Part 84, Chapter 1282
Chapter One Thousand Two Hundred Eighty-Two
31st May 1958
Peenemünde
News that Brotherhood II, the capsule from Dioscuri VI, had safely splashed down in the Atlantic off the Azores was greeted with a great deal of relief here and in Cam Ranh. The day might come when these things became routine, but the program was still far from getting to that point.
Jacob had read the riot act to the Public Affairs Division when he found out what had happened. He was used to the Kaiserliche Marine running like a well-oiled machine. The ESA was so new that they were still trying to work out their procedures and policies. Today the ESA had need of a new Information Officer because the last one had been reassigned to the Public Affairs Division of the KM’s Antarctic Mission. The last Jacob had seen of the information Officer he was being shoved onto an airplane bound for Marie Byrd Land. Perhaps a winter or two spent in that frozen slice of Hell would make him a bit more thoughtful.
No one checked to see if they had the right Mischner sister on the phone and that she might have an axe to grind with Albrecht? Everyone knew that Katherine von Mischner was a force of nature when angry and giving her an opportunity to express her wrath towards the source of that aggravation was a bad idea. They were just lucky that public opinion was evenly divided on this matter, between those who felt that Albrecht had it coming and those who didn’t. Then there was Frau von Grimmelshausen, her daughter might have been in orbit, but that woman was definitely living on a different planet. Why had no one bothered to learn the details of Sigi Grimmelshausen’s past before they had released a public statement? Jacob had delved into her records to avoid any more surprises.
It had turned out that Sigi and her mother were among the last members of an old aristocratic family that had dwindled down to just them, heirs of the fortune made by Rheinmetall. Who knew what the reaction that the press would have when it came out that public records didn’t say who Sigi’s father was? All they said was that she was born in 1937 and that her father was deceased according to school records. Jacob had taken a deeper dive through the records that wouldn’t normally be available to most people and learned the date that Sigi’s father had died in 1940. It didn’t take an intuitive leap to figure out the man’s identity after that, the family resemblance also made it incredibly obvious. While Sigi obviously had no clue, the truth would only serve to upend her life for no reason and cheapen her own accomplishments. It was something that Jacob filed away mentally, one of many things that he would take to the grave. The first woman in space would stand on her own according to her merit. Jacob just hoped that it wouldn’t be too obvious when Sigi was inevitably photographed standing next to a member of her father’s family.
Tempelhof, Berlin
Ilse was under orders to stay in bed and not exert herself in any way. She had however found her way down to the couch as she watched live television of Albrecht’s spaceship landing in the Ocean. That meant that he would be home in a matter of hours, the poor romantic fool had seen it as a way for him to be home in June and July. Just he had not thought things through.
Just sitting in one place was not like her, so the inactivity was yet one more insult that Ilse’s condition had inflicted upon her. A few weeks earlier she had started to feel faint while doing basic tasks and had told Doctor Berg. Next thing she knew Ilse had found herself in the Cardiology Department at the University Clinic. They had determined that early childhood malnutrition had caused her heart not to develop properly. The added strain of pregnancy had put her at risk of a heart attack, she was also showing worrying signs of gestational diabetes. That meant that she was supposed to not leave her bed and everything she ate or drank had to be approved by a doctor first. Ilse remembered how aggravated Kat and Hellene had been during this part of their own pregnancies, so she knew that her own experience wasn’t exactly unique. Just that with her there were complications. For Ilse there were always complications, it was the story of her life.
News that Albrecht had safely landed in the Atlantic was a great relief to had come as a great relief to her. Kat was equal turns amusing and terrifying when she went full Momma Tigress as she had done when Albrecht had called. Afterwards, Kat had been embarrassed by what had happened, but Ilse was starting to understand why her sister reacted to things the way she did sometimes.
Atlantic Ocean, North East of the Azores
Bobbing in the Ocean after three days in space was quite a change in motion. No sooner than they had gotten the flotation deployed and the hatches open then they had heard the helicopters circling. Unlike the earlier Atgeir project where Huginn I had landed a couple hundred kilometers off course and Albrecht had spent the evening celebrating with the crew of one of the KM’s Armed Trawlers, Brotherhood had landed exactly where it was supposed to have.
Over the prior three days Albrecht had spent a great deal of time talking with Sigi and that had been informative. When she had talked to her mother, Albrecht had seen the frustration on her face. Later they had talked about what had happened. Albrecht had spoken about the difficulties that he had with his father. Sigi had said that at least he knew who his father even was. Apparently, her mother had an affair with an older, married man. He’d died after the affair had ended and even while he was alive, he had shown no interest in Sigi. That was all Sigi’s mother had ever told her.
