Stupid Luck and Happenstance, Thread II
- Thread starter Peabody-Martini
- Start date
It will all depend on how much the space program is going to be budgeted for, it may be one of the other but not both or they will have to get some more nations to participate and have them pay their way in to the program.
Shadow Master
Banned
That was what I was thinking, that the German space program is soon going to become the starting point which evolves from a co-operative venture between Germany and the UK/France, but then in a very short time becomes something more than OTL ESA is today, what with no cold war/brain drain from Europe after WWII.
Once again, my hat goes off to PM, for an ongoing epic, that provides an always eagerly anticipated update to savor and enjoy. Very Well done, Sir!!!
Wow, like ewo. Can you really be that disappointed in your sons choices of career. How much of an asshole can he seriously be to say something like that?
"Dear Son, you are most likely going to die doing this job, so just make sure everything goes to Ilse so she can continue doing her own scientific research....she is pretty much more important to me than you are...."
FBKampfer
Banned
When I decided to be a chef, I also decided I had almost zero interest in ever owning, and even I would open that puppy up in a heartbeat!
It is one of Richthofens most strange aspects. I mean, his son has not only become a pilot, he's gone and become an astronaut! Something even higher than just a pilot! First ever, even. I think that it might be due to the fact
that Albrecht defied him and still managed to become a world renowed succes. I think it somehow galls him.
Especially if you picked up assorted pork roasts from around the world. From Char Siu to Schweinebraten
He's become a pilot, alright. A pilot for the navy. FOR THE NAVY! Not for the Luftwaffe, for the navy. The NAVY. I mean, the guys with those slow buckets of steel, long beards and even slower minds. The navy. I'm surprised he hasn't disowned his son.
The Space Race was 90% showing the Soviets we had a bigger rocket dick.
Without a Cold War and competition, anything outside Earth orbit is may not happen for a longer time.
On the other side of that, it may encourage worldwide cooperation to get so much farther.
But without the Voyagers grand tour the world would be a much poorer place scientifically, yes we would eventually get there but they were the spur for the great robot probes right up to New Horizons which passed Ultima Thule on new year's Day.
Unless I misunderstand you, it's nearly 20 years until the first Voyager probe would launch OTL.
Just when I thought the bugger was starting to mellow .... once an anal retentive .... always it seems. Your point is well made! I think you’ve hit the nail on the head.
Graf von Richthofen is the product of several generations of class and privilege and as a result of that he has developed a sense that his views of his family and their place in the world are inviolable.
He has an extremely large ego that was necessary for him to be the Great Ace of WWI.
Unfortunately for his family he doesn't understand that they are their own independent selves and that has resulted in his oldest son becoming a disappointment to him and an alcoholic.
His oldest daughter Helene has married some one who is now considered to be part of the "New Junker" class and he doesn't understand how someone like Hans with his record is not strutting around like a peacock and because of this he is reduced to being a lummox in his eyes.
Albrecht has basically surpassed him by doing something that no one can take away from him being the first man in space, and while the family name did help in opening doors, Albrecht did it on his own without any help or influence from his father.
He has an extremely large ego that was necessary for him to be the Great Ace of WWI.
Unfortunately for his family he doesn't understand that they are their own independent selves and that has resulted in his oldest son becoming a disappointment to him and an alcoholic.
His oldest daughter Helene has married some one who is now considered to be part of the "New Junker" class and he doesn't understand how someone like Hans with his record is not strutting around like a peacock and because of this he is reduced to being a lummox in his eyes.
Albrecht has basically surpassed him by doing something that no one can take away from him being the first man in space, and while the family name did help in opening doors, Albrecht did it on his own without any help or influence from his father.
Part 80, Chapter 1220
Chapter One Thousand Two Hundred Twenty
13th April 1957
Berlin
The staff of Leary’s Tavern was still working to put the place back in order. Jack Kennedy couldn’t help but notice that plywood covered one of the windows. He used Leary’s tavern as his impromptu office while he was in Berlin. That had its drawbacks at times like this.
“Have a wild night Leary?” Jack asked.
With that Jack got the stink eye from Leary Quinlan who was tending bar like he did most mornings.
“One of the goddamned Panzer Regiments let some of their men go on leave and they came here” Leary growled, “They managed to drink all the beer, but after the damage they did I’ll be lucky to break even for the night and one of my waitresses quit this morning because of them.”
