Page 32 of Geist Fleisch
“To your rooming house. I hope you weren’t planning on rushing back to England. Putting aside my own interests, I wouldn’t advise it in your condition.”
Before Callum could ask what that meant, he heard a familiar voice speaking in German with Karl. A tall, broad-shouldered silhouette blocked the light from the next room, where the figure stopped, acknowledging Callum with a polite nod and a smile before Karl walked him out.
Frank’s eyebrows arched with more than a hint of lust. “If you know that Adonis, I do hope you’ll introduce us.”
Callum tried to smile, but he doubted he’d be introducing Frank to Heinrich any time soon. “No, I don’t.”
“With the look he gave you?” Frank shook his head, teasing a playful smile. “If you were anyone else, I’d insist you chase him down until he’s at least agreed to a beer.”
Callum pondered the missed opportunity without mourning it.
“I’m afraid though, that your—”
“Yeah, yeah, my ‘condition.’ I’m disappearing. I know that!”
“Will you please lower your voice?”
The sudden rebuke seemed so unlike Frank it took Callum back a pace. “Sorry. But can you do something about it or not?”
“Something about it? Based on our examination, it’s gotten worse in the short time since we last saw you. In fact, in the time you’ve been in this room, I’ve seen a marked difference in both your colour and translucency. Frankly… Ah, you’re back.”
“Not for long,” Anne chirped. “Brigitte’s taking me skating at Busch’s, or perhaps the zoo, we’re undecided. All sounds so dreadfully wholesome, doesn’t it? How are you feeling, darling?”
“Good,” Callum lied. “Embarrassed, maybe.”
“Embarrassed? A month in Berlin and you’ve already made your Metropol debut? Dietrich would be jealous.”
Frank laughed as Brigitte joined them.
“Shall we go?” the American woman asked, taking Anne by the arm.
Anne grinned, kissing Callum on the cheek before they left. “Try to take better care of yourself. If you insist on having such a rough time, there are clubs for that sort of thing. Karl knows them.”
Karl turned, his eyes shooting daggers as Brigitte whisked Anne out to the snowy street.
Callum looked at his hand again. Clear as day, he could see a vase in the next room through its evaporating flesh. “She doesn’t see it, does she?”
“Jacqueline worked her wonders so that to Anne, you just look a little poorly. We thought it best she didn’t grasp the full extent of your condition.”
“You just do that, do you? Decide what others should and shouldn’t see?”
“I don’t mean to patronise you, but have you thought for a moment what would happen if all and sundry knew about what goes on in Suzi’s bar? Mix up a good dose of religious hysteria with the wails of every war widow and mother who lost a son and you can forget any notion of ‘rest in peace.’”
“How would anyone else even bloody get there? Even your lot couldn’t reach them without me. It’s this bloody disappearing act that lets me in, isn’t it?”
Frank gave him a stern look. “Our instruments would have worked just as well without you. Your job was to be our eyes and ears, providing us context for those numbers. Still, from what you’ve said, it’s a good job you were there! If Brigitte and I had taken the test to its conclusion, there’s no telling what might be left of those poor spirits. We aim to study, not to harm or banish or exterminate. Take my word for it, there are others who would care a lot less.”
“You’re not going to try it again, are you?”
“Heavens, no! But we still need to understand the place. We have your recollections and we can speculate based on those, but without quantitatively measurable data, there’s nothing to help us find or understand other, similar places.”
“Is that what this is really about?” Callum asked. “You want me to come with you? Be your ‘eyes and ears,’ like you said?”
“I’m offering you a chance to put the inevitable to good use, not to mention find friends among the few souls who might understand you. We can offer a good wage too, if you like. What did you have planned? To go back to England and disappear? Orperhaps to stay in the bar, among the dead? To stay with this ‘Max’ who you’ve known for all of…”
Callum had already retreated into his own thoughts when he noticed Frank trail off. He tried to pretend he was paying attention.
Frank, however, was a remarkable student of human deceit. “Do you even know what that would mean? Good god, man.”
