'Sure, sure, honey; and they are. They've offered again and again to go the whole way; but they're not such Dummkopfs as to agree to half measures. And the West digs its toes in at the idea of packing up the great deterrent altogether, because the Soviets hold the bigger stick where conventional forces are concerned. That's the deadlock, and the Russians would put out the biggest ever red carpet for anyone who would break it for them.'

'It seems an impasse out of which there is no way.'

'Oh, there is a way. I could do it myself if I wanted.'

'You can't mean that,' Mary said with a smile, feeling certain that he was either pulling her leg or making an absurd boast to impress her. 'How could you possibly change the views of all the leading statesmen of the Western Powers?'

'By dropping just one egg in Europe. Vague ideas are one thing; seeing is another. Headlines, radio, eye-witness reports, T.V., documentaries on the flicks. All the horror of an H-bomb bang brought fresh from the scene right into every home in the N.A.T.O. countries. Just think of the pressure there'd be on their Governments. Millions of women blowing their tops, voters of all shades shouting "It mustn't happen here", demonstrations, strikes, threats to Cabinet Ministers. And as I was telling you a while back, democratic Governments aren't free agents. They'd have no option. None at all. They'd be pushed into making a pact with the Soviets to scrap all nuclear weapons and make no more.'

'Really, Wash!' Mary protested. 'It's you who are off the mark this time. Apart from doing such a terrible thing as dropping a bomb out of the blue that would kill or maim countless innocent people, can't you see that in whichever N.A.T.O. country it fell everyone would immediately assume that the Russians had opened hostilities. Within minutes your squadron and everything else we've got would be on the way to Russia; and in no time the Russians would be fighting back. Such an act could only precipitate a general blow-up.'

He gave her an amused look. 'I didn't say drop it in a N.A.T.O.country, honey. I said Europe, and there's still neutrals. Say we put one down in Switzerland, both sides would hold their hands. They'd sit tight, batting their heads who done it, and why. Meantime, the camera boys would be having a red-letter day; pictures and films would be getting around and the demonstrations starting.'

'I see. Yes; I suppose you're right. But think of the poor Swiss. As far as they are concerned it would be cold-blooded mass murder.'