Chapter One Thousand Four Hundred Eighty-Eight
30th April 1962
Yongpyong, Korea
As it had turned out, Ben had hit the stupid bridge and that had made him a hero of some kind. It had gotten him a medal and a few days off to be in the background as one of the Luftwaffe’s greatest heroes had come to Korea to help boost the morale of those posted overseas. At the moment that involved attending a lunch in the resort town of Yongpyong.
As it had turned out, it was like watching paint dry. Generalfeldmarschall Graf Manfred von Richthofen had wanted to surround himself with the those who had distinguished themselves in the present conflict, which was why Ben was here. Over the previous weekend the Graf had gone hunting and now he was talking about it at length with those who had been invited at the banquet had been prepared. They were talking the differences between German and Korean traditions of hunting and the Graf was trying to sell the Korean Emperor on his efforts towards International Conservation. Ben was having a hard time staying awake. In addition to the Korean Emperor, General Gang, the Commander of the Korean Army and General Choi, his counterpart in the Korean Airforce were present. As was General Hans von Mischner of the 2nd Panzer Corps, Generallieutenant Dietrich Schultz, the Commanding Officer of the 3rd Marine Infantry Division and Generallieutenant Franz Müller, Commander of Luftwaffe Operations in Korea, and Fregattenkapitän Albrecht von Richthofen, the Graf’s son who was also the Director of Flight Operations aboard the SMS Voss. It was a staggering amount of Brass to have in one place. Ben was just one in a small group of Junior Officers who were being ignored for now and now that the meal had concluded, there wasn’t a whole lot to do.
Worse, Kiki was here, somehow having run up an astonishing number of hours in the air as a Field Medic with FSR over just the last month and a half. It was rumored that her Commanding Officer had sent her to Yongpyong just to get her to take some real down time. Ben had seen instantly that she was not happy to see him in Korea. He had not realized that as a Reserve Officer his posting in Korea was entirely voluntary because there hadn’t been a formal declaration of war. No one had bothered to tell him that until Kiki had. Beyond that, just being in each other’s presence was rather awkward. Ben didn’t dare bring up the circumstances of when he had last seen her a couple months earlier. They had talked on the phone a few times between then and when she had left for Korea but entirely about inane things. They had avoided talking about what had happened and Ben was still trying to figure out what all it had meant.
Did he have feelings for Kiki? Yes. When he hadn’t been having all his thoughts devoted to keeping himself alive, he tended to start thinking about her. But how did she feel about him? And if she didn’t feel the same way, then Ben couldn’t understand her actions. In the past her only answer was to say that they were just impossible every time he had said anything about them as a couple. Just who was she trying to convince?
Mitte, Berlin
Zella had used her Press credentials from the BT to get in though she had no intention of doing a story. There were a few other journalists in the gallery who were following this as a Human-Interest story, something that suggested a lot of ugly things about the interests of the humans in question.
As she watched the proceedings, Zella felt like there wasn’t a lot of justice being done. The woman who had been arrested for assault after Zella had informed her of what her husband had been up to had plead guilty after providing minimal defense. Her Solicitor had attempted to show that there were mitigating circumstances. The Judges didn’t let on if that had any influence on their decision and because she had admitted guilt to all charges the only thing that they would deliberate was how long a sentence she would get. It struck Zella as being grossly unfair, that scumbag had gotten what he deserved.
Disgusted, Zella walked out of the gallery and the Courthouse. As she walked back towards where her motorcycle was parked, she saw a familiar blue VW Föhn parked next to it.
“What do you want?” Zella asked through the open window.
“Is that any way to greet your Auntie?” Kat asked in reply, “We need to talk, so get in.”
The car had been Kat’s mobile office for a long time and Zella had never liked sitting in the passenger seat because of the mess in the footwell that Kat seldom cleaned out. Still, Zella couldn’t ignore Kat, so she opened the door and sat down. She was stewing in silence for a few minutes, waiting for Kat to start the conversation.
“I know that things in the Courthouse went exactly as expected” Kat said, “And I know you probably think that it wasn’t the way that it should have gone.”
“Nice understatement” Zella muttered.
“She attacked her husband with a hammer” Kat said, “Do you honestly think something like that can be excused?”
Zella certainly thought so.
“Would you be so sanguine if a man had done that to his wife?” Kat asked, “Or would you be calling for his head?”
“That is not…” Zella started to say.
“Not what?” Kat asked, cutting her off, “Not the same? You need to start thinking about how things affect more than just yourself and the people in your immediate circle.”
Zella was silent for a long minute before she asked, “What’s going to happen to her?”
“She’ll be fine” Kat said, “The irony is that she’s likely going to be sent to one of the few places in society that would applaud her actions. In prison there are a lot of women who have fantasized about doing that.”
That was an angle that Zella had not considered.
“And her husband isn’t getting off, not by a long shot. He’ll be in the Courtroom once he gets out of the hospital” Kat continued, “Still though Marcella, why the Hell did you tell her?”
“I was talking to John Elis and he said that it was a better plan than whatever I might have done to him personally” Zella replied.
“Do you have any idea who he is?” Kat asked in exasperation , “That man has always had a talent for causing spectacular scenes. I see he hasn’t lost his touch.”
Zella had known that John’s past was something a mystery. Kat’s reaction suggested that there was more to it than even she had realized.