Yep, I was actually thinking he'd be a great candidate to double, especially with the authoritarian, revanchist France Germany is facing.
Stupid Luck and Happenstance.
- Thread starter Peabody-Martini
- Start date
Yep, I was actually thinking he'd be a great candidate to double, especially with the authoritarian, revanchist France Germany is facing.
Well it wouldn't have to be like that. He could simply meet a putative german Intelligence employee that let himself be recruited.
Actually recruiting the French spy would be difficult.
Part 7 Chapter 60
I never said where Sauvageot would be getting that card, did I.
Chapter Sixty
30th May, 1922
Rural Jiangsu Provence, China
Li Guo had spent a lifetime working in the fields near her village. After nearly eight decades she didn’t expect there to be any surprises there. Then came the buzzing from the south and a great flying machine with blue, grey and green scales like a fish flew past overhead. If she hadn’t heard of these clever things the white ghosts made, then she might have thought it was dragon. She knew better. That was when the big trunk landed just outside village under a canopy of silk. The silk was of value, the disoriented white ghost in the black suit in the trunk, not so much. They ran him out and thought no more of it.
For Sauvageot it had all gone wrong on his birthday. After he had made arrangements to entertain a pair of very lovely guests in his Berlin apartment he had decided that a celebratory drink was in order. He had just done his sarcastic toast down the Spree River to Kaiser Wilhelm the II on his continued presence in Germany in spite of the best efforts otherwise by the Boche when the door on his flat had been kicked in and it was flooded by… He couldn’t exactly remember who they had been.
He had been grabbed, one of them must have had a sap because that was all he remembered until he came to in a warehouse that smelled of fish and salt chained to a chair. His captors had thought of everything. All three of the stilettoes he habitually kept on his person were gone, the garrote wire was gone from his belt as was the belt itself. Even the tooth that had held the cyanide capsule was gone. After that he’d lost track of time. The Germans didn’t bother to interrogate him and called him by his proper name the whole time. That let him know that he’d been grabbed by someone who knew everything anyway. Jacob Schmidt again. They just hustled him onto a train, then onto what sounded like what must be one of the Germans Zeppelin airships, then another train. Followed by what must have been several days on a ship. Finally, he’d been shoved into that trunk for what must have been at least a day and a half on an airplane. When the trunk had opened Sauvageot had found himself face to face with hostile locals who didn’t speak any language that he knew. They had chased him out of their village and down this dirt road in the afternoon sun, surrounded by fields of what looked like rice.
That was when he found the red envelope in his pocket. When he opened it his discovered that it was a garish birthday card from a Berlin discount store.
I wish you a most Happy Birthday Herr Sauvageot. I arranged this little vacation for you as a present. I also took the liberty of hanging on to your cash and passport. I will pass those along to your Government and Ministry when I get the chance. Please do me the favor of not coming back to Germany ever again.
Stabskapitänleutnant Jacob Isaac Schmidt
Sauvageot crumpled up the card in his hand before tearing it up. That whoreson. The swine had burned him, shipped him off to whatever point of the globe this is and he had the nerve to give him a cheap birthday card. The worst part was that he’d never once thought of doing something like this himself. This required the use of imagination and resources that he could never hope to match.
Berlin, Germany
Jacob had more than one reason to celebrate tonight, the first was the telegraph he’d received from Hong Kong saying that his little problem was going to be disposed of somewhere over rural China between there and Tsingtao. They needed to think of a better way to deal with this sort of thing next time, but every intel expert that Jacob had talked to had said it was either turn him or burn him. The latter had seemed the best option. The second was the reason why he was here in Central Berlin at the National Gallery on the famous Museum island.
Jacob was walking with Esther on his arm, Sarah and Nessa were at their Aunt Rhona and Uncle Augie’s while the two of them enjoyed this night. Esther had pulled out all the stops, she was wearing an elegant dress and she’d even had her hair, with its normally untamable curls, done into a semblance of fashionable. Jacob liked how happy doing this tonight had made her.
Even though it wouldn’t be by name, this night was an acknowledgement of Jacob’s work. His name was to remain secret so he could continue this work without interference. He was just one more man wearing a Naval Uniform in a room, full of men who were dressed likewise.
