Atlantis and Other Places

by Harry Turtledove

  Evidently we are. If that is so, we should never have got involved in this war in the first place. Our best course now, plainly, is to get out of it as soon as we can, to minimize casualties and damage to our prestige. We have already paid too much for Roosevelt’s obsessive opposition to Japan and Germany.

  April 25, 1942—New York Times

  READING THE OTHER GENTLEMAN’S MAIL

  U.S., British Code Breakers Monitor Germany, Japan

  “Gentlemen do not read each other’s mail.” So goes an ancient precept of diplomacy. But for some time now, the United States and Britain have been monitoring Germany and Japan’s most secret codes.

  War Department and Navy Department sources confirm that the U.S. and the U.K., with help from Polish experts, have defeated the German Enigma machine and the Japanese Type B diplomatic cipher machine.

  The most important code-breaking center is at Bletchley Park, a manor 50 miles north of London. Other cryptographers work in the British capital, in Ceylon, and in Australia. American efforts are based in Washington, D.C., and in Hawaii.

  Purple is the name of the device that deciphers the Type B code. It is not prepossessing. It looks like two typewriters and a spaghetti bowl’s worth of fancy wiring. But the people who use it say it does the job.

  Getting an Enigma machine to Britain was pure cloak-and-dagger. One was found by the Poles aboard a U-boat sunk in shallow water (not, obviously, anywhere near our own ravaged East Coast) and spirited out of Poland one jump ahead of the Germans at the beginning of the war.

  Why better use has not been made of these broken codes is a pressing question. No administration official will speak on the record. No administration official will even admit on the record that we are engaged in code-breaking activity.

  Only one thing makes administration claims tempting to believe. If the United States and Britain are reading Germany and Japan’s codes, they have little to show for it. Roosevelt dragged this country into war by a series of misconceptions, deceptions, and outright lies. Now we are in serious danger of losing it.

  April 26, 1942—Chicago Tribune

  WHITE HOUSE WHINES AT REVELATIONS

  In a news conference yesterday afternoon, Franklin D. Roosevelt lashed out at critics in the press and on the radio. “Every time sensitive intelligence is leaked, it hurts our ability to defeat the enemy,” Roosevelt claimed.

  As he has before, he seeks to hide his own failings behind the veil of censorship. If the press cannot tell the American people the truth, who can? The administration? FDR sure wants you to think so. But the press and radio newscasters have exposed so many falsehoods and so much bungling that no one in his right mind is likely to trust this White House as far as he can throw it.

  May 1, 1942—Los Angeles Times

  FDR’S POLL NUMBERS CONTINUE TO SINK

  Franklin D. Roosevelt’s popularity is sinking faster than freighters off the East Coast. In the latest Gallup survey, his overall approval rating is at 29%, while only 32% approve of his handling of the war. The poll, conducted yesterday, was of 1,191 “likely” or “very likely” voters, and has an error margin of ±5%.

  Poll takers also recorded several significant comments. “He doesn’t know what he’s doing,” said one 58-year-old man.

  “Why doesn’t he bring the troops home? Who wants to die for England?” remarked a 31-year-old woman.

  “We can’t win this stupid war, so why fight it?” said another woman, who declined to give her age.

  Roosevelt’s approval ratings are as low as those of President Hoover shortly before he was turned out of office in a landslide. Even Warren G. Harding retained more personal popularity than the embattled current President.

  May 3, 1942—Washington Post

  VEEP BREAKS RANKS WITH WHITE HOUSE

  Demands Timetable for War

  In the first public rift in the Roosevelt administration, Vice President Henry Wallace called on FDR to establish a timetable for victory. “If we can’t win this war within 18 months, we should pack it in,” Wallace said, speaking in Des Moines yesterday. “It is causing too many casualties and disrupting the civilian economy.”

  Wallace, an agricultural expert, also said, “Even if by some chance we should win, we would probably have to try to feed the whole world afterwards. No country can do that.”

