Chapter One Thousand Five Hundred Eighty-Eight
11th August 1963
Pohnpei Island, Caroline Islands
The villa they were staying in was the one that Louis Ferdinand used while he was in the islands, usually for a couple of weeks a few times a year. Suga had been expecting something far grander than what it had turned out to be. Compared to the palaces in Potsdam or Berlin it was relatively small and homely. Buildings of whitewashed masonry and a definite island ascetic in the décor. It was hardly a surprise considering that the Emperor had designed it along his own preferences. Freddy and Suga had come here for their honeymoon and as they had discovered, they were still learning exactly how to define themselves as a couple.
For Suga walking along the shoreline was meditative. The ocean lapped against the beach, very different from the distant crash of the surf out on the distant coral reef. A vivid blue ocean under a tropical sun and white sand. It seemed as if all the colors in these islands were more intense. It was certainly one of the most beautiful places that She had ever been. For all of that, she was still troubled though. Earlier that day, Suga had sat by Freddy’s side as the daily briefing had occurred. As Crown Prince, he was supposed to be kept informed about every aspect of the German Empire that was pertinent of his station. The idea was that he could step in and fill his father's position at a moment’s notice if he had to.
Suga personally found the briefings fascinating and disturbing at equal turns. She wanted to learn everything she could about the nation that she had adopted as her own. At the same time, she was being presented with the darker aspects of the German Empire. Militarism, nationalism and crass bigotry were constantly threatening to overtake matters. The political extremes were loudly demanding that either society be taken back to a golden age that had never existed or else be burnt down in its entirety so that a new impossible utopia could be built on the ashes. She had realized that both positions were driven by fear. Fear of a changing world as well as fear of a world that was stagnating into decay. It drove their need for control, or at least the illusion of control, where none was really possible.
It always seemed to come down to a fear of the future.
Pausing to pick up a piece of driftwood, Suga drew out the word for future in Japanese in the wet sand. The Latin alphabet was good for conveying ideas quickly, from Suga’s perspective it lacked the deeper meaning and insights that existed in the Japanese Alphabet that had been adapted from Chinese. Words and names frequently could have several meanings. The written word for future in Japanese consisted of two symbols, the first meaning not yet and the second symbol meaning next. There was a simple truth in that. The future hadn’t happened yet, and most certainly it was what was going to happen next. That was something that should be embraced rather than feared.
As Suga stood up she saw a small wave roll in and it washed the word away even as the warm water swept over her bare feet. In that second, Suga had a different insight, almost an intrusive thought, about what the future might hold for herself in the weeks and months ahead. How difficult it was going to be. Only time would tell if it was correct, but one thing was clear. By embracing the future, she found hope.
As the water drew away, Suga saw that the word she had written in the sand was gone. As was the transient nature of such things and with a slight smile she whispered the word future to herself as she resumed her walk up the shoreline.
Near Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin
Parker heard Victoria scream, followed an instant later by a loud splash. At the moment, he felt like he had been put into a beer commercial that had been weirdly turned on its head. In the commercial it was never one of the girls who pilots the boat, Kristina was a licensed Mariner according the German Navy, because of course she was. Looking at the smile on Ritchie’s face, Parker could see that he was having fun despite Parker having told him that the mission wasn’t over, and he needed to be mindful of that.
After what had happened in Des Moines the idea of keeping Kristina under FBI surveillance seemed absurd. The embarrassing fact that two Field Agents had found themselves in need medical attention and that having been provided by the subject of their surveillance wasn’t lost on anyone. It had resulted in a whole of fancy footwork by whoever the Feds had doing public relations. The video of the incident had run first on Des Moines television, later broadcast nationally. People had seen Kristina in that video, not as a Princess but as a Field Medic who had known what she was doing in that situation.
After that it was safe to assume that the FBI collectively had a stick up their ass after that and they had not been inclined to help Parker. That was when it was decided that the best way for him to keep an eye on the Princess would be to travel with her. When Parker had informed his commanding officer of the change in plans, the Colonel had called him a lucky dog. He didn’t bother to inform him of the truth. Parker found all three of the women unattractive for different reasons. Kristina reminded him of the sort of entitled heiress that he had gone out of his way to avoid for his entire life and her younger sister, Victoria seemed to be cut from the same cloth. Marcella was physically attractive, but then she opened her mouth and revealed just how shallow she was. Knowing that, Parker found himself sitting on a pontoon boat on the Wisconsin river where the Princess had paused her friendship tour to rest for a couple days, counting down the days until the Princess would get on an airplane and go back to where she had come from.
