At the sound of the knock on the door, David paused his briefing to take a sip of coffee. Sergeant Wilkins entered and strode across the office to the Ambassador. "A priority for you, Sir."

"Thank you, Wilkins." While the Sergeant departed, Evelyn scanned the message, and then he read it aloud for David:

On Monday afternoon, the self-appointed Irish Citizen Army seized Dublin's General Post Office, and from its steps, the leaders read a proclamation declaring Ireland an independent republic.

Britain declared martial law on Tuesday evening, with civil power in the hands of Brigadier-General Lowe. Initial efforts by our forces secured the approaches to Dublin Castle, City Hall was retaken, and we isolated the rebel headquarters in the Post Office.

The rebels have failed to take either of Dublin's two main train stations or either of its seaports. This is allowing us to bring in reinforcements from England and from our garrisons at Curragh and Belfast.

More details will follow as this evolves.

David's expression changed as he listened, and then he said, "Seems not a well-planned arising. Done with little knowledge of strategy. They should have secured the rail stations and the seaports before declaring independence. If this is their best effort, it should be quickly quashed."

"It depends upon what popular support the leaders of the uprising have. If it's widespread, the rebels will be difficult to identify and isolate. They're not in uniform, so who is friend and who is foe?"

"True. They will label themselves by their activities."

"As your men will be doing the next few days."

David grimaced. "Let's hope their activities blend in. This is the third trip into the area for one of them. For two others, it's their second, and for the other five, it's their first. The three with experience have been briefing the others on what it's like and what to expect."

"Theory is good, but practice is far better."

"They've been practising in the Gasthäuser in Schaffhausen, Winterthur and Zurich to get a feel of the Germanic culture and attitude."

"But that's Swiss, not German."

"We don't see much of it here in Bern, but the closer to the border, the closer the attitudes and behaviours are to the Germanic. The most obvious difference is that unattached women are rare in such places in Switzerland, and often they are seen as prostitutes. In Germany, there are far more women than men in the public houses."

"Historically? Or with the war?"

"It dates only to the early months of the war, I've learned. With many of their men gone, they're lonely or distraught or bereaved, and they seek company. The stability and comfort of their society have collapsed."

The Ambassador nodded. "Thus, the ease your men have with finding willing women."

"Yes, for sure. I've cautioned them to sample only and to not become attached." David hopped his hand in a series of arcs. "To move from town to town and hotel to hotel as they pretend to be fuse salesmen."

"With all the moving, how will they coordinate the explosions?"

"They have a central meeting place in Heidelberg, a university town, a historic arts and culture centre with no strategic installations or works. And it's relatively central to all the targets."

"You've done a lot of careful thought and planning with this." Evelyn laughed. "But I've grown to expect that from you."

"It's essential. The goal is to disrupt, and if only two or three succeed, we will have done that. They've been told to immediately abandon their target if all is not right. We want them all to return to Sonnenhang."

<><><>

In the late afternoon, after he had finished briefing Rick about Karl and his teams of agents in Schaffhausen, David returned to the residence. Maria greeted him as he entered their suite. "Three weeks today, and I'm finished. Two more weeks of lectures, then reviews and exams."

She led him to the couch, and they sat while she continued, "Then I start the research project. Dr Betancourt has asked me to devise a standard procedure for the measuring and to present it to him for critique. I would like to experiment with you to test some methods and a postulation."

David grinned. "And how will you reward your lab rat?"

"Enjoyably for both rat and scientist." She grinned back at him, then she picked up a rubber-tipped steel rule to which was fitted a sliding bar. "I had this crafted by the instruments department to make it easier to avoid a parallax error when taking the measurements."

"Yes, accuracy is important. So would be consistent methodology."

"For certain, and to ensure these, I'll recommend we measure along the top with the subject standing and his penis horizontal." She pointed to the end of the scale. "With this pressed onto the pubic bone to provide a standard starting spot, we'll slide this along to just touch the tip."

David nodded. "The foreskin will need to be retracted to give accurate readings. Not all extend well past the head like mine; Some fall short of completely covering it, and there's a full range between these extremes. Overhanging skin must be moved out of the way for your measurements."

"This is why I need your help. You're much more familiar with penises than am I." She grinned, then shrugged. "The photos and illustrations in the medical books offer me little but confusion."

"True, but I have no experience handling any but my own. And until recently, I've had only quick glances, not scientific observations."

"So, how do you know the wide variation in foreskins?"

"Last week, after my catharsis." David winced. "I spent a lot of time looking more than only fleetingly at others in the showers, relieved to finally feel free to do so. I was amazed by the variety."

Maria patted his thigh. "That must have been a liberating feeling for you. Not only over your deep shame with your own, but able to look. But back to my project. So, I'll need to roll their foreskin back and –"

"That might arouse many of them." David pursed his lips and nodded. "At least it would for me. I cannot imagine many would be able to keep from expanding with a beautiful woman manipulating them. You'll not be able to get a fully flaccid measurement."

"Even in a purely clinical environment? I had thought I would brief them first with technical and scientific information, outlining the aim of the research to keep their minds from seeing any sexual aspect to it. Then I'll explain the procedure."

David stroked his beard as he paused to think. "What if you asked them to retract their own foreskin and lay their penis on their hand? Then you could take the measurement with little chance of arousing them."

"Good idea." Maria nodded. "No need for me to touch them for the flaccid measurements."

"And for the erect ones? How have you thought to do those?"

"This is where my postulation comes in." She smiled and nodded down into his lap. "I have thought since the blood stretches them to their limit with tumescence, if I were to do that stretching manually with a flaccid penis, I would find the same measurement of length as I would with a tumescent one. If this is true, then there is no need for me to encourage them into an erection."

David stood, undid his trousers and, with a chuckle, let them fall down his legs to the floor. "Here's your lab rat."

Maria sighed. "I hope none of them arouses me as this does."

He looked down at her sublime expression. "Your arousal here would not be from the visual, but from the emotional memories this triggers."

"True." She stared at his penis, trembled, then shook her head. "Peel it and lay it on your hand so I can measure it."

When she had taken and recorded it, David pinched his head with his thumb and two fingers, and then he stretched his penis to its limit. "Now measure it like this."

"Oh, what a wonderful idea. The subject stretching himself obviates any need for me to touch." She frowned as she measured, then huffed as she re-examined the slide. "More than a centimetre longer than I remember your erect length. So much for that postulation."

"Yes, but that's likely because you're pressing the rule into me rather than just laying it on top."

"Oh, how stupid of me. Of course. Now, we need this stiffened to test whether my postulation is correct or not." She set the rule down and knelt to lick.

David trembled at the intense sensations. "If you undressed first, it would stiffen faster." He chuckled. "Likely be fully throbbing and ready to measure – or for other uses – before you've removed the last bit of clothing."