“Looks like you found some.” Groves glanced at the tape on Joe’s brow as Joe slipped onto the rear seat. The car was small and steamy, and the general’s uniform seemed to be turning into toweling.

“Yes, sir.”

“The problem isn’t wild Indians.” Groves rubbed condensation off the window to watch the three men at the box. “Dr. Oppenheimer is, you understand, a highstrung individual. Anything can set him off now. He has to decide whether to call off the test or not, and all the crackpots at the Base Camp want him to. That’s why I brought him here, so he could make a calm, rational decision.”

Joe looked through the window at Captain Augustino, who had stayed in the jeep. Was this the moment to say, “General, your head of security wants to arrest your project director as a Red spy?” No. Augustino’s whole plan depended on a test. There wasn’t a chance in hell of a test being held in this weather. All he had to do tonight was stall. Tomorrow, when people were sane and dry, he would nail the captain’s ass to a board.

“It is raining, sir.”

“It will clear. Dr. Oppenheimer doesn’t need any more scientific cross-chatter; he needs some sensible advice. Fermi was talking about the end of the world, and we have GIs running all the way to Tularosa. Talk to him, he listens to you. Calm him down. Keep him away from pessimists.”

As Joe left the car the steel tower turned to chalk-white. It faded, and two seconds later, thunder rocked the valley floor. Close.

“All summer and all spring, it hasn’t rained.” Oppy raised his face to the drops. “Here we are, four hours from Zero Hour, and it’s pouring.”

Inside the “privy,” wet electrical tape unraveled in black curlicues from coaxial cable. While Jaworski cut loose strands, Foote wound the cable with fresh tape.

“Snakes and sunstroke we anticipated in the desert,” Foote said. “Humidity took us by surprise.”

“How about lightning?” Joe asked.

“I told you how lightning knocked out a rehearsal.” Jaworski snipped away. “A power surge from lightning certainly could set off the high explosive.”

“Nonsense.” Foote wiped the tape with Kleenex. “The tower is grounded.”

“Shut up!” Oppy said. “The bomb is a dud. You know it and I know it; everybody knows it but the general. How can I think with you two nits picking at each other?”

The ladder leaned against the first landing of the tower. Oppy climbed it and rose up the runs toward the shed. Once past the second landing and the faint beams of the spotlights, he vanished into the dark. Foote silently finished the taping and checked that the cable firing switch was in the open position before shutting the “privy” door and padlocking it.

Groves came over from the sedan while Augustino sauntered over from the jeep. “Follow him,” the general told Joe.