsk, on which such a tremendous effort of human labor was expended, may reduce Soviet military confidence to the point that conciliatory diplomatic gestures would be more welcome than they have been for some time.
"The visit to Atomsk showed that the Russian people are a proud and lovable people. They are kind to one another. Their present political system is extremely tyrannical and oppressive. It is only the good humor and patience of the common people of Russia which permits such a system to survive. A less admirable people would have died under such oppression; a more liberty-minded people would have revolted. It is the personal conclusion of the observer that the freedom of Russia is the hope of the world. If the Russian people escape the deceptive propaganda and police suppression of the Communist dictatorship, they will contribute mightily to the peace and culture of the world. I'll leave that in, Major. I really mean it."
"Thank you," said Dugan, "I want to say that. The government is rotten but the people are wonderful. Czars and Stalins come and go, but the Russian people live on."
XVII. ALL ROADS LEAD
There was a special conference in the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. The Director of Plans and Operations was there. So was the Director of Intelligence, who had brought Dugan's friend, Colonel Landsiedel, into the room with him. (Nobody had bothered to bring back Dugan, who had been to Atomsk, or Swanson, the photointelligence expert, both of whom had spent more time than all the rest solving the riddle of Atomsk.) A gnomish little Russian expert from the State Department was there, sucking interminable cigarettes from a long, stained holder. Two atomic engineers, who had been allowed to look over the technical papers while an M.P. with a machine gun stood guard over them, had already made up their minds and knew what would be expected of them.
The Chief of Staff, the Deputy Chief of Staff, and General Coppersmith from Tokyo all entered the room together.
After greetings, they took their places at the perfectly appointed table.
The Chief of staff played here's-the-church-and-here's-the-steeple with his hands before clearing his throat and opening the meeting:
"There isn't much to say. We have confirmed the location of Atomsk. I take it that all you gentlemen are agreed."
All around the table the men nodded.
"We're not at war with the Soviet Union. We have even apologized for the attack on the Soviet coast which was undertaken by some drunken Japanese fishermen. It shows how far we are prepared to go to conciliate them." Nobody had bothered — from Tokyo headquarters — to tell the Chief of Staff just what those fishermen had been doing, and the Chief of Naval Operations had not yet seen fit to turn the secret Navy report over to the Army.