The joke was that the Lightning ran out of fuel before they found its top speed.
A joke of a different kind was that the top engine, if it overheated, would melt through the bottom engine.
Stupid Luck and Happenstance, Thread II
- Thread starter Peabody-Martini
- Start date
A joke of a different kind was that the top engine, if it overheated, would melt through the bottom engine.
Part 83, Chapter 1267
Chapter One Thousand Two Hundred Sixty-Seven
17th February 1958
Berlin
“I actually think it is a good thing that you are here” Kat said as she walked with Albrecht through the Winter Residence. “Ilse had a major surprise that changes much of what she believed about herself. Her life, and yours, are probably going to be very different from what you might have had planned.”
That is a major understatement, Albrecht thought to himself. He couldn’t help but noticing that the Palace seemed colder and darker than he remembered it, not just because of the season. It was like if the life of the place had gone elsewhere and what was left was worn paper thin. He also noticed that Kat no longer bothered with a uniform or any medals. If he didn’t know her, he would have just assumed that Kat was a professional who worked in the financial district of Mitte judging from her clothes. Business informal was the term for it.
“You have briefed the Emperor and the Chancellor before” Kat said, “This time you are going to be briefing members of the shadow cabinet as well. I don’t think that I need to explain to you the importance of not alienating anyone in that room. Just stick with the facts, what your continuing mission is and what not. Try to avoid personal opinions.”
“Yes, Ma’am” Albrecht said, for lack of anything better to say. Regardless of how she chose to present herself, Kat was a Gräfin and General in her own right. As much as he wanted to avoid alienating the politicians, she was also someone to be mindful of.
“Good” Kat said, “You are on the shortlist to be promoted to Fregattenkapitän. I don’t need to tell you how easily you can screw that all up.”
Albrecht gulped, this was a lot more involved than it was the last time he had briefed the Emperor.
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Ben was many things, but he was not an athlete by any stretch of the imagination. His father had understood but had insisted that he sign up for the Football Club with his school mates anyway, to help develop his character and make friends. His Club’s practice ahead of the upcoming Spring Season had landed him in the Casualty Department covered in mud and with a wrenched knee that had swollen to twice its normal size. When a Doctor had come around a few hours earlier, he had given Ben an ice-pack for his knee and told him not to wander off until they had taken an X-Ray of Ben’s knee. He had seemed extremely pleased with his wit, Ben wasn’t in the least bit impressed. It had been a Hospital Porter and an X-Ray technician who had taken care of the rest.
Normally, Ben’s mother would have shown up by now to collect him and hear the extent of the damage that he had done to himself this time, but she had a club of her own that she was attending this afternoon. The wives of the University Professors got together every Monday so that they could discuss literature and drink wine, mostly they drank until they completely forgot about whatever book they happened to be reading that week. Ben’s mother wouldn’t miss it for the world. So, Ben was waiting for his father to show up, with his father giving a lecture this afternoon it was hardly a surprise that Ben was still waiting.
“If there is one thing that I like it is a captive audience” A new Doctor said, with a smile. This one was a woman and she fancied herself a comedian like her colleague. “You will be pleased to know that the X-Ray revealed that you didn’t break any bones.”
Ben got a good look at her, middle-aged, short grey hair, fire-plug shaped. He was reminded of a bulldog and not the cuddly dog with jowls that was basically a lapdog that most people thought of. No, it was the savage brute that patrolled the salvage yard that near where he had lived before Tempelhof. She lifted the icepack off his knee to get a look at it, “You still did quite the number on yourself I see” The Doctor said, “My colleague thinks you didn’t manage to tear anything in there, just a sprain.”
Ben had no idea exactly how that all worked. He just knew that it hurt, a lot. Then he noticed the what was embroidered on her white coat was Oberstarzt N. Berg and Ben realized who he was dealing with here.
“You’re Kiki’s friend?” Ben asked, “The one she talks about sometimes. Isn’t this outside your specialty?”
“I’m a bit more, or less, than a friend depending on one’s perspective” Berg said, somewhat amused. “I’m her mentor as she interested in pursuing a career in medicine. You on the other hand, really are a friend of hers and one of the benefits of rank is being able to sometimes take on cases that interest me.”
Ben tried to hide his disappointment in being called Kiki’s friend. He wondered if he was even that.
“Kiki is not talking to me right now” Ben said, “I said something that turned out to be wrong but didn’t know it at the time.”
“And that turned into an argument?” Berg asked.
“Yes” Ben replied.
“When was that?”
That seemed like an odd question to ask, but Ben answered it. “The Saturday after New Year’s” He said.
