scanning the room. One of them shouted. “Englisch! Englisch?”
We turned our heads away and kept them down until they finally left. Ara grabbed my hand across the table. “They were looking for us weren’t they?”
“Yes, they bloody well were! We’ll stay right here for now, it should be safe since they have already checked the place.”
The evening crept up on us quickly and we decided to make our move on the warehouse in the hope that her father would be there.
The lights and sounds of the city began to suddenly come to life in Munich. The damp air and the smell of various combinations of food drifted through the streets. Ara knocked at the door of the warehouse office as I stood by the door unseen by the guard. When he opened the door, we both walked in and I pointed my pistol at him discretely motioning for him to go back in the office.
He walked back slowly and we both went in and shut the door. I placed my finger to my lips signaling for him to be silent and pointed to his desk. He sat back down looking at me intently, probably wondering if I would actually use it. I looked over at Ara and nodded. She looked at him and said in a stern voice. “Gratten! Professor Timothy Gratten?”
He looked back at us with a blank stare and shook his head as if he didn’t understand. That’s when I stood up pulling the hammer back on my pistol, walked over to the desk pointing it at him and raised my voice. “Gratten, Professor Timothy Gratten!”
He looked down at his desk and I could see he wanted a cigarette. I obliged him with a quick nod; then he pulled one from the pack and lit it up.
After taking a long drag on his cigarette and exhaling the smoke he looked at us both and spoke in a low voice, “I assume you’re both looking for Professor Timothy Gratten.”
We looked at each other caught off guard by his use of English..
“Yes, I speak fluent English. What is your interest in Professor Gratten?
“That is my business. Right now I want to talk with him.”
“This is totally forbidden by strict orders from the Führer; but since at this moment you obviously have the upper hand, I suppose I have no choice, true?” As he was talking I could see his hand was slowly slipping down under the desktop.
“Stop, stand up,” I ordered.
He stood up as I walked over to the desk and opened the top drawer, where there was a loaded German pistol conveniently laying at his disposal.
“I’ll just take this if you don’t mind. Now where are you keeping the professor?”
He rubbed his chin raising his eyebrows. “You can’t blame me for trying now can you?–follow me.” He took a key ring from his pocket and opened a door leading further into the warehouse. It was a long dimly lit hallway and we proceeded toward a set of double doors at the end.
Upon entering a much larger room the concoction of odors was hard to distinguish. Definitely a mixture of engine oil, solvents and exhaust; something similar to the way my father’s workshop used to smell whenever I would visit him. We passed several large objects covered over in old canvass, along with portable workbenches on wheels, each loaded with a plethora of tools of every imaginable type. Some of the equipment looked new and innovative but still indistinguishable in the low lit conditions. We passed through another huge warehouse space and many workbenches were scattered around with oddly shaped projects covered in the same canvass. Over at the far side of the space, were two or three workbenches lit up with someone at each of them busily working on some sort of endeavor.
The sparks of a grinder were jumping into the air, lighting up one of the workbenches and at another, a man in a white lab coat was kneeling down looking up through a huge metal contraption too far away for us to really see any details.
“Professor Gratten has finished for the day and probably retired to his quarters by now, that is, unless he happens to be in the refectory, a
We turned our heads away and kept them down until they finally left. Ara grabbed my hand across the table. “They were looking for us weren’t they?”
“Yes, they bloody well were! We’ll stay right here for now, it should be safe since they have already checked the place.”
The evening crept up on us quickly and we decided to make our move on the warehouse in the hope that her father would be there.
The lights and sounds of the city began to suddenly come to life in Munich. The damp air and the smell of various combinations of food drifted through the streets. Ara knocked at the door of the warehouse office as I stood by the door unseen by the guard. When he opened the door, we both walked in and I pointed my pistol at him discretely motioning for him to go back in the office.
He walked back slowly and we both went in and shut the door. I placed my finger to my lips signaling for him to be silent and pointed to his desk. He sat back down looking at me intently, probably wondering if I would actually use it. I looked over at Ara and nodded. She looked at him and said in a stern voice. “Gratten! Professor Timothy Gratten?”
He looked back at us with a blank stare and shook his head as if he didn’t understand. That’s when I stood up pulling the hammer back on my pistol, walked over to the desk pointing it at him and raised my voice. “Gratten, Professor Timothy Gratten!”
He looked down at his desk and I could see he wanted a cigarette. I obliged him with a quick nod; then he pulled one from the pack and lit it up.
After taking a long drag on his cigarette and exhaling the smoke he looked at us both and spoke in a low voice, “I assume you’re both looking for Professor Timothy Gratten.”
We looked at each other caught off guard by his use of English..
“Yes, I speak fluent English. What is your interest in Professor Gratten?
“That is my business. Right now I want to talk with him.”
“This is totally forbidden by strict orders from the Führer; but since at this moment you obviously have the upper hand, I suppose I have no choice, true?” As he was talking I could see his hand was slowly slipping down under the desktop.
“Stop, stand up,” I ordered.
He stood up as I walked over to the desk and opened the top drawer, where there was a loaded German pistol conveniently laying at his disposal.
“I’ll just take this if you don’t mind. Now where are you keeping the professor?”
He rubbed his chin raising his eyebrows. “You can’t blame me for trying now can you?–follow me.” He took a key ring from his pocket and opened a door leading further into the warehouse. It was a long dimly lit hallway and we proceeded toward a set of double doors at the end.
Upon entering a much larger room the concoction of odors was hard to distinguish. Definitely a mixture of engine oil, solvents and exhaust; something similar to the way my father’s workshop used to smell whenever I would visit him. We passed several large objects covered over in old canvass, along with portable workbenches on wheels, each loaded with a plethora of tools of every imaginable type. Some of the equipment looked new and innovative but still indistinguishable in the low lit conditions. We passed through another huge warehouse space and many workbenches were scattered around with oddly shaped projects covered in the same canvass. Over at the far side of the space, were two or three workbenches lit up with someone at each of them busily working on some sort of endeavor.
The sparks of a grinder were jumping into the air, lighting up one of the workbenches and at another, a man in a white lab coat was kneeling down looking up through a huge metal contraption too far away for us to really see any details.
“Professor Gratten has finished for the day and probably retired to his quarters by now, that is, unless he happens to be in the refectory, a
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