again and again, until finally, in a silence made deeper by Ilse's utter
despair, Smuts stepped around the shield, the cable trigger in his hand,
and began to speak.
. 'Frau Apfel,' he said. 'I don't believe in messing aboutnOt where my
job is concerned. You have certain information I need, and.you are
going to provide it.'
Ilse tried to nod beneath the head strap.
'During the past several minutes, I have exposed you to the maximum
allowable three-year dosage of radiation for a nuclear plant worker. In
an hour or so, you will probably experience some nausea and vomiting,
but let us hope that is all you must endure. Far worse outcomes are
still possible.
Blindness, burns ... other things.' Smuts held a finger in Ilse's face.
'What happens next, Frau Apfel, is up to you.'
@le Ilse stared with wild eyes, the Afrikaner crouched and laid the
cable trigger on the floor. Then he stood, loosened a bolt on the
housing above Ilse, an . d lowered the hammerhead ban-el to a position
six inches above her abdomen.
He tightened the bolt again, locking it in place.
'Frau Apfel, I ain going to remove the gag now, and you will cooperate
fully. I have focused the X-ray beam on the approximate area of yottr
ovaries. Radiation has an enhanced effect on such cells@ells that are
still dividing, as it were.
Exposure in this region could seriously jeopardize your chances of ever
having children.' Smuts grinned. 'Are you ready to talk?'
Ilse's eyes ' widened in horror. Her baby! She began to shiver
uncontrollably. Her urinary sphincter let go, flooding both her dress
and the table. Smuts drew back from the pungent smell. As he reached
for the handkerchief gag, tears welled up in Ilse's eyes and streamed
down onto the table.
r.
'Listen,' said the Afrikaner, his voice slightly softer 'As of this
moment you are still all right. Only if you refuse to answer will you
be injured. The dosage you have received so far would only be excessive
for a woman alre#dy pregnant.'
Ilse's body convulsed against the straps. She fought like gn animal,
expending every ounce of her remaining strength.
Smuts-who had used this interrogation technique on many previous
occasions-could not recall anyone resisting so fiercely once the
prospect of escape had been offered. One never knew who the tough ones
would be, he reflected.
When Ilse finally went limp, he loosened the. strap at her head and
carefully removed the gag.
'Now,' he said. 'I need to know some things about your husband.
Can you hear me?'
Ilse's eyes opened. Slowly she focused on Smuts's face.
'Good. Your husband did not take the plane he was instructed to take to
Johannesburg. Nor has he checked into the hotel he was ordered to stay
in. By the terms of the agreement, he has already forfeited your life.
Why would he do that? Doesn't he want to save you?'
Ilse closed her eyes. More tears dribbled out. When she opened her
eyes again, Smuts was shaking the cable trigger in her face. 'Does your
husband have any Jewish blood in his family?'
Ilse shook her head, her eyes blank in despair. Smuts stepped
momentarily out of her field of vision, then reappeared with a damp rag.
He squeezed a few drops of water into her mouth.
'Now,' he said. 'No Jewish blood?'
'No,' Ilse coughed.
'What about friends? Does he have any Jewish friends?
Has Hans ever been to Israel?'
Ilse shook her head.
'You're sure? What about England? Or anywhere else in Britain?'
'What is your husband's connection with Captain Dieter Hauer?'
Ilse hesitated. 'Fr-friend,' she rasped. It was difficult to
concentrate hard enough to lie, but she sensed that to reveal Hans's
blood relationship to Hauer might somehow be dangerous.
'Are you aware that Captain Hauer works with the German counterterror
unit GSG-9?'
Ilse silently mouthed the word no.
'Undoubtedly your husband is.' Smuts clucked his tongue thoughtfully.
'I want you to tell me -about the Spandau papers. Did your husband show
them to anyone before you gave them to your grandfather?'
Ilse shook her head again.
'Do you understand these questions?'
She nodded.
'Think carefully, Frau Apfel. Think about the names you saw in the
Spandau papers. Did you see the name Al@ Horn?'
'You didn't recognize the name when Herr Horn introduced himself last
night?'
'You were staring at his eye-his artificial eye. Why were you so
interested in that? Did you come here expecting to find a man with one
eye?'
'I couldn't help staring.'
'What names were in the Spandau papers?'
Ilse's voice cracked as she spoke. 'Hess, of course. Hitler.
Hermann Goring. Reinhard Heydrich, I think.'
Smuts nodded. 'Did you see the name Zinoviev?' he asked softly.
'It's a Russian name.'
Ilse thought a momen@ shook her head.
'Helmut? Did you see that name?' Smuts shook the trigger in her face.
'Did you?'
'No 'Frau Apfel,' he said coldly, 'if you're thinking of informing Herr
Horn of what happened here this morning, I tell you now to abandon the
idea. Whatever his reaction might be, I assure you that it.is within my
power to have you back on this table before anything could be done to
me. Do you understand?'
'Oh God!' Ilse wailed, her voice choking into a sob.
'You bastard! You've hurt my baby! You've killed my baby!'
Smuts's eyes widened. 'You are pregnant now?'
