The Heisenberg Legacy

by Christopher Cartwright

  Alex shrugged. “I heard that only one life was lost, and that the terrorist wasn’t even involved in that one.”

  “Game’s over, Alex. You can cut the crap.”

  Alex cocked his head to the side. “What crap?”

  “The video game you were playing. It wasn’t a game was it? It was a real-time projection of your battlefield in Washington, D.C. and those soldiers in your game, weren’t just characters, those were the men on the ground who you were giving orders to.”

  Alex’s eyes narrowed, his lips formed into a practiced smile. “You think I was behind the terrorist attack on our capital? You’ve got to be crazy. I’ve been here the whole time. You should know, someone had four agents running surveillance on me since this started. One in the van out the front, one on my neighbor’s roof, one working on the powerlines, and one in the shop beneath my apartment. So, you see, there was no chance that I could’ve been involved in anything as far away as Washington, D.C.”

  Sam moved to the video game controller and switched the TV back on. An urban warfare game was paused. He clicked the un-pause button and the game continued to play in real-time. The FBI agents watched for a minute, while Sam maneuvered the gaming console so he could visualize the location.

  It was a city with two large rivers, branching off to form a large Y-shape, in the middle of which, a large dome-shaped building rose from a city shrouded in purple smoke. Bridges along both lengths of the two rivers had been razed. Their foundations still smoldered.

  All eyes in the room remained on the city.

  But it wasn’t Washington, D.C. – it was Budapest. As the purple smoke dissipated, it revealed that the domed-building wasn’t the Capitol, but the Central Dome of the Hungarian Parliament, and instead of the Potomac, it was the Danube River.

  Sam’s lips curled into a wry smile. “This doesn’t prove anything. You’ve been playing me all along. You must’ve changed games. You knew I was coming for you.”

  Alex shrugged. “If that’s what you think. We all make up things from time to time. I particularly have that trouble. The trick is to remember what’s real and try and differentiate it from one’s imagination.”

  The FBI agents searched his house from top to bottom. A team of computer hackers from the cyberwarfare division analyzed his gaming set up.

  All told, it was nearly midnight before they were complete.

  The FBI agent in charge unhandcuffed Alex. “Sir, I’m sorry for the intrusion. All I can say was that we were fed poor intel. Good night.”

  Sam met the agent’s eye. With his arms spread, his palms facing upward, he said, “You’ve got to be kidding me! I was here! I watched him move his men around, setting up the dynamite that would level the Theodore Roosevelt Bridge.”

  “No, you didn’t,” the agent replied. “You saw him setting up an urban battlefield in a game, set in Budapest.”

  Sam shook his head. “I know what I saw. Besides, I know how Alex thinks. He’s been leading me around the city for the past twenty-four hours!”

  The agent shrugged. “What can I say? He’s clean. His gaming TV isn’t even connected to the internet. In fact, his server down below hasn’t even been connected to the fiber-optics node yet.”

  “All right,” Sam said. “I could’ve sworn that it was Washington, D.C.”

  One by one, each of the Federal Agents left the building.

  Sam was the last to leave.

  At the door, Alex shook his hand and patted him on the shoulder paternalistically. “You know what, Mr. Reilly?”

  Sam met his gaze with a dimpled smile. “What?”

  “Your grandfather was a crook, and your father’s not much better, but you’re okay. You’re okay.”

  Bemused, Sam shook his head and smiled. “Thanks. Hey Alex…”

  “Yeah?”

  “What was this all really about?”

  “You tell me?” Alex replied. “You were the one trying to investigate a terrorist. I was just playing a game. You’re the professional. You take care of yourself, Sam. Don’t let Washington and all your other powerful connections corrupt you.”

  Sam stepped out of the kid’s apartment and started walking down the street. He hadn’t made it more than a block when his cell phone received a text message. Not his cell phone, but the one the terrorist had given him. He opened the message.

  Written on it was a single set of GPS coordinates.

  Underneath it, it read:

  Thanks for playing the game. A.G.

  Chapter Sixty-One

  The Secretary of Defense leaned back into her chair inside the Command Center. Her eyes watched the operation to recover the World War II era German Nuclear Bomb. The GPS coordinates Sam had been given – although where and by whom, he refused to divulge – were followed by a team of Navy SEALs and an elite team of bomb disposal experts out of the 832nd Ordnance Battalion US Marine Corps led to an old, rundown, farm property on the outskirts of Virginia.

  The property was purchased in 1946 by a man named Reilly Finney – an Alias for Wilhelm Gutwein – and despite being maintained, no one had ever moved onto the farm. On the property the team found an old red tobacco style barn. Despite its dilapidated appearance, a series of modern CCTV surveillance cameras hung surreptitiously from its ceiling and followed their every move.

  Inside, the team spaced out and searched the empty barn.

  The Secretary depressed the transmitter for her radio. “Check the floor for any access underground.”

  “Understood, ma’am,” came the Marine’s reply.

  Two minutes later, someone located a hidden trapdoor.

