Page 97 of The Women of Oak Ridge

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. PresidentTruman 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.”