Stupid Luck and Happenstance, Thread III
- Thread starter Peabody-Martini
- Start date
Depending on the day, in warm weather she was wandering the yard hunting squirrels.
P.s., Invisible shock collar fences do work on Whippets. After a week of training a rabbit could be on the other side of the perimeter and she wouldn't try cross the line.
Part 133, Chapter 2285
Chapter Two Thousand Two Hundred Eighty-Five
1st April 1974
Rural Brandenburg
Life moved on, there wasn’t anything else to say about it. After a couple years spent leading a Company, they had seen fit to promote Manny to Major and make him the Regiment’s S9. That put him in charge Civil Affairs which included managing public displays by the Regiment and fielding the large number of complaints from the communities around Wunsdorf-Zossen. His father had told him that he would probably work in a number of Staff positions within the Regiment and that they could be a lot of fun. Manny’s father had pointed out that before he had been the S2 as an Intelligence Officer he had been the S7 in charge of Training and Education. That had been like trying to push a string, especially when those higher up the food chain demanded that he show propaganda and VD awareness films at the start of the night’s entertainment. Civil Affairs had to be better than that. Today, that involved listening to the complaints as a live fire exercise involving much of the 2nd Army and Brandenburg’s Landwehr Divisions was carried out. He also had an unfortunate passenger as he went from community to community listening to complaints, mostly about the noise.
“You know what todays date is?” Captain North said from the back seat of the Iltis that they were riding in.
Once again, Manny was playing host to the American Observer with the massively inflated opinion of himself. He had told someone in the High Command that he enjoyed working with Manny and considered him a friend, which was news to Manny. Oddly, it felt exactly the same as when he had been made to take his little sister with him to the movies. Just that thought was a reminder that Ina and Christian Weise were an item according to their mother. It was something that he felt ambivalent about, sure Christian was a good man, but if he broke Ina’s heart then Manny would make certain that he regretted ever having been born, if he could find him. Last Manny had heard, Christian had been sent to Grafenwöhr in Bavaria. Meaning that Christian was in way over his head this time and that included the time that they had gotten overrun in Argentina.
“If it means that you cannot trust anything that anyone says today” Manny replied, “I figure that means the same thing in the United States.”
North just laughed, meaning that Manny had just hit the nail on the head.
Suse Rosa had talked about the elaborate pranks that her mother pulled on todays date in years past and the news reports that were complete nonsense. Flying penguins, spaghetti growing on trees, wild bratwurst in Northern Bavaria, Bielefeld getting overrun by rats which led directly to the problem of feral cats, had all been features on the evening news on the 1st of April in years past.
Maus, who had contrived to get himself assigned as Manny’s driver snickered and Manny knew that North had just inadvertently set himself up to be the butt of jokes throughout the barracks. The Amis were not exactly popular among the Enlisted, most of them had listened to what their fathers and grandfathers had to say on the subject for their entire lives. How the Americans were arrogant and unaware of what was happening outside their borders. That went double for someone like North, who had lived in Germany for more than a year and hadn’t seemed to have learned much in that time. Of course, Manny suspected that North wasn’t the ugly American that he pretended to be, for starters he acted the part of the buffoon without ever going over the edge into outright stupidity of the sort that would get him sent home. What could be more disarming than someone who everyone underestimated? Manny was aware that Johann Schultz had done that for years, very successfully.
It was then that they heard the distinctive sound of machineguns up the road. The MG42/48, the improved version of the same machinegun that had been in use since the Soviet War had been modified for use with disintegrating links and for use with armored vehicles in the second half of the forties. It still maintained its shocking rate of fire though, and that sound was unmistakable for anything else. There was also the somewhat sharper sound of the Vs.60 which was used in conjunction. Fighter-Bombers streaked by overhead with Manny catching a glimpse of the swept back wings and the white-hot glow of the engine exhaust.
“Damn” North muttered, “Sounds like a lot of metal getting thrown around.”
“Typically, this is the fun part” Manny replied, “The cleanup starts tomorrow. I can look forward to listening to farmers complain about how one of their cows has gone lame because a bit of this or that was missed, and it got stuck in their hoof.”
“You don’t have a dedicated exercise area?” North asked.
“Down south in Swabia” Manny replied, it wasn’t a State secret. “Just transporting an entire Army down there is not worth the costs involved.”
It seemed that costs were the limiting factor these days. People wanted a whole lot of things and didn’t want to pay for them. The present Government had enacted deep cuts to the military during the drawdown from the Patagonian War explicitly stating that continued overseas deployments were currently in no one’s interest. It was a shame though because Manny had liked Patagonia and would have liked to have had a chance to explore it properly without a war involved. These days, Rio Gallegos had reverted back to being the Navy’s turf now that they no longer needed the 4th Division to defend it.
“I see” North replied as they drove into the next village.
Manny could see a man who he presumed was the Mayor standing there in front of the Rathaus red-faced, biting his lip in anger. In the short time that Manny had held this post he had discovered that when they came out to meet him, it usually meant that something particularly egregious had happened.
