Stupid Luck and Happenstance, Thread II

Part 70, Chapter 1015
  • Chapter One Thousand Fifteen


    25th May 1953

    Berlin

    “I called you because it’s nearly closing time and if I call the cops someone would get killed” John Elis said when Schultz walked in.

    Sitting at the bar was Tilo spinning a fifty-pfennig coin on the bar. Schultz had heard about some of the habits that Tilo had picked up in the Far East, an hour earlier Elis had called and said that Tilo had been drinking well whiskey all night. The fact that he could still spin a coin like he was suggested exactly what his ability to soak up alcohol these days was.

    “Herr Elis said you got chased off by Gräfin von Mischner this… Well… Now, yesterday afternoon” Schultz said as he sat down next to his son.

    “I just wanted to see if Nancy was doing all right” Tilo replied, “You do know that you’ve created a real monster, a tigress to be exact.”

    “I didn’t create anything” Schultz said, “When I found her I knew raw talent when I saw it. I tried to focus it with training and I was new to that sort thing in those days, so I made a few major blunders. The girl has hated me ever since.”

    “Whatever you did, she is not nice” Tilo said.

    “You are my son and Katherine remembers you from when you were a selfish little shit” Schultz said, “You’re just lucky that she hasn’t stomped you for being interested in her friend.”

    Tilo just went back to his drink.

    “I know you saw the tail end of it” Schultz said, “But the Tigress misjudged the situation when she found out that she was getting spied on again. The BII neglected to tell her what she was dealing with and she came on a bit too heavy.”

    Schultz was laughing until he noticed that Tilo was just staring at him.

    “You think that was funny?” Tilo asked, “People could have gotten seriously hurt. I saw Nancy on the back steps of her house, she was arguing with Kat after getting a face full of gas and being hit by a rubber bullet.”

    “Come on Tilo” Schultz said, “She’s American and she was meeting other Americans. Walk in a storm and get hit by lightning.”

    “Nancy was trying to get them to leave” Tilo said, as he got to his feet.

    “And you’re just going to take her word for that?” Schultz asked.

    “I’ve a lot more reason to trust her than you” Tilo said and then he walked out of the bar.

    “So, you don’t trust Americans?” Elis asked having overheard most of the conversation, “Though I suspect that you might be forced to have one in the family in the future.”

    “I do not trust most Americans, you’re different” Schultz said, ignoring the last part of what Elis had just said. “I’m aware that you have a lot of good reasons to avoid contact with your Government.”

    “It’s because they never give up, though I’ve heard that they are starting to think that I drowned in the San Francisco Bay during my escape” Elis said, “If I had known that being presumed dead with a big question mark would drive them nuts I might have done it a lot sooner.”

    Shultz was aware of John Elis’ past and the deal he had cut with Abwehr. Elis had shared every bit of knowledge that he had about operating as an outlaw in the Upper Midwest. Names, contacts, criminal networks and tactics. In return the German Government turned a blind eye to his presence and allowed his nightclub to run with minimal interference. For years, Johann Schultz and Juan Pujol Garcia had been running the covert operations side of Imperial Shipping of Brandenburg out of the back room of the V8 Club as a part of that deal. However, Schultz knew the full truth, Elis had been law abiding for the most part since he had escaped from Alcatraz Island. Having no more mountains to conquer had resulted in his being reformed.

    “Now, with that I need to lock up. I’m supposed to meet Sarah for breakfast in a few hours” Elis said, “It will be nice to see my nephew.”

    “That kid really your nephew?” Schultz asked.

    “Nope” Elis said, “Sarah, Jonny’s mother, has been the piano player in this bar for years and he was in here with Sarah and Carla a few days after he was born, so I don’t mind.”

    It was something that Schultz was aware of when he talked to Elis. Living in the core of one of the most socially liberal cities in the world tended to give one a skewed perspective. What would leave many a house wife outside the city aghast, calling Berlin a modern Sodom and Gomorrah, was a Monday morning breakfast with a gay couple and their baby. Perfectly normal. But then again, the Intelligence Officer in Schultz had to wonder if the obsession over other people were having sex and who they were doing it with said more about those same house wives then they were prepared to admit.

    ----------------------------------------------------------------

    “You need to let someone else save the world for once” Doug said softly though he knew that Kat probably wasn’t listening to him. “Be here with your family and let other people handle these things.”

    It was hardly a surprise, Doug had seen Kat do this too many times before and it was heartbreaking to watch. She keyed herself up before a combat operation to the extent that all fear and doubt vanished. Just the mission that she was focused on, nothing else. Then the crash followed. In the past Kat had tried to use pills and sex to avoid falling into a resulting depressive episode. Once Doug was aware of what was going on he realized that he couldn’t play a part in it because he had noticed that it actually made her worse. Today was especially bad because she had messed up and a friend had gotten hurt as a result. She was still weeping on Doug’s shoulder after a sleepless night. He had learned that the only way for her to avoid depression was to let herself feel things, something that was extremely difficult for her.
     
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    Part 70, Chapter 1016
  • Chapter One Thousand Sixteen


    28th May 1953

    Wolfsburg

    When Nancy got home the night before she had found that several envelopes and a drawing had been slid under her bedroom door. The Envelops were mostly birthday cards from the Sisterhood, all bright colors and promises that they would all get together when they had the chance. They had been aghast that they had missed out on Nancy’s birthday on the 8th and were trying to make up for it. The drawing was an incredible portrait of Nancy that someone had done it was unsigned though. The final envelope was a surprise when Nancy opened it. A travel itinerary for Airline tickets, round trip, Lufthansa from New York to Berlin, and United on the connected flights from Seattle and San Francisco. Written on the sheet of paper was a short note;

    I feel horrible about what happened and for missing your birthday, and I hope that in some ways this makes up for it. I contacted your mother and brother so that I could arrange for them to travel to see you in August. They miss you and want to see that you are well. -Kat

    P.S. The drawing was done by Maria’s daughter Zella, let her know what you think of it. She hides it, but I think Zella likes to show off how good she has become.

    It was a nice gesture by Kat and it did go a long way towards making up for the mess on Sunday. Nancy wasn’t quite ready to forgive and forget just yet. She would also need to be sure that she thanked Zella. Now sitting in a Wolfsburg restaurant for lunch, Nancy was waiting to make a new friend, at least she hoped she was. It would make getting through the process of her involvement in the movie a whole lot easier.

    The Host led Edda to Nancy’s table, as she sat down she could tell that Edda was looking around a bit askance at her surroundings. Nancy couldn’t help but notice it, but Edda had an aura of sophistication and elegance that she couldn’t possibly match. She was everything that Nancy wasn't.

    “I’m sorry that this isn’t Berlin or Paris” Nancy said, “But the food is good, I eat lunch here regularly.”

    “It’s about what I expected” Edda said, something about the way that Edda watched her made her feel like a research subject in a lab.

    “I was thinking that after lunch I could show you around VW, the Offices and perhaps the assembly line” Nancy said, “Its optional though because it is all men who don’t always know how to behave around women.”

    “You are the only woman who works there?” Edda asked.

    “In the Promotions Department” Nancy replied.

    “That sounds difficult” Edda said.

    “Perhaps, but they are giving me a chance to use analytics to tailor advertisements” Nancy said, “It’s really exciting.”

    “Tell me more” Edda said.


    Washington D.C.

    In John Aleshire’s opinion this was a waste of time and resources. Still, it did keep suspicion far away from Aleshire himself. He had made a point of telling his superiors that His Grandfather’s name had been Alscher and that his father had changed his name during the First World War. It turned out that John himself wasn’t considered a threat, because his family had clearly done that for patriotic reasons and an exhaustive investigation had concluded that John had no connections to Europe. Others though, like the man in the interrogation room had come from a family that had changed their name and religion before they ever set foot in the country. The fact that this man was now in the Diplomatic Corps raised some serious red flags.

    “Think we’ve let him stew long enough?” Scranton, one of the Agents who John was supervising asked. John just nodded, and Scranton walked into the room.

    “Glad that you came in here today, Richard. Mind if I call you that?” Scranton said as he sat down across the table from the man.

    “Like I was given a choice?” Richard asked in reply.

    “We just have a few questions is all” Scranton said.

    Richard stared at Scranton.

    “Your father, who killed himself in 1921, his name was Friedrich Kohn correct?” Scranton asked.

    “That has nothing to do with me” Richard said.

    “Perhaps” Scranton said, “But the fact that he converted to Catholicism and changed his name to Kerry before moving to Brookline, Massachusetts from German State of Bohemia looks extremely suspicious.”

    “It wasn’t part of Germany at that time” Richard said.

    Scranton just shrugged, “As if the Austro-Hungarian Empire would be much better.” He said.

    John didn’t need to see any more, so he left the observation room. In a month they would conduct a second interview and if the answers in the second interview didn’t exactly match the answers in the first then they would have this man over a barrel. At that point it was disturbing how many people would turn on their own grandmother to save their own skins. Going back to his desk he made sure to log the time and date of first interview and to note that it had been recorded.

    John was also maintaining a second list, one that he would pass on to the dead drop that evening after work. He had no idea what the BND-NAA wanted with that list, but they had asked for it. John had found that it was a lot easier not to ask questions.
     
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    Part 70, Chapter 1017
  • Chapter One Thousand Seventeen


    1st June 1953

    Wunsdorf-Zossen

    With the German Kaiser and Kaiserin out of Germany, all the eyes of the world were focused firmly on Westminster Abby where the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth was about to happen, which was where they were. For David Cornwell it was a once in perhaps a decade opportunity to infiltrate what many in MI-6 considered the ultimate prize for an Intelligence Agent. The Headquarters of the BND within the complex of buildings and tunnels that housed the High Command of the German Military. The outer defenses were daunting, three rows of concertina wire topped electrified chain-link fences, irregularly timed patrols with dogs, mine fields and pillboxes manned with men ordered to shoot any intruders. The only obvious way in or out was a single access road that was covered by what looked like an entire Company of Panzer Dragoons complete with machine guns in towers.

    Inside the perimeter, there were more irregular patrols and they encouraged to challenge the credentials of any man inside. David had been gathering information about this place for months and he had been unable to learn what was inside of the buildings themselves. Then he had heard a rumor that the entire complex was about to get a security upgrade, to Kempten level. That was the name of the nuclear research facility in Southern Germany. So that meant that David had to risk the infiltration that day or he would never get another chance.

    He presumed that they would need to be functional as offices meaning that outside of extremely sensitive areas that might as well be ordinary office buildings. Even though David knew that he would be executed with only a perfunctory trial if caught, he had realized that the only way in was wearing the uniform of a German Staff Officer with the best forged documents that the SIS could provide. It was a matter of having the balls to walk right in.

    Once inside, David had gotten lost. The BND itself building was a maze of identical looking rooms and corridors. He was starting to feel like the dog that had caught the car it was chasing and didn’t know what to with it. Entering a room, he discovered that there were dozens of mostly women sitting at computer consoles entering data.

    Knowing that he was risking discovery every second he dawdled, David strode through the room like if he belonged there. The uniform he was wearing kept anyone from bothering him. Walking around a corner he saw what looked like plexiglass enclosures with what looked like stacks of steel platters inside. David had no idea what he was looking at. He did however see several reels of magnetic tape in a bin marked that they were to be destroyed. Grabbing one of the reels David shoved it into his briefcase, convinced that he was going to get caught any second.

    Walking out of the complex turned out to be a nerve-wracking experience. The soldier who looked at his papers at the gate didn’t look old enough to shave. Eventually he was waved through.


    Potsdam

    “Try to behave yourself” Nancy said to Anne as they walked into the rehearsal space, “Or else no one will believe that you are my assistant and they’ll throw you out.”

