Stupid Luck and Happenstance, Thread III
- Thread starter Peabody-Martini
- Start date
Every source I have seen says Erwin Heinz Thorwald, or König depending on the source, was likely a creation of Soviet propaganda during the Second World War that was later picked up by Robbins. Still, why let a good monster go to waste.
Part 108, Chapter 1764
Chapter One Thousand Seven Hundred Sixty-Four
30th October 1966
Munich, Bavaria
As it had turned out, coming south to surprise Kiki had been a huge mistake. Not only had Ben had arrived in Laupheim only to find that she wasn’t there, but he had found himself surrounded by the special forces units that she was currently working with and they were not the type who played nice. They had been eager to meet an actual Raumfahrer. Ben had been reminded of how small a leap is was from them seeing him as one of the heroic explorers who had been the first people to see the far side of the moon, to the Luftwaffe wing wiper who dared to date one of their own. In the end, Ben considered himself lucky to have escaped with his life. His wallet had taken a real beating though because he had ended up buying a round of drinks to distract them while he went out the back.
It had been a short-lived escape though.
Word of his travel must have raced ahead of him, because Ben had been stopped in Munich and was detained by the police who had held him overnight before driving him out of town to a large rural estate. That was how he had found himself sitting on an uncomfortable chair waiting in a room with deer antlers mounted on the walls, hundreds of them. There were also display cabinets well stocked with weapons of every description everywhere he looked. He didn’t dare touch anything. Any second now he expected a Director to yell “Cut” and have one of the walls falling away to reveal that he was on an elaborate film set. Then he could flee the apparent horror movie that he had found himself trapped in. He had no such luck.
The door swung open and an older gentleman entered, he was an extremely stern man who gave off the aura of one who was very used to being obeyed. Ben realized that for the second time his detention had been ordered by a King, at least this time it wasn’t in front of his mother with Kiki having to make an unfair deal to keep her from running to the press.
“I am pleased to make your acquaintance Hauptmann Hirsch” King Albrecht von Bayern said as he opened a cabinet and pulled out a decanter and two glasses. He poured a measure into both before handing one to Ben. Ben understood that it was a matter of respect, but he had never had a taste for alcoholic beverages, still he took a drink and was left gasping for air. Albrecht looked at him amusedly. It was obvious that this was some measure of masculinity that Ben had just passed or failed depending on one’s perspective.
“Not much of a drinker, are you?” Albrecht asked.
“Sorry Sir” Ben replied, even as he said it, he understood the mistake. Men like King Albrecht never apologized for anything, it was weak in their estimation.
“Never mind that” Albrecht said, “I wanted to talk to you about a problem you have, one I might have a solution for.”
“What problem is that?” Ben asked.
“Prinzessin Kristina Alexandra Yekaterina Tatiana von Preussen zu Hohenzollern” Albrecht replied.
Beyond how strange it was to hear Kiki’s full name said aloud like that, just how much did Albrecht know?
“You are in a relationship with the Princess Royal of the German Empire” Albrecht said, “That causes tongues to wag, the rumors I hear say that she thinks that duty and class will drive the two of you apart eventually.”
It was something that Kiki said whenever the subject of the future of their relationship came up, that they were impossible as a couple for exactly the reasons that Albrecht had just mentioned. Not that it was any of his business, Ben didn’t care if he was the King of Bavaria.
“What are you offering?” Ben asked.
“It is simple, I ennoble you, give you the courtly rank suitable for courting a princess” Albrecht replied, “We say that it was for your achievements in the Space Program. I am sure you know that Eric Brown was knighted by the Queen of England, so no one will think it out of the ordinary.”
“What’s the catch?” Ben asked, “No one does something like that for nothing.”
Albrecht took a sip of his drink, Ben wondered how he could drink that stuff like water.
“You aren’t stupid, I will give you that” Albrecht said, “Solving your problem solves one that Louis Ferdinand has as well, in turn he will consider solving a problem of mine. What do you care though, you’ll get the girl?”
Ben took a sip of his drink and it burned its way down his throat, so this was what a deal with the Devil looked like.
