Chapter 10 - Too Much Information
Col Turner found Howard and Leonard in Leonard's office both staring at Leonard's laptop, reading his email. Penny's emails had been getting to Leonard, he could read the pain in them and it was breaking his heart, he actually needed his friend to try and help him do something to keep Penny out of all this. When Leonard looked up, he actually was startled, he really thought Turner had come to take him away.
"Gentlemen can you spare me a few minutes of your time?" Turner looked at them and as soon as they nodded he closed Leonard's door. "Okay, before we start you both have DoD security clearances, so everything I talk to you about next is classified secret, understand? Nothing leaves this room."
Leonard and Howard nodded again, so Turner took out a computer generated photo from an envelope marked secret and put it on the desk in front of them. Howard recognized what was in the picture quickly, partly because he could read the Russian on parts of the casing. "That is a Russian nuclear artillery shell." Howard then looked at Turner for confirmation.
Turner nodded, "See how it is opened up and the wires coming out of it to that hand held trigger? Can you tell me how complete the firing system is and your best guess on how complex?" Turner now watched Howard who was studying the picture.
Howard had been working on Government projects since he got to Cal Tech, and if it wasn't for the Government, he probably wouldn't have a job. The Army and NASA had kept Howard in video games for the last ten years. The last five years Howard had worked on analyzing Improvised Explosive Devices (IED), for the Army, as part of his job, so the circuitry he was looking at seemed very familiar, almost a copy of other actual devices he had seen before. The only thing was he never seen this circuitry on a weapon of this type before.
After a few more minutes, Howard looked back at Turner, "It looks very simple, they just wired it to be fired by someone pushing the trigger, that is all. However, there is some kind of display and box on the side you can't really make out enough to see."
"A booby-trap maybe?"
"I don't think so, if it was a booby-trap it would be more inline with firing lines, not to the side. It could be more like a back up system, maybe….I don't know, it is hard to see."
"But definitely not a booby-trap."
"I don't think so, but you never can be 100 percent sure unless you actually look at it."
"Okay fine that helps. Dr Hofstadter, I need to tell me the radius of damage, with this much yield." Turner showed Leonard another classified table of values, it was a table of yields for Russian weapons of this type.
Leonard had some experience in Nuclear Physics, like a lot of Physicists so, also he had worked some projects for the DoD too, so he tried to relate what he was reading to actual damage. "I'm a little rusty but I think from one half to one mile, and I would pick one mile to be safe."
"Okay that helps. Gentlemen remember, I wasn't here and you didn't see this." Leonard and Howard both nodded again. They sat there quietly for a few minutes after Turner left, both lost in their own thoughts.
"That was weird." Howard finally stated and Leonard just nodded. Howard then tried to get his mind off what just happened and slowly tried to get his mind back to the subject of Penny. Leonard's mind had gone quickly to Penny, Turner almost immediately becoming just a memory to him.
-TIN MAN-
The day was now over for Leonard but it was a complete disaster for him, he knew what he had to do, but he didn't want to do it and he hated himself that he wasn't smart enough to find another way. Howard agreed with his solution, but that only made thing worse, because it meant that his solution was probably the only solution, which Leonard really wished wasn't true. He sent a text to Penny in the afternoon to tell her he read her emails and wanted to talk, it killed him that she probably thought her emails had been effective in solving this problem. The thought of breaking up with the woman he loved made him sick to his stomach and he popped a couple 'TUMS', the only thing he had been able to eat all afternoon. At least Howard had insisted he come with him to help, Leonard thought he would need his support before the night was out.
It was a little before 6 PM when Leonard and Howard showed up at Leonard's apartment, Leonard was feeling like hell. He was suppose to go over to her apartment, in a couple minutes, to tell her they were through, he had no choice, otherwise she would just keep trying to find out what was wrong with him and get herself involved. Bernadette told Howard she and Amy were at Penny's apartment helping her with her problems with Leonard, tonight again, so at least he knew she would have them there that night and that might help her get better quickly. Leonard watched the clock slowly move to 6 PM then looked at Howard, it was time for him to walk across the hall to talk to her.
