Chapter One Thousand Four Hundred Sixty-seven
16th February 1962
In transit near Rendsburg, Schleswig-Holstein
After a hectic night and a good portion of the day in which Kiki had to use every means available to her short of keeping her team on task at gunpoint as they had prepared, they had finally taken off towards the advanced staging area. However, as she would quickly learn most of the FSR teams and helicopter crews were converging on Bremen where they intended to ride out the storm. In a rare fit of good sense, Wunsdorf had decided that putting all their eggs in one basket in the face of a natural disaster was not a great call and had ordered the FSR Company based in Rangsdorf, as well as another Company from a different Airfield, elsewhere. As Kiki learned once they were in the air, their destination was a moving target.
It seemed that the Naval Officer commanding the caretaker crews responsible for maintaining the German Battleship Fleet while it was stored in Kiel had realized that he was sitting on a massive amount of excess capacity that was suddenly needed elsewhere. He had ordered his crews to bring the big ships back to life so that they lead the Fleet on a mission that couldn’t have been more different from what their designers had envisioned. Because the improvised Fleet that had been thrown together in Kiel for the relief effort wouldn’t reach Brunsbüttel at the western end of the canal until after the storm was expected to have passed.
As the Dragonfly approached to land on the fantail Kiki leaned out the door, the SMS Brandenburg was leading a procession of ships of all sizes. The Brandenburg herself, her two sisters and a smaller ship built along the same lines all dwarfed the ships that followed. She had been told that they were the Brandenburg, Preussen, Rhineland and Baier. When the helicopter flared and landed, Kiki stepped out as the engines were being shut down. It wasn’t her concern, but she knew that the Dragonfly would have its main rotor folded up and it would be put into the Brandenburg’s hanger. She couldn’t help but noticing the sky to the north-west looked particularly ominous as the sun was setting. Most of the equipment that they had brought was to remain aboard the helicopter. The rest of it was in their rucksacks and it was only what they might personally need. Already, she could hear the next helicopter coming in even as a group of Sailors worked to push the helicopter into the hanger.
“Now you lot will come with me and I’ll show you to your quarters. Try to keep from getting lost” Another Sailor said, this one seemed to be an Aspirant like Kiki and had a voice that was full of the sort of condescension that Sailors had for the those in the Heer. She also knew exactly who he was.
“Get over yourself Lou” Kiki said only to watch his jaw drop. Knowing him, he had rehearsed that stupid line and it had clearly not gone to plan.
“Uh, I wasn’t expecting you to be here Kiki” Louis said with a nervous smile as he recognized her. Then he turned and started walking rapidly forward, for lack anything better to do Kiki followed along with her team. She managed to keep Louis in sight even as her team drew curious looks from the ship’s crew. Up staircases that were practically ladders and down the narrow corridors. Finally, they came to a room that seemed to be a mess hall of some kind. A man was seated at one of the tables with papers in front of him and a cup of coffee from the look of it.
“Captain Hase, Sir” Louis said as Kiki caught up with him. “We have a bit of a situation.”
“Sorry, Sir” Kiki said, “My brother overstates the matter, I am hardly a situation.”
Captain Hase looked like he was trying not to laugh. “Kristina, I take it?” He asked.
“I prefer Oberfähnrich von Preussen, Sir” Kiki replied, “I’m here with the FSR and…”
Hase just held up his hand until she trailed off. Kiki noticed that her team was watching this exchange uncomfortably.
“Enough. If I made up your family as fiction no publisher would touch it because it would all be too unbelievable” Hase said then he turned to Louis, “Take them to their quarters and keep them out of the way like you were told to.”
“But there is Kiki and one other girl with them” Louis said, earning him a slightly annoyed look from Hase.
“Put them in the Officer’s quarters that are unused and send the rest to the enlisted quarters midships” Hase said. As soon as he finished saying it Kiki knew that she would hear a bit of grumbling from the men of the team she led. As a Team Leader she had access to every inch of the barracks while the portion that she and Mitzi shared a room in was expressly forbidden to them. This was just more of that.
“And one more thing” Hase said.
“Sir” Louis replied.
“Once you get them settled make sure that they get a hot meal” Hase said, “There might not be a whole lot of time for that over the next few days.”
As Kiki followed her brother down into the ship, the Captain’s words kept rolling through her mind. Was her family really that unbelievable?