  The Secretary felt her heart thumping in her chest. Could it be this easy? Was the threat about to be neutralized? She watched the live video-feed from the Marine’s helmet mounted camera. The man opened the trapdoor, revealing a series of steps underground. At the bottom, a large metal door was digitally locked. The door looked like something akin to what you’d find inside a bank’s vault. A single SEAL studied the digital pad. It was unlikely anyone was going to guess the code.

  The SEAL spoke into his radio, “Madam Secretary, we’ve hit a snag.”

  “Understood. We’re working on it,” the Secretary replied. She turned to Sam Reilly, who was next to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, several military advisers, and the President of the United States. “Mr. Reilly. Did your source mention anything about how to gain access?”

  Sam’s lips thinned. “I’m sorry. Not a thing.”

  She turned to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. “How long would it take your team to force entry?”

  “Assuming it’s not booby-trapped?” He replied with a cocked eyebrow. “It could be hours.”

  The Secretary smiled. “Or not.”

  On the live-feed of the door, something suddenly changed. The sound of large, hydraulic locks moving could be heard, and a few seconds later, the security door swung open.

  The on-ground team leader ordered everyone out of the barn, while a remote controlled vehicle was sent inside to investigate. The Secretary found herself holding her breath as the remotely operated vehicle made its way down the stairs and into the secure room.

  Its overhead LED lights were switched on and its video feed transferred to one of the Command Center’s six large display monitors. The RCV made a slow circular sweep of the room. Four large boxes located next to each other in the middle of the room.

  The RCV focused its camera in on one of the boxes.

  A yellow and black trefoil – the International symbol for nuclear radiation – was plastered all over the box.

  The RCV removed the lead cover for the box.

  Instantly the Geiger counter started to chirp, indicating the presence of radioactive material. The camera was remotely maneuvered to get a better look.

  Inside, were the dismantled components of the German nuclear bomb, and more than a dozen plutonium rods.

  The Secretary of Defense sighed heavily. “Thank God. It seems th
at Wilhelm Gutwein never intended to mount a nuclear attack.”

  Chapter Sixty-Two

  After the explosions throughout the capital and along the bridges of the Potomac River, the unidentified army of mercenaries disappeared, seamlessly integrating with other civilians trapped within the city.

  An investigation launched immediately afterward discovered that the mercenaries had used the old Dupont Circle underground railway tunnels to escape the barricades and locked down sections of the Capital. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff swore he’d hunt them down, and have the perpetrators brought to justice.

  The Secretary of Defense interrogated the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff regarding who authorized the USS Jimmy Carter to kidnap Sam Reilly after he dived the Clarion Call. She could be quite formidable when the situation required it. In the end, the man had acquiesced and admitted that he was following the advice and intel from a retired senator, named Charles Finney – regarding secrets that were in everyone’s interest to be permanently maintained.

  She said, “How long have you known the retired Senator Finney?”

  “Nearly forty years, ma’am. He’s a good man. Helped me get to where I am today. Why do you ask?”

  The Secretary tilted her head to the left, and her piercing green eyes fixed on his. “Painter, you weren’t involved in this cover up all this time, were you?”

  The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff shook his head. “No ma’am.”

  Three days after the events that captured the worst nightmares of Americans involving a possible nuclear attack on Washington, D.C., a black SUV drove along K Street. Inside, the Secretary of Defense and Sam Reilly sat silently.

  Neither was sure that they wanted to know the truth.

  The SUV pulled into the Farrugut Residences.

  Sam got out and together with the Secretary of Defense they walked into the main reception area. A small, discreet, security detail followed.

  The same stylishly dressed young receptionist met them at the door with a pleasing smile full of teeth.

  The Secretary handed over her ID card, and said, “We’re here to see retired Senator Charles Finney.”

  The receptionist’s smile faded. “I’m sorry, madam Secretary, but that’s not possible.”

  “Not possible? Did I not make myself clear? This isn’t a social visit. We need to see the retired Senator, now.”

  The young lady swallowed hard and sighed. “I’m sorry, it isn’t possible.”

  “Why not?”

  Another woman entered the room, her ID badge showing that she was a registered nurse. “Because he’s dead. I’m so sorry, he had a heart attack last night.”

  “Last night?”

  “Yes, it was such a shame. He was such a nice old man.”

  A forensics team went through the retired Senator Charles Finney’s room. Inside, they located an M24 sniper rifle. The ballistics report concluded that the weapon matched the one that killed Congresswoman Bledes.

  They also found a safe. Inside, was a single item. A letter from Werner Heisenberg to the U.S. President Gerald Ford, dated February 1st, 1976. The very day that Heisenberg had died in his own home of kidney and gallbladder cancer.

  The Secretary of Defense ran her eyes quickly across the brief letter.

  It started with a quote regarding ethics, for which Werner was known to be the author.

  Where no guiding ideals are left to point the way, the scale of values disappears and with it the meaning of our deeds and sufferings, and at the end can lie only negation and despair. Religion is therefore the foundation of ethics, and ethics the presupposition of life.

  The Secretary blinked, unsure what to make of it.

