February 9, 1998

Today my trial began.

I faced my tribunal, which was a panel of generals and admirals from the Royal Army, Royal Navy, and Royal Marine Corps of the United Crown Commonwealths of America, all with silver stars on their shoulders.

I recall Ross J. Kelly telling me that the tribunal dismissed the charge of sedition against the Crown, as my other self had immigrate3d to America after the Nazi takeover, which was only a little good as the tribunal could sentence me to death even if I was convicted of only one murder.

I myself wore a tweed jacket, trousers, a waistcoat, a shirt, and a bowtie, like I wore at the University.

I heard opening arguments.

"...when all is said and done, sirs and ma'ams," said Navy Commander Chris Morton, "we will establish, beyond a reasonable doubt, that Maximilian Arturo is criminally responsible for the murder of over one thousand inmates merely because they had opposed the old Nazi regime, or merely because they called God by a different name. They inflicted abuses on inmates unspeakable outside this courtroom. We are confident you, sirs and ma'ams, of this honorable tribunal convened by Royal Decree, will find him guilty and sentence Standartenfuhrer Maximilian Arturo to death by execution"

My lawyer, clad in a black gown and wearing a white wig on his head, n contrast to Morton's Navy uniform, delivered his own arguments.

"Perhaps a man with the name of Maximilian Arturo, with the fingerprints of Maximilian Arturo, and with the DNA of Maximilian Arturo, committed the atrocities that my colleague, Commander Morton, has detailed to you, sirs and ma'ams.

"But despite sharing he name, likeness, fingerprints, and DNA of that man, my client who stands before you is a different man. He is another version of that man from a parallel universe, another dimension. We will show you that parallel universes exist. and e will introduce evidence of the mysterious disappearance of my client's traveling companion, who had the same appearance, the same fingerprints, and the same DNA as one of the officers in Her Majesty's Army. You will find yourself with reasons to doubt that my client is the same man who commanded the Presidio Concentration Camp. And per your oath as officers of the United Crown Commonwealths of America, you must find my client not guilty and set him free."

"Trial counsel may call his first witness," said the judge, who was a Royal Army colonel.

"Yes, sir," said Commander Morton. "I call Colonel Angus Rickman of the United Crown Commonwealths Royal Army to the stand."

And so the Angus Rickman of this Earth took the stand and was sworn in by an Army sergeant.

My prosecutor asked some several question establishing his Army service.

"Why did you decide the raid the Presidio, sir?" asked the Navy commander.

"I came under the conclusion that the Nazis had apprehended one Quinn Mallory," replied the Army colonel. "He was a high value prisoner, as he was the son of Michael Mallory, my superior and presently the Premier of California. I made the decision for a raid. We liberated the prisoners, and three of my men lost their lives."

"Colonel, did you find gas chambers?"

"Yes, Commander. They were disguised as showers."

"And torture chambers?"

"Yes, there were some devices, ranging from a simple car battery connected to cables to a rack and pinion and an iron maiden.

"One person we did not find was Maximilian Arturo. In the confusion he fled, like the coward he is."

The colonel spoke some more, including the details of my apprehension at the museum.

"I have no further questions, sirs and ma'ams," Morton said to the military tribunal.

"Defense may examine the witness," said the judge.

"When you apprehended my client, Colonel, did you also apprehend a man who looked like you?" asked Kelly.

"As I testified just minutes ago, yes, I did," answered Rickman.

"And, to your knowledge, he shared your same fingerprints and DNA, correct?"

"Yes. Clearly a result of some bioengineering project by the Nazi holdouts or their allies."

"Is that man, who looks like you, claims to have your name, has your fingerprints and DNA, in your custody?"

"No."

"How did he escape. Surely the military police are diligent in guarding high-value prisoners, someone who could be a bioengineered spy."

"I viewed security camera footage. A man just appeared, out of nowhere, grabbed the fake me, as I would call it, and then disappeared with him," replied Colonel Rickman.

"Just disappeared, is that right?" asked Ross J. Kelly.

