Rama II

O’Toole never fully comprehended what exactly was meant by the expres­sion “quadratic prime.” However, he did understand, and was fascinated by, the fact that the string 41, 43,47, 53, 61, 71, 83,97, where each successive number was computed by increasing the difference from the previous num­ber by two, resulted in exactly forty consecutive prime numbers. The se­quence of primes ended only when the forty-first number in the string turned out to be a nonprime, namely 41 X 41 = 1681. This little known piece of information O’Toole had shared only one time in his life, with his wife Kathleen on her forty-first birthday, and he had received such a lacklus­ter response that he had never told anybody about it again,

But it was perfect for his secret code, particularly if he disguised it prop­erly. To build his fifty-digit number, General O’Toole first constructed a sequence of forty-one digits, each coming from the sum of the first two digits in the corresponding term in the special quadratic prime sequence begi

It was not easy to commit the sequence to memory, but the general did not want to write it down and carry it with him to the activation process. If his code were written down, then anyone could use it, with or without his permission, and his option to change his mind again would be precluded. Once he had rememorized the sequence, O’Toole destroyed all his computa­tions and went to the dining room to have breakfast with the rest of the cosmonauts.

“Here’s a copy of my code for you, Franceses, and one for you, Irina, and the final one goes to Hiro Yamanaka. Sorry, Janos,” Admiral Heilma

“It’s all right, Herr Admiral,” Janos said wryly. “Some privileges in life I can do without.”

Heilma

Franceses loved it. It was definitely good television. It occurred to O’Toole that Francesca had probably suggested such a staging to Heilma

Admiral Heilma

At the end of his second decade of digits, Heilma

“Louder,” shouted Francesca from where she was filming. She had neatly framed the ceremony so that both the weapons and the pods appeared in the picture.

“I’ve made a mistake,” Admiral Heilma

After Heilma

Neither Hiro Yamanaka nor Francesca said anything at all. Francesca, however, did impress the rest of the crew by doing her first thirty digits from memory. Considering that she had supposedly never seen Herma

Next it was General O’Toole’s turn. Smiling comfortably, he walked easily up to the first weapon. The other cosmonauts applauded, both showing their respect for the general and acknowledging his struggle. He asked everyone please to be quiet, explaining that he had committed his whole sequence to memory. Then O’Toole entered the first decade of digits.

He stopped for a second as the green light flashed. In that instant an image flashed into his mind of one of the frescoes on the second floor of the shrine of St. Michael in Rome. A young man in a blue robe, his eyes uplifted to the heavens, was standing on the steps of the Victor Emmanuel Monu­ment, preaching to an appreciative multitude. General O’Toole beard a voice, loudly and distinctly. The voice said “No.”

The general spun around quickly. “Did anybody say anything?” he said, staring at the other cosmonauts. They shook their heads. Befuddled, O’Toole turned back to the bomb. He tried to remember the second decade of digits. But it was no good. His heart was racing at breakneck speed. His mind kept saying, over and over again, What was that voice? His resolve to perform his duty had vanished.

Michael O’Toole took a deep breath, turned around again, and walked across the huge bay. When he passed his stu

“I’m going to my room!” O’Toole said without breaking stride.

“Aren’t you going to activate the bombs?” Dr. Brown said behind him.

“No,” replied General O’Toole. “At least not yet”

56

AN ANSWERED PRAYER

General O’Toole stayed in his room the rest of the day. Admiral Heilma

“Are you ready to proceed with the activation?”

O’Toole shook his head. “I thought I was this morning, Otto, but…” There was no need for him to say anything more.

Heilma

When Francesca came in with her camera two hours later, it was clear from her choice of words that the attitude toward the general, at least among the remaining cosmonauts, was that O’Toole was suffering from acute ner­vous tension. He wasn’t being defiant. He wasn’t making a statement. None of the rest of the crew could have tolerated those alternatives, because they would all look bad by association. No, it was obvious that there was some­thing wrong with his nerves.

“I’ve told everyone not to bother you with calls,” Francesca said compas­sionately as she glanced around the room, her television mind already fram­ing the images of the coming interview. “The phones have been ringing like crazy, especially since I sent down the tape from this morning.” She walked over to his desk, checking the objects on its top. “Is this Michael of Siena?” Francesca asked, picking up the small statue.