The Bomb
* * *
"Eagle Nine, this is Dimples 03, we have entered Jap airspace, ETA 10 minutes, over."
A squadron of airbrushed bombers roared through the morning sky towards the land of the rising sun. They were disguised as reconnaissance and weather aircraft, however, one of them contained a device that would change the art of war forever.
" Dimples 03, this is Eagle Niner, what is the weather status for HERO? Over."
" We have clear crystal skies on HERO, please confirm Little Boy with HQ, over."
" Acknowledged, please ascend to Angel 29 and initiate Little Boy. Clear. "
The cockpit vibrated to the rumbling exhaustion of oil hungry engines as we rose to Angel 29; a common procedure to increase altitude and reduce the chances of being hit by anti-aircraft guns. The radio faded to static, and my crew tensed up, our faces sweating as we inspected each and every dial and radar signal meticulously.
A few minutes had passed, but there were still no signs of enemy retaliation.
It was strangely eerie, yet peaceful, in contrast with the bloody skies that I knew so well of. As we approached the target, the marshmallow clouds sifted away, and an amazing sight of a structured and bustling metropolis revealed itself.
'Opening the bomb bay. T minus 20 until release. Standby'.
As the bomb bays opened, air gushed in from the vacuum and shook the rigid airframe, at the very moment the bombardier spied the Aioi bridge in his crosshairs. My crew tensed in curiosity on what the fuss with this 'bomb' was all about, with their excitement fuelled by the utter hatred we had for the Japanese. A silent countdown began and I closed my eyes, breathing in and out synchronously to the mind.
Five, four, three, two, one.
“Bomb away.”
I opened my eyes.
Freed of its five-ton burden, the plane shot upward. Remembering the Commander telling me to travel as far as I can from the bomb, I found my hands forming an iron grip on the joystick, and dragged downwards to gain as much speed as possible, while beads of sweat formed from my eyebrows. Only the sound of the mellifluous rumbling of the four propeller engines could be heard in the cockpit.
Shortly after, a light like a thousand suns crescendoed to a brightness that seemed to illuminate the entire sky. The bright morning sun had been reduced to an odd, faint, purple blob and nothing more.
Seconds later, a deep, painful growl from the depths of the Earth rumbled from deep underground, as if she was moaning in an agonizing death. Instantaneously, an unfathomable heat radiated through the aluminum body of the plane, warming the black, protective clothing that we were wearing, and bone-jarring shock waves rattled the airframe ferociously, as if we were struck by the fist of God. We were 9 and a half miles, slant, from the atomic explosion.
"Captain, was that Anti-aircraft?"
" No," I replied.
“It’s the bomb.”
As we turned back to observe the damage, I looked through a keyhole into the manifestation of hell. The once bustling city that was there a few minutes ago had been completely obliterated. Reduced to a flat plain covered in fires and smoke, it was as though billions of years of creation had suddenly and inextricably reversed themselves.
"Hey, hey, where did the city go?!"
"How many people just died?!"
We ourselves had not known anything about this 'bomb' until now. Question after question was being thrown around on the radio, asking what monstrosity we had dropped on the city, while I attempted to process what I had just seen, my eyes stupefied with the disgusting mushroom cloud that reigned over the city. When did war become this simple?
It was 3 hours later when we arrived back to base and we were immediately congratulated, even called heroes by the commander, the servicemen, and the servicewomen. But they, blissfully ignorant, knew nothing of the bomb.
The single bomb that wiped off an entire city clean off the map.
A man-made cataclysm that had the power of a thousand suns.
The sounds of celebration and happiness were blocked out by the torrent of thoughts that ensued our minds. As the weight of what we had just done bore down on us, we felt an intense aura of guilt and sympathy seep in, eventually to completely usurp and even outright replace our loathing for Japan. I put my head in my hands, questioning my humanity over and over.
"What have I done?!!"
