Operation Ganymede - 14. Chapter 14 - Test of Truth

The door opened with a creak, and Eiseinmann entered, his casual stride clashing with the palpable tension in the air. Arnfried, buried under his blankets up to his chin, had vainly sought refuge in the darkness, but sleep eluded him like day fleeing from night. The flickering lantern cast ghostly shadows on the walls, each one seeming to whisper of recent ordeals.

Eiseinmann's familiar footsteps made Arnfried lift his head, his eyes reflecting a mix of surprise and confusion. The "blond" wore an impassive expression, showing no sign of the emotional storm Klein had expected after the interview.

- Are you okay? Arnfried asked, his voice tinged with worry.

Eiseinmann responded with a nonchalant shrug, almost insolently:

- Ja ja, I'm okay.

Arnfried observed his friend, puzzled by this lack of visible trauma. This apparent normality stirred his curiosity, but every question posed was also a risk of having to reveal his own ordeal.

With caution that betrayed his unease, Arnfried sat up, wrapped in his blankets like armor, and ventured:

- You... I mean... did it... go well?

Eiseinmann, still with that exasperating nonchalance, replied:

- Ja, everything's fine. Even if some of the questions were... how should I say... "bizarre".

- What did he ask you? Klein hazarded, his voice laden with caution, reluctant to share his own revelations.

- Lots of stuff! And also about when I was with the Wandervogels...

- I mean... about you?

- What do you mean?

- Well, I don't know. Didn't he ask you anything about... about you?

- Yeah... even weirder stuff! Even if I had any hair! Didn't he ask you that?

- Huh... uh... yeah.

- And what did you say? That you do?

- Where? Here? Arnfried said, slightly lifting the blanket to point to his lower abdomen. Well, yeah. Why? What did you say?

- The same! And even how many, plus I had to say. But anyway, he saw afterwards.

- WHAT??

- Yeah, then I had to strip naked!

Arnfried's astonishment amused Eiseinmann, who seemed far from disturbed by this revelation.

Klein, now sitting up, the blankets around his thighs, stammered:

- But... but why?

- Because of a test. 'A' test, for the Mission. You didn't have that?

- N... no. Arnfried stuttered.

Eiseinmann's curiosity intensified at his friend's uncertainty. As he approached, he shed his lederhosen shorts, only keeping his shirt for sleep.

- Hey, but why did you look like you'd seen a ghost when you came back from yours?

Klein, unable to share his ordeal, diverted the conversation:

- But... why naked? The officer... I mean... did he... look at you for long like that?

Eiseinmann, catching the maneuver, replied with a smirk:

- Well, yeah, he looked. But he was mostly interested in my answers to his questions, especially those about the Migrators.

Klein, insisting but through detours:

- And... did he not... I mean, did he not do... any... gestures, or something like that?

Eiseinmann, while sliding into bed next to Arnfried, burst out laughing at this awkward attempt:

- What? Are you trying to find out if the Oberleutnant touched my dick, huh?

His laughter echoed in the room, and Klein blushed with embarrassment.

- Well, no, he didn't!

- Yeah, but... I mean... if he had... what... what would you have done?

- Whoa... you have some questions! What would I have done? I don't know. Maybe I would have yelled... or maybe not.

- Maybe not?!

- Hey, but why are you asking that? Why? Did he do it to you?

- WHAT?? NEINN. NEIIINN! You're crazy.

- Well, then? Why ask that? Because of what I told you earlier about the Migrators thing?

 - … ??

- Yeah... that there were guys like us, as the Oberleutnant said, looking to be with 'guys' like us?

- No, no. I'm just asking.

- Okay, well, don't worry, he didn't touch me. But yeah, he did look well!

- And... and... I mean... didn't that bother you?

- That he looked at me? Meh... yeah, a bit... but I told you, at the Wandervogels, we were often like this during camp. So, doing it there... yeah... a bit weird I agree, but since he said it was for the test to see if I could handle it, then...

- LIGHTS OUT!! The voice of the Pimpfe echoed from downstairs, ending their exchange. Eiseinmann, almost automatically, blew out the lantern flame on the bedside table, plunging the room into thick darkness, leaving questions unresolved and answers veiled by the night.