Stupid Luck and Happenstance, Thread III

[Peabody-Martini]

Chapter Two Thousand Seven Hundred and Forty-Five



26th December 1978

Heligoland

Erich had told Dreher that there was going to be a meeting of Noncommissioned Officers in five minutes. After spending all day over Christmas and the following night shivering in the tunnels, Erich had realized what the real game was and had called this meeting. Erich knew that he was looking at experienced Squad Leaders who wouldn’t even be here if they weren’t.

“The men are going to be pissed when they find out that we could have walked out of here at any time” Erich said and that resulted in confusion.

“I thought that we were ordered to stay in the tunnels” Dreher said. He was one of two Feldwebels in the Platoon who had landed on the beach. The other one was an Artillery Specialist who held that rank because he was meant to lead the Platoon’s Mortar Section, useful if they actually had a mortar. Erich had made a point of telling Dreher that he was the Assistant Platoon Leader, if for no other reason than ensuring his loyalty. Apparently Dreher had been a newly minted Feldwebel, promoted the instant he had become eligible which confirmed what Erich suspected about this Platoon.

“What kind of Marine are you?” Erich asked.

Dreher bristled at that question being asked, the rest of the gathered Noncoms just laughed even if they didn’t get what Erich was getting at yet. They were the Marine Infantry, the worst soldiers the German Military could produce and proud of it. Obeying stupid orders? Is that a joke?

“Bring us here in the middle of the night” Erich said, “Make sure that we are tired, cold, wet, and hungry, unbalanced. Is any of this starting to sound familiar?”

“Those swine” One of the Noncoms muttered.

“Organize the men into Squads” Erich said, “I’m sure all of you have an idea by now who fits in where by now. We are moving out as soon as we are ready.”

It was exactly what Erich had implied. They had been put in an unreasonable position to see what they would do. The whole thing had been a put on. Yes, the men were going to be pissed when they found out, but Erich knew the one thing that would make them forget all about that. Namely the prospect of paying their tormentors back by messing things up for them.

It only took a few minutes for the men to be ready as Erich was among them as they moved towards the neared entrance to the tunnels.

“Spread the word that we don’t want anyone seriously hurt” Erich said as he heard snickering around him. If he had learned anything in East Indies it was that few things got results faster than asking the men to do what they wanted to do anyway.

The two men guarding the tunnel entrance didn’t stand a chance as they were grabbed by a dozen sets of hands. Everyone knew that they couldn’t be given a chance to raise an alarm. Erich made sure that all the men of the Platoon were out of the tunnel before he followed. The last thing he needed was for one of them having some sort of misadventure and making sure that the men had not done more than hurting the dignity of their guards. Erich figured that he was already messing up whatever the actual plan was, so he didn’t want to burn any bridges.

As they walked out of the heights, Erich saw that it was typical of every other village he had been in. Pastel houses that were packed closely together, cobblestone streets. There were no cars, hardly a surprise considering that it was on a small island. Eventually they found a tavern and even though the smells were dominated by cooking fish, it was heavenly compared to what they had been eating over the last 24 hours.

“It’s only a matter of time before our absence is noticed so tell the men to order whatever they want” Erich said to Dreher, “My treat.”

That wasn’t exactly true, the credit card that Erich had was a corporate account from his father’s business. The last time Erich had talked to the bank the card was still good. It seemed that his father still hoped that Erich would come and work for him. Considering that Erich had cost his father nothing over the last few years, this was going to a good cause, and his father would blow a gasket when he saw the bill, it was totally worth using it here.

“Can you take this?” Erich asked the man who seemed to be in charge of the staff. He understood that with the development of the North Sea Oilfields and tourism had brought a great deal of prosperity to Heligoland even as its strategic importance had faded. So it was very likely that the owners of the tavern would have kept up with things like credit cards. The look of greed on the man’s face answered that question.

“What do you think it will look like when they come for us?” Dreher asked once they were sure all the men had enough food and beer.

“Probably Shore Patrol, if I had to guess” Erich replied, “You know how much they hate us. At the same time they don’t want whoever is running this circus to know that they messed up, so we’ll probably get dragged back to the tunnel.”

“You know that means that this whole thing is going to be legendary” Dreher asked.

“I don’t care” Erich replied.

 

[Hoyahoo9]

This is priceless!

Tilo: Raises an eyebrow as one corner of his mouth curls upward with impressed amusement.

Eric’s father: Discovers new shades of purple that one‘s face can turn as he crumbles the bill.

