Read 1635: The Eastern Front for Free Online

which ought to be plenty even as expensive as Quedlinburg's gotten to be."
    Annalise spoke up, her tone a mix of defensiveness and belligerence. "It's the only really good college for women yet. In the USE, anyway. I wouldn't mind going to Prague but Gramma'd pitch a fit."
    Jeff put his glasses back on. "That'd leave us with about two hundred and twenty-five thousand. Gretchen wants to move to Magdeburg as soon as possible, now that Ronnie's leaving town, and we'd need to get a house big enough for all the kids. We'd figured on renting, but . . ." He started doing the needed calculations.
    Not surprisingly, David did the figuring faster than he did. "You could buy the kind of house you need for . . . I figure about seventy-five thousand dollars. But then you'd own it free and clear and still have a hundred and fifty thousand to live on. Even with all your kids, that's way more than enough."
    Gretchen frowned. "Seventy-five thousand? That seems much too high. We're not going to be looking for a home in the rich districts, you know."
    "Yeah, sure. You pretty much have to stay in one of the working class areas where the CoCs are strong and can provide you with some protection. You've got a lot of enemies. But for the same reason, you'll need a really solid place. My own advice would be to buy a whole apartment building. Plenty of room for the kids—Ronnie, too, if she wants to move in with you—"
    Jeff chuckled. "Not likely. She says she's had enough of babysitting our kids and we can damn well do it on our own from now on. I think she's planning to move in with the Simpsons. She and Mary get along real well, and with the admiral likely to be gone most of the time, Mary'd probably like the company."
    Gretchen looked like she was on the verge of choking. "An apartment building? We don't have that many kids. Baldy will be staying here and so will Martha, who wants to finish school. That leaves us with only half a dozen who'll be coming to Magdeburg. And I can assure you that I have no intention of becoming a landlady!"
    David made a face. Again, the youngster's nature made it hard for him to state the truth bluntly.
    Jeff, on the other hand, had no such compunctions left. Being married to Gretchen for four years had pretty well rubbed off whatever delicate sensibilities he'd ever possessed. "Hon, we've got a lot of enemies. Well, you do, anyway. Most of them don't have much against me except they've got to get past me to put you in the ground."
    Gretchen looked at him, a bit crossly. "So?"
    "So figure it out for yourself. If we buy an apartment building—depending on the size, of course, but let's figure twelve units, which is pretty standard in the quarters we'd be looking in—then we can set aside half the space for CoC people."
    "What do you mean, ‘CoC' people—oh."
    He grinned. "Yeah. As in ‘CoC people handpicked by Gunther Achterhof.' Good luck, anyone's got it in for you getting through that crowd."
    David nodded. "That's what I was figuring."
    Gretchen looked back down at the sheet. "I still don't really understand how it happened. And without us even knowing about it!"
    Bartley looked a bit defensive. "Hey, we told your grandmother what was happening."
    Jeff barked a jeering laugh. "Oh, right! And I'm sure you used simple and straightforward language that made lots of sense to Ronnie."
    "Well . . ."
    Gretchen shook her head. "Explain it to us again. In simple and straightforward language, this time."
    "Well . . . Okay. This is simplifying a lot, you understand?"
    "I can live with that," said Gretchen. "Whereas you may not, if you do otherwise."
    Now, Bartley looked alarmed as well as defensive. "Hey, Gretchen! There's no call for that."
    "Relax, David. She's joking." Jeff glanced at his wife. "I . . . think. Do your best."
    The young financier cleared his throat. "The gist of it is that, way back when, my grandmother gave you guys some stock in the sewing machine company by way of a belated wedding gift. On account