146 New Energy
The soft glow of the moonlight streamed through the window of Alexander’s office, where he was found sitting in his chair while reading a report in his hand.
The people standing across his desk were the Minister of Defense, Alexei Lavrov, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sergei, and the National Security Advisor Sevastian.
“So, three submarines of the Yamato Empire have been sunk by our P-Orion huh?”
“That is correct sir and those seem to be the only ones conducting spying operations in the area. It is pretty much safe to say that the landing of the special aircraft carrying Grand Duchesses of the Ruthenian Empire has been concealed from any unwanted eyes.”
“Good. Did the Yamato Empire say anything about the sinking of their submarines, Sergei?”
“None so far, Your Majesty,” Sergei shook his head. “If they did, we would’ve gotten it by now.”
“Which is expected, Your Majesty,” Sevastian added. “Contacting us about the sinking of their submarines is like confessing that they are indeed conducting naval espionage in the Tartar Straits between mainland Ruthenia and Sakhalin. And also we are within our rights to sink them as long as they are operating in our territorial waters.”
“So, what you are saying is that the Yamato Empire won’t do anything? Even after we sunk their submarines?” Alexander asked.
“That’s correct, Your Majesty. The best thing that they could do is to sweep this situation under the rug. Besides, the Grand Duchesses of the Ruthenian Empire will arrive soon in Yamato. All the more reason to contain the situation.”
“So, what are the Foreign Intelligence Services saying on this matter?” Alexander asked Sevastian again.
“They are keeping an eye on the situation brewing within the Yamato high-ranking officials. They said that they are on high alert, especially their Navy.”
Alexander held both his hands together, sighing. “Alexei, I want you to place our military bases in the Far East on high alert. The situation may have been contained but it’s volatile. Inform the Armed Chief of Staff of the Imperial Ruthenian Armed Forces about this matter.”
“Understood, Your Majesty.”
“That’ll be all. You may now leave.”
The three bowed before taking their leave from Alexander’s office. He returned to his seat, and he closed his eyes for a second. He needed to figure out what next steps he would take regarding the Yamato situation. But first, he should check up on Sophie and Anya staying in their bedroom.
He stood up and left his office. He went towards their bedroom door and once he arrived, he pushed it open. He saw them lying down in bed, fast asleep. Anya had one hand holding Sophie’s hand while the other was intertwined with Sophie’s hair. Their faces were peacefully sleeping while smiling at each other.
Sophie opened her eyes, noticing that someone entered their room. She lifted herself slightly so that she could see the person standing right in front of the door. It was Alexander. She smiled sweetly as he came near them.
“Why is Anya sleeping in our bedroom?” Alexander whispered.
“It’s because she wanted to sleep with us,” Sophie whispered back.
“I see,” Alexander softly said as he walked around the bed to where Sophie lay.
“Aren’t you going to join us?” Sophie whispered when he came near her.
“Maybe later, I have one last meeting with the scientists that will arrive in the Winter Palace in ten minutes.”
“Geez, you’re working late again….” Sophie mumbled.
“It’s only this time. There was a situation that came up earlier today.”
“What situation?”
“Apparently, we sunk three submarines belonging to the Yamato Empire and we are watching every move the Yamato Empire will make about this matter…” Alexander said the truth.
“Are we going to be at war with the Yamato Empire?” Sophie asked. Worry laced her voice.
Alexander placed his hand over Sophie’s head, caressing it gently. “You have nothing to be worried about, Sophie. I won’t put our family at risk by starting a war with another country. Let’s just say the submarines trespassed and we warned them but didn’t listen.”
“I see…” Sophie said, seemingly relieved by this news.
“Hey, after my sister’s visit to the Yamato Empire, why don’t we visit your family in Bavaria? I’m sure Anya would love to see her grandmother, grandfather, and her aunt.”
“That would be a great idea,” Sophie nodded and pulled his caressing hand, and placed it over her cheek. “You have a meeting, right? You should go now before Anya wakes up.”
“Alright,” Alexander said softly as he planted a kiss on Sophie’s forehead before leaving their bedroom.
Alexander returned to his office, waiting patiently for his nuclear scientists to arrive.
A few minutes later, they arrived at his office. It was Heisenberg and Fermi, a Deutschlander and Sardegnian physicist.
“Did you have fun “baking”?” Alexander casually asked when Heisenberg and Fermi sat down on their respective chairs.
Alexander inwardly chuckled, remembering a television show from Earth.
“We did, your Majesty. We thank you for introducing us to such a new concept and the resources provided, allowing humanity to harness the basic power of the universe.,” Heisenberg answered.
“It was actually quite enjoyable and eye-opening, Your Majesty,” Fermi agreed with him.
“I’m pleased that you two liked it. With your help, we’ve just entered a new era,” Alexander said.
Nuclear energy. It is a great power that is beneficial to humans but at the same time, extremely dangerous to their existence. The methods to create it are quite simple actually. It’s called nuclear fission. An atom is small, so small that if every atom in your hand was the size of a marble, your fist would be the size of Earth. And atoms store all their energy in the nucleus.
The bigger the nucleus, the more energy is inside it.
The concept is no different than the explosive molecules of unstable nitroglycerin, hitting it with enough force causes the molecules to release heat and energy as it violently turns into more stable molecules.
And such is why Alexander has been buying up as much uranium as he can. The world has yet to find uses for such ‘useless’ metal that they are glad there is even a buyer for such trash taking up warehouse space in radium paint-making plants.
The uranium nucleus is unstable and slowly bleeds out energy in the form of radiation as it breaks down into a more stable Lead element.
What Alexander wants is to speed up the process. Like stoking smoldering coal into a roaring blaze inside a steam engine.
If you fire a neutron particle at an atom of uranium, its nucleus splits, releasing 200 times the energy of the original neutron that triggered it. It doesn’t stop there. The split uranium atom throws off two extra neutrons. And those collide with more uranium atoms, and with that, you’ve got a chain reaction, creating radiation and heat.
The possibilities of this new source of power are almost limitless. It can provide a steady supply of clean energy from a relatively abundant source and doesn’t pollute the atmosphere. Farms will be able to use irradiated fertilizers to see crops’ uptake of nutrients to improve their overall output, assuring less wastage of water and fertilizers. It can also be used in medicinal advances whereas radioactive sodium will be able to detect heart disease or locate brain tumors, helping to diagnose and cure the sick.
As enticing as it sounds, nuclear energy is not without its disadvantages. A small dose can be lethal to a human being, a nuclear meltdown can make towns uninhabitable, and it holds an enormous amount of power that can wipe out an entire city.
Alexander is all aware of the power of the technology he is introducing into this world. But this is just to ensure the safety of the Ruthenian Empire which is becoming more and more isolated thanks to the western powers feeling apprehensive of their growth.
“We are scheduled to test one on the first of October, right?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. As you’ve instructed, we’ve built one prototype and we will test it in Novaya Zemlya.”
“Good.”