Last Orders: The War That Came Early
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“I already told you I wouldn’t,” Peggy said. “You can ask Herb if you don’t trust me. We may be divorced, but he’ll still tell you I don’t gossip about anything important.”
“There is no need. I believe you,” he said. She knew she would go on feeling good about that for days.
She walked out to the front door with him. If any of the neighbors saw him and asked her questions about it … She didn’t know exactly what she’d say, but she did know it wouldn’t be anything that involved super-duper bombs.
Einstein went down the walk to the cab. The driver saw him coming and tossed his magazine aside. Einstein got in. Peggy wondered if he would make like an absent-minded professor and forget which pocket he’d used to stash Herb’s address. He didn’t, though; he found it right away. The cabbie started up the engine and drove off.
“Wow! I mean, wow!” Yes, Peggy was talking to herself more now that she lived alone. But if a surprise visit from the greatest physicist in the world didn’t rate a few words, what the dickens would?
She wanted to call Dave and tell him who’d knocked on her door. But he’d be at work—and telling him would count as gossip. Einstein had been smart to warn her. She wanted to tell everybody she knew.
Einstein had been smart? Peggy laughed at herself. Einstein was smart. Being smart was what made him Einstein—well, being smart and that silly hair. He might not have lost Herb’s address, but he sure hadn’t found a comb any time lately.
How many smart Jews had Hitler chased out of Germany? Peggy didn’t know, but she was sure it wasn’t a small number. Countries needed people like that. Now America had them and Germany, even this maybe-new Germany under the Salvation Committee, damn well didn’t. Served the Germans right.
“Ha!” Peggy said. She knew the person she could call. She hustled back to the phone and dialed. If he didn’t answer, no harm done. But he did. “Herb?” she said, “Listen, you’ll never guess who I just sent over to your place …”
BY HARRY TURTLEDOVE
The Guns of the South
THE WORLDWAR SAGA
Worldwar: In the Balance
Worldwar: Tilting the Balance
Worldwar: Upsetting the Balance
Worldwar: Striking the Balance
Homeward Bound
THE VIDESSOS CYCLE
VOLUME ONE:
The Misplaced Legion
An Emperor for the Legion
VOLUME TWO:
The Legion of Videssos
Swords of the Legion
THE TALE OF KRISPOS
Krispos Rising
Krispos of Videssos
Krispos the Emperor
THE TIME OF TROUBLES SERIES
The Stolen Throne
Hammer and Anvil
The Thousand Cities
Videssos Besieged
A World of Difference
Departures
How Few Remain
THE GREAT WAR
The Great War: American Front
The Great War: Walk in Hell
The Great War: Breakthroughs
AMERICAN EMPIRE
American Empire: Blood and Iron
American Empire:
The Center Cannot Hold
American Empire:
The Victorious Opposition
SETTLING ACCOUNTS
Settling Accounts:
Return Engagement
Settling Accounts: Drive to the East
Settling Accounts: The Grapple
Settling Accounts: In at the Death
Every Inch a King
The Man with the Iron Heart
THE WAR THAT CAME EARLY
The War That Came Early:
Hitler’s War
The War That Came Early:
West and East
The War That Came Early:
The Big Switch
The War That Came Early:
Coup d’Etat
The War That Came Early:
Two Fronts
The War That Came Early:
Last Orders
About the Author
HARRY TURTLEDOVE is the award-winning author of the alternate-history works The Man with the Iron Heart; Guns of the South; How Few Remain (winner of the Sidewise Award for Best Novel); the Worldwar saga: In the Balance, Tilting the Balance, Upsetting the Balance, and Striking the Balance; the Colonization books: Second Contact, Down to Earth, and Aftershocks; the Great War epics: American Front, Walk in Hell, and Breakthroughs; the American Empire novels: Blood & Iron, The Center Cannot Hold, and Victorious Opposition; and the Settling Accounts series: Return Engagement, Drive to the East, The Grapple, and In at the Death. Turtledove is married to fellow novelist Laura Frankos. They have three daughters: Alison, Rachel, and Rebecca.