1st April 1974
Rural Brandenburg
Life moved on, there wasn’t anything else to say about it. After a couple years spent leading a Company, they had seen fit to promote Manny to Major and make him the Regiment’s S9. That put him in charge Civil Affairs which included managing public displays by the Regiment and fielding the large number of complaints from the communities around Wunsdorf-Zossen. His father had told him that he would probably work in a number of Staff positions within the Regiment and that they could be a lot of fun. Manny’s father had pointed out that before he had been the S2 as an Intelligence Officer he had been the S7 in charge of Training and Education. That had been like trying to push a string, especially when those higher up the food chain demanded that he show propaganda and VD awareness films at the start of the night’s entertainment. Civil Affairs had to be better than that. Today, that involved listening to the complaints as a live fire exercise involving much of the 2nd Army and Brandenburg’s Landwehr Divisions was carried out. He also had an unfortunate passenger as he went from community to community listening to complaints, mostly about the noise.
“You know what todays date is?” Captain North said from the back seat of the Iltis that they were riding in.
Once again, Manny was playing host to the American Observer with the massively inflated opinion of himself. He had told someone in the High Command that he enjoyed working with Manny and considered him a friend, which was news to Manny. Oddly, it felt exactly the same as when he had been made to take his little sister with him to the movies. Just that thought was a reminder that Ina and Christian Weise were an item according to their mother. It was something that he felt ambivalent about, sure Christian was a good man, but if he broke Ina’s heart then Manny would make certain that he regretted ever having been born, if he could find him. Last Manny had heard, Christian had been sent to Grafenwöhr in Bavaria. Meaning that Christian was in way over his head this time and that included the time that they had gotten overrun in Argentina.
“If it means that you cannot trust anything that anyone says today” Manny replied, “I figure that means the same thing in the United States.”
North just laughed, meaning that Manny had just hit the nail on the head.
Suse Rosa had talked about the elaborate pranks that her mother pulled on todays date in years past and the news reports that were complete nonsense. Flying penguins, spaghetti growing on trees, wild bratwurst in Northern Bavaria, Bielefeld getting overrun by rats which led directly to the problem of feral cats, had all been features on the evening news on the 1st of April in years past.
Maus, who had contrived to get himself assigned as Manny’s driver snickered and Manny knew that North had just inadvertently set himself up to be the butt of jokes throughout the barracks. The Amis were not exactly popular among the Enlisted, most of them had listened to what their fathers and grandfathers had to say on the subject for their entire lives. How the Americans were arrogant and unaware of what was happening outside their borders. That went double for someone like North, who had lived in Germany for more than a year and hadn’t seemed to have learned much in that time. Of course, Manny suspected that North wasn’t the ugly American that he pretended to be, for starters he acted the part of the buffoon without ever going over the edge into outright stupidity of the sort that would get him sent home. What could be more disarming than someone who everyone underestimated? Manny was aware that Johann Schultz had done that for years, very successfully.
It was then that they heard the distinctive sound of machineguns up the road. The MG42/48, the improved version of the same machinegun that had been in use since the Soviet War had been modified for use with disintegrating links and for use with armored vehicles in the second half of the forties. It still maintained its shocking rate of fire though, and that sound was unmistakable for anything else. There was also the somewhat sharper sound of the Vs.60 which was used in conjunction. Fighter-Bombers streaked by overhead with Manny catching a glimpse of the swept back wings and the white-hot glow of the engine exhaust.
“Damn” North muttered, “Sounds like a lot of metal getting thrown around.”
“Typically, this is the fun part” Manny replied, “The cleanup starts tomorrow. I can look forward to listening to farmers complain about how one of their cows has gone lame because a bit of this or that was missed, and it got stuck in their hoof.”
“You don’t have a dedicated exercise area?” North asked.
“Down south in Swabia” Manny replied, it wasn’t a State secret. “Just transporting an entire Army down there is not worth the costs involved.”
It seemed that costs were the limiting factor these days. People wanted a whole lot of things and didn’t want to pay for them. The present Government had enacted deep cuts to the military during the drawdown from the Patagonian War explicitly stating that continued overseas deployments were currently in no one’s interest. It was a shame though because Manny had liked Patagonia and would have liked to have had a chance to explore it properly without a war involved. These days, Rio Gallegos had reverted back to being the Navy’s turf now that they no longer needed the 4th Division to defend it.
“I see” North replied as they drove into the next village.
Manny could see a man who he presumed was the Mayor standing there in front of the Rathaus red-faced, biting his lip in anger. In the short time that Manny had held this post he had discovered that when they came out to meet him, it usually meant that something particularly egregious had happened.
The talk of cutbacks reminds me of a recent Drachinfel video. Where the US cut the navy's budget to zero, only to realise that yes, you do in fact need a navy to keep your waters clear of pirates.
On a similar note, there used to be a TV series in the UK called Soldier Soldier, based around a modern day fictional British Infantry Regiment.
In one, they're on exercise in Wales when a local farmer approaches some of the Privates and asks them if they'll "accidentally" shoot a few of his sheep. They find out that the farmer gets compensation above market rate for every dead sheep. So they haggle a price with the farmer who laments afterwards "I never have this problem with the SAS, they just want the dead sheep afterwards".
