Page 35 of The Women of Oak Ridge

What would Clive do now that he knew I’d broken into his home? For that matter, what would the MPs do if he pursued charges against me? He didn’t have proof of my crime, but Clive was a respected military man. They’d believe his word over mine.

For a brief moment I considered leaving Oak Ridge and disappearing like Sissy had done.

People were always coming and going from the Reservation.

No one would think twice if I up and left.

I could catch the bus to Knoxville as soon as I packed my meager belongings.

Once I arrived in the larger town, I’d purchase a ticket home to Kentucky.

It seemed unlikely the authorities would go to the trouble of tracking me down, considering the crime I’d committed was relatively minor.

I didn’t want to leave Oak Ridge though.

I enjoyed my independence and my job, plus it allowed me to send much-needed money to Mama and Pa.

No job in our small mining community paid what I was making at K-25.

Yet it was risky to stay. Should Clive change his mind about pressing charges, Mr. Colby would immediately fire me.

I might even end up in jail. Then there was Sissy.

I felt an urgent need to remain in Oak Ridge in case she wrote to me.

I couldn’t leave until I knew she was safe.

I also couldn’t let Clive get away with espionage, if that’s what he was doing.

I’d be letting our country, our soldiers, and President Roosevelt down if I did.

With slow movements, I gathered my things and joined the throng headed to Clock Alley. I’d grab a sandwich from the cafeteria in town and eat in my dorm room. I had no desire to sit in the noisy dining hall and make idle conversation with anyone tonight.

Lost in my own thoughts, I followed the person in front of me, each step taking me to the bus terminal. I could barely put one foot in front of the other, I was so weary. A good night’s sleep was what I needed. Tomorrow I’d figure out what to do about the MP’s report.

“Hello, Mae.”

A man’s low voice near my shoulder brought my head up. Clive fell into step beside me.

Anger rushed forward and spilled from my mouth. “How dare you show your face here,” I hissed.

The woman ahead of us turned, glanced at me and then at Clive, before facing forward again.

I slowed, letting some distance separate us from her.

The last thing I needed was for someone to overhear harsh words and assume we were a couple having a spat.

That tale would only feed the lie Clive told the MPs about my supposed jealousy over his relationship with Sissy.

“We need to talk.” When he reached for my elbow, I jerked out of his grip.

“Don’t touch me,” I whispered. “I have nothing to say to you.”

“Then perhaps I’ll have another chat with the MPs.

” His upper lip curled as he whispered the threat.

“I suspect Mr. Colby won’t be too pleased when they show up in his office again.

I’m sure the authorities will understand when I suddenly realize I am indeed missing valuable items from my home.

What the items might be, well, I’ll leave that to my imagination.

Money? A watch? Perhaps a token given to me by Sissy?

Hmm, that rings true. You may find yourself behind bars by nightfall.

Either that or you’ll be on a bus bound for Kentucky because you are no longer employed in Oak Ridge.

The Army doesn’t take kindly to thievery. ”

His bullying hit its mark.

“What do you want?” I didn’t bother to lower my voice.

“To talk. That’s all.”

I stared at him, contempt for the man burning through me. “Fine.”

He reached for my elbow again. This time I allowed him to steer me out of line toward his car, parked a short distance away. Once we reached it, he opened the passenger door.

A warning sounded in my head. “I don’t want to go anywhere with you. We can talk here.”

While his lips curved in a smile, his voice grew hard. “Get in the car, Mae.”

Something told me not to cross him. Was this how Sissy felt when he’d caught her with the documents?

Against my better judgement, I climbed into the military sedan. He closed the door and went around to the driver’s seat. A chill coursed through me that had nothing to do with the frosty December weather.

“Let’s take a little drive, then we’ll discuss why you were in my trailer and what you took.”

The ominous words echoed in the quiet vehicle.

He started the engine and drove west, away from the crowded bus terminal.

A couple turns and we were soon traveling a road I’d never been on before.

Thick forest hedged us in on either side.

Fear mounted in my belly with each turn of the wheels.

If Clive tried to hurt me, no one would hear me scream way out here.

I suddenly remembered the knife in my purse.

I’d forgotten to return it to the cafeteria yesterday.