"Yes."

"So it may be possible that this fake you was from a parallel dimension, rescued by someone and taken home?"

"That's preposterous!"

"I have no further questions."

There was more testimony, including intelligence analysts testifying about records recovered from the Nazis, verifying that the Maximilian Arturo of this world was the commandant of the Presidio Concentration Camp, that the fingerprints on file matched mine, and the documents were authentic.

I briefly recalled the Nuremberg trials on my world from 1945-1946, and how my world's Nazis kept meticulous records about the Holocaust. And this was one of many patterns shared between this world and my world.

And then Commander Morton called this world's Maggie Beckett to the stand. She basically testified about joining the Army up north, performing sabotage operations behind enemy lines, being provisionally commissioned in 1992, and by October of 1994 she was a first lieutenant. She served in units trying to take down the last Nazi holdouts in North America, before being transferred back to San Francisco. She later mentioned fighting in the Liberation of San Francisco in 1996, and the Liberation of Los Angeles in 1997. She did not participate in the Liberation of Alberton.

"I still can't figure out if I was lucky or not to have not been in that battle," she said.

"Let's get down to business, Captain," asked the Navy commander. "You raided the Presidio back in September of '94, on or about rhe 25th, correct?"

"Yes, sir, I did," replied the Army captain. "We believed there was a high-value prisoner, Quinn Mallory, the son of one of the top leaders of our Resistance. We made our preparations and truck at night. We went in ands took down the guards. We managed to rescue Quinn Mallory along with other prisoners. We failed to apprehend the Commandant."

"I have no further questions," said Morton.

Ross J. Kelly stood up. "Tell me, Captain Beckett, how did you come to conclude that Quinn Mallory, the son of now-Premier of California Michael Mallory, was a prisoner in the Presidio?"

"A man named Rembrandt Brown. We cam across him with another woman."

"Did you know Mr. Brown?" he asked.

He was my sergeant back in '85, when I decided to do something to fight back against the Nazi takeover. He and I and the rest of my team hid out in the mountains of Oregon, performing sabotage and ambushes against the Nazis' military and their enforcers, like what their holdouts are doing now in the Great Basin. In 1991, our base was compromised, and we were forced to scatter. I don't know what happened. I followed the Royal Orders of Queen Sophia, that any American serviceman- or woman- in enemy-held territory and unable to contact their chain of command to conduct independent actions against the Nazi occupiers."

"May this honorable tribunal take notice of the Queen's order?" asked Kelly.

"So noted," said the military judge."

"Please continue," said my lawyer. "What did Mr. Brown tell you?"

"He denied being the Rembrandt Brown of this dimension. He claimed he had come to another dimension by accident, and that Quinn Mallory had the key to get them home."

"And regarding the woman with her, what did you believe was her name?"

"Wade Welles," answered Beckett. "She claimed to have been from another dimension."

"Okay, Captain. Among the prisoners you rescued, was there a woman who looked exactly like Wade Welles."

"Yes."

"Did she tell you her name?"

"She said her name was Wade Welles. we took her to the underground hideout and she even spoke to her lookalike."

"It must have been confusing."

"They were dressed differently. The Wade Wells we rescued wore only a long orange button-down shirt, like many other female prisoners in the Presidio. This other Wade stuck by Quinn Mallory- or the man saying he was Quinn. He told us the same cover story of being from another dimension."

"The other Wade, as well as Rembrandt and the one we called Quinn, left us, claiming they could get home by opening the portal right by the Hitler statue at Azure Gate Park."

I recalled that same sequence of events, except it was Communists and we opened the portal by the Lenin statue at Golden Gate Park. We saw thew Abraham Lincoln statue, and thought we were home until we noticed one important difference.

"No further questions."

"I only have one question," said Commander Morton. "Did you contact the home dimension of these alleged interdimensional travelers?"

"No, sir, I did not," replied Captain Beckett.

"Do you have any idea as to how to contact the alleged home dimension of these alleged dimensional travelers?"

"No, sir, I do not."

"I have no questions."