Frauleinstein

Chapter VII: Lunch with an Old Friend

"I've been out to your new building," he finally told her. "Strong Angel Industries. Valeria, from the Latin valere, meaning strong, and Engel, meaning angel in German. Two strong angels in the same place couldn't be a coincidence."

Valeria applauded. "Wonderful, darling! You really are very clever!"

"Clever enough to know what you're doing back here," Roddy said.

"Whatever are you implying?" asked Valeria.

"I was there, Valeria!" Roddy said. "Back in 1944, I met your super soldier. I read the report. I know he was dead. You brought him back to life; you created a... a monster! And now, you're trying to do it all over again!"

"So?" asked Valeria. "I don't see the problem."

"You don't see the problem?" asked Roddy in disbelief. "The problem is, I'm not about to let you produce an army of monsters to try to take over the world!"

Valeria just stared at him for a moment, before bursting into laughter. "Is this what you believe is going on?" she asked. "Oh, Roddy! Do you still believe this is 1944? Nazi Germany is long gone, my poor Roddy. No civilized country now wishes to take over the world! Oh, I know there are uncivilized ones who would jump at the chance, but I have no interest in fighting some tyrant for control. No, the world belongs to corporations, and Strong Angel Industries is a major international force."

Roddy looked confused. "So what is it you plan to do?"

"Roddy, have you never heard of Strong Angel Industries?" asked Valeria. When all she received was a blank stare she continued. "It is only the largest manufacturer of women's beauty products in the world! Surely you've heard of my cosmetics line, Immer Beauty?"

Roddy searched his memory. He seemed to remember a commercial on television. "Eye makeup?" he suggested.

"Yes, of course, eye shadow and eye liner and mascara!" Valeria said. "But also so much more. I manufacture a full line of beauty products. I own clothing manufacturers, shoes, soaps and lotions, fitness centres, everything a woman needs to stay looking young and beautiful! I've devoted my life to building this company, and to preserving youth in women."

Roddy looked more confused than ever. "Then why would you be interested in the super soldier technology?"

Valeria gave Roddy a look of exasperation. "Isn't it obvious? All my products promise to keep women looking young forever, but none of them really do that! At best they make you beautiful for an evening. But this technology, Roddy, it really is the fountain of youth!"

Roddy was incredulous. "You plan to sell super soldier technology as a beauty treatment?" he asked, then shook his head before continuing. "Fortunately, none of this matters. You're wasting your time, and your money, because I've been all through those tunnels. I've found every scrap of research and destroyed it all, years ago. All you're going to find down there is bad memories."

Valeria smiled. "You are quite wrong I'm afraid, Flight Lieutenant. After the war while I was building my business, I thought often of the power, the potential of what had been created in those tunnels. It took me twenty years before I went back, and as you say, everything had been removed; everything had been destroyed.

"I returned to my life and my business, but it nagged at me that perhaps there was somewhere, some hidden place, some concealed or unknown location where I had not looked. And then it occurred to me; it was so obvious! The deep cavern in the control room; surely something might have fallen over the edge during the fighting, lost in the depths of the earth.

"And so I returned with the necessary equipment, and climbed down. There wasn't much at the bottom. Only a few scraps of torn and charred paper, hinting at formulas and processes. But it was enough to inspire me! What I didn't understand, I learned. I studied chemistry, biology, anatomy! I received several doctorates. But there was always one more piece, one more idea that eluded me and needed to be understood.