![\"\"](\"https:\/\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/austin-chan-8NHL3OI5eWc-unsplash-1.jpg\")
\u201cIs there a party going on in the house?\u201d said the inspector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYes, just something about work.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAt the University?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAt the front,\u201d said Haber.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At their feet lay the body of Mrs. Haber, Mr. Haber\u2019s better half.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAre there witnesses?\u201d said the inspector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMy son,\u201d said Haber. \u201cHeard the shots.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cShot,\u201d said the inspector, \u201cthrough the heart.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHe is upstairs,\u201d said Haber.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAlone?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNow. Yes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was the precipice of a great victory. We\u2026 We all stand on that precipice. Together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I went to the generals. They held themselves high, in their uniforms of office. They were blind to the times. I moved upon them as a ghost of the future passing by. They had plans, you see. Based on the learning of past wars. But I brought to them the future. And they were not prepared to see that future. And they said, \u201cThat is not the way of war. No war which we know. You are unschooled in this matter. War is a game of inches. Hard-fought. There are rules and you don\u2019t even know them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And they sent me away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSo, you threw a party?\u201d said the inspector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNo. The party was going on when\u2026 It happened.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMm,\u201d said the inspector. \u201cBack story.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I rolled into the encampment of the men on the ground with my equipment in tow. They didn\u2019t understand it, but the trucks were official and these men were trained to follow orders, not give them. And that can be handy when one just wants to get something done. When time is the matter most pressing. Always shortening here and elongating there. And, as a scientist, I seek to control the elements in conflict. To understand. To set the conditions. To examine the data of the response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And we set up the equipment. Field conditions. Safety equipment first. And at the crack of dawn we released the experiment which was more successful than I had supposed. The gas, released from its confines, spread forward toward the line. It changed the color of the sunlight. As it rolled over the grass and plants they turned gray at its touch, draining all color out in an instant. It was a sight to behold, as we did. Directed by a reliable Wind it crossed territory. It killed any living thing it came across. We could hear the struggle for breath, unforthcoming, in the near distance. We were right there. Right there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI had an accomplishment at work,\u201d said Haber. \u201cAnd while all this is unfortunate, I must, in the morning, return to my work. Work through the mourning.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOf course,\u201d said the inspector. \u201cSometimes our work is all we have to sustain meaning in this crazy world.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Fritz Haber stood in the garden across from the inspector. Surrounded by the summer bloom. The aroma. The night after the day after Mayday. \u201cI came right over,\u201d said the inspector. \u201cMy partner is otherwise occupied. Another matter.\u201d \u201cIt is just, you see, my wife,\u201d said Haber. \u201cIs there a party going on in the house?\u201d said the inspector. \u201cYes, just something about work.\u201d \u201cAt the University?\u201d \u201cAt the front,\u201d said Haber. At their feet lay the body of Mrs. Haber, Mr. Haber\u2019s better half. \u201cAre there witnesses?\u201d said the inspector. \u201cMy son,\u201d said Haber. \u201cHeard the shots.\u201d \u201cShot,\u201d said...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[14,12,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2266","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-info","category-my-books","category-writing"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3u13S-Ay","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2266","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2266"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2266\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2270,"href":"https:\/\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2266\/revisions\/2270"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2266"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2266"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2266"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}