The Fall by Annelie Wendeberg Read Free Book Online Page B

useful. And that is not necessarily the most threatening weapon we can think of, but rather one we can handle.’
    ‘I will not tolerate your subversive attitude much longer-’
    Impatient with his rapid onsets of rage, I snarled, ‘How do you plan to teach fleas and rats to go only to the south, instead of the north? Both are vectors of the plague. Do you intend to train them?’
    This was obviously more resistance then he had expected. His face grew pale. His jaws worked.
    ‘Let me finish, please,’ I said and he jerked his chin down once. ‘Correct me if I’m mistaken. Despite the technological advancements you mentioned, and the novel machinery that could possibly be used to deploy germs, a potential war would still be fought mostly by thousands of soldiers, horses, and mules, all of which represent targets for the weapons we will develop.’ He nodded and went back to sit at his chair.
    ‘Are we talking about a specific war, Professor? What I mean is, do you know for certain that there will be a war in the very near future?’
    ‘As I already said, the German Empire seeks conflict. As do others, Transvaal and the Orange Free State for instance. The beginning of a war is like tipping a scale. One can predict the collapse of the balance precisely when one grain too many has hit the bowl. Which might be the instant the first shot is fired.’
    ‘Very well. I will speak in purely hypothetical terms,’ I said. ‘What we want, then, are two diseases. One that brings down equines and one that kills men. Both have to be spread among the enemy fast enough to give us a chance to win a battle, but slow enough to allow the disease to spread between groups of soldiers and horses.’ His back stiffened in attention. ‘What if, after great effort, we can bring one man behind enemy lines to infect one battalion and the disease is so extremely aggressive that the entire unit is dead before the germs had a chance to spread to neighbouring units?’
    Slowly, he leaned back again.
    ‘In warfare, gas might seem like a great idea at first,’ I continued, ‘but what if the wind turns? In germ warfare, we face the same problem. What if infected rats, fleas, people, horses, wind, or water are not behaving as we planned? This is a serious issue we have to consider.’ I kept saying we, in hopes he would notice and get used to it. Let it be a fact that this was cooperation and not slavery.
    He searched my face. The silence between us felt very loud. I heard my heart thumping and my breath quivering as his gaze flickered between observant and cast inward.
    ‘What do you recommend?’ His voice carried a warning. I had to convince him now.
    ‘I will learn all there is to learn about the history of germ warfare — what has been successful, and what was a disaster. Spreading the plague would certainly belong to the latter category.’ I saw his expression harden and jumped up from my seat. ‘I would never use the plague, Professor Moriarty. I don’t believe my father would want to live if, for his sake, millions of innocent people would have to die because his daughter spread the Black Death across Europe.’
    I did not look at him. There was no need to augment the impression that he would lose this debate. I paced the room, hands on my back, mirroring his earlier attitude.
    ‘It has to be a germ that can be handled by untrained men. Something that is safe enough in a small container, even if that container breaks. We need a germ which, in its transportable form, must be injected, ingested, or inhaled in large amounts to cause an infection. But once there is a diseased individual harbouring the active form of this germ, it must be highly infectious. Yet, it should not be too aggressive, so as not to kill before it can spread.’
    I turned and looked at him. His face that had been open with interest closed shut as soon as our eyes met. I walked over to my chair and sat down, waiting for a response.
    ‘You have a particular germ in