“So, the fourth” Berg said, “How interesting.”
“What does that have to do with anything?” Ben asked.
“Nothing” Berg replied, “Just that you have a lot to learn Benjamin.”
17th February 1958
Berlin
“I actually think it is a good thing that you are here” Kat said as she walked with Albrecht through the Winter Residence. “Ilse had a major surprise that changes much of what she believed about herself. Her life, and yours, are probably going to be very different from what you might have had planned.”
That is a major understatement, Albrecht thought to himself. He couldn’t help but noticing that the Palace seemed colder and darker than he remembered it, not just because of the season. It was like if the life of the place had gone elsewhere and what was left was worn paper thin. He also noticed that Kat no longer bothered with a uniform or any medals. If he didn’t know her, he would have just assumed that Kat was a professional who worked in the financial district of Mitte judging from her clothes. Business informal was the term for it.
“You have briefed the Emperor and the Chancellor before” Kat said, “This time you are going to be briefing members of the shadow cabinet as well. I don’t think that I need to explain to you the importance of not alienating anyone in that room. Just stick with the facts, what your continuing mission is and what not. Try to avoid personal opinions.”
“Yes, Ma’am” Albrecht said, for lack of anything better to say. Regardless of how she chose to present herself, Kat was a Gräfin and General in her own right. As much as he wanted to avoid alienating the politicians, she was also someone to be mindful of.
“Good” Kat said, “You are on the shortlist to be promoted to Fregattenkapitän. I don’t need to tell you how easily you can screw that all up.”
Albrecht gulped, this was a lot more involved than it was the last time he had briefed the Emperor.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Ben was many things, but he was not an athlete by any stretch of the imagination. His father had understood but had insisted that he sign up for the Football Club with his school mates anyway, to help develop his character and make friends. His Club’s practice ahead of the upcoming Spring Season had landed him in the Casualty Department covered in mud and with a wrenched knee that had swollen to twice its normal size. When a Doctor had come around a few hours earlier, he had given Ben an ice-pack for his knee and told him not to wander off until they had taken an X-Ray of Ben’s knee. He had seemed extremely pleased with his wit, Ben wasn’t in the least bit impressed. It had been a Hospital Porter and an X-Ray technician who had taken care of the rest.
Normally, Ben’s mother would have shown up by now to collect him and hear the extent of the damage that he had done to himself this time, but she had a club of her own that she was attending this afternoon. The wives of the University Professors got together every Monday so that they could discuss literature and drink wine, mostly they drank until they completely forgot about whatever book they happened to be reading that week. Ben’s mother wouldn’t miss it for the world. So, Ben was waiting for his father to show up, with his father giving a lecture this afternoon it was hardly a surprise that Ben was still waiting.
“If there is one thing that I like it is a captive audience” A new Doctor said, with a smile. This one was a woman and she fancied herself a comedian like her colleague. “You will be pleased to know that the X-Ray revealed that you didn’t break any bones.”
Ben got a good look at her, middle-aged, short grey hair, fire-plug shaped. He was reminded of a bulldog and not the cuddly dog with jowls that was basically a lapdog that most people thought of. No, it was the savage brute that patrolled the salvage yard that near where he had lived before Tempelhof. She lifted the icepack off his knee to get a look at it, “You still did quite the number on yourself I see” The Doctor said, “My colleague thinks you didn’t manage to tear anything in there, just a sprain.”
Ben had no idea exactly how that all worked. He just knew that it hurt, a lot. Then he noticed the what was embroidered on her white coat was Oberstarzt N. Berg and Ben realized who he was dealing with here.
“You’re Kiki’s friend?” Ben asked, “The one she talks about sometimes. Isn’t this outside your specialty?”
“I’m a bit more, or less, than a friend depending on one’s perspective” Berg said, somewhat amused. “I’m her mentor as she interested in pursuing a career in medicine. You on the other hand, really are a friend of hers and one of the benefits of rank is being able to sometimes take on cases that interest me.”
Ben tried to hide his disappointment in being called Kiki’s friend. He wondered if he was even that.
“Kiki is not talking to me right now” Ben said, “I said something that turned out to be wrong but didn’t know it at the time.”
“And that turned into an argument?” Berg asked.
“Yes” Ben replied.
“When was that?”
That seemed like an odd question to ask, but Ben answered it. “The Saturday after New Year’s” He said.
“So, the fourth” Berg said, “How interesting.”
“What does that have to do with anything?” Ben asked.
“Nothing” Berg replied, “Just that you have a lot to learn Benjamin.”
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Of course. If you don't know the code, you're screwed. How could it not be plain what was being said?