    When Anne learned that Nancy had lunch with Edda, she had started asking Nancy if she could meet the Actress. When the opportunity to be present at the first script reading had presented itself, Nancy had relented. Anne could come along as Nancy’s assistant, but she had to behave herself and not act like a starstruck schoolgirl.

    “Edda, this is my assistant, Fraulein Frank” Nancy said, “She’s a bit sheltered.”

    Anne was too nervous to react to what Nancy had just said.

    “Pleased to meet you” Edda said with a faint smile.

    “My friends call me Anne” Anne blurted out.

    “Very well, Anne” Edda said, “This is the first script reading you’ve been to?”

    Anne looked bewildered.

    “This is the first of anything like this that either Anne or I have been to” Nancy said.

    “It’s not very exciting” Edda said, “You get to watch us read the lines, the Director watches how the actors interact, and changes are made accordingly.”

    “Sounds involved” Nancy said.

    “It is” Edda replied, “And it’s a bit boring.”

    Nancy saw the look on Anne’s face and knew that she wouldn’t find it boring in the least.

    “The representative from our evil corporate sponsor is here” Nancy heard Nicol Sheer say.

    “Do they look evil?” Edda asked.

    Nicol just laughed.

    ----------------------------------------------------------------

    “I’m sorry about this” Matthias said, “But it’s a lifetime commitment and inevitably yours is longer than his.”

    Of all the times for the Emperor to be out of town. Freddy had found that Ueli, his foxhound was sick. The Kennel Master had called a veterinarian who had discovered that Ueli had a large growth in his abdomen and the situation was hopeless. At fourteen Freddy was trying to act like an adult but it was impossible to hide the reality that he was boy who was about experience one of the worst losses imaginable.

    “No one will judge you if you cannot deal with this, but you’ll regret it if you can’t” Mattias said, what else was he supposed to say?

    “Can something be done?” Freddy asked.

    Matthias shook his head, “The veterinarian is one of the best people in the field” He said, “I’m inclined to take his word in this matter.”

    “What should I do?” Freddy asked.

    “We end it” Matthias said, “Quickly and painlessly as possible.”

    Matthias saw the look on Freddy’s face as he realized what was being asked of him. Matthias had spoken to the veterinarian and it was a simple matter of an overdose. Having spent his entire life around dogs Matthias knew that Ueli would be looking for Freddy. This was better than what Matthias’ own father had done, handing him a loaded rifle and told him to get it over with. It was shame that some lessons could only to be learned this way.
     
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    Part 70, Chapter 1018
  • Chapter One Thousand Eighteen


    21st June 1953

    Paris, France

    The thing that struck Manfred was how few of them there were left. Just a handful of survivors who didn’t see the point of standing only with their countrymen anymore. They had a bond with each other that had begun to transcend nations as the years went by.

    A few days earlier he had gotten a call from Général d’ armée aérienne Georges Guynemer letting him know that Colonel René Fonck had died of a stroke. That had seemed absurd to Manfred. Strokes were what happened to old men, then he realized that despite their best efforts that was exactly what they had become. Now he was watching as René Fonck, was buried with full military honors. As much as Manfred might have despised Fonck in life he didn’t begrudge the man of his due in death. Overhead a Squadron of jets from the French Airforce screamed by in tight formation, Manfred looked up at them and they seemed like something from another planet.

    “I think we’re getting old Georges” Manfred said to Guynemer.

    “What was your first clue?” Guynemer asked.

    “My son Albrecht flies one of those jets, in the Kaiserliche Marine” Manfred said with a grimace, “My oldest grandson just turned six.”

    “At least your son is an aviator” Guynemer said, “Mine went into politics after spending eighteen months as a conscript where he spent a great deal of time in the casinos helping an Army General cheat at cards.”

    “At least that prepared him for his present career” Manfred replied.

    “Exactly” Guynemer said, “And God help us if his ambition ever exceeds his abilities.”

    If Manfred told Guynemer the truth, it was that his son had probably already done that when he got elected to the National Assembly of France. However, being a back-bencher in the opposition party wasn’t exactly a whole lot of work especially considering that Marc Guynemer let his political party more or less dictate his votes.


    Buckinghamshire

    In the end the information on the magnetic tape hadn’t even been encrypted. Instead it was the version of the machine language that the Germans used in their computers, so it might as well have been. What the codebreakers were finding though was astonishing. The tape held after action reports for operations inside the United States over several months, years earlier by a portion of the BND-NAA, the North American Division of German Military Intelligence. The information was maddeningly incomplete. No names were mentioned, just code words and there were references to other operations in different parts of the world. The biggest surprise was that the Germans had apparently foiled a bombing along the lines of what had happened at the Reichstag that was going to happen during the State of the Union Address. There was also a mysterious package that was mentioned. But most of all was mention of a Schachmeister. Chess Master? It was an astonishing detail, confirmation that the rumors of there being a mastermind were true.

    SIS was left with a quandary, exactly what did they tell the Americans? And how much could they afford to anger the Germans?


    Potsdam

    The stone had arrived, and Matthias helped Freddy lever it into place. Freddy had wanted to do this himself. When Ueli had died Freddy had remembered that his Great, however far back, Uncle and namesake Friedrich the II had buried ten of his beloved Italian Greyhounds in the upper vineyard terrace of the Sanssouci Palace. It seemed right that Ueli join them. When they had done that Matthias had noticed that all of Friedrich the II’s dogs had feminine names. That meant the Ueli was going off to eternity like an Egyptian Pharaoh with ten beautiful, though admittedly high-strung women accompanying him. That had gotten a bit of a smile from Freddy.

    They had decided to order a stone like the ones for the other dogs and Freddy had made a point of paying for it himself. When they had taken it off the lory Matthias had seen that it was like the other stones except it was new and just had Ueli carved into the top of it. When they were done Matthias and Freddy stood there looking at it. Then Mattias saw a curious sight, Michael rode up on Onnosel and he saluted as he approached, his tutor Oberst Knispel had been working on that with him. Then Kiki walked up carrying her ill-tempered calico moggie, she placed a small bouquet of flowers on Ueli’s stone and stood by Matthias and Freddy. In the following minutes they were joined by Prince Louis Ferdinand with his two pet rats, as well as Marie and Victoria who brought the dim but gentle Cocker Spaniel that they had and like Kiki they put flowers on Ueli’s stone. It was a simple but touching tribute played by Freddy’s younger siblings.

    “We were sorry this happened” Victoria said, “He was fun when he didn’t chase after Kiki’s Hera.” Marie kept quiet. It had taken a bit of work, but the Empress had finally gotten them to stop finishing each other’s sentences or saying things in unison. The two of them might have found it funny but it gave everyone who had to deal with them the creeps. It wasn’t helped by the fact that they were identical twins to the extent that only a few people could tell them apart just by looking at them.

    “Thank you” Freddy said.
     
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    Part 70, Chapter 1019
  • Chapter One Thousand Nineteen


    4th July 1953

    Washington D.C.

    For Harry Truman it was question which had been more of a bear to deal with the phone call he had just finished or the report on his desk. The phone call had been with Martha Taft who Truman had called after learning that Robert Taft was in the hospital with terminal cancer. After the election campaign of a year earlier when he and Lyndon Johnson had not pulled any punches it had seemed like the right thing to do. Still, though.

    The other thing was the written report that had been compiled by the FBI and CIA from domestic and largely British sources. While no one doubted for a second that British had their own agenda here, the documents that the British had stolen lined up with events within the United States. Most alarming was the Teller incident. Edward Teller, a disgraced nuclear researcher had been planning on blowing up Washington D.C. with an atomic bomb. Then he had turned up dead. The FBI had learned the exact details of what had happened to Teller only a year earlier when a criminal for hire and pimp named Malcolm Little had told them the story of having witnessed the murder in an effort to avoid a lengthy prison sentence. According to Little, a Mexican Cowboy named Marty had shot Teller, then this German Agent who was in charge named John had made a phone call and this woman had shown up a day later who had been an expert on whatever it was that they had found in that warehouse.

    Today, armed with the information that the British had about that operation they had learned that the Mexican had been Agent Stockente and the woman had been called Zaunkönig. According to the British information Zaunkönig had been smuggled into the country specifically to deal with the package, which the FBI told Truman was the plutonium core that Teller had stolen from the then mothballed Hanford nuclear research facility. After a bit of effort Little had identified Zaunkönig as none other than Nessa von Schmidt-Faust, Nobel Laureate and the mother of the German atomic bomb. John, who wasn’t mentioned in the British report at all was Johann Schultz, it didn’t surprise Truman in the least that he was there. That skunk was always at the picnic. The Mexican cowboy remained unidentified.

    The Justice Department briefly considered action against the two identified in the investigation, but Truman had nixed it. Nessa von Schmidt had clearly been dragooned into it by her Government and it would cause a major diplomatic headache. Not only was she one of top Physicists in the world but Truman had seen her photograph in Life magazine not two days earlier with her husband and two small children. Schultz was a waste of time, Truman had met that thickheaded oaf who lived down to every stereotype of the Hun from the First World War.

    More worrisome was this Chess Master, the CIA and OSS before it had been after him for years. Supposedly he had been inside the United States in the 30s and 40s subverting it from the inside and the British report just proved that he wasn’t above taking a hands-on approach to his work. Always there but invisible. Director Ness at the FBI had said that he thought that it was Schultz, which was absurd… Or was it. The skunk that was always at the picnic.

    “That son of a bitch” Truman muttered, picking up the phone he placed a call to Attorney General of the United States.


    Neraida-Kozani, Greece

    This whole trip had been exactly what Nancy had needed. Every afternoon when she called Ernst Pries and let him know what was going on he joked about how being paid to go on vacation was such a hardship for her, today was no different. The truth was that Nancy was on the phone with VW in Wolfsburg and other suppliers throughout Germany for most of day getting parts for the dozens of cars being used in the production. Coordinating of the repair teams was something that was supposed to be someone else’s problem, but Nancy had found that she needed to be on top of it. Sure, she did spend the evenings at the beach with the rest of the cast, but Nancy would hardly call this a vacation. Not at the rate that things were breaking. That afternoon they had been shooting on a bridge that ran across the lake here and one of the cars had gotten scraped when the stunt driver had messed up. The mechanics had pulled the panels off the sides and were replacing them when Nancy had last checked on them. After running out of Paint, it was going to have to be imported from the supplier in Bad Tölz. They had said that they would have it here by tomorrow, but Nancy wasn’t optimistic. Fortunately, they had more than one car in that color.

    “Just remember that anyone in this office would trade places with you in a heartbeat” Preis said.

    Nancy tried not to roll her eyes in response to that even though Preis obviously wouldn't see.

    “Funny how many of them wanted to come after they saw the first promotional photos” Nancy replied.

    “There’s a whole lot of stags in this office” Preis said.

    Left unsaid was that if one of them had come along they likely wouldn’t have had the access that Nancy did.

    “Fair enough” Nancy said, “Has today’s order been shipped?”

    “Yes” Preis replied, “I just hope that you are at least having some fun because it would be a shame if a trip like that was wasted.”

    “I’m doing my best” Nancy said.

    Nancy looked up and saw Nicol poking her head into the trailer that Nancy used as an office waiting for her to finish the call. The plan was that they were going for a swim and having a cookout on the lakeshore tonight. Because it was the 4th of July they were going to shoot off fireworks and throw a party, all for Nancy who was the only American involved with the production. Any excuse for a party.
     
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    Part 70, Chapter 1020
  • Chapter One Thousand Twenty


    12th July 1953

    Potsdam

    Why did German Spy Ring Thwart Washington D.C. Attack in 1946?