Over the prior two days Jacob had set up his first encoding machine and the novel technologies he’d developed for it, currently covered by tarps. What had turned out to the prototype of the machines used by the High Seas Fleet. Now private industry and universities wanted them, to do that they would have to open this project somewhat to the public. The machines that Jacob was currently working on were a generation past these already, so they were having this gala to introduce the world to the first Automatic Computer. Jacob smiled at the name, his team had voted on this only the night before when they had their own party in Wunsdorf.
The Museum which normally exhibited classical art had agreed to do let them do this because the museum of antiquities was about to undergo a major new expansion and tonight a new museum complex on the south end of the island was to be announced. This one devoted to science and technology.
At 8 PM the lights dimmed.
“Let’s find a good spot” Jacob said in Esther’s ear “We won’t want to miss this.”
“Just what is THIS?” Esther asked pointedly.
“What I’ve been working on for the last 5 years” Jacob said.
Ester was surprised by that. She’d come to this tonight because she’d thought that Jacob had gotten invited to an official function and it was a chance to spend a child free night out. Now to find out that it centered on the mysterious work Jacob did for the Navy. The tarps had been withdrawn and the tubes were on their racks warming up, the cathode ray screens filled with white static. Now was the best part. On signal, one of Jacob's team invited the Emperor forward, all he had to do was flip a switch. They had discussed this in depth, not even he could screw that up.
When the switch was flipped, the tubes all went off standby and the room was lit up in the blue electron glow and the air was filled with the smell of ozone. The reels of wire started run through the magnetic receivers. Then the screens went black. A single number appeared on the screens; 3.141592653589… The digits continued to fill the screens cascading past. The crowd buzzed for a moment. What were they looking at?
One of the representatives from the universities was staring at the screens, the silver numbers reflected on his spectacles. “That’s Pi being calculated” He said “How is this being done?”
Then there was applause from the crowd. Jacob turned and looked at Esther who was staring at the screens and the racks of glowing tubes with a look of wonder on her face. “It’s so beautiful” She said.
Chapter Sixty
30th May, 1922
Rural Jiangsu Provence, China
Li Guo had spent a lifetime working in the fields near her village. After nearly eight decades she didn’t expect there to be any surprises there. Then came the buzzing from the south and a great flying machine with blue, grey and green scales like a fish flew past overhead. If she hadn’t heard of these clever things the white ghosts made, then she might have thought it was dragon. She knew better. That was when the big trunk landed just outside village under a canopy of silk. The silk was of value, the disoriented white ghost in the black suit in the trunk, not so much. They ran him out and thought no more of it.
For Sauvageot it had all gone wrong on his birthday. After he had made arrangements to entertain a pair of very lovely guests in his Berlin apartment he had decided that a celebratory drink was in order. He had just done his sarcastic toast down the Spree River to Kaiser Wilhelm the II on his continued presence in Germany in spite of the best efforts otherwise by the Boche when the door on his flat had been kicked in and it was flooded by… He couldn’t exactly remember who they had been.
He had been grabbed, one of them must have had a sap because that was all he remembered until he came to in a warehouse that smelled of fish and salt chained to a chair. His captors had thought of everything. All three of the stilettoes he habitually kept on his person were gone, the garrote wire was gone from his belt as was the belt itself. Even the tooth that had held the cyanide capsule was gone. After that he’d lost track of time. The Germans didn’t bother to interrogate him and called him by his proper name the whole time. That let him know that he’d been grabbed by someone who knew everything anyway. Jacob Schmidt again. They just hustled him onto a train, then onto what sounded like what must be one of the Germans Zeppelin airships, then another train. Followed by what must have been several days on a ship. Finally, he’d been shoved into that trunk for what must have been at least a day and a half on an airplane. When the trunk had opened Sauvageot had found himself face to face with hostile locals who didn’t speak any language that he knew. They had chased him out of their village and down this dirt road in the afternoon sun, surrounded by fields of what looked like rice.
