The Division of the Damned (26 page)

Rasch’s entrance into the laboratory would be the catalyst for an ever more ridiculous pantomime. Bending over in a hunchbacked manner, they would rub their hands greedily and show Rasch as much servile timidity as they could before he left the room in disgust. Rasch never thought for a minute that there was anything wrong in their manner and this emboldened them to ever more ridiculous caricatures.

The food was good, the work was easy and their superior was a S
c
hmuck; what could be better?

It was Iullia who put the vinegar to their cream. "Why do you behave like that in front of the
d
octor, Jew?” she had pleasantly asked. She came with a summons for Rasch from the
c
ount and had watched their charade in bemused silence. Rasch went pale when Iullia conveyed the Counts’ instructions and had wordlessly stalked out.

"What ...
what do ... what do you mean, m
a’am?" Reuben was mortified by his exposure, stuttering in fear as he tried to answer.

"You know exactly what I mean. What’s your name, Jew?” She was smiling as she spoke but somehow the smile stayed rooted to her lips and never reached her eyes.

He subconsciously reached for a cap to doff, but he had none and, in his terror, he started to babble
.
"Stein, Reube
n Stein, m
a’am.
I work here and
—
”

He was cut off by an abrupt slap in the face. The violence flicked an old switch and he automatically stood to attention, eyes staring at a point above her head. The most awful scars of the camps were not those worn on the outside.

"Reuben, don’t be afraid. I need your help," she whispered.

The words sank in and Reuben cautiously let his eyes drop down from the ceiling.

"I’m sorry I hit you," she continued
.
"
B
ut you were babbling and I don’t want the
doctor
to hear us.”

His bewilderment intensified and he now looked into her eyes.

"Get your friend. We need to talk about stopping this. You know that what you are helping to achieve is wrong, don’t you?”

He nodded, finally comprehending that she meant no harm. "I’ll go
and get Mordechai.”

They stood in front of her in Rasch’s office. Mordechai had been almost speechless in his fear but Reuben had reassured him and now he seemed to be the one most at ease with the situation. Reuben still could not bring himself to trust that soulless smile.

"So all I need of you two is to make sure that no serum is made. I don’t know how but you have to do it.”

Mordechai was nodding. He felt better about the whole project now he was being asked to sabotage it.

"He’ll find out.
” It was Reuben who was worried.
"It won’t take long and then what will happen to us? Will you be able to help us? Where will you be when they line us up on the wall?”

"Professor Stein.
” Iullia looked him in the eye
. "W
hat do you think will happen to you both when your role here is finished
?
Do you think you will be sent back to Germany for a teaching post in Heidelberg?" She let that sink in before continuing
.
"You know this is wrong. I know this is wrong but I cannot do anything about it. You two can and I think you should. In the name of all that is holy, you must do something to stop this madness.” She almost convinced herself and one look at Mordechai showed her how good her acting had been.

Mordechai, who up to this point hadn’t been one hundred percent committed, was violently nodding his approval at the plan and was unswerving in his desire to sabotage the program. He had inwardly shunned his God but recognised this chance as his way back to salvation. God had tested him and he had failed him. However, he finally had the means and the will to see it through and he would pass this trial of faith.

"Reuben, we must help, if it’s the last thing we do. This could be our redemption. This might save our souls.”

Reuben knew the situation they were in; he wasn’t blind and he definitely wasn’t stupid, but he wanted to delay any decisions that could rock the boat. For the first time in years he had felt relatively safe and now she had come along and threatened to wreck everything. Was that fair? Why must they put everything on the line? Why was it down to them to save the Germans? They hated them so. Why?

"I know what’s going on in your mind, Reuben," she said. "You’re asking why it must be you, why must you save Germany from this evil, this
plague?
”

Reuben said nothing. On another level he knew this woman could read minds. He didn’t question it and he didn’t follow the thought further, he just knew.

"Do you really want to go to your God knowing that you helped cause this? I am German, this is true, but I’m not a devil and I know wrong when I see it. Reuben, do you really want to be a 'shabbes goy'
for the Nazis?"

They were both taken aback by her use of the Yiddish tongue and Mordechai found himself nodding accusingly at Reuben. A 'shabbes goy' was a gentile who performed labour forbidden to observing Jews on the Sabbath. It was also used for someone who did the dirty work for another person.

Reuben paused and looked at his feet
.
"No, you are right, we must help. I will do what I can to hinder production." He looked back up at Mordechai and smiled determinedly. "We will do what we can.” He held out his hand to his friend and n
ew
brother in arms, who took it and shook it in agreement.

Iullia smiled up at the scene of the two men assenting to die for a cause and in
wardly she shrieked her triumph.
"Why
is it
the good are always so easy to deceive?” she asked herself.

*  *  *

Rasch walked slowly to the c
ount’
s
library. He had managed to avoid the
c
ount recently but he had been summoned and had no option but to obey. He felt like a man walking to his execution.

