Page 96 of The Women of Oak Ridge
What did he mean? Weren’t we going home?
“The war in the Pacific is still raging,” Mr. Colby continued, his voice somber. “Lots of our boys are dying over there. We here at home must stay on the job until all our soldiers are safe.”
Murmurs and nods of agreement filled the small space.
My shoulders fell. Tears sprang to my eyes. I looked down at my feet so no one would see them. Of course I wanted all of our soldiers home safe, but with Hitler dead and the fear of him developing an atomic bomb no longer a threat, why was enriched uranium still necessary? Why couldn’t we all go home?
The other employees dispersed and went back to work as usual. I walked to where I’d left my bicycle the day before. I needed to get away to a quiet place and think.
I’d just hopped onto the seat when Mr. Colby approached.
“Willett, please take these documents to the incinerator.” He held out a manila packet. It didn’t matter that it was stamped “Secret” in red ink or that it was sealed. I couldn’t count the number of envelopes I’d opened over the past four months.
Nausea swept over me as I reached for the despised packet. The sweet freedom I’d almost been able to taste just moments ago had turned bitter in my gut.
“Mr. Colby, can I ask you a question?”
“What is it?”
“How long do you think the war in the Pacific will last?”
He gave a slight shrug. “There’s no way to know. But,” he paused, “our work here in Oak Ridge is important to the war effort. What we’re doing could help speed things up.”
I knew he meant the development of a new bomb. I still didn’t understand how an atomic bomb was different from those that were being used already, but Clive seemed to believe it would be far more powerful. I wished I could ask Mr. Colby to explain it all, butthat was impossible. I wasn’t supposed to know what was happening here at K-25 and the other plants. I wasn’t supposed to know that uranium that had been enriched in Oak Ridge had already made its way to another secret city in New Mexico. According to Clive, that location was where the bomb was being built.
“I hope so, sir,” I finally said.
I pedaled away, the packet of documents in the wire basket. I was tempted to take it directly to the incinerator and bypass Clive altogether, but I’d tried that once. He’d found me later that day, livid.
“Don’t ever do that again, Mae,” he’d said, his teeth clenched. “I know when Colby is finished with certain documents. I know who comes and goes from the incinerator. You don’t want to cross me. You don’t want me to tell the people I’m working with that you aren’t cooperating. It would be easy for them to go to backwoods Kentucky and deal withthings.”
The threat shook me to my core.
I left my bike on the cell floor and found Clive on the third level pipe gallery with two other men. When he glanced at me, I had the packet clutched to my chest. Without making it obvious, he looked up. That was the sign I should meet him upstairs on the operating floor. Although people moved about on that floor, large machines and dark corners offered privacy.
I made my way there and waited. It wasn’t long before Clive arrived.
“Here.” I shoved the packet at him. “Hurry up before Mr. Colby comes looking for me.”
“Why, Mae, you don’t look happy,” he said, his usual smug grin creasing his face. He took the envelope and began to carefully open it. “You must be the only person on the Reservation who is glum today. The war in Europe is over. Hitler’s dead. We just need to whip the Japs and everything will be back to normal.”
I stared at him. “How can you say that? Hundreds of thousands of people have died.” I wanted to add that Sissy was dead too, but I’d learned it wasn’t wise to mention her to Clive. I still didn’t have proof that he’d killed her, but I knew it was true. “Lives have been forever altered. Countries bombed and torn apart. Nothing will ever be normal again.”
He wasn’t listening. He removed the documents from the envelope, flipped through them, then stuffed them all back inside. “I don’t need these. They’re similar to some I’ve already passed.”
While I was relieved he wasn’t going to keep any of the papers today, it made me ill to think of how many top secret documents I’d helped him steal over the past months. It was a small comfort knowing they went to Russians rather than to Germans or Italians, but I hated what I’d become involved in. Hated that I’d betrayed my country and the brave men and women fighting overseas.
Hated that I was a coward.
Oh, that the war would finally come to an end and set me free.
By the time August arrived, sultry summer temperatures had everyone grouchy. The war with Japan dragged on. The secret was old and burdensome. Tempers flared on a dime. In order to stay cool, people flocked to the spring-fed swimming pool in town, and ice cream was in high demand.
With Mr. Colby’s permission, I’d begun working seven days a week. I had no desire to have a day off, not even to take a dip in the chilly water. Too many hours with nothing to do allowed my mind to wander to places I’d rather not go. My roommate Dorothy thought it the strangest thing I’d done so far, according to Prudence Thorpe.
“I probably shouldn’t tell you this,” she’d said last night whenI returned to the dorm after a long Sunday shift, “but Dorothy thinks you’re an odd bird.”
I’d been too tired to take offense. “She may be right.”