31st May 1958
Peenemünde
News that Brotherhood II, the capsule from Dioscuri VI, had safely splashed down in the Atlantic off the Azores was greeted with a great deal of relief here and in Cam Ranh. The day might come when these things became routine, but the program was still far from getting to that point.
Jacob had read the riot act to the Public Affairs Division when he found out what had happened. He was used to the Kaiserliche Marine running like a well-oiled machine. The ESA was so new that they were still trying to work out their procedures and policies. Today the ESA had need of a new Information Officer because the last one had been reassigned to the Public Affairs Division of the KM’s Antarctic Mission. The last Jacob had seen of the information Officer he was being shoved onto an airplane bound for Marie Byrd Land. Perhaps a winter or two spent in that frozen slice of Hell would make him a bit more thoughtful.
No one checked to see if they had the right Mischner sister on the phone and that she might have an axe to grind with Albrecht? Everyone knew that Katherine von Mischner was a force of nature when angry and giving her an opportunity to express her wrath towards the source of that aggravation was a bad idea. They were just lucky that public opinion was evenly divided on this matter, between those who felt that Albrecht had it coming and those who didn’t. Then there was Frau von Grimmelshausen, her daughter might have been in orbit, but that woman was definitely living on a different planet. Why had no one bothered to learn the details of Sigi Grimmelshausen’s past before they had released a public statement? Jacob had delved into her records to avoid any more surprises.
It had turned out that Sigi and her mother were among the last members of an old aristocratic family that had dwindled down to just them, heirs of the fortune made by Rheinmetall. Who knew what the reaction that the press would have when it came out that public records didn’t say who Sigi’s father was? All they said was that she was born in 1937 and that her father was deceased according to school records. Jacob had taken a deeper dive through the records that wouldn’t normally be available to most people and learned the date that Sigi’s father had died in 1940. It didn’t take an intuitive leap to figure out the man’s identity after that, the family resemblance also made it incredibly obvious. While Sigi obviously had no clue, the truth would only serve to upend her life for no reason and cheapen her own accomplishments. It was something that Jacob filed away mentally, one of many things that he would take to the grave. The first woman in space would stand on her own according to her merit. Jacob just hoped that it wouldn’t be too obvious when Sigi was inevitably photographed standing next to a member of her father’s family.
Tempelhof, Berlin
Ilse was under orders to stay in bed and not exert herself in any way. She had however found her way down to the couch as she watched live television of Albrecht’s spaceship landing in the Ocean. That meant that he would be home in a matter of hours, the poor romantic fool had seen it as a way for him to be home in June and July. Just he had not thought things through.
Just sitting in one place was not like her, so the inactivity was yet one more insult that Ilse’s condition had inflicted upon her. A few weeks earlier she had started to feel faint while doing basic tasks and had told Doctor Berg. Next thing she knew Ilse had found herself in the Cardiology Department at the University Clinic. They had determined that early childhood malnutrition had caused her heart not to develop properly. The added strain of pregnancy had put her at risk of a heart attack, she was also showing worrying signs of gestational diabetes. That meant that she was supposed to not leave her bed and everything she ate or drank had to be approved by a doctor first. Ilse remembered how aggravated Kat and Hellene had been during this part of their own pregnancies, so she knew that her own experience wasn’t exactly unique. Just that with her there were complications. For Ilse there were always complications, it was the story of her life.
News that Albrecht had safely landed in the Atlantic was a great relief to had come as a great relief to her. Kat was equal turns amusing and terrifying when she went full Momma Tigress as she had done when Albrecht had called. Afterwards, Kat had been embarrassed by what had happened, but Ilse was starting to understand why her sister reacted to things the way she did sometimes.
Atlantic Ocean, North East of the Azores
Bobbing in the Ocean after three days in space was quite a change in motion. No sooner than they had gotten the flotation deployed and the hatches open then they had heard the helicopters circling. Unlike the earlier Atgeir project where Huginn I had landed a couple hundred kilometers off course and Albrecht had spent the evening celebrating with the crew of one of the KM’s Armed Trawlers, Brotherhood had landed exactly where it was supposed to have.
Over the prior three days Albrecht had spent a great deal of time talking with Sigi and that had been informative. When she had talked to her mother, Albrecht had seen the frustration on her face. Later they had talked about what had happened. Albrecht had spoken about the difficulties that he had with his father. Sigi had said that at least he knew who his father even was. Apparently, her mother had an affair with an older, married man. He’d died after the affair had ended and even while he was alive, he had shown no interest in Sigi. That was all Sigi’s mother had ever told her.
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