Read Online In War Times by Kathleen Ann Goonan - Free Book Online Page A

from the booth with briefcase in hand and grabbed his hat with the other one. “Got to go. Thanks for the beer.” They watched him walk with what seemed special haste through the evening crowd and out the door.
    “What was that all about?” asked Wink.
    “Just an idea I’ve been mulling over.”
    The next day Sam and Wink were called into the CO’s office. “Bitts seems to think that you two have knowledge of a top-secret project and were trying to pump him for information last night.”
    Sam and Wink looked at each other.
    “You were talking about some kind of reflective radio device,” Wink said helpfully.
    “That’s right,” said the CO.
    Sam wanted to strangle Wink. It was not to be the last time. “It’s something I’ve been thinking about, but there’s a power problem.”
    The CO made some notes. “This is all your own idea.”
    “Yes. But it’s pretty obvious. I’m sure that a lot of other people have been thinking along the same lines.”
    “Not that many people,” said Wink, as they headed back to their interrupted class.
    “What?”
    “Apparently not that many people have been thinking about radio reflections.”
    “I guess they have,” said Sam. “Only we aren’t supposed to know it.”
    Two men in suits came to talk to them, and once again, the blonde, Major Elegante. Again, she asked no questions. Just took notes. When she left, Sam still didn’t know what her voice sounded like.
    After a week, they were again in the now-familiar office of the CO. “Okay,” he told them, after they’d saluted and sat down. “You’ve been turned inside out and deemed not to be involved in industrial sabotage or spying.”
    Sam started from his chair. “My brother—” His voice shook.
    “I apologize. I know about your brother. Please sit down. You’ll soon see why this evaluation was necessary.”
    Sam sat on the edge of his chair and wasn’t sure what to do with his hands, which wanted to punch the CO in the face. He gripped his knees.
    “Okay, look. You and Winklemeyer, having been duly evaluated, have been cleared to receive classified information. Bitts will brief you at “oh-five hundred” tomorrow. Classroom C.”
    “But—” Wink began to say in what was clearly a protest.
    The CO silenced him with a look. “I don’t want you guys to get swelled heads, but somebody has decided that you’ve got the smarts and you’re to receive special attention. I disagree with that evaluation; your behavior doesn’t show it. But I’ve been overruled.”
    “He actually apologized,” said Wink after they left, this time with an order not to discuss their technological thoughts with anyone.
    “He damned well better.”
    “They expect me to be up at that hour on a Sunday ?”
    Sam was thrilled.
    A guard was posted outside the classroom; he waved them in, looking irritated—no doubt for the same reason Wink, bleary-eyed, was irritated. “Please close the door,” said Bitts. Heat hadn’t made its way into the room yet, and he still wore his overcoat. The heavy oak school table at which he sat held an insulated coffee pot, and Sam noted with satisfaction that they’d been thought of: three cups and saucers were there, along with notepads and pencils, and a plate of Danishes.
    “Morning,” said Bitts. “Help yourselves.”
    “Absence of ‘good’ noted,” said Wink, pouring his coffee.
    Bitts looked at Sam. “You’re the fellow who wondered about the energy source.”
    “Right.”
    “It’s called a cavity magnetron. It was invented by two Brits, Boot and Randall, and was offered to us as a down payment for the exchange of war information. It was brought here under the highest conditions of secrecy.” He smiled. “In a suitcase, which they kept under a bed at their hotel.”
    “Which is why you thought that we were spies trying to pump you for information,” said Sam.
    “Now we know that you’re just thoughtful guys trying to solve the same problem we’ve been chasing for