Page 53 of The Women of Oak Ridge
I left my bike on the cell floor and found Clive on the third level pipe gallery with two other men.
When he glanced at me, I had the packet clutched to my chest. Without making it obvious, he looked up.
That was the sign I should meet him upstairs on the operating floor.
Although people moved about on that floor, large machines and dark corners offered privacy.
I made my way there and waited. It wasn’t long before Clive arrived.
“Here.” I shoved the packet at him. “Hurry up before Mr. Colby comes looking for me.”
“Why, Mae, you don’t look happy,” he said, his usual smug grin creasing his face.
He took the envelope and began to carefully open it.
“You must be the only person on the Reservation who is glum today. The war in Europe is over. Hitler’s dead.
We just need to whip the Japs and everything will be back to normal. ”
I stared at him. “How can you say that? Hundreds of thousands of people have died.” I wanted to add that Sissy was dead too, but I’d learned it wasn’t wise to mention her to Clive.
I still didn’t have proof that he’d killed her, but I knew it was true.
“Lives have been forever altered. Countries bombed and torn apart. Nothing will ever be normal again.”
He wasn’t listening. He removed the documents from the envelope, flipped through them, then stuffed them all back inside. “I don’t need these. They’re similar to some I’ve already passed.”
While I was relieved he wasn’t going to keep any of the papers today, it made me ill to think of how many top secret documents I’d helped him steal over the past months.
It was a small comfort knowing they went to Russians rather than to Germans or Italians, but I hated what I’d become involved in.
Hated that I’d betrayed my country and the brave men and women fighting overseas.
Hated that I was a coward.
Oh, that the war would finally come to an end and set me free.
By the time August arrived, sultry summer temperatures had everyone grouchy. The war with Japan dragged on. The secret was old and burdensome. Tempers flared on a dime. In order to stay cool, people flocked to the spring-fed swimming pool in town, and ice cream was in high demand.
With Mr. Colby’s permission, I’d begun working seven days a week.
I had no desire to have a day off, not even to take a dip in the chilly water.
Too many hours with nothing to do allowed my mind to wander to places I’d rather not go.
My roommate Dorothy thought it the strangest thing I’d done so far, according to Prudence Thorpe.
“I probably shouldn’t tell you this,” she’d said last night when I returned to the dorm after a long Sunday shift, “but Dorothy thinks you’re an odd bird.”
I’d been too tired to take offense. “She may be right.”
Prudence had given me a curious look. “You haven’t been yourself since Sissy left. Any word from her?”
My back had stiffened. “No.”
She’d pressed her lips together, a sure sign she was about to say something I wouldn’t like. “I’ve noticed you’ve taken up with Clive Morrison. Seems a little strange, considerin’ he was Sissy’s fella and all.”
I’d nearly choked. “I haven’t taken up with him. I can’t stand the man.”
“But I’ve seen you with him on several occasions.”
My heart had dropped to the floor. I’d thought no one had noticed my meetings with Clive, but I was obviously wrong.
“There are things about our jobs at K-25 that sometimes require—” I’d covered my mouth, feigning surprise. “Oops, I nearly said something I shouldn’t. You know what they say about loose lips.”
I’d turned and walked away without giving her a chance to respond.
Monday began as any other day. Mr. Colby had assignments for me, but thankfully none required transporting documents to the incinerator. Halfway through the morning, he called me into the main office. A crowd of other maintenance personnel were already there.
“I received word that something important is going to be announced over the radio,” Mr. Colby said. I’d never seen him so anxious. He fiddled with the knob on the radio while others in the room speculated on what we were about to hear.
“Maybe the Japanese surrendered.”
“Or the emperor is dead, just like Hitler.”
“I bet the Russians invaded Japan.”
I didn’t glance at the man who’d spoken that last statement. Reports about Russia’s Red Army made me nervous.
Mr. Colby called for silence. Static and a hum came from the radio.
Finally, we heard President Truman’s voice.
“A short time ago, an American airplane dropped one bomb on Hiroshima, and destroyed its usefulness to the enemy. That bomb had more power than 20,000 tons of TNT.”
As people in the room gasped, I stood frozen, unable to breathe.
Was President Truman about to unveil the secret?
“The Japanese began the war from the air at Pearl Harbor. They have been repaid manyfold. And the end is not yet. With this bomb we have now added a new and revolutionary increase in destruction to supplement the growing power of our armed forces. In their present form, these bombs are now in production and even more powerful forms are in development.”
