On second look Zen saw something that he had missed before. "Those are Americans! We're building that bomb!" His words were little gusts of explosive sound in the quiet room.
"Right," West said. His voice was very grim.
"Then it's a race to see which side gets its bomb built first?" Zen asked. He did not know whether or not he liked what his eyes were seeing and the interpretation his mind was giving him.
"I am afraid that is true," West reluctantly agreed. "But doesn't that change the picture, colonel?"
"How?" Zen demanded. "We're going to win a war. We've got to win it." The words were firmly spoken but somewhere a lingering doubt remained as if some point had not been considered.
"The other side also thinks it has to win," West pointed out.
"To hell with what they think. They started it. We didn't. Man, you don't intend to tell me that you are going to sit right here and watch two nations frantically try to destroy each other—and maybe the Earth with them—when you have the means to stop it in your hand?" Horror exploded in Zen's words.
"I am going to do just that," West stated. His voice was as firm and as solid as the granite core of a mountain.
"But you can't!" Zen expostulated.
"Why can't I?" West demanded. "I am not a citizen of either country and I owe nothing to any nation."