Jack knew that for all his complaining, Leary bought his beer wholesale directly from the breweries. Here in the city he sold it at a considerable markup. That meant that if the party that had caused all the trouble the night before really had drunk all beer Leary would have come out far ahead even with the broken window.
“Did you report them to their Officers?” Jack asked.
“Those were the Officers” Leary said.
“I see” Jack replied, “Perhaps you ought to talk to the client who is supposed to meet me here, her brother is a General in the Panzer Corps.”
Leary made a face at that, “Official notice is all I need” He said sarcastically.
Jack just shrugged, “If it gets them to pay for a new window then it might be worth your while.”
If Leary heard him, he didn’t say because that was when Kat walked in. While she was an attractive woman, she was no Norma Bolender. Besides that, Jack preferred blonds to redheads.
“Morning Countess, the usual?” Leary asked as Jack led her to one of the booths.
“Yes” Kat said to Leary as she sat down across the table.
“So?” Jack asked, “What was so important that I needed to come thirteen hundred kilometers out of my way?”
“I pay a considerable amount for your time” Kat replied.
“And my firm loves you for that” Jack said.
“I’ve a situation that I need to get ahead of before I require the other services you offer” Kat said before she paused as Leary placed her drink, soda water with lime in front of her.
“You aren’t planning on killing someone again, are you?” Jack asked, “As your Legal Counsel I can tell you that would be bad no matter where you do it or why.”
“Don’t be obtuse Jack” Kat said, “If the last decade has taught me anything, it’s that trying to shoot my way out of situations just causes me trouble.”
“Good to hear” Jack replied, “What is the situation that you needed to discuss?”
“My friend Helene” Kat said, “She’s asking questions about my investments, where the money came from and why there is so much of it. Because she is concerned.”
With Jack’s help, Kat had been investing her father’s ill-gotten gains in projects in Berlin. It seemed that she was trying to become the German equivalent of the elderly Texas man from the joke who is listening to two tycoons brag about the size of their ranches, with oil, thousands of head of cattle and what they call their ranches on an airplane flight. When they ask him what he has he tells them that his property is a modest ten acres with no oil or cattle that he calls Downtown Dallas. Having Helene von Richthofen, an elected Member of the German Reichstag sniffing around Kat’s finances presented a huge problem for them and because of the impending marriage between Kat’s younger sister and the current von Richthofen heir the two families were going to be further meshed together in the future.
“I think that we’ve created enough of a paper trail that your finances will stand up to scrutiny” Jack said, “Still, your friend will need to be handled carefully.”
“She’s like a sister to me and I want to tell her about what I’m planning, but Helene is too much like her father” Kat said, “She wouldn’t be able to get past where the money came from.”
“I’ve never met the Graf” Jack said, “He has a reputation for being uncompromising.”
“You know phrase, spare the rod and spoil the child?” Kat asked and Jack nodded in reply, “With him it is made of steel and it’s the same one he has crammed up his ass.”
“I take it that says a lot about his relationship with his children?” Jack asked.
“You would not believe what he said to Bert and Ilse a few weeks ago” Kat replied, “He basically told them that he expects Bert to get himself killed, if they get married before that happens then at least his pension will see that Ilse is provided for.”
While Jack understood the cold-blooded logic behind that statement, it was a messed-up thing to have said.
“I would have thought that his problem would have been having another commoner marry into his family” Jack said.
“That’s not it” Kat said, “The Graf and his wife have always been kind to Ilse, the Graf himself though has always been… well, somewhat harsh with his own children.”
“I see” Jack replied, that cut a bit close to home for him.
“I don’t understand it” Kat said, “I’ve seen how he behaves towards Ilse, or any of his grandchildren. Completely different, and after what happened to Lothar… As I said, I don’t understand it.”
“That is not the sort of thing I can help you with” Jack said, “Keeping your finances from legal entanglements is far easier.”
13th April 1957
Berlin
The staff of Leary’s Tavern was still working to put the place back in order. Jack Kennedy couldn’t help but notice that plywood covered one of the windows. He used Leary’s tavern as his impromptu office while he was in Berlin. That had its drawbacks at times like this.
