Chapter Two Thousand Ninety-One
24th September 1971
Wahlstatt, Silesia
There was considerable irony in teaching Logic and Ethics considering where these boys were destined to end up. Still, Professor Fuchs rolled with it because there was a good chance that teaching them to think for themselves would save lives in the future.
“Killing opposing leaders is a bad idea” Sabastian Schultz said while answering Fuchs’ question.
“Why is that though?” The Professor asked in reply. He had gotten to know Sabastian well over the last few years, that answer was incredibly deep for the boy. Probably the direct result of the influence of his father who had taught Philosophy at the Mürwik Naval School, if Fuchs’ had to guess. That was confirmed by the next thing that Sabastian said.
“My father says that you need to have someone to negotiate with once the shooting stops” Sabastian said, “Otherwise you will be forced into an extended occupation which is a good way to lose the peace.”
“Do you agree with your father about that?” Fuchs asked and he saw Sabastian had a look of panic pass across his face. He half expected Sabastian to look to Nikolaus von Richthofen who was seated across the room as he often did when pushed. Fuchs had learned quickly in the first year that he had this class that having those two seated by each other was trouble brewing and it had been necessary to keep them on opposite sides of the room. The problem was not that Sabastian was stupid, it was that he tended not to think things through. That was something that Fuchs was trying to change.
“Why wouldn’t I?” Sabastian asked a bit too smugly, “He is a Generalfeldmarschall.”
“Yes, Sabastian, I have seen the Evening News” Fuchs replied, “But that is not an answer, I am however interested in what you think. You know, your opinion.”
Turning to the chalkboard, Fuchs wrote out a phrase from a film he had seen over the Summer Holiday.
Opinions are like assholes; Everyone has got one and they all stink.
That caused a bit of laughter among the students.
“I expect a thousand words the ideas that Herr Schultz has expressed here today from each of you” Fuchs said, “And I expect you to be able to defend the arguments that you put forward.”
Sabastian looked embarrassed though there was no reason for him to be. The class would have been assigned a thousand words regardless of what happened. The bell rang and the Professor erased the blackboard as the students fled before they got any further assignments to do over the coming weekend.
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“It only takes a couple hours at most to pound out a thousand words” Niko said.
“Yeah” Bas replied, “But Professor Fuchs always makes you read it aloud and defend every assertion.”
Niko knew that last bit was particularly torturous for Bas. Not only having to write down what you thought but having to explain it as well. The term was only a few weeks old, but Niko had seen how others had learned the hard way that cheating was basically impossible in Professor Fuchs’ class. If you didn’t know the material, the Professor was perfectly happily let you stand before the class and humiliate yourself. Today, the subject of current events had come up and one of the other students had made a comment about plastering whatever hole the Chilean leadership was hiding in with bombs. That was when Bas had spoken up and had repeated what his father had told him without fully understanding the implications. Because that was just the sort of thing that he did.
The next thing today was lunch, followed by the scheduled activities that were of a less cerebral nature. It being a warm Friday afternoon, Niko figured that it would be target practice followed by swimming. Bas was hoping to make the Track and Field Team this year, so he had grown a bit impatient with anything that wasn’t along those lines even if it was just them running laps as punishment. Even then he was trying to get noticed by the Coach. Tomorrow on Saturday, they had been told that they would be riding, practicing Cavalry formations and saber drill. Which meant that they would be too sore to move on Sunday.
All of this was quite a change from the Summer Holiday. With Bas’ father in Argentina his mother had arranged Bas to go to Opa von Richthofen’s estate along with his younger sisters. Whatever plans they might have made up there this year they had needed to factor in the constant presence of Anna and Gretchen. There was also Niko’s little sister Ingrid to contend with. She was now walking around and loved the presence of her big brother. Frequently, Niko and Bas had found themselves having to keep a close eye on the girls who were aghast at the thought of hunting and fishing like they had over the previous summers.
As if the food on their plate had magically sprung out of the air, Niko thought to himself sourly.
The rest of the time had been spent doing things that Opa felt were in keeping with their birth. While Bas had enjoyed watching the sporting events, he was less then thrilled with the gambling, scheming, and glad-handing that Opa engaged in. Eventually, Bas had asked Opa what any of that had to do with him? Opa had told him that his father was overseas leading a campaign that had been successful so far. If that continued, the Emperor would have little choice other than to place Dietrich Schultz among the highest ranking of the New Junkers and Bas was his father’s designated heir.
