Stupid Luck and Happenstance, Thread III

[Peabody-Martini]

Chapter Two Thousand Two Hundred Ninety-Six



18th May 1974

Tempelhof, Berlin

The ending of the film cut a little too close to home for Sepp.

He had been expecting the typical Science-Fiction escapism and it was. Right up until the closing minutes as the final plot twist of the film was revealed. The big bad of the original film and now its sequel, revealed his actual identity. Learning that the monster under your bed and the long lost, presumably dead, sainted member of your family were one in the same was understandably hard to take. Of course, Sepp had never been under any illusions about who Hagen was.

Still though…

Walking out of the theater as the lights came on, Didi was just ahead of Sepp and Sophie. It was nice to see that he had gotten somewhat back to normal, at least as normal as Sepp’s youngest brother ever was. Bringing him along had been part of the deal in getting Sophie’s, Sepp wasn’t sure how exactly it worked or who they were to her… Parents? Guardians? Sepp didn’t know exactly what to call them, to agree to let her see the film with him. They seemed to have an understanding that they wouldn’t engage in anything with Didi right there and with everything else going on, Sepp leaving his little brother alone in a public place was out of the question. Not that Sepp would dare to cross Katherine, she had a million ways to make his life a pure Hell without even crossing any legal or ethical lines.

“What did you think of the movie?” Sepp asked Sophie who just walked along in silence for a long moment as they walked through the lobby.

“It was fun for the most part” She finally said, “But spaceships and laser swords are normally not my thing.”

“You mean lightsabers?” Sepp asked.

Didi heard that and started making whooshing noises.

“It is very much his thing though” Sophie said as they walked out the doors where Sepp saw that there was a line of people stretching down the block. Hardly a surprise really because of the close proximity of the Humboldt Campus of the University of Berlin. The theater practically sat in the shadow of the buildings that were the student housing. Sepp realized that they had been lucky to get to the early screening this morning. The afternoon and evening shows looked like they were going to be packed if what he was seeing was any indication.

The theater was just one business along Tempelhof’s High Street. Two blocks of small shops, book, and record stores, along with other things that were largely geared to University students and faculty as their customers. It was a paradise for Sepp if he had money to spend.

“Marie Alexandra loves this place” Sophie said as they walked past the window of a thrift shop, a mannequin was wearing a dress made out of a shimmery fabric that was probably fashionable fifty years earlier. “Think I ought to try that on?”

Sepp imagined what she might look like wearing that and nearly walked into lamppost. It was like all the times his mother had pointed out that clothing seen in a photograph or on television could only be worn by someone with the figure for it. The implications of that hit like a hammer blow between the eyes after what Sophie just said.

“Perhaps some other time” Sepp said, and Sophie had a slight smile on her face, like if she had anticipated his reaction.

Walking on down the street, they turned a corner and walked into Benno’s. While they were thoroughly tired of what was on the menu, the fact that Sepp could get food here for free or at a steep discount depending on if the owner had been around that day more than made up for that. Ordering their meals was simple enough. It was having to sit out front on the bench by sidewalk because all the tables inside were taken that was a bit irksome. It was cloudy, but at least it wasn’t raining.

“How come you never come around our house Zoe?” Didi asked as he picked the pickles out of his burger to eat separately. It was an innocent question, but this was a minefield where the wrong answer was a catastrophic misstep.

“You live down on Materialstraße, yes?” Sophie asked, “The last time I was down there some dunk guy threw bottles at me and yelling about how I was a stuck-up bitch for not stopping to talk or something, I don’t know. As if I would have. So, I don’t go that way anymore.”

Sepp knew that Sophie had a vague idea of where he lived. Called Materialstraße because it was where construction materials were unloaded from boxcars and stored during the vast Tempelhof project when this neighborhood had been built on the site of the airport. Afterwards, the land had been sold in small parcels to many of the Builders involved with the project, Sepp’s father had been one of them.

“That sounds like something Poppa would do” Didi said with a laugh. Sophie didn’t look amused. For months he had been dreading her putting two and two together because he knew that the math wasn’t going to be good for him.

“That man was your father?” Sophie asked.

“He gets drunk, and he does stupid things” Sepp said apologetically, “Momma tells me to stay with him to keep him out of trouble, but he is hard to stop.”

