The commandant"s office was located on the north side of the castle and looked out onto the inner garden with its windows.Richard was sitting in a high chair, decorated with leather, and studying the newly delivered ma.n.u.scripts with interest.
"Siegfried, are these the scrolls that the last Ahnenerbe expedition brought from Tibet?"
There were about twenty neatly twisted tubules opposite the young man. He opened one of them and looked at the letters unknown to him.
"Yes, according to the research of Herr Shefner, the head of the expedition, if we manage to understand the content of these scrolls, we can begin creating a new man of the supreme Aryan race."
"Hmmm, it"s no wonder that Himmler is so thrilled about the Eden project. If we can recreate the great progenitors, then nothing will match the Third Reich in this world. Is the equipment ready for testing?"
"Yes, everything is ready. We can start. The only thing left is to determine the candidates," Siegfried Taubert, commandant of the Wewelsburg castle, said.
Richard put the scroll to the others and got up from the table. The man went to the window and looked out into the street. In the winter garden, two people were standing under the falling snow and shaking their hands.
"Hmm, what an interesting picture," the devilish smile slipped across his face, and the young man"s eyes lit up with fire. "Siegfried, how is our test subject, whom we bought a year and a half ago, doing?"
The commandant ran all the prisoners in his head, and replied with a contented smile, "Oh, Richard, are you talking about Daniel Arenson? You know, I would even give more for this guy than his parents requested. They did not lie. The boy is unique. Whatever we did with him, he endured all the tests. I do not know how long he will last, but thanks to his endurance, we got a lot of amusing results. By the way, his vision is in fact phenomenal. I can"t wait for him to work his way, and it will be possible to get into his brain and study it in more detail."
The man rubbed his hands in antic.i.p.ation of this moment. To meet such an experimental person as Daniel was exceptional luck, and that is why they tested all their new ideas on him with great pleasure. And to their great happiness and, at the same time, much regret, the guy survived every time whatever they did with him.
"What, do you think, can we use him in the first test?" Siegfried asked a young man, who was standing by the window.
Richard rubbed his chin thoughtfully and grinned, "No. Not yet. I came up with an idea; I want to check it out. I need your guys to help me with this."
Taubert"s eyes widened in surprise, "Richard, when it comes to Marcus, I am sure of him. He is the embodiment of the true Aryan. But as for Armand. Ehh, he is too soft. I think it is too early to reveal the Ahnenerbe plans to him," the commandant replied with annoyance.
Steiner came up to him and patted him in a friendly way, "Don"t worry. We will not need much from them. Ask them to watch a couple of people for me and report on everything that happens."
"I think I brought a very entertaining kitten with me," Richard thought to himself.
Siegfried, seeing how the young man"s expression changed, smiled too. He knew that if this guy was up to something, it would be amazingly interesting and terrible at the same time.
Not without reason, Richard Steiner was on a special account with Himmler. The fantasy of this guy went far beyond the limits of humanity and morality. And playing with human feelings was one of his favorite experiments.
Richard looked out the window and, making sure that there was no one else in the garden, said goodbye to the castle"s commandant and went to Lena"s room.
The girl was sitting on the edge of her bed and toweling off her hair, which was wet from snow. She was deep in her own thoughts, thinking of the image of a young man she had just met in the garden. Lena smiled shyly and covered her face with a towel. This was the first time she felt like that.
"I see that you enjoyed your little walk, didn"t you?" A male voice instantly brought her back from the realm of fantasy.
She was lost in her thoughts so deeply that she did not notice how Richard entered the room. The man was standing, leaning against the wall, and studying her every emotion.
The picture before his eyes gave him incomparable pleasure. Finally, he found a worthy object that he could play a lot with.
Lena immediately jumped out of bed, straightened her hair and replied, "Yes, I have not been in the open air for a long time. So thank you for the opportunity, sir."
The man noticed the embarra.s.sment with which the girl was crumpling the towel in her hands. He took a few steps towards her and stood so close that it seemed to Lena that she could feel his breath on herself.
He stretched out his hand and ran it over the girl"s wet hair. Lena"s heart pounded. It pounded so loudly that the silence in the room seemed to amplify its sound, like a camertone.
"My little kitten," Richard"s voice sounded like a bell in the girl"s ears, "Next time, put on something warmer," he leaned over, and Lena felt his hot breath next to her ear, "Remember, your body does not belong to you."
The man took her left hand and ran his fingers over the skin, where the numbers 280498 were tatted on. From his touch, a shiver ran all over the girl"s body. She was afraid even to breathe.
This man did not do anything special, but that was what scared the girl the most. His silent presence bound her like chains. Even in the death camp, she did not feel such fear. There, she knew very well what to expect from the guards and that at any moment she could be killed instantly.
But now, now she knew nothing. This man was looking at her and smiling with his charming smile. But in his eyes, there was not even a hint of some warmth. There was just ice. Cold, burning ice.
Richard took a towel from Lena"s hand and threw it on her shoulders. Then he collected her front hair and threw them back. The girl was standing rooted to the spot and could not even move.
His cold fingers touched her face. Lightly touching the skin of her cheek, he ran his hand down, took the girl by the chin and lifted her head.
The man took a step forward, and the distance between them was completely reduced. With the second hand, he grabbed the girl"s waist and pulled her to him. His eyes were looking at her, and Lena felt as if he was looking directly into her soul.
Every second of his gaze was like a knife, removing protection from layer to layer. She felt like a small microbe under a microscope, and he is an indifferent researcher whose task is to study what this microbe consists of.
"Hmm, you are beautiful, in fact," Richard said in a cold voice and lowered his head.
Lena closed her eyes; her whole body began to tremble, unable to withstand this tension anymore. She felt his breath close to her lips...
The man looked at the frightened girl and grinned. Oh yes, this game gave him incomparable pleasure. He let her go and patted her head,
"Behave yourself. Starting from tomorrow, you are allowed to have lunch in the common dining room. Have a nice evening, my little kitten." He turned around and left her room.
As soon as the door slammed, Lena grabbed the edge of the nearby table, so as not to fall. Her legs and arms were shaking.
She climbed onto the bed, tucked her knees to her chest and covered herself with a blanket over her head. The girl wanted to hide from the whole world. She had never been so scared.