If you do know the code, you're screwed. How dare you infer from such minimal signs?
"Oh God the Inhumanity" Ah to be 16 and naive again, shit not oh my life...
And always just happen to have the necessary painkillers and chocolate available.
Remembers that I was still naiive like this at the 18-19 age...
.
Part 83, Chapter 1268
Chapter One Thousand Two Hundred Sixty-Eight
21st February 1958
Berlin
“Benjamin Hirsch was in Casualty on Monday evening” Berg said, “Knee injury, we had a nice talk.”
Kiki kept her focus on her lunch, she knew that Ben had been injured. When Kiki had gone to see him in his parent’s house a couple days earlier, it had been the first time that she had seen him in weeks. It was what had come afterwards. Ben’s mother had seemed pleasant enough, but she had asked Kiki a series of questions about who she was, who her parents were and what her relationship with the Gräfin was. There were also a few questions about Ilse. It was obviously more than just mere curiosity. Those questions were clearly an effort to sus out who she was, and Ben’s mother didn’t seem too pleased with Kiki’s usual half-truths and evasions. It was there that Kiki realized how little she knew about Ben’s mother. Would she show the same discretion that Ben had if she ever figured out who Kiki really was? Or was she a gossip who would tell everyone the neighborhood? It was one more thing to worry about.
“He seems like a nice boy” Berg said, “Capable of learning.”
Kiki was aware that Berg sorted people in general, but men in particular, into two categories; those capable and incapable of learning, eventually bettering themselves. Kiki was also knew that Doctor Berg placed the vast majority of people into the later category.
“I was a bit surprised to learn that you’ve not been on speaking terms for the last month” Berg concluded.
“He was being stupid” Kiki said defensively.
“I think that goes both ways in this case” Berg replied, “You cannot fault someone for not being able to read your mind. Then you did pick an unnecessary fight because you weren’t feeling well.”
Kiki frowned at that, she never should have told Doctor Berg how she had tried to get Ben to kiss her on New Year’s Eve. Berg also referenced something else that was an embarrassing reminder that Berg probably knew more about the physical aspects of Kiki than she did.
“What was I supposed to do?” Kiki asked, “Explain then apologize?”
“Are you saying that you let pride keep you from a meaningful relationship?” Berg asked in reply.
“That wouldn’t be how I would have put it.”
Berg was silent for a moment.
“Life might seem difficult for you now, but you’ve no idea how relatively easy things are for you Kiki” Berg said, “When I was your age the roles that young people were expected to play were a lot more rigid. For me personally there was a lot of confusion and there are certain laws that were rigorously enforced that were a serious threat to me.”
Kiki had heard the rumors about Doctor Berg, but she had not mentioned the substance behind them even obliquely until now. Even now what Kiki had heard could probably cause Berg serious trouble in the wrong ears. It was something that Kiki would keep to herself, but what could she have possibly done to have earned that sort of trust?
New York City, New York
“Your father thought that you had gone around the bend by joining the Army until we started hearing that you got yourself into the Green Berets” Thurston said. He was a business associate of Parker’s father. Typical of such men, Parker found himself counting his fingers after shaking Thurston’s hand. Parker was careful not to show annoyance at Thurston’s use of informal name of 1st Special Forces Group.
“I saw an opportunity that wasn’t exactly clear from the outside” Parker replied. That was pure bullshit, but if Parker had learned anything from Jonny it was that there was always an advantage in having people thinking that you were a lot savvier than you really were.
“Good call” Thurston said and then he slapped Parker on the shoulder. Parker had to work to hide his revulsion.
Going on leave in the middle of winter wasn’t Parker’s idea. It had been a case of use it or lose it and during the better times of the year to take leave the 1st SFG was expected to be busy doing something, somewhere. Not that Parker would know any details. Jonny had made plans of his own and had gone to Washington D.C. to see his girlfriend. Parker could only shake his head at the thought of Jonny, the High School drop out and gearhead going out with a College educated journalist. One year after they had started going out, they were still together. I like gals who knows what they want, Jonny said when Parker asked.
Parker was stuck in New York, attending his parent’s cocktail party where he was the youngest man in the room by at least twenty years.
“What is this about you being called Whiskey that Jim mentioned?” Thurston asked. Parker’s father had been talking out of turn again.
“Someone from personnel saw my full name” Parker replied, “Jamison, as in the whiskey brand.”
“Ha!” Thurston exclaimed, “Probably the only thing that the Irish get right.”