Sounds like you have a similar situation here, probably find an enterprising local has asked a Panzer driver to pull a sharp turn at a point in the road where the surface is damaged that the local council have previously refused to repair, destroying it. The Mayor will complain about the damage to the previously "perfectly good" road and the Army will foot an inflated bill to repair it.
Unless of course Manny has access to a bored Pioneer detachment with enough soldiers on the shit list to be sent out to do road repairs. That always makes for a good public relations exercise.
In one, they're on exercise in Wales when a local farmer approaches some of the Privates and asks them if they'll "accidentally" shoot a few of his sheep. They find out that the farmer gets compensation above market rate for every dead sheep. So they haggle a price with the farmer who laments afterwards "I never have this problem with the SAS, they just want the dead sheep afterwards".
Sounds like you have a similar situation here, probably find an enterprising local has asked a Panzer driver to pull a sharp turn at a point in the road where the surface is damaged that the local council have previously refused to repair, destroying it. The Mayor will complain about the damage to the previously "perfectly good" road and the Army will foot an inflated bill to repair it.
Unless of course Manny has access to a bored Pioneer detachment with enough soldiers on the shit list to be sent out to do road repairs. That always makes for a good public relations exercise.
That seems to be rather universal. There is a very large artillery training area in northern Finland, and sometimes, "completely randomly", a reindeer herd appears on the designated target area right after the guns/mortars start firing (making it too late to cancel the fire command).
I'm pretty sure it makes no sense for a unit stationed in North-East Germany to use a military training area hundreds of kilometers away in South-West Germany. The Heer should own multiple training areas in Prussia itself this unit would exercise in. Of course it should - as mentioned in the dialog, it is a logistical hassle and inhibits unit training.
One such OTL place would be TrÜbPl Altmark north of Magdeburg.
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I am aware of that, but please remember just who that is being said to.
A big part of large scale training operations is logistical part and the logistical part needs to be tested as close to reality as possible, therefore a long overland movement of troops is quite plausible and necessary. This is especially true for combat units whose main task is not logistics but something else. Thus, a designed training area far away from usual dislocation is logical and necessary.
TrÜbPl Altmark is historically Artillery training area and quite flat and it is originates in OTL from 1930s. TrÜbPl Heuberg near Sigmaringen is from turn of the century (planning between 1885 and 1898, real acquiring of land started 1908 and operational using from early 1910s), is in a much more hilly area and has been originally planned to practice co-operation between different types of troops in large scale operations (original plans for Badisches Armee, but real acquiring of land did involve Baden, Preußen, Württemberg and the imperial treasury).
Part 134, Chapter 2286
Chapter Two Thousand Two Hundred Eighty-Six
4th April 1974
Bestensee, Brandenburg
An unassuming stone bridge had stood over a short river that ran between two lakes for centuries. No one had any idea of exactly how many centuries. Now though, half of it had crumbled into the river and the remainder looked like it was about to collapse at any second. While great pains had been taken to reduce the ground pressure of a Panzer VIII “Leopard II” and it was a marvel of engineering, it still weighed in at fifty tons. Some idiot tried to drive a Leopard across the bridge and physics came into play as it crumbled under the weight. Presently, there were three Bergepanzers working on fishing the Panzer out of the river and a surveying team from the Pioneers at work so that construction on a new bridge could start as soon as possible.
The Mayor and Local Council insisted that it was historic and therefor irreplaceable. The trouble was that Manny couldn’t find any record of the bridge up until a few days earlier. The Pioneers said that they could have a new bridge in place that would be far superior and would even look like old one, but the local Government was having none of it. They wanted their old bridge back exactly as it had been as if they had ever even thought about the bridge during their lifetimes. Which was basically impossible, and it fell on Manny to convince them of that.
The only good thing was that unlike a few days earlier, Manny didn’t have an obnoxious American shadow. One who everyone knew repeated every single thing he heard to his friends in the Central Intelligence Agency Station inside the U.S. Embassy. Manny had asked why Intelligence wasn’t dealing with North and he had been told that he was the Civil Affairs Officer and dealt with the public, and Americans in this country were part of the public, like it or not. Manny suspected that he was regarded as not knowing anything important enough to actually cause trouble. Sending North with him as he argued with Mayors and members of the Local Councils about whatever tomfoolery the rest of the Regiment was caught up in probably amused the Oberst and the Regimental Intelligence Officer as well.
Havana, Cuba
Anyone who knew how these things worked, understood the concept of hurry up and wait. There were a number of Naval ships gathered in the Port of Havana from around the world, invited there by the Cuban Government much to the annoyance of the U.S. Government which had been planning on having a Naval Exercise in the Caribbean Sea with much of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet gathered in Guantanamo Bay. It seemed that the U.S. Government had delayed the Exercise again and again in the hope that the international gathering of ships would get bored and leave.
It hadn’t worked out that way.
Presently, the SMS Grindwal was moored between the IJN Yoizuki and the RN Audace. Louis was perfectly aware that this particular grouping was no accident. The Captain of the Yoizuki happened to be Crown Prince Akihito of Japan and the Audace was Captained by Prince Amedeo of Aosta.