 

[Dan]

The only thing that may go against Erich from Tilo's perspective is that they waited 48 hours.
However, Erich's leadership is now being built into a legend for the future.

 

[Peabody-Martini]

The only thing that may go against Erich from Tilo's perspective is that they waited 48 hours.
However, Erich's leadership is now being built into a legend for the future.

It wasn't 48 hours, more like 30. They arrived early on Christmas Day and this is the following day, early afternoon.

 

[ejpsan]

What are the odds that this is the first time that someone figured out what was going on and the purpose behind it?
If that is the case then yes Erich von Raeder IV is going to be legendary, and more importantly he just formed a cadre that will be loyal to him and follow him into the Gates of Hell without reservations.

 

[Salamander]

Sometime later...

A TV flickers into life and a VCR tape starts playing. The scene shows a fuming, but restrained, Senior NCO glaring at a young officer, who is returning that gaze with one of their own as he responds to something the NCO had said.

Officer: "I said that the next time I ask you a question, you will answer me. Do we understand each other, Hauptfeldwebel?"

The tape pauses. Silence fills the room.

Marine 1: "... Holy shit! It really happened!"
Marine 2: "I thought that was just a sea story!"
Marine 3: "Told you it did. None of you believed me, now cough up."

<assorted grumbling noises, sounds of pocket and wallets being searched & money landing in something soft>

Marine 3: "Thank you, gentlemen, and remember the next time someone tells you a sea story, be careful about betting on against it, because it really might be true."

 

[ejpsan]

It seems to me that this is Phase I of Sea Lion training where the prospective candidates are subjected to a severe psychological stress test in which they are exposed to extreme weather conditions, hunger, sleep deprivation and in general are completely disoriented., this probably lasts 48-72 hours and weeds out a good number of candidates..
Erich has just thrown a monkey wrench in this process.

 

[jlckansas]

Even worse than throwing a monkey wrench, they are now going to have to figure out somewhere else to start them out in training.

 

[Peabody-Martini]

Chapter Two Thousand Seven Hundred and Forty-Six



28th December 1978

Mitte, Berlin

Tilo had been debating whether or not he would receive this call right up until the phone rang. The Oberst who commanded the Marine detachment on Heligoland, was furious at the stunt that Erich von Raeder had pulled. Tilo had warned him that Erich wasn’t stupid, not to underestimate the him. Tilo had figured that Erich would do something idiotic, just not this spectacular though. The idea had been to keep Erich somewhere where they could keep a close eye on him and hopefully not cause too much trouble while the rest of his Division was in Korea. It seemed that had only been partially successful.

The whole point of that exercise had been to weed out those who folded at the first sign of adversity from those who rose to the occasion. Erich had screwed that whole thing up by not only rising to the occasion, but by leading with nothing more than his own personal authority. The Oberst was understandably pissed. How dare a young aristocratic Officer fail to be a selfish prick?

“I ought to send the whole lot of them back to Cuxhaven” The Oberst fumed.

“You can” Tilo replied, “But you might want to think long and hard about that.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” The Oberst asked.

“You need to check the regulations” Tilo said, “In the absence of further orders, an Officer’s duty is to the well being of his men. By keeping Leutnant von Raeder in the dark and feeding him bullshit, you made him getting his men a hot meal and bit of time in a warm room a priority.”

Erich had not only done that, but he had also won the loyalty of the men under his command in the process. That posed a problem for the Oberst, but it was one of his own creation. Sending an entire Training Cadre back after only a few days would give him the stink of failure, the sort that never washed off. Tilo considered the Oberst a rising star at a time when the Marine Infantry needed as many of those as they could get, having him wreck himself like that was in no one’s interest.

“What exactly am I supposed to do?” The Oberst asked.

“You’ve had others figure out the game before” Tilo said, “How did you handle them?”

“None like this” The Oberst replied, “No one has over gone over the fence and took everyone with him.”

“Last I looked there are no fences on Heligoland aside from the ones that keep people from getting too close to the edges of the cliffs” Tilo said, “You need to be creative and for Fuck’s sake, get personally involved, because otherwise Leutnant Raeder will treat this like a joke.”

“Yes, Sir” The Oberst said, clearly not thrilled at that prospect.

“Good, keep me appraised” Tilo replied before hanging up the phone.

Tilo knew that once Erich knew that everyone above him on the food chain on Heligoland was looking to cut his men individually from the program if they got the chance, he would move heaven and earth to keep that from happening. He wouldn’t be successful, that was impossible. It would be interesting to see what the result would be though.