“Were you there?” Sophie asked.

“I told him to cut it out” Sepp replied. It was the truth, but that answer felt totally inadequate. “What was I supposed to do?”

Sophie had a whole lot of suggestions about what Sepp might have done, some involved his father’s beer bottles getting crammed up somewhere uncomfortable. He couldn’t help but noticing that Sophie’s demeanor and accent changed the angrier she got. The refinement that was the result of her education vanished and what he was hearing was pure Berlin Street. Katherine’s warning about there being a lot about Sophie that he didn’t know came back to him.

 

[Peabody-Martini]

Chapter Two Thousand Two Hundred Ninety-Seven



19th May 1974

Mitte, Berlin

The old VW Microbus that Doug had used to get around town for the last twenty-four years was almost as much a part of the family as any of the human members of it. Its engine had been rebuilt a few times, the brakes had been replaced, and there had been countless other repairs that had needed to be done, but it was still the same vehicle. He remembered that he had used it to drive Tatiana and Malcolm home from the hospital after they were born, then a few years later they had done the same thing with Marie Alexandra. The fact that Marie, who had just celebrated her eighteenth birthday in March, was sitting in the passenger seat fiddling with the radio made Doug wonder where the time went to. Sophie had tagged along this afternoon for lack of anything better to do and she was sulking in the middle seat with her dog. That Sophie was now fifteen and was upset over a row she had gotten into with a boyfriend the day before was equally astonishing.

As a father with daughters, two of his own and several others who circumstance had brought into his home; Doug was very aware of the constant drama that surrounded them. Marie Alexandra was looking at attending school in Canada, but first she would need to visit McGill University and make a final decision. This was after Doug had guided her through the application process, something that she wouldn’t need to worry about if she stayed in Berlin. Because Doug and his father had attended McGill along with how Marie was expected to do when she sat her Abitur, her getting in was assured. They just needed to go through the process while listening to Kat complain about what she saw as the problems with Universities in North America. Doug never really did completely understand her general dislike of most Americans and she never let an opportunity like this pass without inserting her own opinions about the subject. Kat was also upset at the prospect of Marie, who would always be her baby regardless of how old she got, being so far away even if she wasn’t saying it aloud. It was a big part of what they were doing today.

Doug understood the reason why it was felt that it would be good for Marie to spend a few years away from Berlin though. Here she lived in the shadow of her mother, and it had been suggested that one of the issues was that Marie didn’t feel she had an identity of her own. Attending University in Canada where she would simply be Miss Marie Blackwood. As opposed to here where because Kat was the Prefect of Berlin and Marie had been a key player in the Court of the Empress for the last couple years, everyone assumed that she was a Princess in her own right.

Pulling into an open parking space, Doug opened the door and looked at the trees of the Tiergarten. Over the years, Kat and Marie Alexandra had been frequent subjects in his photography. Tatiana had grown camera shy as she had gotten older, so she had been seen less and less. Sophie had taken an interest in photography before she had discovered Cycling, but Doug figured that sooner or later she would show an interest in it again.

“You wanted this to be the backdrop” Doug said as they walked through the park at the center of the city.

“You think that Momma will like it?” Marie asked as they walked down the footpath towards one of the bridges over the pond that ran through this portion of the park.

“If you are in it, she’ll love it” Doug replied.

Sophie said nothing. Just glumly walked with Sprocket on his leash running a few paces ahead of her. Doug understood that she was in a difficult situation. Both her and Josef were birds of a feather. They had been thrust into adult situations long before they were ready, Sophie with her abusive mother and Josef with his parents who didn’t to want to play that role. Into this there was the fact that both of them had withheld information from each other and in the manner of young people everywhere there was a great deal of sexual tension which was only natural. That had made for a combustible mix and the day before it had finally exploded as everything had come out. Sophie had been born in a Working-Class tenement with an unknown father, when she got angry all of that came to the fore. Josef had gotten a full taste of that when she had found out that his father was a drunk who had harassed her on the street and though he had been present, Josef had done nothing to stop it. While that was relatively a minor thing to get into an argument about, Sophie had blown it far out of proportion. An action which she swiftly came to regret.

