Ice Reich by William Dietrich Read Free Book Online

build him an adequate-sized wardrobe. But the chief forester had to report back that the trees were gone already, they'd all been sawed into his coat hangers! We don't laugh at him, we laugh with him, because we can identify with his appetites. Or at least we try not to judge."
    "Yet he judges us." Hart saw Göring's hand stray toward the button that would release his model warplanes.
    "We serve at his pleasure. It's different here in Germany, Owen. We're a society with a purpose, but to have such purpose you can't rely on the mob: it must be directed by a few great men."
    "I don't think the American voter thinks of himself as a mob."
    She shrugged. "Still, someone must be in charge."
    Just then there was a familiar rattle and a Stuka swooped down, its rigid wheels like the talons of a raptor. Hearing the noise, Drexler calmly reached across the control panel and threw a switch. "I've watched you at the controls, Reich Minister," he explained. His train shunted onto a new line just as Göring released his bomb. The pellet landed squarely on the newly emptied track and Drexler's train rumbled calmly past the impact point.
    "Ach! Touché, Jürgen!" Göring exclaimed. "I'm outwitted!" The political liaison's train accelerated. "And on you go to your destination!" He laughed.
    With the Reich Minister's good humor the others laughed too. Drexler nodded in acknowledgment and stole a glance at Greta. She replied with an encouraging smile. Owen found himself irked by the demonstration.
    "Do you consider yourself a man of strong opinions, Owen?" she whispered, still watching Drexler.
    He looked at her curiously, wondering if he'd become a toy in some game he didn't understand. "I... am adaptable, I guess."
    She nodded knowingly. "That's obvious."
    "Meaning?"
    "Meaning you're here. In Germany. With us."
    "No," said Hart, shaking his head. "You don't understand. I'm not with you, not against you. I'm simply on my way to Antarctica. Where politics don't apply."
    "Ah! Wait until you get on the Schwabenland. A confined society, a long voyage. Humans wear politics as tightly as their skin." She was teasing him.
    "Is that why Jürgen is necessary?"
    She shrugged, watching the blond German as he stole a glance at them again. "Jürgen reminds us why we're here. He sees things clearly."
    Drexler brought his train into the station. "I was admittedly fortunate that your attack coincided with the availability of a siding," he told the Reich Minister. "But there is a lesson here, no? A lesson for us in Antarctica, perhaps. If one way doesn't serve, another may suffice."
    "Indeed, your twist has demonstrated the endless complications of war," Göring agreed. "Which is why battle is not as simple as it appears in the history books. Well. My Luftwaffe is out of bombs. Perhaps we should adjourn for dinner?"
    There was no disagreement.
    Greta moved off to congratulate Drexler. Over her head, he nodded at Hart.
    * * *
    The group filed down the stairs to a baronial dining room with timbered ceiling and glittering candles, more suits of armor posted in the shadows like hovering waiters. Two more lovely women— one a model, another an aspiring starlet, Hart gathered— joined the group. Göring took his place at the head of the table with the two actresses at either side and the model at the foot, facing him. There otherwise didn't seem to be assigned seating. Greta moved toward a chair and Drexler quickly moved forward to touch the back of an adjacent one as if asserting the spoils of victory. But at the last moment she unbalanced things by slipping sideways around Feder— "Alfred, I'd like to map out a sampling calendar based on your expected arrival and departure dates," she murmured— and swiftly plopped down between the geographer and Hart, giving the American pilot a quick smile. Owen sensed someone else looking at him. It was Kohl across the table, frowning and giving a barely perceptible shake of his head.
    "And Owen," Greta said, turning away