Chapter Four Hundred Sixty-Three
14th June 1945
Moscow, Russia
Peter walked through the hotel to the lounge. Maria was staying here and he figured that if he was headed the other way he should check on her for Emil. In the telegram that Emil had sent he had said that Maria had been threatening to divorce him when he’d last seen her as she was being loaded onto an airplane. Considering what had been said in the briefing that had been given to the high-ranking Officers of the Medical Corps about what they anticipated in the Far East when they had been mobilized then Emil had very good reason to have her be as far from there as possible. Maria hadn’t returned to Berlin yet. Instead she’d stayed in Moscow with the other reporters covering the war and the upcoming events that were going to happen in Russia over the Summer.
Maria was seated at a table with notebooks spread out on it. A meal sat forgotten on its plate having gone cold, she had only taken one or two bites. She was writing furiously before pausing and flipping through her notebooks for something.
“Hard at work I see” Peter said to his sister-in-law as he sat down across from her, “Avoidance?”
Maria looked up at him in annoyance. “I hate how you do that Peter” She said, “Not everyone needs or likes your analysis.”
“Very well then” Peter said, “I’m just here as your husband’s brother.”
“You can’t just turn that off” Maria said as she looked him right in the eye, “You are measuring my responses right now, what I’m saying and doing. Probably gauging my own personal health from what you can observe on top of it.”
“I can observe that you are still angry with Emil” Peter replied.
“That is hardly a secret” Maria said, “He gave me an hour to gather my things and shoved me on a cargo plane bound for Volgograd.”
“He did have a good reason for his actions” Peter said, “Intelligence thinks that the Japanese may be about to do something extremely stupid and you were hardly the only…”
“I don’t want to hear it” Maria snapped cutting Peter off midsentence, “When Emil’s actions have a direct impact on my career then it’s a problem for both of us.”
Peter could understand that. “Are you still going to divorce him when he makes it back home?” He asked.
Maria laughed at that. “No, but he really pushed his luck this time” She said, “I’m planning on making his life pure Hell when I get the chance. He'll eventually find a way to make up for it though.”
Peter smiled. In spite of the strain that Emil’s own career put on their relationship Maria saw a future with him.
Maria took off her glasses and rubbed her eyes, she looked tired and pale.
“Didn’t we talk about working excessively long hours?” Peter asked, “Eyestrain, back problems and the other issues you’ve had.”
“I guess this means that Doctor Holz is back” Maria replied.
“You said it yourself, it’s not something I can turn off” Peter said.
“I had only been working for an hour or so when you showed up” Maria replied. With her glasses off Peter saw that she had yellow tinge to her eyes.
“Perhaps you should use this as a chance to get some rest” Peter said, “At least eat something.”
Maria looked at the plate of food that she had been ignoring. “I’m not hungry” She said, “I don’t know why I ordered that, it’s going to go to waste.”
Fatigue, signs of anemia and lack of appetite, Peter knew better than to say what he was thinking aloud. There were several possibilities but the most likely… Maria had said that she hated it when he did this.
“Is there anything that you want me to say to Emil when I see him?” Peter asked.
“Just that I’m going back to Berlin next week and remind him that I’m not the sort that needs to be wrapped in tissue paper” Maria said.
Peter pulled his notepad out the out of the pocket of his coat and wrote the phone number and address of Doctor Tangeman on it before tearing it off and handing it to Maria. “There’s a colleague of mine, Erma Tangeman, who you might consider seeing” He said.
“Colleague, as in another Doctor?” Maria asked.
“Yes” Peter replied.
“Is there something going on between you and this Lady Doctor?” Maria asked suggestively.
“We’re professionals” Peter answered, “And that happens to be the same question that my mother asked.”
Maria smirked at that, she would probably go see Doctor Tangeman out of curiosity. Just as well. Peter didn’t really understand why his personal life always drew so much speculation.
“I notice you didn’t answer the question, Doctor Holz” Maria said, “Evasion?”
“Touché, Frau Acker” Peter said.
Classified location, Southern Germany
Bright late Spring days are hardly the stuff that screen writers of Horror movies are likely to include but far below the ground weapons far beyond their worst imaginings were carefully stored. Multiple authorizations were required to access or transport such things. Specialists in protective suits opened the heavy steel doors of reinforced concrete vaults taking care to document the breaking of the seals. Glass lined, stainless steel tanks were inspected. Any signs of corrosion resulted in the container’s incineration. These might have been only one of the precursors of binary agents but no one was taking any chances. The tanks were loaded onto a series of specially designed rail cars on a train that was to head east in the greatest secrecy.
Elsewhere, similar trains were being loaded. They had been put on standby in the final days of the Soviet War but nothing had come of it. The elements of Operation Quartum were moving towards forward deployment.