The Fall (26 page)

‘Mules love sugar,’ he stated.

‘Excuse me?’ asked James.

‘Sugar cubes,’ Moran answered and looked up at us as though we had lost our senses.

‘Sugar cubes, for crying out loud! Hide a tiny vial inside, the mules and horses will chew it to pieces, swallow it and contract whatever disease it contains!’

Heavy silence fell before James cried, ‘Excellent!’ and threw his hands up.
 

I was stunned; that much brain power from Moran was unexpected.
 

‘Is it doable?’ James turned to me.

‘Certainly. Each glass ampule needs but a few drops of liquid media and germs.’
 

No need to tell them that the use of solid media would considerably increase the storage potential of the deadly vessels.

‘Very well. Sebastian my friend, I must say you are brilliant! Now, all we need to come up with is a way to infect men with anthrax spores. They wouldn’t bite down on sugar cubes. Well, children would—’
 

My cold stare stopped his narrative.

‘Spreading via spores comes with a high risk of killing your own men,’ I said.

‘Refresh our minds about the different types of anthrax infection, please.’

‘Ingesting germs or spores will result in gastrointestinal anthrax. The natural causes are, for example, eating undercooked food. Symptoms are primarily nausea, abdominal pain, bloody diarrhoea, and ulcerative lesions. The second form is cutaneous anthrax and of no relevance for us, because the germs or spores have to be transmitted through a scratch or stab wound. When you get that close to your enemy, you can simply stick the bayonet all the way through.’ I cast a glance at Moran, whose face hardened.
 

‘Could one spread anthrax germs attached to bullets? To kill even those men that were only grazed by a shot?’ Moran’s mind seemed to be in hunter mode and highly active.

‘Possibly. But again, the risk of infection when handling the bullets is very high,’ I answered.

Both men looked at each other, something silent passing between them and I knew they would most likely make an attempt with my cultures and Goff at their disposal.

‘Shall I continue?’ I asked and James nodded. ‘In comparison to the two previous anthrax forms, pulmonary anthrax is the most lethal. It can only be caused by inhaling germs or spores. The patient will experience a septic shock within two to three days and will be dead after another twenty-four to thirty-six hours. There is no treatment for pulmonary anthrax, and the mortality rate is almost one-hundred percent.’

‘Wonderful,’ breathed Moran and stuck his pipe between his teeth. I felt the urge to shove it all the way into his brain.

‘Moran,’ I snarled. ‘I thought I made it perfectly clear that lethal germs are not to be confused with toys. I’ve come to think I should demonstrate it on
you
, so you will be more motivated to believe my statements.’

Moran jumped up from his seat. James stepped between us. ‘Enough!’ he barked. ‘Anna, it was your suggestion to use anthrax and it is you isolating and testing it. I am certain Mr Goff will gladly take over should you decide this operation is too dangerous.’

I leaned back against the wall, arms crossed, exhaling the tension. ‘This operation is dangerous in nature and will become lethal if we don’t show respect. Colonel Moran had an excellent idea on how to transmit disease. Forgive me, but you both tend to choose the most dangerous options germs have to offer. When I object and give you reasons as to why this weaponry can turn against us, you rarely listen and you believe it is silly drivel women say. You take me seriously only when it suits you.’

Moran paled, his temple’s blood vessels bulging. James looked at me with consideration. After a moment he nodded. Moran threw up his hands.

‘I see what you mean. Regardless, I want us to discuss all options and then make a decision,’ said James.

‘Very well,’ I answered.

Moran grunted. ‘Whenever a country is about to lose a war, men grow desperate. At the end, when the lives and well-being of our families are threatened and our homes are about to be burned to the ground, nothing seems cruel enough to prevent that from happening. You will not find gentility on the battlefield, Dr Kronberg. Governments will break their own laws to prevent invasion by the enemy. As for your lethal germs — we will use them when circumstances call for them, no matter the risk. It is your task to supply us with germs and instruct us on how to handle them. It is not your responsibility to tell us what and what not do do.’

‘Thank you, Sebastian,’ said James. ‘Anna, is there anything you’d like to add?’
 

There was quite a lot I wished to add. A knife between Moran’s ribs, for example. Or my own for that matter, because I had been naive enough to choose anthrax as the less dangerous alternative to the plague. However, anthrax in the hands of these two men who were practically in love with this germ, would be an extremely dangerous toy.

I reached out to the silver case James held in his offering hand and picked a cigarette while sorting through all I knew about anthrax. Taking a step closer to him, I smiled. He struck a match and held it out for me. His expression appeared gentle, his hand calm.