“This looks like a nice spot” Marie said as she stood on the footbridge. Marie had no idea, but with her frequent raids on the clothes her mother had placed in storage she was wearing an old grey coat and a green woolen scarf that her mother had worn in Ireland during another photography session more than a decade earlier in Dublin. One of Doug’s favorite photographs was of Kat leaning on the railing of a bridge over the Union Canal near Dublin. Just as Marie was now with Sophie joining her.

“That is perfect” Doug said as he focused his camera and snapped the picture, one he knew Kat would love. “This is the part where I might have told your mother to think of a dirty joke but not to say it.”

“My God, Poppa” Marie said, “That is more than I needed to know.”

Sophie just had a slight smile. Despite her being determined to be miserable today she saw the humor in that.

 

[Peabody-Martini]

Chapter Two Thousand Two Hundred Ninety-Eight



25th May 1974

Guantanamo Bay, Cuba

It was said that the dark blue Summer Dress Uniform of the Heer was the most beautiful military uniform in world. Louis Ferdinand Junior understood the reasoning, even if he didn’t agree with it. The Summer/Tropical Dress Uniform of the Kaiserliche Marine looked nicer from his perspective and that was even factoring in his own personal bias on the matter.

The white tunic and trousers made for a great contrast with the array of medals that he had been awarded over the course of an eventful career. He was also wearing the white cap which told the whole world that he was the Master and Commander of a Warship. The reason he was dressed like this this evening was because he had been invited as the guest of the US Navy as they were throwing a soirée at this odd Naval Base on the South-East Coast of Cuba. The US Government leased the land, and the current Cuban Government had been unable serve them with an evection notice.

“I was wondering if you would show up Louis” Captain Carter said in greeting.

“After what happened last week, I was certain that there would be a battalion of angry Marines waiting for me on the dock” Louis replied, and Carter just laughed.

Louis had been asked to make an attack run on the Saratoga Carrier Group the same way he would have if he had been ordered to do it if there really was a war. The SMS Grindwal may have been built with having her be primarily a Sub Hunter, but long experience had taught the KM that ships that were too specialized for a certain role was asking for trouble. She had been equipped to be a capable anti-aircraft platform and in the case of surface engagements she had an ace up her sleave which the US Navy had not been prepared for.

Louis along with the other two ships in the small flotilla he was a part of had fired a spread of torpedoes at the American taskforce, not just any torpedoes though. Back during the Pacific War, the Japanese Type 93 and Type 95 torpedoes had made an impression after a squadron of Japanese Torpedo Cruisers had inflicted one of the few defeats upon the KM during that far flung conflict and it had made an impression. Admiral Jacob von Schmidt himself had ordered the Type 93 to be reverse-engineered and while it had not been ready before the end of that conflict, what became the G8SlR(T17) torpedo that had been the first of a new generation of lethal new weapons that had emerged. The torpedoes that the Grindwal and Audace launched at the Saratoga were the latest version of the G8SlR which combined extremely long range with the latest acoustic seeker heads. They also had a deadly new trick. They could cruise along at a relatively slow, economical speed until they locked on the target they had been aimed at, then they would speed up and maneuver towards the target. The Yoizuki had used a similar system that had been inspired by German design. The Saratoga had blundered into the path of these after they have been launched from over the horizon and by then the Destroyer flotilla had been racing north at flank speed, taking cover among the islands.

He had heard the pandemonium taking place over the radio as the Americans had realized too late that they were under attack. The ships of the US Atlantic Fleet taking evasive maneuvers to try to evade the torpedoes. The inexperience of the American crews had been on full display, and they were lucky that the warheads had been replaced with concrete ballast and small demolition charges that were meant to destroy the seeker heads. That was why the US Navy was aghast as those had gone off, at least three under the keel of the Saratoga, which would have broken her back if the torpedoes were carrying actual warheads.

“That might have happened if you had told them the real reason why your flotilla was racing north” Carter said, “After all, going east would have put you straight downwind if this had not been an exercise. That would have killed your crew as surely as if you had come right at the Saratoga.”

Louis was reminded that there was a good reason why Jimmy Carter had been assigned to track him over the last several years. Carter could see between the lines to the things that others missed. The US Navy had been unable to see past how some upstart foreigners had unexpectedly humiliated them. He also understood what Carter had just implied. He correctly suspected that the Grindwal and her sisters would be tasked with hunting Carrier Groups across the Atlantic. There were moments when candor was necessary, Louis had a feeling that this was one of those times. By her very nature, the USS Gridley would perform a similar mission, except she would be hunting KM Destroyer flotillas.

