Part 152, Chapter 2763
Chapter Two Thousand Seven Hundred and Sixty-Three
21st February 1979
Duisburg, Westphalia
“At least no one got hurt Sir” Erich said to the Prosecutor who was in charge of the operation, earning himself several angry glairs in the process. That wasn’t quite true. There were a whole lot of hurt feelings and bruised egos in the room as they tried to reconstruct what exactly had gone wrong. It had been a multiagency operation, so there was a whole lot of blame to go around.
They had been expecting to raid a warehouse there in Duisburg less than a kilometer from the Naval base where supposedly a large amount of cocaine was being shipped through. Instead, there had been crates containing thousands of posters depicting a kitten hanging off a tree branch with the words “Hang in there baby!” spelled out across it in English. For Erich it wasn’t that bad, his part had gone well enough even if he had not known it at the time. He and his men were ordered to remain on the road outside the warehouse to stop anyone coming in or going out. Before the operation, they had all been given “Sealion” shoulder patches to sew on even if that wasn’t really who they were. The idea was that once they were in uniform, wearing the balaclavas that were required to be worn by Special Forces when they knew there was a good chance that they would be seen by the Press, no one needed to know anything else about them. Erich had no idea what was actually happening inside the warehouse until a Reporter recognized that he was an Oberleutnant and asked him his opinion about the unfolding debacle.
In the end, Erich had not seen anyone come out of the warehouse when everyone else had come in the other side. Hours later, a tunnel to another warehouse was found and things got really embarrassing. On the roof of the other warehouse the smuggling ring that they had been there to bust had set up lawn chairs and popcorn as they kicked back and watched the police and various other officials trip over their own dicks. In addition to the posters, the only other thing of note was the eye and dagger sigil of the GS, the Society of Silence, that someone had painted on a wall, meaning that the smugglers they had been trying to catch were not the expected crooks they normally dealt with. It seemed that the Navy wasn’t the only ones who wanted the world to know exactly who was involved. And whoever was in charge of this particular crew had a twisted sense of humor.
24th February 1979
Rome, Italy
“Do you understand the implications of your brother’s gift to you?” Amedio said happily.
“Other than how I will be crucified if anyone unfriendly ever finds out” Nan replied, “Friedrich says that I shouldn’t worry about that because it is something that people won’t care about because the story he had spun up is something that they will want to believe.”
Over the last week the people of Brandenberg had discovered that they not only had a Margravine, but they had sort of had her for years as the Press had breathlessly reported that the young ward of Louis Ferdinand von Preussen was exactly that. All that Freddy had done was make it official according to the story that he had spun, while it was complete load of manure, there were several key elements of the story that were true. Nan, her tragic past, and how she had been taken in by distant cousins. He had been absolutely right about how people would just eat it up.
“Every Royal House in Europe employs teams of people who have no other job than to manage their public image” Amedio said, “To help sweep all the unseemly little details under the rug. Who has a number of bastards scattered about because they cannot keep it in their pants, or who’s father isn’t actually their father, stuff like that. Your brother’s proclamation about your paternity would barely tip the scale when it comes to the sort of wild things I’ve heard about. Besides, do you really know you are not a descendant of the last Margrave? For all you know you could be.”
Freddy had told her that she still had a whole lot to learn. Over the last week, Nan had learned far more than she had ever imagined. But just what had she imagined her life would be like? Flying was the only thing she felt she had ever been good at. Then there was Amedio. Just where had she had thought that was going? He was wonderful even if he was more than a decade older than her.
“This will be particularly good for us” Amedio said, “It sidesteps most of the questions that people would have. There is already speculation about that, your comings, and goings in and out of Rome have not gone unnoticed.”
“Us?” Nan asked.
“Of course, us” Amedio replied, “My mother really wants to meet you and as I said, this sidesteps so many questions.”
“Oh” Nan said. Suddenly this was a lot more serious than she had figured it would ever be. She had been flying over the Alps to visit because it had been fun. Amedio had been making plans and considering how happy he was, it was going to be hard to pound her misgivings into his head.