Mitte, Berlin
Charlotte had talked her into doing this and Kiki felt completely absurd, the red tunic and white skirt symbolized everything that she had fought against her entire adult life. The Johanniter Order was conservative and parochial. The reasons why she had relented and agreed to do this had everything to do with how as Princess Kristina she could talk wealthy benefactors into opening their wallets like few others. The charitable works of the Johanniter Order and her own career in the medical field would benefit from that. Charlotte said that she hated to be cynical, but it always seemed to come down to money.
So, now she stood there having just taken the oath to become the newest, and first, Dame of Honor in the Johanniter Order. There was polite applause as she had the cross of Honor hung around her neck and the cloak of the order placed around her shoulders. She would now have one more addition to her ribbon bar to have to explain. Turning she saw that her entire family was present, even Rea who styled herself as a radical and felt that Chivalrous Orders were relic of the past. Nella and Nan were looking at her with complete admiration, in their estimation Kiki was a real heroine, this was really for them.
30th October 1966
Munich, Bavaria
As it had turned out, coming south to surprise Kiki had been a huge mistake. Not only had Ben had arrived in Laupheim only to find that she wasn’t there, but he had found himself surrounded by the special forces units that she was currently working with and they were not the type who played nice. They had been eager to meet an actual Raumfahrer. Ben had been reminded of how small a leap is was from them seeing him as one of the heroic explorers who had been the first people to see the far side of the moon, to the Luftwaffe wing wiper who dared to date one of their own. In the end, Ben considered himself lucky to have escaped with his life. His wallet had taken a real beating though because he had ended up buying a round of drinks to distract them while he went out the back.
It had been a short-lived escape though.
Word of his travel must have raced ahead of him, because Ben had been stopped in Munich and was detained by the police who had held him overnight before driving him out of town to a large rural estate. That was how he had found himself sitting on an uncomfortable chair waiting in a room with deer antlers mounted on the walls, hundreds of them. There were also display cabinets well stocked with weapons of every description everywhere he looked. He didn’t dare touch anything. Any second now he expected a Director to yell “Cut” and have one of the walls falling away to reveal that he was on an elaborate film set. Then he could flee the apparent horror movie that he had found himself trapped in. He had no such luck.
The door swung open and an older gentleman entered, he was an extremely stern man who gave off the aura of one who was very used to being obeyed. Ben realized that for the second time his detention had been ordered by a King, at least this time it wasn’t in front of his mother with Kiki having to make an unfair deal to keep her from running to the press.
“I am pleased to make your acquaintance Hauptmann Hirsch” King Albrecht von Bayern said as he opened a cabinet and pulled out a decanter and two glasses. He poured a measure into both before handing one to Ben. Ben understood that it was a matter of respect, but he had never had a taste for alcoholic beverages, still he took a drink and was left gasping for air. Albrecht looked at him amusedly. It was obvious that this was some measure of masculinity that Ben had just passed or failed depending on one’s perspective.
“Not much of a drinker, are you?” Albrecht asked.
“Sorry Sir” Ben replied, even as he said it, he understood the mistake. Men like King Albrecht never apologized for anything, it was weak in their estimation.
“Never mind that” Albrecht said, “I wanted to talk to you about a problem you have, one I might have a solution for.”
“What problem is that?” Ben asked.
“Prinzessin Kristina Alexandra Yekaterina Tatiana von Preussen zu Hohenzollern” Albrecht replied.
Beyond how strange it was to hear Kiki’s full name said aloud like that, just how much did Albrecht know?
“You are in a relationship with the Princess Royal of the German Empire” Albrecht said, “That causes tongues to wag, the rumors I hear say that she thinks that duty and class will drive the two of you apart eventually.”
It was something that Kiki said whenever the subject of the future of their relationship came up, that they were impossible as a couple for exactly the reasons that Albrecht had just mentioned. Not that it was any of his business, Ben didn’t care if he was the King of Bavaria.
“What are you offering?” Ben asked.
“It is simple, I ennoble you, give you the courtly rank suitable for courting a princess” Albrecht replied, “We say that it was for your achievements in the Space Program. I am sure you know that Eric Brown was knighted by the Queen of England, so no one will think it out of the ordinary.”