The knock on the door surprised them all, but Penny thought the knock seemed familiar, so she practically ran to the door, opening it. She was so happy to see him standing outside the door, but the happiness turned to dread when he just looked at her saying nothing. The happiness she had felt earlier, when she thought they would talk and things would get better, was now all gone. Fear now seemed to form in her, "Leonard, I missed you." was all she could get out of her mouth.
"Penny we need to talk." He looked around her at the girls sitting on the couch, hoping they got the hint to leave, to give them a few minutes alone.
"Leonard Hofstadter we are not leaving." Bernadette was pissed.
"Penny, please." Leonard looked back at Penny, with pleading eyes.
Penny knew what was going to happen, there was nothing she could do about it, her guts were churning and she felt like she wanted to throw up. "Amy and Bernadette, please."
"You sure Bestie?" Penny nodded and both girls looked at each other, then got up to leave.
"Howard is next door." Leonard told them and they understood they shouldn't go far.
Amy and Bernadette closed Penny's door and walked across the hall, going into Leonard and Sheldon's apartment only to find Howard staring at the TV. Bernadette felt terrible and didn't know how Howard could just sit there and watch TV. "Howie?" Howard never took his eyes off the TV, "Howard?" Bernadette still didn't get a response from him. "HOWARD!"
Howard just put a finger up, never turning his head. "One minute."
Leonard walked slowly over to the couch with Penny, she felt like a person on death row, she realized just by looking at him, nothing she said or did would change what was going to happen. She was so desperate she did the only thing she thought could do any good. "Leonard, I love you."
Leonard was about to speak, but now he didn't know what to say, he never expected her to say that, not that. The both sat there for a few painful minutes, Leonard trying to compose his thoughts and Penny not caring if he didn't speak, because she didn't want him to say they were breaking up. It was during that silent moment, that Howard burst through the door.
"Leonard, turn on the TV, man, it's important turn it on." Howard was frantic, Amy and Bernadette followed him back over in bewilderment.
Leonard looked at Howard then at Penny, confused, but it must be important, Howard knew what he was doing, so it must be important, right? He grabbed for the remote on the coffee table then looked at Penny, confusion all over her face, who just nodded. He turned on the TV to see a news special announcement, Terrorists had taken over a building in Los Angeles and the Army was evacuating a mile around the building. The one mile stuck in Leonard's brain as it all came together, he looked at Howard who nodded.
Leonard was still staring at Howard in disbelief, when Howard's phone beeped for a message. Howard had hacked into the Turner's Army email, he already had an account on the system to support his work for them, but he wanted to get an original digital copy of the picture Colonel Turner showed him, he wanted to find out what the thing was on the side. He knew if he found out what it was and it was important, Turner wouldn't be too upset with his hacking. Howard used a special computer program in the university that could look at reflections to estimate what an object was, that couldn't be seen. He had thought of it when he saw a reflection on the polished wall behind the object. The computer program would go through trillions of possibilities, so even though Howard started it at lunch, it was only now telling him it was finished. Howard now looked at his phone then to Leonard, "The program has a picture."
Leonard nodded and got up, things were getting to weird and dangerous, he followed Howard to his apartment to use his laptop. Penny watched him leave, now completely baffled, thinking "What is going on.' Bernadette and Amy just stood there looking at her, equally as confused.
Howard had the picture sent to Leonard's university email account and as the picture came up they both recognized what they were seeing. The picture was of a timer, with two clock screens, one looked like local time and the other was set at 2400, which was midnight. Howard was the first to speak, "it's a timer, it is going off at midnight."
Leonard just stared at him, "Yeah. We need to tell the Army."
"I can send them an email, since I have an account, that is how I got into Turner's." Howard opened Turner's email and was about to open a new email to him when he saw something on Turner's email list that caught his eye. Howard stopped and opened the email, so they both could read it and they both read it a couple times before they felt they really understood.
"Howard they are going to bomb the building, with one of those smart bombs, that is not really good."
"It will go off?" Howard looked at Leonard, he was the real expert in nuclear physics.
"Maybe, if it is located deep in the building they will hear enough, soon enough, to push the trigger, but even if the Army is successful, the bomb explosion that destroys it, will send the radioactive material all over the city. LA will be poisoned for a long time."
