It wasn’t Nora’s purview to keep up with the data on the amount of Tubealloy produced—not directly, anyway. Still, how was Nora supposed to measure whether her girls’ efforts were succeeding if she couldn’t know whether the amount of material collected matched expectations? That’s foolish. You know full well that you haven’t come close to hitting the necessary quantities. But how much was needed? And what if she was wrong altogether in her assumptions about what they were doing here and why? You’re not wrong. You’re a physicist. We’re enriching uran…Tubealloy. How else are you to interpret the end goal? With a sufficiently large quantity of enriched material, presumably the chain reaction would be powerful enough to… Nora’s eyes popped open wide. To do what? Annihilate an entire people?

“Excuse me. Hi.”

Nora’s head shot up. Mary stood directly in front of her, looking pretty as a peach. Quickly, she shoved the papers back in the folder and tucked them in the attaché case.

“I hate to interrupt what I expect is a fascinating conversation for one.” She smiled tentatively. “But you look positively awful. You’re terribly thin, and that furrow in your brow doesn’t suit you at all, and…”

Nora blinked. “Did you come over here to insult me?”

“What?” Mary took a step back. “No, not at all.” She pulled out a chair and sat down, uninvited. “You haven’t touched your lunch, and you’re clearly distracted. I simply wanted to help. Sometimes a friendly face can make all the difference in the world.”

“I’m sure you mean well, but I’m perfectly fine.”

“No, you’re not. That much is clear.”

Nora frowned. The impudence! Who did this girl think she was?

“Come to another dance with me. It’ll do you good to cut loose a little.”

Nora’s pulse quickened at the idea of spending time with Mary. She’d watched her surreptitiously the other night, dancing with Betty. She’d been jealous that Mary’d been smiling and laughing and having a good time with her friend. Jealous! What did she have to be jealous about? They were all friends out having a good time. “I-I can’t. I’ve got too much to do, and besides, I’m not a very social person.”

Mary leaned in closer, and Nora sat back as far as she could in her chair. “Well, you should be. You can’t work all the time. I’m really worried about you. Please? Come dancing with me tonight. It’s my last day on first shift until Christmas, so it’s my only free night.”

She looked so hopeful. “I’m sorry. I’m sure you can find someone else to keep you company.” Even as she said it, the idea of Mary out on the town with someone else nauseated her. She closed her eyes.