Fatima replied, "Rudi, it is all true. When you stand out to make a point, innocent victims may be sacrificed for the common good. This is collateral damage. We deeply regret the loss of life, but we must forcefully show the world that the common people will not take it anymore. We'll put an end to exploitation by the ruling classes. Don't you agree?"
"I do agree, but I didn't realize that we may be hurting our own innocent people. Perhaps we should only focus on the corrupt people who are abusing and manipulating us. Maybe plant bombs in their offices and homes, or have snipers take them out…"
Fatima interrupted, "When you cook omelets you have to break the eggs. This is the way the world works. There is no revolution without some bloodshed, and we are the ultimate forces of change. Don't worry about it — you'll see that the end justifies the means." She knew she would have to report the conversation and began to think that Rudolf may soon outlive his usefulness, particularly if they managed to find the hidden nuke. It was a sad thought — she became attached to the man, but the cause and Le Docteur were higher up in her mind than the relationship with Rudi.
The next day, after having breakfast in the hotel, the foursome drove back to the copse of trees. They parked the car in the area where the density of the trees was low, and Lara assembled the quadcopter and launched it. As she had expected, within a couple of minutes she mastered its handling, and was in full control of its flight path and camera scan. The view of the forest from an altitude of 50 meters was quite different than from ground level. Disturbance of the surface was noted in several places, and these were marked on the screen. After 10 minutes, the small area was surveyed from above, and Lara brought the quadcopter back for a smooth landing.
Le Docteur had noticed that Fatima tried to get his attention during breakfast, so he suggested that they split into two couples. Unlike the previous day, he said that he would team up with Fatima (Fiona, as he called her in Rudolf's presence). They would take the metal detector and focus on the eastern side, while Lara and Rudolf would take the radiation monitor and go to the western side of the clearing.
When they were alone, Fatima told Le Docteur about the conversation she had with Rudolf the previous night. "I am sure that he examined my passport and driver's license and started asking me questions about my childhood and accent. I am glad that he was deceived by the fake documents but am beginning to worry that he is getting restless. He even asked about Lara's boasting that she was a fighter pilot and I managed to find an excuse that it was only in her fantasy and computer games."
"We'll have to consider what to do about him, after we locate the nuke. Meanwhile, let's focus on the search." He pointed to a small mound between the trees, "Here's one of the spots that were marked by the quadcopter." He turned on the switch of the metal detector and waited for the indicator light to turn green. Then he held the device above the soil surface and swept an area a few meters from the suspect mound to get a background reading. After that, he approached the mound and repeated the action. Fatima watched him closely, and from his body language she could tell that nothing was found. They moved on to the next spot that was marked on the screen and followed the same procedure — with the same negative result.
Lara and Rudolf strolled to the first suspect point that appeared on the screen. Rudolf said, "Lara, I am impressed by the way you flew the quadcopter. Are you really a jet-fighter pilot, as you said yesterday?"
Lara knew that she had made a mistake the previous day, and quickly thought of an excuse, "When I was a young girl, that was my dream — to become a pilot. But, as a woman, I knew that there was little chance of it happening, so, as a substitute, I read about planes, played computer games in which I was an invincible, dare-devil pilot. I mastered using a joy-stick on flight-simulation games, so much so that I could do it in my sleep. So, learning how to operate the quadcopter was a piece of cake."
Rudolf doubted that playing computer games on a flat screen was good training for 3D, real world, flight, "I never thought that these computer games had any benefit in the real world."
Before he could delve any further about her skills, Lara said, "Here's the first spot. Let's see if the radiation monitor registers anything." She turned it on, and like Le Docteur, first took a background reading, and then went to the suspect spot. She excitedly said, "Look, Rudolf, the reading here is higher than in the background. Take the shovel and dig a little deeper and I'll see in the reading continues to increase."
Rudolf bent down and started clearing the soil from the spot. After he had dug a small hole, about 50 cm deep, Lara lowered the monitor and saw that radiation intensity had increased a little. She showed Rudolf the new reading and he smiled, "Perhaps my father was not hallucinating. I'll dig further, and you call the others to come and help."
Lara looked around to see whether Le Docteur and Fatima were visible, but the trees obstructed her line of sight. She took her cellphone and sent an image of a toothy smiley to Fatima's phone. She didn't have to add anything, as instead of a reply she heard shrieks of joy from her friend. A moment later, the other two figures joined Rudolf, who was enthusiastically continuing to dig. Lara took another reading with the radiation monitor and saw that the intensity continued to grow. Le Docteur placed the metal detector on the surface of the freshly dug soil and the device hummed audibly in a tone that would normally have been unpleasant but to the foursome was like angels singing.
Finally, the full size of the wooden box was exposed. The wood's condition was quite good, considering that it had been buried in moist soil for more than two and a half decades. Le Docteur replaced Rudolf, whose back began to ache from the unaccustomed strain of digging and removed the soil from the sides of the box. When the lid was opened, they could see a cylindrical object covered with a tarpaulin. The radiation monitor chirped intensely when it was placed on the tarpaulin and Fatima wondered aloud whether it was safe to hang around with that level of radiation, but Lara assured her that if they kept their distance and limited their time near the nuke, they would suffer no harm.
Le Docteur and Rudolf tried to lift the object out of the box but realized that it was much too heavy. Le Docteur said, "We'll have to return with lifting equipment, and rent a pick-up truck to move the object away. We also need to prepare a suitable space to work on it. I'll try to find an expert, a nuclear scientist or technician, to advise us on how to proceed. I am quite sure that there is no way to detonate it in its current position, so it should be safe to transport it."
They closed the lid and covered the box with the soil they had dug out. They didn't need to mark the spot — it was fixed in their minds. They planned to make the arrangements that Le Docteur mentioned and return to extract the nuke from its hiding place.
The following day, Le Docteur drove the rented car with Lara by his side, while Rudolf and Fatima followed with the newly rented pick-up truck with the winch. They parked close to the site of the buried box, making sure that their actions were shielded by the parked cars, just in case someone approached. Le Docteur also carried a pistol, as a safety precaution against overly inquisitive unwelcome visitors. He didn't tell the women that he had considered using it to dispose of Rudolf, if the necessity arose.