Louis had always got on well with the Italian Prince, the two of them were Naval Officers and the younger sons of Royal Houses. The odd wrinkle though was there was a growing faction in Italy who wanted Amedeo to elbow an increasingly problematic older brother out of the way and assume the title of King upon the death of his father. Of course, Umberto II wasn’t in poor health and had not said anything. There were rumors that Vittorio was aware this and he was handling the matter as well as could be expected, which was why Amedeo spent almost all of his time at sea.
Having Akihito join them was a bit novel. He and Louis were almost brothers, legally speaking. Amedeo pointed out that his older brother had been pointedly rejected by no less than three of Louis’ sisters, so he had every right to be in their company.
What that had come to mean in practice was drinks and playing cards in the tiny wardroom of the Grindwal. Akihito was something of a cardsharp having been taught how to play poker by members of the German Marine Infantry’s Sealions no less. He had tried to join Japanese Marines when he had graduated from University, but the Imperial Japanese Navy was having none of that. Akihito had been made a Midshipman, Command Track, and he was given the option of sitting down and shutting the fuck up. Louis supposed that it was the equivalent of Freddy joining the Pioneers if the Heer had the option of vetoing that choice.
As per what had become the tradition of using whatever coins were common in whatever port they were in, they were playing for Cuban Pesos and Centavos with Oberleutnant Lehr as the fourth man in the game. The conversation had turned to the 12.8cm main gun and Bofors 40mm L70 that both the Grindwal and the Audace used as part of their mixed armament arrangement versus the 10cm high-angle guns that had become the mainstay of the Japanese Fleet since the end of the Pacific War. Louis felt that both doctrines had their merits, the Grindwal was his ship though and as far as he was concerned, she was perfect. That was especially true when the likes of Akihito dared to point out her faults.
4th April 1974
Bestensee, Brandenburg
An unassuming stone bridge had stood over a short river that ran between two lakes for centuries. No one had any idea of exactly how many centuries. Now though, half of it had crumbled into the river and the remainder looked like it was about to collapse at any second. While great pains had been taken to reduce the ground pressure of a Panzer VIII “Leopard II” and it was a marvel of engineering, it still weighed in at fifty tons. Some idiot tried to drive a Leopard across the bridge and physics came into play as it crumbled under the weight. Presently, there were three Bergepanzers working on fishing the Panzer out of the river and a surveying team from the Pioneers at work so that construction on a new bridge could start as soon as possible.
The Mayor and Local Council insisted that it was historic and therefor irreplaceable. The trouble was that Manny couldn’t find any record of the bridge up until a few days earlier. The Pioneers said that they could have a new bridge in place that would be far superior and would even look like old one, but the local Government was having none of it. They wanted their old bridge back exactly as it had been as if they had ever even thought about the bridge during their lifetimes. Which was basically impossible, and it fell on Manny to convince them of that.
The only good thing was that unlike a few days earlier, Manny didn’t have an obnoxious American shadow. One who everyone knew repeated every single thing he heard to his friends in the Central Intelligence Agency Station inside the U.S. Embassy. Manny had asked why Intelligence wasn’t dealing with North and he had been told that he was the Civil Affairs Officer and dealt with the public, and Americans in this country were part of the public, like it or not. Manny suspected that he was regarded as not knowing anything important enough to actually cause trouble. Sending North with him as he argued with Mayors and members of the Local Councils about whatever tomfoolery the rest of the Regiment was caught up in probably amused the Oberst and the Regimental Intelligence Officer as well.
Havana, Cuba
Anyone who knew how these things worked, understood the concept of hurry up and wait. There were a number of Naval ships gathered in the Port of Havana from around the world, invited there by the Cuban Government much to the annoyance of the U.S. Government which had been planning on having a Naval Exercise in the Caribbean Sea with much of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet gathered in Guantanamo Bay. It seemed that the U.S. Government had delayed the Exercise again and again in the hope that the international gathering of ships would get bored and leave.
It hadn’t worked out that way.
Presently, the SMS Grindwal was moored between the IJN Yoizuki and the RN Audace. Louis was perfectly aware that this particular grouping was no accident. The Captain of the Yoizuki happened to be Crown Prince Akihito of Japan and the Audace was Captained by Prince Amedeo of Aosta.
Louis had always got on well with the Italian Prince, the two of them were Naval Officers and the younger sons of Royal Houses. The odd wrinkle though was there was a growing faction in Italy who wanted Amedeo to elbow an increasingly problematic older brother out of the way and assume the title of King upon the death of his father. Of course, Umberto II wasn’t in poor health and had not said anything. There were rumors that Vittorio was aware this and he was handling the matter as well as could be expected, which was why Amedeo spent almost all of his time at sea.
Having Akihito join them was a bit novel. He and Louis were almost brothers, legally speaking. Amedeo pointed out that his older brother had been pointedly rejected by no less than three of Louis’ sisters, so he had every right to be in their company.
What that had come to mean in practice was drinks and playing cards in the tiny wardroom of the Grindwal. Akihito was something of a cardsharp having been taught how to play poker by members of the German Marine Infantry’s Sealions no less. He had tried to join Japanese Marines when he had graduated from University, but the Imperial Japanese Navy was having none of that. Akihito had been made a Midshipman, Command Track, and he was given the option of sitting down and shutting the fuck up. Louis supposed that it was the equivalent of Freddy joining the Pioneers if the Heer had the option of vetoing that choice.