    The New York Times article was long on speculation but short on specifics making the German Agents seem a combination of self-serving, misguided and heroic, doing the right thing for the wrong reasons. It did however name Johann Schultz as the head of the North American Division of the BND burning him to a tiny blackened crisp.

    “If I had to guess I would say that is the entire point of this article” Kat said as she concluded the summery as she gave her briefing today to both the Emperor and Empress. When Louis Ferdinand had asked to sit in today it had been unexpected.

    “And the rest?” Louis asked.

    Kat hesitated for a second. She had talked to Nessa von Schmidt-Faust about what it was that Teller had been planning on doing and she knew instantly why this was among the most deeply held secrets.

    “You have my permission to speak about it this once, Oberstlieutenant” The Emperor said.

    “Teller was disgraced as cover for one of our own operations, sabotaging the American Nuclear program, setting it back years” Kat said. It was the sort of stupid operation that Schultz engaged in. Big gambles and even bigger rewards unless if all fell apart. If anyone ever learned that had happened… “He was building an enhanced energy weapon that used an atomic bomb as a trigger that he was planning on setting off in Washington DC during a joint session of Congress. Nessa von Schmidt has said that it might have worked.”

    “What would have been the worst outcome?” Kira asked, “If Teller had been allowed to proceed.”

    “The U.S. Federal Government would have effectively ceased to exist” Kat said, “There would have been a massive humanitarian crisis from blast and the resulting anarchy. We have no idea what the effects of the radiation and fallout would be.”

    “What of Johann Schultz himself?”

    “The US Government has made sure that the entire world knows who he is. His ability to operate unseen is gone ending his effectiveness as a covert Officer” Kat said, “The State and Justice Departments of the United States made it very clear with a series of registered letters to his house what would happen if he ever sets foot anywhere in American jurisdiction.”

    “You could be accused of enjoying this Oberstlieutenant” The Emperor said, “I understand that you and Johann Schultz do not get along. That you have gone to disturbing lengths to avoid serving with him, like how you earned that Pour le Mérite for example.”

    “My dislike of Schultz stops at the instant we are across the border” Kat replied, “It brings me absolutely no pleasure to see him exposed like this.”

    “That is good to hear” The Emperor said.

    “I am also prepared to show how magnanimous I am” Kat said, the instant she said it she saw that Kira was giving her a dirty look. Something in Kat’s manner must have given her away, the Empress knew her a little too well. “It seems to me that long service for the Empire should be rewarded. It is known that officially Johann Schultz is still considered a Feldwebel-Lieutenant, unofficially he rose to the rank of Oberst within Abwehr and BND which would make him eligible for several awards that he has certainly earned. Now those awards can be given, and they would have my endorsement. With the appropriate safeguards of course.”

    “That does sound like a good idea” The Emperor said.

    “Real clever, Katherine” Kira said with words that sounded like they were chipped from ice, and Louis stared at them not sure about the subtext of what was going on here. “Princess Suga of Japan has sent her condolences over Prince Friedrich’s recent loss and she has made arrangements for a gift that she thinks would lift his spirits. The thing is that a special courier is needed to go to Japan and retrieve it. I think that your talents make you perfect for the task.”

    “Thank you, your Highness” Kat replied, knowing that Kira was aware of what Kat had just done to Johann Schultz. It was more than a decade and half in coming but turnabout was fair play and revenge in this manner was very sweet indeed. There was however the price that was always had to be paid.

    “This will be a mission that involves a great deal of diplomacy and I expect that you understand that you will be representing the Empire and the House of Hohenzollern” The Empress said sternly.

    “Yes, I understand.” Kat said and turning to the Emperor, “Your Highness.”

    Then she turned and walked out.

    “Care to tell me what that was all about?” Louis asked.

    “Her being so cheeky” Kira said, “She understands the implications of her actions and is being too clever by half.”

    “But having her fly halfway around the world, with her social and military rank the Japanese won’t be sure how to react” Louis said, “Especially with a task like this.”

    “Learning a little bit of humility never hurt anyone” Kira said.

    Louis just rolled with it. He knew that there were times when Kira was difficult to understand, it seemed like Kiki was more like her mother every time Louis talked to her. This just struck him as another one of those times. At least things were still simple with Rea and Vicky.
     
    Part 70, Chapter 1021
  • Chapter One Thousand Twenty-One


    17th July 1953

    Tokyo, Japan

    The conversation on the flight kept rolling through Kat’s mind as she got off the plane that had landed in Tokyo. When the Empress had ordered her to go to Japan she had been told that the German Government would be sending the foremost expert on Asian Cultures with her. However, in a cruel twist of what even Kat had to admit was ironic justice they had sent Tilo Schultz whose father she had gone out of her way to see publicly humiliated before the Imperial Court in Potsdam. As she had prepared for the trip and then on the extremely long flight to Tokyo Tilo had filled her head with everything he thought she should know so that she become an international embarrassment, again.

    “In Japan right now, they are trying to decide if you are Onna-bugeisha or Kunoichi” Tilo had said.

    “Wait, what” Kat had replied over the unfamiliar terms.

    “They know that you are a noblewoman and companion of the Empress, a Gräfin in the Imperial Court” Tilo said, “But are you a female Samurai or Kira’s spy and assassin, that is the question that is at the back of all of their minds.”

    Kat knew she didn’t fit neatly into either of those categories. There had been a number of times that she had been all those things. It gave her a lot to think about as the plane had landed.

    Stepping out of the plane itself was like walking into a wall. It was hot, at least thirty degrees and it was raining. She had been warned that if she was going in uniform then it had to be tropical issue. She was understanding why. Instead, she had worn an oversized American style t-shirt and cut-off trousers on the flight. If she was going to be cooped up in an airplane for an entire day, then she was dressing for her own comfort and she didn’t care what anyone had to say. Even so, she felt feverish by the time she made it through customs. Tilo, who was wearing a blue and white wool uniform was hiding it, but Kat could see sweat trickling down the back of his neck.

    Customs had taken a dim view of the karambit that was sheathed in the small of her back. How they knew it was there, Kat couldn’t figure out. Under Japanese Law, both the weapon itself and the nature of the person holding it were factored in. With her reputation preceding her, they reacted like if she was bringing a gun into the country. Eventually, a phone call and her diplomatic passport got them to back off.

    It was then that they made it out to the car where they were greeted by a far more formidable challenge than inclement weather or obnoxious officials as Tilo sat in the front and Kat in the back. Maeda Natsumi, the Senior Equerry for the Women of the Imperial Household. She was a woman of indeterminate years who was rumored to be a mistress of the Japanese Emperor. Tilo said something to her in Japanese from the front seat of the car and she just sneered at him.

    “Your Japanese is terrible” Natsumi said to Tilo in perfect German. Then she pulled out a hand fan that she unfolded and began fanning her face. Sitting across from her, Kat could see that the fan was made from steel plates. It seemed strange, but she realized that this was one of her foreign counterparts. Something that she had never imagined could exist, much less would encounter.


    Potsdam

    “Unfortunately, the Gräfin is out of the country” Schultz nearly blew his stack when he learned that from the Palace Footman. That was all so very convenient for her. Kat had skipped town after suggesting that he receive medals and Orders from the Emperor. The press was out in force, something that he was sure that he also that Kat to thank for. Helga thought that it was wonderful, he could finally get his due and retire for real this time. Schultz knew what the score really was. Unless he found something to do with himself, odds were extremely high that he would be dead within a year. The whole situation would have been tolerable except the British had passed several messages through back channels gloating about how they had been the ones to finally get him.

    “This is all so exciting” Helga said. Their children and grandchildren were with them. Except for Tilo, who had been called away for reasons of State. Fortunately, Jost could put the fear of God into Eric and Karl like few others. As a professional Noncommissioned Officer Jost did that professionally. With Lenz finally getting married, Jost and Tilo were showing no sign of settling down from Helga’s perspective. Schultz didn’t have the heart to tell Helga that Jost preferred the sort of women who you paid to leave at the end of the date and Tilo was still in pursuit of the Jensen girl. Helga just found it unacceptable that her sons would live that way. Schultz had gotten a dirty look when he had said asked if she meant single and happy. At the same time, Helga didn’t see anything wrong with Inga being “married” to Jesus Christ as a Sister in the Order of Saint Clair. Her wearing her Nun’s habit did look odd here in the Imperial Court but she had gotten leave to come watch her father be inducted into the Pour le Mérite Order. There was something else that Schultz knew about his youngest daughter, joining a Holy Order was a way for Inga to hide from her mother that she was a friend of Old Fritz. It would kill Helga if she ever learned the truth of that.
     
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    Part 70, Chapter 1022
  • Chapter One Thousand Twenty-Two


    19th July 1953

    Kyoto, Japan

    Suga was enjoying a peaceful afternoon as she sat on her favorite bench on the edge of the rock garden. Haru was already done for the day, he said that he would rather sit in the shade than work in the afternoons during this time of year. Suga figured that she would have to find shade herself soon.

    “In your letters, you described this place as peaceful” Suga heard a strangely accented voice say in English.

    Suga looked over and saw a woman wearing a dark green dress made of a light weight fabric. The two things that struck Suga was that she was wearing a pair of slipper-like shoes and that her copper colored hair was being worn loose. Both those things seemed to be out of character for Gräfin Katherine. But then, did Suga really know her? There had been many times when Freddy had put something in the letters that seemed at odds with what she thought she knew.

    “You read the letters?” Suga asked.

    “No” Katherine replied as she sat down on the bench, “But Freddy tells me a lot, he said that you enjoy sitting on a bench beside a Zen garden and feel at peace.”

    “I try to feel at peace” Suga said, “More of an aspiration.”

    “That is a good thing to aspire to” Katherine said.

    “Are you at peace ever?”

    Katherine thought for a few seconds then she said, “Imagine laying in bed in the early morning hours and you can hear the rain drops hitting the glass of the windows or see the shadows of snowflakes. You are warm and only half awake, all of the world’s problems seem very distant.”

    “That sounds nice” Suga said.

    “It is” Katherine replied, “Unfortunately I never get to enjoy it for long because I live with two toddlers who need me.”

    “Tatiana and Malcolm?” Suga asked. Freddy had mentioned them, Katherine’s two children, in one of his letters.

    Katherine just smiled. This whole exchange was not what Suga was expecting. She remembered Katherine as this cold and harsh woman wearing a military uniform. What she was like now was nothing like that.

    “Why are you here?” Suga asked.

    “For a couple of different reasons” Katherine said, “I was sent to Japan for something that you have for Freddy for one.”

    “Aki isn’t here” Suga said.

    “Don’t be silly” Katherine replied, “That doesn’t need to be done until I’m ready to return home.”

    “When is that?”

    “In a few days” Katherine replied, “It depends on when I can pry my so-called expert on Asian Cultures out of this country and I might take in some of the sights myself.”

    “What would you see?” Suga asked.

    “I don’t know but find the idea of being someplace where no one knows me refreshing” Katherine replied.

    Suga found that extremely funny. Now who is being silly, she thought to herself. Then Katherine looked at her, confused.

    “Westerners with red hair tend to stand out” Suga told her, “Especially when they are an exotic Countess mentioned in all the papers. Arrangements are going have to be made so you don’t get mobbed.”

    Suga figured that Katherine would not like being lectured by a girl half her age and knew as soon as she said it that it was a major breech of courtesy. Katherine however didn’t seem to mind.

    “I was also asked by Kira Kirillovna to get a measure of you as a person” Katherine said. “What you might do on a lazy Sunday afternoon in the summertime, for example.”

