“That’s unlikely, son,” Mr. Taylor said. “Believe me, it was no common theft. Nor were the thieves ordinary thieves. That isotope was a new one. A very secret one. Our job at the college was to conduct various tests with it in order to find out exactly how it could best be put to use as a cure for disease, or for sterilizing food, or even as a source of power.”
“Power?” Eddie said. “Boy, it must have been a strong isotope.” He knew that the strength of radioisotopes could be controlled largely by the length of time they were allowed to “cook” in an atomic reactor and soak up radioactivity.
“We weren’t planning to run a submarine with it,” his father said. “It wasn’t that strong. Still, it doesn’t take so very much radioactivity to make two ounces of an isotope quite powerful—and quite deadly. I only hope whoever stole it knows what he’s doing. However, I’m sure he does.”
“You mean he must have been an atomic scientist himself?” Eddie asked.
“Let’s just say he—or both of them—have enough training in the subject to know how to handle that isotope safely,” Mr. Taylor said.
“But, Dad,” Eddie wondered, “what could they do with it?”
“They could study it,” his father explained. “At least, they could send it somewhere to be broken down and studied. Being a new isotope, the formula is of great value.”
“What do you mean, send it somewhere?” Eddie asked.
“Perhaps to some other country.”
“Then—then you mean whoever stole it were spies!” Eddie exclaimed breathlessly.