That was when he found the red envelope in his pocket. When he opened it his discovered that it was a garish birthday card from a Berlin discount store.
I wish you a most Happy Birthday Herr Sauvageot. I arranged this little vacation for you as a present. I also took the liberty of hanging on to your cash and passport. I will pass those along to your Government and Ministry when I get the chance. Please do me the favor of not coming back to Germany ever again.
Stabskapitänleutnant Jacob Isaac Schmidt
Sauvageot crumpled up the card in his hand before tearing it up. That whoreson. The swine had burned him, shipped him off to whatever point of the globe this is and he had the nerve to give him a cheap birthday card. The worst part was that he’d never once thought of doing something like this himself. This required the use of imagination and resources that he could never hope to match.
Berlin, Germany
Jacob had more than one reason to celebrate tonight, the first was the telegraph he’d received from Hong Kong saying that his little problem was going to be disposed of somewhere over rural China between there and Tsingtao. They needed to think of a better way to deal with this sort of thing next time, but every intel expert that Jacob had talked to had said it was either turn him or burn him. The latter had seemed the best option. The second was the reason why he was here in Central Berlin at the National Gallery on the famous Museum island.
Jacob was walking with Esther on his arm, Sarah and Nessa were at their Aunt Rhona and Uncle Augie’s while the two of them enjoyed this night. Esther had pulled out all the stops, she was wearing an elegant dress and she’d even had her hair, with its normally untamable curls, done into a semblance of fashionable. Jacob liked how happy doing this tonight had made her.
Even though it wouldn’t be by name, this night was an acknowledgement of Jacob’s work. His name was to remain secret so he could continue this work without interference. He was just one more man wearing a Naval Uniform in a room, full of men who were dressed likewise.
Over the prior two days Jacob had set up his first encoding machine and the novel technologies he’d developed for it, currently covered by tarps. What had turned out to the prototype of the machines used by the High Seas Fleet. Now private industry and universities wanted them, to do that they would have to open this project somewhat to the public. The machines that Jacob was currently working on were a generation past these already, so they were having this gala to introduce the world to the first Automatic Computer. Jacob smiled at the name, his team had voted on this only the night before when they had their own party in Wunsdorf.
The Museum which normally exhibited classical art had agreed to do let them do this because the museum of antiquities was about to undergo a major new expansion and tonight a new museum complex on the south end of the island was to be announced. This one devoted to science and technology.
At 8 PM the lights dimmed.
“Let’s find a good spot” Jacob said in Esther’s ear “We won’t want to miss this.”
“Just what is THIS?” Esther asked pointedly.
“What I’ve been working on for the last 5 years” Jacob said.
Ester was surprised by that. She’d come to this tonight because she’d thought that Jacob had gotten invited to an official function and it was a chance to spend a child free night out. Now to find out that it centered on the mysterious work Jacob did for the Navy. The tarps had been withdrawn and the tubes were on their racks warming up, the cathode ray screens filled with white static. Now was the best part. On signal, one of Jacob's team invited the Emperor forward, all he had to do was flip a switch. They had discussed this in depth, not even he could screw that up.
When the switch was flipped, the tubes all went off standby and the room was lit up in the blue electron glow and the air was filled with the smell of ozone. The reels of wire started run through the magnetic receivers. Then the screens went black. A single number appeared on the screens; 3.141592653589… The digits continued to fill the screens cascading past. The crowd buzzed for a moment. What were they looking at?
One of the representatives from the universities was staring at the screens, the silver numbers reflected on his spectacles. “That’s Pi being calculated” He said “How is this being done?”
Then there was applause from the crowd. Jacob turned and looked at Esther who was staring at the screens and the racks of glowing tubes with a look of wonder on her face. “It’s so beautiful” She said.
Last edited:
Shadow Master
Banned
OMG! ROFLMAO, that is a Great way to send a message! Loved it, and your ongoing ATL both! Thank you much!
These are 6L6 tubes that date from the early 1950s they are more compact and advanced then what Jacob would be working with. But imagine thousands of these in a dim presentation hall.