He paused. “It is an atomic bomb.”
I grasped the bib of my overalls, unable to believe what I’d just heard. My heart hammered in my ears, to the point I couldn’t hear what the president was saying. Something about harnessing the powers of the universe and the sun.
“We are now prepared to destroy more rapidly and completely every productive enterprise the Japanese have in any city. Let there be no mistake—we shall completely destroy Japan’s power to make war.”
The people gathered around the radio cheered.
The president continued his speech, but I couldn’t get past the fact that the United States had used the secret weapon we’d all been working on. The weapon Clive had told me about. I don’t think I’d ever truly believed him until this very moment.
I focused on the voice coming from the radio again. President Truman spoke about a meeting that took place at Potsdam, a place I’d never heard of, where an ultimatum had been given to Japan’s leaders to surrender.
“If they do not now accept our terms,” Truman said, “they may expect a rain of ruin from the air, the likes of which has never been seen on this earth.”
The threatening words filled me with a sense of dread, and I found myself praying the Japanese would give up their stubborn fight. No one else needed to die.
“We have spent more than two billion dollars on the greatest scientific gamble in history—and we have won.”
Mr. Colby whistled. “Two billion dollars.”
“Both science and industry worked together,” the president continued, “under the direction of the United States Army, which achieved a unique success in an amazingly short time.”
I thought back to the day I learned about S-50. Clive said the liquid thermal diffusion plant had been built in less than three months.
“The Secretary of War, who has kept in personal touch with all phases of the project, will immediately make public a statement giving further details. His statement will give facts concerning the sites at Oak Ridge near Knoxville, Tennessee,” the president said, followed by whoops and hollers from my coworkers before Mr. Colby shushed everyone, “and at Richland near Pasco, Washington, and an installation near Santa Fe, New Mexico. Although the workers at the sites have been making materials to be used in producing the greatest destructive force in history, they have not themselves been in danger beyond that of many other occupations, for the utmost care has been taken of their safety.”
The president’s speech ended with his promise to recommend Congress set up a commission to monitor and control the uses of atomic power in the United States.
I couldn’t help but think of the classified documents Clive had delivered to the Russian government.
What did they intend to do with the knowledge they’d stolen from our country?
All I could do was pray that whatever secrets I’d passed to Clive would never be used to harm Americans.
After Mr. Colby clicked off the radio, he faced us. “I’m sure more information will come out in the coming weeks, but for now, just know that your hard work—everything we’ve all been doing the past two years—was for this day.”
A triumphant cheer filled the room. Everyone spoke in excited voices at once. Some were astonished that Oak Ridge had played a role in making the powerful weapon, while others appeared relieved the secret was finally out.
I quietly slipped from the office. I wasn’t sure why, but tears filled my eyes.
I hurried to the restroom and locked the door.
My knees gave way, and I sank to the tiled floor and wept.
I cried for all the soldiers who’d died because of this terrible war.
I cried for the innocent victims. For Sissy and her mama. For myself.
But it was finally over, or it would be soon. Surely the Japanese would surrender after having such a terrible weapon used on them. President Truman didn’t say how many people were killed, but one would assume it was a great many, considering the power the bomb unleashed.
Three days later, a second atomic bomb was dropped on Japan, this time on a city called Nagasaki.
I’d sat in Mr. Colby’s office, stunned by the radio announcement.
Why hadn’t Japan’s leaders surrendered after the first bomb?
Why had they put their citizens at risk?
When would all the death and destruction finally come to an end?
On Tuesday, I woke to the sound of happy voices and car horns out my window. Groggy from sleep, I glanced at my wristwatch. It was after noon. I’d worked the late shift last night and had fallen into bed in the wee hours of the morning.
A warm August breeze came through the partially open window. I pulled back the curtain and saw a repeat of what had taken place when Germany surrendered. Crowds of people and cars clogged the streets, celebrating.
I hurried into the hallway where a young woman ran past.
“What’s happening?” I hollered after her.
She skidded to a stop and stared at me. “Haven’t you heard? Japan surrendered. The war is over!” She didn’t wait for more questions and disappeared down the stairs.
I stood there in my nightgown, stunned.
Could it truly be over? After all these years, had the war finally come to an end?
I covered my face with my hands and sobbed.