Free Uncommon Enemy by John Reynolds Page B

conversation ended and she walked slowly into the dining room, sat down and stared at her husband.
    “What is it, Maude?”
    She looked at him and then at her two children. “That was my friend Margaret. She’s had the radio on and heard a special announcement. The Germans have dropped an enormous bomb or something on the Orkney Islands.”
    “Where are the Orkney Islands, Mum?” asked Stephen.
    “Just north of Scotland. Your Aunt Marie came from the coastal town of Kirkwall on the largest island.”
    Stuart frowned. “The Orkney Islands? Why would they want to drop a bomb there? Surely they’re not strategically important?”
    “The radio said that it’s some new sort of bomb that has been dropped as some kind of warning. Apparently the destruction on the Islands is really dreadful.”
    “A new sort of bomb?” asked her husband.
    “Apparently the Germans have developed a much more powerful bomb than any that have been dropped in the war so far. Has some special name. Something to do with atoms.”
    “Stuart, what’s the matter?” Seeing her brother put his hand to his mouth and sit quite still, Claire reached out and touched him anxiously on the arm.
    Looking round at his family, Stuart spoke softly. “There’ve been references to this in some of the documents that Brendan translated for us. Not sure how, but the allies have been able to intercept some of the Germans’ communications regarding new categories of weapons that they’re developing.”
    “What sort of weapons?”
    “Well, we do know that the Germans are developing some sort of rocket with bombs loaded up front that can fly without a pilot. There have also been a couple of documents that indicated that they’re developing a new type of bomb based on those atomic energy discoveries some years ago by our Earnest Rutherford. The British and possibly the Americans are probably researching the same area. However we assumed that the Germans were concentrating on developing their armed rockets.”
    The three of them sat silently for a long moment until his father asked quietly, “If the Germans have developed this atom-type bomb before we have, and it’s very very powerful, God help us, they could use it to win the war!” He paused and looked hard at his eldest son. “Is that what you think, Stuart?”
    Stuart shook his head. “Let’s not panic just yet. I’ll see if I can phone the professor at home.”
    Seating himself at the phone table in the hallway Stuart lifted the handset off its hook, placed it to his ear and dialled the number. The professor answered almost immediately and Stuart leaned forward towards the mouthpiece.
    “Good evening, sir. It’s me, Stuart.”
    “Ah yes,” came the reply. “I suppose you’ve heard the news.”
    “About the bomb? Yes, sir. Is it as bad as it sounds?”
    “I’m afraid it probably is, my boy. A large area has been completely devastated by this one bomb. The Germans decided to drop it on the Orkneys as a warning. Probably used an airfield in occupied Norway, courtesy of their puppet governor Vidkun Quisling. Clearly they didn’t want to destroy a large part of a British city as they probably hope to keep it intact for their future occupation. What I’ve just heard, however, is that they have issued an ultimatum to London demanding an immediate and unconditional surrender; otherwise a similar bomb will be dropped on a British city within forty eight hours.”
    “Is it the sort of bomb we were discussing the other day, sir?”
    “The atomic-based weapon? Yes, it very much looks that way. It has previously unheard of powers of destruction. Who would have thought those bastards would beat us to it?”
    Stuart had never heard Professor Sterling swear before. In spite of the gravity of the situation he smiled wryly. Things must be bad for Sterling, however temporarily, to discard his academic objectivity.
    There wasn’t much more that the professor could tell him. Both of them had seen the