    That shocked Suga. Something she hadn’t anticipated, they couldn’t possibly think that…

    “Tell me about Maeda Natsumi” Katherine said interrupting Suga’s train of thought.


    Wunsdorf-Zossen

    Kat’s revenge was complete, he had to give her that. As of this morning Schultz was one of the most famous, now former, Spymasters in the world. With one of the acclaimed front pages of the BT depicting him and a photograph of his face gracing every major newspaper in the world. The day before he had been informed that his replacement in the BND-NAA had been appointed. That meant that he had been officially put out to pasture. Oddly, a strange spin had emerged on the story. That when he and Martzel had caught up with Teller they had a choice. Let the attack happen, which would have been to their own nation’s advantage and probably would have knocked out a rival power. Or they could do the honorable thing and stop the attack, saving tens of thousands of lives in the process. The reality was that Martzel didn’t put that much thought into it. He had seen Teller as a crazed animal needing to be put down before anyone else got hurt.

    Sitting on his back-porch Schultz thought about the future, he had been asked to help with the security review that was going on in the BND. The Brits had gotten into what was supposed to be one of the most secure buildings in the world. The OKW wanted to know exactly how that had happened. To his annoyance his can of beer was empty, then he noticed movement out of the corner of his eye and chucked the can at it. Schultz heard a clank and a voice yell “Ow!” as Erik jumped up having been beamed in the head.

    “What did you do that for!” Erik demanded.

    “Sneaking up on people is rude” Schultz replied, “Now go get me a beer from the icebox.”

    Schultz heard Erik walking away grumbling. “You’re just lucky it wasn’t a bottle” He called after his grandson and then was chuckling to himself. It was nice that he could still show Erik and Karl who was boss in this house. The thing was at twelve they were reaching an age when they would start trying to hit back.
     
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    Part 70, Chapter 1023
  • Chapter One Thousand Twenty-Three


    21st July 1953

    Tokyo, Japan

    “Good” Natsumi said, “But you still tend to drop your guard on the right when you start an attack.”

    Kat’s ribs ached from when Natsumi had exploited that tendency of hers that she had been unaware of until the second that had happened. It had started early that morning when the Senior Equerry had woken her with an invitation to have breakfast. The conversation had been wide-ranging discussion over breakfast of grilled fish and rice with fruit washed down with tea. They had spoken at length about recent news and Kat’s impressions regarding Japan. Kat’s children and the various reasons for Kat’s visit, Natsumi refused to believe that she was here only for a dog.

    Then the topic had turned to martial arts and Kat’s knowledge. Before Kat knew it, she was facing off against Natsumi, the woman was ten years older than her, but she hardly allowed that slow her down. It had turned out to be the hardest workout that Kat had done in years. Simply put, in hand to hand Natsumi was better than her. At the same time the Japanese woman had never fired a pistol or saw much use for a karambit, preferring her tessen as Kat would learn her fan was called.

    After a couple hours in the Dojo Kat noticed that the sun was out, she had completely lost track of time and that her clothes were soaked with sweat.

    “We must stop” Kat said, “I’ve an obligation to attend to.”

    “I’m always happy to have a receptive student” Natsumi replied “The Princess I presume?”

    Natsumi seemed to be the sort that believed that pain was a good teacher. Kat felt more satisfied then she should have that she had been able to keep up.

    “Yes, I promised her that I would go to Museum of Art with her” Kat replied.

    “What are your impressions of her?”

    “Suga is a sweet girl” Kat said, “Intelligent, imaginative and a dreamer. She’s a bit naïve and can be a pushover, manipulative at times. Those last few things can be worked on.”

    “And as a potential bride for your Crown Prince?” Natsumi asked.

    “I didn’t say anything about that” Kat replied.

    “You don’t need to” Natsumi said, “Your Empress sent someone she knows and trusts all the way here. I also know that you teach others, young women to do the same thing that you do. The Mistress of the Keys, I believe you call it? The invisible hand of the Empress in your society. Working in the interest of harmony.”

    “I’ve never heard it put that way before” Kat replied, not denying what Natsumi said, but not confirming it either.

    “Tell me about Prince Friedrich?” Natsumi asked.

    “Smart, nice, not much of a reader, enjoys the outdoors, particularly football” Kat said, “He can be a bit pigheaded at times though.”

    “Yet he took the time to learn Japanese and writes a letter twice a month to a girl halfway around the world?”

    “I told you he can be a bit pigheaded” Kat replied only to see that Natsumi seemed amused by that.

    “Enjoy your afternoon in the Museum Katherine” Natsumi said, “I would suggest looking for the paintings by Takeuchi Seihō. He traveled widely and was deeply inspired by a trip to the Dresden Zoo.”

    With that Natsumi left, Kat knew that she had just enough time to get cleaned up before starting the three-hour trip to Kyoto. She was starting to wonder what had happened to Tilo, not having seen him in a couple days. She figured that he would turn up eventually, but there were times when Kat wondered exactly what Nancy saw in him.


    Berlin

    It was a fun party as the filming had wrapped up. They had shot the scenes depicting the final moments of the race and then that was it. Nancy had not stuck around as the party had run late. She knew she was going to have to be up early in the morning, so going home was the best option for her.

    To Nancy’s astonishment the film didn’t have a necessarily conventional ending. Tiger Martz has a chance to win the race but gives it up so that her friend Anna can have a chance at happiness. The final scene involves Tiger and Felicitas talking about if their 2nd Place finish was worth it as they can see Anna and Derik finally able to be together on the other side of the spectators there to see the end of that race.

    Overall, Nancy had to say that the filming was a good experience for her and exactly what she needed. Tomorrow she would be back in Wolfsburg in the Promotions Department of Volkswagen. Very different from Greece. She also had her family coming to visit and Kat was supposed to be back from Japan in time for her birthday. Nancy wouldn’t say that everything was coming up roses, but for the first time in what seemed like forever she was close to happy.

    The house was dark as Nancy walked up the front steps with only the blue light from the television coming from the parlor. Typical Tuesday, she thought to herself. The girls would have knocked off early having places to be in the morning. Douglas might be up but with Kat out of town he had divided his time between work and the twins, the result was that he went to bed exhausted as soon as Tat and Kol were down for the night.

    Unlocking the door, Nancy saw that Petia and Eha were watching a murder mystery. “Perfect timing Anna” Petia said, “They’re just about to show who did it.”

    “But I wouldn’t know the context” Nancy said as she hung up her jacket in the front closet. She smiled to herself, it was as if she had never left.
     
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    Part 70, Chapter 1024
  • Chapter One Thousand Twenty-Four


    25th July 1953

    In transit, Over Russia

    The name Aki, Autumn, was perfect for him. With white and gold fur, he was going to be beautiful when he got bigger. It had fallen to Kat to try to keep him from being to disruptive on the flight home.

    “It will be alright Aki” Kat said as she hugged the puppy close when he had started to whine again. Despite his fear at unfamiliar surroundings, frightening noises and strange people, Aki still licked Kat’s chin.

    This got her dirty looks from the other passengers on the plane, but Kat was used to it. People might not like being on a plane with scared, homesick puppy but they recoiled in terror at the prospect of being stuck on a plane with twin babies. They had almost had go to war with Lufthansa to get them to budge in this. Aki, an Akita puppy, was a gift from the Japanese Emperor to the German Crown Prince and because the breed was considered Monument of Japan there was no way that he could ride in the cargo hold without creating an International incident. The other thing that the Airline was unhappy with was that Tilo had used the trip for research and to gather material for a scholarly manuscript he was writing about different practices of Buddhism and offshoot religions in Japan, China, Korea and Vietnam. He had ended up needing to rent a lorry in Tokyo to get the crates of material to the airport.

    “Be careful Kat” Tilo said, “People might discover that you are secretly a good Mum.”

    Kat just shrugged, she was long past caring about what other people thought of her. The implications of this trip were far more at the front of her mind. Through intermediaries the Japanese Royal family had put out feelers towards the prospect of a union between Suga-no-miya Takako Naishinnō, Imperial Princess of Japan, and Friedrich, Prince of Prussia and Crown Prince of the German Empire. Even the aspect of Suga being Japanese wasn’t as much of an obstacle as it first appeared. Most of the Princesses of Europe were either much younger or older than Freddy was or were directly related to him. In the future it was expected that the younger Royalty of Central and Eastern Europe were going to be marrying the members of the Nova Nobilitas, who had earned their titles through merit, at a high rate. If Freddy and Suga married it would just be shape of things to come. That meant that the Imperial Court would continue to grow more interesting in the coming years. Still, Kat remembered years earlier when she had joked with Gia about this very thing. Now that the reality was only a few years from being upon them. The puppy in her arms was proof of that.

    “You know that he is going to be huge” Tilo said.

    “Who?” Kat asked.

    “Aki there” Tilo said, “Look at the size of those paws.”

    “I was told that his kind were bred for hunting bear and boars” Kat said.

    Tilo laughed at that. “It will make him popular in the East” He said, “They like hunting dogs.”

    “I guess” Kat said.

    “What is up with those?” Tilo asked and it almost caused Kat to start laughing when she realized what he was getting at. The shoes had been a gift from Helene, supposedly based on a design of shoes from Medieval Germany that were for historic reenactments. They looked like a combination of Ballet slippers and Scottish ghillies. Kat just knew that they were extremely comfortable if she didn’t have to walk any distance. Suga had asked Kat if she could arrange for a pair to be sent to her. Kat had the impression that Suga had the mistaken belief that Kat was considered remotely fashionable in German circles. The closest she ever got to that was listening to Klaus Voll complain about how she occasionally managed to convince women across Germany that fashion was a waste of time.

    “They are comfortable, and you know what they say?” Kat asked.

    “No” Tilo replied.

    “That this trip is being taken by me and not Oberstlieutenant Gräfin Katherine von Mischner” Kat said.

    “You make it sound like you are two different people” Tilo said.

    “You’re the Philosopher, you tell me” Kat said, “It’s like I have this unwelcome roommate that is the person who people think I am.”

    “You never wanted to be famous, did you?” Tilo asked.

    “If I could live quietly with Douglas, Tatiana and Malcolm I would be happy” Kat replied, “The Sisterhood and Stefan would be free to visit.”

    “Who’s Stefan?” Tilo asked.

    “My younger half-brother” Kat replied.

    “Oh” Tilo replied, he had heard rumors about how her father had gotten around. “Mission accomplished with this trip” He said awkwardly changing the subject.

    “We have Aki” Kat said, “And I was able to make some good connections.

    “What is that supposed to mean?”

    “I invited Maeda Natsumi to come to Berlin” Kat replied, “To teach the Sisterhood for a few months.”

    “Are you insane?” Tilo asked in disbelief.

    “Far from it” Kat replied, “I discovered that there are some flaws in my training on this trip.”

    “And you think that Natsumi can help you with that?”

    “Yes” Kat replied, “The training that the SKA/MA uses is a combination of disciplines, there is always room for improvement.”

    That would also provide cover for Natsumi coming to Berlin, but Tilo didn’t need to know that.
     
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    Part 70, Chapter 1025
  • Chapter One Thousand Twenty-Five


    26th July 1953

    Berlin

    “Thirteen hours in the air with a puppy on an airplane” Doug said, “One more good story, and this is one you can talk about afterwards.”

    “Yes” Kat replied. When she had gotten home the night before all she had wanted to do was sleep. Now, she had been pleasantly surprised to find that she had nowhere pressing to be today.

    She had been telling Doug about what she had been doing in Japan while they had been laying in. “Not the entire story though, not yet, and I could have lived without what happened when the plane landed.”