“There is a locker aboard the Grindwal whose contents are straight from the Devil’s workshop” Louis said, “I pray that we never have to open it.”

“I understand completely” Carter said, and he didn’t seem to have anything else to add.

Walking across the floor, Louis got a mixture of hard and respectful looks. He now had a reputation among these people, and it would be difficult for him to put one over on them as easily in the future.

“Rosalynn brought a guest with her when she came from Georgia yesterday” Carter said, “A mutual friend it seems.”

“Wait, what?” Louis asked. He had no idea who that could possibly be…

Only to have the crowd thin before him and he saw exactly who Carter had been talking about.

“Louis!” Margareta of Romania said with a smile.

Louis figured his reaction to this unexpected development was similar to the one that Americans must have had when the torpedoes kept turning towards them as they had tried to evade.

 

[Peabody-Martini]

Chapter Two Thousand Two Hundred Ninety-Nine



1st June 1974

Mitte, Berlin

One of the tasks that Freddy enjoyed most as Emperor of Germany was when it came to the ceremonies where he got to bestow awards on those who had been deemed worthy of receiving them. Today, he was doing exactly that as he awarded an Order of the Red Eagle, Enlisted Grade Medal, to Oberfeldwebel Jakob Nacken of the Rhineland Landwehr upon his retirement and Nacken himself proved to be totally unexpected. For years he had served as a Reserve Noncom in a Field Artillery Unit officially and unofficially he seldom played that role because he frequently travelled to other field units for morale purposes. This was entirely because of the detail that his was the tallest recorded soldier to have ever served in the German Army, standing at 2.21 meters. Freddy was not a short man by any means, however Nacken towered over him.

“I think I might need a ladder here” Freddy said after they had exchanged greetings.

“Your father said the exact same thing when he awarded me a medal” Nacken said, “How is he by the way?”

It was one of the amazing aspects of Jakob Nacken, despite his towering stature he had somehow found a way to get decorated for bravery during the Soviet War. It was a reminder to Freddy all the times that his father had told him that during that conflict everyone had needed to play their part, no exceptions.

“Keeping himself busy with a series humanitarian causes” Freddy replied, “In partnership with a French Doctor named Bernard Kouchner, ever heard of him?”

“No, Sir” Necker replied. Which was hardly a surprise.

Protocol demanded that everyone address Freddy in a manner fitting his title in functions like this. Most of the Enlisted Soldiers he encountered tended to respond to him as if he were their Commanding Officer, which he was. Sort of. The whole Military had individually sworn an oath to that effect, just Freddy understood the implications if he ever exercised that authority beyond what were regarded as humanitarian reasons. Simply put, if he did something that made the Military, or by extension the House of Hohenzollern look bad there would be serious consequences.

“Congratulations Oberfeld” Freddy said as he pinned the medal on the front of Necker’s tunic and shook his hand. There were several photographs taken and the visual would probably make the front pages.



Rural Brandenburg, near Potsdam

Sophie had been told that this would happen and suddenly all of her complaints earlier in the season seemed incredibly trite. She had felt that the races she had been involved with in the Women’s Juniors had been a farce, right up until she had found herself neck and neck with four other riders who were fighting for first place in the last few kilometers before the finish line. Today she didn’t have the prior physical and material advantages she had enjoyed. That was reflected in her third-place finish in the final stage. The worst part was that she had seen that Kat had taken time from her busy day to watch her cross the finish line, Kat had said something to Douglas before getting into her car and leaving. It was hard to think of a more humiliating outcome.

Loading her bicycle into the old VW Microbus that belonged to Douglas, she was stewing in her anger and disappointment as she sat down in the passenger seat. As if to compound things, a melancholy song started playing on the radio the instant Doug turned the key on the ignition. Things had not been going well for her over the last few weeks and it was sometimes hard to remember that these things were temporary.

“Kat thought that you did well today” Doug said, “She is looking forward telling you more when we get home.”

“She must have watched a different race” Sophie replied.

