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    “Yes, the temperature has been rising steadily over the last twenty-four hours, which is why I’ve called everyone here.” Heisenberg’s voice rose with enthusiasm. “I’ve asked Doktor Schumann to look into it. This morning, he tested the escaping gas from the cylinder and found it to be hydrogen. We concluded water must have leaked inside.”
    “What do you propose to do?” another junior physicist inquired, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.
    Heisenberg’s lips curled with the slightest hint of a smile, and he ran a hand through his sandy hair. “What else can we do? We will remove the cover of the C-12 cylinder and inspect the uranium oxide. Perhaps there has been some type of spontaneous fission. Doktor Schumann?”
    Schumann put on heavy gloves, attached a chain-link pulley to the aluminum cylinder, and turned a crank. Centimeter by centimeter the cylinder rose. The room was silent. Every eye fixed. Every ear cocked. As Schumann swiveled the cylinder, a sudden hiss escaped.
    Next to Joseph, Heisenberg removed an unlit pipe from his mouth, jaw dropping.
    “Must be air rushing into a vacuum.” Gingerly, Schumann maneuvered the cylinder to the edge of the tank. Eager to see if their guess had been correct, he unscrewed the cylinder top. Licks of blue flame shot out, and gasps filled the room.
    Even bigger gasps erupted as the flames were followed by uranium particles spewing from the cylinder, landing on Schumann’s white lab coat.
    “Watch out!” someone called.
    With a gasp, Schumann looked down. “No!” Releasing the chain, his hands fumbled with the buttons on his coat.
    “Don’t let go!” Joseph reached for the chain, but it was too late. With a splash, the aluminum cylinder crashed into the tub of heavy water. Steam rose from the tank, and the water turned from clear to a yellowish hue. Joseph’s colleagues glanced at each other with wide-eyed looks of concern.
    “Oxygen must have seeped into the sphere before Schumann uncapped it.” Heisenberg stepped up to the tank and peered into the water. “And—” The hissing of steam rising and the quivering of the aluminum cylinder interrupted his words.
    Everything within Joseph told him to run, but his scientific curiosity got the better of him. For several moments, the gentle shaking persisted until it suddenly turned violent. The precious heavy water splashed over the edge and onto the floor as if an earthquake rumbled beneath the wooden tank.
    “ Los jetzt! ” Schumann shouted. Joseph didn’t have to be told twice. He sprinted for the heavy metal door separating the basement laboratory from the hallway and stairs. The others tailed him.
    Joseph yanked hard, pulling the door open, and waved the others past.
    Heisenberg looked more perturbed than worried. Still, Joseph noticed he didn’t mince steps. The professor and Schumann rushed out, and Joseph ducked through the door, shutting it hard. While the others sprinted up the stairwell, Schumann reached for a set of keys inside his lab coat.
    “You go ahead!” Schumann called in the mayhem, waving Joseph on.
    Joseph raced for the stairway, but just before he took the first step, he glanced back and noticed Schumann scrambling to find the right key for the lock.
    Joseph motioned to him. “Leave it. Leave it. We have to get out of here!”
    After several precious seconds, Schumann stuffed the keys into his pocket and sprinted toward Joseph.
    Schumann had nearly reached the stairs when a concussive blast flattened the metal door and knocked Joseph to his knees. Schumann sprawled to the floor. Noxious smoke filled the hallway. Joseph labored for air and rubbed his stinging eyes.
    “Schumann, Engel, raus !” Professor Heisenberg called from the flight ahead.
    “Coming!” Joseph jumped to his feet. Schumann regained his footing. They scurried up the stairs two by two until they caught up with Heisenberg at the top of the landing.
    “What happened? What caused that, sir?”