Chapter Two thousand Six Hundred Five
22nd January 1977
Friedrichshain, Berlin
The Volkspark was never empty, not even in midwinter. That made it a good place for a meeting which Kat would not want an official record of. It would also discourage the man she was meeting from doing anything stupid, a tall order at the best of times. Unfortunately, these were not the best of times.
“Good afternoon Birsha” Kat said pleasantly as she sat down on the park bench next to a man who was feeding pigeons. Considering how cold it was, she was thankful for the heavy grey wool coat she was wearing. The black frock coat Birsha Bleier had on was really too thin for this weather, but he was far too proud to admit to that, so he sat there shivering. Birsha gave her a baneful look. He had learned that Kat had resources that he could never match, to go to war with her would only have one outcome when one word from her and the entire combined weight of Berlin’s officialdom would fall heavily on him. He was forced to deal with her as an equal and that clearly wasn’t something he liked. Birsha was also the head of the organization that Kat’s father once led. Even if it was a mere shadow of what it had been under the leadership of Otto Mischner it was still something that needed to be handled with care.
“I don’t think I need to tell you how valuable my time is” Kat said, “So, you better have a good reason for requesting this meeting.”
“Justice” Birsha replied, “Or should I say justice for my people who died in the Alexanderplatz Station.”
“That is always in short supply” Kat said. She was aware, even if few others were, of the Biblical allusions behind the name that Birsha had selected for himself when he had reinvented himself when he had arrived in Berlin. The son of wickedness, indeed. Especially after his own fall from grace. “Most of those responsible are good at avoiding that sort of responsibility.”
“That is the way it always is” Birsha said, spitting each word out.
“Always has been, always will be” Kat replied, “My father had that exact same attitude. It was nothing short of a miracle that the Federal Police didn’t introduce him to Madam Guillotine in Spandau Prison. That was before the laws changed, so she was still very active. Sven Werth told me that they had him dead to rights, but lung cancer and knife wounds got him before they could.”
Birsha snorted, of course he would see the humor in that. Dead was dead, to die like that. A man like Otto Mischner dying in a shabby apartment in Pankow-Heinersdorf, while supposedly at the apex of power, in the manner he had was far less dignified than a quick, clean execution.
“You are correct that they are out of my reach” Birsha said, “They are not out of yours.”
“Yes” Kat said, “But that will take time.”
“I don’t care if it takes a thousand years” Birsha replied, “I want them in a prison cell.”
“That is the problem” Kat said, “Any Prosecutor will know that will put them well within your reach.”
“Yes, but I don’t want them dead” Birsha said, “What I want is for them to get what that piece of shit Mithras got. They deserve nothing less.”
Munich
Getting Nina to stay close was difficult because there was so much to see in the Munich Residence. It was easier with Louis Bernhard as he was still a couple months shy of his second birthday and he was in the very capable care of Fianna Dunn as they were led through the vast palace complex that was the Winter Residence of the Bavarian Kings. The uniform of the Medical Service got Kiki a few curious looks by the Staff, Ben’s blue Luftwaffe unform was apparently a regular sight.
Eventually, they entered a room that Ben had described to Kiki, Albrecht’s game room. Almost every stereotype of hyper masculinity was somehow represented in this room. Hunting trophies, a massive television set, pool table, and the full bar. It was absurd, but even Kiki was aware how this was basically the perfect playground for adult men.
“Benjamin” Albrecht said in greeting, Kiki was aware that Ben had become one of the Bavarian King’s favorites. “And your lovely wife Kristina, nice to see you Princess. It’s been a long time, months?”
That wasn’t an accident, Kiki had been actively avoiding Albrecht. Ben had not been so fortunate.
“When you awarded Ben the Maximilian Order for Science and Art” Kiki replied, “I have been very busy.”
“Something we can agree on” Albrecht said, “I saw you on the news, stepping off a helicopter that had landed on Alexanderplatz. That was really quite something.”
“There were news crews there?” Kiki asked, she had not been paying attention, there had been so much to do…
“I especially liked how you handed that journalist the stubs from the triage tags” Albrecht said, “That really put him in his place.”
“That was on television?” Kiki asked, slightly horrified that what had not been one of her best moments had been recorded. An obnoxious journalist had been questioning her. Out of frustration she had pulled the stack of the stubs from triage tags from her coat pocket, shoved them into his hands, and told him that was his story.
“Yeah, and as I said, that put him in his place” Albrecht replied with a smile. “That was why I decided that you should be inducted into the Order of Merit, the medal I intend to present to you today.”
“About that” Ben said, inserting himself into the conversation. “There seems to have been a mistake.”
“Yes” Kiki said, “Second Class would be improper.”
“Hardly” Albrecht replied, as he pulled an envelope out of his pocket and handed it to Kiki. “This ought to fix that.”
In the envelope were the red collar tabs and the shoulder straps of a Generalarzt. Kiki’s brother was going to be furious and the news of this would land in the Reichstag like an atomic bomb.
“Does Generaloberstabsarzt Biermann know about this?” Kiki asked.
“He wanted to know when you can arrange to go to your new assignment in Ulm?” Albrecht asked in reply.
Kiki gulped. They had contrived to do this, daring the politicians to challenge it.
