On the contrary. This lightness, having humbled himself and admitted his wrongs, this lightness felt better than winning Olympic gold.
If he ever had the chance, he’d apologize to Far for his sins andfailures and rebellion, even if the apology wasn’t accepted, even if Far mocked humility as weakness.
If Far ever chose to apologize, even in the slightest way, Henrik would receive it with gladness.
And if Far never apologized?
Another great swell inside, of compassion and regret and love.
“I forgive you, Far,” he whispered toward his father. “I truly forgive you.”
35
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER17, 1943
White chalk covered a green-black slate with equations. Jørgen Wolff brushed his hands together in a puff of white dust. “Well done, everyone. See you tomorrow.”
Even though Wolff’s research didn’t lie in Else’s area of interest, she hadn’t stopped smiling since her transfer three weeks earlier. The team exchanged ideas and credit freely, and Else had even earned a certain cachet for standing up to Mortensen.
She slipped her notebook into her briefcase, shed her lab coat, and put on her suit jacket and hat.
Kaj Knudsen held open the door for her.
“Thank you.” Else smiled at him as she exited. “Any plans for the weekend?”
He fell in beside her. “I’m taking my girlfriend to Det lille Apotek for her birthday.”
“Such a lovely old restaurant.”
Knudsen grunted. “It’d be lovelier if they didn’t close at seven thirty to meet curfew.”
“I know.” The military state of emergency had remained in place for almost three weeks.
“Did you hear?” Knudsen spoke low. “Rozental went to Sweden. I’m glad.”
“Oh my. I can’t believe it’s come to this.” Nuclear physicistStefan Rozental, a Polish Jew, had been welcomed by Bohr at the institute in the 1930s, along with dozens of other refugee scientists. Most had moved on to other, safer nations, but a few remained.
Manfred Gebhardt approached from the stairwell with his dark hair in its usual disarray, and he grinned at Else and Knudsen. “See you Monday.”
“Going home to Germany this weekend?” Knudsen’s voice held a sharp edge.
“Ja.” Gebhardt gave a quizzical frown as he passed, and he entered Mortensen’s lab.
Else led the way down the stairs, and she gave Knudsen a similar quizzical frown. “I thought you and Gebhardt were friends.”
Furrows split Knudsen’s forehead. “I don’t trust him. Rask heard him asking Mortensen about the use of heavy water as a neutron moderator.”
“That isn’t related to Mortensen’s research.”
“Exactly. Whatisit related to?”
Many scientists had proposed using heavy water to control fission nuclear chain reactions. “You don’t mean...”
Knudsen stopped at the bottom of the stairs. “Mortensen is an expert in the separation of isotopes.”
To create an atomic weapon required separating the fissile U-235 isotope from uranium ore. Else lowered her voice to a whisper. “Bohr says it doesn’t have any practical applications.”
“What if Bohr’s wrong?”
