Chapter Two Thousand Six Hundred Ten
1st March 1977
Ulm, Württemberg
Something that Kiki had discovered was that it seemed like the instant she entered the room everyone got very quiet. Not wanting to be the first one to venture an opinion seemed to be the order of things. It was as if they expected her to play the role of a tyrant. The trouble with that was obvious. Kiki understood that she didn’t always make the right call and if she did it was her hope that someone would suggest something better under those circumstances. Today as she was doing her morning rounds, she was reminded that all too often there were patients whose problems had become questions of a Theological nature and were beyond any calls she may or may not make.
“He came in for treatment for cirrhosis of the liver” The Stabsarzt who was one of the Kiki’s Subordinates said looking through the folder of the patient who had died just minutes earlier. “He also had emphysema and showed signs of heart failure.”
“Has a cause of death been determined?” Kiki asked as the orderlies were wrapping the patient’s body in the sheets from his bed.
“It could be as a result of any one of those things Ma’am” The Stabsarzt replied as he handed Kiki the folder. A quick glance revealed a great deal, including that it had been recommended that the patient receive treatment for traumatic stress. Another one of these, Kiki thought to herself. Either too proud to admit there was a problem or fearful of the lingering stigma that came with the TBs diagnosis this man had turned to other means to deal with it and that had slowly killed him over the course of thirty years or so. All the above or cursed wars were not options in the paperwork. Kiki wrote To be determined pending post-mortem on that line in the paperwork and signed off on it. She figured that the morgue would put down something plausible before releasing the body to either the next of kin or else having it cremated if none were available.
“This is a terrible way to start the month” Kiki said, “Anything else?”
With that the Stabsarzt just shrugged and went on to the next patients.
“How can you be so nonchalant?” Feldwebel Haas said, drawing attention to himself. He had been shadowing Kiki for much of the last month, doing basically whatever needed to be done. She had arranged for him to take the training courses that would make him useful so long as he was assigned for her Staff, it was just he had been indifferent while taking them as Kiki had been informed.
“The living take priority over the dead” Kiki said, repeating the words that had been drilled into her when she had been in Basic Training as an aspiring Medic nearly a lifetime ago. “Those who can be helped take priority over those who cannot. Those who can, must help in the effort.”
“And I am here because I ran afoul of that last part” Haas said as they walked down the corridor. “That still doesn’t explain it. I’ve seen more death in the last month than I did in six years in the 1st Guards and what exactly am I doing here.”
Kiki knew that the 1st Guards Division were considered elite troops guarding critical installations and the Imperial family, but they, along with most of the 1st Army, had seldom gone into the field since the end of the Soviet War. And they had developed a reputation of being little more than toy soldiers. The Panzer Corps, which comprised much of the 2nd and 3rd Armies, had been the leading mechanized forces while the 4th and 5th Armies had a similar traditional structure to the 1st Army. They were tasked with guarding the Western Frontier just in case the French ever decided to invade Germany again. That was why 4th and 5th had been drawn down considerably over the last few years and were comprised largely of Landwehr and Reserve Divisions.
“For starters, your presence has just as much to do with my brother teaching me a lesson about causing him headaches as it does with anything else” Kiki replied, “After I tried to get you reduced in rank, he asked Generaloberst von Querfurt to veto that and then had you placed here.”
That answer surprised Haas. “It’s easy to forget that your brother is the Emperor himself Ma’am” He said, “And I had wondered what had happened with that other matter.”
It wasn’t just who Kiki’s brother was and how that affected her personally. There had been an unwritten, unstated belief by most of the Reichstag that the younger brothers and sisters of the Emperor should not be in positions of authority. That they were a dagger aimed at the heart of Democracy. What had happened with Haas had probably been an abuse of power on her part, but it had been largely seen in the context of her role as an Incident Commander as opposed to her as Princess Kristina.
“Next time, I need to find a better way” Kiki said, and Haas gave her a confused look. In his thinking, Generals came just after God and Emperor, not someone who would ever admit to having made a mistake. She had forgotten how to talk to people like him without being heavy handed and that was serious a problem.
“That’s why I am here?” Haas asked, clearly in disbelief.
“Yes, partially” Kiki replied, “Your insubordination during the Alexanderplatz fire was also a factor as well.”
“In fairness, I didn’t recognize who you were Ma’am” Haas said, this was the first chance that Kiki had to bring that topic up.
“Which is why you were sent here rather than wrecking a promising career” Kiki said, “And hopefully you can see this as an opportunity to…”
It was then that a Nurse, a pretty young woman, came walking the opposite way down the corridor. The Nurse smiled when she saw Haas and he tried to pretend that he didn’t notice. Somehow Kiki just knew that he would probably react the exact same way if he were with his mother. She knew that she was only about ten years older than Haas and it showed exactly how many among the staff thought about her.
“That is not what I mean when I mention opportunities” Kiki said flatly, and she watched Haas’s face turn a deep shade of crimson.
