“Wouldn’t that be something?” Nora finished setting the table and turned up the volume on the radio.

“But there have been so many civilian deaths. Those innocent people are just going about their day, and then poof, their lives are over. Why? Because they’re in the wrong place at the wrong time? It seems so unfair.”

“It’s war. War isn’t fair.”

“Well, I wish it didn’t have to be that way.” Mary hesitated before addressing the other thing on her mind. They’d all been told that what they were doing, they were doing for the war effort. If the war ended, where would that leave them? She knew she was wading into dangerous territory, but Nora didn’t have to explain anything off-limits in order to answer the question. “Does that impact what we’re doing here?”

Nora paused with the serving spoon in mid-air. “Not as far as I can tell. Even if Berlin falls, that doesn’t mean the war is over. If the Germans surrender, we still have to deal with the Japanese.”

Mary bit her lip. Nora had been so remote of late. She hated to ask the next question, but it had been on her heart and mind for weeks, so… “Nora?”

“Mm-hmm?” Nora continued to ladle out the soup.

“The war will end, right?”

“At some point, yes.”

Mary took the bowls of soup from her and placed them on the table. Then she stilled Nora’s hands. “When it ends, what happens to us?”

Nora stiffened. “What do you mean?”

“Well, I assume that when the war ends, whatever it is we’re building or making here won’t be necessary anymore. We’ll have finished what we came here to do. When that happens, what about us?”

They sat at the table and Nora blew on her soup. “Honestly, I’ve been so focused on the work, I hadn’t really thought about what’s next.”

Mary struggled to ward off the impending sense of doom that had been hanging over her for weeks. “The war’s almost over. We’re winning. I should be rejoicing. Instead, all I’ve been doing is crying about us.”

Nora’s eyes opened wide. “Why would you be crying about us? We love each other. We’ll find a way to stay together. We’ll figure it out.”

Mary shook her head. Those felt like empty promises. “I learned a new word today.”

“Oh? That’s great. You know, I love that you’ve been working so hard on your reading and vocabulary. I’m really proud of you.” Nora shoveled in another spoonful of beans and swallowed. “What’s the word?”

“Placate. It means to say something you don’t necessarily mean in order to keep someone happy.” She smirked.