The new bestseller of 1930: "1 million steps or my escape from China" by P. Sauvageot
Okay, I have to admit that was about the best not-immediately lethal way to deal with the problem. I love that Sauvegot seems more angered by the cheap birthday card than the situation he is in. That whole bit deserves multiple likes.
Also, if I understand what sort of computer we have, isn't this about 20 years early?
It does seem a quite a bit early. I can live with the conceptual advance being made here or in the 1700's for that matter, but how about the hardware?
In fairness I think radiotubes were available so maybe its ok. COuld the OP please help us swollow this rather radical development in an otherwise fantastic TL?
Part 8 Chapter 61
From my notes, year and invention.
1878 cathode ray tube
1897 cathode ray tube oscilloscope
1898 wire recording
1904 vacuum tube, diode
1906 vacuum tube, triode
1918 Enigma machine
The fixings were there, someone just needed the motivation to put them together.
Chapter Sixty-One
1st June, 1922
Bramstedtland, Germany
The green smell of Summer was in the air as Sjostedt walked out into the night. Earlier Ma and Tilde had taken Grandfather into Flensburg for medical treatment and wouldn’t be back until the morning. It was his and Ilse’s turn to mind the farm. Something was bothering the livestock and it had woken him up the night before. It was almost sunset, but this far north the days were very long this time of year.
Ma had always insisted on planting some squash and corn for their own use. To remember where they’d come from. It contributed to the unique smells of this particular place. Other things such as the salt smell of the nearby sea and growing plants were added in. It was part of what made this Sjostedt’s home for the last for the last decade. Tonight, something was off. A fox might take a chicken or duck now and again but that fox would be as much a part of this landscape those smells. This was the felt different. That usually meant that it was result of human intervention.
Sjostedt walked around the chicken coop, passing along where he knew the shadows were deepest. That’s where he waited for it, it was all about the timing. There was a subtle shift in the air. His hand shot out and he grabbed the chicken thief by the ear.
“Ow!” the boy yelled as Sjostedt pulled him across the yard hitting him ineffectually with the hand that wasn’t holding the dead chicken “Lemme go!”
“No” Sjostedt said as he dragged the thief up the stairs onto the porch “You shouldn’t have come back a second night in row.”
The door opened and Sjostedt’s youngest sister, Ilse poked her head out “He’s just a boy Piers” She said.
“Hardened criminals seldom resort to stealing chickens but they might be getting their start that way” Sjostedt said as he pulled the boy into the kitchen and deposited him onto a chair “The bible says many things about theft and before you make any excuses it says a lot about lying as well.”
The boy stopped whatever he was about to say. It was obvious to Sjostedt that he was about to try to fly some line on them but thought better of it.
“I wouldn’t try any lines on Piers anyway” Ilse said “He heard all of them when he was with Army during the war.”
“I heard a lot of things while I was in the Army” Sjostedt said grabbing one of the ashcans and dropping it in front of the boy “But the most of all was my Oberfeld complaining about men being at loose ends causing trouble. That is exactly what you are right now, at loose ends. So, start plucking.”
With that Sjostedt walked out.
“Don’t mind my brother” Ilse said “He’s been in a foul mood since the war in Poland started up again, the Oberfeld he mentioned, Walter, is right in the middle of it. Walter might be our brother in law if he and Nina ever can ever get around to getting married.”
“What’s that got to do with me?” The boy asked. Ilse could hear from his accent that he was from nowhere near here.
“You stepped into the middle of this” Ilse said pulling a pot out of the cupboard “That was your first mistake.”
“I made other mistakes?”
“Yes” Ilse said filling the pot with water “You killed one of our oldest hens, so we’ll have to stew it and most of all you tried to sneak one past Piers more than once. That simply doesn’t work.”
“But the chicken is for my family”
“Let me guess, you’re an orphan too” Sjostedt said as he stepped in from outside carrying an armful of firewood. That he dumped into a large steel container before opening the door on the front of the stove and throwing a piece of firewood in.
“When did you last see your family?” Ilse asked “The truth.”
“A couple of months ago,” The boy said “After the train dumped us off in Berlin.”
Sjostedt had heard of this “Where did the train come from?”