How had it all gone so horribly wrong? He wasn’t sure, but the lack of positive results was something that he hadn’t had to deal with before, and it was hurting his sense of self. It was as if the Gods themselves were interfering and trying to sabotage his progress. The building of the laboratory had taken a lot of time; the transport alone had taken four weeks. So it stood to reason that he
would need more time than the c
ount had given him. "Science cannot be rushed," he told himself. "He’ll just have to be patient.”

However he knew that patience was not on the agenda with the
count. The c
ount demanded results straightaway and the penalty for failure didn’t bear thinking about. If only he hadn’t been as cock-sure and positive before they had cond
ucted the final test, then the c
ount wouldn’t have expected so much and perhaps that might have tempered his haste. He was sure the two new Jews would be of help, they were willing and industrious, but he needed more time. That was what he would now ask for, more time.

He knocked on the library door and waited for the call to enter. Normally he would have marched in but he subconsciously valued every second of postponement, so he knocked and waited.

"Come in
, Doctor, please come in." The c
ount sounded jovial but Rasch knew that that was no guarantee of safety.

The door opened before him and Rasch steeled himself to walk in.

"You wanted to
see me, Y
our Excellency?”

"Yes, yes I did.” Th
e c
ount got up and walked around his desk. He
put his arm around Rasch’s shoulder and guided him to a chair.

"Tell me, Doctor,
and
please be as candid as you can be
;
t
ell me how far off we are from a serum?” He sat down opposite Rasch and gravely waited for an answer.

Rasch coughed into his hand to gather his thoughts. "How do you want me to answer, with a date or are we talking i
n the abstract?" Buoyed by the c
ount
’
s
air of benevolence, Rasch tried to assume a tone of confidence.

"Could you give me a date?" th
e c
ount asked almost hopefully and Rasch found himself forgetting his earlier fear.

"Er, well it wouldn’t be easy to give a date straight off of the top of my head, but
—
”

The c
ount held his hand up for silence. ”Doctor, I realise that I have put a lot of pressure on you and I have had a rethink of how best we move ahead with our plans.” Rasch nod
ded that he understood and the c
ount pressed on
.
"I told you, somewhat rashly, that the next experiment that fails will cost you dearly. At that time my numbers were small and precious. It seems now that we are in a position where we can start to take chances with the lives of my soldiers. Every week we receive a delivery of men who are either to be used as rations or to be turned to soldiers. Why not use one or two of the newest recruits as test subjects?”

Rasch sat up, delighted by the idea.
"Of course, Excellency, brilliant.
I see a whole new pace being s
et by your proposal. In fact, I
—
”
Rasch stopped himself in mid-flow.

"I’m
glad you approve, Doctor." The c
ount smiled and Rasch felt the icy fingers of apprehension throttling his poise.

"I will give you six months to develop, test and present to me a working serum. Six months, Herr Doctor Rasch, is an adequate time for success and an overly excessive amount of time for failure.”

"Yes, of course
Your
Excellency. I will not let you down. I’ll get started right away,” he babbled.

"Good man. Speak to the guards about picking your test subjects. You know the way out.” He nodded to the door.

Rasch stood outside the library and counted the months off in his head. Tomorrow would be the first of April. Was
that
six months including March or did he mean six months as of A
pril. He was panicked and weary. H
e needed Iullia. Iullia would sort him out, he was sure.

Chapter 31

Ukraine

The mine was getting too full. Every week brought more vampire soldiers and now their numbers had swollen to over six hundred. They didn’t all go out every night either now as it had been considered a better tactic to hold them back and wait for the 'Big Push
,
' the counter-attack that would send Ivan back to Moscow.

Rasch had put the idea forward and Himmler had liked it, or so he had said. The theory was based on the effect the British tanks had had on the German soldiers during the First World War. Churchill had reckoned that if they had used the tanks en masse across a large front instead of using them in ones and twos, the ef
fect would have been a thousand
fold more potent and could possibly have turned the war a lot quicker. The theory was sound and they decided to copy the idea. The only problem was, as ever, logistics. The feeding and sheltering was turning into a nightmare.

"We’ll have to send them back," Henning suggested. "We’ll stay here with a nominal force to use as a raiding party and the rest can come up for the Big Push later.” He stressed the 'Big Push' to show his disgust at the idea.

"I think you’re rig
ht. They should go back to the c
astle. There’s bound to be a cellar there and they’re not doing anything here. It makes sense to get them away.”

Rohleder chipped in. "Who’s going to put it to Arak, because I’m not fucking going to.”

"Oh you’re a great help, you are," Henning growled.

"We’ll all go," Von Struck decided and they turned as one to the mine.

Arak stopped them in their tracks. They hadn’t heard him appear and didn’t know how long he’d been standing there. Rohleder was more embarrassed than shocked and he ludicrously hoped Arak hadn’t heard his outburst.

"I heard your conversation. I have spoken with the
Master
and he agrees. We leave tonight.”

Von Struck was the first to gather his wits. "Are you going as well?”

"I have to guide t
hem back and to report to your
Master
." He sounded almost casual.

"My
Master
?"

"The
d
octor.”

Von Struck was speechless but he could hear the two behind him as they choked on their laughter.