Truman hushed him with a wave. "The problem is, do we recommence hostilities or try to wait this out?"

Marshall spoke for the first time. "I don't think we have a choice. What Anami said was a complete rejection of any surrender at this time. We must continue the war."

"I agree," said King firmly. Leahy looked away in dismay. He had taken the failure of the Japanese to surrender very hard. After a moment, Byrnes too agreed.

Truman groaned. "The country has been anticipating an end to the Jap war for several days now. There have been premature and false announcements of peace, and people have been celebrating and dancing in the streets. Now, they have to be told that all their hopes have been dashed and we're still at war with a bitter and fanatical enemy." He turned to Byrnes. "I must go on the air and make an announcement very quickly before the rumors get out of hand."

General Groves coughed lightly to get attention. Although a belligerent and highly confident man, he was outranked and somewhat awed by the people in the room. "Mr. President, gentlemen, I presume you will want a continuation of our atomic bombings?"

Truman nodded. Destroying Hiroshima and Nagasaki had almost brought the Japs to their knees; perhaps more bombs would succeed where the first two had not. It had been Truman's decision and his alone to use the little-understood weapon against the Japanese. He had made the decision hoping to save lives, American lives, and now that decision again confronted him.

As before, Truman did not hesitate. "Do that. When can we atomize another city?"

Groves paused. "Not immediately, sir. It will be at least two weeks before we will have the materials in place at Tinian to assemble another bomb. We are beginning production of the bombs at our facility in Hanford, Washington, but the pace will be slow. We estimate that we can make at least one a month, with a strong possibility of accelerating that pace once we learn more about the process."