Good points, although I see the Russians being mainly involved on the Black Sea coastal regions in P-M's most magnificent tale of stupid luck & happenstance. Same with the Bulgarians, Romanians, Georgians etc. Makes sense to divvy up the allied response that way.
Stupid Luck and Happenstance, Thread II
- Thread starter Peabody-Martini
- Start date
I now have an image of Barbara smacking a young George Jr. upside the head while yelling "Stop listening to your Grand-daddy & stop acting like your Daddy! I swear, if you keep that up, I will shoot you myself. It'll save time!"
I get the feeling that George Jr will adopt his mother's surname, and with a different, more maternal upbringing, will be different.
Look out for George W Pierce joining the US Army or USN, becoming a helicopter pilot ferrying around Parker's Special Forces group or an Air/Sea rescue pilot.
Look out for George W Pierce joining the US Army or USN, becoming a helicopter pilot ferrying around Parker's Special Forces group or an Air/Sea rescue pilot.
Part 106, Chapter 1733
Chapter One Thousand Seven Hundred Thirty-Three
16th July 1966
Pohnpei Island, Caroline Islands
They might be on Holiday, but that didn’t mean that they could shut the world out. This week, a new crisis or two had boiled up back home and Kiki had watched as her father had gone into his office and had been on the telephone trying to get a handle on things. At the same time delegations from the Eastern Pacific Nations were arriving and the preparations for the conference were underway. Kiki however had found something better to do with her time.
Kiki could practically hear Berg’s laughter as she found the wire cutters. Berg had told her that she would need them more than she thought and in the very first case Kiki had they were needed. A few seconds later she was cutting the eye off the multi-barbed fishhook and the patient’s reaction wasn’t what she was expecting.
“That hook costs money girl” The Patient said looking at hook that was stuck through his thumb.
“It can be replaced” Kiki replied, “Your thumb is a different matter.”
Kiki was here because she had asked to tour the clinics on the island, she just happened to be in this one with only a Nurse Practitioner was on hand and the regular Doctor was elsewhere when the Islander was brought in by his son after a fishing mishap. Kiki had questioned if she was qualified to deal with this because she was barely even an Intern. The Nurse had given her a look and had then told her that this was the real world and she was present where she was needed, so get cracking. Minutes later Kiki was working on extracting the fishhook as the son was watching sheepishly from the doorway. She knew from her time in Korea that the challenge here was keeping the Patient distracted while she worked. Fortunately, he wanted to talk and was focused on Kiki.
“Aren’t you a bit young for this sort of thing” The Patient asked.
“I started early” Kiki replied, “I joined the Medical Service when I was sixteen. Went on to train as a Field Medic eventually joining the Parachute Search and Rescue Corps before Medical School.”
“For real?” The Patient asked, “I thought the military didn’t take Berliners until they were older.”
“I’m actually from Potsdam” Kiki replied, “And living in Jena these days.”
“Potsdam’s next door to Berlin” The Islander said, “And Jena, University there, right.”
“Something like that” Kiki said as she started to draw the hook through his thumb. Thankful that the local anastatic that she had used seemed to be working.
“How does a man living in the Carolines recognize that I’m Berliner?” Kiki asked.
“That accent, we get folks from all over Germany on Fishing tours and anytime you open your mouth, people know” The Patient said, “I also read the paper, Princess Kristina.”
That explained a thing or three, these two had known who Kiki was the instant that they saw her in the examination room. With that, Kiki got the barbed shank of the hook out of the Patient’s thumb. All that was left was cleaning and bandaging it.
“Keep it clean, come back if you start feeling tingling in your thumb or if it gets infected” Kiki said as she did her best to flush out the deep puncture wound, that being something that she had told soldiers who had suffered similar injuries in the past. Sometimes they even listened. After the thumb was bandaged, she took off the rubber gloves she looked around for the Nurse. She had said that there were antibiotics on hand in the clinic. If not, Kiki would just write a prescription.
“Perhaps you ought to see to it yourself” The Patient said, “I figure I owe you a drink at the local for this.”
Kiki thought about that invitation for a moment. Since the Empire had regained control of these islands from the Japanese two decades earlier, her father had used them as a vacation spot but had never really gotten to know the people here. Perhaps a bit of socialization with the locals was in order.
“I’ll consider it” Kiki said, “If only to keep an eye on that thumb of yours.”
The Patent seemed happy with that answer.
Prague, Bohemia
They were shooting pistols at paper targets at twenty meters. At first it looked like a couple shots had missed but closer examination revealed that General Morávek had put three bullets through the same hole.
“You are never going to top this Václav” Michael said.
“Still, to tie my personal best isn’t too bad” Morávek replied.
“You’ve done this before?” Michael asked.
Morávek just shrugged.