As per what had become the tradition of using whatever coins were common in whatever port they were in, they were playing for Cuban Pesos and Centavos with Oberleutnant Lehr as the fourth man in the game. The conversation had turned to the 12.8cm main gun and Bofors 40mm L70 that both the Grindwal and the Audace used as part of their mixed armament arrangement versus the 10cm high-angle guns that had become the mainstay of the Japanese Fleet since the end of the Pacific War. Louis felt that both doctrines had their merits, the Grindwal was his ship though and as far as he was concerned, she was perfect. That was especially true when the likes of Akihito dared to point out her faults.
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So the Current Emperor-Emeritus of Japan is a Naval card dealer and swindler.....
3 competent Naval commanders in a foreign port with their ships that they have commanded for a bit and know what they can do. They know each other and can anticipate what they will be doing. There is the distinct possibility of an early hurricane season, earthquakes in Central America, Massive flooding, Volcanic eruptions in different islands in the Antillies. Who knows what might happen.
Part 134, Chapter 2287
Chapter Two thousand Two Hundred Eighty-Seven
13th April 1974
Tempelhof, Berlin
“Please keep in mind that you have to get started somewhere” Kat had said when Sophie had tried to put what had happened that day into perspective. “You have the chance to lead others forward, so make the most of it and you should know better than anyone that we seldom get what we want without putting in the effort. Finally, do I need to remind you that you are also supposed to be having fun?”
That afternoon Sophie had done another bicycle race in the Women’s Juniors on what was her birthday, and it had been a complete farce like it had been since the season had started. Everything that she had done over the winter had been to prepare for competition, which didn’t really exist. Instead, there had been a number of other young women around her age who saw it as a nice tour around this or that neighborhood or the countryside. If it had been on a track, Sophie would have easily lapped them and to her astonishment, that made her unhappy. They were being given a chance to take part here and they didn’t seem interested. Kat had pointed out that it had been a “Club Race” meaning that it had only been among cyclists within the same club. The races scheduled for later that season during the summertime would probably be more to Sophie’s liking.
Tomorrow, she had a small party planned with a few friends from school and Gabby was coming. Sophie was actually looking forward to that and as annoyed as she was about the events of the day. Not wanting to think about it, she had gone to bed early, only to have Kat’s words echoing through her mind. Sophie also had Sprocket licking her face and whining, meaning that he needed to go out unless she wanted a mess to clean up in the morning. With a bit of annoyance, Sophie climbed out of bed and reached for her coat.
“You are just lucky that I love you” Sophie said to Sprocket who had already at the door looking at her, wagging his stubby tail as she put on her coat. “That and being cute is the only thing keeping you from becoming a fur collar.”
With that, Sophie opened the bedroom door and Sprocket ran out onto the landing. Padding down the stairs, she saw the blue glow of the television in the parlor and the sound of canned laughter. Marie Alexandra and Angelica were watching some screwball comedy from the sound of it. If they saw her then they would invite her to join them, and Sophie just wasn’t in the mood. Sneaking down the next flight of stairs, the kitchen and dining room were empty with everyone probably having already retired for the evening. Walking through the pantry and laundry room, Sophie noticed the different smells. Spices and detergent mostly.
Stepping out the back door into the garden, Sophie saw the lights of the city reflected off the clouds and shivered in the cold. Looking at the stately rowhouses across the alley, Sophie was reminded of the old tenement she had lived in with her mother and grandparents. How that was a world away from here. Recently, she had found out that the tenement along with much of the neighborhood in Reinickendorf where they had lived had been torn down to make way for new housing estates. It felt strange knowing that something that loomed so large in her childhood memories, was simply gone. It was too bad that many of the other things that haunted her were not so easily disposed of…
That was when Sophie noticed that Sprocket’s attention was diverted from sniffing around the one of the trees and he was focused on the back fence. The reaction wasn’t aggressive, meaning that whoever was there was familiar to Sprocket.
“Psst, Zoe?” A voice asked in a stage whisper.
“Kat will kill you if she catches you sneaking around her house” Sophie said to Sepp who was looking over the back fence under light on the back of the garage as she approached him. “And isn’t this a bit far out of your way?”
“Ilona was at Benno’s today and she said that it was your birthday today or tomorrow” Sepp replied, “And I thought I would walk by and see if you were here.”
“So, you were waiting out here at night, in the hope that I would step outside?” Sophie asked, “Do you have any idea what that looks like?”
“I hadn’t planned that far ahead” Sepp said, “I was only here a few minutes trying to think of what to do.”
“Knocking on the front door, like a civilized man would do” Sophie said, “Ever thought of that?”
Sepp gave her a sheepish grin that suggested he hadn’t thought about that, or probably much else for that matter.
“I meant to tell you to have a happy birthday” Sepp said.
“Thank you” Sophie replied, “Now go home Josef.”
“Is that all?” Sepp asked.
Sophie was considering how to even begin to answer that when Sprocket, who must have felt ignored, jumped up on her. She bent down slightly and batted his paws away with her hand.
