May 28TH Portland Oregon
Betty Simkowsky was a little disappointed it the number of attendees it was fewer than they had hope for but still the people who were there made up for it with enthusiasm. While the TV reporters made sure that their point of view was relayed to the local population. The die in had been carried out with plenty of enthusiasm and the leaders of this protest were already talking about another in a few weeks.
Pretoria South Africa
At the American embassy in South Africa, they were holding a memorial day celebration. Ericka was not going to be at the party apparently her uncle had let her father know that she was running around with an American diplomat so she was keeping a low profile for a while. So Alan was mixing with the crowd and he stopped to talk to Conrad Els he had met through Erika, he was now supposedly a diplomat but he had served up north in the fighting a few years before. He had some interesting stories to tell nothing earth shattering but interesting. Conrad was smiling when he saw Alan and he told him that he had heard about Erika’s uncle telling her father about Alan. Conrad had found out that Ericka being of a marriageable age and her father not liking the crop of young men living in near the farm had decided to send Ericka to Pretoria find a more suitable husband. Instead she had taken up with an American Diplomat and her uncle was not one bit happy about it.
Conrad was both a member of the diplomatic service and the security service so he had been happy to encourage the relationship. While he had no expectation of turning Alan into a spy or anything like that, he was a useful contact. He had found out that Alan like to talk about his job and the people inside now while none of the information was classified much less secret but it was interesting. The person he told was Erika and since Conrad had shown nothing but a brotherly interest in her and had not been judgmental about her relationship with Alan. She had been quite open about what Alan had said and when she was around Alan was a bit more open to gossiping with Conrad. Conrad liked to talk gossip especially with someone who did not exaggerate what was happening.
But at the same time Conrad had been feeding accurate information to Alan so that Alan would look good. It gave Conrad a point of view about what was happening the inside of the Embassy who was and who was out, as well as who was or was not a real friend of South Africa. Unfortunately Alan was not a friend of South Africa but Conrad could live with that fact. But unlike a lot of the diplomats he had no bad habits that allowed Conrad to use against him and that actually made Conrad happy. He did not like to associate with some of the diplomats since they had tastes that repulsed him.
Since Erika had been keeping her distance from Alan he had been less forth coming about what was going on inside the embassy. Conrad smiled and leaned closer to Alan and he commented, “You know a mutual acquaintance of ours is going to be at that bar down the street tonight after ten.” Alex immediately lit up and he thanked Conrad for that bit of information. Then the two men started to talk small talk at first, later on Conrad commented about the the pending arrival of the Frunze and the fact that members of the ANC would be in Luanda Angola to welcome Russian warship. Alan first asked, **Is my comment off the record.** Conrad replied, **I will not mention your name at all or your comments specifically.** Strangely enough Alan trusted Conrad to keep his word. **The State department is pissed, they have told the ANC that they need to steer a more neutral course in world affairs. That we want majority black rule and they need to be patient.** Conrad nodded his head as he considered what he had been told, his interpretation was that the ANC was making it easier for the Reagan Administration to make nice with the South African government in order to keep the flow of strategic materials to the United States.
Conrad then commented, **So Reagan’s policy of Constructive Engagement will continue.** Alan nodded his head but he said nothing but Conrad was right Reagan could claim that the close relationship that the ANC and Russians had was a sure sign of its communist tendencies. So a gradual approach to the transfer of power to the black majority under the guidelines of Constructive Engagement. Those state department officials that supported more drastic measures to bring about the end of Apartheid would have to shut up for a while. At least until the memory of the Frunze’s visit faded somewhat. But for Conrad it was clear that the white South African government had gained more time to find a way to keep control. For Conrad the idea of black majority rule was anathema to him.
Then Alan commented he needed to do a bit of mingling along the way he paused to say a few nice things to another South African officials wife, Alan was a whiz a noticing little things like hairdos and the like. He could have a woman smiling ever so happily that he had noticed it and complimented her on it.
Conrad resolved that Ericka was going to have an American boyfriend at least until Alan was reassigned. An uncle would have to understand that it was for the good of South Africa even if it meant her losing her cherry. Her father would be told that she involved in security operations and what she was involved in was for the good South Africa or Conrad assumed she and Alan were doing. For a variety of reasons he had not bugged either her or Alan’s apartment.
Ericka sat in the bar she was in a rebellious mood, her Uncles’ attitude about her dating the American annoyed her. He had accused her of sleeping with Alan. She was not a little girl and she could take care of herself. She was nobody’s fool. As for sleeping with Alan well that would come if and when she felt like it and not one minute before she decided to. She valued her virginity and she was not going to give to just anyone and that man would have to jump through more than a few hoops for her before she would let them have it.
West Berlin
Gunter met Dieter at a bar and while having a beer with him Dieter confided in Gunter. An Aunt of his was going to visit family in West Germany. So she needed someone to stop by and feed her fish and Dieter had volunteered. The apartment she lived in was one street back from and on the third floor of the building. There had been a building in front of it but it had burned down and from the apartment they had a good view of where to event would be held. Furthermore while the house had a good view of the site, the Guard Towers. The building that should have kept apartment from seeing the location of the event had burned down. So the ability of the Border Police to shot back would be limited now they had a perfect spot to carry out the attack. Now it was looking more and more likely that Honecker and his allies would pay a price for their crimes against humanity and their families. Dieter paused for a second as he considered a thought, then he spoke, “Honecker must be getting unbelievably arrogant if I was a security officer I would be telling him this is a very bad idea.” Gunther smiled and he replied, “I don’t care why he making the speech here all I care about is putting a bullet through his thick skull.
May 31st
The Frunze arrives in Luanda Angola to the enthusiastic welcome from the Angolans, the ANC and the Cubans. The next three days hundreds of people would see the proof of the power of the Soviet Union. Newspapers and Radio in Angola proclaimed that the South Africans days were numbered. While in South Africa on TV, the radio and newspaper’s there were virulent news stories, commentary and editorials. All decrying the communist threat to southern Africa with the America and the wests refusal to face the facts. All the front pages of all the papers in South Africa showing photos of the Frunze at anchor in the port of Luanda, Angola.