    The story had leaked to the Press, so Kat had found herself at Tempelhof dodging reporters and photographers. Then had come taking Aki to Potsdam to introduce him to Freddy when she was asleep on her feet. The Japanese Ambassador had been present for that along with more Press. Aki had not wanted to leave Kat having become attached to her on the flight, but he didn’t seem to mind finding himself the center of attention among the Royal children. Now, that whole ordeal was over.

    “Anything that you want to do today?” Doug asked.

    “I want to get Fritz Schafer’s opinion of this” Kat said as she picked up a box from the nightstand. Opening it she pulled out a fan that she snapped open.

    “Is that a joke?” Doug asked.

    “Hardly” Kat replied as she closed it and handed it to him.

    “You could use this as a club in a pinch” Doug said, “Heavy enough.”

    “That is sort of the idea” Kat said, “I met a woman in Japan who plays a similar role to me, and this is her weapon of choice.”

    “It is both elegant and clever” Doug said, “Naturally, it wasn’t you who came up with it.”

    “What’s that supposed to mean?” Kat asked.

    “Most of the time you go for spectacular over subtle.”

    “I can do subtle” Kat said, “There have been plenty of times when Kira asked me to do something that didn’t result in a fight or explosion.”

    “No one remembers that” Doug said, “What they remember is that when you come to town the fire department goes on high alert and there are twice as many police patrolling the streets.”

    Kat was about to say something in reply when they heard yelling downstairs, a crash, then the sound of a small child screaming in displeasure but not in pain. Just the fact that she knew the difference… “Perhaps we can just stay in here all day with the door locked” Kat said.

    Doug laughed at that as he swung his legs off the bed and sat up. “We have another three years until Tat and Kol start Kindergarten, we’re sort of obligated to be full time parents until then” He said.

    “I know” Kat said, “But your children are awful.”

    “Who do you think they get it from?” Doug asked.

    Kat just groaned and rolled onto her side facing away from him. It was clear that the Lady of the house wasn’t thrilled with the idea of motherhood today.

    “You’ll have to at least have make an appearance or two so that the twins remember what their mother looks like” Doug said as she burrowed deeper under the covers and he quickly dressed. He would leave the door unlocked. Eventually one of the twins, usually Tatiana, would climb onto the bed and join her. That would draw her out into the world of the living.


    27th July 1953

    Santa Rosa, California

    This was a nightmare, Jonny thought to himself.

    “Do you have anything to say for yourself Mr. Casey?” The Judge asked.

    “No, your Honor” Jonny said through gritted teeth.

    “You were clocked going twice the legal speed limit on a county road while in an intoxicated state at which point you resisted arrest” The Judge said, “Do you understand the gravity of your situation?”

    “Yes, your Honor” Jonny said.

    Jonny had more than enough time to think about his situation. He had been stopped on Friday night and had been stuck in the County Jail until the Judge arrived for the arraignment on Monday morning. On Sunday he had finally been forced to make a phone call that he didn’t want to make.

    “My Client is aware of situation and while showing poor judgement on the night in question, he has ably served his country to the best of his abilities” The Lawyer in the grey suit who had come up from San Francisco said. When Jonny had made the call, the voice on the other end had said that his situation would go away but he needed to let the process work itself out. When the lawyer had shown up, he’d said that the whole thing was already in the bag. They just needed to make it so that Judge could get his two cents in and that he didn’t have the impression that Jonny was getting off scot-free

    “Do you think that Mr. Casey is the first young man who I have seen in my Courtroom like this?” The Judge asked.

    “No, your Honor” The Lawyer said, “Just as I’m sure you know, we’ve got a deal worked out with the District Attorney.”

    “And I do not like the details of that deal” The Judge said.

    The deal was that Jonny be released with the charges dropped provided that he went back to the Army. Though he suspected that the Army was not his destination.
     
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    Part 70, Chapter 1026
  • Chapter One Thousand Twenty-Six


    2nd August 1953

    Potsdam

    “Let me be the first the wish you a happy birthday Katherine” Kira said.

    “Thank you” Kat replied, “Now about Jonas Salk.”

    She had been trying to steer the conversation back to the articles she had been reading about an effective Polio vaccine that the American Researcher had announced. Kat felt that the Order of Louise, with its ongoing work in charities and humanities, was perfectly positioned to reach out to the University of Pittsburgh get around the ongoing bother of International politics and the American Government’s stubbornness. As the Grand Mistress of the Order, any decisions on the matter would have to go through Kira.

    Kira however, wanted to talk about other things first. Kat knew that it reflected how Kira was happy about what she regarded as successful mission to Japan by Kat. She had retrieved the dog and started an important dialog.

    “I also heard about what your University is up to as well” Kira said, “Do you have an opinion?”

    “It certainly changes things” Kat replied, knowing that was an understatement. Her Alma Mater had been included in the massive restructuring of the Universities of Berlin into one of the largest institutions of higher learning in the world. Friedrich Wilhelm University was going to be one component of that larger system. While the move did nothing to reduce the stature of the University, as Kat had said, it was a big change. The name of the new University system was supposed to be voted on by the Students and the Alumni in the coming weeks. Kira hadn’t been the only one to ask Kat’s opinion on the matter in recent days.

    “Now, Katherine, this whole Salk matter, is it really as important as you say it is?” Kira asked.

    Kat almost exclaimed her relief aloud.

    “Yes” Kat said calmly, “I think it is something that we need to be involved in.”

    “Good” Kira said, “At the next quarterly meeting it will be on the agenda.”

    That was it? Kat figured that Kira would need more persuasion.

    “I got the impression from Kristina that the girls are disappointed” Kira said.

    “There just hasn’t been time to arrange for them to do anything this summer” Kat replied.

    “They understand. Besides, there are worse things than to having Marcella and Aurora staying with Kristina. The other girls have been coming here over holiday, necessary activities were arranged. Jehane stepped into your place, which was nice of her.”

    “What have they been doing?” Kat asked, almost afraid to find out. What had been deemed necessary?

    “Etiquette, deportment and dancing” Kira replied.

    “Have they decided that they are being punished for something yet?”

    Kira looked at Kat with a touch of annoyance, “That was what Kristina said about it” she replied.

    “I do have some good news then” Kat said, “I’ve arranged to a guest instructor to come from Japan to give them exactly what they think they want, and have it become their worst nightmare.”

    “That should be a wonderful learning experience for them” Kira said, she was unsure if Katherine was joking or not. The girls under her tutelage were learning a great deal.


    Langley, Virginia

    “Are you sure about this man?” Jackson Grey was asked, “He doesn’t even have a High School Diploma.”

    “Getting him an equivalent degree won’t be a problem” Grey said, “But what John Casey brings to the table is more important than what’s on paper. I saw him in Mexico leading the charge up that mountain.”

    “We normally only accept College Graduates.”

    “And how has that been working out for us?” Grey asked, “Our dear friends in Europe are absolutely ruthless as recent events have shown. We recruit a certain type of person, they know it and they can play them like a fiddle.”

    “There is also the matter of his ethical lapses.”

    “We do not need another Choir boy” Grey replied, “Casey drinks and gets in road races when he gets bored.”

    That earned Grey a dirty look from his superior. Throwing a term like Choir boy around was a reminder of some recruitment practices of the OSS and now the CIA that had resulted in criticism that was being leveled against them. If the letters CIA did come to stand for “Christians In Action” as had been joked, started reflecting the mindset of the Agency as an institution, then London and Berlin would thank them for making their lives so much easier. If promotions and assignments started depending on attending the right church as opposed to actual ability, then they had already fumbled the ball. It was bad enough how the FBI and State had gone after people with questionable grandparents. That had probably cost them some of their most knowledgeable people.

    ----------------------------------------------------------------

    As Jonny drove through the gate he heard the sound of the Ford’s engine reverberating off the guard shack. The guard was less than impressed by any of it. Jonny had spent the last few days driving across the country. He had been given an address in Northern Virginia with no explanations. Typical of this sort of thing, he had been that he could be here, or he could take his chances with the Courts in Sonoma County. He knew this wasn’t the 10th and everyone he called didn’t seem to know what he might have gotten himself roped into. Other than it was worth springing him from County, that is.
     
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    Part 70, Chapter 1027
  • Chapter One Thousand Twenty-Seven


    3rd August 1953

    Berlin

    It was surprising that everyone here seemed so normal. Agnes Jensen didn’t know what she was expecting, something from the Addams family? The house was old, granted, but it hardly seemed dilapidated. It was also crowded. Nancy was living in one of the upstairs bedrooms while Anne, one of the other girls in the house had moved to a bedroom that had originally been the formal dining room when Nancy had arrived. Eha, a girl from Estonia who worked for Katherine as a Nanny, was upstairs in a room next to the nursery. Katherine and her husband Douglas, who to Agnes’ surprise was from Canada, owned the house and had a room upstairs. They had two small children, Tatiana and Malcolm. Ilse, who was Katherine’s younger sister, had a room in the attic as did Petia, the housekeeper. There was also a substantial number of young women and girls who were constantly coming and going. Agnes got the impression that Katherine liked the chaotic energy of this place, even if she kept busy elsewhere most of the time. It had come as a shock Agnes the first time she had seen Katherine leave for work wearing a blue military tunic and the longish black skirt that women in the German Army wore as uniforms. Apparently, that was no big deal because of the people in this house, all of them had careers unless they were still in school. In an act kindness, Katherine had arranged for her and Alan to stay at a hotel that was unbelievably luxurious.

    Today, it there was a party going on, Katherine’s birthday and Agnes found herself sitting across from three girls in the parlor, Kiki, Zella and Aurora. Kiki struck Agnes as sort of bashful but inquisitive. Kiki had said that her father was a bigshot, so she had to be in the presence of bodyguards at all times. However, they were standing an unobtrusive distance away. Zella seemed like she was good girl but had a bad attitude. That was the impression that Agnes had because Zella would only speak to the other girls in German. Aurora, to Agnes’ astonishment was the daughter of Robert Capa and Gerda Taro, whose photographs Agnes was familiar with. They all belonged to the Girl Scout troop that Katherine volunteered to lead. The others were part of a group that had a name that Agnes couldn’t even began to pronounce that translated to the Sisterhood. What delighted Agnes was that they had stepped in and helped her daughter when she had needed it.

    “You are Nancy’s mother?” Kiki asked.

    “Yes” Agnes replied.

    “You must be excited” Kiki said, “The film she worked on is going to be in theaters.”

    “She didn’t mention that to me” Agnes said, “Just that she is working for Volkswagen.”

    Kiki smiled, “The film is the result of this thing between UFA and VW” She said, “I heard a friend of my mother call it an atrocity.”

    “What do you think it is?” Agnes asked.

    “I don’t know” Kiki replied.

    “It took her to Greece and she got to work with movie stars” Aurora said.

    Zella said something in German that made both Kiki and Aurora look at her crossly. Agnes was a bit amused, Zella was pretending that she couldn’t understand when she talked to her directly, but Zella was following along with the conversation. It was the sort of mistake that otherwise clever girls might make.

    ----------------------------------------------------------------

    “Having them here for this wasn’t the plan” Nancy said.

    “I told you that I don’t mind” Kat replied, “They finally have faces to match the names.”

    “My God” Nancy muttered to herself as she saw who her mother was talking to in the parlor. “She has no idea.”

    “It’s not that big of a deal” Kat said, “This will make it so that she will quite a story to tell when she gets back to Washington State.”

    “Take this seriously” Nancy said.

    “I am, it’s a good thing for the three of them to meet an average American” Kat said, “Kiki lives in a bubble and God only knows what Zella’s father fills her head up with.”

    “I’m not an average American?” Nancy asked.

    “You haven’t been an average American in an extremely long time” Kat replied.

