Человек в высоком замке

           Itisimpossiblethatoursistheonlyworld;theremustbeworldafterworldunseenbyus,insomeregionordimensionthatwesimplydonotperceive.

           EventhoughIcan’tprovethat,eventhoughitisn’tlogical—Ibelieveit,hesaidtohimself.

           Aloudspeakersaid,"MeineDamenundHerren.Achtung,bitte."

           Weareapproachingthemomentoflanding,CaptainWegenersaidtohimself.IwillalmostsurelybemetbytheSicherheitsdienst.Thequestionis:Whichfactionofpolicywillberepresented?TheGoebbels?OrtheHeydrich?AssumingthatSSGeneralHeydrichisstillalive.WhileIhavebeenaboardthisship,hecouldhavebeenroundedupandshot.Thingshappenfast,duringthetimeoftransitioninatotalitariansociety.Therehavebeen,inNaziGermany,tatteredlistsofnamesoverwhichmenhaveporedbefore.

           Severalminuteslater,whentherocketshiphadlanded,hefoundhimselfonhisfeet,movingtowardtheexitwithhisovercoatoverhisarm.Behindhimandaheadofhim,anxiouspassengers.NoyoungNaziartistthistime,hereflected.NoLotzetobadgermeatthelastwithhismoronicviewpoint.

           Anairlinesuniformedofficial—dressed,Wegenerobserved,liketheReichsMarshalhimself—assistedthemalldowntheramp,onebyone,tothefield.There,bytheconcourse,stoodasmallknotofblackshirts.Forme?Wegenerbegantowalkslowlyfromtheparkedrocketship.Overatanotherspotmenandwomenwaiting,waving,calling…evensomechildren.