Falkenburg
Monthly Donor
And now I'm imagining Freddy in Special Forces training. Or possibly being taken under Tilo's wing (Flipper?).
Stupid Luck and Happenstance, Thread II
- Thread starter Peabody-Martini
- Start date
As Freddy already knows and interacts with Kat, I would suspect that she would be his go to, in this case.
Actually having the Crown Prince join the Marine Infantry is the best possible solution because it is like supporting a perpetual last place team, no one really holds it against you for doing that, and in eyes of the rest of the German Armed Services the Marine Infantry is in last place.
For the Grand Admiral this is coup for him as one of the main goals for the future of the German Navy is to have a professional Marine Infantry instead of being the dumping ground of the Heer.
For the Grand Admiral this is coup for him as one of the main goals for the future of the German Navy is to have a professional Marine Infantry instead of being the dumping ground of the Heer.
He is.
Also, wouldn't what happened to Louis older brother play into the equation?
It's all well and good Freddy choosing, but his Father damn well gets the last word.
Unfortunately, Johnson's behavior has made both slogans, especially the latter, rather dodgy, though it would be amusing to see the Double Entendres get seized upon. I mean giving a press conference naked is definitely up there with the exhibitionist Johnson.
Part 78, Chapter 1176
Chapter One Thousand One Hundred Seventy-Six
11th April 1956
Peenemünde
It was all that Albrecht could do not to check his watch. The Queen of England and the President of France were present, and Emperor Louis Ferdinand was giving an address to open the public portion of this conference. Mostly it was the Press, several dignitaries and representatives from various universities and scientific foundations in the audience.
“I conclude today by saying that it is my greatest hope that the nations of the world can unite in cooperation to explore the Heavens so that the entire world can enjoy the benefits during a lasting peace” Louis Ferdinand said to polite applause.
The Emperor was regarded as a good administrator, a decent leader on policy and a steady hand on tiller during turbulent times. What he wasn’t though was a rousing public speaker. When Albrecht had been inducted into the Pour le Mérite a week earlier the Emperor had talked to him at length about the Space Program. It had been a frank discussion with Louis revealing that he was knowledgeable of the rockets and the principles involved. What the Emperor had been crystal clear about was the brass-tacks appraisal of the Space Program. If they had not been as successful it was very likely that the Reichstag would have clipped their wings because of the massive expenses that the program was incurring. Their backers were able to point to the surprisingly tangible public good that had come about because of the Program. Eventually, their luck would run out. The funding would end up on the chopping block and sooner or later one of their missions would end in tragedy with the whole world watching. There had always been a lot of gallows humor thrown around in the Space Program, since von Braun’s pig roast anyway. Albrecht had always seen it as a personal matter, he might end up blasted across the South China Sea or burning up on reentry but that affected mostly him and those close to him. The Emperor suggested that it would affect the larger public.
Today’s events were a hedge against that, the Government had already been talking about splitting off the Space Program into its own Agency. Now they were in discussions with the British and French to merge efforts, have it become a Multi-National Agency. It would spread out the costs and the blame when something inevitably went wrong. They would also be sharing the glory if this worked out, something that rankled Albrecht. The British and French had been cooperating for a long time, Germany, followed by the Italy and Greece initially. He supposed that it made sense thought he had no idea that the Italians and the Greeks were interested in outer space. If they were interested in helping to defray the costs, then more power to them.
“I am proud to introduce two of men whose pioneering work has brought us here today” The Emperor said into the microphone, “Korvettenkapitän Albrecht von Richthofen and Commander Eric Brown.”
There was applause, more than was just polite this time. It was noticeable that the Emperor didn’t mention just who had been the first into orbit. Everyone knew though, that was something that too enormous for them not to. A few minutes later, both Albrecht and Brown were headed up to the stage to receive the medal that had been issued specially for those who had been to space, it had been the citation had been deliberately worded so that it could be issued regardless of rank or nationality. As a result, the medal was a bronze disk with a representation of Polaris on one side and the date on the other. The ribbon’s colors were blue and gold, colors that were not associated with the national colors of any of the nations involved. It made events like this one possible and in Albrecht’s case it was in addition to the PLM and a handful of scientific medals he had received. All for coming back alive after getting shot into orbit aboard a capsule not much bigger than a phonebooth. It was quite a ride.
Not all of it had been easy, he had subjected to a wide array of medical tests as the program tried to understand the effects of weightlessness. Then the other Holz brother, the one who didn’t get all the Press had been interested in speaking with him. It was an odd encounter, Surgeon General Holz knew a disturbing amount about him even though they had never met before and the questions had delved into odd topics. Was Albrecht aware of the possibility that his father saw him as a rival and was their relationship was one of the things that had driven him? That seemed a bit absurd. Then General Holz asked about his complicated relationship with a woman who got along better with his parents than he did. Did that present problems? Had he shown any of the signs of traumatic stress since he had returned from the Gulf of Mexico? Albrecht had been fuming before he had left the office. The problem was that he wasn’t sure that the General Holz was entirely wrong, just that those were not things Albrecht wanted to go into and none of the shrinks he had met with in Peenemünde had ever come at him the way that General Holz had. Albrecht figured that it came from being a General as well as a shrink.
