What if I told you it was the dog? That said, this individual has been mentioned in passing several times and their physical presence has been noted by both Kat and Kiki. In the flash forward, this person is still active in 1978 and was the one who has caused a great deal of trouble for Tatiana...
Stupid Luck and Happenstance, Thread III
- Thread starter Peabody-Martini
- Start date
Considering the attempts at turning cats into listening devices OTL, the CIA ITTL having wired up one of the dogs wouldn't be the stupidest thing they could try....
If I wasn't so tired after working 25 hrs. in the last 36 hrs. I would be re-reading all the timelines with a fine tooth comb.
I still think that the person in question is going to be a patented Peabody-Martini Cameo, at this point IOTL Chancellor Willy Brandt had a Stasi agent as one of his closest advisors and it wouldn't be out of line if ITTL there is an American Agent lurking in the shadows as part of the Kaiser's Inner Circle getting highly classified information.
Wouldn't it be an outrageous piece of Stupid Luck and Happenstance if Bas & Niko's prank resulted in
a) the American source being uncovered by German Intelligence or
b) the German Intelligence section handling the 'US Agent' realizing that someone else is feeding the Americans an almost identical line of plausible bullshit, investigating, discovering the prank and deciding to incorporate this 'new source' into their latest long-term disinformation campaign?
a) the American source being uncovered by German Intelligence or
b) the German Intelligence section handling the 'US Agent' realizing that someone else is feeding the Americans an almost identical line of plausible bullshit, investigating, discovering the prank and deciding to incorporate this 'new source' into their latest long-term disinformation campaign?
B clearly leads to A - I mean, that is the Stupid Luck and Happenstance.
If the hints that @Peabody-Martini has given are accurate then the leak will not be discovered for another 49 months at least, (if ever). It may turn out that for once, the Americans have some stupid luck - there is no leak. Why is that lucky for America?
The Germans are spending tens of millions of Marks and hundreds of thousands of man hours looking for a leak that is in practice probably just a shrewd analyst using OSInt and putting 2+(X) and coming up with 4 more by luck than judgement.
However, the truth is, in the words of Churchill, best surrounded with a bodyguard of lies, so for the Americans to "leak" that they have an asset in the Imperial court, when in reality they're reading the daily newspapers, keeps the Germans running around in circles giving the Americans more SIGINT to look into.
The Germans are spending tens of millions of Marks and hundreds of thousands of man hours looking for a leak that is in practice probably just a shrewd analyst using OSInt and putting 2+(X) and coming up with 4 more by luck than judgement.
However, the truth is, in the words of Churchill, best surrounded with a bodyguard of lies, so for the Americans to "leak" that they have an asset in the Imperial court, when in reality they're reading the daily newspapers, keeps the Germans running around in circles giving the Americans more SIGINT to look into.
While I was writing the next post, it occurred to me that without the Berlin Wall some of my favorite songs from this era will never be written.
The other thing is that I came across this image. If you ever wondered what some of the things that I have described look like, these CT scans show what surgeons did following a car accident causing this sort of injury. The patient eventually recovered, albeit with the loss of an eye. Why you should always wear a seatbelt.
The other thing is that I came across this image. If you ever wondered what some of the things that I have described look like, these CT scans show what surgeons did following a car accident causing this sort of injury. The patient eventually recovered, albeit with the loss of an eye. Why you should always wear a seatbelt.
I'm glad I'm off tomorrow so I'll be inebriated enough for this not to haunt my dreams.
I can remember a class in 8th grade health where they showed car wreck survivors and the results. One had the top of his head taken off and eyes and part of brain dropped into their mouth really nasty..
Part 134, Chapter 2306
Chapter Two Thousand Three Hundred Six
13th July 1974
Mitte, Berlin
It was Sophie’s idea to go to the concert in the Tiergarten. There was a band that she wanted to see and for Sepp it was a chance to spend a day with her before she departed for Canada in what had become a very short amount of time. Once again, taking Dieter along was one of the conditions. Sepp feared that his little brother would get bored and cause trouble once the novelty of being with who he thought Sepp, Sophie, and Ziska were wore off. Didi thought that the three of them were cool, when Sepp understood that they were any but that. Sophie had said that she and Ziska had been social outcasts in their school for various reasons until they had gotten into the Gymnasia. Suddenly, the high pressure towards academic achievement and staggering expectations left little time for much else. While Sepp didn’t have that same experience, he faced a different set of pressures with much the same result. Just having a few hours away from all of that felt like a heavy weight had been lifted from Sepp’s shoulders and he was sure that the other felt the same.