Movement in the corner of Tilo’s eye distracted him from his thoughts. A small face was peeking into his office from around the doorframe. When Sabastain had told Tilo and Nancy that Henriette was coming to visit over the Christmas Holidays and she was bringing Alice, they had been a bit apprehensive. So far, having Alice in the house for the Holidays had been a joy. Tilo had forgotten how magical Christmas was for a four-year-old like her. She also took a lot of interest in Tilo’s Office which was full of souvenirs from around the world.



Tempelhof, Berlin

Of all the things that Marie Alexandra’s mother could have done, making sure that she had a support network wasn’t what she had in mind. Marie had just wanted to resume her studies. Instead, she was getting Fianna Dunn as a minder because Fianna was looking to return to Ireland anyway. The other thing was that apparently she was gaining a roommate in the form of Jacqueline “Jackie” Kennedy who was attending the Art History Program at University College Dublin. Jack Kennedy wanted his daughter out from underfoot and having her move in with Marie seemed like a win-win. Marie would keep Jackie out of trouble and Jackie would help Marie not be so introverted.

As if having been confronted by her mother, Suga, and Kiki when she first come home about her obvious neglect of her health wasn’t enough.

Marie wasn’t sure what to make of all of that. She figured that Jack wanted to keep her close so that he could convince her to help him.

All of this was because Marie had fainted and while she understood that was a problem, her mother’s reaction, or what Marie considered an overreaction, seemed disproportionate. In a few days, Marie would have the bandages taken off, the splints out of her nose and the bruises were already fading. Yes, it had looked bad when she had first seen her face in the mirror. Two black eyes and there had been when she had bleeding in Suga’s tearoom. Marie’s main concern was the damage to the tearoom. It was such beautiful place, and she absolutely hated the idea that she had ruined it.

 

[Wydo]

All of this was because Marie had fainted and while she understood that was a problem, her mother’s reaction, or what Marie considered an overreaction, seemed disproportionate. In a few days, Marie would have the bandages taken off, the splints out of her nose and the bruises were already fading. Yes, it had looked bad when she had first seen her face in the mirror. Two black eyes and there had been when she had bleeding in Suga’s tearoom. Marie’s main concern was the damage to the tearoom. It was such beautiful place, and she absolutely hated the idea that she had ruined it.

God save us all from moronic teens/young adults.

 

[jlckansas]

Opa Tilo, Oma Nancy?

 

[jlckansas]

Chapter Two Thousand Seven Hundred and Forty-Six


28th December 1978

“You need to check the regulations” Tilo said, “In the absence of further orders, an Officer’s duty is to the well being of his men. By keeping Leutnant von Raeder in the dark and feeding him bullshit, you made him getting his men a hot meal and bit of time in a warm room a priority.”

Tilo knew that once Erich knew that everyone above him on the food chain on Heligoland was looking to cut his men individually from the program if they got the chance, he would move heaven and earth to keep that from happening. He wouldn’t be successful, that was impossible. It would be interesting to see what the result would be though.

When you figure out you can use the rules and you follow them, it makes it harder for them to make trouble for you.

 

[Th3saint]

Erich is risk giving birth to an elite formation.

 

[ejpsan]

Marie is wrong about the reason that Jack wants her to work for him, to be fair Jack wouldn't mind the potential revenues that Marie could bring to his firm, but Jack is thinking about the long term of keeping Kat's legal business in the firm.
Kat trusts Jack because he owes her a huge number of favors after an incident in Australia, and Jack knows what Kat will do to him if he double-crosses her.
Kat by now finds that having her legal affairs handled mainly in Dublin is in her best interests instead of Berlin as it makes it harder for her enemies to get her confidential legal documents.
Jack wants Marie to trust someone in his firm to take over the von Mischner accounts after he finally retires.
Marie by having a solid legal education would be able to give recommendations to Kat on who her next legal advisor should be.
But the thing is, Kat would want someone that owes her and more importantly respects what the consequences will be if they "disappoint" her, and that means that Marie or Kat may help out smart and capable attorney who didn't go to the "Right" law school who finds themselves over their head, and they need help to get out of it.

 

[Salamander]

“You need to check the regulations” Tilo said, “In the absence of further orders, an Officer’s duty is to the well being of his men. By keeping Leutnant von Raeder in the dark and feeding him bullshit, you made him getting his men a hot meal and bit of time in a warm room a priority.”

