Agreement

The next few days when Werner opened the door to Dr. Zieglers office every morning and after lunch, he always expected to find a group of SS-Officers standing ready to arrest him. But they were never there; the doctor was always alone. Neither of them talked about Werners proposal again, it was as if he'd never asked. 

They cleaned the entire lab, resorted the continents of the shelves and the freezers, tested lab tools for malfunctions and waited for the results from Berlin. Dr. Ziegler had recently got a radio, which he left on the whole time. Werner listened to the moderators but he doubted what they said was true; the third reich was winning everything. 

Once in a while Dr. Ziegler would switch to a music station. Werner heard songs he'd heard in documentaries about the Nazis, or in action movies displaying Germany in the early 1940s. By the end of the week he was able to sing along to some of the songs. His favourite was Westerwald, followed closely by Lore Lore. 

His relationship with Nikolai was fully restored and better than ever. Nikolai's mood was much gloomier than usual, he was still angry at his wife Darya and called her every night to try and convince her to leave Essen. Werner had offered to help, but Nikolai had told him there was nothing he could do. 

"I wish she would just...listen." Nikolai said for the hundreth time. Werner just nodded. He knew that Nikolai wasn't really talking to him but mainly to himself. "You listen to me, and we're friends. How does my wife not!"

"I think she's just scared too." Werner said, trying to sooth his friend. "Moving somewhere new is always hard."

"But they'll be bombed if they stay in Essen!" Nikolai cried out in exasperation. Werner gave up with trying to calm his friend. He stared at his plate as Nikolai continued to rant about his family. 

He escaped Nikolai's desperation and headed back to Dr. Zieglers office. He entered upon knocking and found the old doctor standing by the smallish window, smoking a cuban cigar. 

"Good afternoon, Werner."

"Good afternoon." 

"I thought about what you said." He started slowly, still facing the window. "About Wojciechowski." Werner didn't answer, he had nothing to stay. A moment later the old doctor continued. "I don't like your idea, it's violates the rules, and that's the last thing I want to do. But Wojciechowskis research shouldn't be wasted...a cure for cancer is something people really need. I'm willing to work with him and yourself, but only on one condition." He paused again. "If we get caught, both you and Wojciechowski have to tell the story the way I want to."

"Of course, doctor." Werner replied instantly. To his suprise he didn't feel exitement, or maybe he did, but it wasn't an euphoric excietement it was a dreadfull one. He felt nauseous, and anxious and his skin cribbled. 

"Then that's settled." He took a final drag from the cigar before putting the cigar away. "Let's go tell Wojciechwoski." 

The doctor and his assisant marched through the white halls, passing SS-Officers and chemists alike. They reached Wojciechowskis room in less than five minutes. Dr. Ziegler didn't knock, he simply barged in, followed by Werner.

Wojciechwoski was seated on the edge of his bed. It was the only thing that could be used as a chair in the room. He was reading a book, Mein Kampf, incredibly inappropriate due to his fate in the KZ, but it was the only book that they had had at hand. 

He looked up as the Nazis entered. "Guten Tag." He said. He was a bit confused as to why they'd come in unannounced, but he set the book aside and gave them his full attention. 

"Tag. We have a proposal for you, Wojciechowski." Dr. Ziegler started. "It was Werner's idea, not mine." The polish man's eyes lit up when he heard that. He liked Werner, as oppose to Dr. Ziegler. "You are going to continue your cancer research in this lab under my supervision and with Werner's assistance. I will make sure you have everything you need." Dr. Ziegler's words surpised Wojciechowski. He had been expecting anything but that; had expected a date set for execution, or a summoing to sume experiment. He had NOT expected to be invited to continue his research with their help. 

"I will need my old journals..."

"I'll get them." Dr. Ziegler interrupted him. 

"I'll need various instruments that aren't in the labs here, I can make a list, and I'll need a bit of time..." He sighed. "And I'll need the Russian scientists that were executed."

"I can't give you that." Dr. Ziegler said darkly. "I also can't give you a team of our doctors. All you'll have is Werner and I." 

"Two assistants?" Wojciechowski scoffed. "That's far from enough, especially if they aren't qualified."

"I can't offer more." 

"Well, I can try...but I can't promise that I will sucseed." 

"Sucsessfull or not, your fate remains the same, Wojciechowski." Dr. Ziegler said, his hand already on the doorknob. "You'll end up with a bullet in your head either way."