STOPWATCH on the WORLD
By Daniel R. Gilgannon
Feature Novel of Deadly Menace
Every member of the UN received the note which said: "... Give us peacewithin a month or I shall destroy the earth utterly." And only two menbelieved the sender to be capable of carrying out his threat—two men,bucking red-tape, trying to find the terribly sincere atomic physicist,Chetzisky, before the deadline!
[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from
Science Fiction Quarterly May 1951.
Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that
the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]
Chetzisky held the world in his hand. Would the United Nations act to end war, or was the world doomed?
EXTRACTS, HOSPITAL CASE HISTORY No. 3007:
Patient admitted 11:45 A.M. in coma and severe shock. Pulse weak.Temperature 95. White cell count less than 2,000. Blood draining offinto tissues, indicating generalized purpura. Immediate whole bloodtransfusions given.
DIAGNOSIS: Radiation illness. Exposure considered lethal. Probablyabout 1,000 roentgens.
2:30 P.M. White cell count now down to 500. Response to aureomycintreatment favorable.... 3:10 P.M. Hematocrit reading remains high at101.... 3:55 P.M. Lab reports show karyorrhexis developing swiftly asmore and more cells are ionized by 'hot' isotopes in patient's body....4:40 P.M. Geiger counter set up at bedside to check progressiveradioactivity of the human atomic pile.... 5:10 P.M. Guided byhematocrit readings, blood transfusions increased, supplemented byalbumen.... 5:50 P.M. Patient conscious. Suffers violent spasms ofpain. Morphine barely suffices. He appears thoughtful, moves headweakly....
With a great effort I turn my head and see the sun going down behindthe color-splashed ridges of the Coastal range. It's the last sunsetI shall ever see and the end of a day that a mad-man with an atomicstopwatch meant to be your last.
Every cell inside me seems a glowing coal. The geiger counter clicksoff a slow, steady staccato. Suddenly I find my body arching itselfconvulsively in a wracking outbreak of pain. There is the quicksharpness of a needle in my arm and mercifully I am numb.
Armstrong, his giant frame hunched over in the chair, watches me witha suffering look new to those hard, cold eyes of his. A good man and aloyal friend. If he weren't as stubborn and resolute as a bull-dog, youmight not be sitting down to your supper tonight.
My mind is strangely clear and calm, as if washed by cool, clean windsfrom distant space. I remember everything vividly, the whole sequenceof events that began a month ago.
I was chatting, I recall, with some students about the transuranicelements after my lecture on "The Chain Reaction of Uranium" when a labinstructor tapped me on the shoulder.
"There's an army colonel waiting upstairs in your office, DoctorBailey."
I was frowning when I left. A reserve officer who served in MilitaryIntelligence on the Manhattan Project, I sensed something ominous inthe visit. The Korean situation already had me in an uneasy mood.
My spirits picked up, however, when I entered the office and recognizedthe tall dignified