‘Did you know exactly why you were being flown to Stockholm?’ Craig inquired.
‘Yes, yes, it was all made clear.’
‘The trade for your brother?’
‘Of course. It is not a happy condition, but in some ways reasonable enough.’ Then he added defensively, ‘Max has had his milk and honey, thanks to me. Now it is my turn. I look forward with all my heart to this new freedom. I feel exactly like Edmond Dantès when he replaced the corpse of the Abbé Faria, and acquired freedom from the Château d’If and the riches of Monte Cristo. You understand?’
Craig felt traitorous to this old man, who did not know the purpose that had brought Craig to this stateroom. ‘I understand,’ said Craig. ‘Still, it must be difficult for you. I mean, you’ve been through enslavement, and now you know what you are sending your own brother into.’
The blotches on Walther’s cheeks seemed to deepen. ‘It is not so bad as all that,’ he said loudly. ‘Do not be deceived by propaganda. Do not be victimized by the reactionary press of the Morgans and Rockefellers. Max will be treated well in Russia.’
‘In East Germany, Walther,’ Krantz’s voice piped from the rear.
‘Yes, East Germany,’ agreed Walther. He faced Craig again. ‘But to return to the situation in the Soviet Union a moment. Our family lives well in Leningrad.’
‘Your family?’
Walther blinked at Craig. ‘That is what I said-our family of German scientists. They respect us as America or England would not. We are the élite.’
A prick of annoyance-unfair, after all this old man had been through-urged Craig to a defence. ‘Scientists are as well respected in the United States. Your brother is a prime example.’
‘An exception-an exception,’ insisted Walther. ‘Izvestia ran a series of articles on the life of your scientists in America. It was enough to curl my hair.’ Suddenly, he laughed. ‘Or it would have, if I had had more hair.’ Then his face became solemn. ‘No, young man, I am not worried for Max. He may have more wealth and luxury in your country. But he does not have the proper respect and honours. In Leningrad, he will-’
‘In East Berlin. He is coming to East Berlin,’ Krantz interrupted frantically.
Walther glowered at Krantz. ‘Stop with that sham, Dr. Krantz. East Berlin-Leningrad-Moscow-it is all as one for the Germans, and you know it.’ Walther returned his attention to Craig. ‘You see, I am not interested in artifices. Max is a Nobel winner today. He will have his free dacha, his free laboratory, his student apprentices, his preferred treatment from the Presidium, his place and extra roubles in the Academy of Sciences. If I know Max, he will love it, the fussing, to be treated like a Czar. And the work-it will not tax him-some solar experiments if he wishes-if not, they will use him as an academic showcase in Berlin, to attract the young ones. I have no guilts, Mr. Craig. I am not sending my brother to a Devil’s Island or Alcatraz. It is a small price for the debt he owes me, to know I will be with my daughter again. And we can both be satisfied Max will be thriving, yes thriving.’
It was during this, as he half listened, that the thought entered Craig’s mind: the pitiful old man is painting this pretty picture as a rationalization for taking part in the trade, as a necessity to shed the dreadful guilt of it.
‘If it is all as you describe,’ said Craig gently, ‘so wonderful for Max, tell me-why are you leaving at all?’
This was impudent, but Walther appeared not to be sensitive to it. ‘For one thing, I am not Max,’ Walther said slowly. ‘He will be regarded as more useful, and treated accordingly. For another, I want to be with my daughter in a place where I can make riches and have the material things that Max has had. Surely, at my age, these desires are understandable.’
‘Certainly they are,’ said Craig. ‘Have you thought at all of what you will do in the United States?’
Walther smiled winningly. ‘I have not had much time for planning, as you know. But sitting here, relaxing, before you came, waiting for the evening and my freedom, I began to consider what is ahead. I am sure Max will cede me his savings and home, in exchange for mine, so I will have a start.’ He rubbed his watery eyes. ‘Of course, I would not live in the city of Atlanta in your Georgia as Max does. I am more conscious of inequities than Max. I will not live among people who club Negroes and lynch and incite riots. I will take Emily to New York or Detroit. I will work for the capitalists so that Emily and I can be capitalists.’
‘What work do you intend to do?’ asked Craig.
‘I will work for peace-if the capitalists will let me.’
‘You will continue your bacterial experiments?’
‘Never.’
‘But you’ve been doing just that in Leningrad.’
Walther’s bleary eyes considered Craig as he might a precocious but errant student. ‘Young man, in Russia I did this work for peace-for nothing else-as a deterrent to war. That is one thing I trust. I must learn if, in America, there is the same good will.’
‘Perhaps you will resume your work in nuclear energy?’
‘A possibility, if I am assured it is for peace.’
‘You can depend that it is for peace.’
Walther set down his empty glass. ‘You mean like Hiroshima and Nagasaki?’ Then, quickly, he smiled at the expression on Craig’s face. ‘No, do not take me seriously. Those annihilations were political moves, I understand that, to exert influence in the East before we could. No-do not misunderstand me-I know your American people are peaceful, want to live, to let live, to have good relations, like plain common people everywhere. I know they are the tools of reactionary monopolists. I have only meant I would not sell myself to the house of Morgan, to help provoke and incite a total war. You can be sure that Emily and I will work for the people.’
During the last of that, a vagrant, teasing thought-which had entered Craig’s mind earlier and been turned away-now possessed him. It was something astonishing and unacceptable before. But these seconds, his perceptions vibrated and wondered, and the vagrant thought grew, taking shape and identity. Craig hated to face the fact of it, yet the thought excited him. It was a hypothesis only, true, and there was no absolute proof of it, but proof might be possible to obtain. Suddenly his resolve was to test it for proof. He must gamble before time ran out, and all was lost.
‘I am sure we can depend on you, sir,’ he said. His air was all guilelessness. He looked down at his watch. ‘I’m afraid I’ve overstayed. I’ve tired you-and I should be at the Nobel Ceremony.’