“Paris” The boy said “They gave us one way tickets to Berlin and were told that scum like us would never come back if we knew what was good for us.”
That had the ring of truth to it and it confirmed what Sjostedt suspected.
“So, you’ve been moving north and stealing to survive?” Sjostedt asked “But stealing isn’t new to you by any means.”
“Piers” Ilse said, slightly taken aback at how harsh Sjostedt was being.
“Do I need to tell her who and what you are?” Sjostedt asked the boy who had stopped plucking the chicken and was staring at the kitchen table almost quivering with fear.
“France has been expelling undesirables” Sjostedt said “The boy’s family didn’t want another mouth to feed after they got dumped in Berlin with nothing so they chased him off.”
“Is that true?” Ilse asked.
The man, Piers, just had a way of seeing right through you, the boy thought. The instant he even thought about trying to bullshit his way out of this. Piers had cut that off as if he’d read the boy’s own thoughts. The truth was that Piers terrified him. The girl seemed to have the same low threshold for lies as her brother even if she was nicer about it.
“Yes” The boy mumbled still staring at the table.
“Back to work” Sjostedt said and stared at the boy until he resumed plucking the chicken, noting with approval that the boy was doing a quick job of it.
“The French are really throwing people out of their country?” Ilse asked “Why would people do something like that?”
“France sort of went crazy during war, everyone did” Sjostedt said “But with the French it went deeper and has lasted longer.”
With that the boy finished plucking the chicken.
“If I can have that” Ilse said as she took the chicken from him and over to the cutting board where she began expertly butchering the bird.
“It’s one thing about Ma or my sisters” Sjostedt said “Stay out of their way in the kitchen or you end up looking like that chicken.” He chuckled when he saw the boy’s face at that comment.
“If you are going to be our guest we might as well know your name” Sjostedt said.
The boy thought for a long moment about how to answer that one. As he had already learned in this house they would just see through it if he said anything other than the truth.
“Django” The boy finally said.
“Then welcome to our home” Sjostedt said.
1878 cathode ray tube
1897 cathode ray tube oscilloscope
1898 wire recording
1904 vacuum tube, diode
1906 vacuum tube, triode
1918 Enigma machine
The fixings were there, someone just needed the motivation to put them together.
Chapter Sixty-One
1st June, 1922
Bramstedtland, Germany
The green smell of Summer was in the air as Sjostedt walked out into the night. Earlier Ma and Tilde had taken Grandfather into Flensburg for medical treatment and wouldn’t be back until the morning. It was his and Ilse’s turn to mind the farm. Something was bothering the livestock and it had woken him up the night before. It was almost sunset, but this far north the days were very long this time of year.
Ma had always insisted on planting some squash and corn for their own use. To remember where they’d come from. It contributed to the unique smells of this particular place. Other things such as the salt smell of the nearby sea and growing plants were added in. It was part of what made this Sjostedt’s home for the last for the last decade. Tonight, something was off. A fox might take a chicken or duck now and again but that fox would be as much a part of this landscape those smells. This was the felt different. That usually meant that it was result of human intervention.
Sjostedt walked around the chicken coop, passing along where he knew the shadows were deepest. That’s where he waited for it, it was all about the timing. There was a subtle shift in the air. His hand shot out and he grabbed the chicken thief by the ear.
“Ow!” the boy yelled as Sjostedt pulled him across the yard hitting him ineffectually with the hand that wasn’t holding the dead chicken “Lemme go!”
“No” Sjostedt said as he dragged the thief up the stairs onto the porch “You shouldn’t have come back a second night in row.”
The door opened and Sjostedt’s youngest sister, Ilse poked her head out “He’s just a boy Piers” She said.
“Hardened criminals seldom resort to stealing chickens but they might be getting their start that way” Sjostedt said as he pulled the boy into the kitchen and deposited him onto a chair “The bible says many things about theft and before you make any excuses it says a lot about lying as well.”
The boy stopped whatever he was about to say. It was obvious to Sjostedt that he was about to try to fly some line on them but thought better of it.
“I wouldn’t try any lines on Piers anyway” Ilse said “He heard all of them when he was with Army during the war.”
