Mission Atomic by Sarwat Chadda

Author:Sarwat Chadda
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.

The hard muzzle of the pistol pressed against Amy’s head.

Her breath came in panicked half gasps—she struggled as though she’d forgotten how to breathe.

“Don’t move, Ms. Cahill,” said Alek Spasky.

Move? She could barely think. She didn’t trust her body to do anything.

“I’ve done this before,” continued Alek. “A few times, actually. You are afraid, delirious with terror. That is normal. Calm yourself. Accept your fate. Make your last seconds … sublime.”

“S-sublime?” He was talking nonsense.

“I have traveled the world, investigated every religion, every philosophy. They all teach the same thing. How to embrace this moment of your life. The last. Savor it, Ms. Cahill, the exquisiteness of life. The air tastes different, yes?”

Now that he said it, Amy realized he was right. Air had a taste. She’d never noticed it before. “How?”

“That’s because now you take nothing for granted.”

Amy forced her body under control. She had to do something. She tensed her arm. If she could spin around …

Alek huffed. “No. The trigger is very sensitive. It requires little pressure.”

Amy had one last shot. She slowly shifted her head. Alek responded by pushing the muzzle deeper. Amy tried not to sob. She needed every ounce of self-control. “Is this what Natalia would have wanted?”

Was that a sudden intake of breath? Or was she so desperate she’d imagined it?

Ever so slowly, she tried to turn her head. To see the others.

Jonah was unconscious, but she could hear a soft groan as he struggled to wake. Dr. Lin was curled up, terrified, but had wrapped her scarf around Ham’s leg wound and had her hands pressed on the bullet hole in his shoulder. Ham himself looked pale and barely conscious. He needed a hospital.

“How do you know about Natalia?”

“That you had a wife? Does it matter?”

“No, I suppose not. Now that she is dead.”

“Dead but not forgotten. And still loved. Why else the roses?” said Amy. “She’s been dead thirty years.”

“You know nothing about Natalia, nor me.”

“I know she was a hero. And that you loved her very much and maybe, just maybe, your life would have been very different if she’d not gone to Chernobyl.”

“I warned her not to go. She didn’t listen.”

“She saved thousands and thousands of lives, Alek.”

“And how did they reward her sacrifice?” She’d never heard Alek angry, but now that she had, Amy knew she had to tread very carefully. “A lead-lined coffin.”

“She was what all Ekats strive to be, Alek. Willing to do anything to make the world a better place. Is there a better legacy than that? Any truer member of the Cahill family?”

“It’s the Cahill legacy that destroyed her. That filled her mind with ridiculous ambitions.”

“No. It’s the Cahill legacy that made her the woman you loved,” said Amy. “The ambition to do good is never ridiculous.”

Alek didn’t respond. Had she pushed him too far? Amy tensed. Would she feel it?

This wasn’t sublime—kneeling, waiting for death. It was sad, pathetic, and humiliating.

“Is this how you honor her?” said Amy. “Planning a second meltdown?”

“What do you mean?”

“The bomb.

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