The Gate of Time

“Just as Deutschland was?” Two Hawks said.

Raske smiled. “I am not a stupid or unrealistic person,” he said. “I could see the handwriting on the wall the moment the United States entered the war. But here, you see, there is no America.

Moreover, Perkunisha is relatively more powerful than Germany. Its citizens occupy a much larger area to begin with. Its technology and military tactics are superior to all other nations. And with us two, it will soon have an invincible technology. But there is much work to be done, much work. It takes time to build mills to make a better steel and to make aluminium. We might have to take Greenland before we can get our hands on bauxite. And then the bauxite has to be mined and transported here. And synthetic rubber has to be made. And factories have to be built and new tooling machines made, and these ca

“It’s a Herculean task. But it can be done, and what do you think the position of the men who make it possible will be? I ask you, but you need not reply. Oh, we’re going to be very very important, Roger Two Hawks. You’ll be a great man; you could never have dreamed of such power and wealth when you were a young man on the reservation.”

“I never lived on a reservation,” Two Hawks said.

Raske stood up, walked over, and put his hand on Two Hawks’ shoulder. “I did not mean to hurt your feelings. Do not be so touchy. I do not know what offends you and what pleases you. I will find out some day, when we have time. Meanwhile, let’s work together as best we can. And let’s not forget what the future holds for both of us.”

He walked toward the door but stopped before opening it. “You get some sleep, Roger. In the morning, you can take a bath and then be fitted for new clothes. Then, to work. Work, work, work! And if you get tired, think of what all the drudgery will bring you some day. Auf wiedersehen!”

“So long!” Two Hawks said. After the door was closed, he rose and went into the bedroom. The bed was a huge four-poster with velvet curtains on which were depicted scenes from events in Perkunishan history. There was one that showed the torture of a Viking king captured during a raid on Perkunishan territory. Two Hawks did not find it conducive to sleep, but it did make him think. He must use caution in whatever plans he made to escape. That is, if he did try to escape. He had to admit that he was tempted by Raske’s offer.

Well, why not? On Earth 2, one country was as good as another. He owed no one anything. Even those people closest to him, the Hotinohsonih people he could easily have identified with, had tortured him and then shut him away in an insane asylum.

At that moment, Kwasind stuck his broad dark face into the room. He asked if he could talk with Two Hawks before he slept. Two Hawks gestured at him to sit down on the bed beside him, but the Kinukkinuk remained standing.

“I didn’t understand that language you and Raske were using,” he said. “Is it permitted that you tell me what it was all about?”

“Don’t talk like a humble slave,” Two Hawks said. “You have to be my servant if you want to survive, but that doesn’t mean we can’t talk man to man when we’re alone.” He had thoroughly searched the room for listening devices and found nothing. He did not think that electronics was advanced enough to make “bugs” anyway. Still, there was the possibility that eavesdroppers could be hidden behind the wall. He said, “Come on, Kwasind, sit close to me and talk in a low voice.”

Two Hawks gave him the meat of his talk with the German. Kwasind was silent for a while, his thick black brows lowered in thought. Then he said, “What this man says is true. You could become a great man, although you would always know that you were a stranger and you would see the contempt behind the smiling and the bowing and great houses and beautiful women they would give you. To the Wapiti (whites), you would always be the upstart barbarian. And when the war is over and they no longer need you, then what? It will be easy to find some reason to disgrace you, to strip you of your title and honors, perhaps even make a slave of you, perhaps even kill you.”

“You’re trying to tell me something,” Two Hawks said. “So far, you’re telling me nothing I haven’t already thought of.”

“They plan to make all Europe into one Perkunisha,” Kwasind said. “They are evil. They mean to exterminate the Dakota, the Kinukkinuk, the Hotinohsonih, and their own allies, the Itskapintik. And the white peoples of Europe will be made to speak the language of Perkunisha; their own languages will be forbidden. Someday, only Perkunishan will be known. The flags of others will be burned; their history books, burned. Someday, every white child in Europe will think of himself as a Perkunishan, not an Iberian, a Rasna, a Blodlandish, an Aikhavian.”

“So what’s new?” Two Hawks said. “Maybe that’ll be the best thing. No more national hates, no more wars.”

“You sound like one of them.”

“I’m not. But their goals sound fine. Only I don’t like the means. But what’s the alternative? Are the Blodlandish any better; wouldn’t the Kinukkinuk wipe out their hereditary enemies, the Itskapintik and the Hotinohsonih, if they got a chance? Doesn’t Blodland want to extend its dominion over the world? Wouldn’t Aikhavia like to resurrect the empire it had under Kassandras the Great?”

Kwasind said, “You told me that you thought slavery was wrong. You said that the white man of Europe of your world had abolished slavery as a great evil, and that the whites of this... this America... had done the same. You said that the black men and the brown of America were still treated as slaves, but that some day they would be accepted as equals. You said...”

“You’re leading up to something besides a lecture on ethics,” Two Hawks said. “You’re sounding me out because you’re not sure you should tell me something. Right?”

“You see into my liver and read all that is therein.”

“Not quite. But I’ll bet ten to one that someone’s contacted you about an escape. A Blodlandish has talked to you.”

Kwasind nodded and said, “I have to trust you. If I don’t, there’s no escape. They want you, not me. Now, I talked to you about the evils of Perkunisha because I wanted to get your reaction. I wanted to know how you felt about them, not what you thought about them. In your liver, do you feel that Perkunisha is wrong? You know that its enemies have their faults but you also know they have a right to work out their own destinies. How do you feel?”

Two Hawks rose from his chair and walked over to Kwasind. He put his hand on Kwasind’s huge shoulder. “I don’t really know about Blodland or the other countries. But I feel that Perkunisha has too many similarities to the Germany of my world. Maybe I could learn to stomach the Perkunishans. I don’t really think so.”

“That is what I hoped to hear you say.”

Two Hawks said, “If I’d said I was sticking with Perkunisha, you would have killed me, wouldn’t you? The Blodlandish want me alive, but if they can’t get me, they’ll try to make sure their enemy won’t have me either. Isn’t that so?”

“I won’t lie,” Kwasind said. “You are my friend; you saved my life. Yet, for my country, I would have killed you with these hands. Then I would have killed as many Perkunishans as I could before they killed me!”

“O.K. So, what’s the plan?”

“I’ll be told when the time is right. Meanwhile, you’re to cooperate with the enemy.”

Kwasind went to his bedroom. Two Hawks lay awake for a while on his own bed. He thought of Horst Raske. The German thought he had this world in his hands. But if the Blodlandish meant to kill Two Hawks if he did side with the Perkunishans, then they must be pla