Forever (87 page)

Stephanie lifted her delicate glass and took
a swallow; tasted liquid gold flavoured with bitters sliding
smoothly down her throat, warming her insides. Zaza said:
'Cistercian monks. They make the very best liqueurs, you know.
Their vows of silence, celibacy, and poverty leave them with no
pleasure but that of the palate. Is it any wonder they take such
care with fermentation?' She smiled tolerantly. 'I know what you
must be thinking: that I am quite mad.'

For the last couple of hours she had regaled
them with a great variety of subjects which, bit by bit, helped
Stephanie fill in the missing pieces of the Schneider puzzle. How
Lili, during a concert tour of South America in 1948, had met
Ernesto and fallen hopelessly in love with the tycoon - and vice
versa. That Zaza herself was really Lili's inseparable sister,
Louisette, and had been masquerading as her mother after having
steadfastly refused to participate in Dr Vassiltchikov's youth
treatments. And she told how, during a visit to Hitler's lair on
the Obersalzberg, the Fuhrer himself had introduced Lili to Dr
Vassiltchikov. 'How utterly charming he could be, that evil man!
Spellbinding is the only way one can describe him. No wonder he
could seduce an entire people.'

'I don't think you're mad,' Stephanie said
softly.

Zaza smiled, but sadly. 'Perhaps you do not.
But your friend Mr Stone does not know quite what to think. And
Eduardo's eyes. Such scepticism they reveal! Not that I blame you,
menino. The old saying is quite true, you know: truth really is
stranger than fiction.'

Stephanie and Johnny and Eduardo found
themselves listening as Zaza recounted one morsel after another:
1910, Neunkirchen, when there was no border between Austria and
Hungary. Post- World War I Budapest. Then Vienna and Berlin. Lili's
marriage and the subsequent murder of her husband and his men on
the Tegernsee. The triumphs in the great opera houses of Europe,
and Lili's famous live|radio broadcasts. World War|II. The tours to
entertain the German troops on the front. And then defeat. The
Allies forbidding Lili to perform or record in Austria and Germany.
And how, to get around that, she had cleverly married Sir Kenneth
Hughes-Coxe, the British record producer. Then her meteoric
comeback and the faked death.

When Zaza stopped, time suddenly rearranged
itself and history was just that: history, and the bodies in the
next room loomed heavily, like oppressive, guilt-exuding clouds.
Now she looked from one of them to the other. 'I have been getting
carried away. Surely you must have questions you wish to ask?'

Giving a bark of a laugh, Eduardo jumped to
his feet and stalked about the room. Then he faced the wall, raised
a fist, and banged it angrily on the boiserie. 'Damn it,
Grandmother!' He raked a hand through his hair as he spun around.
'Do you take me for such an idiot that you think I will fall for
that. . . that fairy tale?'

Zaza's eyes flashed impatient anger: 'Open
your eyes to what goes on around you,' she said coldly. 'Oh,
Ernesto and Lili were clever, I give them that. But did you never
wonder why neither your father nor your mother ever visibly aged in
nearly three decades?'

Eduardo struggled to find a plausible
explanation. 'They . . . they took good care of themselves. They
had their physical regimens. The diets and facials. Cosmetic
surgery -'

Zaza sighed. 'You are grasping at straws.
Lili only underwent two operations in her entire life. An
appendicectomy in 1922; then plastic surgery to change her
appearance in 1950. Yes, Eduardo: in 1950! Forty-one years
ago!'

He stood there in stunned silence.

The old lady went on quietly but
mercilessly: 'And did you ever ask yourself what was in that
medication they took intravenously each and every day?'

'Of course not. Why should I? They needed it
because of that illness they contracted in the Ama

'Illness!' Zaza cut him off. 'They were as
healthy as horses! The only times they became ill was when the
medication was late in arriving. That is also when they panicked,
because without their daily doses, they would have died.' And then
she told him about the age-retarding medication and the sacrifice
of children it required.

Eduardo's head was spinning. 'This is all so
difficult to believe.'

'Believe it,' said Stephanie quietly.

Eduardo started to whirl on her, but then he
deflated like a punctured balloon. He sank back down on a chair and
held his head in his hands. 'Suddenly I do not know what to believe
any more!' he said quietly.