  Support for Wallace’s statement came quickly from both sides of the partisan aisle. Even Senators and Representatives who supported Roosevelt’s war initiative seemed glad of the chance to distance themselves from it. “If I’d known things would go this badly, I never would have voted for [the declaration of war],” said a prominent Senator.

  White House reaction was surprisingly restrained. “We will not set a timetable,” said an administration spokesman. “That would be the same as admitting defeat.”

  Another official, speaking anonymously, said FDR had known Wallace was “off the reservation” for some time. He added, “When the ship sinks, the rats jump off.” Then he tried to retract the remark, denying that the ship was sinking. But the evidence speaks for itself.

  May 9, 1942—Miami Herald

  MORE SINKINGS IN BROAD DAYLIGHT

  U-Boats Prowl Florida Coast at Will

  The toll of ships torpedoed in Florida waters in recent days has only grown worse. On May 6, a U-boat sank the freighter Amazon near Jupiter Inlet. She sank in 80 feet of water.

  That same day, also under the smiling sun, the tanker Halsey went to the bottom not far away. Then, yesterday, the freighter Ohioan was sunk. So was the tanker Esquire. That ship broke apart, spilling out 92,000 barrels of oil close to shore. No environmental-impact statement has yet been released.

  There is still no proof that the U.S. Navy has sunk even a single German submarine, despite increasingly strident claims to the contrary.

  May 11, 1942—Washington Post

  MOTHER’S DAY MARCH

  War Protesters Picket White House

  Mothers of war victims killed in the Pacific and Atlantic marched in front of the White House to protest the continued fighting. “What does Roosevelt think he’s doing?” asked Louise Heffernan, 47, of Altoona, Pennsylvania. Her son Richard was slain in a tanker sinking three weeks ago. “How many more have to die before we admit his policy isn’t working?”

  A mother who refused to give her name—“Who knows what the FBI would do to me?”—said she lost two sons at Pearl Harbor. “It’s a heartache no one who hasn’t gone through it can ever understand,” she said. “I don’t think anyone else should have to suffer the way I have.”

  Placards read END THE WAR NOW!, NO BLOOD FOR BRITAIN!, and ANOTHER MOTHER FOR PEACE. Passersby whistled and cheered for the demonstrators.

  March 12, 1942—Los Angeles Times

  JAPAN BATTERS U.S. CARRIERS IN CORAL SEA

  The Navy Department has clamped a tight lid of secrecy over the battle in the Coral Sea (see map) last week. Correspondents in Hawaii and Australia have had to work hard to piece together an accurate picture of what happened. The Navy’s reluctance to talk shows that it considers the engagement yet another defeat.

  One U.S. fleet carrier, the Lexington, was sunk. Another, the Yorktown, was severely damaged, and is limping toward Hawaii for repair. American casualties in the battle were heavy: 543 dead and a number of wounded the Navy still refuses to admit.

  In addition to the carriers, the U.S. lost a destroyer, a fleet oiler, and 66 planes. Japanese aircraft hit American ships with 58% of the bombs and torpedoes they dropped. Prewar predictions of bombing accuracy were as low as 3%.

  Navy sources claim to have sunk a Japanese light carrier, and to have damaged a fleet carrier—possibly two. They assert that 77 Japanese airplanes were downed, and say Japanese casualties “had to have been” heavier than ours. Given how much the Navy exaggerates what it has done in the Atlantic, these Pacific figures also need to be taken with an ocean of salt.

  May 15, 1942—St. Louis Post-Dispatch

  WALLACE SAYS FDR LIE
D

  President Expected War, VP Insists

  Vice President Henry Wallace broke ranks with Roosevelt again in a speech in Little Rock, Arkansas. “Roosevelt looked for us to get sucked into this war,” Wallace said. “He was getting ready for it at the same time as he was telling America we could stay out.

  “I see that now,” the Vice President added. “If I’d seen it then, I never would have agreed to be his running mate. The USA deserves better. How many women—and men—are grieving today because the President of the United States flat-out lied? And how much more grief do we have to look forward to?”