“I think that is a bit incorrect” Parker said, Jonny would have already been trying to provoke Thurston to further escalation once he had shown his true colors, so that Jonny would have an excuse to mop the floor with him. It seemed strange how the people in this room imagined themselves to be so worldly, yet from what Parker could see they were just as provincial as people he encountered anywhere.
21st February 1958
Berlin
“Benjamin Hirsch was in Casualty on Monday evening” Berg said, “Knee injury, we had a nice talk.”
Kiki kept her focus on her lunch, she knew that Ben had been injured. When Kiki had gone to see him in his parent’s house a couple days earlier, it had been the first time that she had seen him in weeks. It was what had come afterwards. Ben’s mother had seemed pleasant enough, but she had asked Kiki a series of questions about who she was, who her parents were and what her relationship with the Gräfin was. There were also a few questions about Ilse. It was obviously more than just mere curiosity. Those questions were clearly an effort to sus out who she was, and Ben’s mother didn’t seem too pleased with Kiki’s usual half-truths and evasions. It was there that Kiki realized how little she knew about Ben’s mother. Would she show the same discretion that Ben had if she ever figured out who Kiki really was? Or was she a gossip who would tell everyone the neighborhood? It was one more thing to worry about.
“He seems like a nice boy” Berg said, “Capable of learning.”
Kiki was aware that Berg sorted people in general, but men in particular, into two categories; those capable and incapable of learning, eventually bettering themselves. Kiki was also knew that Doctor Berg placed the vast majority of people into the later category.
“I was a bit surprised to learn that you’ve not been on speaking terms for the last month” Berg concluded.
“He was being stupid” Kiki said defensively.
“I think that goes both ways in this case” Berg replied, “You cannot fault someone for not being able to read your mind. Then you did pick an unnecessary fight because you weren’t feeling well.”
Kiki frowned at that, she never should have told Doctor Berg how she had tried to get Ben to kiss her on New Year’s Eve. Berg also referenced something else that was an embarrassing reminder that Berg probably knew more about the physical aspects of Kiki than she did.
“What was I supposed to do?” Kiki asked, “Explain then apologize?”
“Are you saying that you let pride keep you from a meaningful relationship?” Berg asked in reply.
“That wouldn’t be how I would have put it.”
Berg was silent for a moment.
“Life might seem difficult for you now, but you’ve no idea how relatively easy things are for you Kiki” Berg said, “When I was your age the roles that young people were expected to play were a lot more rigid. For me personally there was a lot of confusion and there are certain laws that were rigorously enforced that were a serious threat to me.”
Kiki had heard the rumors about Doctor Berg, but she had not mentioned the substance behind them even obliquely until now. Even now what Kiki had heard could probably cause Berg serious trouble in the wrong ears. It was something that Kiki would keep to herself, but what could she have possibly done to have earned that sort of trust?
New York City, New York
“Your father thought that you had gone around the bend by joining the Army until we started hearing that you got yourself into the Green Berets” Thurston said. He was a business associate of Parker’s father. Typical of such men, Parker found himself counting his fingers after shaking Thurston’s hand. Parker was careful not to show annoyance at Thurston’s use of informal name of 1st Special Forces Group.
“I saw an opportunity that wasn’t exactly clear from the outside” Parker replied. That was pure bullshit, but if Parker had learned anything from Jonny it was that there was always an advantage in having people thinking that you were a lot savvier than you really were.
“Good call” Thurston said and then he slapped Parker on the shoulder. Parker had to work to hide his revulsion.
Going on leave in the middle of winter wasn’t Parker’s idea. It had been a case of use it or lose it and during the better times of the year to take leave the 1st SFG was expected to be busy doing something, somewhere. Not that Parker would know any details. Jonny had made plans of his own and had gone to Washington D.C. to see his girlfriend. Parker could only shake his head at the thought of Jonny, the High School drop out and gearhead going out with a College educated journalist. One year after they had started going out, they were still together. I like gals who knows what they want, Jonny said when Parker asked.
Parker was stuck in New York, attending his parent’s cocktail party where he was the youngest man in the room by at least twenty years.
“What is this about you being called Whiskey that Jim mentioned?” Thurston asked. Parker’s father had been talking out of turn again.
“Someone from personnel saw my full name” Parker replied, “Jamison, as in the whiskey brand.”
“Ha!” Thurston exclaimed, “Probably the only thing that the Irish get right.”
“I think that is a bit incorrect” Parker said, Jonny would have already been trying to provoke Thurston to further escalation once he had shown his true colors, so that Jonny would have an excuse to mop the floor with him. It seemed strange how the people in this room imagined themselves to be so worldly, yet from what Parker could see they were just as provincial as people he encountered anywhere.