Once the concert started and some British Popstar, David something or the other who was the Master of Ceremonies took the stage while wearing an exaggerated Field Marshal’s uniform. He had the crowd eating out of his hand in minutes. That included Didi it seemed. It was a showcase of various bands from Berlin, or the surrounding area and they ranged from extremely good to merely mediocre. Fortunately, all of them had to have had some experience playing before crowds to have been invited to play at this event. Finally, a band came on stage who Sophie and Ziska seemed most enthusiastic about. The band was the sort of music that Sepp wouldn’t otherwise be into, but it wasn’t too disagreeable.
After their set ended, Sophie and Ziska started walking towards the stage with Sepp and Didi following along. Sepp had no idea what they were doing as they reached the side of the stage as the next band was setting up. As it turned out, Sophie’s name was on a list of people allowed past security backstage, though in this case it was just a few old caravans parked next to generators and pieces of equipment. As Sepp walked past the Master of Ceremonies, the man looked at him with mismatched eyes but said nothing before heading somewhere else with manic urgency. A girl who had a blue and white electric bass on a strap over her shoulder was greeted by Sophie and Ziska, them telling her how great her band had been.
“Josef, this is Gabby, my little sister” Sophie said with a smile.
Sepp was a bit bewildered by this. The resemblance to each other that Gabby and Sophie shared made their connection obvious. Gabby looked like she was the exact same age as Sophie though and Sepp wondered how that was even possible. Sophie had mentioned that she had family in passing, but nothing this specific.
“Half-sister” Gabbi said, correcting Sophie. “And you are only a month older than me, that hardly makes me your little sister.”
“Wait” Sepp said, “How exactly did this happen?”
“Our sperm donor was a conniving piece of shit who got himself run out of Berlin by Kat” Sophie said with a great deal of venom. Sepp noticed that both Gabby and Didi had the same reaction, snickering about how Sophie had just said something incredibly naughty. It seemed to him that Gabby must have grown up in very different circumstances because she struck Sepp as still being a bit of an innocent in a way the Sophie probably never had been. And someone getting on the worst bad side of the Tigress, that was not situation that anyone with any sanity wanted to find themselves in. It also answered a few questions that Sepp had not considered until that moment of Katherine’s motivations in taking Sophie in might be.
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Getting caught in traffic was not Heinz Kissinger’s idea of fun. The original reasons why had they built the Reichstag in this location had been good ones. Being near a major transportation hub with easy access in and out of the city by any one of several means. Now decades later, that presented a number of problems with it also being located on the edge of a major public park with a largish event, a free concert in this case, getting out and thousands of people using that same transportation hub which snarled traffic in all directions despite it being the weekend.
Looking out the window of his car he saw that they were mostly teenagers, the sort of children who had increasingly come to bother him. It wasn’t the shaggy hair or outrageous clothes that were the problem, it was the mindset. Even as they walked past, he could see that they were gathered in small knots with little cohesion as to pace or direction. It was a perfect representation of their generation. For the most part, they had born after hardships that had resulted from the Soviet War had long since passed. Their parents had sacrificed so much, and they took all of that for granted.
It was his hope that after the next round of elections, he could start the long overdue work of putting the country back to rights. The trouble was watching all of this was just one more example of how that would likely be like trying to empty an ocean with a spoon.
13th July 1974
Mitte, Berlin
It was Sophie’s idea to go to the concert in the Tiergarten. There was a band that she wanted to see and for Sepp it was a chance to spend a day with her before she departed for Canada in what had become a very short amount of time. Once again, taking Dieter along was one of the conditions. Sepp feared that his little brother would get bored and cause trouble once the novelty of being with who he thought Sepp, Sophie, and Ziska were wore off. Didi thought that the three of them were cool, when Sepp understood that they were any but that. Sophie had said that she and Ziska had been social outcasts in their school for various reasons until they had gotten into the Gymnasia. Suddenly, the high pressure towards academic achievement and staggering expectations left little time for much else. While Sepp didn’t have that same experience, he faced a different set of pressures with much the same result. Just having a few hours away from all of that felt like a heavy weight had been lifted from Sepp’s shoulders and he was sure that the other felt the same.
