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Authors: Edward D. Hoch
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that!”
“What are you, then? What brought you here?”
The German glanced around. A few others were up with the dawn, and down the line a workman was beginning to check the tanks. “Come into my office, where we can talk.”
Rand followed him into a glassed-in cubicle at the back of the building. Schultz, his face gray, sat uncertainly behind the desk and tried to light his pipe with shaking hands. For a moment—just for a moment—Rand felt sorry for him.
“You ask what I am, sir, and I tell you I am a man. Nothing more. Yes, I worked for the Germans. Yes, I was in Brazil and in America. My assignment was to spy on the project and to sabotage it if possible.” He held out his hands, palms up. “But that was long ago. A lifetime ago!”
“Then what are you doing here now?”
“The eels. They’re my life—what’s left of it. I learned many things on that wartime assignment. It’s only natural I should try to use that knowledge. I can help the English, just as some of my fellow Germans help the Americans to build their moon rockets.”
“You killed those men,” Rand said, suddenly tired. This was not the assignment he had anticipated. “What about that?”
“I killed the two in Brazil, and the one in America. But it was wartime then. I was a soldier, just as you might have been. The eel pool on the Amazon was no different from the foxhole on the Rhine. I killed the enemy.”
“You were a spy, not a soldier.”
Schultz spread his hands again, putting down the futile pipe. “I wouldn’t expect that of you. After, all, I was the same as you are now. Aren’t you a soldier? How many men have you killed?”
Rand looked away, the distaste growing within him. “I don’t kill men.”
“Not directly, perhaps. Not with your own hands. But we all do it. Killing is part of the business, part of the war. And our war never ends.”
“It ended for you when Germany was defeated.”
“Yes, and what could I do? Could I reveal my identity, with three dead men on my record? Could I come home from the war like my brothers in uniform? No, I could only go on with the deception. And that is what brought me to Scotland, Mr. Rand. Not an assignment for the Russians or anybody else, but only the need to make a living before I die—and to be near those creatures in the pool.”
Rand looked away, out toward the concrete pools with their strange secrets. “You can hardly expect them to let you remain here.”
“Why not? The war has been over a long time. I have scientific knowledge they need.”
“You betrayed them once.”
“Not at all. I spied on the Americans, but I betrayed no one. I am a man of honor, who only wishes to do some little good in the little time I have left.”
Rand got to his feet. He didn’t want to talk with this man any longer, because he didn’t know the answers to the questions he was being asked. Colonel Nelson and the others could take it from here. “I’ll be going now,” he said. “I’ll tell them what you said. Maybe they’ll see it your way.”
Then he went out to his car and drove back the way he’d come, across the moor and past the dark pools where the trout waited. No eels, only trout.
Rand didn’t have to journey back to London. Colonel Nelson was waiting in the village where Rand had spent the night. Over a beer in the pub Rand told him what had happened.
“Interesting,” Nelson said. “Do you believe him?”
“I don’t know—I really don’t know. I guess I keep thinking about myself and what I’d do if I ever got out of this business. It’s not like a soldier taking off his uniform. If a U-2 pilot goes to work for an aircraft manufacturer, or a Double-C man gets a job with a television network, or Schultz goes back to his eels—well, who’s to say at what moment the spy retires and something else takes over?”
“At the moment they stop paying him.”
“No, not at all. An ex-spy might easily want to keep on taking money for nothing, and an
“What are you, then? What brought you here?”
The German glanced around. A few others were up with the dawn, and down the line a workman was beginning to check the tanks. “Come into my office, where we can talk.”
Rand followed him into a glassed-in cubicle at the back of the building. Schultz, his face gray, sat uncertainly behind the desk and tried to light his pipe with shaking hands. For a moment—just for a moment—Rand felt sorry for him.
“You ask what I am, sir, and I tell you I am a man. Nothing more. Yes, I worked for the Germans. Yes, I was in Brazil and in America. My assignment was to spy on the project and to sabotage it if possible.” He held out his hands, palms up. “But that was long ago. A lifetime ago!”
“Then what are you doing here now?”
“The eels. They’re my life—what’s left of it. I learned many things on that wartime assignment. It’s only natural I should try to use that knowledge. I can help the English, just as some of my fellow Germans help the Americans to build their moon rockets.”
“You killed those men,” Rand said, suddenly tired. This was not the assignment he had anticipated. “What about that?”
“I killed the two in Brazil, and the one in America. But it was wartime then. I was a soldier, just as you might have been. The eel pool on the Amazon was no different from the foxhole on the Rhine. I killed the enemy.”
“You were a spy, not a soldier.”
Schultz spread his hands again, putting down the futile pipe. “I wouldn’t expect that of you. After, all, I was the same as you are now. Aren’t you a soldier? How many men have you killed?”
Rand looked away, the distaste growing within him. “I don’t kill men.”
“Not directly, perhaps. Not with your own hands. But we all do it. Killing is part of the business, part of the war. And our war never ends.”
“It ended for you when Germany was defeated.”
“Yes, and what could I do? Could I reveal my identity, with three dead men on my record? Could I come home from the war like my brothers in uniform? No, I could only go on with the deception. And that is what brought me to Scotland, Mr. Rand. Not an assignment for the Russians or anybody else, but only the need to make a living before I die—and to be near those creatures in the pool.”
Rand looked away, out toward the concrete pools with their strange secrets. “You can hardly expect them to let you remain here.”
“Why not? The war has been over a long time. I have scientific knowledge they need.”
“You betrayed them once.”
“Not at all. I spied on the Americans, but I betrayed no one. I am a man of honor, who only wishes to do some little good in the little time I have left.”
Rand got to his feet. He didn’t want to talk with this man any longer, because he didn’t know the answers to the questions he was being asked. Colonel Nelson and the others could take it from here. “I’ll be going now,” he said. “I’ll tell them what you said. Maybe they’ll see it your way.”
Then he went out to his car and drove back the way he’d come, across the moor and past the dark pools where the trout waited. No eels, only trout.
Rand didn’t have to journey back to London. Colonel Nelson was waiting in the village where Rand had spent the night. Over a beer in the pub Rand told him what had happened.
“Interesting,” Nelson said. “Do you believe him?”
“I don’t know—I really don’t know. I guess I keep thinking about myself and what I’d do if I ever got out of this business. It’s not like a soldier taking off his uniform. If a U-2 pilot goes to work for an aircraft manufacturer, or a Double-C man gets a job with a television network, or Schultz goes back to his eels—well, who’s to say at what moment the spy retires and something else takes over?”
“At the moment they stop paying him.”
“No, not at all. An ex-spy might easily want to keep on taking money for nothing, and an
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