The Reich Device Read Online Free PDF

sir,’ an efficient female voice spoke back.
    ‘Get me Leipzig, four, seven, two, please.’ Mayer stared with a blank expression towards Einstein.
    Einstein sat back in his chair, with his arms folded.
    More static.
    ‘I am sorry sir, the line is disconnected,’ the female voice replied.
    Mayer gently replaced the handset. ‘There’s no answer. His number’s been cut off.’
    ‘You jump to conclusions, perhaps he is visiting a relative?’
    ‘No Albert, I don’t think so.’
    The phone suddenly rang. Mayer picked it up with lightning speed.
    ‘Hello?’
    A brisk German voice cleared the line. ‘A call was just made to Leipzig four, seven, two, from this number. What business do you have… ’
    Mayer hung up, sweat seeped onto his brow.
    ‘They have him!’
    ‘What?’ Einstein unfolded his arms.
    ‘The authorities!’ Mayer gulped.
    ‘It’s probably something minor, I am sure they’ll let him go.’
    ‘No! Likely as not, he is already dead! He is Jewish. You know the Nazis are discriminating against some ethnic groups. The Jews, the Poles… ’
    ‘… and the Germans?’ Einstein finished for him. ‘No, I just don’t believe one human being could do that to another.’
    ‘I wish I shared your faith in humanity, Albert, but I don’t.’
    ‘Look, there’s nothing you can do right now. It is best to wait.’
    ‘I suppose so… ’ Mayer looked at the floor.
    Einstein stood, placing a hand on his friend’s shoulder. ‘We should wait… at least until the end of the day. There’s nothing to be done until then.’ Einstein spoke gently.
    ‘I guess you are right.’ Mayer rubbed his eyes.
    ‘That’s the spirit Gustav,’ Einstein patted him on the shoulder. ‘Well, Gustav, I see you have finished your manuscript!’ Einstein made a poor attempt at changing the subject.
    ‘Yes… yes, I have. Well, at least what I think is a robust draft; but it needs a lot of checking.’ Mayer spoke with humble modesty.
    Einstein sat back at the desk, turning the pages, scanning through each one for a few seconds to build up a mental picture of the layout and content. ‘Gustav, it looks good,’ Einstein smiled. ‘I tell you what; why don’t we go through it now?’
    Mayer nodded gratefully, and pulled up a chair.
    Commandant Kessler stepped from the Daimler into the mud. He glanced disdainfully at the glutinous detritus that squelched onto the pristine black leather of his boots, and buttoned his overcoat against the morning chill. The brand new chain mail fence, sporting fresh rolls of barbed wire, was at odds with the squalor in the rest of the work camp. Soldiers barked orders at the inmates as they hurried with buckets of cement and lengths of timber. The camp was evidently still under construction. A whiff of excrement, rank urine, and the foul body odour of the prisoners drifted on the breeze. Kessler lit up a cigarette to mask the smell, and took a long drag.
    ‘What a fucking shithole. Are you sure this Nico van der Kemp is here?’ Kessler took another gasp of his smoke.
    ‘Yes, Commandant. He is here. The duty log back at the police station indicates that one Nico van der Kemp was arrested yesterday morning and, along with some other ethnics, delivered here in the afternoon.’ The detective shoved his hands into the pockets of his cheap suit in an effort to keep them warm. He ignored the freezing, wet mud seeping over the top of his regular shoes, and regretted his lack of a warm coat; but decided to say nothing about the somewhat impromptu visit to the camp.
    A stocky trooper plodded through the mud towards them, with a German shepherd straining at the leash.
    ‘About bloody time, let’s get on with it!’ Kessler took a quick drag on his cigarette, and exhaled sharply.
    ‘Good morning Herr Commandant, welcome. We were not expecting you.’ The dog suddenly jumped forward with a snarl. The trooper gave a sharp tug to bring the dog to heel.
    Kessler eyed the dog up and down, and returned a