The Fall: Illustrated Edition (An Anna Kronberg Thriller Book 2) Read Online Free PDF Page A

started towards the large maples at the far side of the premises.
    ‘Tomorrow you will be inspecting your laboratory, or what remains of it.’ Seeing my surprise he added, ‘You will have your former space at the medical school.’
    A place I already knew. It made things easier.
    ‘My coachman will take you there and bring you back again. The same rules apply at the school as do here at my home. Your assistant will keep you under surveillance.’
    I nodded. ‘I need to know what germs you want me to isolate and how you are planning to use them.’
    ‘We will be discussing that in a minute, my dear. Germany and France are considering chemical warfare. So far, their attempts have been premature. The incentive is not great enough, I suppose; a war seems too distant.’
    ‘What is your incentive?’ I wondered aloud. He ignored me and kept walking. ‘Money? Ah, power. You don’t necessarily want to end or win a war? A man like you could live anywhere, sell his services to anyone?’
    ‘I see.’ He stopped in his tracks, took my hand, and kissed my vibrating fingers. ‘I am very pleased to have made your acquaintance, my dear.’ His voice was saturated with mockery.
    I couldn’t push the growl down. The man played with his food! My hands curled to fists, yearning to punch his arrogant face.  
    ‘I am not your dear. I used to be England’s best bacteriologist until I ran into that incapable group of doctors you employed! If Bowden had had a brain, he would have trusted me earlier and this whole operation would not have come to its abrupt end!’
    With a sneer, he took a step forward and closed his hand around my throat. ‘I am aware that using Bowden was a mistake. But trusting you would be an even greater one. Attempting to wrap me around your finger is not only futile, it insults my intelligence!’ His face and mine were only an inch apart. I saw the brown specks scattered along the rims of his grey irises, the large pupils — two bottomless pits. My stomach cramped and the sweat itched in my armpits.
    ‘It is your choice what you do,’ I huffed through my constricted windpipe. ‘However, I need to know how you plan to deliver fatal germs. How will the enemy be infected? What other weapons are going to be used? The vector and the pathogen have to be a perfect match; otherwise, you will fail.’
    He released me, his expression empty. ‘We will start with the obvious: soldiers and horses.’
    ‘How specific do you want me to target?’
    He looked at me quizzically and I explained, ‘Disease does not know who is friend or foe.’
    ‘You are a poet,’ he chuckled. I looked away from him, holding onto my hands. ‘You want to know how important it is to prevent collateral damage?’
    ‘Yes,’ I could guess the answer from his tone.
    ‘There are soldiers on both sides. Men march into battle and die. Collateral damage is acceptable as long as significantly more losses are reported on the other side of the enemy line.’
    ‘That makes things easier,’ I noted. We had now reached the maple trees and I picked up a leaf — blood red flowing into orange — a souvenir from the outside world.
    ‘What diseases were you thinking of?’
    ‘The Plague,’ he answered.
    ‘The Black Death? You are out of your mind!’
    ‘You can choose to abandon our agreement at any time,’ he said coldly.
    ‘The wolf does not make an agreement with the rabbit, Professor. A predator may play with its prey. But ultimately, prey always ends up the same way.’
    ‘It is a pity you see it that way, Dr Kronberg.’
    ‘How else could anyone see it? Even if you would not treat me the way you do, if we were to grow bubonic plague germs we could unintentionally wipe out the whole of London.’
    Without reply, he turned and walked away.
    ‘I know nothing about warfare,’ I continued after having caught up with him, ‘but I assume that whatever weapon you hold in your hand should be controllable. At least to some degree.’
    ‘And