selected the appropriate time slice and pressed play. ‘What you are seeing now is the laboratory floor – the uranium-enrichment sphere is the globe in the centre of the room.’
The screen showed many scientists and engineers in the lab. As the lights dimmed, they pulled visors down over their eyes and turned to face the sphere. The sphere seemed to glow as the room darkened around it, and then, for just a few seconds, the room filled with white streaks before everything went black. A dreadful howling sound made even the viewers widen their eyes and grip their chair rails. Al Janaddi slowed the footage to a frame-by-frame perspective. Even so, the speed of events was rapid and it was difficult to understand what they were actually seeing. All of the personnel in the lab seemed to blur and warp, stretching towards the sphere as if they were made of elastic. The slowed-down howl sounded almost musical now, like a large brass horn.
Al Janaddi halted the display and enlarged a small section, showing the faces of the scientists in detail. Most showed expressions of surprise, but among them there were also fear and agony. Then they were gone.
‘Gamma radiation within the facility spiked at eight thousand sieverts,’ Al Janaddi explained quietly. ‘That’s almost incineration wavelength. Further away from the sphere, the concrete and lead panelling shielded the pulse shock wave somewhat, but we know it travelled beyond the facility. There is no significant radiation at the site now; in fact, nothing much above normal. It was there, and now it’s gone.’
Davoodi spoke again, slowly. ‘Are there any survivors? Have the bodies been retrieved and blessed?’
‘There are no survivors, but . . .’ Al Janaddi licked his lips as he gathered his thoughts. ‘We believe we have recovered the remains of Mahmud Shihab, the lead scientist of the facility. But at this point we’re not one hundred per cent sure if –’
The president unfolded his arms and narrowed his eyes at the scientist. ‘Tell us what you have, Professor. Everything – quickly.’ Though the tone was even, Al Janaddi could feel the underlying warning to be absolutely candid.
‘Yes, my President. Please appreciate there is much we still do not fully comprehend, and we need many more tests for final confirmation, but a body . . . er, a partial body, was shipped to us this morning. We believe it is Dr Shihab, but identification was possible only from the security tag found on a pocket and a partial thumbprint from the left hand.’
Al Janaddi sensed Parvid Davoodi watching him closely. ‘Severe burning?’ the vice-president asked.
Al Janaddi’s lips moved as if testing his words before he spoke them aloud. He shook his head and looked down at the ground before continuing. ‘Yes, there was gamma insult to the physiology, and some of the personnel recovering the body suffered quite severe secondary radiation poisoning, but that was not what confused us.’
The scientist drew in a deep shuddering breath and opened another file on the laptop – a single colour photograph that filled the screen. Though he had seen it before, he winced at the image. The top half of the body was almost unrecognisable as human. The head and face were the worst – they seemed to have stretched and widened. An eye a foot long stared out of the image, while the mouth – held open by the swollen, distended tongue – seemed to be screaming from the very pit of hell.
Even the veteran soldiers, who had seen all manner of mutilations on the battlefield, sat with mouths open in either disgust or shock. After a few moments, most of the group looked away, all except Mahmoud Moshaddam. The president’s gaze burned into the scientist; Al Janaddi felt as if it penetrated to his very core.
‘What else?’ Moshaddam said softly. ‘There is something more – I can feel it. I will not ask you a third time, Professor. Tell us everything.’
The scientist wrung his hands and
The screen showed many scientists and engineers in the lab. As the lights dimmed, they pulled visors down over their eyes and turned to face the sphere. The sphere seemed to glow as the room darkened around it, and then, for just a few seconds, the room filled with white streaks before everything went black. A dreadful howling sound made even the viewers widen their eyes and grip their chair rails. Al Janaddi slowed the footage to a frame-by-frame perspective. Even so, the speed of events was rapid and it was difficult to understand what they were actually seeing. All of the personnel in the lab seemed to blur and warp, stretching towards the sphere as if they were made of elastic. The slowed-down howl sounded almost musical now, like a large brass horn.
Al Janaddi halted the display and enlarged a small section, showing the faces of the scientists in detail. Most showed expressions of surprise, but among them there were also fear and agony. Then they were gone.
‘Gamma radiation within the facility spiked at eight thousand sieverts,’ Al Janaddi explained quietly. ‘That’s almost incineration wavelength. Further away from the sphere, the concrete and lead panelling shielded the pulse shock wave somewhat, but we know it travelled beyond the facility. There is no significant radiation at the site now; in fact, nothing much above normal. It was there, and now it’s gone.’
Davoodi spoke again, slowly. ‘Are there any survivors? Have the bodies been retrieved and blessed?’
‘There are no survivors, but . . .’ Al Janaddi licked his lips as he gathered his thoughts. ‘We believe we have recovered the remains of Mahmud Shihab, the lead scientist of the facility. But at this point we’re not one hundred per cent sure if –’
The president unfolded his arms and narrowed his eyes at the scientist. ‘Tell us what you have, Professor. Everything – quickly.’ Though the tone was even, Al Janaddi could feel the underlying warning to be absolutely candid.
‘Yes, my President. Please appreciate there is much we still do not fully comprehend, and we need many more tests for final confirmation, but a body . . . er, a partial body, was shipped to us this morning. We believe it is Dr Shihab, but identification was possible only from the security tag found on a pocket and a partial thumbprint from the left hand.’
Al Janaddi sensed Parvid Davoodi watching him closely. ‘Severe burning?’ the vice-president asked.
Al Janaddi’s lips moved as if testing his words before he spoke them aloud. He shook his head and looked down at the ground before continuing. ‘Yes, there was gamma insult to the physiology, and some of the personnel recovering the body suffered quite severe secondary radiation poisoning, but that was not what confused us.’
The scientist drew in a deep shuddering breath and opened another file on the laptop – a single colour photograph that filled the screen. Though he had seen it before, he winced at the image. The top half of the body was almost unrecognisable as human. The head and face were the worst – they seemed to have stretched and widened. An eye a foot long stared out of the image, while the mouth – held open by the swollen, distended tongue – seemed to be screaming from the very pit of hell.
Even the veteran soldiers, who had seen all manner of mutilations on the battlefield, sat with mouths open in either disgust or shock. After a few moments, most of the group looked away, all except Mahmoud Moshaddam. The president’s gaze burned into the scientist; Al Janaddi felt as if it penetrated to his very core.
‘What else?’ Moshaddam said softly. ‘There is something more – I can feel it. I will not ask you a third time, Professor. Tell us everything.’
The scientist wrung his hands and
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