The Destroyer of Worlds

Trinity

The goldfish bowl was full of colorful marbles. It was time to build the atomic bomb to use against the Japanese, so we can finally end World War II.

"Progress?" I ask General Groves while walking down the streets of Los Alamos. "Two years and a billion dollars' worth?" He says, looking up at me. "Well, hard to put a price on it." I said, still walking. "Not really, just add up the bills." Groves told me before he saw something. "'Rural free deliveries'. Eighty babies delivered the first year. This year, we've had ten a month." Groves said after looking at a sign. "Birth control is a little out of my jurisdiction, General." I said, shaking my head as Kitty walked up to me with Peter, our son. She was heavily pregnant, due any day now. "Clearly." General Groves said, looking at Kitty.

***

We're testing an implosion device, deep in the desert. Kistiakowsky is the one to detonate, but before he does, he makes sure we're all safe and far enough from the blast radius. "Head down, everyone. Fuchs, head down." He told us all, hand on the trigger. He pulls it, as the sound booms across the desert. "That's the one." Kistiakowsky said, as Groves and I crawl out of the ditch with him. "Two viable bombs. I need a date." Groves demanded as we made our way down a steep slope of sand. "September." I told him, walking towards where the implosion took place. "July." Groves said, walking with me. "That's the sweet spot, gentlemen." Kistiakowsky said, looking at the implosion device, or what was left of it. "August." I tried to reason with Groves. "July." Groves said once more. He wasn't budging. "Test in July." I said, putting my hands in my pockets.

"But I need my brother. Frank knows the desert, he's left politics behind, he's been working with Lawrence for two years now." I said, stopping to see his reaction to my request. He nodded.

"What do we call the test?" Groves asked me, looking at the place where the implosion test took place. Fuchs handed me my pipe, quickly walking away after. I dust it off, thinking of what to call it.

"'Batter my heart, three-person'd god.'" I told Groves.

"What?" He asked, his eyebrows raised.

"Trinity."

***

I lit a cigarette, waiting for Robb to either make a statement or ask me a question. "You insisted on bringing on your brother Frank, a known Communist–" Robb began. It was a statement. "Former Communist." I corrected, setting out my match and inhaling the smoke from the cigarette.

"You brought in a known former Communist onto America's most secret and important defense project." Robb stated, looking at me to see if he was wrong. I took the cigarette out of my mouth and held it between my two fingers to answer his question. "I knew my brother could be trusted. Absolutely." I said, looking over to Robb to see his next move.

"And you felt your judgment was sound on who on the team could be trusted?" Robb asked me. I looked down, noticing his hands were on his lap, yet I didn't answer the question.

***

"Fuchs, head down." Kistiakowsky told him, as Fuchs nodded and put his head down quickly. "Okay, everybody ready?" Kistiakowsky asked, his hand on the detonator. Frank, Groves and I nodded, and Kistiakowsky detonated the bomb, not hearing anything. So, he peeked up, seeing fire escape into the air before the dust covered it. Then, a roaring sound hit all of us. It felt as though I went deaf, even if it was only for a moment. Small amounts of debris fell on all of us, as Groves stood up straight. "Well, I hope you learned something." General Groves told my brother, Frank. "Yeah, we learned we're gonna need to be a lot further away." Frank replied, walking away to find a solution.

I begin to walk after him to help Frank find his answer, but Groves lightly grabs my shoulder, indicating that I should stay for a moment. "We leave for Washington in the morning. We're gonna give them a date." Groves told me. I was going to protest, yet I thought it better if I kept my mouth shut.