One Thousand Seven
13th April 1953
Wolfsburg
“We are actually impressed with what you brought back” Ernst Preis had said, “When we heard that you got inconvenienced by your Government we were a bit concerned.”
He had been referring to the report that Nancy had compiled in Canada with data she had received from Canada and the United States. He hardly blinked when she had reported that in North America the Föhn/Rabbit series seemed to appeal to women. That was at odds with the image of the Föhn in Europe where a souped-up version was the car of choice for the police and becoming popular with racing clubs as the poor man’s touring car.
“Having a car that will appeal to half the population is not a hardship” Preis had said about that. Then he had sent her on what he said was a “reward” that didn’t seem like one.
A Producer, Director and a writer from the division of UFA that did B-Reel films were here to try to shoe-horn VW products into the films as spot ads. When Nancy had sat down for lunch, she had wondered what the punchline of the joke was. It had taken Nancy five seconds to realize that she was the entertainment. While these men probably would have preferred to talk business with Preis, talking about cars and movies with a reasonably attractive woman was something they were more than happy to do. Nancy would deal with Preis later, she had a lunch meeting to survive first. Naturally, she took advantage of the situation to talk about what she wanted to talk about.
“Helene was into auto racing when she was a teenager” Nancy said, “When Kat gets behind the wheel it scares even her.”
“So, your friend is a reckless driver?” The Producer asked.
“Hardly, it’s just that she’s been through evasive driving school a few different times” Nancy replied, “Once she knows what a car can do, she tends to push the limits. If you are not prepared for it as a passenger, then she will scare you to death.”
“And this sportscar that she was driving” The Producer said, “The one you said that she described as an orgasm on wheels.”
“That isn’t what she said” Nancy replied, the Producer had obviously read between the lines, Kat had only implied that. “The car belongs to Helene’s father, the Graf.”
“I see” the Producer said, “What sort of car does your friend Kat normally drive?”
“A Föhn 1200 with the engine rebuilt by Porsche” Nancy answered.
The Writer had gone quiet some time ago as Nancy had noticed that he was frantically writing.
“Douglas, Kat’s husband said that it’s just as well that the car doesn’t belong to her” Nancy said, “He said they would have to fly Jack Kennedy in from Ireland to spring Kat after her speeding got her arrested.”
“Who is that?” The Producer asked.
“Her Lawyer” Nancy answered before trying to get back to her story, “When Kat got back to Berlin she said that…”
“Her Lawyer is Irish?”
“Yes” Nancy said, “Kat said that he is better at that then he was as a soldier or spy. It’s just as well, his change in profession got him away from Ian Fleming who is nothing but trouble…”
The writer abruptly stopped writing.
“Ian Fleming, as in James Bond?” The Director asked, “That Ian Fleming?”
The writer resumed his scribbling.
“Yes” Nancy said getting annoyed, she had met Ian Fleming once and hadn’t been particularly impressed. “Now, when she got back to Berlin she said that…”
Jade Bight
“This is the powder hoist girls” Oberdeckoffizer Arend Nuemann said a few minutes earlier he had finished telling them the shell hoist worked and explained how the system worked, with the gunner up in the turret able to set the shell and powder charge down here. “From here the bagged charges go up to Anton Turret.”
The girl with long russet colored hair raised her hand excitedly. “Yes, Fraulein” Arend said.
“Will we get to fire the battery?” The girl asked with a lot of enthusiasm.
“I take it that your Pops in the military” Arend said.
“Luftwaffe” The Girl said happily.
Probably a General too, Arend thought to himself. He had been asked to give a tour of the Rhineland to some VIPs, it was the sort of thing that he did all the time. Then the VIPs in question turned up and they were a bunch of eleven and twelve-year-old Girl Scouts in green and white uniforms. Arend knew that he was never going to hear the end of this. Christoph was gone today, now that the Rhineland was in port he had been taking classes that had been opened for Enlisted men on Nuclear propulsion. Apparently, that was the future of the Navy. It was Arend’s intention to stay on Rhineland until she was stricken, or he dropped, whichever came first. The Bremen had taken the fabled Northwest Passage and then went around the globe without refueling or surfacing. That was the stuff of science fiction. At least on Rhineland he knew how everything worked.
“We are not doing a live fire exercise today” Arend said, “They get bent out of sorts when we rattle the windows in Wilhelmshaven.”
That caused a bit of giggling. The woman leading these girls just shook her head. When Arend first saw her earlier, he could tell that she had a military bearing despite the civilian clothes she was wearing. Gräfin von Mischner, Arend had been told, he recognized the girl in glasses with the brown curls contained in a beret as the Princess. Arend had also noticed that the Girl with russet hair and another girl with black hair were with the Princess at all times.
“Now if you are up for a climb we’re going up into Anton from here” Anton said.