Page 77 of Tattletale

“No, Lance. Those are weapons for war. War is fought with the intention of victor and survivors. Gabriel suggested humanity may need the threat of a reset button. He was curious about a bomb that could implode the entire world with one launch. Something too quick for retaliation and far too vast to outrun. Nobody would be safe. No bunker would go untouched. It would be an official self-destruct button of humankind.”

“And you didn’t immediately institutionalize him?” I lift a brow.

Vienne frowns. “It was never ever his intention to use it. Just to get to the tech first. Any country could launch nuclear warfare and inflict mass casualties. But having the power to wipe out the entirety of mankind is enough motivation to keep nuclear war in check. Whoever had control of the ultimate weapon, would control—”

“Everything,” I say.

“It was a silly thought. That kind of weaponry is impossible. It only exists in made-up stories. But Sal supported Gabriel, assuming it’d come to a dead end. But in his mind, on the off chance that this kind of invention was possible, better for the U.S. to have it before anyone else. Sal granted him access to everything—secret research facilities, sealed documents, notes from the Manhattan Project. Then there was that incident in South Africa, near Koeburg.”

“What incident?”

“There’s a registered nuclear plant in Koeburg, but it has a secret sister station about fifty miles away. There were rumors of disturbing research going on there, so the U.S. keeps an eye on it. Then, one day, there was an explosion. It blows the plant to smithereens, and apparently, some equipment was stolen.”

“You think Gabriel needed something there for the bomb?”

“No,” says Vienne. “I think there were developers there working on a similar concept. And I don’t think Gabriel wanted the competition.”

“Okay, so illegal bomb-makers got blown up. Isn’t that poetic justice in a way?”

“Lance,” Vienne says, cocking her head to the side. “The explosion of that plant leveled two nearby villages. Hundreds of lives lost. Children included. When Gabriel gets hyper-focused on something, he doesn’t see people as equals. More like wild dogs…easily disposable. That’s why he’s dangerous. He’s disturbingly egotistical and a very skilled liar.”

My stomach drops at the way Vienne’s tone is dark and pleading… Now, I’m worried about Cricket. “So, what about the bomb?”

“Years go by without another word about it. Then, a couple of months ago, Gabriel called, shit-faced and crying. He left me a message saying that he did it…Project Tasmanian was done.”

“As in a Tasmanian tiger?”

“Yes, as in the name of an extinct animal. Gabriel has an IQ in the 160s. If anyone could figure out the physics of a weapon like that…”

“You think he actually built it, don’t you?”

Vienne nods. “I do. The world’s most dangerous weapon, and if they find out Sal technically commissioned and supported it, we’ll have World War III on our hands.”

“So, ask Gabriel about it.”

Vienne shakes her head. “I’ve tried. He won’t talk to me. He pretends he has no recollection of that phone call, and that he was simply high that night and talking nonsense. But I don’t believe it for one second. I think he built it and feels incredibly guilty about it—but I can’t be certain.”

“You need to search everything—”

“How, Lance? He might have aninstant extinctionbutton for every living thing on this planet. And he’s the only one who knows how to operate it. We can’t provoke him.”

“Maybe Sal could get through?”

Vienne sighs. “I meant it when I said my husband has a golden heart. He believes in protocol and diplomacy. He would want to do the right thing. So, I can’t tell Sal. He would go right to his advisors, spilling the beans that a weapon like this exists. Sal may be good, but the rest of the scheming militant White House advisors would see this as an opportunity. Power corrupts men in the worst of ways.”

I point ahead to where the driver’s seat is. “You realize we have company on the other side.”

“The partition is soundproof.”

I exhale. “I really think we need to tell Vesper the truth. She could help.”

Vienne shakes her head. “I don’t trust her to not run to Sal. PALADIN is privately commissioned by the President. Her loyalty is more to Sal than me.”

“Then what do you want from me, Vienne?”

“If worse comes to worst, I want you to pull the trigger, even if Vesper can’t.”

“Cricket is collecting as much intel as she can,” I insist. “We have to wait to see what she finds out.”

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