"George Alec Effinger - Relatives" - читать интересную книгу автора (Effinger George Alec)

"Therefore, in compliance with the governmental order, you are all hereby dismissed to return to your
homes. We are given to understand that normal activity will resume as soon as circumstances permit.
Please do not attempt to call our offices for details for, as I have said, I am as ignorant of the exact
situation as you. But whatever the emergency, I wish you all the best of luck, and may God bless."
There was the chime signal indicating the end of the announcement, and then there was a silence. A
second later, someone laughed nervously; Ernest guessed that a few people wanted to pretend it was all
a joke. "A grave situation." It had to be, if Old Man Jennings was giving them the rest of the day off. That
ought to convince the skeptics. A moment later they all came to the same conclusion, for the cafeteria
was a scene of confusion. Ernest smiled to himself as he calmly began packing up his lunch. He always
enjoyed watching the herd instincts begin to take possession.
"What?" asked Eileen. "They're sending us home?"
"That's fine with me," said Ernest.
"But what do you think is the matter?" she asked.
"I don't really care." Eileen stared at him, and he smiled back. "We'll find out soon enough, won't we?
I mean, what could it be? Maybe a Representative died, or something. I don't know. I'm just glad to go
home. Can you give me a ride to the subway? I want to beat this rush."



-=*=-



Meantime A
Jermany, 1918.

Like a great reef sunk treacherously in the depths of the ocean, the Jerman nation ripped gaping holes
in the Allied war machine. While the greedy Jerman industrialists cried out for the opening of a new front
in the east, the Jerman War Ministry fought doggedly on to the west, still keeping an eye on Russia,
hoping desperately to keep her out of the war. At least until the rest of Europe was secure. And that,
admitted even the top-level spokesmen, might be a long time in coming.
But the Allies were exhausted. Wave after wave of weary soldiers hurled themselves against the
stubborn defenses of the Jerman Reich. Time after time they were thrown back, crushed and dismayed.
With no satisfactory staging area on the continent proper, the British and American forces were unable to
gain a foothold; counting on a recaptured Europe to supply the necessary outposts and provisions, the
failure to mount a successful invasion was doubly disastrous to the Allied High Command. Patience and
attention to detail gained the Jerman leaders time to deploy their forces to best advantage. Discipline and
a shrewd appraisal of its strengths enabled the Jerman nation to wear down its enemies.
But it was not unperceived by the General Staff that the Jerman people themselves were growing
dangerously fatigued. The best hope was in keeping Russia out of the struggle while avoiding a decisive
battle in the west. Time would tell whether the Allies or the Jerman Empire would prevail; time, and the
strength of the combatants' national will.
The summer passed, and the Allied threats grew fewer and weaker; that news was good, but the
Jerman population was starving. Angry mobs demonstrated in Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, demanding an
end to the war and a restoration of a stable economy. As autumn deepened into winter, the situation
became desperate. The army, unable to win a clear victory on its own, was discredited and bitter. The
General Staff was blamed for both its alleged military failures and the resulting social ruin throughout the
empire. The pressure increased until the War Ministry had only one course left in its defense; on the
morning of October 20, 1918, the General Staff declared that the great corporate and banking trusts of
Jermany were secretly working against the interests of the empire, and that all industry would henceforth