Once the concert started and some British Popstar, David something or the other who was the Master of Ceremonies took the stage while wearing an exaggerated Field Marshal’s uniform. He had the crowd eating out of his hand in minutes. That included Didi it seemed. It was a showcase of various bands from Berlin, or the surrounding area and they ranged from extremely good to merely mediocre. Fortunately, all of them had to have had some experience playing before crowds to have been invited to play at this event. Finally, a band came on stage who Sophie and Ziska seemed most enthusiastic about. The band was the sort of music that Sepp wouldn’t otherwise be into, but it wasn’t too disagreeable.
After their set ended, Sophie and Ziska started walking towards the stage with Sepp and Didi following along. Sepp had no idea what they were doing as they reached the side of the stage as the next band was setting up. As it turned out, Sophie’s name was on a list of people allowed past security backstage, though in this case it was just a few old caravans parked next to generators and pieces of equipment. As Sepp walked past the Master of Ceremonies, the man looked at him with mismatched eyes but said nothing before heading somewhere else with manic urgency. A girl who had a blue and white electric bass on a strap over her shoulder was greeted by Sophie and Ziska, them telling her how great her band had been.
“Josef, this is Gabby, my little sister” Sophie said with a smile.
Sepp was a bit bewildered by this. The resemblance to each other that Gabby and Sophie shared made their connection obvious. Gabby looked like she was the exact same age as Sophie though and Sepp wondered how that was even possible. Sophie had mentioned that she had family in passing, but nothing this specific.
“Half-sister” Gabbi said, correcting Sophie. “And you are only a month older than me, that hardly makes me your little sister.”
“Wait” Sepp said, “How exactly did this happen?”
“Our sperm donor was a conniving piece of shit who got himself run out of Berlin by Kat” Sophie said with a great deal of venom. Sepp noticed that both Gabby and Didi had the same reaction, snickering about how Sophie had just said something incredibly naughty. It seemed to him that Gabby must have grown up in very different circumstances because she struck Sepp as still being a bit of an innocent in a way the Sophie probably never had been. And someone getting on the worst bad side of the Tigress, that was not situation that anyone with any sanity wanted to find themselves in. It also answered a few questions that Sepp had not considered until that moment of Katherine’s motivations in taking Sophie in might be.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Getting caught in traffic was not Heinz Kissinger’s idea of fun. The original reasons why had they built the Reichstag in this location had been good ones. Being near a major transportation hub with easy access in and out of the city by any one of several means. Now decades later, that presented a number of problems with it also being located on the edge of a major public park with a largish event, a free concert in this case, getting out and thousands of people using that same transportation hub which snarled traffic in all directions despite it being the weekend.
Looking out the window of his car he saw that they were mostly teenagers, the sort of children who had increasingly come to bother him. It wasn’t the shaggy hair or outrageous clothes that were the problem, it was the mindset. Even as they walked past, he could see that they were gathered in small knots with little cohesion as to pace or direction. It was a perfect representation of their generation. For the most part, they had born after hardships that had resulted from the Soviet War had long since passed. Their parents had sacrificed so much, and they took all of that for granted.
It was his hope that after the next round of elections, he could start the long overdue work of putting the country back to rights. The trouble was watching all of this was just one more example of how that would likely be like trying to empty an ocean with a spoon.
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It is Oscar time again and ITTL Turner Classic Movies is doing their annual "30 Days of Oscar" and I just got done watching Everybody Comes to Rick's (Warner Bros 1943) set in Manila Bay where Rick runs Rick's American Cafe, a "Gin Joint, Gambling Saloon" on the waterfront.
Rick along with being the owner of the cafe is also a "Gray Marketer" selling items to all sides if they had the cash upfront to pay for it, from the United States that other countries at war in the Pacific needs like tropical combat boots that are surplus US Army that has never been used, tinned food, and most importantly refined petroleum products from the oil refineries of The Philippines that everybody needs.
The movie takes place just before The Battle of The South China Sea (the battle took place during filming and was incorporated into the plot).
The film was a justification and defense of American Neutrality especially with the "Hill of Beans" speech at the end of the movie.
Sepp is beginning to understand where Sophie is coming from and just how much Kat can do to him if he screws things up.
Kissinger IOTL rarely concerned himself with domestic politics only if they impacted on foreign policy, but ITTL the way the government of Germany is set up domestic politics has more importance to Kissinger and his plans in conducting the foreign policy of Germany.
Rick along with being the owner of the cafe is also a "Gray Marketer" selling items to all sides if they had the cash upfront to pay for it, from the United States that other countries at war in the Pacific needs like tropical combat boots that are surplus US Army that has never been used, tinned food, and most importantly refined petroleum products from the oil refineries of The Philippines that everybody needs.