“Enjoying the circus?” Brown asked once Albrecht was standing next to him.
“I would rather be flying” Albrecht replied.
“You and me both” Brown said as the flash bulbs went off.
11th April 1956
Peenemünde
It was all that Albrecht could do not to check his watch. The Queen of England and the President of France were present, and Emperor Louis Ferdinand was giving an address to open the public portion of this conference. Mostly it was the Press, several dignitaries and representatives from various universities and scientific foundations in the audience.
“I conclude today by saying that it is my greatest hope that the nations of the world can unite in cooperation to explore the Heavens so that the entire world can enjoy the benefits during a lasting peace” Louis Ferdinand said to polite applause.
The Emperor was regarded as a good administrator, a decent leader on policy and a steady hand on tiller during turbulent times. What he wasn’t though was a rousing public speaker. When Albrecht had been inducted into the Pour le Mérite a week earlier the Emperor had talked to him at length about the Space Program. It had been a frank discussion with Louis revealing that he was knowledgeable of the rockets and the principles involved. What the Emperor had been crystal clear about was the brass-tacks appraisal of the Space Program. If they had not been as successful it was very likely that the Reichstag would have clipped their wings because of the massive expenses that the program was incurring. Their backers were able to point to the surprisingly tangible public good that had come about because of the Program. Eventually, their luck would run out. The funding would end up on the chopping block and sooner or later one of their missions would end in tragedy with the whole world watching. There had always been a lot of gallows humor thrown around in the Space Program, since von Braun’s pig roast anyway. Albrecht had always seen it as a personal matter, he might end up blasted across the South China Sea or burning up on reentry but that affected mostly him and those close to him. The Emperor suggested that it would affect the larger public.
Today’s events were a hedge against that, the Government had already been talking about splitting off the Space Program into its own Agency. Now they were in discussions with the British and French to merge efforts, have it become a Multi-National Agency. It would spread out the costs and the blame when something inevitably went wrong. They would also be sharing the glory if this worked out, something that rankled Albrecht. The British and French had been cooperating for a long time, Germany, followed by the Italy and Greece initially. He supposed that it made sense thought he had no idea that the Italians and the Greeks were interested in outer space. If they were interested in helping to defray the costs, then more power to them.
“I am proud to introduce two of men whose pioneering work has brought us here today” The Emperor said into the microphone, “Korvettenkapitän Albrecht von Richthofen and Commander Eric Brown.”
There was applause, more than was just polite this time. It was noticeable that the Emperor didn’t mention just who had been the first into orbit. Everyone knew though, that was something that too enormous for them not to. A few minutes later, both Albrecht and Brown were headed up to the stage to receive the medal that had been issued specially for those who had been to space, it had been the citation had been deliberately worded so that it could be issued regardless of rank or nationality. As a result, the medal was a bronze disk with a representation of Polaris on one side and the date on the other. The ribbon’s colors were blue and gold, colors that were not associated with the national colors of any of the nations involved. It made events like this one possible and in Albrecht’s case it was in addition to the PLM and a handful of scientific medals he had received. All for coming back alive after getting shot into orbit aboard a capsule not much bigger than a phonebooth. It was quite a ride.
Not all of it had been easy, he had subjected to a wide array of medical tests as the program tried to understand the effects of weightlessness. Then the other Holz brother, the one who didn’t get all the Press had been interested in speaking with him. It was an odd encounter, Surgeon General Holz knew a disturbing amount about him even though they had never met before and the questions had delved into odd topics. Was Albrecht aware of the possibility that his father saw him as a rival and was their relationship was one of the things that had driven him? That seemed a bit absurd. Then General Holz asked about his complicated relationship with a woman who got along better with his parents than he did. Did that present problems? Had he shown any of the signs of traumatic stress since he had returned from the Gulf of Mexico? Albrecht had been fuming before he had left the office. The problem was that he wasn’t sure that the General Holz was entirely wrong, just that those were not things Albrecht wanted to go into and none of the shrinks he had met with in Peenemünde had ever come at him the way that General Holz had. Albrecht figured that it came from being a General as well as a shrink.
“Enjoying the circus?” Brown asked once Albrecht was standing next to him.
“I would rather be flying” Albrecht replied.
“You and me both” Brown said as the flash bulbs went off.
Last edited:
Hopefully Schmidt still heads the alt-ESA. I'm just imagining all the non-Germans having the false relief of "At least he's on our side now."
(Where we readers know he's still just on his own.)
(Where we readers know he's still just on his own.)
Groundless speculation on my part, it seems that the Europeans are going with an Earth Orbital Laboratory mission instead of a Moon landing mission.
There is a need to justify this very expensive program and having scientific experiments may sell the public on the costs.
With the first astronauts being pilots with mostly engineering backgrounds there is a need to teach them how to do life science and earth sciences projects and I could see Ilse being someone who helps designs the projects and teaches the astronauts how to conduct experiments in space.
There is a need to justify this very expensive program and having scientific experiments may sell the public on the costs.
With the first astronauts being pilots with mostly engineering backgrounds there is a need to teach them how to do life science and earth sciences projects and I could see Ilse being someone who helps designs the projects and teaches the astronauts how to conduct experiments in space.