Michael had medaled in Pistol Shooting in Rome and Tokyo, he doubted that he could match what the General had just done. Of course, the Olympic event, shooting small bore pistols with set rules, was extremely different from real world shooting where a pistol might be used for personal defense. Supposedly, it was Václav Morávek’s ability with pistols had been one of the things that had brought him to the attention of the Bohemian Army’s General Staff. Catapulting him from being a Hauptmann of Artillery at the start of the Second World War to leading a Division in the Far East at the conclusion of that conflict. These days he had settled into being a Generaloberst and the head of the Bohemian Military, a role that suited him.
Lately, Morávek had been one of Michael’s closest advisors as he had worked with Kurt Knispel to modernize the Bohemian Army in creating a second Mechanized Army Corps to compete directly with the vaunted German Panzer Corps. While the Bohemian Panzers clearly lacked the size and scope of their German counterparts, Michael had realized that it didn’t need to. The purpose of the Panzer Corps was to punch a hole in the line and exploit the breakthrough, it was the Infantry’s job to consolidate that opening and give the Panzers room to maneuver. Looked at through that lens, a relatively small, professional Corps was ideal for their needs.
As Michael took careful aim at the target, Morávek waited until he started to squeeze the trigger before saying. “The protocol office got word that Princess Alberta of England is coming back to Prague this summer. They want to know if you are planning on having any festivities to coincide with the young Lady’s visit.” Causing Michael to miss the target entirely, much to the amusement of his entourage.
16th July 1966
Pohnpei Island, Caroline Islands
They might be on Holiday, but that didn’t mean that they could shut the world out. This week, a new crisis or two had boiled up back home and Kiki had watched as her father had gone into his office and had been on the telephone trying to get a handle on things. At the same time delegations from the Eastern Pacific Nations were arriving and the preparations for the conference were underway. Kiki however had found something better to do with her time.
Kiki could practically hear Berg’s laughter as she found the wire cutters. Berg had told her that she would need them more than she thought and in the very first case Kiki had they were needed. A few seconds later she was cutting the eye off the multi-barbed fishhook and the patient’s reaction wasn’t what she was expecting.
“That hook costs money girl” The Patient said looking at hook that was stuck through his thumb.
“It can be replaced” Kiki replied, “Your thumb is a different matter.”
Kiki was here because she had asked to tour the clinics on the island, she just happened to be in this one with only a Nurse Practitioner was on hand and the regular Doctor was elsewhere when the Islander was brought in by his son after a fishing mishap. Kiki had questioned if she was qualified to deal with this because she was barely even an Intern. The Nurse had given her a look and had then told her that this was the real world and she was present where she was needed, so get cracking. Minutes later Kiki was working on extracting the fishhook as the son was watching sheepishly from the doorway. She knew from her time in Korea that the challenge here was keeping the Patient distracted while she worked. Fortunately, he wanted to talk and was focused on Kiki.
“Aren’t you a bit young for this sort of thing” The Patient asked.
“I started early” Kiki replied, “I joined the Medical Service when I was sixteen. Went on to train as a Field Medic eventually joining the Parachute Search and Rescue Corps before Medical School.”
“For real?” The Patient asked, “I thought the military didn’t take Berliners until they were older.”
“I’m actually from Potsdam” Kiki replied, “And living in Jena these days.”
“Potsdam’s next door to Berlin” The Islander said, “And Jena, University there, right.”
“Something like that” Kiki said as she started to draw the hook through his thumb. Thankful that the local anastatic that she had used seemed to be working.
“How does a man living in the Carolines recognize that I’m Berliner?” Kiki asked.
“That accent, we get folks from all over Germany on Fishing tours and anytime you open your mouth, people know” The Patient said, “I also read the paper, Princess Kristina.”
That explained a thing or three, these two had known who Kiki was the instant that they saw her in the examination room. With that, Kiki got the barbed shank of the hook out of the Patient’s thumb. All that was left was cleaning and bandaging it.
“Keep it clean, come back if you start feeling tingling in your thumb or if it gets infected” Kiki said as she did her best to flush out the deep puncture wound, that being something that she had told soldiers who had suffered similar injuries in the past. Sometimes they even listened. After the thumb was bandaged, she took off the rubber gloves she looked around for the Nurse. She had said that there were antibiotics on hand in the clinic. If not, Kiki would just write a prescription.
“Perhaps you ought to see to it yourself” The Patient said, “I figure I owe you a drink at the local for this.”
Kiki thought about that invitation for a moment. Since the Empire had regained control of these islands from the Japanese two decades earlier, her father had used them as a vacation spot but had never really gotten to know the people here. Perhaps a bit of socialization with the locals was in order.
“I’ll consider it” Kiki said, “If only to keep an eye on that thumb of yours.”
The Patent seemed happy with that answer.
Prague, Bohemia
They were shooting pistols at paper targets at twenty meters. At first it looked like a couple shots had missed but closer examination revealed that General Morávek had put three bullets through the same hole.
