3

Berlin, Tuesday, April 20

The labor was long and difficult, but little Immanuel (named after the German philosopher, Immanuel Kant) was, if one could judge by the volume of his screams, quite healthy.

To celebrate, Herr Vogel took Herman to a local Kneipe for a round of drinks and a meal. “I have someone I’d like to introduce you to,” Herr Vogel said. “He has been anxious to meet you, but with you so preoccupied with Astrid I knew it wasn’t the time. Now, if you’ll indulge me, he has a proposition for you.”

“I can think of no one anxious to meet with me unless I owe them money,” Herman said. His good mood at Astrid and the child doing so well was replaced with suspicion. He knew this must have something to do with the cause his father-in-law never stopped talking about; even though Herman had made it clear his days as a revolutionary were over.

“Not to worry, Herman. If anything, you may make some money out of this. I promise you it does not involve guns or bombs, but I should let him explain. Here he comes now. Herr Grüber! Here, bitte!”

Herr Grüber was the best dressed socialist Herman had ever seen. His dark green wool suit and red tie were easily the most expensive clothes in the place. Despite his wealthy attire, Herr Grüber jostled among the crowd of working men comfortably, with a slight waddling gait that reminded Herman of a duck. He smiled at Herr Vogel’s invitation, motioned to the red-faced waitress to bring him a beer, then settled into the chair across from the other two men.

“So, Herr Vogel, this is our young electrician. The bringer of light into darkness.” Turning toward Herman, Grüber said, “I trust you are aware of the story of Prometheus? His reward for similar work was not so generous. Hopefully, I can do better for you.”

Herr Karl Grüber was stout—not surprising given the easy way he drained half of his one-liter stein in a single steady go. Though still wary, Herman could not help but warm to the easy way the man had of talking to those beneath him in society. This was a man who was comfortable with anyone because he was comfortable with himself.

Herman said, “Good day, sir. May I ask why you wanted to speak to me? Do you need some electrical work done?”

Herr Grüber smiled at Herman, and when he did his entire face joined in. “Work? Definitely! Electricity is involved, but not in the way you think. I have recently been hired to emplace telephones within the Reichstag and other major government buildings in Berlin. Men with your experience are hard to come by, and I want to hire you to install and maintain my telephonic devices.”

Grüber’s eyebrows rose in unison with the corners of his mouth as he added, “At a substantial increase from your current salary.”

“And how would you know what my current salary is, Herr Grüber?”

“I don’t, and it doesn’t matter. I can use you as soon as you can honorably leave your current employer. Is one week enough time?”

Herr Vogel coughed politely. “And the other matter, Herr Grüber?”

Grüber’s smile did not fade, though his generous eyebrows knitted together, “We will discuss that at another place and time, if your son-in-law is as clever and loyal to the cause as you say.”

Herman frowned as he cut a thin slice of dried sausage with the care of a surgeon in the operating theater. “With a growing family an increase in my pay would be welcome, sir, but I’d like to know what other uses you have in mind for me before I say yes. Herr Vogel knows my feelings on spilling blood. I am no butcher.”

“Be at ease, my friend. I want grease on your hands, not blood. I will not go into details here, but to suffice for the moment I will say that a word, once spoken, may travel many places. Are we agreed?”

Herman put down the knife, stood, and extended his hand. “Then we have an agreement. I will report to you in one week. Where can I find you?”

Herr Grüber’s hand grasped Herman’s before presenting his business card. Herman gulped down the rest of his sausage before speeding home, anxious to tell Astrid the good news. Herr Grüber’s insistence on paying for their meal only reinforcing his good mood.