Page 2

Then, slowly, he nodded.
“One month.” His fingers tapped absently against the edge of the machine. “Do you know what Moscow is calling this?”
I swallowed, surprised Moscow had named my invention. They refused to even consider what I’d called my child. “No.”
Koslov’s lips curved, but it wasn’t a smile. “The Iron Cipher.”
A chill crept up my spine.
“With this,” he continued, “we will see everything before the West even knows what it is doing. No more intercepted communiqués, no more British and American interference. The great capitalist intelligence networks will collapse.”
I clenched my hands into fists behind my back.
“They will never know what hit them,” Koslov said, almost reverent.
And there it was.
Confirmation of what I had feared all along. They wouldn’t use this for defense, as they’d been promising all along. This wasn’t about protection.
They would use it to dismantle the world.
With my machine, the Soviets could penetrate Allied intelligence networks overnight. Their spies could move unseen, opponents’ plans laid bare, enemies crushed before a war was ever declared.
Europe would fall into darkness—not through bombs or bullets, but through silence—and I was the one who had built the mechanism that would enable it all.
I kept my voice steady. “That is . . . an ambitious vision.”
Koslov’s gaze sharpened. “You sound hesitant.”
I turned back to the machine, adjusting a dial as if absorbed in my work. “I am a scientist, Major, not a politician. My passion is creation, nothing more.”
Koslov chuckled. “Come now, Doctor. We are all political, whether we admit it or not.”
His tone was light, but the warning was clear.
I nodded, forcing what I hoped passed for obedience.
“Finish your work.” He gestured toward Vega. “History will remember you as the man who sealed the fate of the West.”
He turned toward the door, then back. “Oh, and Doctor?”
I forced myself to look at him.
“Your daughter,” he said, voice casual. “Is she well?”
Tendrils of ice clawed into my chest and seized my heart. I had never spoken about Eszter in front of him, keeping her out of view and, hopefully, out of their files.
Koslov smiled as if he could see the thoughts racing through my mind. “She is a bright girl, I hear.” He gave a slow nod. “One month, Doctor.”
Then he was gone.
The door clicked shut, leaving behind only the hum of Vega.
I collapsed into my chair, my pulse hammering against my ribs.
They knew about Eszter. Of course, they did. They were the Soviets.
I ran a shaking hand over my face. This was no longer just about the machine and what it might do to the new world order born in the aftermath of war. It was about my family, my precious girl.