It was impossible to know how long it would take for the Americans to understand the meaning of the Reactor Four samples. Perhaps they already did.

And if that was the case, they would do anything in their power to stop him from using Ito’s weapon. They might even go so far as to warn the Chinese or even join them in a preemptive attack on Japan. He needed just a little longer to prepare. To ensure that his plan would succeed. Soon there would be no one who could stop what was to come.

32

32

Alexandria, Virginia
USA

Jon Smith wandered around the lab looking at the stainless steel tables, computers, and other machinery, but not really seeing any of it. Maple watched him with a confused, helpless expression that was more than a little worrying. When a guy who made his living marrying advanced weaponry with nuclear power got scared, the shit had officially hit the fan.

“How would you develop something like this?” Smith said, finally coming to a stop in the middle of the floor.

“With a lot of dedication, brains, and funding.”

“So, in your opinion, this is not the work of a terrorist group.”

“No way in hell, Jon. This is government money. And a lot more than we were willing to throw at it.”

Smith nodded. The field of nanotechnology was fairly theoretical and while it would get some nominal funding from the Pentagon, it was the kind of long-term, pie-in-the-sky project that didn’t tend to be a priority for the United States. He’d run into the same problem himself over the years. The Department of Defense tended to be most interested in developing ways to make existing technology tougher, faster, and more accurate. Politicians tended to be most interested in large, expensive systems that could be developed and manufactured in their districts. Nanotech fit neither bill.

“Okay, Greg. But specifically, who could have pulled this off? Who are the thinkers in the field?”

“Well, there’s Gunter Heizenburg in Germany. He’s doing interesting stuff at the University of Munich. And then you’ve got Sean Baxter at MIT. He’s focused on creating new materials with nanotubes, though. I guarantee you that neither one of those guys is anywhere near doing something like this. You know how it is, Jon. They’ve got a bunch of grad students working for them and they fight tooth and nail for every research dollar.”

“Then think harder!” Smith said, letting his frustration get the better of him. Asia was about to explode into a war that would drag in the entire world and now it seemed that someone had gotten hold of a goddamn doomsday weapon. “Sorry, Greg. It’s been a long couple of weeks.”