    Nancy saw Alan talking to Douglas in the Kitchen, that seemed safe enough. However, she needed to save her mother from further embarrassment.

    “You three should see if you can help in the kitchen” Nancy said to the girls as she walked into the parlor. The three girls all had mixed reactions. For Kiki it was novelty, being asked to do something. For the other two it was prying them from an interesting conversation. Kiki getting up and walking towards the kitchen convinced the other two to follow.

    “Nice girls” Nancy’s mother said, “Zella reminds me a bit of a tomboy I knew several years ago who was not quite as smart as she thought she was. What’s this about you going to Greece and working on a movie?”

    “I was the representative from Volkswagen at filming” Nancy replied, “It was not the vacation that everyone seems to think it was.”

    “Kiki was telling me about how a friend of her mother thinks that the film is an atrocity.”

    “It’s a popcorn film with higher aspirations” Nancy said, “Critics argue that because most of the cars in the film are made by VW it’s a ninety-minute commercial. It doesn’t surprise me that Kiki’s mother knows someone who thinks that way, the Kaiserin is a patroness of the arts.”

    “Excuse me, the what?” Nancy’s mother asked just as Stefan and Nizhoni walked through the door. “Who is that?”

    Thankful for the distraction Nancy said, “That is Katherine’s younger brother, Stefan and his, we aren’t sure what Nizzi is, she would be his intended if he would ever get around to asking.”

    Nancy looked at her mother, she had a slightly bewildered look on her face. “You know that the girl, Nizzi, looks a bit like someone from Coeur d'Alene.”

    “I don’t know about that, but her father is a famous General” Nancy said, “Walter von Horst, the Michel Ney of the Twentieth Century.”

    “What does that mean?”

    “He started as an Infantry Private and is one of the highest-ranking Generals” Nancy said, then Emil and Maria walked in, “Those are Zella’s parents, Markgraf von Holz and Maria Acker, Maria is the Editor in Chief at the Berliner Daily and Emil is in the High Command of the German Military, very hush-hush.”

    “I had no idea” Nancy heard her mother say, “Did you know that Aurora’s parents are famous photographers?”

    “I am aware” Nancy replied.
     
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    Part 70, Chapter 1028
  • Chapter One Thousand Twenty-Eight


    12th August 1953

    Wunsdorf-Zossen

    In the days since Oberst Gangl had been promoted Hans had been the acting CO of the 140th Souville and he had been informed that the Regiment was his if he wanted it. He had also been discovering that it was nothing but work for him. Now, he found himself with a bunch of green recruits that he was still trying to integrate with the Regiment as well as incorporating the lessons of Mexico. There was a bunch of new equipment that they were training with. Most notable was that the problems with the Panzerfaust 250 had supposedly been worked out. They were still seen as disposable, were thrown together as cheaply as possible and only needed to hold together for ten shots. The issues with the propellent being volatile in hot weather had been addressed, if Hans wanted to take the manufactures word for it. There was also a mountain of paperwork to dig through, the higher he rose the more of this it seemed there was. Division had just sent him back the re-revised absurdly named after-action report for the flooding in the Netherlands the prior winter. Yes, they were involved in the recovery effort. By the time they got there they were dealing with the aftermath.

    “Hate to interrupt Sir” Hans heard the Unteroffizer who was one of the clerks who worked for Regiment Headquarters as he handed Hans a sheet of paper. “Division is preparing for movement.”

    6.5 to 7.0 Magnitude Earthquake on West Coast of Greece, Units on Rapid Response standby in the 1st, 2nd and 5th A.O.K. are to prepare for deployment in Search and Rescue effort.

    It was all Hans could do not to groan aloud, this was going to be just like the Netherlands.

    It took several phone calls, but Hans was able to learn that the 4th Division was headed for a town called Zakynthos. Only that there wasn’t a whole lot of town left according to the initial reports. He then called Helene for an icy conversation, the reason why he thought he would be making a mistake if he took the 140th was right there in that conversation. She wasn’t happy about him getting deployed for the third time in the last year. Whenever the 4th had deployed, the 140th had led the way. And every time Hans got the impression that Helene was getting a hair closer to giving him the boot. That was all he needed. To find himself in the Bachelor Officer’s Quarters in his mid-thirties and having furious sister gunning for him. The most obnoxious part was that he would be living across the hall from Stefan, Hans figured that he would rather have Kat shoot him before he allowed that to happen.

    The alternative was a Staff posting here in Wunsdorf. That might make Helene happy. It was unfortunately what was possibly the most boring thing he could find himself doing. These were thoughts that he knew he needed to push aside but he was finding it difficult this time.


    Kappeln, Schleswig-Holstein

    This place was beautiful, Agnes had to give it that. A picturesque town with fishing boats tied up along the bank of the narrow bay. As they walked down the waterside it was noticeable that the smell of fish was everywhere. She had the impression that this was not necessarily a tourist spot but very much the market town that the guidebook said it was. As in fish market.

    Agnes had talked Nancy into driving her and Alan here after she had learned from official records that her mother had been born in this small town near the Baltic Sea. They had never known about this until Nancy had gotten caught up in the hysteria that had engulfed Washington D.C. Agnes would never say so, but she felt that her daughter was probably happier for it. The work Nancy was doing was interesting and she no longer had to work under a man who hated her. If the United States State Department was collectively too stupid to realize that she was a good person, then that was on them.

    “Next is Haderslev” Alan said, “I was figuring that we could stop for lunch in Flensburg.”

    Nancy gave him a dirty look.

    “Don’t tease your sister like that” Agnes said, “Nancy is afraid that if we go into Flensburg that we’ll run into her beau and we’ll embarrass her.”

    “This is the same one who Dad punched in the nose?” Alan asked.

    “Yes, he is” Agnes said and earned a look for herself.

    “It’s not that I am embarrassed by you” Nancy said, “I just cannot deal with that right now.”

    “You are going to have to deal with it eventually” Agnes said.

    “I’m happy with how things have been going for the last few months” Nancy replied, “And there are things about Tilo that I’ve no idea how to overcome.”

    “Like what?” Agnes asked.

    “You know that German Colonel in all the papers, the German spymaster?” Nancy asked.

    “Yeah” Alan replied, “Like something from a James Bond movie.”

    “No, Alan” Nancy said, “Ian Fleming based his book on real events, Katherine, Gia and yes, Johann Schultz, Tilo’s father, are actual people.”

    Agnes had met Katherine and the young woman everyone called Gia. They seemed nice enough once you overlooked their personal histories. There had also been the rather disturbing aspect of meeting Princess Kristina. Agnes had thought Disney when it came to that sort of thing. A bashful, awkward intellectual, which is what Kiki was, seemed not to be what Disney would ever depict.
     
    Part 70, Chapter 1029
  • Chapter One Thousand Twenty-Nine


    14th August 1953

    Jena

    “There is not a whole lot that can be done this minute” Lang said, “What is happening today is the result of policies put in place when I was still Chancellor.”

    Sophie had shown up at his front door after she had received an outraged call from Helene von Richthofen. Helene’s husband had been deployed to Greece in response to the earthquake and she was unhappy that this was the third time that he had been called away in the last year. The first time had involved spending months in Mexico.

    Lang understood the reasons for that and why. Following the end of the Second World War the standing Army of the Heer had been cut back to levels not seen since just prior to the First World War because there wasn’t a hypothetical enemy in Europe. Sophie knew that there were many in the Reichstag who felt that the current force levels were excessive considering that a few States within the German Empire had Armies of their own, plus what the Kaiserliche Marine and Luftwaffe were doing with specialist forces. When Lang had set the numbers, it had been because funds had to be redirected for use domestically before there had been any more disasters on the scale of the Schöneberg derailment where dozens were killed, and hundreds more injured.

    He had not realized the larger role that the Heer would play in the new order. Certain Divisions like the Panzer Infantry and Gebirgsjäger were getting run ragged as their status as elite forces had them responding to natural disasters and every bushfire war that the German Government felt obligated to be involved in. The part that Lang was having to explain without much success was not only that these were problems that had been years in the making. Of the service branches, only the Pioneer Corps wasn’t seen as a black hole sucking large amounts money across the event horizon. The Luftwaffe and Kaiserliche Marine could point to scientific advancement and the Joint Medical Corps had become one of the most highly regarded organizations anywhere. The Heer had become the odd man out.

    This was also happening in a world that was growing less predictable by the hour. The British were finding themselves in a real pickle in India. They had spent years preparing their withdrawal from the Sub-Continent that they were planning on using as a model to be used elsewhere. Now the British were finding themselves neck deep in inter-communal violence and the people who had demanded that they leave only months earlier were now demanding that they do something else. The Middle East, long a festering sore was becoming a new version of the Great Game as Corporations with private armies and local proxies were angling to both exploit the wealth under the sands of the Arabian Desert and prevent others from exploiting it. As the Chairman of the LN Lang was finding himself having to grapple with these problems.

    “You made some mistakes?” Sophie asked, it was both a question and to Lang himself a damning accusation.

    “If I said I didn’t I would be lying” Lang replied, “I’ve told you that there are times when you have to make the least bad choice. You are concerned because this directly effected the life of a friend this time.”

    “What are you suggesting?”

    “What have your votes been surrounding this issue?” Lang asked in reply, “As far as funding was concerned.”

    Sophie wasn’t thrilled to have that brought up by Lang, that she might be a part of problem. Her career was only getting started so she wasn’t in a position to make those decisions, not yet.


    Zakynthos Island, Greece

    Stepping off the plane was like stepping into another world. That was how Stefan had described his prior experience when he had arrived in Mexico. This time was different with everything levelled. The Local Government and Greek Army had been shocked when the 4th Division had started arriving on the island. They had been hard pressed with the calamity that had happened, suddenly they had a lot more help and they swiftly found out that they were despised by the very people they were supposedly here to help. To the people in these islands Germans were tourists to be fleeced and then sent home. There was also the issue of the rumors that had floated around during the Soviet War that the Greeks were more concerned with the Turks than the Russians. Now, to have the German Army here it was calamity squared and the earthquake had shoved the resentment out into the open. It made coordination of rescue efforts a bit difficult. Having Jost in his tent completely covered in dust seemed to emphasize that.

    “Fucking mess” Was what Jost said, “We spent the last two hours digging out one who was already dead.”

    “Did you hand the body over to the family?” Hans asked.

    “Yes Sir” Jost replied.

    “Good” Hans said, “Have the men started searching for the next one?”

    “Yes Sir” Jost replied again.

    “Anything else going on?” Hans asked.

    “Problems with looting” Jost said, “The business owners want us to do something, but we know that the instant we do it will be asking for trouble.”

    “No, shooting, unless they are stupid enough to shoot first” Hans replied, “Use clubs, someone gets their ass kicked in a fair fight and usually no one cares.”

    Jost seemed pleased with that answer. Hans had basically just told him to do what he wanted to do anyway.

    “And Stefan?” Hans asked.

    “He listens, which is what his job is” Jost replied. Jost knew better than say it aloud but he was less than thrilled to have another former subordinate surpass him. Especially in light of what had happened with his father.

    “Good then” Hans replied.
     
    Part 70, Chapter 1030
  • Chapter One Thousand Thirty


    3rd September 1953

    Berlin

    The lecture was about history, very boring history at that, and because the Professor made sure that all of this would be included in the examinations Zella needed to pay attention to all of it. She had discovered a large portion of studying involved deciphering her own notes and that added to the difficulty. Kiki had no problem, with either paying attention or with taking notes. It was the only thing that Zella was jealous of when it came to her friend. She had seen how Kiki had delighted in the novelty of things like produce in the markets or drying dishes. If Zella had learned anything from being around Kiki it was that being a Princess just meant that you didn’t actually have anything of your own.