"So you say it is no win for Los Angeles." Leonard just nodded to Howard.
Leonard stared at the screen for a few more minutes, then looked at Howard, "They need help."
Howard's eyes went wide, and he shook his head, "Let's just tell them about the timer and run north."
"There is almost 6 hours left, I could be there in two and then take an hour to try. If I don't make it you could still tell them 2-3 hours before anything happens. Besides they are never going to get all the people out of the zone in time, you saw the news report."
"Leonard, no. It's suicide."
A little smile formed on Leonard's face, "It is better then the alternative."
"WHAT IS SUICIDE?" Leonard and Howard turned to see Penny standing in the doorway, with Bernadette and Amy behind her, Penny's eyes wide.
Howard hit the off button on the computer, to blank the screen, then looked back at the girls. Leonard looked at Penny, suddenly feeling she was in danger again, he had to do something. Leonard looked at Howard, when he mouthed 'We need to do something', to which Howard just shook his head.
"No, everyone needs to leave." Howard countered, speaking out loud.
It was then that the both of them realized the girls again, looking at each of them and the confusion on their faces. Leonard slowly looked at Penny, then Bernadette and Amy, "You guys need to grab a couple days of clothes and some bottled water and leave in the next ten minutes. Drive north by northwest, don't stop till you reach…." Leonard thought for a moment, "Oxnard, don't even think of stopping till you reach there, but go farther if you can"
"Take Sheldon, Raj, and pick up my mom, but go now." Howard added.
"What about you guys." Penny was now scared.
"We have to get something from the university, but we will be right behind you. Now go. Please go." Leonard had stood up and looked directly at Penny, into her eyes, while he had talked.
"Leonard, you're scaring me. What is happening?"
"Penny please, that TV special about those terrorists taking over the building is serious. We think they have something like nerve gas and if they release it, it will travel all over the city and downwind. You girls need to get in a car and go north for a while. It is bad, real bad, please do what I tell you. Please for once just do what I tell you. Penny, if you love me you will go for me."
Penny stared at him for a few minutes but she nodded. "Okay Leonard."
"Thank you."
"Nerve gas?" Bernadette looked confused and then looked at Howard.
"Yeah." Howard now joined Leonard's lie. "If you go up to like Oxnard, or farther, you should be safe. Just get everyone quickly and take them with you, leave now, okay."
Bernadette narrowed her eyes at her husband. "What are you doing at the university?"
"We are going to get some gas detectors, and will be right behind you." Leonard broke in to keep the story going."
Penny stared at Leonard, something was wrong, she felt he was lying. "Forget the gas things, just come with us."
Leonard shook his head, "We can't, we have to get them, it is important. You leaving is important too. We need to go now, so we can catch up quickly." Leonard stood up, and Howard followed him.
They quickly walked by the girls, Howard kissing Bernadette, Leonard gave Penny a kiss, it was so hard to stop, he knew it was his last one. The guys rushed down the stairs, but Penny went into the hallway, the acoustics of the stairs letting her hear from the landing below as the guys continued down. Howard was saying, 'Leonard, let the Army do it, we can't do anything about a bomb.' then Leonard, 'Howard, we have to try, I have to try.'
Penny then looked back at Bernadette and Amy, "they said BOMB!"
The girls grabbed their purses and headed downstairs, just in time to see Howard and Bernadette's car leave the parking lot, tires squealing. Amy, Bernadette and Penny looked at each other, Penny finally speaking, "They're lying."
Bernadette slowly nodded, "I think you're right."
"Come on, we need to see what they are up to."
"You sure, a lot of what they said is on TV." Amy reminded them.
"But they are not telling us the truth. There is something they are up to and I don't like it. Leonard has been acting weird and then that thing about suicide, plus I heard them say bomb. I need to know what they are up to, you guys go on, I'll go by myself." Penny started to head to her car.
Bernadette looked at Amy. "Also Amy, think about it, if we drive far away and are not downwind, why would they need gas detectors for a release here." Amy slowly nodded.
Amy's car was the closest and was better than Penny's so the girls caught up to her, and they all piled in to Amy's car to follow the guys.