Chapter One Thousand Five Hundred Sixteen
10th October 1962
Kiel
Riding in Louis Junior’s boat was a welcome change after spending the morning in a classroom setting as she prepared for the written exam that was upcoming. Ideally, this was the practical part of her studies. Lou had other plans and had wanted to know if Kiki was interested in doing something that was exciting, because they always needed someone with fresh eyes involved. So far that involved sitting in the rain and being glad that she had remembered to bring an oilskin coat. The stocking cap that Kiki was wearing did nothing to keep the rain drops off her glasses which was a bit of an annoyance.
“Why did you buy a boat anyway?” Lou asked over the outboard engine as he steered the launch out into the main canal. “I would have never expected that.”
That was the embarrassing question that had been thrown around constantly. One that Kiki had been reluctant to answer. Lou had been helping her with the Helmsman’s license, so she did owe him a bit of an answer. With how they were out in the middle of the fjord and Lou running the outboard engine there was little danger of them being overheard.
“It was because of a frog” Kiki replied.
Lou gave her a look of disbelief.
“Before I left for Württemberg, I went on a pleasure trip on a forty-meter barge that had been rented by Zella’s family” Kiki said, “Zella’s little brother, Walter put a frog in the cabin that I was sharing with Zella and Aurora.”
“What happened to the frog?”
“I threw it out the window” Kiki said, “I figured that it would be happier out in water. That was the last time I remember being truly happy.”
“And that caused you buy a boat?” Lou asked with a laugh.
“I just wanted to be happy again” Kiki said, “I saw that it was up for sale and I went to just take a look at it. Next thing I knew, I was writing a check.”
Lou just laughed at that.
“I know how stupid that sounds” Kiki said, “It was impulsive, and it’s like you said, not like me. What do I know about boats?”
“I think that it was a good idea” Lou said to Kiki’s complete surprise, “It means that I have something to talk about with another member of my family.”
With that Lou expertly pulled the launch up to the floating dock that was tied up to the side of an old tramp steamer. The Matrose whose name Kiki didn’t know who had been riding in the bow, jumped out and tied up the launch.
“This is the SS O’Brian” Lou said, then he leaned closed to Kiki and whispered, “It’s a smuggling operation that’s really a CIA front that Captain Hase has been doing business with on behalf of the BND by pretending to be corrupt so that our side can keep tabs on what they are up to.”
“Is that a joke?” Kiki asked.
“No” Lou replied, “It sounds like something from a bad movie though.”
“So, should I just introduce myself?” Kiki asked, “von Preussen, Kristina von Preussen.”
“James Bond is British Military Intelligence, not CIA” Lou said, “You can wait in the boat if you are going to do that and for fuck’s sake don’t use your real name. Our surname is von Spree and you’re my cute, though rather simpleminded sister here to visit.”
Kiki blew a raspberry at Lou as he climbed out of the boat. He had inherited their father’s lanky frame, even so he had a considerable amount practice in this sort of thing.
The American Sailors couldn’t hear what was being discussed but obviously understood the meaning of that last bit. They laughed as Kiki followed Lou up the ladder onto the deck of the O’Brian. As she watched, the Sailors were extremely efficient in getting the crates loaded with mostly cigarettes and alcohol from the deck down to the launch. Lou walked into the superstructure of the ship, clearly having been here before. Entering the mess cabin, Kiki saw who she presumed was the Captain though she was remined of a spider sitting at the center of its web.
“Just who is this?” The Captain asked looking at Kiki asked in English.
“My sister” Lou said in the same language, “It would have been suspicious if she had stayed with the launch.”
“I didn’t know that the German Navy was a family operation” The Captain said.
“It is in our family” Lou said, “Though Kiki is in the Sanitätsdienst.”
“The what?” The Captain asked.
“Medical Service” Lou said, “She wants to be a Surgeon.”
“Is that true?” The Captain asked Kiki who feigned a dumbfounded expression. She had done this sort of thing enough times before when she didn’t want to talk to people from other countries.
“Wie bitte?” Kiki asked with an uncomfortable smile.
“You don’t have to worry about her repeating any of this conversation” Lou said, sounding annoyed as he handed the Captain a small cloth bag.
“I guess not” The Captain said ignoring Kiki after that, “How was the Orient?”
“Would you believe that they had me piloting a Landing Craft” Lou said, “A great wallowing tub full of Marines that the Chinese got to use as target practice.”
“My condolences” The Captain replied.