“Nope, she saw the same one I did, and you were a part of” Doug said as he turned onto a busy road, staying to the side to let faster vehicles pass. “The one where you went head-to-head with older riders and were only a few seconds across the line behind the leader.”

“Then you saw how I didn’t win” Sophie said.

“Don’t be unreasonable with yourself” Doug said, “That is the thing about competition, you cannot win all the time and it would probably get rather boring if you did.”

Sophie sat in silence as they drove through Potsdam. Eventually, they crossed the bridge that took them into Berlin.

“You don’t have to be perfect” Doug said.

“I don’t think I have to be perfect” Sophie replied.

“True” Doug said, “However, you are terrified of what will happen if you are not. I would think that you should know better than that by now.”

Sophie thought of several retorts to that but found that she just couldn’t bring herself to say them. She couldn’t think of a time when Doug had lied to her over the years that she had lived in his house. When she had first moved in, she had been unsure what to make of him. Doug was an odd man who spoke with a funny accent and built a career taking pictures of all things. Since then, she had seen how he had encouraged her in a way that her actual family never had. Not reacting badly when he told her the truth was the least she owed him.

 

[Peabody-Martini]

Chapter Two Thousand Three Hundred



7th June 1974

Tempelhof, Berlin

It was all so bewildering. Supposedly, Sophie had vastly improved her time over the closed course the week before but had still come in third place. How was that possible? Alida Baruch told her that her rivals were older and more athletically mature. Sophie’s job would be to develop in that regard, but not to push herself so hard that she risked injury. Kat had mentioned that Sophie wouldn’t be pressing herself too hard this season and that she was going to be taking a break for a few weeks starting in July anyway. That had been a total surprise for Sophie, what would she be doing that would take her away for a that much time? The answer, Canada, and what part of family vacation had she not understood? While they were taking Marie Alexandra there to see the University which she would probably be starting at in September, they were also going to be visiting Doug’s parents. Sophie and Angelica were coming.

Sophie was a bit miffed that they had made those plans without telling her, but at the same time she had never been further from home than a few trips to the seaside. The idea of getting on an airplane and landing in a country on an entirely different continent was nothing short of miraculous.

Sepp had mentioned that he was a bit disappointed that he couldn’t make it to Schwielowsee this year with the assumption that Sophie was. She didn’t think that he was going to be particularly thrilled that she was going to be headed to Canada instead either and predictably, he wasn’t. And there wasn’t a whole lot that either of them could do about it.

Turning her bicycle onto the street which Sepp lived on, the one with the silly name, Sophie kept a watchful eye out for the drunken lout who had harassed her before. She found it difficult to reconcile that man was Sepp and Didi’s father. She was riding the Bianchi today, it being better for getting around town than the no-name red bicycle that she used for racing. She had found that the quick shifting was less important than the rear rack and handlebar basket that were mounted on Bianchi in that regard. She knew that Sepp would be unhappy to have her show up at his front door, he was a bit embarrassed about the state of his family and the house they lived in. She needed to show him that she didn’t care about that. Oddly, looking at the house, Sophie realized that it was actually far nicer than the rundown tenement that her family had lived in.

Walking her bicycle down the concrete walkway that led through the overgrown garden, Sophie saw a pair of old lawn chairs next to bin with a dozen empty beer bottles. This wasn’t visible from the street. She could only imagine Sepp sitting there, humiliated by his father, and praying that Sophie had not seen him the entire time… It was hardly a surprise that he had tried to keep her from finding out that he had been there. It was proving to be hard to forgive him for it, not when she had so many embarrassing secrets of her own.

Knocking on the front door, Sophie saw that the light fixture was vibrating as someone walked towards the door, there was the sound of the bolt being drawn. As the door swung open, Sophie saw that it was a middle-aged woman who looked at her with tired eyes. Sophie understood that this wasn’t the sort of tired that came from staying up all night. This was the exhaustion that came from seeing too much and getting stomped on every single day. It was a look that she understood a bit too well.

“Is Sepp around?” Sophie asked and the woman gave her a blank look, “Err… Josef… Is he here?”

“I understood you the first time” The woman said sharply.

“Is he here” Sophie asked again feeling very awkward.

The woman gave Sophie a long stare before she spoke again. “He isn’t here” She said, “And I have no idea where he is before you even ask.”

