Black Wattle Creek (Charlie Berlin #2)(58)
Jessop didn’t offer to pour Berlin a coffee so he helped himself. It was surprisingly good coffee. He rook a couple of Nice biscuits and put them on his saucer.
Jessop stirred two teaspoons of sugar into his coffee and added a splash of milk. He considered the plate of biscuits for a moment before selecting a Scotch Finger.
Jessop delicately snapped the biscuit in half and nibbled on it before he spoke. ‘I assume you are aware of the Official Secrets Act, Detective Sergeant Berlin?’
Berlin nodded. ‘Of course, but that applies to the Poms. I’m not sure we have one of those in this country.’
‘Very astute. Well then, let’s say part seven of the Australian Commonwealth Crimes Act; it has certain similarities. Including, I should warn you, rather severe penalties for those who break it. What I am about to tell you falls under both the United Kingdom act and your own. It stays in this room. Once you hear the whole story you will understand why.’
Berlin put his coffee cup on Jessop’s desk. He lit a cigarette and waited. The doctor pushed a glass ashtray across in his direction.
‘DS Berlin, it is an article of faith accepted by all major Western governments that there will be atomic war with the Soviet Union, in all probability within the next five years. There is a one-hundred percent certainty of such a conflict within ten years, by 1967. A recently conducted survey of your own populace showed that over sixty-five percent believe that this is indeed the situation.’
Berlin tapped the ash off his cigarette into the ashtray. ‘My daughter was one hundred percent certain she was getting a pony for Christmas a year or two back – believing doesn’t always make it so, Dr Jessop.’
‘Indeed. But be that as it may, it is for this reason that Her Majesty’s government has accelerated the deployment of our airborne nuclear strike force, working in concert with the Americans. We have also begun an extensive program of civil defence planning. As Russian atomic bombs will fall on Britain someday soon, it is vital we know how to react to that situation and its aftermath. What do you know about nuclear fallout, OS Berlin?’
Berlin leaned across and stubbed out his cigarette. ‘Just enough to understand it’s not a good thing. I knew a bloke who spent some time with the occupation forces in Hiroshima after the war. That didn’t end well for him.’
Jessop sat forward. ‘That is interesting, given that the weapon utilised at Hiroshima was detonated as an airburst to minimise the fallout.’ He made a notation with a fountain pen on a pad on his desk. When he looked up, something about the expression on Berlin’s face made him put the pen down.
‘As I was saying, the immediate devastation of any nuclear attack is only one factor we will have to deal with. And while our scientists have been testing the capability of British nuclear weapons at Maralinga and in the Montebello Islands, other specialised teams have been studying the effects of post-detonation radiation dispersion.’ Jessop paused. ‘That is of course fallout to the layman, DS Berlin.’
Berlin smiled. ‘Thanks for keeping it simple. Any chance of another cup of that coffee?’
Jessop gestured towards the pot. He waited until Berlin had refilled his cup before continuing. ‘Up until recently, careful planning and precise meteorological observations at the Maralinga test site have allowed us to direct post-detonation clouds away from inhabited areas and into the vast empty centre of your country.’
‘And recently?’
‘DS Berlin, earlier this year, through a series of … inadvertent errors, a small nuclear device was detonated just as an unexpected and unpredicted change of wind direction occurred.’
‘Jesus Christ.’ Berlin put his half-finished coffee back on the desk.
Jessop held up his hands palms outward. ‘Please bear in mind that, as I said, it was a small device, or low yield, as the boffins would say. But unfortunately the mildly radioactive cloud produced was initially tracked in a south-easterly direction.’
‘By nuclear device I’m guessing you mean an atomic bomb, and by south-easterly you mean towards populated areas, towards us?’
‘You should understand that it was a very small device, or bomb if you will, and these radioactive clouds weaken considerably hour by hour. Whatever radiation reached densely populated areas would have been minimal.’
‘When was this? I don’t remember reading about it in the papers.’
‘It was decided at the highest levels of government that the possibility of unfounded panic outweighed any real health concerns, given the low yield of the device.’
Berlin could imagine what that sort of panic might look like.
‘Is all this taking us somewhere? It all sounds pretty ugly, but what’s it all got to do with you and this place?’
‘In the UK, as in many countries, we regularly test for the presence of a number of radioactive isotopes that may be entering the atmosphere as a result of testing around the world. Those of primary interest to us are strontium-90 and caesium-I37.’
‘And I’m figuring strontium-90 and the Ninetymen might have something in common?’
‘There is indeed a connection, DS Berlin. That unexpected wind shift presented us with a chance to study the effects of minor-level radiation exposure over a prolonged period. Both the Australian and the British governments concurred that while unfortunate it was an opportunity too important, and too fortuitous, to let slip by.’