A fleeting glimpse on the title of this story might make one wince and guess: 'Safe bet! Once more that banal thriller I'm sick to death of! I know, gangsters, after their next skirmish, to bury traces, immure the victim's corpse, putting it into a concrete mould and grouting just on the building site?'
To cut a long story short I don't mind admitting, that as for the part of technology it's quite right. But as about all other details of this unique story, I'm going to tell you, rather the reverse is true.
No bandits, no skirmish, no bloodshed... Even more, in the background of the slowly developing course of common events it seemed that almost everything was peace and quiet.
All people involved were living their common, ordinary lives: they worked, loved, rejoiced, worried, fell ill and recovered, sooner or later died of some incurable diseases or old age.
The point was that some deaths followed suspiciously too often in the families that changed after residing for some while in one definite town, in one definite apartment, in one definite room of that one apartment.
Surviving members of the families were seriously troubled by the loss of their nearest and dearest, but, submissively resigned themselves to their lot and hurriedly left the place.
Sadly, the next inhabitant, uninformed, suspecting nothing, being in full ignorance of the deadly danger, a family, usually of three or four members, happily and hurriedly settled in the long awaited apartment that came free. Back then long lists of people queued for years to get some dwelling-place. That was the way it was back then.In that apartment though and after some while, usually, one member of the family felt it and appealed to the doctors.
Initially, the enigmatic and frightening patient's symptoms discouraged doctors.
Later on, to tell the truth, most of physicians diagnosed leukemia. But not one of them could guess the riddle of its origin.
In spite of all doctor's orders and intense medication the general patient's state would go from bad to worse. Eventually, the doctors would acknowledge their absolute helplessness and impotence. So, the next patient's doom was sealed.
Let's go back to the very beginning of the story - the late fifties. Levko Pavlovich, then a student of the Kiev Polytechnical Institute, being on a long vacation, came to his hometown to see his parents.
Then, it was rather a small-town, located in the eastern Ukraine. But at the same time, it was rather big industrial center of the Soviet Union.
Levko and his parents lived in the new, modern part of the town called 'Sozgorod' (there was an old one, 'Starygorod', also).
This part of the town was naturally hidden in a wide and deep, gently sloping steppe valley. The latter descended to the little, slow flowing tortuous river 'Kruvoy Torez'.
The rivulet peacefully flowed at the foot of a row of high white chalky hills.
The population of this tidy and cozy part of the town, with a green belt round it, consisted largely of the workers and engineers of a large heavy-machinery engineering works.
Just after coming home, Levko impatiently rushed to his father's working place.
It was at the only college in the town, namely, the Evening Industrial Institute, where Levco's father was a lecturer in physics and electrical engineering. The father was also in charge of a big and excellently equipped laboratory.
The father was held in very high respect by his students, most of them, strange to say, being rather young, were already quite accomplished and influential managers and directors of the neighboring engineering works. They lovingly nicknamed him 'Electro-Pavlovich'.
That's why, when the research and measuring laboratory of the works had to get a new piece of diagnostic equipment, the powerful gamma-ray defectoscope, the latter was primarily presented for preliminary examination and study of the instructions for use, at the institute's lab.
A main purpose, however, was to give the installation a proper appreciation: if the safety measures provided against intense radiation were adequate, and if there were some additional unthought-of sources of danger for the serving staff.
You see, that was only the experimental, unique model had never been tested in operation on-line.
When Levko entered the institute's lab, he found his father absorbed in a study of those technical papers.
The equipment was only just unpacked and partially assembled, but without a necessary radioactive piece. The installation glittered with its nickel-plated parts and looked very impressive, but seemed a bit unwieldy.
'The gadget looks pretty impressive, doesn't it?' asked the father of his rather stunned son and went on.
'They call it the 'Cobalt Cannon'. It's purposed to make 'transparent' the extra-heavy castings and forgings, made of cast-iron or steel, that sometimes reach the weight of hundreds tons and measure in meters.
That's to make technologist be sure of the absence of any defects inside the thickness of the metal: caverns, voids, non-uniformity of structure and so on. The use of the X-ray equipment for this purpose turned out to be insufficient.
Judging from those applied drawings, the goal of this device-mastodon and what made it work was a little even tiny, pebble-like, soldered up capsule with a little radioactive isotope inside.
The latter, I think, must have incredibly high level of radiation, probably, up to several Roentgen. It is deadly dangerous for man and for all other living creatures.
Strange to say, the specification keeps mum about the value of this key parameter...
Let's get out to the corridor. Lo, over there, in that remote corner, you may come to and have a look at that cumbersome wooden chest with a heavy lead container, designed as a set of nesting dolls, and a capsule hidden inside it.
The most dangerous operation for the member of the serving staff - his father went on - is to take the last 'doll', that's the capsule-holder, out of the container and next insert and secure it in the proper unit of the installation.