Zaza's voice was gentle. 'I understand your
being upset and confused, menino. Believe me, I know better than
anyone how far-fetched this must sound.'

'But. . . thousands of children . . .?'
Eduardo shook his head. The world had become a Pandora's box, full
of ills and ugliness. 'It is unbelievable! Unimaginable!'

Stephanie looked at him and said, 'When
Colonel Valerio caught us, Johnny and I were in your office at
Sitto da Veiga. We used your own computer to break into a
top-secret file. It's called the OPUS file and lists every child
they ever murdered - one each day - along with a purported
"official" cause of death.' She paused. 'Eduardo, they set up CRY
to use the orphanages as a source for children. If you don't
believe me, you can use any computer and see it for yourself. Zaza
knows the code. She gave it to me last weekend on the island.'
Finally, she told him about her grandfather's biography, his death
and Pham's, and Vinette Jones's and the others. She told him why
she had really entered the de Veigas' world.

Eduardo listened to her bleakly. He looked
struck, mortally wounded.

Stephanie turned to Zaza. 'Who,' she asked,
'was Dr Vassiltchikov?'

Zaza snorted. 'Vassiltchikov indeed! A name
she borrowed. A noble Russian name, at that. Amazing that anyone
was taken in by it. That accent of hers! German as lederhosenV

Stephanie said, 'Johnny jokingly referred to
her as "Dr Mengele".'

it is nothing to joke about. Frau Doktor's
real name was Klara Henschel. She was in charge of the Fuhrer's pet
undertaking, Project Methuselah. Naturally, since he dreamed of a
Reich

which was to last a thousand years, he
wanted to be around to enjoy it.'

'Good Lord.'

Zaza noticed that their glasses were empty.
'Some more liqueur?' she asked.

'Thank you.' Stephanie picked up the bottle
and refilled Eduardo and Johnny's glasses. Holding the bottle up,
she looked at Zaza questioningly.

The old lady shook her head. 'Not yet, thank
you.'

Eduardo tossed his drink down in a single
swallow. Then he leaned forward, gripping his empty glass until his
knuckles were white. His body seemed weighed down by an enormous
burden, yet at the same time, it seemed ready to spring into manic
action. Stephanie's heart went out to him. She could only begin to
imagine what he was going through.

it all began on that fateful first visit to
the Obersalzberg,' Zaza explained with a sigh. 'I was there, and so
was Dr Vassilt - Dr Henschel, as she was known at the time. At
first, she and Lili did not get along at all. But then at dinner,
everything suddenly changed. Lili learned that the doctor's
speciality was gerontological research, and the doctor learned
about our tragic dead sister, Liselotte, having been a geromorph.
The doctor and Lili became utterly fascinated with each other. It
was only natural, I suppose. Ever since Liselotte's premature
ageing, Lili could not bear the idea of growing old and dying. She
became obsessed with remaining young forever. As for the doctor,
the opportunity to study a geromorph's sister was manna from
heaven. That weekend, the doctor took samples of Lili's blood, and
afterwards, they kept in touch - Lili from wherever she might be
touring, and the doctor from the Forschungs Institut fur Geriatrie
- the research institute in Badgastein, of which she was director.
Incidentally, the institute never lacked for human guinea pigs.
Hitler saw to it that Himmler provided it with all the humans the
doctor required for experimentation.'

Her audience of three listened in stunned
silence.

'And there you have it,' Zaza said quietly.
'As the years passed, the doctor made great strides in her
research, but before she could make her breakthrough, the war
ended. But she was no fool. She had long since spirited money and
valuables to South America. Towards the end, she destroyed all the
institute's records, and had all her human guinea pigs and the
entire staff put to death. She left absolutely no trace of her work
or herself.'

The old lady paused to sort out her
thoughts, and continued.

'Naturally, she kept in touch with Lili. The
next time they met

was in 1948, during Lili's South American
concert tour - when Lili fell in love with Ernesto. Then, in 1950,
the doctor finally made a breakthrough and summoned Lili, and Lili
confided in Ernesto. He, being in love with Lili, and having
unlimited financial resources at his disposal, was the ideal
partner. So he helped Lili fake her death - murdering Sir Kenneth
and some poor anonymous woman in the process. Burned them beyond
recognition, as I'm sure you are aware. The rest, I believe, you
know already.'