Translation: Take the hint and start rewriting the rule book for this course, because Raeder is only the first of a new breed that's coming through.

Erich had not only done that, but he had also won the loyalty of the men under his command in the process. That posed a problem for the Oberst, but it was one of his own creation. Sending an entire Training Cadre back after only a few days would give him the stink of failure, the sort that never washed off. Tilo considered the Oberst a rising star at a time when the Marine Infantry needed as many of those as they could get, having him wreck himself like that was in no one’s interest.

Sounds like Tilo has plans for this Oberst, especially if he can pass this unexpected test that Raeder has presented him with.

Tilo knew that once Erich knew that everyone above him on the food chain on Heligoland was looking to cut his men individually from the program if they got the chance, he would move heaven and earth to keep that from happening. He wouldn’t be successful, that was impossible. It would be interesting to see what the result would be though.

This is going down in Sealion history as the course with the highest pass rate in history.

Movement in the corner of Tilo’s eye distracted him from his thoughts. A small face was peeking into his office from around the doorframe. When Sabastain had told Tilo and Nancy that Henriette was coming to visit over the Christmas Holidays and she was bringing Alice, they had been a bit apprehensive. So far, having Alice in the house for the Holidays had been a joy. Tilo had forgotten how magical Christmas was for a four-year-old like her. She also took a lot of interest in Tilo’s Office which was full of souvenirs from around the world.

Grandbaby number one has begun the process of wrapping granddaddy number two around her pinky finger.

All of this was because Marie had fainted and while she understood that was a problem, her mother’s reaction, or what Marie considered an overreaction, seemed disproportionate. In a few days, Marie would have the bandages taken off, the splints out of her nose and the bruises were already fading. Yes, it had looked bad when she had first seen her face in the mirror. Two black eyes and there had been when she had bleeding in Suga’s tearoom. Marie’s main concern was the damage to the tearoom. It was such beautiful place, and she absolutely hated the idea that she had ruined it.

Marie is so much like her mother, it isn't funny.

 

[Dan]

Translation: Take the hint and start rewriting the rule book for this course, because Raeder is only the first of a new breed that's coming through.

I don't think this can be overstated. Word is going to get around that Erich is a leader, not a commander. It will be seen that he is being rewarded. Ergo, think younger officers, this is what I need to do to advance.
They will concentrate on leadership skills, motivational skills and lateral thinking.

Eventually, junior officers will filter through to become more senior and begin passing this more agile approach to their subordinates, who will learn, then refine, this approach.

I wouldn't be surprised if in a few years time, prospective senior officers will be given charge of Sea Lion training to improve their command skills in dealing with snot nosed officers with a surplus of ambition, initiative and deviousness as a test of their own.

Essentially -
Junior officers: we want to see leadership to look after the men.
Senior officers: control and direct the junior officers without direct orders.

Everybody learns, everybody improves.

 

[Peabody-Martini]

Chapter Two Thousand Seven Hundred and Forty-Seven



31st December 1978

New York City, New York

It was quiet in the Ward tonight as the last hours of 1978 ticked down. This being the Indigent Care Ward of Belleview Hospital it housed those who truly were at the end of the line. Drug addicts, homosexuals, prostitutes, the destitute and homeless, all the people who the Hospital Administration swept under the rug. What was New Year’s Eve to them? They had nothing to look forward to. The vast majority of them were expected to have gone to the crematorium before their ashes made the final trip to the Potter’s Field on Hart Island long before New Year’s came again. For Blair Pratt, the noticeable feel of despair that permeated the ward was something that she had never gotten used to in all the years she had worked in it. This year it seemed worse than usual because the expected winter influx had been joined by a number of young people who had been afflicted with illnesses that were normally seen only among the very elderly, which was inexplicable. Blair had seen death in all of its forms over the last several years, this was something new.

It was whispered that in the darkest days of winter that your thoughts turned to contemplation. For Blair there were a whole lot of things to contemplate especially because she could read the writing on the wall and knew that it was only a matter of time before death came for her and the only mercy would be if it happened quickly. She had heard the rumors about what had happened to the others. Electrocuted until their heart gave out, thrown down an elevator shaft, shot in a back alley in what the police assumed was a mugging gone wrong, left in a vegetative state because someone got stabby with an icepick, or any one of several other means that all had one thing in common. The punishment had been calculated to perfectly match the crime. Blair understood that she carried more responsibility for what had happened than most. So for her the end would probably take an eternity and she deserved every single second of it.