“You are never going to top this Václav” Michael said.
“Still, to tie my personal best isn’t too bad” Morávek replied.
“You’ve done this before?” Michael asked.
Morávek just shrugged.
Michael had medaled in Pistol Shooting in Rome and Tokyo, he doubted that he could match what the General had just done. Of course, the Olympic event, shooting small bore pistols with set rules, was extremely different from real world shooting where a pistol might be used for personal defense. Supposedly, it was Václav Morávek’s ability with pistols had been one of the things that had brought him to the attention of the Bohemian Army’s General Staff. Catapulting him from being a Hauptmann of Artillery at the start of the Second World War to leading a Division in the Far East at the conclusion of that conflict. These days he had settled into being a Generaloberst and the head of the Bohemian Military, a role that suited him.
Lately, Morávek had been one of Michael’s closest advisors as he had worked with Kurt Knispel to modernize the Bohemian Army in creating a second Mechanized Army Corps to compete directly with the vaunted German Panzer Corps. While the Bohemian Panzers clearly lacked the size and scope of their German counterparts, Michael had realized that it didn’t need to. The purpose of the Panzer Corps was to punch a hole in the line and exploit the breakthrough, it was the Infantry’s job to consolidate that opening and give the Panzers room to maneuver. Looked at through that lens, a relatively small, professional Corps was ideal for their needs.
As Michael took careful aim at the target, Morávek waited until he started to squeeze the trigger before saying. “The protocol office got word that Princess Alberta of England is coming back to Prague this summer. They want to know if you are planning on having any festivities to coincide with the young Lady’s visit.” Causing Michael to miss the target entirely, much to the amusement of his entourage.
Always nice to know that a gift has been appreciated & put to good use. And it makes me wonder just how far off in the future the multi-tool is?
Always good to ask though. Far too many nurses, doctors or, perhaps worse, administrators would pitch several kinds of fits if a qualified visitor on their turf just started treating people. It has something to do with paperwork & legal liabilities, I think.
German Foreign & Colonial Service training seminar:
"And finally, for an example of how 'soft' diplomacy works, we will now examine Princess Christina's first visit to the Caroline Islands. As you can see in this photo of her drinking with the locals... "
I get the impression that King Michael's Panzer Corps might be heading a little to the north and/or east in the not too distant future.
First, dirty pool, but all's fair etc., etc.
Second, Michael should remember that he personally told Birdie that she didn't have to marry him if she didn't want to.
Third, however, it looks as if Birdie may have decided that she really does want to.
Fourth, its his own fault really. He's doomed. He's only lasted this long because he hasn't given her a kitten or puppy yet.
Not that horses are much lower on the squeeeeeee scale.. maybe just an e or two.
The trip to the Caroline Islands is going to do a world of good for Kiki as she gets to relax HER way and gets to do a little doctoring on the side which eases her guilt in taking a vacation in the first place.
The Nurse Practitioner sounds like a slightly younger version of Dr. Berg and will have no aversion of calling upon Kiki to help again.
Kiki gets to spend some time with Nella with whom they both have great affection for each other and forms a deeper emotional connection with Nan.
I would not be surprised if Kiki's old friend from Korea Father Lehman showed up running a Catholic Mission clinic on one of the islands.
The Nurse Practitioner sounds like a slightly younger version of Dr. Berg and will have no aversion of calling upon Kiki to help again.
Kiki gets to spend some time with Nella with whom they both have great affection for each other and forms a deeper emotional connection with Nan.
I would not be surprised if Kiki's old friend from Korea Father Lehman showed up running a Catholic Mission clinic on one of the islands.
This is where we find that Father Lehman is good with gadgets and decised that a single tool with pliers/wire cutters, two knives, a small saw a Phillips and flathead screwdriver would be a good idea.
And the world gets the Lehman tool.
Oh most definitely in the bag. It would already have happened if a kitten or puppy had been given as well.
After seeing all the tourist money that Berlin made from the wedding of Freddy and Suga, Prague will see the potential wedding of Michael and Alberta of Great Britain as a great way to show itself off to the world.
Without the Nazis, the Red Army, and the KSC, Prague should be one of the most beautiful cities in Europe and a center of the arts.
Also the Kingdom of Bohemia will want to show that unlike Poland and Slovakia it is very much a happy partner in the German Empire.
Without the Nazis, the Red Army, and the KSC, Prague should be one of the most beautiful cities in Europe and a center of the arts.
Also the Kingdom of Bohemia will want to show that unlike Poland and Slovakia it is very much a happy partner in the German Empire.
Continued in thread III.
Stupid Luck and Happenstance, Thread III
Continued from Thread I; https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/threads/stupid-luck-and-happenstance.405746/ and Thread II; https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/threads/stupid-luck-and-happenstance-thread-ii.452138/#post-17613039 Chapter One Thousand Seven Hundred Thirty-Four 31st July...
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