Eduardo's head ached. 'My parentsV he burst
out, horrified. 'Dear God, my own flesh and blood did this! How do
I live with that?'

It was all Zaza could do not to look away
from his tortured gaze, his haunted, tormented face. 'Perhaps it
will make it easier for you,' she said, 'if you know they were not
really your flesh and blood. How could they be? Lili was barren,
and Ernesto's sperm was infertile. Besides, Eduardo, Lili was much
too old to become pregnant by the time you were born.'

'What?' He jerked as though she had slapped
him. He could not rid himself of the feeling that he was
self-destructing, like a cyborg whose circuits had blown, going
through the twitching, convulsive motions of the human it had been
programmed to emulate.

'Another irony,' Zaza said. 'Their sterility
was a direct result of Dr Vassiltchikov's youth-prolonging
treatments. I do not know why.'

Eduardo could no longer sit still. He got up
again and prowled back and forth, his face reflecting the agony of
a man whose entire world had collapsed. Finally he stopped in front
of Zaza. 'If what you say is true, then who am I?' he demanded
quietly. 'Did I lose my identity as well as my parents?'

The old lady looked at him. 'In my heart,
you will always be my grandson, just as in the eyes of the world,
you are still the son of your mother and of your father.'

Eduardo swore softly. 'I do not care what I
am in the eyes of others! I need to know for myself who I really
am!'

Zaza's soft face was the essence of
compassion. She reached up to touch Eduardo's face, but he jerked
away from her touch.

She let her hand drop. 'You were one of
their so-called "angels",' she said quietly. 'One of the orphaned
children they had chosen to sacrifice.'

He looked stunned, taking first one step
backwards, then another, and another. 'But why didn't they chop me
up or whatever it is they did to the others? What made me so
special?'

'They wanted a child, and you were the most
beautiful child they had ever laid eyes upon.'

'And another child took my place and died in
my stead?'

'Yes.'

Eduardo was beyond feeling any pain. There
was only disgust and loathing and a hatred more powerful than any
he had ever experienced. He no longer seemed to know who to strike
out at - the living or the dead. He knew only that nothing would
ever be the same for him again.

There was a long, drawn-out silence.

'So what do we tell the world?' It was the
first time Johnny had spoken, and they all turned to look at
him.

'Why not the truth?' Eduardo suggested with
a cynical laugh. 'The world has a right to know the kind of
monsters my so-called parents were. Besides, they are dead. Scandal
can no longer hurt them.'

Wo.' Zaza's spine went rigid with
determination. 'The world must never, never know of this.'

'Then who will seek justice for all those
children?' Eduardo demanded.

'No one,' the old lady said flatly. 'No
one.'

Eduardo started to protest, but something in
Zaza's face stopped him.

She said, 'Are you so concerned with your
own pain, that you still do not understand the enormous
implications of Dr Vassiltchikov's work?'

'I am beginning to,' Eduardo said.

Her eyes stared at him. 'This is perhaps the
most lethal knowledge the world could be given. If it were known
that eternal youth might be possible, it would result in a rush to
duplicate the results - ethics be damned! This entire planet would
become a world of cannibals - the old, in effect, eating the young.
Religion, ethics, morals ... the very sanctity of life itself would
be threatened!'

Eduardo stared at her silently.

'Your grandmother is right!' Johnny said
quietly. 'If people found out that the key to longevity lies in
their fellow human beings, the result would be catastrophic. Babies
could well be bred to be killed, like chickens at a poultry
farm.'

'So we just forget those thousands of
children? Is that it?'

'No,' said Zaza, 'we do not forget them. But
we make certain the children of the future are protected from the
fiendish fate these have suffered.'

Eduardo sat there, his face pale, two
bright, livid spots burning

on his high, prominent cheekbones. After a
while, he sighed. 'I suppose you are right,' he said
grudgingly.

'I know I am,' Zaza said, it is up to us to
make certain this will never happen again.' She looked around. 'We
are all in agreement, then?'

Stephanie and Johnny nodded, and finally
Eduardo nodded also.