The movie takes place just before The Battle of The South China Sea (the battle took place during filming and was incorporated into the plot).
The film was a justification and defense of American Neutrality especially with the "Hill of Beans" speech at the end of the movie.
Sepp is beginning to understand where Sophie is coming from and just how much Kat can do to him if he screws things up.
Kissinger IOTL rarely concerned himself with domestic politics only if they impacted on foreign policy, but ITTL the way the government of Germany is set up domestic politics has more importance to Kissinger and his plans in conducting the foreign policy of Germany.
IOTL Henry Kissinger is the walking, talking, living, breathing embodiment of "Institutional Memory" there is.
He has advised every American President since Eisenhower and he not just know the leaders but also their closest advisors, their possible successors, and chief rivals.
ITTL it makes great sense the he is the leading "Americanologist" that Germany has, earlier Kat passed in Kissinger in the highway after he briefed Louis Ferdinand before he abdicated and OMG Kissinger is the leak.
Seeing as how David Jones/Bowie is the MC, I wonder how his career has taken a different path to this TL. Perhaps no Ziggy Stardust, looking like no Thin White Duke and given the changed geopolitical circumstances, no ‘Berlin Trilogy’ to come from his move to ITTL’s (West) Berlin in 1976?
From Dieter's POV: Sepp is cool because he is Didi's older SANE brother; Sophie is cool because she is Sepp's girlfriend who also has a dog and a really cool bicycle; Ziska is cool because she is Sophie's friend and she has a Robot leg. All three are extra cool because they took him to a rock concert.
Also from Dieter's POV: Sophie is even cooler because she had backstage access, so he got to go backstage too (his friends will be soooo jealous) and because Sophie's sister Gabby is a rockstar in one of the bands he just watched perform.
In sibling status, milliseconds count towards eldest sibling bragging rights.
As for Kissinger, my spidey-senses are tingling. I suspect that he may be involved in more than a little skulduggery that may or may not involve a certain Captain North.
Part 135, Chapter 2307
Chapter Two Thousand Three Hundred Seven
22nd July 1974
Wilhelmshaven
It felt weird being back in their home port after so much time, especially because the Grindwal was in for refit. Everything aboard the ship was getting refurbished and updated. A new weapons system was being installed amidships, a version of the Luftwaffe’s RK30 autocannon which had been adapted into a close defense weapon for the Navy. Chaff and flare dispensers had also been installed which had caused many of the crew to joke about how the Grindwal was slowly becoming a fighter plane.
For Louis Ferdinand Junior that meant long days with a staggering amount of paperwork. The crew all had jobs that they understood and liked going home at the end of the day. However, there had been some turnover when they came into port this time with transfers and a number of crew who that reached the end of their tenure in the Navy. That meant that there were a number of new crewmen, many of whom were just out of basic training and their respective specialty schools, to Louis’ surprise that included three Seekadetts out of Mürwik. He had put Borchardt in charge of the whole lot of them. To no one’s surprise the Oberdeckoffizer was absolutely merciless with them because Louis had told him to make them earn their place on the Grindwal. He had found that life was easier when he ordered Borchardt to do what he would have done anyway.
“Think the Sea is going to be any kinder or play favorites?” Borchardt said when one of them had dared to complain about their treatment.
Fortunately, the weather was good, and Louis was working on signing stacks of requisition forms that the Ship’s Yeoman, Bootsmann Alex Mogens had prepared with the two portholes of the Captain’s cabin open to let fresh air in, with the door open on the other side there was a nice breeze. Still, he knew that Mogens was a notorious Sea Lawyer and wasn’t above self-dealing if the opportunity presented itself. Of course, no one else in the crew was better at processing the blizzard of paperwork that a ship generated on a daily basis. So, Louis kept him in that position even though that meant that he needed to make sure that everything that he was signing was what in it purported to be.
“Sir” A tentative voice said from the open doorway of his cabin. Louis looked up and saw that it was one of the Seekadetts who was looking in on him with apprehension. “You have a guest, Sir.”
“Then see them in” Louis replied.
“This is not an ordinary guest though, Sir” The Seekadett said nervously.