“Have a wild night Leary?” Jack asked.
With that Jack got the stink eye from Leary Quinlan who was tending bar like he did most mornings.
“One of the goddamned Panzer Regiments let some of their men go on leave and they came here” Leary growled, “They managed to drink all the beer, but after the damage they did I’ll be lucky to break even for the night and one of my waitresses quit this morning because of them.”
Jack knew that for all his complaining, Leary bought his beer wholesale directly from the breweries. Here in the city he sold it at a considerable markup. That meant that if the party that had caused all the trouble the night before really had drunk all beer Leary would have come out far ahead even with the broken window.
“Did you report them to their Officers?” Jack asked.
“Those were the Officers” Leary said.
“I see” Jack replied, “Perhaps you ought to talk to the client who is supposed to meet me here, her brother is a General in the Panzer Corps.”
Leary made a face at that, “Official notice is all I need” He said sarcastically.
Jack just shrugged, “If it gets them to pay for a new window then it might be worth your while.”
If Leary heard him, he didn’t say because that was when Kat walked in. While she was an attractive woman, she was no Norma Bolender. Besides that, Jack preferred blonds to redheads.
“Morning Countess, the usual?” Leary asked as Jack led her to one of the booths.
“Yes” Kat said to Leary as she sat down across the table.
“So?” Jack asked, “What was so important that I needed to come thirteen hundred kilometers out of my way?”
“I pay a considerable amount for your time” Kat replied.
“And my firm loves you for that” Jack said.
“I’ve a situation that I need to get ahead of before I require the other services you offer” Kat said before she paused as Leary placed her drink, soda water with lime in front of her.
“You aren’t planning on killing someone again, are you?” Jack asked, “As your Legal Counsel I can tell you that would be bad no matter where you do it or why.”
“Don’t be obtuse Jack” Kat said, “If the last decade has taught me anything, it’s that trying to shoot my way out of situations just causes me trouble.”
“Good to hear” Jack replied, “What is the situation that you needed to discuss?”
“My friend Helene” Kat said, “She’s asking questions about my investments, where the money came from and why there is so much of it. Because she is concerned.”
With Jack’s help, Kat had been investing her father’s ill-gotten gains in projects in Berlin. It seemed that she was trying to become the German equivalent of the elderly Texas man from the joke who is listening to two tycoons brag about the size of their ranches, with oil, thousands of head of cattle and what they call their ranches on an airplane flight. When they ask him what he has he tells them that his property is a modest ten acres with no oil or cattle that he calls Downtown Dallas. Having Helene von Richthofen, an elected Member of the German Reichstag sniffing around Kat’s finances presented a huge problem for them and because of the impending marriage between Kat’s younger sister and the current von Richthofen heir the two families were going to be further meshed together in the future.
“I think that we’ve created enough of a paper trail that your finances will stand up to scrutiny” Jack said, “Still, your friend will need to be handled carefully.”
“She’s like a sister to me and I want to tell her about what I’m planning, but Helene is too much like her father” Kat said, “She wouldn’t be able to get past where the money came from.”
“I’ve never met the Graf” Jack said, “He has a reputation for being uncompromising.”
“You know phrase, spare the rod and spoil the child?” Kat asked and Jack nodded in reply, “With him it is made of steel and it’s the same one he has crammed up his ass.”
“I take it that says a lot about his relationship with his children?” Jack asked.
“You would not believe what he said to Bert and Ilse a few weeks ago” Kat replied, “He basically told them that he expects Bert to get himself killed, if they get married before that happens then at least his pension will see that Ilse is provided for.”
While Jack understood the cold-blooded logic behind that statement, it was a messed-up thing to have said.
“I would have thought that his problem would have been having another commoner marry into his family” Jack said.
“That’s not it” Kat said, “The Graf and his wife have always been kind to Ilse, the Graf himself though has always been… well, somewhat harsh with his own children.”
“I see” Jack replied, that cut a bit close to home for him.
“I don’t understand it” Kat said, “I’ve seen how he behaves towards Ilse, or any of his grandchildren. Completely different, and after what happened to Lothar… As I said, I don’t understand it.”
“That is not the sort of thing I can help you with” Jack said, “Keeping your finances from legal entanglements is far easier.”
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If you only knew what you got up to in another timeline, Jack.