Looking back up she saw that Sepp was just staring at her, surprised. “Uhm… Goodnight then Zoe…” Sepp said awkwardly before disappearing down the alley in the direction of the street.
Sophie was bewildered at first, then she considered things from what must have been Sepp’s angle and almost laughed aloud. Between it being dark, her coat and the blue flannel nightgown she was wearing there simply wasn’t much to see. Sepp had gotten a glimpse of a bit of skin though and that had caused him to end the conversation, not that she had wanted it to go on. All of the comments that she had heard Petia make about boys basically being children until led by the nose into adulthood came back to her. She had just thought that Sepp was better than that.
13th April 1974
Tempelhof, Berlin
“Please keep in mind that you have to get started somewhere” Kat had said when Sophie had tried to put what had happened that day into perspective. “You have the chance to lead others forward, so make the most of it and you should know better than anyone that we seldom get what we want without putting in the effort. Finally, do I need to remind you that you are also supposed to be having fun?”
That afternoon Sophie had done another bicycle race in the Women’s Juniors on what was her birthday, and it had been a complete farce like it had been since the season had started. Everything that she had done over the winter had been to prepare for competition, which didn’t really exist. Instead, there had been a number of other young women around her age who saw it as a nice tour around this or that neighborhood or the countryside. If it had been on a track, Sophie would have easily lapped them and to her astonishment, that made her unhappy. They were being given a chance to take part here and they didn’t seem interested. Kat had pointed out that it had been a “Club Race” meaning that it had only been among cyclists within the same club. The races scheduled for later that season during the summertime would probably be more to Sophie’s liking.
Tomorrow, she had a small party planned with a few friends from school and Gabby was coming. Sophie was actually looking forward to that and as annoyed as she was about the events of the day. Not wanting to think about it, she had gone to bed early, only to have Kat’s words echoing through her mind. Sophie also had Sprocket licking her face and whining, meaning that he needed to go out unless she wanted a mess to clean up in the morning. With a bit of annoyance, Sophie climbed out of bed and reached for her coat.
“You are just lucky that I love you” Sophie said to Sprocket who had already at the door looking at her, wagging his stubby tail as she put on her coat. “That and being cute is the only thing keeping you from becoming a fur collar.”
With that, Sophie opened the bedroom door and Sprocket ran out onto the landing. Padding down the stairs, she saw the blue glow of the television in the parlor and the sound of canned laughter. Marie Alexandra and Angelica were watching some screwball comedy from the sound of it. If they saw her then they would invite her to join them, and Sophie just wasn’t in the mood. Sneaking down the next flight of stairs, the kitchen and dining room were empty with everyone probably having already retired for the evening. Walking through the pantry and laundry room, Sophie noticed the different smells. Spices and detergent mostly.
Stepping out the back door into the garden, Sophie saw the lights of the city reflected off the clouds and shivered in the cold. Looking at the stately rowhouses across the alley, Sophie was reminded of the old tenement she had lived in with her mother and grandparents. How that was a world away from here. Recently, she had found out that the tenement along with much of the neighborhood in Reinickendorf where they had lived had been torn down to make way for new housing estates. It felt strange knowing that something that loomed so large in her childhood memories, was simply gone. It was too bad that many of the other things that haunted her were not so easily disposed of…
That was when Sophie noticed that Sprocket’s attention was diverted from sniffing around the one of the trees and he was focused on the back fence. The reaction wasn’t aggressive, meaning that whoever was there was familiar to Sprocket.
“Psst, Zoe?” A voice asked in a stage whisper.
“Kat will kill you if she catches you sneaking around her house” Sophie said to Sepp who was looking over the back fence under light on the back of the garage as she approached him. “And isn’t this a bit far out of your way?”
“Ilona was at Benno’s today and she said that it was your birthday today or tomorrow” Sepp replied, “And I thought I would walk by and see if you were here.”
“So, you were waiting out here at night, in the hope that I would step outside?” Sophie asked, “Do you have any idea what that looks like?”
“I hadn’t planned that far ahead” Sepp said, “I was only here a few minutes trying to think of what to do.”
“Knocking on the front door, like a civilized man would do” Sophie said, “Ever thought of that?”
Sepp gave her a sheepish grin that suggested he hadn’t thought about that, or probably much else for that matter.
“I meant to tell you to have a happy birthday” Sepp said.
“Thank you” Sophie replied, “Now go home Josef.”
“Is that all?” Sepp asked.
Sophie was considering how to even begin to answer that when Sprocket, who must have felt ignored, jumped up on her. She bent down slightly and batted his paws away with her hand.
Looking back up she saw that Sepp was just staring at her, surprised. “Uhm… Goodnight then Zoe…” Sepp said awkwardly before disappearing down the alley in the direction of the street.
Sophie was bewildered at first, then she considered things from what must have been Sepp’s angle and almost laughed aloud. Between it being dark, her coat and the blue flannel nightgown she was wearing there simply wasn’t much to see. Sepp had gotten a glimpse of a bit of skin though and that had caused him to end the conversation, not that she had wanted it to go on. All of the comments that she had heard Petia make about boys basically being children until led by the nose into adulthood came back to her. She had just thought that Sepp was better than that.
