The Berlin Exchange

by Joseph Kanon

That Lenin Prize? That was after we developed the hydrogen bomb. A great achievement, technically. And it gave us parity again with the Americans. I confess to you, we were proud to receive it. And after? Back to work, make it bigger. I think that was the first time I started thinking—what were we doing? It was already big enough. To destroy everything. But now, even bigger. A madness. What if they actually use it? And who’s to stop it? They want a bigger bomb, but they don’t make it. We do. So what is our responsibility? They won’t stop. But what if we stop?” “What if,” Martin said quietly.

“How can you not want to help these people,” he said, pointing to the bus. “By buying them out.” “Yes, buying them. Should they wait for the country to change? The world? While they rot in prison. What’s the morality of that?”