In the War Zone

摘要

Feb. 21, 2002; 1130. Between April and July of 1939, the political and astronomical news continued to worsen. War seemed inevitable, and Earth remained at the center of Clyde's most probable path. The Stockholm Contingent changed from a small gathering of scientists in a bar into a small and secret worldwide network of scientists. Though the group had no official leader, Lise Meitner provided vision and direction. Based in Stockholm, she remained able to communicate with most of her colleagues around the world. Slowly and carefully, she began to recruit them. By September, when the fits and starts of hostilities finally erupted into full-scale war in Europe, the Stockholm Contingent had members in neutral and hostile nations alike. This group didn't know exactly what they would do, but they were convinced that the world should be paying more attention to Clyde than to fighting. They were also convinced that the newly discovered uranium fission reactions were the key defense against Clyde, and too terrible to be used as a weapon of war. And they knew that the warring states would consider their views treasonous.