The worst part was that when she had talked to the Police and the FBI, they had told her that the “Angel of Death” wasn’t real. Blair knew they were wrong. Joanna, that poor Polish girl who had ended up in Danvers was very real, as were the soldiers who had come for her on that last night. They had dragged off Blair and Dick Ambrose that night, holding them prisoner in camp that was surrounded by a frozen wilderness. It was only the intervention of a Russian Princess who had saved her from being left there to rot.

They had returned to a country that had clearly not wanted them back after they had been labeled torturers by Alexandra Thomas-Romanova. While the press had excoriated both Blair and Dick Ambrose, it had felt like most of the scorn that stuck to her. Blair had found that she was basically unemployable in the months that followed. The offer of Night Charge Nurse in the Indigent Care Ward at Belleview had been a job that no one else had wanted. She had secretly been happy to watch as Doctor Richard Ambrose had run from misfortune-to-misfortune years later. What she had not known was someone was systematically destroying his life. Later, when he had nothing more to lose, his career, marriage, and reputation left in ashes he had been found in the bottom of an elevator shaft in downtown Boston having fallen to his death. In the end, Dick Ambrose got the shaft. Joanna, Blair’s Angel of Death, had a twisted sense of humor. That much was certain.

As the others had died one by one, Blair had watched as it became clear to her that there was a hand guiding those events. Some days she almost convinced herself that the Angel of Death was a delusion. It was incredibly easy to blame your problems on the nebulous other, them, as it were. However, Blair knew that Joanna was real. She had helped Doctor Ambrose attach the electrodes before they had shocked her into incoherence.

With a sigh, Blair looked at the clock over the doors leading into the Ward. It wasn’t midnight, not yet. She really did wish that the night would pass faster. For lack of anything better to do, she left the nurse’s station and went to check on her patients. Entering the open ward, first she saw a man in his forties who was a degenerate alcoholic. He had passed out in an alley during a snowstorm a few weeks earlier, losing all of his fingers and toes to frostbite. It had yet to be seen what would become of him. There was another who was dying of cancer that had gone undiagnosed until it was too late to do anything. The next was one of the young ones whose case had confounded the doctors. He was suffering from a rare form of double pneumonia and what could only be described as wasting.

“It is called the Naval Illness in Germany” A voice with a European accent said behind Blair. “On account of the first victims being Sailors.”

Blair turned her head and saw that it was the face that had haunted her dreams for the last twenty years. Joanna looked different, she still had the pale complexion but the last several years must have been hard on her and that was evident, her hair which had once been blue-black was now entirely white. With her dark clothes she had been nearly invisible in the darkened hospital ward, and she looked like Death personified.

The patient stirred and Joanna went to him. She touched his forehead the way that a mother might do with a small child. The man smiled sleepily.

“Sorry we woke you” Joanna whispered, “Go back to sleep.”

“Most people are afraid to touch them” Blair said as the patient fell back to sleep.

“My understanding is that it is not spread that way” Joanna said softly, “The KZS believes that it is a blood-borne virus.”

“The what?” Blair asked.

“That hardly matters” Joanna replied.

Blair stood there for a long moment in silence, afraid about what this woman might do.

“I was going to do something quite terrible to you” Joanna said, “You were one of the ones who cost me everything.”

Blair was torn between wanting to protest how that was an unfair characterization of her, and the sinking feeling that she knew it was exactly what she had coming.

“Then I saw how you are one of the few people really caring for these people” Joanna continued, “I would suggest that you stay here doing this, or else I might just have to come back.”

With that, Joanna disappeared into the darkness.

 

[Lode21]

Damn, Asia, you've been busy!

 

[ejpsan]

Thank you for a very lovely, heartbreaking, and suspenseful update.
I had Nurse Pratt still in Russia after all these years, but it is very logical that Gia's compassion would bring them back to the United States, and Asia vengeance continues for over twenty years.
Ironically, Asia has basically given Blair Pratt a Life Sentence as in the early days of the AIDS crisis many of the frontline caregivers suffered a high rate of burn out, and especially for nurses when it was found out that they were treating AIDS patients, they couldn't get other jobs because of fear and ignorance on how the disease was transmitted.

 

[mafio ball]

“Then I saw how you are one of the few people really caring for these people” Joanna continued, “I would suggest that you stay here doing this, or else I might just have to come back.”

That's what I call an avenger.

And our Lady Death has great style!