“For fuck’s sake, you will find that there is nothing special about me” Kiki said before practically shoving the poor Seekadett out of the way and Louis had to stop himself from laughing. They were going to have to get used to the comings and goings of Louis’ family if they were going to be aboard the Grindwal for any length of time. He had seen what had happened when Freddy came aboard in the past. Even with an experienced crew the result was pure bedlam as they had rushed to make the ship presentable for the Emperor in the time between when he got out of his car and walked up the gangplank, it not being an inspection was immaterial. Kiki wasn’t as demanding but getting in her way was not for the faint of heart. Today, she was wearing the dress uniform of the Medical Service with all the medals and orders pinned to it. Just the sight of those tended to cause officialdom to vanish before her, which was probably why she wore it when she visited Louis while the Grindwal was moored within the Naval Base as opposed to out in the Jade Bight.
“This is irregular, Sir” The Seekadett said aware that Kiki was pointedly ignoring him.
“My sister is a high-ranking Medical Officer” Louis said, “She has every right to be here, so if you could leave us.”
The Seekadett didn’t need much prompting to disappear.
“Other people’s children” Kiki muttered.
“Who you shouldn’t take things out on” Louis replied, “Now what brings you here to my ship, besides the need to be a complete bitch.”
“I am not being a complete bitch” Kiki said, “Or at least I am trying not to be. The last couple weeks have been bad.”
“What happened this time?” Louis asked as he unlocked one of the drawers of his desk and pulled out a bottle which he uncorked and poured a measure into a coffee cup and a water glass which he had handy. He handed Kiki the water glass. She looked at it apprehensively before taking a sip and choked.
“What is this?” Kiki asked, “Petrol?”
“Havana Club, Special Select” Louis replied, “Aged fifteen years.”
“I wasn’t expecting that” Kiki said, “You were in Cuba a couple months ago, weren’t you?”
“Yes” Louis replied, “And you are trying to change the subject.”
Kiki gave him a look of displeasure. She had clearly come here to talk with him, but not didn’t want to. No matter how much time passed, Kiki was still Kiki.
“Ben’s wretched mother asked me if I was considering having another baby” Kiki said, “She also broached the subject with Ben, and while he told her that it was none of her business, he also told me that it was something that we should consider. Planned this time.”
“I see” Louis said, “And knowing you, you are conflicted and examining the idea to death before you do what you wanted to do in the first place anyway.”
“I came to talk with you because you know me and wouldn’t judge” Kiki replied, “I am starting to think that might not be such a good thing.”
“Why not talk to your mentor, Doctor Berg?”
“Nora is not much better than Ben’s mother” Kike said, “She has always seen me as a surrogate daughter and Nina as a granddaughter. She would love the idea of me and Ben having another.”
“And what is your objection?” Louis asked.
“That it is not without cost” Kiki replied, “That I would have to pay.”
“How bad could that be?” Louis asked, “I remember that you hardly showed when you were pregnant with Nina.”
“You pay in so many other ways” Kiki said, “I had perfect teeth until a few years ago.”
Kiki pulled back her cheek with her index finger and Louis saw two gold crowns in her molars. Learn something new every day, Louis thought to himself as he took a sip of his drink.
“Now what is the deal with you and Margaretta?” Kiki asked and it was Louis’ turn to choke.
22nd July 1974
Wilhelmshaven
It felt weird being back in their home port after so much time, especially because the Grindwal was in for refit. Everything aboard the ship was getting refurbished and updated. A new weapons system was being installed amidships, a version of the Luftwaffe’s RK30 autocannon which had been adapted into a close defense weapon for the Navy. Chaff and flare dispensers had also been installed which had caused many of the crew to joke about how the Grindwal was slowly becoming a fighter plane.
For Louis Ferdinand Junior that meant long days with a staggering amount of paperwork. The crew all had jobs that they understood and liked going home at the end of the day. However, there had been some turnover when they came into port this time with transfers and a number of crew who that reached the end of their tenure in the Navy. That meant that there were a number of new crewmen, many of whom were just out of basic training and their respective specialty schools, to Louis’ surprise that included three Seekadetts out of Mürwik. He had put Borchardt in charge of the whole lot of them. To no one’s surprise the Oberdeckoffizer was absolutely merciless with them because Louis had told him to make them earn their place on the Grindwal. He had found that life was easier when he ordered Borchardt to do what he would have done anyway.
“Think the Sea is going to be any kinder or play favorites?” Borchardt said when one of them had dared to complain about their treatment.