  In this, I have tried to do what I believe is right for my fellow man, but in this endeavor and through all the good intentions in the world, I fear I may have unleashed the worst of mankind’s intrinsic failings – that of greed.

  The Secretary read quickly over the next part, pausing on the end of the letter.

  I believe that nuclear fission is too great a Genie for any one nation to behold and that possibly such power could be shared between a few nations – what I had hoped to be the United Nations – in an endeavor to create perpetual peace on Earth.

  In the effort, I believe I have failed. I now share with you a list of names and persons involved in one of the greatest deceits ever to take place, and pray that you may find it within your power to rectify what I could not.

  The Secretary skimmed the names. She’d already heard them all before.

  At the end of the document, it was signed,

  Werner Heisenberg

  Chapter Sixty-Three

  U.N. Headquarters, New York

  Nearly every seat within the U.N. General Assembly hall was occupied. A hundred-and-ninety-three-member countries were seated in alphabetical order throughout the amphitheater, including the five permanent members of the Security Council: China, France, Russia, United Kingdom, and United States – all allies during World War II, and nuclear weapons states.

  Congressman Peter Grzonkowski looked tired. He had been answering questions for an hour and forty-five minutes. The Chairman of the United Nations asked if the witness considering recent terrorist events in Washington D.C., wanted a short recess.

  The Congressman shook his head. “No, sir. I’m ready to conclude.” Shoulders back, he sat up straight, so he could speak clearly into the microphone at the front of his desk. “In the morning of August 6, 1945,” he said, “the world changed forever when the Enola Gay dropped the first nuclear weapon on the Japanese city of Hiroshima.”

  There was a lingering silence within the General Assembly. Nearly eight decades had passed, but memory of the horrific event came vividly to everyone’s mind.

  Grzonkowski continued, “For the first time in history, we developed the power to destroy not just each other, but our entire species, through nuclear war.” He paused to let that concept sit there for a moment. “This was an evolutionary achievement that no other creature on earth had attained.”

  His eyes swept the silent faces of those who filled the amphitheater. “It has been long considered that the innovation of the atomic bomb brought about a new era of peace, unseen in any other stage of humanity’s existence.”

  Congressman Grzonkowski took a sip of water from the glass in front of him and swallowed. “Historians argue that the physicist Robert Oppenheimer, should have been given a Nobel Peace Prize for his work toward the development of a nuclear bomb. As I explained previously, that title should have gone to all four men involved in its propagation.”

  He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “In 1947 a German Physicist named Werner Heisenberg realized that the atom bomb was not enough to ensure peace now that the human race had the ability to destroy the entire world.”

  Grzonkowski opened his eyes again. “Heisenberg felt there should be an opposing superpower, like two sides of the Earth’s magnetic poles, to maintain balance through nuclear deterrence. With this in mind, he gave the Soviet Union the key to the Genie, and the Soviet Atomic Bomb Project was born.

  “Thus, the Cold War began.

  “Yet wars, even cold wars, need fuel,” Grzonkowski said. “A World War II hero, Charles Finney, a good friend of the then United States Secretary of Defense, James Forrestal, launched a clandestine plan. His idea was to promote perpetual war, and accordingly, from his point of view, obtain peace.

  “Finney utilized the benefit of a young shipping owner, named Michael Reilly, to sell weapons grade uranium and armaments to the Soviet Union.

  “Meanwhile, backed by a select group of people within the United States, Charles Finney continued to promote Cold War propaganda and the doctrine of Mutually Assured Destruction. Powerful men became richer, while dissidents were silenced to ensure this secret remained forever hidden.

  “Finney believed that humanity needed the ongoing threat of nuclear destruction.

  “Yet with the development of the i
nternet, free trade, and the global market, it’s not just nuclear threat that makes war unviable – its economics. Commerce is a game that everyone can win. We must make the price of war too expensive and the rewards too paltry. We need opposing superpowers to work together in financial trade.

  "While the media would have you believe differently, deaths through war has been in decline since 1945. Today, despite Syria and Iraq, we are not anywhere near the levels seen during the Chinese Civil War, Korea, Vietnam, India/Pakistan/Bangladesh, Iran-Iraq, USSR-Afghanistan, and many regions of Africa.

  “As a species, we’ve come together. I think it’s time we address the possibility of a world without nuclear bombs. Has there been peace because of the nuclear deterrent, or because we have evolved?

  “Today, we are living in the most nonviolent era in the existence of our species. I believe, in the not too distant future, the threat of Mutually Assured Destruction will not be necessary. Although Heisenberg was ahead of his time, there was one thing he got wrong, something he never could have predicted back in 1947. Something that would inevitably change the course of human evolution.”

  Grzonkowski paused. “The innovation and rise of the Internet.”

  He exhaled a deep breath. “This led to a world of globalization unimaginable back in 1947, where all countries are connected through communication and trade, rendering the price of war too expensive, and the rewards too meager. No one wants to harm their customers.

  “Given time, I believe nuclear weapons will disarm, and the human race, having risen far from its humble beginnings as hunter gatherers, will finally enjoy peace on earth.”

  The End

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