“What’s the catch?” Ben asked, “No one does something like that for nothing.”
Albrecht took a sip of his drink, Ben wondered how he could drink that stuff like water.
“You aren’t stupid, I will give you that” Albrecht said, “Solving your problem solves one that Louis Ferdinand has as well, in turn he will consider solving a problem of mine. What do you care though, you’ll get the girl?”
Ben took a sip of his drink and it burned its way down his throat, so this was what a deal with the Devil looked like.
Mitte, Berlin
Charlotte had talked her into doing this and Kiki felt completely absurd, the red tunic and white skirt symbolized everything that she had fought against her entire adult life. The Johanniter Order was conservative and parochial. The reasons why she had relented and agreed to do this had everything to do with how as Princess Kristina she could talk wealthy benefactors into opening their wallets like few others. The charitable works of the Johanniter Order and her own career in the medical field would benefit from that. Charlotte said that she hated to be cynical, but it always seemed to come down to money.
So, now she stood there having just taken the oath to become the newest, and first, Dame of Honor in the Johanniter Order. There was polite applause as she had the cross of Honor hung around her neck and the cloak of the order placed around her shoulders. She would now have one more addition to her ribbon bar to have to explain. Turning she saw that her entire family was present, even Rea who styled herself as a radical and felt that Chivalrous Orders were relic of the past. Nella and Nan were looking at her with complete admiration, in their estimation Kiki was a real heroine, this was really for them.
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... he's going to end up the next King of Bavaria or something, isn't he?
Marc A
Hardly, but this does have something to do with Albrecht's son and heir, as well as the need to maintain appearances.
I do have to admit to being somewhat confused about Kiki’s argument re ‘duty’. Given that the remaining monarchies in Europe are ceremonial/constitutional and the actual running of government is done by elected representatives, marriage alliances aren’t a thing anymore so there’s no need for a royal to make a marriage of state for diplomatic reasons. The only reason they have to marry is producing kids, so as long as the prospective spouse is presentable and won’t be a source of embarrassment...what’s the problem?
Despite the lengths she has gone to distance herself from her mother, Kiki has still internalized a great deal of what was drilled into her head right up until she snapped.
nice to see my favourite test pilot Eric 'Winkle' Brown knighted ITTL. OTL the failure of the 'Establishment' to convey such an honour onto arguably the most accomplished test pilot of all time was unforgivable.
Fair point...
It wouldn’t be ideal but I doubt they’d be utterly miserable - they could both have their ‘very good friends’ who stay regularly/are a part of the household and they could both live pretty much separate lives, just appearing together on occasions it couldn’t be avoided.
That said, obviously it wouldn’t be the ideal situation and hopefully Vicky can avoid it.
Rea would go nuts and launch her next Crusade. Besides, that approach has been used for centuries and I get the impression that isn't necessarily what Albrecht of Bavaria is angling for in regards to his little problem The best solution would be for homosexuality to be decriminalized, which would also solve most of Louis Sr.'s concerns over Vicky and Kat's on-going conflict with a certain prosecutor in Berlin (can't arrest LGBTQA+ people if their very being isn't illegal anymore). The issue of the succession is easily fixed, as it has been dealt with repeatedly over the millennia, Albrecht's heir succeeds the throne, and the next closest relative within the ruling house (male or female), then becomes his heir.
Full equal rights for the LGBTQA+ community would still take longer, simply because of social inertia & conservatism, but not being harassed by the police for simply being who they are would be a big step for 1960s Germany.
No, they would still be harassed, the police would just find other excuses to do it.
Sadly true. Same with conservatives of all types. They just don't like change or anyone different from themselves.
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Depends. In OTL Britain in the few years immediately before decriminalisation, apparently the police were seriously winding back actively going after gay men - they only really seemed pursue it when it got brought to their attention in a way that couldn’t be ignored.
If that’s normally the case in Germany, decriminalisation could see things just quietening down - still discrimination in terms of jobs etc., sadly, but the police basically figuring ‘we’ve got bigger fish to fry’.