Fortunately, the weather was good, and Louis was working on signing stacks of requisition forms that the Ship’s Yeoman, Bootsmann Alex Mogens had prepared with the two portholes of the Captain’s cabin open to let fresh air in, with the door open on the other side there was a nice breeze. Still, he knew that Mogens was a notorious Sea Lawyer and wasn’t above self-dealing if the opportunity presented itself. Of course, no one else in the crew was better at processing the blizzard of paperwork that a ship generated on a daily basis. So, Louis kept him in that position even though that meant that he needed to make sure that everything that he was signing was what in it purported to be.
“Sir” A tentative voice said from the open doorway of his cabin. Louis looked up and saw that it was one of the Seekadetts who was looking in on him with apprehension. “You have a guest, Sir.”
“Then see them in” Louis replied.
“This is not an ordinary guest though, Sir” The Seekadett said nervously.
“For fuck’s sake, you will find that there is nothing special about me” Kiki said before practically shoving the poor Seekadett out of the way and Louis had to stop himself from laughing. They were going to have to get used to the comings and goings of Louis’ family if they were going to be aboard the Grindwal for any length of time. He had seen what had happened when Freddy came aboard in the past. Even with an experienced crew the result was pure bedlam as they had rushed to make the ship presentable for the Emperor in the time between when he got out of his car and walked up the gangplank, it not being an inspection was immaterial. Kiki wasn’t as demanding but getting in her way was not for the faint of heart. Today, she was wearing the dress uniform of the Medical Service with all the medals and orders pinned to it. Just the sight of those tended to cause officialdom to vanish before her, which was probably why she wore it when she visited Louis while the Grindwal was moored within the Naval Base as opposed to out in the Jade Bight.
“This is irregular, Sir” The Seekadett said aware that Kiki was pointedly ignoring him.
“My sister is a high-ranking Medical Officer” Louis said, “She has every right to be here, so if you could leave us.”
The Seekadett didn’t need much prompting to disappear.
“Other people’s children” Kiki muttered.
“Who you shouldn’t take things out on” Louis replied, “Now what brings you here to my ship, besides the need to be a complete bitch.”
“I am not being a complete bitch” Kiki said, “Or at least I am trying not to be. The last couple weeks have been bad.”
“What happened this time?” Louis asked as he unlocked one of the drawers of his desk and pulled out a bottle which he uncorked and poured a measure into a coffee cup and a water glass which he had handy. He handed Kiki the water glass. She looked at it apprehensively before taking a sip and choked.
“What is this?” Kiki asked, “Petrol?”
“Havana Club, Special Select” Louis replied, “Aged fifteen years.”
“I wasn’t expecting that” Kiki said, “You were in Cuba a couple months ago, weren’t you?”
“Yes” Louis replied, “And you are trying to change the subject.”
Kiki gave him a look of displeasure. She had clearly come here to talk with him, but not didn’t want to. No matter how much time passed, Kiki was still Kiki.
“Ben’s wretched mother asked me if I was considering having another baby” Kiki said, “She also broached the subject with Ben, and while he told her that it was none of her business, he also told me that it was something that we should consider. Planned this time.”
“I see” Louis said, “And knowing you, you are conflicted and examining the idea to death before you do what you wanted to do in the first place anyway.”
“I came to talk with you because you know me and wouldn’t judge” Kiki replied, “I am starting to think that might not be such a good thing.”
“Why not talk to your mentor, Doctor Berg?”
“Nora is not much better than Ben’s mother” Kike said, “She has always seen me as a surrogate daughter and Nina as a granddaughter. She would love the idea of me and Ben having another.”
“And what is your objection?” Louis asked.
“That it is not without cost” Kiki replied, “That I would have to pay.”
“How bad could that be?” Louis asked, “I remember that you hardly showed when you were pregnant with Nina.”
“You pay in so many other ways” Kiki said, “I had perfect teeth until a few years ago.”
Kiki pulled back her cheek with her index finger and Louis saw two gold crowns in her molars. Learn something new every day, Louis thought to himself as he took a sip of his drink.
“Now what is the deal with you and Margaretta?” Kiki asked and it was Louis’ turn to choke.
For those keeping track, the SMS K024 Grindwal has had the addition of two 30mm autocannons, equivalent to the American Phalanx system that was also introduced in the early 70's in OTL. This is in addition to a 12.8cm dual purpose naval gun, four 40mm/L70 guns, four above the waterline torpedo tubes, eight launchers for anti-ship, anti-aircraft, and cruise missiles with the loadout depending on the mission, and two depth charge launchers. Of course, with her being a Corvette, the Grindwal is the ultimate sort of glass cannon.
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