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Part 134, Chapter 2288
Chapter Two Thousand Two Hundred Eighty-Eight
14th April 1974
Tempelhof, Berlin
Sepp’s mother was watching a wedding on television when he emerged from the room he shared with Hagen and Dieter. Rummaging through the kitchen, he saw that there was nothing to eat. With everyone busy, no one had thought to go to the market. That meant that Sepp would need to go himself to one of the few markets that was open on Easter Sunday. It was only a question of which labels he wanted to listen to his complain about, those in Korean or those clearly marked as Kosher.
“Who is getting married?” Sepp asked.
“The Czar of Russia to a Greek Princess” His mother replied, not taking her eyes off the television. “You got home late last night?”
Sepp didn’t know if that last part was a question, or just a statement of fact.
“I had an errand to run” Sepp said.
“It didn’t have something to do with that girl of yours, did it?”
“Yesterday was Zoe’s birthday” Sepp replied, “I stopped by her place to wish her a happy birthday.”
“Oh” Sepp’s mother said, it was as if she had expected him to deny it. “That’s her name, Zoe?”
“Sophie actually” Sepp said, “And don’t worry, nothing is happening because she is just a friend.”
Sepp’s mother seemed almost disappointed by that despite her frequently admonishing him not to throw his life away by getting distracted. Girls were just one of the distractions in question. The thing about Sophie being a friend, that was true except he wished she could be far more than that.
Just the thought of that though reminded Sepp of the awkward way that the brief conversation with Sophie had ended the night before. He must have interrupted her as she was taking her dog out as one of the final acts of the night, because she had been standing there barefoot in what he had later realized was a nightgown. When she had bent down to stop her dog from jumping up on her, he had caught a glimpse down the front of the nightgown. While it wasn’t something that he hadn’t seen before, beyond magazines and television he had seen women sunning themselves in the park. This had felt very different, and he had been left tongue tied.
“Whatever you say” Sepp’s mother said, seeming to not believe a word of that. “And have you seen your brother?”
“Didi is still asleep last I looked” Sepp replied.
“Not Dieter but Hagen” Sepp’s mother said, and Sepp almost groaned aloud. “I cannot recall seeing him since Friday afternoon.”
Something that Sepp knew about Hagen, that his mother seemed uninterested in, was that he was a complete psychopath. If Sepp had to guess, his brother was somewhere pulling the legs off an insect or the like. The last thing on Earth Sepp wanted was to be spending the one day off this week he had running all over town looking for a younger brother who probably didn’t want to be found.
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“I have no opinion on the matter, now go tell your friends that” Kiki said to a tabloid reporter seconds before he was dragged off by Hospital Security as members of First Foot were standing between her and the reporter.
It was something that had happened several times already today and it had been suggested by the Hospital Administration that she go home for the day. While no one had suggested that it was her fault, the tabloids wanted her opinion about the Russian Czar’s wedding, he was a distant cousin of hers. The trouble was that Hospital was short-staffed because of the holiday, she had a job to do, and they were interfering with it. At the same time, after what had just happened a few minutes earlier she probably would have liked to have left of her own accord.
“Bad day Princess?” A familiar voice, one that Kiki had not heard in a long time, asked.
“Do you people ever quit?” Kiki asked as she tried to wave off the two men from the First Foot who were about to thump this man. She knew from experience that them doing that would be counterproductive. By doing it they would become a part of the story. For some demented reason, this man had to pick today of all days to show up.
“I am not one of ‘you people’ if you mean like that guy who your goons just dragged off” Hunter Thompson said. The American Journalist had been sitting unobtrusively in the waiting room, ignored by Hospital Security and the First Foot.
“The First Foot are hardly goons” Kiki replied.
“Potato pototo” Hunter said, whatever that meant. Judging by the tone, Kiki had a feeling that she would probably deck him if he explained it.
“Why are you here?” Kiki asked, when she wanted to tell him to just go away.
“Because it is where the action is” Hunter replied.
“Or is it because the Russian Government refused to allow you into their country?” Kiki asked flatly.
“You know about that?” Hunter asked in reply.
“It was a good guess” Kiki said. Every other serious Journalist was in Moscow at that moment including Zella who had left the day before. The fact that Hunter was skulking around a hospital in Tempelhof spoke volumes.
“There was a bit of a misunderstanding last year with a story I ran with” Hunter said, and Kiki really didn’t care what he had to say in his defense. She was tired of these games.
“You want a story?” Kiki asked, “Come with me then.”
She started to walk back in the direction that she had just come from not really caring if Hunter could keep up. She walked back to the cubical which had been curtained off, the cleanup had not yet begun. Basically, it looked like a charnel pit with blood everywhere along with the detritus of a failed surgical effort and the body of the young man who Kiki had been unable to stabilize was still there with a sheet thrown over him.
“He was brought in with multiple stab wounds, believed to be the result of criminal activity and I couldn’t save him” Kiki said, “You probably saw the police leave after taking everyone’s statements.”
Hunter just stood there surprised, and it took a lot to surprise someone like him. He had said it himself that she was having a bad day. He had just been unaware of what that looked like.
“I am about to go tell a family something that will absolutely wreck them” Kiki said, “Do you want to watch that too?”
