Read Online In the Presence of Mine Enemies by Harry Turtledove - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Harry Turtledove
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hurried down toward the garden, down toward the statues of the men who had advanced German scholarship. And if she tried not to look at Brekerâs bronze of Heisenberg, well, even the Security Police werenât going to notice that.
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Heinrich Gimpel kissed Lise and went up the street to the bus stop. He got there five minutes before the bus did. As it stopped, the door hissed open in front of him. He fed his account card into the fare slot, then withdrew it and stuck it back in his wallet as he looked up the aisle for a seat. He found one. At the next stop, a plump blond woman sat down next to him. When Willi Dorsch got on a couple of stops later, he and Heinrich nodded to each other, but that was all.
Not sitting with Willi didnât break Heinrichâs heart. His friend had been cooler than usual since the awkward end to their evening of bridge. Does he worry that Iâm looking for an affair with Erika? Heinrich shook his head as Willi sank into a seat near the back of the bus. He enjoyed looking at Erika Dorsch, but that wasnât the same thing at all. Even Lise, who wasnât inclined to be objective about such things, understood the difference.
But then a new, troubling thought crossed Heinrichâs mind. Or does Willi think Erikaâs looking for an affair withme? Even if Willi didnât think Heinrich wanted the affair, he might not be so happy about seeing him every morning. And Heinrich hadnât the faintest idea what he could do about that.
The bus made its last few stops and pulled into the train station. Everyone got off. Almost everyone went to the platform for the Berlin-bound commuter train. As people queued up, Heinrich and Willi werenât particularly close. Heinrich sighed. More often than not, the two of them had chatted and gossiped like a couple of Hausfrau s all the way in to the city. It hadnât happened the past few days, and it didnât look as if it would today, either.
It didnât. When the train came into the the Stahnsdorf station, Willi sat down on the aisle next to a taken window seat. The seat on the other side of the aisle was taken, too. Whatever Willi Dorsch wanted, Heinrichâs company wasnât it. Willi pulled a copy of the Völkischer Beobachter out of his briefcase and started to read.
Heinrich also read the Nazi Party newspaper: one more bit of protective coloration. He found a seat halfway down the car from Willi, got out his own copy, and looked it over. He did find it professionally useful every now and then. What the Party decided could dictate what Oberkommando der Wehrmacht did next. Reading the paper carefullyâespecially reading between the linesâgave clues about which way the wind was blowing at levels of the Party more exalted than those in which Heinrich traveled.
Today he went to the imperial-affairs section first. It still looked as if the United States was going to fall short on its occupation assessment. Heinrich kept waiting for someone in the Foreign Ministry or the Führer âs office to comment. So far, no one had. That in itself was interesting. When he first started at Oberkommando der Wehrmacht, the Americans wouldnât have got a warning if they were late or came up short on what they owed. They would simply have been punished. Things were more easygoing these days.
Some things were, anyhow. A small story announced the execution of a dozen Serbs for rebellion against the Reich . Serbs had touched off the First World War, almost a hundred years ago now. Theyâd been nuisances ever since. And another story told of the jailing of an SS man whoâd been caught taking bribes in a French town near the English Channel.
Such shameless corruption, the Völkischer Beobachter declared, cannot be tolerated in an orderly, well-run state . Heinrich nodded to himself. Heâd seen three or four anti-corruption drives since his university days. That the Reich needed a new one every few years
Â
Heinrich Gimpel kissed Lise and went up the street to the bus stop. He got there five minutes before the bus did. As it stopped, the door hissed open in front of him. He fed his account card into the fare slot, then withdrew it and stuck it back in his wallet as he looked up the aisle for a seat. He found one. At the next stop, a plump blond woman sat down next to him. When Willi Dorsch got on a couple of stops later, he and Heinrich nodded to each other, but that was all.
Not sitting with Willi didnât break Heinrichâs heart. His friend had been cooler than usual since the awkward end to their evening of bridge. Does he worry that Iâm looking for an affair with Erika? Heinrich shook his head as Willi sank into a seat near the back of the bus. He enjoyed looking at Erika Dorsch, but that wasnât the same thing at all. Even Lise, who wasnât inclined to be objective about such things, understood the difference.
But then a new, troubling thought crossed Heinrichâs mind. Or does Willi think Erikaâs looking for an affair withme? Even if Willi didnât think Heinrich wanted the affair, he might not be so happy about seeing him every morning. And Heinrich hadnât the faintest idea what he could do about that.
The bus made its last few stops and pulled into the train station. Everyone got off. Almost everyone went to the platform for the Berlin-bound commuter train. As people queued up, Heinrich and Willi werenât particularly close. Heinrich sighed. More often than not, the two of them had chatted and gossiped like a couple of Hausfrau s all the way in to the city. It hadnât happened the past few days, and it didnât look as if it would today, either.
It didnât. When the train came into the the Stahnsdorf station, Willi sat down on the aisle next to a taken window seat. The seat on the other side of the aisle was taken, too. Whatever Willi Dorsch wanted, Heinrichâs company wasnât it. Willi pulled a copy of the Völkischer Beobachter out of his briefcase and started to read.
Heinrich also read the Nazi Party newspaper: one more bit of protective coloration. He found a seat halfway down the car from Willi, got out his own copy, and looked it over. He did find it professionally useful every now and then. What the Party decided could dictate what Oberkommando der Wehrmacht did next. Reading the paper carefullyâespecially reading between the linesâgave clues about which way the wind was blowing at levels of the Party more exalted than those in which Heinrich traveled.
Today he went to the imperial-affairs section first. It still looked as if the United States was going to fall short on its occupation assessment. Heinrich kept waiting for someone in the Foreign Ministry or the Führer âs office to comment. So far, no one had. That in itself was interesting. When he first started at Oberkommando der Wehrmacht, the Americans wouldnât have got a warning if they were late or came up short on what they owed. They would simply have been punished. Things were more easygoing these days.
Some things were, anyhow. A small story announced the execution of a dozen Serbs for rebellion against the Reich . Serbs had touched off the First World War, almost a hundred years ago now. Theyâd been nuisances ever since. And another story told of the jailing of an SS man whoâd been caught taking bribes in a French town near the English Channel.
Such shameless corruption, the Völkischer Beobachter declared, cannot be tolerated in an orderly, well-run state . Heinrich nodded to himself. Heâd seen three or four anti-corruption drives since his university days. That the Reich needed a new one every few years
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