Chapter One Thousand Nine Hundred Seven
26th April 1969
Mitte, Berlin
“I wish I were there instead of here” Kiki said into the telephone as she looked out of her bedroom window at the city streets far below.
“I doubt that” Ben replied, “This is about as exciting as watching paint dry, or glass being ground as it is in this case.”
The giant mirror that was being fabricated by Zeiss in Jena was one of the largest ever attempted and the process had proven painstaking, with several new technologies having to be invented in the process. The process of casting and annealing the mirror had gone on for years. The grinding and polishing had gone faster, but not by much. Ben was there observing the final stages of the process. He had done his best to explain how even once the fabrication was complete, the mirror would still need to be transported to Balderschwang and hauled up the mountain to the observatory that was being built atop Girenkopf, a mountain in Southern Bavaria that happened to be on land that Ben owned. That was supposed to take place over the summer.
“Boring seems like it would be a welcome change” Kiki said, “After what Zella did, I can’t seem to get a moment’s peace.”
“She was clear that she wanted to world to see you for who you are” Ben said, “I doubt that she meant any harm.”
Zella’s latest production had aired a few days earlier and it had turned her life upside down. Kiki knew that if even Ben was defending Zella’s actions, it suggested that she was not exactly being reasonable. Still, Zella’s latest documentary had featured her working in the Emergency Department at the hospital. The reaction had been unexpected. Unlike the previous documentary that Zella had made, which had featured Kiki and Vicky doing frivolous things on Holiday, this one could not have been more different. It showed her at work, and while the cases she had dealt with over the week that Zella had been filming had been relatively minor, as in not life threatening with prompt medical intervention. People had seen things differently, especially that one shot of Kiki trying to stop the bleeding in that man’s leg. That had really caught people’s imagination, especially when the man in question had given an interview singing her praises. Kiki had made sure that the press knew that she had not been the primary Surgeon on that case and that the credit should go to the Doctor she had been assisting. That had turned out to have been a mistake. She had been forced to move out of the Meta and into penthouse apartment that was the current Winter Residence, not because she was being threatened, but instead due to people who seemed to love what they thought she was and wouldn’t leave her alone.
“People already think they know me” Kiki said, “This will just make that worse.”
“People will forget about you soon enough Kiki” Ben said, “Eventually there will be a plane crash or a volcanic eruption, something of actual import. And if you give someone else a chance to be the first responder on the scene, no one will make as big a deal about you being there.”
Kiki was starting to suspect that Ben was making fun of her.
“My life is a mess” Kiki said.
“I love you too, Kiki” Ben said, “I really am looking forward to seeing you next week. In the meantime, go do something fun with your sisters, something mindless, even if it is just taking the dogs to the park.”
“I’ll see what I can do” Kiki replied.
“The world is not your responsibility” Ben said having picked up something from the tone of Kiki’s voice.
“I know” Kiki said, “But you know?”
“Yes” Ben said.
With that, Kiki looked over at Rauchbier and Weisse had worked out who got the preferred spot of sleep in next to the radiator in the time-honored manner of dogs since time out of mind. By doing their level best to push the other one out of the way. Weisse was no longer what might be considered a runt, being just as big as his sire. However, Rauchbier had done his level best to let his offspring know exactly who was boss, as comical as that was as it had played out. Rauchbier just wasn’t good at being mean when the opportunity to play presented itself.
Ben was right about Nella and Nan wanting to come along when Kiki took the dogs out for their afternoon run. That would be in a couple hours though because the girls were in school for a few more hours. Charlotte would want to have the noon meal ready as soon as they got home, which meant that Kiki’s father would be there. No one seemed to have any idea where Rea was, which was probably a good thing.
Krakow, Provisional Galicia and Ruthenia
Waiting at the station for the woman who was going to be the Queen of his fledgling nation was about par for the course for Olli these days. The train was pulling in and Olli found the new electric units lacked the drama of the old steam locomotives had before they had been replaced.
Despite his best efforts, Olli had been unable to return to farming. The Government was paying him enough to make him well to do, but it was not what he wanted to be doing with his life. After the events of the previous summer, he had managed to negotiate what he thought was the best deal possible for the breakaway province he had unexpectedly found himself playing a leading role in. If he had to guess, the plebiscite that was coming in just a few months’ time was a way to stick it to the Warsaw Government. Few had doubts about the outcome of the vote for independence from Warsaw. It was the draft Constitution that was the sticky part. They had to stitch a nation together that was composed of Germans, Poles, Jews, Ruthenians, Gypsies, and God only knew what else. All of whom had played key roles in the battle to liberate this country and felt entitled to a slice of the pie now that it was being divvied up. In Warsaw they’d had a common enemy who would have cheerfully killed the whole lot of them. Now that the threat had passed, they needed a figurehead of sorts to rally around. It was only a question of finding the right one.
The Provisional Government had a few ideas about who that be once they settled on the idea of a Constitutional Monarchy to provide that figurehead. They needed a member of the House of Hohenzollern who wasn’t stubbornly tradition bound and open-minded enough to assume a role that would probably require being different things to different people. The faction in the Government that had felt that Galicia would be better off as a Republic had settled on a name, largely because of the rumors about her. It was said Princess Marie Cecilie preferred the company of other women, so she was unlikely to produce an heir. So, they would get exactly what they wanted in a generation.
“You are Olaf Bauer?” Marie Cecilie asked as she stepped off the train.
“Olli” Olli said, “No has called me Olaf ever.”
“Fine Olli” Rea said as they walked towards the main station building surrounded by bodyguards. “I was reading the draft constitution on train. It is very inclusive and progressive. I like that.”
“You took the time to read all that?” Olli asked. That was something that no one had expected.
“Yes” Rea replied as they walked through the station with a smile on her face. “I think I might be happy here.”
