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Stone relayed everything Knuckles had said to Talia. Several minutes went by. He lay the phone on the exam table and put it on speaker so Talia could hear. He leaned toward the phone, “Knuckles? Hey, Knuckles! Dammit, pick up the phone.”
“I still can’t believe it,” Talia said. “They’re sure they detected nuclear material?”
“Confirmed.”
“How do they know that? Uranium is naturally occurring. It could be uranium-238, or its decay product, 234. Are they sure the isotope is 235? A direct match?”
“Talia, I don’t know my 238 from my 234 or 235. What I do know is, the FBI’s hazmat team doesn’t screw around. I’ve worked with them before. If they say its a direct match, it’s a direct match. There’s a nuclear device out in the open. Someone orchestrated this, and they did a damn good job of