    Today on the way to class today Zella had noticed that something in the air felt like autumn. It was looking like it was going to be a warm sunny afternoon, however she could feel that the seasons had shifted. Even after how it had been a disappointing summer it had still seemed like the time had flown. Her parents had thought it was amusing when she said that she wished that time moved more slowly. Her mother had said that if Zella had stopped aging a few years earlier it would have certainly made their lives easier. Zella had not found that remotely amusing.

    Last weekend she had gone with her father to her Grandmother in Jena. It was thrilling, riding in the sidecar as he had opened up the throttle reaching top speed, just over ninety kilometers an hour. Uncle Peter had not been there, his work had taken him out of town. Her Grandmother had been wonderful, she still treated Zella exactly the same unlike nearly everyone else in her life. However, Zella had overheard her grandmother and father talking once they had thought that she was out of earshot. Her grandmother was nearly eighty and was having difficulty maintaining the house in Jena even with the help that her father arranged, other arrangements were going to have to be made. Then her father had joked that he was having the difficulty of sharing the house with Zella and asked if she wanted to trade. Her grandmother had laughed with him but had admonished her father. She said that Zella was living through a difficult age.

    There were all kinds of things wrong with that conversation. Was that what being an adult was? Endless pretense? Saying one thing while thinking another?

    “Fraulein von Holz” The Professor said, Zella realized that she was talking to her, “Perhaps you can share with us what is more important then today’s lecture?”

    “My father and grandmother” Zella said lamely.

    The Professor looked at her with an unreadable expression. Of all the things that Zella could have told her, the truth wasn’t what she was expecting.

    “Well, we are obviously not covering either of them in this class, Fraulein von Holz” The Professor said, “Now, if you could please pay attention.”


    Warsaw, Poland

    For Regina Klimek, life had gone from bad to worse over the last two years. She had only wanted to help her father who had been imprisoned for fraud, she had informed on the Polish independence movement because she had been promised that he would get better treatment if she did. So far, only one of her handlers with the BII had been nice. That woman had disappeared from her life only to reappear months later in a photograph printed in an underground newspaper with a different name. It said that she was a dangerous agent of the German Empress, it also said that she had babies. That was the logical explanation for what had happened.

    In the following months, Filip had stupidly talked his way into getting arrested for the cause which had been a relief to Regina. It had been that expression of relief had caused Leo to distrust her. After that, Izzy had gone on to greener pastures and Leo had in theory moved on to a new cell. Regina still saw Leo around occasionally, but he had lost interest in having her be a part of it. Regina had still passed whatever information she had along to the BII but in the end her father had still died in prison. She was forced to conclude that the BII had moved on and she had been left behind, forgotten.

    Having completed University, Regina had come to the grim conclusion that there was no future for her in Warsaw. All the jobs were in the factories that wouldn’t hire a woman with a University education. It was her own mother telling her that she needed to get out Poland before it consumed her that had forced her to act. Still, packing her bags had been a bitter pill and now this…

    “Going somewhere Regina?” Leo asked, he and a few thugs were waiting in the train station

    “Just away” Regina replied.

    “Away?”

    “Yes, away. Anywhere but here.”

    “You know how this looks” Leo said, “Like you are off to collect thirty pieces of silver.”

    “You can’t still be on about how I didn’t fuck Filip” Regina said bitterly, “That just proves that I’m not stupid.”

    “It has nothing to do with that” Leo replied. Regina knew he was lying.

    “You know what the problem with the entire movement is” Regina said, “How you view women, children, the vast majority of the people you claim you want to liberate. Like they owe something. If you had your way, we would have your boot on our throats instead of the Germans. Either way it’s not something I can stand to watch a minute longer.”

    “Where are you going then?” Leo asked.

    “Prague” Regina replied.

    “You seriously think Bohemia would be better?”

    “It’s not here” Regina stated, “That is a point in its favor.”

    “We can stop you” Leo said.

    “To what end” Regina replied as her train was announced over the loudspeakers, “Are you going to make a mockery of everything you supposedly believe by blocking me?”

    “It’s something you once believed” Leo said.

    “I didn’t change” Regina said, “You did.”

    With that Regina pushed past them and walked to the train platform, Leo staring at her until she boarded.
     
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    Part 70, Chapter 1031
  • Chapter One Thousand Thirty-One


    6th September 1953

    Potsdam

    “A ten-day heatwave in the American Midwest has ended” Kat read aloud.

    “That is all?” Kira asked.

    “Yes” Kat replied, “I don’t know what you are looking for.”

    “Renewed violence” Kira said.

    “I don’t understand” Kat replied.

    “It has to do with your interest in Doctor Salk” Kira said, “You want the Order of Louise to play a role but that puts us in an awkward spot. We are seen as an arm of the Government, which I don’t need to tell you that relations with the United States are not warm at the moment.”

    “Polio doesn’t care about politics” Kat said, “I don’t see what that has to do with violence in America.”

    “Because hate is like a drug” Kira replied, “Nothing has changed structurally in America, but violence is down. Ever wonder why?”

    “They found a different source for a fix” Kat said, “Is that what you think?”

    Kira looked at Kat, they both knew the answer to that question.

    “The concern is that with how politics works in the United States” Kira said, “President Truman had a lot of his domestic problems evaporate when Mexico happened, now with this absurd scare he has kept it going. That is the sort of thing that works a little too well. The risk of a demagogue exploiting that is real.”

    “I’ve met Truman a couple years ago” Kat said, “He didn’t seem the type.”

    “Perhaps” Kira replied, “But what about the person who follows him? Do you have any idea who that might be? And if they have domestic problems they want to go away?”

    “I see” Kat replied.

    “And can you also see the risks involved?”

    “Excuse me?” Kat asked in reply.

    “Important research might be stopped out of spite” Kira said, “Ignorant people are capable of doing terrible things if a cynical monster is egging them on.”

    “So, we aren’t getting involved?” Kat asked.

    “I think that we have little choice in this matter” Kira replied, “If direct involvement is ruled out other means might need to be tried.”

    “What have the hundred said?” Kat asked only to get a dirty look from Kira.

    “If you had shown up, you would know” Kira said.

    “I had other obligations” Kat replied.

    “They think that we should handle this matter through diplomatic back channels” Kira said, “It would have been easier if you had been there.”

    “I doubt I would have been much help” Kat said. What was she supposed to have done? She still had the occasional depressive episode, the prior Sunday that Kira was referring to she had been such an episode. This had been compounded by Tatiana crawling into bed with her and refusing to leave.

    ----------------------------------------------------------------

    It was nice having Aki around, Freddy had a lot of doubts about that. When Suga had offered him Aki as a gift, not to replace Ueli, but to have him not be alone. Freddy had almost said no. Then Gräfin Katherine came back from Japan with Aki and Freddy had found himself in the company of the Ambassador from Japan informing him that he had been afforded a singular honor, Akita dogs were considered cultural treasures in Japan with the Government going to great lengths to preserve the breed. Then the Ambassador had told him the story of Hachikō and Hidesaburō Ueno. It was an astonishing story and Hachikō was an Akita like Aki. He had also been informed that if he had firm hand he would rewarded with a loyal companion. It was possibly the most Japanese thing that Freddy had ever heard.

    So far, trying to teach Aki how to fetch was proving to be a chore. Aki liked chasing the ball but getting him to bring it back, so it could be thrown again, he couldn’t quite seem to figure out. When Freddy went and got the ball himself for the third time the Kennel Master let Freddy know that his training by the dog was proceeding nicely.

    Freddy laughed that off, but he had the latest letter that he had received from Suga weighing on his mind. Not at all what he was expecting, what their parents were discussing through the intermediaries. It seemed insane, he had always considered Suga to be a friend, nothing more. Now she was being discussed as being possibly more, a whole lot more. His father had said that it was only hypothetical at this point, and if Suga was the youngest sister of Queen Elizabeth of England it wouldn’t even be an issue because the decision would have already been made. Personally, Freddy was finding his parent’s attitudes to be an unpleasant surprise. When the press found out that Freddy had accepted Aki as a gift from Suga that had just added more fuel to the fire.


    Wunsdorf-Zossen

    It was surprising that the latest announcement had been greeted with grumbling. The 4th Division had been pulled from Rapid Response and replaced by the 14th Division. They were going to be in training and logistics for at least the next year. Hans had discovered that Helene was happy about that, so he saw no reason to object. He was finding out that Walter Horst had plenty of reasons to object, mostly it involved exactly what Stefan was doing regarding Nizhoni.

    “I would think that you would be happy that they are taking their time” Hans said.

    “Yes and no, Nina is concerned that while they appear to be taking their time. Things might happen in the background that might force matters” Horst replied.

    Hans remembered his Brother-in-Law telling him the story about his mother trying to keep people from talking about his sister’s baby being born six or seven months after the wedding. He knew for a fact that wasn’t going to be the case here and not only because he knew both Stefan and Nizhoni.

    “That isn’t happening because Stefan knows you would kill him if he did” Hans said, “And he also doesn’t want to be an irresponsible jackass like our father.”

    “Just how do you know this?” Horst asked.

    “He talked to me about this while we were in Greece” Hans replied, “Let’s just say that Nizhoni sent him the sort of letter that definitely gets a man’s attention, she is quite a writer.”

    “And what did he have to say about that?” Horst asked.

    “What I just told you” Hans replied, “And his intentions are perfectly honorable.”

    “See to it that they stay that way” Horst said.
     
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    Part 71,Chapter 1032
  • Chapter One Thousand Thirty-Two


    7th September 1953

    Hyde Park, New York

    “I am not a spy, nor am I an agent of my Government” The girl said again.

    Her passport said that her name was Asia Ignacja Lawniczak, a resident of Berlin, Germany. Exactly what she was doing asking to speak a former President of the United States was the question and the Secret Service was grilling her for answers. She was sticking with her story, that she was here on business and was a private citizen. There was something that she had on her that the former President found intriguing, a gold pendent with a black eagle engraved on one side and stylized L on the other. When Franklin Roosevelt was informed of it he wanted to meet her.

    “You cannot be serious” The Lead Agent of his detail said, “We have no idea who she is and then there is what we found in her car.”

    It was a satchel bag that contained a stack German War Bonds left over from the Second World War. Those would be mature and potentially worth millions of dollars that would be completely untraceable.

    “I doubt that I would be worth bribing these days” Roosevelt said to the Lead Agent who didn’t find it funny.

    When the door was opened, and Roosevelt was wheeled into the room, Asia was not going anywhere because she was handcuffed to the table. “Your mistress took quite a risk sending you here like this young lady” Roosevelt said.

    “It was seen as worth it” Asia replied, something about the way she spoke suggested that she was very economic with her words. Still, she made no effort to hide who she was, talking with an accent straight from Eastern Europe. As she had said, she was no spy, or at least she had no interest in presenting herself as one.

    “If it got you fingerprinted, photographed and thrown on the first plane back to Europe?” Roosevelt asked, “Having the whole world thinking you are a spy.”

    “The Hundred said that I would be taken care of if I volunteered to do this and there were consequences” Asia answered.

    “The Hundred of the Order of Louise” Roosevelt said as he sat the pendent down on the table, “I am aware that they are not the local garden club, but this is a bit out of character for them. They normally stay out of international affairs.”

    “It has to do with Jonas Salk, Albert Sabin and the March of Dimes” Asia said, “The Kaiserin wants to support that research but cannot do it openly because of politics. That is what the bonds are for, a donation.”

    That was a surprise. It seemed like most of the people who were donating to the Polio research where only doing it to burnish their credentials. The German Kaiserin was offering a donation knowing that the world would likely never know. Then the handcuffs dropped away from Asia’s wrists and she took the pendent back.

