Chapter One Thousand Seven Hundred Fifty-Eight
29th September 1966
Laupheim, Württemberg
One of the first introductions to adult life for Parker had been rude awakenings as his roommates had gotten into some sort of jam in the early morning hours when he had been a student at Princeton University. Things had not changed as much as he might have thought as he had gone on to the CIA and the Army. This morning was no different as he woke up in an unfamiliar bed to Kristina and Sigi arguing with each other. It was only seven in the morning according to Parker’s watch.
That was when the events of the previous afternoon and the night before came back to him. Meeting Sigi in front of the store window with the televisions, an enjoyable conversation as they had walked around Laupheim. Diner with a couple bottles of wine and more conversation had followed. Sigi had told him all about what going into space and what had happened when she had returned to Earth, discovering that she was instantly a celebrity. Then they had gone back to the hotel she was staying with no real plans. After a nightcap in the bar they had gone up to her room and had engaged in other activities that didn’t involve conversation. That explained his currently unclothed state and where he was. It did not however explain what Kristina was doing in this room. After a minute, Kristina said something sharply and slammed the door on her way out.
“God, some of us are trying to sleep here” Parker said sitting up.
“Sorry about that” Sigi said, “Kiki thinks that I slept with you because I was lonely on my birthday.”
“Did you?” Parker asked, half afraid about what the answer would be.
“More like having an itch to scratch” Sigi said as she sat down on the edge of the bed, “I told her that and she stomped out. I think that it is mostly because it was with you.”
“I don’t see what any of this has to do with her” Parker said with a bit of indignity, he was wondering what had happened to his clothes. “What was she doing in here?”
“I had agreed to be present in a few hours when there is going to be a surprise inspection at the Airfield and KSK Depot to help her because she is afraid of how the state of things will reflect upon her” Sigi said, “I’m sure you have a good idea about how neurotic Kiki can get at times. Everything has to be perfect and she told me that the situation is far from perfect.”
“The Princess and the Pea?” Parker asked, only to have Sigi frown at him. There was something familiar about that, the same feeling from yesterday.
“You have gotten Kiki entirely wrong” Sigi replied, “She isn’t some spoiled little princess kept sequestered away. I’ve never met anyone so desperate for their life to have meaning.”
“She is also your friend” Parker said, figuring that was why Sigi felt compelled to defend Kristina.
“She is a bit more than that” Sigi said, “Those letters I told you about, she got them to me because she felt I deserved to know the truth.”
“And what is this about a surprise inspection?” Parker asked, changing the subject to something a bit more important at that moment. All he needed was for some high ranking notable to show up as his men were coming back from liberty after having engaged in God only knew what activity over the previous night. How was he going to explain everything that had happened to someone from State if they showed up?
“I don’t have many details” Sigi said getting up from the bed, “Just what Kiki was able to tell me.”
“I will need to get going then” Parker said getting out of bed, he found his trousers quickly, but the rest was elusive.
“This will help with that” Sigi said and she opened the curtains, flooding the room with light. He could see every detail of her clearly as she stood in the window, the yellow bathrobe and her still tousled hair. Studying her neck and jawline in this light, it hit him as she turned towards him that Sigi resembled Kristina. They were closely related.
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Pouring himself a cup of coffee in the Mess Hall was about all Ritchie could do. He felt like death after drinking with Huck, Mullens, and Kravitz the night before. A cheap, locally produced herbal liqueur had been readily available and they had matched shots until the bartender had thrown them out late the night before. Ritchie had hazy memories of singing along to the jukebox and it was a wonder they hadn’t woken up in the drunk tank. The others had all stayed in the barracks in hopes of sleeping off the worst of the hangover while Ritchie had gone for coffee and aspirin. It probably had not been the greatest choice.
Sitting down at one of the tables, Ritchie laid his head on his arms and waited for the pounding in his head to subside a bit. He was there for several minutes trying to ignore what was going on around him.
“Late night?” A voice asked.
“Just leave me the fuck alone” Ritchie replied, without thinking he had reverted to Californios Spanish.
“I haven’t heard that particular tongue in an extremely long time” The voice said, “I had heard that there were Americans visiting, it seems they have an Angeleno among them.”
Sitting up, Ritchie saw that it was an older gentleman with a smile on his face, he was wearing the blue Luftwaffe Class B Uniform with only a Flight Instructor’s badge and a Long Service medal pinned to it. He couldn’t see what rank the man held, but those two things suggested that it must be high up. Ritchie knew that Fort Drum got several older men like this every month or so. Seeking to recapture a piece of their youth by visiting the place that they had spent much of it.
“I’m surprised you recognized that Sir” Ritchie said, it sounded a lame to his ears.
“When I was your age, I spent a great deal of time in Hollywood” The old man said, “Dated movie stars, never was interested in being involved in movies though. I just liked being in the scene.”
“Living the dream?” Ritchie asked, his headache temporarily forgotten.
“Back then the new thing was talkies, if you would believe it.”
“That’s going pretty far back” Ritchie said.
“I know” The old man replied, “Years do get away from you. I’m waiting for my daughter who is serving here in the FSR.”
Ritchie took back his first thoughts about this man, he might have something interesting to say after all. Just then Parker walked in wearing wrinkled clothes with a lipstick stain on his collar. He took one look at who Ritchie was talking to and went white as a sheet.