Chapter One Thousand Five Hundred Fifty-Eight
30th April 1963
Tempelhof, Berlin
His studies forgotten on his desk. Ben was staring out the window of his bedroom replaying the last conversation with Kiki in his mind.
At first, Ben had been confused about how the phone conversation that he’d had with Kiki had become very awkward. It wasn’t until afterwards that Ben realized that he had basically told Kiki that he loved her, and he figured that she must have been on the verge of panic once he had said that. It had been a few days since then and he had not heard from her again and he could only imagine what Kiki must be thinking. If Ben was being honest, he really did love her. Just it was impossible to tell with Kiki what she was thinking or feeling, so he had no idea how she would react if he really told her that. She tended to dwell on some things and endlessly examine others in minute detail. It seemed like things that were simple always ended up needlessly complex and messy. Ben’s father had told him that it was partially because she was a woman, that came with the territory. The rest was because it was Kiki being, well, Kiki. There was no other way to describe it.
Added to this was what had happened with Oberst Stigler the day before…
There was a knock on the door before it swung open. Ben saw his mother with a nervous look on her face, “You’ve a guest Benjamin” She said before retreating to presumably safer ground.
Having everyone know that Ben had been dating Kiki had a lot of unforeseen consequences for his mother. While she had been gleeful at first thinking that Kiki’s prediction that exposure would end the relationship was coming to pass. Watching Kiki effectively bringing Kat von Mischner to heel had left her positively euphoric. Then life had gone on, she had found herself subjected to unexpected jealousy and resentment within her social circle. People who had never liked her had told her what they actually thought of her. Ben’s father had described the situation as the result of there being a serious disruption in the ecosystem.
It was when Charlotte entered his bedroom, much to Ben’s surprise. He had met Kiki’s Stepmother on a few occasions but had never spoken with her at length to any extent about anything. Ben wondered exactly why she was here.
“Something going on with Kiki?” Ben asked.
“Other than her attempts to convince her father that she should be allowed to return to Berlin?” Charlotte asked in reply, “Not a whole lot I would imagine.”
“Then why are you here?” Ben asked.
“I wanted to see how you were doing” Charlotte replied, “I know that you have a full plate on top dealing with the likes of Kristina.”
“Exactly what do you know?” Ben asked.
“That Oberst Stigler told you what my husband said to him” Charlotte said, fortunately she didn’t seem to find it funny.
The Emperor had spoken with Ben’s Commanding Officer regarding Ben’s failed application to join the Space Program and had said that he didn’t mind the thought of shooting Ben into Outer Space if Ben ever got it all straightened out. Stigler had suggested that getting him back was purely optional and the Emperor had laughed before saying that it would depend on Ben’s intentions regarding his daughter. Ben had only met Louis Ferdinand a few times and he had found the Emperor extremely intimidating. Having him find out about what had happened with the application was particularly embarrassing. Ben had been told that while he didn’t qualify presently, he should continue with his studies at University and reapply at a later time. Once he got a degree in either Astronomy or Computer Science it would probably sweeten the deal considerably.
“I didn’t find it as funny as they did” Ben replied.
“Louis is playing the role of a concerned father looking into one of his daughter’s suitors” Charlotte said, “Though I would be careful in your shoes, he was not entirely joking and unlike anyone else you will ever encounter he can make it happen.”
That wasn’t a surprise.
“Doesn’t he have other daughters?” Ben asked, “I’ve never heard of him acting this way towards anyone else.”
“Antonia is a child, Marie Cecilie hasn’t met the right man” Charlotte replied, “And Victoria doesn’t seem to be attracted to men in general. I am not sure what her deal is.”
Kiki had a few ideas about the more conservative of her younger twin sisters that she had told him, and Ben had a feeling that Charlotte would not see the irony that Kiki had.
“I also wanted to see where you lived” Charlotte said as she looked at a poster of a star chart that was tacked to the wall.
While the room wasn’t a mess, it was cluttered with the contents of Ben’s flat still crammed into the room. Ben knew that it probably wasn’t going to give Charlotte the best impression.
“The contents of my flat had to be crammed into here after I lost my flat last year” Ben replied, “That is the reason for the mess.”
“Korea?” Charlotte asked.
“Yes” Ben replied, “This is what greeted me when I got back.”
“What were you expecting?” Charlotte asked, “Failure to plan and all that.”
Having heard it many times before, Ben knew that expression well. Failure to plan on your part does not constitute a crisis on mine.
