They left Otto, Manfred, and Philipp behind, the old farmer reading a well-worn bible, and Manfred an old journal on parapsychology, of which there was a sizeable stack on a table. Philipp sat alone, playing with a deck of cards, a seemingly aimless, repetitive activity whose purpose, if any, was known only to him. It was how he spent his evenings.
As they walked to their quarters, Schurz told Montag that to be in the corridor at all, after lights out, was against the rules and would be punished.
It seemed to Macurdy that the curfew simply reflected the Nazi impulse to control, but the other restrictions might protect important information. The corridors were not well lit, but how much light might it take for an attentive guard to see throu his invisibility spell? And how attentive might the guards be After he’d had made his bed-without any difficulty–he -and Schurz sat down facing each other. “Berta found you interesting,” Schurz commented.
“She is a nice lady. Friendly.” Macurdy would maintain his Montag persona, even though Schurz saw through it. Schurz grunted. “She is rather interested in men. If circumstances permitted, I believe she would try us out. And I believe she finds you more interesting than she does the rest of us. She sees something in you that most do notsomething more than your large and powerful physique.” He raised a knowing eyebrow at Macurdy.
It seemed to Macurdy that Schurz had said this to read his response. “I would like to try her out,” Montag answered. “I like ladies.”
Schurz’s smile flicked on, then off. Macurdy realized that the Herr Doktor Professor would like to try her out too. “Why is she here?” Montaed. “Why are any of us here?”
“According to her folder, she sometimes exhibits poltergeist phenomena when she drinks. Colonel Landgraf finds that promising.”
Montag looked confused, and Schurz, instead of explaining poltergeist, changed the subject. “Did you pay any attention to the other women?” Macurdy’s lack of auric response told him he hadn’t. “The small, younger woman is Anna Hofstetter. I believe she must have an interesting history, but Colonel Landgraf has not told me what it is. Nor do I know why she is here. Her talent is listed as broad-band telepathy, but so far as I know, telepathy does not contribute to the purpose of this project.”
He smiled. “Incidentally, do not be alarmed by her. Such telepathy is not continually operative. At least under ordinary circumstances it must be consciously turned on, otherwise the constant mental noise becomes intolerable. Also, persons like ourselves seem to have a built-in shield against telepathic snooping; she is unlikely to discern your thoughts. Your secrets. It would be interesting to know hers however.”
“The round-shouldered, graying red-haired woman is a gypsy. She. . .”
That was as far as Schurz got, because Otto and Philipp came in. Macurdy took toothbrush and paste from the small kit issued to him and went into the latrine. When he was done, he came back.
“What is our job here?” he asked Schurz. “No one has told me what I am to do.”
Manfred Eich had returned by then, and it was he who answered, before Schurz had time to. “Each of us has his own work, according to his intelligence,” Eich said. “In the morning you will report to the stable, to clean up behind the colonel’s horses.”
“Oh,” said Montag, “that will be easy for me. It was part of my work at home when I was a boy.”
Manfred sneered, disappointed that his victim showed no hurt. Schurz simply looked at Montag quizzically.
At 9:55, Schurz blinked the lights. By that time Macurdy was already in bed, eyes closed, reviewing the day. Somehow neither he nor the OSS people who’d prepared him had foreseen the risk of psychic detection, an oversight that seemed to him a major bit of stupidity on their part and his. Kupfer hadn’t noticed anything, but what might Colonel Landgraf see? Landgraf or someone else. He wasn’t convinced that a persistent and perceptive telepath couldn’t learn something dangerous from his mind; his aura had already compromise him. And if Landgraf lacked the talent, what of the instructors here? Almost certainly they were psychics, and presumably more powerful, even much more powerful, than Edouard Schurz or Berta Stark.