“Where are we going?” I forced calmness into the words as I shifted the small bag on my lap so the flap opening faced me.

If I felt threatened at any point, I’d use the weapon without hesitation.

The man wouldn’t know what hit him if he tried anything nefarious.

He glanced over at me. “Do you know about S-50?”

I shook my head, playing along, yet all the while keeping alert to our surroundings in case I needed to walk back to the plant.

“S-50 was completed this past July. It’s a liquid thermal diffusion plant, unlike K-25, which is a gaseous diffusion plant.

” He laughed when he found what was certainly a blank look on my face.

“You don’t have any idea what’s happening here on the Reservation, do you?

Oak Ridge is one of the biggest secrets of the war.

The world doesn’t know it exists. Even the employees who work here every day don’t know what’s going on. ”

I didn’t respond.

“I’ll let you in on the mystery,” he continued, clearly enjoying himself. “Every hour of every day, uranium is being enriched in little ol’ Oak Ridge, Tennessee.”

My ignorance must have shown. He emitted a sound of disgust.

“Let me guess. You’ve never heard of uranium.

Don’t they teach you anything useful in those backwoods schools in Kentucky?

” Disdain practically dripped from every word.

“Uranium is a heavy metal. It’s found in rocks.

Here in Oak Ridge, we’re working to enrich enough uranium to fuel a bomb.

A big bomb. After the uranium is ready, it’s shipped to a secret location in New Mexico where the actual bomb is being built.

Y-12, K-25, and the X-10 reactor all have the same purpose, just different methods to accomplish it.

S-50 is the newest cog in the wheel. General Groves and the other top dogs hope it will speed up the enrichment process, because beating Hitler to the bomb is imperative.

Unfortunately that hasn’t been the case.

The plant is using more energy than expected, not to mention a plethora of problems that came with its hasty construction. ”

My mind reeled even as I fought to keep a straight face.

Uranium? Bombs? Another secret location?

Was he telling the truth, or was this some elaborate story he’d concocted to make himself sound important, like his lie about his ancestors arriving on the Mayflower?

Sissy had written in her diary multiple times about Clive’s vast intelligence, which to me meant the fellow had done his best to impress her.

I, on the other hand, wasn’t impressed by him at all.

I was about to declare his ramblings bogus when we broke free of the trees. The wide Clinch River ran along the road to our left, but on our right stood a dozen or more buildings clustered together. While the site wasn’t as sprawling as K-25, I couldn’t believe my eyes.

There was another plant on the Reservation? A plant I’d never heard of?

I stared in dumbfounded silence.

The tallest structure was topped with three towering smokestacks where puffs of white escaped into the late afternoon sky.

A smaller building with no windows had a long, elevated conveyor running from railroad cars, their cargo being off-loaded by a crew of workers, to the top of the building.

A different conveyor carried the mysterious load to the structure with the smokestacks.

More buildings of various sizes were arranged in neat order.

Clive slowed the car. “Behold, I give you S-50. Believe it or not, the whole thing was built in sixty-nine days.”

I practically pressed my face to the window.

As my eyes traveled over the site, I couldn’t imagine how I hadn’t known this place existed.

I’d never heard anyone talk about it nor had I seen any buses with a destination sign for S-50.

But, I reasoned, I hadn’t been looking for them either.

Watching a railroad crew off-load something from a string of railcars, I wondered how many people worked at this plant.

With its location so far from town, I guessed most of the employees lived in Happy Valley.

It occurred to me Sissy surely must have been aware of S-50 but hadn’t said anything to me about it.

I held no doubts that Clive had revealed these same secrets to her.

The slogan on one of the newest billboards in town flit through my mind as I gazed out the window.

Hold your tongue. The job’s not done. Sissy may have adhered to the warning, but Clive certainly hadn’t.

A new wave of fear rolled through me. “Why are you telling me all of this?” I turned and faced him. “I’m not supposed to be here or have knowledge about these things. I could lose my job if someone found out.”

He continued to look straight ahead. “Insurance, plain and simple. The more you know, the less you’ll say.”

Is this what had frightened Sissy? Knowing too much? Maybe she had gone back to Georgia because of it.