14th April 1974
Tempelhof, Berlin
Sepp’s mother was watching a wedding on television when he emerged from the room he shared with Hagen and Dieter. Rummaging through the kitchen, he saw that there was nothing to eat. With everyone busy, no one had thought to go to the market. That meant that Sepp would need to go himself to one of the few markets that was open on Easter Sunday. It was only a question of which labels he wanted to listen to his complain about, those in Korean or those clearly marked as Kosher.
“Who is getting married?” Sepp asked.
“The Czar of Russia to a Greek Princess” His mother replied, not taking her eyes off the television. “You got home late last night?”
Sepp didn’t know if that last part was a question, or just a statement of fact.
“I had an errand to run” Sepp said.
“It didn’t have something to do with that girl of yours, did it?”
“Yesterday was Zoe’s birthday” Sepp replied, “I stopped by her place to wish her a happy birthday.”
“Oh” Sepp’s mother said, it was as if she had expected him to deny it. “That’s her name, Zoe?”
“Sophie actually” Sepp said, “And don’t worry, nothing is happening because she is just a friend.”
Sepp’s mother seemed almost disappointed by that despite her frequently admonishing him not to throw his life away by getting distracted. Girls were just one of the distractions in question. The thing about Sophie being a friend, that was true except he wished she could be far more than that.
Just the thought of that though reminded Sepp of the awkward way that the brief conversation with Sophie had ended the night before. He must have interrupted her as she was taking her dog out as one of the final acts of the night, because she had been standing there barefoot in what he had later realized was a nightgown. When she had bent down to stop her dog from jumping up on her, he had caught a glimpse down the front of the nightgown. While it wasn’t something that he hadn’t seen before, beyond magazines and television he had seen women sunning themselves in the park. This had felt very different, and he had been left tongue tied.
“Whatever you say” Sepp’s mother said, seeming to not believe a word of that. “And have you seen your brother?”
“Didi is still asleep last I looked” Sepp replied.
“Not Dieter but Hagen” Sepp’s mother said, and Sepp almost groaned aloud. “I cannot recall seeing him since Friday afternoon.”
Something that Sepp knew about Hagen, that his mother seemed uninterested in, was that he was a complete psychopath. If Sepp had to guess, his brother was somewhere pulling the legs off an insect or the like. The last thing on Earth Sepp wanted was to be spending the one day off this week he had running all over town looking for a younger brother who probably didn’t want to be found.
----------------------------------------------------------------
“I have no opinion on the matter, now go tell your friends that” Kiki said to a tabloid reporter seconds before he was dragged off by Hospital Security as members of First Foot were standing between her and the reporter.
It was something that had happened several times already today and it had been suggested by the Hospital Administration that she go home for the day. While no one had suggested that it was her fault, the tabloids wanted her opinion about the Russian Czar’s wedding, he was a distant cousin of hers. The trouble was that Hospital was short-staffed because of the holiday, she had a job to do, and they were interfering with it. At the same time, after what had just happened a few minutes earlier she probably would have liked to have left of her own accord.
“Bad day Princess?” A familiar voice, one that Kiki had not heard in a long time, asked.
“Do you people ever quit?” Kiki asked as she tried to wave off the two men from the First Foot who were about to thump this man. She knew from experience that them doing that would be counterproductive. By doing it they would become a part of the story. For some demented reason, this man had to pick today of all days to show up.
“I am not one of ‘you people’ if you mean like that guy who your goons just dragged off” Hunter Thompson said. The American Journalist had been sitting unobtrusively in the waiting room, ignored by Hospital Security and the First Foot.
“The First Foot are hardly goons” Kiki replied.
“Potato pototo” Hunter said, whatever that meant. Judging by the tone, Kiki had a feeling that she would probably deck him if he explained it.
“Why are you here?” Kiki asked, when she wanted to tell him to just go away.
“Because it is where the action is” Hunter replied.
“Or is it because the Russian Government refused to allow you into their country?” Kiki asked flatly.
“You know about that?” Hunter asked in reply.
“It was a good guess” Kiki said. Every other serious Journalist was in Moscow at that moment including Zella who had left the day before. The fact that Hunter was skulking around a hospital in Tempelhof spoke volumes.
“There was a bit of a misunderstanding last year with a story I ran with” Hunter said, and Kiki really didn’t care what he had to say in his defense. She was tired of these games.
“You want a story?” Kiki asked, “Come with me then.”
She started to walk back in the direction that she had just come from not really caring if Hunter could keep up. She walked back to the cubical which had been curtained off, the cleanup had not yet begun. Basically, it looked like a charnel pit with blood everywhere along with the detritus of a failed surgical effort and the body of the young man who Kiki had been unable to stabilize was still there with a sheet thrown over him.
“He was brought in with multiple stab wounds, believed to be the result of criminal activity and I couldn’t save him” Kiki said, “You probably saw the police leave after taking everyone’s statements.”
Hunter just stood there surprised, and it took a lot to surprise someone like him. He had said it himself that she was having a bad day. He had just been unaware of what that looked like.
“I am about to go tell a family something that will absolutely wreck them” Kiki said, “Do you want to watch that too?”
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