  Stormy applause greeted Wallace’s remarks. Arkansas is a longtime Democratic stronghold, but FDR’s popularity is plummeting there, as it is across the country. After Wallace finished speaking, shouts of “Impeach Roosevelt!” rang out from the crowd. They were also cheered.

  Asked whether he thought Roosevelt should be impeached, Wallace said, “I can’t comment. If I say no, people will think I agree with his policies, and I don’t. But if I say yes, they will think I am angling for the White House myself. The people you need to talk to are the Speaker of the House and the chairman of the Judiciary Committee.”

  A reporter also asked Wallace if he would seek peace if he did become President. “A negotiated settlement has to be better than the series of catastrophes we’ve suffered,” he replied. “Why should our boys die to uphold the British Empire and Communist Russia?”

  May 16, 1942—Washington Post

  IMPEACHMENT “RIDICULOUS,” FDR SAYS

  Beleaguered Franklin Roosevelt called talk of impeachment “ridiculous” in a written statement released this morning. “I am doing the best job of running this country I can,” the statement said. “That is what the American people elected me to do, and I aim to do it. We can win this war—and we will, unless the in-grates who stand up and cheer whenever anything goes wrong have their way.”

  Roosevelt’s statement also lambasted his breakaway Vice President, Henry Wallace. “He is doing more for the other side than a division of panzer troops,” it said.

  Wallace replied, “I am trying to tell America the truth. Isn’t it about time somebody did? We deserve it.”

  House Speaker Sam Rayburn declined comment. A source close to the Speaker said he is “waiting to see what happens next.”

  May 26, 1942—Honolulu Star-Bulletin

  YORKTOWN TORPEDOED, SUNK

  Loss of Life Feared Heavy

  A day before she was to put in at Pearl Harbor for emergency repairs, the carrier Yorktown was sunk by a Japanese sub southwest of Oahu. The ship sank quickly in shark-infested waters. Only about 120 survivors have been rescued.

  The Yorktown’s complement is about 1,900 men. She also carried air crew from the Lexington, which went down almost three weeks ago in the Coral Sea. Nearly as many men died with her as did at Pearl Harbor, in other words.

  The plan was to quickly fix up the Yorktown and send her to defend Midway Island along with the Hornet and the Saratoga. Midway is believed to be the target of an advancing fleet considerably stronger than the forces available to hold the island. Now the two surviving carriers—one damaged itself—and their support vessels will have to go it alone.

  If the Japanese occupy Midway, Honolulu and Pearl Harbor will come within reach of their deadly long-range bombers.

  May 28, 1942—Honolulu Advertiser editorial

  STAR-BULLETIN SHUT DOWN

  Censors’ Reign of Error

  Because bullying Navy and War Department censors unconstitutionally closed down our rival newspaper yesterday, it is up to us to carry on in the Star-Bulletin’s footsteps. We aim to tell the truth to the people of Honolulu and to the people of America. If the maniacs with the blue pencils try to silence us, we will go underground to carry on the fight for justice and the First Amendment.

  From where we sit, the fat cats in the Roosevelt administration who think they ought to have a monopoly on the facts are worse enemies of freedom than Tojo and Hitler put together. In dragging us into this pointless war in the first place, they pulled the wool over the country’s eyes. They thought they had the right to do that, because they were doing it for our own good. They knew better than we did, you see.

  Only they didn’t. One disastrous failure after another has proved that. Up till now, the USA has never lost a war. Unless we can wheel FDR out of the White House soon, that record won’t last more than another few weeks.

  May 29, 1942—Cleveland Plain Dealer

  DEMONSTRATORS CLASH DOWNTOWN

  Pro- and Antiwar Factions, Police Battle in Streets

  Thousands of protesters squared off yesterday in downtown Cleveland. Police were supposed to keep the passionately opposed sides separate. Instead, they joined the pro-FDR forces in pummeling the peaceful demonstrators who condemn the war and, in increasing numbers, call for Roosevelt’s impeachment and removal from office.