21st February 1979
Duisburg, Westphalia
“At least no one got hurt Sir” Erich said to the Prosecutor who was in charge of the operation, earning himself several angry glairs in the process. That wasn’t quite true. There were a whole lot of hurt feelings and bruised egos in the room as they tried to reconstruct what exactly had gone wrong. It had been a multiagency operation, so there was a whole lot of blame to go around.
They had been expecting to raid a warehouse there in Duisburg less than a kilometer from the Naval base where supposedly a large amount of cocaine was being shipped through. Instead, there had been crates containing thousands of posters depicting a kitten hanging off a tree branch with the words “Hang in there baby!” spelled out across it in English. For Erich it wasn’t that bad, his part had gone well enough even if he had not known it at the time. He and his men were ordered to remain on the road outside the warehouse to stop anyone coming in or going out. Before the operation, they had all been given “Sealion” shoulder patches to sew on even if that wasn’t really who they were. The idea was that once they were in uniform, wearing the balaclavas that were required to be worn by Special Forces when they knew there was a good chance that they would be seen by the Press, no one needed to know anything else about them. Erich had no idea what was actually happening inside the warehouse until a Reporter recognized that he was an Oberleutnant and asked him his opinion about the unfolding debacle.
In the end, Erich had not seen anyone come out of the warehouse when everyone else had come in the other side. Hours later, a tunnel to another warehouse was found and things got really embarrassing. On the roof of the other warehouse the smuggling ring that they had been there to bust had set up lawn chairs and popcorn as they kicked back and watched the police and various other officials trip over their own dicks. In addition to the posters, the only other thing of note was the eye and dagger sigil of the GS, the Society of Silence, that someone had painted on a wall, meaning that the smugglers they had been trying to catch were not the expected crooks they normally dealt with. It seemed that the Navy wasn’t the only ones who wanted the world to know exactly who was involved. And whoever was in charge of this particular crew had a twisted sense of humor.
24th February 1979
Rome, Italy
“Do you understand the implications of your brother’s gift to you?” Amedio said happily.
“Other than how I will be crucified if anyone unfriendly ever finds out” Nan replied, “Friedrich says that I shouldn’t worry about that because it is something that people won’t care about because the story he had spun up is something that they will want to believe.”
Over the last week the people of Brandenberg had discovered that they not only had a Margravine, but they had sort of had her for years as the Press had breathlessly reported that the young ward of Louis Ferdinand von Preussen was exactly that. All that Freddy had done was make it official according to the story that he had spun, while it was complete load of manure, there were several key elements of the story that were true. Nan, her tragic past, and how she had been taken in by distant cousins. He had been absolutely right about how people would just eat it up.
“Every Royal House in Europe employs teams of people who have no other job than to manage their public image” Amedio said, “To help sweep all the unseemly little details under the rug. Who has a number of bastards scattered about because they cannot keep it in their pants, or who’s father isn’t actually their father, stuff like that. Your brother’s proclamation about your paternity would barely tip the scale when it comes to the sort of wild things I’ve heard about. Besides, do you really know you are not a descendant of the last Margrave? For all you know you could be.”
Freddy had told her that she still had a whole lot to learn. Over the last week, Nan had learned far more than she had ever imagined. But just what had she imagined her life would be like? Flying was the only thing she felt she had ever been good at. Then there was Amedio. Just where had she had thought that was going? He was wonderful even if he was more than a decade older than her.
“This will be particularly good for us” Amedio said, “It sidesteps most of the questions that people would have. There is already speculation about that, your comings, and goings in and out of Rome have not gone unnoticed.”
“Us?” Nan asked.
“Of course, us” Amedio replied, “My mother really wants to meet you and as I said, this sidesteps so many questions.”
“Oh” Nan said. Suddenly this was a lot more serious than she had figured it would ever be. She had been flying over the Alps to visit because it had been fun. Amedio had been making plans and considering how happy he was, it was going to be hard to pound her misgivings into his head.
