The Colossus by Ranjini Iyer Read Free Book Online

acting up. “I hoped this old wound would never have to be opened again.” He paused before continuing. “Samuel Rosen was once head chemist at Berliner. A brilliant man. He passed on his research on some health pills from the Indus Valley to his son, Hiram.”
    For an instant he could see his old friend, dark and intense, perched on a corner of his desk, staring down at him, giving him orders. Only Samuel had ever dared to talk straight to Schultz. He had admired him for it.
    Schultz stared into his glass.
    1943. Schultz could see Samuel being dragged away to Krippenwald labor camp. He had made a decision then to continue Samuel’s work—it was far too important to be left unfinished. Schultz set up a lab to continue Samuel’s research on the Indus pills.
    The scientists at the lab made a discovery—one with disturbing implications. It might have been prudent to take the discovery public, make reparations, and be rid of the whole business. But Berliner was not the pharmaceutical power in those days that it was today. The negative publicity in the fifties, when German companies were only just picking up the pieces after a devastating war, would have dealt a fatal blow to Berliner.
    It had been a grave error of judgment.
    Schultz put his hands in his pockets. His voice dropped to a whisper. “Hiram found out what damage the Indus pills could do. What harm they had already done.”
    Hans’s eyes narrowed.
    Schultz settled back in his chair. “I have destroyed all the pills. The last few were in those vials we intercepted. However, if the scientific community embraces Hiram’s findings, even without the pills for proof, it could be catastrophic.”
    Schultz wondered if his eyes betrayed his fears. “Along with his findings, Hiram will reveal our association with Nazis and concentration camp workers!”
    “But Bayer had strong Nazi ties, too,” Hans said indignantly. “They were part of IG Farben—and Farben created Zyklon B! Bayer even used Auschwitz inmates for their rubber works. No one cares about the Nazis anymore.”
    Schultz leaned forward, his long arms nearly spanning the width of the desk. “Very well,” he bellowed. “ I could lose everything. Berliner’s reputation and my life as I know it. Is that reason enough for you?” He took a giant gulp of cognac. The drink burned through his chest.
    Hans stood up. “It is, mein Herr .”
    “No Rosen will stand in my way again,” Schultz murmured. “Do what it takes and bury this matter. But no blood. From now on, Berliner’s name must remain unsullied.” He breathed in deeply, lifted the drink to his mouth, and drained the last drops of cognac from the glass.

CHAPTER SEVEN
    University of Chicago
    History Department
    “An archeologist?” the librarian mused. “Let me see if I can unearth someone to help you.” She suppressed a laugh at her pun and picked up a phone.
    Max looked around. Fresh-faced students buzzed about, sipping steaming coffee or nibbling on donuts and bagels.
    Being here felt almost normal. The incident at her kitchen and her apartment, the whole business with Lars and Papa’s death seemed eons away. She had stepped back into a less troublesome time. At least she hadn’t felt in mortal danger back in those unsure undergraduate years.
    She turned around suddenly. Was she imagining it, or was someone following her? She decided not to think along those lines, or she’d go totally mad. The shot fired at Lars, the same gun touching her skin—they had done their job. She was scared. Terror stricken, more like. And yet, here she was. It didn’t mean she was brave. It was just that the previous day seemed so removed from her present sense of reality. Standing here amidst these students, surrounded by stately, old, comfortable-looking buildings, it felt almost absurd thinking on those lines. She decided it was a good thing. For now anyway. All she was going to do was some harmless research. How threatening could that be to anyone?
    A