    “Thank you, Sir” Asia said.

    Roosevelt noticed that the Secret Service Agents were bristling.

    “I know that the ginger virago who probably taught you tends to go for the spectacular, but I would recommend you go about doing things differently” Roosevelt said as he handed Asia her passport back. “Have a nice drive back to Canada Miss Lawniczak and tell your mistress that there are better ways to get my attention.”


    Seattle, Washington

    The engines of Dash 80 were spooling up and Howard Hughes could see the test pilots moving around the cockpit. When he had decided that TWA needed to go head to head with Lufthansa on the international routes he had learned that the current fleet of airliners were woefully inadequate and aging. Curtis, Douglas and Lockheed were moving forward with airliners powered by turboprops along the lines of the Dornier/Focke-Wulf 200 series. Hughes knew that would never do. Boeing however was making proposals that would compete directly with the D/F-W and Junkers 300 series they just had some large technical hurdles to overcome. That was where Hughes had come in, he had partnered with Boeing and Pratt & Whitney to get the Dash 80 prototype constructed over the last two years. Then events in England had thrown a wrench in the works.

    De Havilland had been forced to reevaluate their Comet airliner after issues with metal fatigue and the cabin pressurization system were discovered. The Engineers at Boeing were acutely aware of what had happened and had moved to avoid making the same mistakes. That had still resulted in delays and cost overruns. Hughes had wanted blood a year earlier when Boeing had decided without asking him to move to a three by three seating arrangement like the Junkers Ju-324 and the latest version of the FW300. It was probably the right move but again it had resulted in delays.

    As Hughes watched Dash 80 taxied out to the runway and turned onto the threshold. As the engines ran up to full power the test pilot stood on the brakes and the roar of the four big P&W engines filled the air. Hughes had wanted to be in the cockpit for this flight but had been talked out of it. He figured that this was better, seeing that much power constrained was like an elemental force of nature.

    Then the brakes were released, and hundreds of tons of aircraft hurtled down the runway. As it passed Hughes it was already racing, even from a couple hundred yards away he could feel waves of noise coming from it. Then it lifted off the runway and climbed nearly vertically, the sound fading as the prototype rapidly flew away from the airport.

    “Well gentlemen” Hughes said with a wide grin, “It looks like we got a winner.”

    The investors that Hughes had gathered had not been informed that standing in a field watching the prototype was what they would be doing today. They were looking at him like if he was nuts, but he was used to it.
     
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    Part 71, Chapter 1033
  • Chapter One Thousand Thirty-Three


    10th September 1953

    Tempelhof Airport

    As she walked through the terminal building Kat realized that this would possibly be one of the last times she came here. The new Airport north-west of the city was nearly complete and there were plans to redevelop the land that Tempelhof was sitting on. There were various proposals. Residential neighborhoods, industry, sports facilities, a university campus or a vast park had all been suggested. Kat didn’t really have an opinion on the subject. Though having this be a park with wide green fields and trees or a University with neoclassical buildings meant to inspire would be nice, even if it was unrealistic. However, it seemed that paving over such a place was the order of things. Perhaps, if it were a residential neighborhood one day it would feature stately houses and tree shaded lanes. A nice place to live.

    Walking past the newsstand Kat was a bit annoyed by the front pages all featuring the face of Howard Hughes and photographs of the airplane at the center of his latest antics. He was lucky that he didn’t get himself killed and/or destroyed a valuable prototype by throwing the airplane into a series of violent maneuvers in the second ever flight, that time with him at the controls. Contrary to rumor, Hughes hadn’t actually flown it in a loop but the he had performed a barrel roll over the gathered press and hundreds of spectators. Everyone was certain that Boeing was quite upset with Howard Hughes and they were going to have it out with him as soon as they finished processing all the orders for their newest airliner.

    “Men” Kat muttered to herself sarcastically.

    Kat hoped that her son Malcolm would not be one of those men driven to do insane things by testosterone poisoning, but she wasn’t optimistic. If he turned out anything like her and Douglas or worse, like Kat’s father, then they would have a serious problem on their hands. It was however Tatiana who worried Kat the most. Not yet three years old and she was revealing herself to be an extremely sensitive child. Whenever Kat was in a depressive state she would find herself with Tat there in her arms. She had talked at length about this with Doctor Holz. Was she teaching Tat to be like her one day? Occasionally crippled with depression so severe that she could hardly get out of bed? Or setting the stage for her to be like Ilse? Who had been learning to cope with Agoraphobia because it never went away completely.

    Arriving at International Arrivals, Kat saw Maeda Natsumi coming through the line. The Customs officer looked at the contents of her bags and didn’t see anything untoward though Kat could see at least a dozen items that were likely to be weapons.

    “Gräfin Katherine” Natsumi said in greeting as she made it through customs.

    “If you had waited I could have gotten you through the line faster” Kat said as she fell into step with the Natsumi.

    “I am a stranger here” Natsumi said, “Jumping the queue being the first thing I did, did not seem like the best start.”

    “Regardless, you got through” Kat said, “Is there anything you want to do while you are here?”

    “This is supposedly the center of the world when it comes to Classical Music” Natsumi replied.

    “I think that something can be arranged” Kat said.

    As they walked out of the airport Kat noticed that Natsumi was looking around with a barely concealed curious look on her face. Kat knew that it was a typical day outside the airport. People with cars picking up loved ones and those without heading for the city’s transit system. Kat realized that she must have had the same look on her face when she had arrived in Tokyo months earlier. With that she decided that she wouldn’t ruin the moment by mentioning how the girls were looking forward to meeting her. She would save that for tomorrow, after Natsumi had a chance to get some sleep.


    Kloster Lehnin, Germany

    The 2nd Life Hussars might have been a Horse Cavalry Regiment but in times of national emergency they were a Panzer Regiment the same as any other. The Lynx that Kurt was riding in the gunner’s seat of was a part of that. The five-year-old “Commander” at the moment was delighted to be standing in the cupola with the seat raised as high as it could go as she laughed as the landscape rolled past. Olli was smiling as he saw Suse’s pure joy, Mercer, the usual gunner didn’t mind being able to sit this run out.

    They completed the practice course and the Panzer ground to a halt. Suse was disappointed that the ride was over but climbed out of the Commander’s hatch as Kurt had taught her so that he could get out himself. Suse was wearing black coveralls that had been made for her that were almost identical to the ones worn by the Panzer Corps, it was what she had asked for as a birthday present.

    “I think the PC you’ve been training is a bit underage” Kurt heard the Oberst say as they climbed down from the turret.

    “What do you say Suse?” Kurt asked, “Are you underage?”

    “No” Suse replied indignantly, “My birthday was in February.”

    “See, you heard her” Kurt said.

    “Of what year?” The Oberst asked.

    Suse just stared at him her lower lip stuck out, refusing to answer the question.

    The Oberst laughed, “She seems to be your kid Knispel” He said.

    “Gerta is out of town this week and she wanted to see the Panzers” Kurt explained.

    “It probably would have been better if you had stuck her in with Feldwebel Bauer’s children” The Oberst said.

    “Nele thinks that Suse is a bad influence” Kurt replied, and Olli just shrugged. It was a mutual thing, when Suse was with Olli’s children things in the Bauer household tended to be more insane than usual.
     
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    Part 71, Chapter 1034
  • Chapter One Thousand Thirty-Four


    14th September 1953

    Berlin

    The class met in a dance studio today and Natsumi was introduced to them as Mistress Maeda and told that they were to give her their upmost respect. Gräfin Katherine had warned her that they were spirited and would have a lot of questions. That was hardly a surprise. The student body of this gymnasia composed of young women who much was expected from, far beyond being wives and mothers. The Gräfin had also said that these were the daughters of Generals, Captains of Industry and one of them was even the eldest daughter of the German Emperor. There were also children from middle- and working-class backgrounds which was in keeping with the progressive mission of the school. That they had a Gräfin and a Grand Duchess of Russia as instructors spoke volumes about how that worked in practice. They were being given examples to aspire to.

    To assist her today was friend of the Gräfin’s who had volunteered for this, Matthias Schmied. The Gräfin had said that he was a Jäger, an elite soldier and hunter. While he was not a large man, he was still perfect for what Natsumi had in mind. These girls would need to learn while size and strength were something they needed to be aware of constantly, it could be overcome.

    “While we will have time for questions later” Natsumi said, “But first I would like for there to be a practical demonstration.”

    With that she snapped her favorite fan open, white lacquered with “Good Fortune” painted on it in Japanese. Natsumi enjoyed subtle jokes. There was a bit of tittering around the class, they saw a middle-aged woman with a fan. They were about to learn that looks could be deceiving as she snapped the fan shut. Then Matthias gave her a slight nod letting her know that he was ready. He threw a hard punch aimed at Natsumi’s face only to have it deflected by the fan only to recoil when he had taken a blow to the face that he had not seen coming. Natsumi then snapped the fan shut and went on the offensive with the fan using it like a club being careful not to hurt the Jäger but he still ended up on the floor.

    “Looks can be deceiving” Natsumi said.

    The girls were all staring at her with awestruck looks on their faces. She had them for now, the rest would depend on their ability to learn.

    ----------------------------------------------------------------

    Kat watched the lesson from the back, she saw the surprised look on Matthias’ face when he was helped back to his feet. She had warned him not to underestimate Natsumi.

    All of this was a good distraction from what had been happening in her life. Douglas and Gia had come up with an idea that could prove to be a bit of a disaster in the making. If Tempelhof was to be sold off and redeveloped, then the potential windfall was vast. At the same time, the State would be selling the land at market prices reflected by the rest of Berlin. Real-estate prices in the city had been depressed by first the war and then recession. It had never completely rebounded, something that was expected to change in the coming years. Tempelhof was an excellent opportunity for those with means and vision. Kat’s feeling was that they were not supposed to be acting like they had money and if it didn’t pan out they could get stuck with the sort of loss that even they would feel.

    At the same time, Doug had said that she could steer the direction of development in that part of the city. Leave a lasting mark for all time and with her and Gia’s personal connections they could get the land the instant it went on the market. It was tempting.


    Washington D.C.

    Franklin Roosevelt found the whole thing amusing. He said that the young woman who had knocked on his door had been a representative of the German Kaiserin, as opposed to an Agent of German Government. Truman had pointed out that the FBI and CIA had several encounters with such women over the years and they didn’t always go so well. Then the Secret Service had reported that young woman had slipped off the handcuffs while talking to the former President and that she had given him the equivalent of several million dollars for a charity that he was running in his retirement. The FBI was not happy that Roosevelt had ordered the woman to be let go leaving them with just a name, Asia Lawniczak. Even that name was a bit of a surprise, a German Pole working directly for the Kaiserin. The CIA had thought that the Poles were not happy with their position within the German Empire, but as they had discovered that the Poles were hardly monolithic. Nor were the Germans themselves for that matter. The demographics were a crazy quilt of intermixed ethnicities and religions.

    Then there were the German War bonds that Roosevelt had taken. Cursed things, they had matured in recent months and the people who held them were receiving the payout guaranteed by the German State. In the midst of the Kraut scare, there were people receiving money as a reward for their support for Germany a decade earlier. It was one more volatile ingredient in a situation that didn’t need any more of those. Roosevelt had said that the money was going to the best cause imaginable and he knew why the Kaiserin had been unable to give them openly. For Truman it had felt like Roosevelt had been subtly scolding him. During the Roosevelt Administration domestic priorities had dominated and he had gone out of his way to maintain good relations internationally. While he had said nothing publicly, Truman had been hearing talk that Roosevelt thought that he had been going about things the wrong way.
     
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