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the room, most managing to avoid his eye as his gaze swept over them before returning to the officer standing who had posed the question.
    “Well, you of course Comrade Marshall Zhukov. Who else would we entrust this great venture to but Georgy the Victory Bringer?”

The tragedy of war is that it uses man's best to do man's worst.

    Henry Fosdick

Chapter 4 –THE INFORMATION

    2350 hrs, Thursday, 28th June 1945, Scientist’s Residential Block, Los Alamos, New Mexico.

    Emilia Beatriz Perlo was always in demand. She was twenty-five years of age and had all the classic Mediterranean beauty associated with her lineage, from smouldering hazel eyes framed by heavy eyelashes, shoulder length jet-black hair that hung in natural curls, through to a full and extremely curvaceous body, all of which made Emilia the subject of much attention and desire amongst her fellow scientists.
    Her speciality was algebra, and in particular algebraic geometry. She was outstanding in her field, even at such a young age. Perlo’s abilities within the field of Mathematical Physics meant she stood out in a peer group of outstanding talent.
    Having been sent from her native Spain in 1934 when her family saw the civil war coming, she resided with her Aunt in Washington, entering the American education system as a regular student. It was not long before her incredible talents became noticed and she was nurtured through higher education and into a government programme.
    She was nineteen years old when she received the news that her father had been killed in action, fighting alongside the Nationalist forces during the Battle of Teruel on 21st February 1938.
    She was twenty-one years old when her aunt sat her down and told her the truth.
    Her father was not a nationalist but was a communist who had sided with the Republicans. He had remained as a spy inside the Nationalist forces, supplying information to his communist commanders and risking his life daily in the process.
    In an awful twist of fate, he was accidentally shot by a nationalist soldier when clandestinely returning to his encampment after contacting another republican agent with vital information. The nationalists honoured him with a full military funeral as befitted his major’s rank and status, and the Republican hierarchy mourned his passing and the loss of intelligence they would now sustain.
    Her aunt spoke of so much more; of ideals, of politics and of a future classless society where all were of equal status and worth, and she wove such a spell that the young Emilia was swiftly hooked into the communist ideal.
    More than that, her Aunt cultivated the darker side, the like of which had been Emilia’s father’s domain in his final years. Again, this appealed to the young woman and she found pleasure in hiding her true feelings from everyone save her aunt and older cousin Victoria. Indeed, it appealed to her ego, to be clever enough to hide what was true from those around her. Recruitment into the shady world of espionage followed, in keeping with her cousin and aunt, who both clandestinely served the Red Banner. She learned much from her relatives and the gentlemen who came calling. To the outside world, they were probably suitors for the young women favours. They always brought flowers or candy but in reality, they were communist agents charged with the task of secretly preparing the young Emilia for a life of espionage.
    Educationally, her progression under the guidance of the US state was impressive, and she was offered a senior place in a government research programme on her twenty-second Birthday, two days before the attack on Pearl Harbor.
    She moved from project to project, gaining trust and, more importantly, higher clearances as her credentials were carefully scrutinised, checked, and re-checked. The fact that she showed no interest whatsoever in politics was noted, and that one of her two living relatives, both of whom resided in the US, was employed as a laundress in the