Chapter One Thousand Nine Hundred Forty-Eight
6th December 1969
Progue, Bohemia
There were several wedding traditions common in England or America that Birdie wanted, which Michael found completely foreign and confusing. He had called Kiki for help in talking to Birdie and she had done two things. The first was to tell Michael to just let Birdie run with it agreeably because while it was their day, all eyes were going to be on her. All Michael needed to do was have whatever suit he intended to wear ready on the wedding day and if he quibbled about the costs, it would end badly for him. The second was that she had to come to Bohemia herself. Kiki said that she needed to get out after having been cooped up in a cottage on the grounds of the new Winter Residence for the previous weeks. At least that was the reason she gave, though Michael understood that she had other things that she was hiding from for the moment.
It was odd that of Michael’s entire family, the only one seemed interested in accompanying him to the pistol range was Kiki. Unfortunately, he found out that she had something in mind other than shooting paper targets. Getting drawn into a conversation about her most recent promotion just so of happened.
“I just don’t understand you” Michael said, “No one does.”
“Why does Poppa not wear anything of his uniform that shows any kind of Rank?” Kiki asked in reply.
“The two situations are not comparable” Michael said, “He is the commander of the entire Military and cannot be seen as playing favorites or interfering with the chain of command.”
“Yet he wears a Luftwaffe uniform when he plays that role” Kiki said, as she slid a magazine in her pistol, a 9mm service weapon as opposed to the bull barreled twenty-two match pistol that Michael was using today.
“He was involved with the Luftwaffe before he became Emperor” Michael said, “And his flight instructor’s badge is something that he has always been proud of. He could wear all the Service Orders he is entitled to, but he knows that would actually be doing what you tend to assume people think you do.”
Kiki frowned as she heard that as she put on her earmuffs. Michael barely had time to get his on before she started shooting at the targets. What she was doing wasn’t target shooting, it was putting as much lead as possible in the direction of the target. It was what you did when you were fighting a war, or in this case blowing off steam by making a lot of noise. Looking at the posters as they were reeled back to this end of the range, he could see that Kiki had generally hit the targets near the center. While it was hardly shooting that would qualify in competition, it was easily within what was referred to as minute-of-dirtbag.
“Why would you be angry about advancing your career?” Michael asked, “I was never given that chance.”
Michael had commanded a Panzer Company in Korea finishing the campaign as a Hauptmann. However, becoming King of Bohemia had ended his career in the Panzer Corps. He was the Commander in Chief of the Bohemian Army and Landwehr, technically a Field Marshal but he was still reminded occasionally that it was a largely honorary position. He certainly didn’t have the authority of one. Kiki worried about not being taken seriously, that was Michael’s reality. Most of the time, it felt like Michael was forever a Hauptmann with absolutely no hope of further advancement. Michael got the impression that if Kiki had gotten her way then she would probably be the most overqualified Lieutenant, or whatever the equivalent was, in the entire Medical Service. Which he thought was rather strange, but then, so was Kiki.
“They didn’t bother to tell me ahead of time” Kiki said, “They just went ahead and did it because they thought that I would try to decline the promotion. I thought that they had made a mistake in the first couple letters they sent me.”
“And would you have declined the promotion?” Michael asked.
Kiki paused for a second before she asked, “What does that have to do with anything?”
Michael gave her a sardonic look. He knew that their father had warned her that one day she would find herself handled in a manner that was the direct result of her being difficult at times. It seemed that day had come.
“They expect me to be the Executive Officer of the 34th Medical Services Regiment” Kiki said, “The Regiment is only a unit in name only, in peacetime it is spread across several hospitals and clinics in Berlin and Brandenburg.”
“You mean that you get to move about freely in the place you already live?” Michael asked, “Take on whatever cases interest you if you like? And that will be your career for the next couple years as you learn how to lead a Regiment? My heart bleeds for you Kiki.”
“There is more to it than…” Kiki started to say only to see that Michael had put on his ear protection, making conversation impossible.
As Michael took careful aim at the targets, careful to keep track of his breathing and heartbeat, he considered what Kiki had said. He was familiar with 34th Medical Services Regiment. In Korea they had been attached to the 4th Panzer Division, meaning that the 5th Panzer Brigade had regular dealings with them. Like the rest of the 2nd Army Corps, they were considered a premier unit. Someone high up clearly saw the potential of his little sister. Too bad she couldn’t see that in herself. Instead, she constantly questioned the validity of the action as if she had not earned her current place. It was Kiki’s own particular brand of insanity and it was mostly harmless, even if she could be absolutely infuriating at times.