“I’m sorry if we got on the wrong foot” Sophie replied, “I am…”

“I know who are” The woman said, “And I don’t dislike you, in fact I don’t even know you, I just know what you represent. Everything my son is trying to do with his life is being put at risk because you entered it.”

“How is that even possible?” Sophie asked defensively. That struck her as completely unfair.

“Josef was focused totally on his goals until this year” The woman replied, “Then he felt he had to get that job, you, everything else happening with Hagen, all of those things were complications that we don’t need. No one is going to hand him anything and he has had to work hard for what little he has.”

“I wouldn’t get in the way of that” Sophie said.

“You already have” The woman said, “One day, if you have children of your own you might understand. I named Josef after an artist. Did you know that? My hope has always been that he will want to be more than where he came from. I’ve basically lost one of by sons already, if Josef goes that route, it will become three in a heartbeat.”

“I didn’t know” Sophie said, “I’m sorry about…”

“Don’t apologize, just keep that in mind before you come around unannounced” The woman said before closing the door.

 

[Peabody-Martini]

Chapter Two Thousand Three Hundred One



10th June 1974

Tempelhof, Berlin

Emptying trash into the bin in the alley was possibly the most objectionable thing that he did all day. The smell of rancid grease filled the air and Sepp was reminded of why there were a number of rat traps inside Benno’s as he caught a glimpse of movement in the corner of his eye. It was however preferable to having his mother read him the riot act, which had happened again a few days earlier.

Sepp’s mother made it clear that she didn’t object to either Didi or him having social lives, she would just prefer that they wait until they had matters in hand before that happened. Finding out that Sophie had come around looking for him was something of a surprise, he had thought that she was avoiding the street that he lived on. His mother said that Sophie was a lovely girl and she understood why he liked her. It was only later that he realized that was a major part of the problem. His mother saw Sophie as the kind of girl who he might inadvertently wreck his life for. Somewhere along the line, Sepp had realized that his mother worried that he might make the same sorts of mistakes that his parents had. While he wasn’t inclined towards politics, Sepp had once seen a study that suggested for someone to rise out of the lowest social strata it required everything to go perfectly for decades. The reverse was most certainly not true. It was what his mother wanted for him and Dieter. It was also what she had wanted for Hagen, but for them one mistake was something that they would never recover from.

Walking back into Benno’s, Sepp saw the stack of books where he had left them. His having this job was contingent on him keeping his marks up and doing his studies. The trouble was most of the time he would spend working on his studies were spent at Benno’s selling American style food to University students. Was he looking at the rest of his life?

----------------------------------------------------------------

Afternoons in the Emergency Department were fairly low key, until the evening commute started. Then it would get flooded with all manner of the sorts of accidents which people got into while traveling from the City Center out to the suburbs. With it being a Friday afternoon, they were expecting an overflow crowd with how most people had already checked out for the weekend before they started the journey home.

As the Assistant Head of the Department, Kiki was responsible for making sure that the organization was in place and running smoothly before that happened. That didn’t mean that she was spending all of her time in the supervisory role, she still found time to do the things that she wanted to be doing. Occasionally that did cause trouble, however. When Kiki opened the curtain of the cubicle, she figured that making sure that invoices matched supply on hand would be preferable. Helga Susanne Behrends nee Goebbels, the older sister of arguably one of the repugnant people on the planet as far as she was concerned.

“What seems to be the problem?” Kiki asked even as she was reading about Helga’s complaint on her chart.

“Just a cold” Helga said in a rasp that already told Kiki that it was far more than just a cold. “But Werner said that you were the best, so here I am. Of course, you know Werner, Doctor Forrsmann?”

Kiki tried to hide her annoyance. She doubted that Werner Forrssmann, the Chief Executive Officer of the University of Berlin’s Hospital system, and Nobel laureate, had said any such thing. It was hardly a surprise that he knew Helga Behrends either and would pull strings to get Kiki to see her. The question was why?

Doctor Forrssmann was the very definition of a classic reactionary. He was rather outspoken regarding his beliefs about the roles that Hospital Staff played and just who was supposed to fill those roles. The very existence of one Doctor Kristina von Preussen working in the Emergency Department of one of his hospitals flew in the face of that. However, because Kiki was a Princess and held the equivalent rank to that of an Oberstlieutent in the Medical Service, he mostly just ignored her presence so long as she didn’t cause him any issues.

