Part 107, Chapter 1747
Chapter One Thousand Seven Hundred Forty-Seven
2nd September 1966
Jena
With Kiki having finally left for Laupheim, Vicky let out a breath that she didn’t realize that she had been holding. While the house felt empty with her gone, the tension that Kiki had brought home with her had been suffocating and Vicky couldn’t think of how introducing her to Anna could have gone worse. With lectures starting at the University, Anna had been terribly busy. They had not had the chance to talk about any of that until this afternoon when she had invited Anna over for tea. Now Vicky was wondering how to start the conversation. There was the obvious thing first.
“Sorry about Kiki” Vicky said, “She mostly has two speeds with new people, shy and wrecking ball. You got the latter.”
“I actually like her” Anna replied, “She was trying to protect her little sister, worried that I might break your heart.”
“She was being awful” Vicky said, “I’m sure you noticed that she made a few threats, take those seriously because her involvement in the FSR isn’t a joke.”
Anna just shrugged and smiled. “Kiki also didn’t say one word objecting to us” She said, “Did you notice that?”
Vicky sat there blinking for a moment, she hadn’t noticed that.
“You are so lucky” Anna said, “You have this big wonderful family that apparently accepts you.”
Anna had said that she was an only child and her parents had rejected her when she had told them that she was a lesbian. To her Vicky had an embarrassment of riches in more ways than one, family most of all.
“I don’t know about that” Vicky said, “Rea and I haven’t been on speaking terms for some time.”
Then seeing the questioning look on Anna’s face, “Marie Cecilie” Vicky quickly added, Rea’s real name.
“That is your twin sister?” Anna asked, “That must be odd.”
“It is just how it is” Vicky replied, “Even now it feels like she’s a part of me, it has always been that way.”
“That still sounds odd” Anna said.
“My brothers are all trying to live up to family expectations each in their own way” Vicky said changing the subject, “I’m sure that you have seen what that looks like in the magazines you saw.”
“I get the impression that being a girl involved lower expectations”
“Look pretty, get married, and regularly pop out babies” Vicky said, “Care to guess why we mostly have rejected that so far?”
“Mostly?” Anna asked.
“Antonia, my youngest sister and Annett, my father’s ward are still children so who knows what they are going to do” Vicky said, “They are adorable though.”
Anna smiled at that before she leaned over and kissed her deeply, leaving Vicky surprised. They had gotten to know each other over the summer when they were in the same pottery class and had been on a few dates, thoughts of intimacy hadn’t occurred to her during that time. She had been mostly concerned with trying to figure out how to be in a relationship with another person.
“They aren’t the only ones who are adorable” Anna said when she saw the expression on Vicky’s face.
Trieste, Austria
Kapitän Ingo Laninga had not been pleased to discover that Louis had ordered the three SK-Boats into the dockyard and was working to fit them with 533mm torpedo tubes. They had been shipped from Kiel after Louis had called in a few favors. The SK-Boats had been designed to be quickly adapted to different missions and that included having the mounting brackets for the torpedo tubes already in place, the tubes needed only to be installed. Because the mission was supposed to be anti-smuggling, the need for packing a punch against heavier units was not felt to be needed. That had changed in a hurry. The crews of their respective boats were connecting the plumbing that delivered the compressed air and setting up the wiring for the controls. It just involved taking the boats out of commission for a few days and the use of a crane. The Austrians were happy to help, Louis suspected that their version of the MND was coming on board in the process but that was the cost of doing business.
“Mind telling me what is going on?” Laninga asked once Louis was in his office.
“The Americans reached out” Louis replied, “Giving me a bigger picture.”
“Meaning what exactly?”
“It seems that one of their own has been facilitating every shitshow around the globe for at least the last decade” Louis said, “Mexico, Arabia, Sino-Korean War, the rest. Violent anarchy for fun and profits. It also seems that he has been selling tons of munitions to the Turks who are out for revenge after what the Greeks did to them the last time. The issue it seems is that the Turks plan is to start a crusade against the Greeks, they just need to provoke the Greeks into being the ones who fire the first shot. Which is why we have that Q-Ship lurking around. To get the Greeks to stop and board every ship they suspect may be coming from Turkish ports.”
“What does any of that have to do with torpedoes?” Laninga asked.
“We need to find that Q-Ship and end this before the Greeks do something stupid” Louis replied, “Even if that involves sinking it.”
Laninga was silent for a moment and Louis could see the wheels turning. The Intelligence Officer knew that he lost nothing if Louis was getting this wrong, if Louis was right and was successful on the other hand… That was a different story.