“I heard a lot of things while I was in the Army” Sjostedt said grabbing one of the ashcans and dropping it in front of the boy “But the most of all was my Oberfeld complaining about men being at loose ends causing trouble. That is exactly what you are right now, at loose ends. So, start plucking.”
With that Sjostedt walked out.
“Don’t mind my brother” Ilse said “He’s been in a foul mood since the war in Poland started up again, the Oberfeld he mentioned, Walter, is right in the middle of it. Walter might be our brother in law if he and Nina ever can ever get around to getting married.”
“What’s that got to do with me?” The boy asked. Ilse could hear from his accent that he was from nowhere near here.
“You stepped into the middle of this” Ilse said pulling a pot out of the cupboard “That was your first mistake.”
“I made other mistakes?”
“Yes” Ilse said filling the pot with water “You killed one of our oldest hens, so we’ll have to stew it and most of all you tried to sneak one past Piers more than once. That simply doesn’t work.”
“But the chicken is for my family”
“Let me guess, you’re an orphan too” Sjostedt said as he stepped in from outside carrying an armful of firewood. That he dumped into a large steel container before opening the door on the front of the stove and throwing a piece of firewood in.
“When did you last see your family?” Ilse asked “The truth.”
“A couple of months ago,” The boy said “After the train dumped us off in Berlin.”
Sjostedt had heard of this “Where did the train come from?”
“Paris” The boy said “They gave us one way tickets to Berlin and were told that scum like us would never come back if we knew what was good for us.”
That had the ring of truth to it and it confirmed what Sjostedt suspected.
“So, you’ve been moving north and stealing to survive?” Sjostedt asked “But stealing isn’t new to you by any means.”
“Piers” Ilse said, slightly taken aback at how harsh Sjostedt was being.
“Do I need to tell her who and what you are?” Sjostedt asked the boy who had stopped plucking the chicken and was staring at the kitchen table almost quivering with fear.
“France has been expelling undesirables” Sjostedt said “The boy’s family didn’t want another mouth to feed after they got dumped in Berlin with nothing so they chased him off.”
“Is that true?” Ilse asked.
The man, Piers, just had a way of seeing right through you, the boy thought. The instant he even thought about trying to bullshit his way out of this. Piers had cut that off as if he’d read the boy’s own thoughts. The truth was that Piers terrified him. The girl seemed to have the same low threshold for lies as her brother even if she was nicer about it.
“Yes” The boy mumbled still staring at the table.
“Back to work” Sjostedt said and stared at the boy until he resumed plucking the chicken, noting with approval that the boy was doing a quick job of it.
“The French are really throwing people out of their country?” Ilse asked “Why would people do something like that?”
“France sort of went crazy during war, everyone did” Sjostedt said “But with the French it went deeper and has lasted longer.”
With that the boy finished plucking the chicken.
“If I can have that” Ilse said as she took the chicken from him and over to the cutting board where she began expertly butchering the bird.
“It’s one thing about Ma or my sisters” Sjostedt said “Stay out of their way in the kitchen or you end up looking like that chicken.” He chuckled when he saw the boy’s face at that comment.
“If you are going to be our guest we might as well know your name” Sjostedt said.
The boy thought for a long moment about how to answer that one. As he had already learned in this house they would just see through it if he said anything other than the truth.
“Django” The boy finally said.
“Then welcome to our home” Sjostedt said.
Probably anyone non-French. From the sounds of it, the boy is probably a gypsy who were barely tolerated at the best of times. France is essentially pulling an OTL Germany. If they get a charismatic leader, they'll probably try something. Maybe declare the the Third French Empire under Emperor Nappy the 4th.
Right now ITTL France has a Revanchist Authoritarian government and it was a young Django Reinhardt who just caught stealing chickens from the Sjostedt farm.
He'd not burnt his hand in the fire yet, nor met Grappelli. Wonder if there will be a hot club von Berlin if Grappelli is denied French citizenship due to his Italian parent?
I'd say so, for those in the know the three greatest guitarists of all time are Django, Les Paul and Jemi. Each for a different reason.