  Antiwar demonstrators far outnumbered the President’s supporters. Those who still blindly back Roosevelt, however, came prepared for violence. They were armed with clubs, rocks, and bottles, and were ready to use them.

  “War! War! FDR! Now the President’s gone too far!” chanted the peaceful antiwar forces. Another chant soon swelled and grew: “Impeach Roosevelt!”

  FDR’s supporters attacked the antiwar picketers then. Vicious cops were also seen beating protesters with billy clubs and kicking them on the ground (see photo above this story). Some protesters withdrew from the demonstration. Others fought back, refusing to be intimidated by Roosevelt’s thuggish followers or by the out-of-control police.

  “This can only help our cause,” said a man bleeding from a scalp laceration and carrying a NO MORE YEARS! sign. “When the country sees how brutal that man in the White House really is, it will know what to do. I’m sure of it.”

  May 31, 1942—Honolulu Advertiser

  HORNET, SARATOGA SAIL FOR MIDWAY

  America’s two surviving fleet carriers in the Pacific left Pearl Harbor yesterday. Sources say they are bound for strategic Midway Island, about 1,000 miles to the northwest.

  With the carriers sailed the usual accompaniment of cruisers and destroyers. The ships made a brave show. But how much can they hope to accomplish against the disciplined nationalism of Japan and the determined bravery of her soldiers and pilots and sailors?

  This strike force seems to be Roosevelt’s last desperate effort to salvage something from the war he blundered into. The odds look grim. Japan may be low on scrap metal and oil thanks to FDR, but she is long on guts and stubbornness. If the Navy fails here, as it has failed so often, the outlook for Hawaii and for the west coast of the mainland looks bleak indeed.

  June 1, 1942—Official proclamation

  HONOLULU ADVERTISER NO LONGER TO BE PUBLISHED

  WHEREAS, it is provided by Section 67 of the Organic Act of the Territory of Hawaii, approved April 30, 1900, that the Governor of that territory may call upon the commander of the military forces of the United States in that territory to prevent invasion; and

  WHEREAS, it is further provided by the said section that the Governor may, in case of invasion or imminent danger thereof, suspend the privilege of habeas corpus and place the territory under martial law; and

  WHEREAS, the Honolulu Advertiser has egregiously violated the terms of censorship imposed on the territory following December 7, 1941;

  NOW, THEREFORE, I order the said Honolulu Advertiser to suspend publication indefinitely and its staff to face military tribunals to judge and punish their disloyalty.

  DONE at Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, this 1st day of June, 1942.

  (SEAL OF THE TERRITORY OF HAWAII)

  —Lt. Col. Neal D. Franklin Army Provost Marshal

  June 7, 1942—San Francisco Chronicle

  DISASTER AT MIDWAY!

  Carriers Sunk—Island Invaded

  The Imperial Japanese Navy dealt the U.S. Pacific Fleet a devastating blow off Midway Island three days ago. Though Navy o
fficials are maintaining a tight-lipped silence, reliable sources say both the Saratoga and the Hornet were sunk by Japanese dive bombers. Several support vessels were also sunk or damaged.

  Japanese troops have landed on Midway. The Yamato, the mightiest battleship in the world, is bombarding the island with what are reported to be 18-inch guns. Japanese planes rule the skies. Resistance is said to be fading.

  When the Japanese succeed in occupying Midway, Hawaii will be vulnerable to their bombers. So will convoys coming from the mainland to supply Hawaii—and so will convoys leaving Hawaii for Australia and New Zealand.

  Japanese submarines sailing out of Midway will have an easier time reaching the West Coast. They could even threaten the Panama Canal.

  This war has seemed to be an uphill fight from the beginning. For all practical purposes, it is unwinnable now. The only person in the country who fails to realize that, unfortunately, lives at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington.

  June 8, 1942—Baltimore News-Post