stood on the deck, gripping Sebastian’s hand as the German port came into view. It was a beautiful city, full of canals, bridges, and symmetrical neoclassical buildings. Trees lined the streets, and the spires of cathedrals soared here and there along the skyline. The city looked both ancient and extremely modern, even futuristic, and it was situated in the center of Europe. It felt like they were arriving at the center of the civilized world. As their ship approached the busy docks, full of cranes unloading automobiles and railroad cars, a sudden stab of panic struck Juliana.
“What’s wrong?” Sebastian asked, seeing the look on her face.
“What if this is a mistake?” she whispered.
“Then we’ll go home.”
“What if they don’t let us?”
“Why wouldn’t they?” He looked into her eyes. “This is what you’ve always wanted, a chance to be cured of the demon plague. It’s why you came looking for me in the first place.”
“You think we made the right choice?”
“We don’t have much to lose, do we?”
Juliana thought about their life back home, scratching out a meager living as they traveled America in the middle of the Depression. Strange men paying pennies to leer at her diseased, nearly-nude body. Her body had thickened in the time since they’d met Mr. Barrett, and her ribs were much less visible.
“Not much to lose at all,” she agreed.
“With modern science and the latest technology, they can find a cure, if there’s one to be found,” he said. “Mr. Barrett was right about that.”
“I hope you’re both right,” she said.
The ship docked, and she drew very close to Sebastian as they descended the gangplank towards a dense crowd of people coming and going in every direction. She wore a hat and an unseasonable scarf, as well as her gloves, but she always worried. Maybe, she thought, the scientists of Europe really would cure her, and she would never again need to fear being around other people.
The vast concrete terminal struck her as overwhelmingly foreign—not just that most people in the crowd spoke German, or that the frequent, crackling loudspeaker announcements were in German, and all the signs, newspapers, and magazines were in German, but there was an overwhelming array of countless tiny differences, from the buttons on people’s coats to the steamy pickled smell of the food sold by the vendors.
“Where do we go?” Sebastian wondered.
“Look there.” Juliana pointed to a uniformed chauffeur holding up a placard with Sebastian’s name on it. “He must be here for us.”
They made their way through the crowd toward the young man, but as they got closer, Juliana realized that what she’d assumed what a chauffeur’s uniform was actually black military or police wear, with a matching peaked cap and boots. He wore a brown shirt and a black tie underneath his jacket. The only splash of color was a red armband with a strange symbol, like a broken, twisted black “X” inside a white circle. As they made their way through the crowd, Juliana spotted a few other men in similar uniforms.
The young uniformed man saw the two of them approaching his sign. He whispered something to a tall, beautiful young woman who stood near him, and she turned to face Juliana and Sebastian. She had a similar uniformed look, a black coat and dress with a starched, high-collared white shirt. The two of them looked similar to each other. Their eyes were gray, the boy’s the color of a dark stormcloud, the girl’s much lighter and clearer. They had blond hair—again, the boy had a darker, dirtier shade, while the girl’s hair looked like spun gold.
“Heil!” the young woman greeted them, smiling, as they arrived. “You are the two sent by Herr Barrett from America? What are your names?”
Sebastian told her, and she gave a short, crisp nod, as if verifying she had the right people. She took Sebastian’s hand for a moment and looked into his eyes, and an odd, glowing smile spread across Sebastian’s face.
“I am Alise,” the gray-eyed girl said. “This is Niklaus. I am your...welcoming committee.” She smiled. Her English was hesitant but perfectly clear. “Welcome to the new Germany. We will go this way. Niklaus!”
When she said “Niklaus!” the boy immediately reached for Juliana’s new suitcase. Juliana instinctively stepped back, holding her suitcase close.
“No, no,” Alise said. “He can carry it. Boys should carry.” She gave Juliana a bright, heartwarming smile, as if she were desperate to win Juliana’s approval.
“Hmm...” Juliana smiled, then handed her bag to Niklaus. “Maybe boys should