The person doing such should be donned in special heavy protective gear and gauntlets. Other additional severe measures of protection needed to be taken to safeguard the personnel during the regular diagnostic operations in a special isolated and thoroughly ventilated premise. By the way, this kind of work paid handsomely...'
Since that father's impressive narration many years had passed, but all the facts told to him by his father were burned into Levko's memory.
Many years elapsed and many events occurred before Levko came to know the sequel of that unique story that he happened to be partially involved in from the very beginning.
Now, once again, he wound back the chronology of events recorded on the top of his memory to the story's fatal end.
Then, there came the bang at Chernobyl. Soon after, 'Gorbachov's perestroika' dealt the final blow to the Soviet Union. Long years of stagnation had followed from the time Levko first had his discussion with his father. The situation in the industry and at that engineering works had changed dramatically.
Eventually, that dangerous gamma-ray defectoscope, after being years in use, had become a sheer scarecrow. First, it had been determined a failure, later on, replaced with a new ultrasonic device. Then, being disassembled and partially looted, it was finally put in a scrap-iron heap.
As for the lead of the protective container, it was, for sure, melted dawn and used by enterprising fishermen as a plummets...
No one could trace the trend and fatal events that followed or the scary consequences for the persons involved in the fate of that deadly dangerous capsule!
Meanwhile, the events, connected with that apartment, approached to their logical end.
Initially, more and more neighbors became knowledgeable and were scared by the sad fate of the families that have been making their abode in the adjacent apartment.
For some while, various, sometimes-fantastic rumors were afloat in the town about that place of infamy.Finally, the evil repute of the latter became known and caused serious anxiety to the municipal authorities. A sanitary and epidemic inspection was ordered to organize the work of a special committee to investigate the case.
Some days, the experts tried to find the mysterious and dangerous source, but in vain.
At last, someone advised the use of a radiometer. But a proper device wasn't available in the arsenal of the commission of experts. That same someone advised to appeal to the military.
Soon after, they managed to fetch a dosimeter with an indicator of some obsolete model.
At the first attempt of its use in one of the rooms, the unqualified operator alleged the dosimeter either to be broken down, or, at least, malfunctioning. The members of the commission and some curious on looking bureaucrats, that crowded up in the room, only chuckled at this declaration.
But, when someone else supposed and proved, that the device simply exceeded the upper bounds of the scale, the scared crowd dispersed in a hurry.
Soon afterwards, a trained military operator, donned in a special protective gear, this time with a proper dosimeter, easily localized the spot on the wall of the room with an extremely high level of radiation. Nevertheless, the indicator of his device, being placed near that spot, stuck dead to the upper catch of the scale as well.
Finally, with all necessary precautionary measures, the rescuers breached the wall through and extracted that deadly dangerous object. It turned out to be just that pebble-like capsule.
Here, one might only guess, how that deadly capsule, that was so thoughtlessly turned adrift...condemned to wander the earth...turned out to be in the nearby quarry.
How this little, really pebble-like object survived quite possible explosions, excavators, stone-crushers, and what else... before getting into the concrete mixer and then, following the proper technological process, was immured in the formed of the construction unit - well-known to anyone, ordinary mortal, as the wall!
The next, more frightful question... How many unfortunate, ignorant people, adults and, maybe children, contacted their certain death and inevitably suffered the radiation sickness and died?
There's no use even to put that, following and quite rightful question - Levko pondered on - like: Where does the blame lie, or who made this fatal case to occur?
Well everyone knows the answer for sure: The blame lies with the demagogic communist ideology and that, based on it, turned out an inhumane social system!
Anyway, it was a truly memorable unique occasion that happened in my native town and then shocked the whole country.
But it was only one of many sad examples of the notorious irresponsibility and impunity of the Communist party leadership in the former 'communist' history of Ukraine. Sadly, just this heavy legacy of our past, which is so deeply rooted in the minds of our leaders, we cannot manage to get rid of even nowadays.
And the last, not rhetorical, but absolutely pragmatic question: How did they, at that time and what should have been competent and responsible authorities, dispose of that really immortal devilish gadget! Nobody knows...
Surely, it must have been utilized somehow. Perhaps, it was even buried somewhere in the restricted area in strict confidence?
But, firstly, it was just that uneasy time of general criminal negligence and irresponsibility. Secondly, the situation since then changed dramatically but rather not for better things. Our environment in olden times was as full of danger, as it remains even now.
Most likely, the capsule was simply dug in the ground somewhere on the waste land in the remote outskirts of the same town...But the latter has grown up essentially since then and this immortal devilish gadget may turn out still to be somewhere within the bounds of the town...
For this gadget to pop out somewhere once again and be turned adrift...condemned wandering the earth... for more people to fall victims to it, God forbid!
It is not every sad story that has a happy end. As for this one, it is likely to be continued.
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