‘Thank you, my dear,’ I said. ‘Gentlemen, you have obviously noticed that my preference for a bacterial weapon is glanders. I will illustrate why and give you the essence of all information I possess so that you can make your own judgement. Equines are the main means of transportation in a war. An army without horses and mules is painfully slow and will be overrun. Food, clean water, and medicine will run short. Glanders primarily infects equines, but can spread to humans, too. Both man and horse die within two weeks at a mortality rate of eighty percent. Transporting and spreading glanders is as simple as transporting and spreading anthrax.’
 

I looked at both men, waiting for a sign of understanding. They nodded and I continued, ‘Anthrax can reach a mortality rate of almost one-hundred percent in both men and equines. Its most aggressive form is pulmonary anthrax which can only be contracted from inhaling spores. And that is where the problem lies. One can neither see them nor smell them. They poison the air we breathe, and I could infect you with anthrax this very moment without needing to force infected food or drink into either of you. In the course of doing so, I would most likely infect myself and would only realise it once I’m already dying. You tell me that a soldier goes out to die. I always believed soldiers try to survive, kill the enemy, and win a war.’

Moran huffed indignantly.

‘There is only one more thing I’d like to add,’ I continued. ‘Anyone who plans to use anthrax in warfare must keep in mind that the
wind can and will turn
. Spores are spread by wind and water, will stick to food and soil. They survive the coldest winters and hottest summers. If you spread anthrax on your enemy’s land, you will reap what you sowed even one hundred years later. Your children will get ill and die, your produce will be infected, as will cattle and sheep. The more anthrax germs you use, the worse the aftereffects.’

I jammed the cigarette butt into the ashtray and resumed my position next to the fireplace.

‘As I said already,’ rasped Moran. ‘You are to provide us with germs. We decide where and when we will use them.’

I looked at James. He nodded at his friend.

Anthrax bacilli (black cells), beginning spore-formation (white dots). (16)

— day 94 —
 

G
off had invested all of his energies, and the laboratory looked like new. He had prepared fresh media, purchased glassware, and ordered new test animals. Our mules had to be sacrificed. They were coming down with both diseases. Although Holmes’s sabotage had been very well planned and executed, one flaw had ruined it all. If Goff hadn’t secretly kept pure cultures, the development of bacterial weaponry would have been thrown back by two months.
 

An alternative plan was needed, but a second sabotage attempt would bear a much greater risk. Two fake accidents in the warehouse would raise suspicion.

What if I were to target not the warehouse but rather Goff and myself? What if I poisoned us? Just enough to make us both sick for a few days. But what then?
 

My assistant stepped into the laboratory. ‘All mules on deck,’ he said, a little out of breath. The vessel’s engine belched and rattled. Soon, the animals would be sunk off the coast. All I had won were a mere four days plus another five to observe the new animals in quarantine.

I nodded at him and focused back on my work. Leaning on the workbench I tried to squeeze a solution out of my mind. The petri dishes before me. Anthrax and glanders. One very dangerous, being James’s favourite. The other a little less so. An idea began to blossom.
 

Durham handed me a brandy and left the study. ‘James,’ I began. ‘I would like to conduct an experiment.’

‘I cannot tolerate yet another extension of our project without even a single outcome.’

‘Obtaining the pure cultures was a success, was it not?’

‘Yes, certainly. But we are far from a functional weapon,’ he said and I wondered what made him so impatient. Without a war at his doorstep, there should be no reason for the haste.

‘It might be worth it.’

He showed mild interest and I added, ‘You want anthrax and I am reluctant to use it because of the great danger it poses to our men, as well as the spores’ resilience on enemy territory. However, I believe I can develop anthrax vaccines. If our men were immune to anthrax, we could use it widely without much risk.’

He turned his glass in his hands, emptied it, and rose to fetch the cigarette case from the mantelpiece. I observed him. A slender figure, always a little stiff and under constant tension. He sucked the smoke into his lungs and stared into my face for a long moment.

‘We talked about vaccines before, but I had never quite decided whether or not you should invest time to produce them. You should start to brew large batches of anthrax and obtain enough spores for storage. However, I do know that this is a deadly business and given the circumstances, it might be better if you develop vaccines as well.’

‘What circumstances?’ I asked. He pointed to my stomach. I snorted and tipped the brandy into my mouth.

‘At what time will you need human test subjects?’

‘What a cold-blooded bastard you are, James! There is no need to murder people just yet. I will have to balance the germ’s inactivation with immunisation efficiency and morbidity of test animals.’

‘I repeat the question. At what time will you need human test subjects, Anna?’

‘Three months,’ I said quietly.

‘Excellent. Enough time to make preparations.’ His glass clinked as he placed it on the mantelpiece. He strode to the door; all of his movements appeared calculated, but fluid. With the handle in his hand he turned to me. ‘Are you coming to bed?’

‘Soon.’