Unfortunately, Laninga would probably blow his stack when he learned exactly what favors Louis had called in.
2nd September 1966
Jena
With Kiki having finally left for Laupheim, Vicky let out a breath that she didn’t realize that she had been holding. While the house felt empty with her gone, the tension that Kiki had brought home with her had been suffocating and Vicky couldn’t think of how introducing her to Anna could have gone worse. With lectures starting at the University, Anna had been terribly busy. They had not had the chance to talk about any of that until this afternoon when she had invited Anna over for tea. Now Vicky was wondering how to start the conversation. There was the obvious thing first.
“Sorry about Kiki” Vicky said, “She mostly has two speeds with new people, shy and wrecking ball. You got the latter.”
“I actually like her” Anna replied, “She was trying to protect her little sister, worried that I might break your heart.”
“She was being awful” Vicky said, “I’m sure you noticed that she made a few threats, take those seriously because her involvement in the FSR isn’t a joke.”
Anna just shrugged and smiled. “Kiki also didn’t say one word objecting to us” She said, “Did you notice that?”
Vicky sat there blinking for a moment, she hadn’t noticed that.
“You are so lucky” Anna said, “You have this big wonderful family that apparently accepts you.”
Anna had said that she was an only child and her parents had rejected her when she had told them that she was a lesbian. To her Vicky had an embarrassment of riches in more ways than one, family most of all.
“I don’t know about that” Vicky said, “Rea and I haven’t been on speaking terms for some time.”
Then seeing the questioning look on Anna’s face, “Marie Cecilie” Vicky quickly added, Rea’s real name.
“That is your twin sister?” Anna asked, “That must be odd.”
“It is just how it is” Vicky replied, “Even now it feels like she’s a part of me, it has always been that way.”
“That still sounds odd” Anna said.
“My brothers are all trying to live up to family expectations each in their own way” Vicky said changing the subject, “I’m sure that you have seen what that looks like in the magazines you saw.”
“I get the impression that being a girl involved lower expectations”
“Look pretty, get married, and regularly pop out babies” Vicky said, “Care to guess why we mostly have rejected that so far?”
“Mostly?” Anna asked.
“Antonia, my youngest sister and Annett, my father’s ward are still children so who knows what they are going to do” Vicky said, “They are adorable though.”
Anna smiled at that before she leaned over and kissed her deeply, leaving Vicky surprised. They had gotten to know each other over the summer when they were in the same pottery class and had been on a few dates, thoughts of intimacy hadn’t occurred to her during that time. She had been mostly concerned with trying to figure out how to be in a relationship with another person.
“They aren’t the only ones who are adorable” Anna said when she saw the expression on Vicky’s face.
Trieste, Austria
Kapitän Ingo Laninga had not been pleased to discover that Louis had ordered the three SK-Boats into the dockyard and was working to fit them with 533mm torpedo tubes. They had been shipped from Kiel after Louis had called in a few favors. The SK-Boats had been designed to be quickly adapted to different missions and that included having the mounting brackets for the torpedo tubes already in place, the tubes needed only to be installed. Because the mission was supposed to be anti-smuggling, the need for packing a punch against heavier units was not felt to be needed. That had changed in a hurry. The crews of their respective boats were connecting the plumbing that delivered the compressed air and setting up the wiring for the controls. It just involved taking the boats out of commission for a few days and the use of a crane. The Austrians were happy to help, Louis suspected that their version of the MND was coming on board in the process but that was the cost of doing business.
“Mind telling me what is going on?” Laninga asked once Louis was in his office.
“The Americans reached out” Louis replied, “Giving me a bigger picture.”
“Meaning what exactly?”
“It seems that one of their own has been facilitating every shitshow around the globe for at least the last decade” Louis said, “Mexico, Arabia, Sino-Korean War, the rest. Violent anarchy for fun and profits. It also seems that he has been selling tons of munitions to the Turks who are out for revenge after what the Greeks did to them the last time. The issue it seems is that the Turks plan is to start a crusade against the Greeks, they just need to provoke the Greeks into being the ones who fire the first shot. Which is why we have that Q-Ship lurking around. To get the Greeks to stop and board every ship they suspect may be coming from Turkish ports.”
“What does any of that have to do with torpedoes?” Laninga asked.
“We need to find that Q-Ship and end this before the Greeks do something stupid” Louis replied, “Even if that involves sinking it.”
Laninga was silent for a moment and Louis could see the wheels turning. The Intelligence Officer knew that he lost nothing if Louis was getting this wrong, if Louis was right and was successful on the other hand… That was a different story.
Unfortunately, Laninga would probably blow his stack when he learned exactly what favors Louis had called in.
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