He helped her on with her coat. “I don’t approve of their conduct, of course. But I also never hesitate to walk home from the naval base after dark. I guess it’s not a perfect world, is it?”
She was still wide-eyed when he opened the door for her, after taking up a lamp. ” ‘Knee-capping,’ ” she muttered. “That never happened in Pittsburgh. Well. Not in our neighborhood.”
“No, it didn’t. On the other hand, I can also remember you complaining that the courts coddled criminals. No danger of that happening here.”
By the time they neared the naval base, picking their way slowly in the light shed by the lamp in Simpson’s hand, Mary’s apprehension seemed to be fading away. Simpson realized now that she’d never made this walk before. Not at night, at least. So she, unlike him, was not accustomed to its . . . peculiarities.
Young people—most of them young men—standing on street corners with their hands in their pockets, was not the sort of thing which people of John and Mary Simpson’s class were accustomed to look upon with favor. Especially in a city which had no streetlights. But, after the first two such little groups did nothing more than nod politely, Mary began to relax. By the time they reached the third and largest group, standing not far from the entrance to the navy yard, Simpson decided it was time he put his own lingering doubts to rest.
So, as they drew alongside the cluster of half a dozen people, five young men and a girl—teenagers, half of them—Simpson came to a halt. The murmured conversation among the youngsters died away and one of the group, a man in his twenties, stepped forward a pace or two.
“Excuse me. My name is John Simpson and I’m—”
“We know who you are, Admiral,” the young man said softly. He nodded his head politely to Mary. “Frau Simpson. My name is Gunther. Gunther Achterhof. I am in charge of this district. What may I do for you?”
In charge? ‘District’? Simpson was taken off-balance for a moment. Then cleared his throat and said:
“My wife may, in the future, wish to come down to the shipyards. I would appreciate it if you would . . . ah . . .”
Achterhof smiled, his crooked teeth gleaming in the lamplight despite the dark spots left by caries. “We can provide her with an escort, if you wish. But there’s really nothing to fear. Your house is under guard at all times. Even when you are not there, since Frau Simpson arrived in Magdeburg.”
Simpson stared at him. Mary was practically goggling at him. Her German was good enough to follow the conversation.
“The enemies of the revolution. Richelieu has agents everywhere—Ferdinand and Maximilian too. Desperate and vicious men. They will stop at nothing.”
Achterhof added a word in German which Simpson did not recognize. From the venom roiling under the syllables, he suspected that it was the CoC’s version of slang terms which had been found throughout history when the anger of the long-downtrodden began to congeal and harden. Sasenach. Bouzhoi. Honkie. Sometimes national, sometimes racial, sometimes simply a matter of class. The simple definitions of people who had had enough!—and were none too concerned about the fine points.
“The United States, of course, is their most feared and hated enemy. So—” Gunther shrugged. Or, it might be better to say, shifted his shoulders into a fighter’s stance. “We guard.”
There seemed nothing further to say. Simpson realized, suddenly, that he would never really understand how to talk to someone like this. So . . .
Let Stearns deal with them. He can, I can’t. I’ll deal with the Navy. That I know how to do.
He nodded, murmured a few words of thanks, and went on his way.
“He seems a nice enough young man,” said his wife hesitantly.
“Mary, he is absolutely nothing of the sort. On the other hand, he’s on our side.”
After a few more steps, she said, “Best figure out how to keep him there, then. I’m telling you, John. Culture.”
The radio operator was on duty of course, but he was obviously surprised to be called upon. As a rule, since reception was always best in the hours after sundown, the radio was only used then. But, with the higher power and full-sized antennas available to the radio stations in Magdeburg and Grantville, radio communication was quite possible at any time.