Chapter One Thousand Nine Hundred Seventy
27th March 1970
Plänterwald, Berlin
“I am starting to suspect that it is not about me at all” Kiki said into the telephone to Ben who had called from his office in the Astronomy Building in the Humboldt Campus of the Friedrich-Wilhelm University. It being a Friday afternoon, he had probably called her because he was bored, not that she minded.
“I could call over to Humanities and ask” Ben replied, “But I seem to recall that marriage has never actually been about the bride but the community and her parent’s place in it.”
“That is a terrible thought” Kiki said as she pulled off the large rubber band that was holding the bundle of letters that had been addressed to her together. These were the ones that had been vetted by Inspectors from the Postal Service who had been loaned to the 1st Foot Guard. Their job was to sort out the scam artists and cranks who sent large amounts of letters to any public figure. Supposedly, some of things that people had tried to mail Kiki were disturbing. In theory, all the letters she was receiving were legitimate, so it should not have been a surprise the first several were bills relating to the upkeep of Hohenzollern Castle that were coming due. These included numbers that were quite terrifying in scope to anyone not familiar. Then a letter from a Veterinary Clinic reminding her that she needed to schedule Rauchbier’s annual checkup. Finally, there were a handful of letters from friends who were apparently on the approved list. Among those was a letter from a man she had not considered in a long time, Richard Valenzuela.
“I figure that is just how it is” Ben said, “In the old days marriage was about dynastic power, transfer of wealth and property.”
“Yeah, and they also believed in keeping it all in the family” Kiki replied, “Ask my Stepmother about her ancestors, particularly the ones who ruled Spain.”
“She is one of those Habsburgs, isn’t she?” Ben asked, “Speaking of terrifying.”
“Well, you have no real wealth and your property in Bavaria is only worth what the Universities are leasing it from you for and that castle in Saxony is a civil liability waiting to happen because it might fall on someone” Kiki said as she opened the letter, “You are just lucky that I love you Benjamin.”
“That is just typical Hohenzollern snobbery” Ben said, and Kiki could hear the sarcasm. “Just because your family has a thousand-year history and your father is the Emperor of Germany, you assume you are better than everyone else.”
“I have no need to assume what everyone already knows” Kiki replied, and Ben laughed. He knew full well the lengths that Kiki had gone to because she felt being that sort of snob held potential danger. Still, it was good to be able to joke about it.
“Is there any news on your end?” Ben asked as Kiki read the letter.
“It seems that you have one less competitor for my affections” Kiki replied, “Ritchie Valenzuela is getting married himself this summer.”
“Isn’t he that boy who you and Vicky went to the Wisconsin Dells with and worked with in that hush-hush thing you did a couple years ago?” Ben asked, reminding Kiki that he must have seen the documentary that Zella had shot during that trip to America.
“He was sweet to us” Kiki replied, knowing that the professions that Ritchie had pursued were the sort that usually precluded being sweet. “It says here that he decided to join the Police Department in Los Angeles and is asking for my help with getting a set of body armor that would be hard to get on that side of the Atlantic.”
“Why would he be asking your help?”
“Because I sort of did it before” Kiki replied, “During the hush-hush thing you mentioned. I made a point of getting the Americans proper body armor so that I would be less likely to have to deal with severe injuries to the chest or abdomen. I even tried to get them proper helmets, but they were stubborn about that. Better to look right with a massive head injury than to not spend the rest of your life at about the same level as a houseplant.”
“You have always been passionate about this issue” Ben said, “But these are Americans you are talking about.”
Kiki paused for a minute to keep from reacting badly to that comment. Ben had seen the world from the inside of the cockpit of a fighter-bomber in Korea and seldom encountered what happened on the ground. He still tended to see things from that perspective. Unlike Kiki, who had been ankle deep in the resulting mess.
“You never ask where anyone comes from in triage” Kiki said, trying to keep emotion out of her voice. “The weapons of war don’t discriminate, and neither can those who treat the wounded.”
“Sorry, Kiki, I forgot…” Ben trailed off.
Kiki took off her glasses and rubbed her eyes. She tried not to come on too strong about issues like these, but they were important to her. She knew that she had made a mistake the last several times she had done it. This was no different. She also had the sinking realization that Ben’s comment had probably been an attempt at a joke, one that had gone right past her.
“Don’t apologize Ben” Kiki said, “Just please try to remember what I do and why.”
“I’ll try” Ben replied, “But try to be understanding the next time I forget.”
“We have a deal then?” Kiki asked.
“Deal” Ben replied.