“This X-ray says otherwise” Kiki said holding it up so that she could see it against the overhead lights. “And you don’t need to namedrop Doctor Forrssmann here. You would get the same treatment regardless.”

“You don’t seem to like me much” Helga said.

“I don’t like what your brother had to say about me” Kiki replied.

“That?” Helga asked, “I thought that you were better than guilt by association.”

“What am I supposed to go by?” Kiki asked.

“I love Helmut, but I understand that he is an idiot at the best of times” Helga replied, “He barely made it through school and if he couldn’t make his living by swindling those still enamored with the memory of our father he would probably be living under a bridge by now. Publicly insulting you for failing to be some twisted ideal is the least of it.”

“Regardless” Kiki said, wishing that Helga would talk about anything else. “You have a nice case of double pneumonia and that gets you referred to upstairs for a few days.”

“I am much too busy for that. Can’t you just write me a prescription for something that will clear it up and let me go?” Helga asked though Kiki could tell that she was probably too sick to leave under her own power. As much as Kiki might want to give her a course of antibiotics and shove her out the door, that would be unethical.

“There have been a few times when I was on the other side of this conversation” Kiki said, “Use it as an excuse to get a few days away from your other responsibilities.”

Helga seemed to accept that.

 

[Peabody-Martini]

Chapter Two Thousand Three Hundred Two



11th June 1974

Plains, Georgia

This time it felt like it had been a million years since Jimmy Carter had been home. Half of that had probably been the flight from Virginia to Atlanta when the plane had flown through a storm system. It was not something for the faint of heart. It was however far better than the flights from San Diego or Honolulu that he had endured while the Gridley had been in the Pacific.

This was after an eventful cruise aboard the USS Gridley that had concluded in Norfolk where he had briefly met with a Mrs. Rose, the great-granddaughter of Captain Charles Gridley, of Manilla Bay fame and the namesake of the USS Gridley. She had been extremely interested in what the ship, whose construction she had sponsored, had been up to over the last few years. Carter had told her all about the recent exercise in the Caribbean Sea. She had been amused by the ambush that Rosalynn had engineered in Guantanamo Bay.

What Carter hadn’t mentioned was how the Gridley was going to the Philadelphia Naval Yard for refit and modernization in a few weeks. Not even Carter knew what exactly the Navy had in mind because it seemed that what happened in the Caribbean had caused heads to roll in the Pentagon. Their European and Japanese “friends” had humiliated the US Navy with technology that was twenty years old. Carter’s own report on the events in question had included how Commander von Preussen had implied that in the event of a real shooting war there would be a good chance that the Saratoga Carrier Group would have been blasted to atoms. That certainly didn’t help matters.

Far and away from all of that though was how the US Navy had not really seen serious action in decades. Depending on one’s perspective it had either been the First World War or the infamous “Neutrality Patrols” off the Philippines where it seemed the US Navy was always on the brink of starting a war with the Germans and Japanese. As Carter had discovered in his own experience, Manila was a very long way from Washington D.C. and in those days, it might as well have been on the Moon. What most people knew about that was from that book by Joseph Heller which apparently captured the absurdity and madness of the situation quite well. It was a miracle that the respective commanders of the Naval and Army units in those days had failed to start a war and avoided getting Court-Martialed for gross insubordination. The Caribbean Exercise had provided the White House and Congress with an excuse to clean house, and they were making the most of it. There was also the front pages of the newspapers and the nightly newscasts. China was a mess. The Russians and Greeks were causing trouble. Here in America, it felt like things were barely holding together. Between the German Empire, the United States, and the United Kingdom there were a few hundred, no one knew the exact number, nuclear weapons in the world despite the efforts to draft treaties limiting their testing, use, and deployment. The idiots at Naval Intelligence saw as a coup by Carter that he had gotten Louis Ferdinand von Preussen Junior to mention the possibility that his ship was carrying nuclear arms without understanding the real reasons why Louis had done that.

Carter had been told that these latest events were an excellent opportunity for him. The trouble was that to advance above being a Ship’s Captain to Flag Rank required being a Politician almost as much as being an Officer. It was a game that Carter was never particularly good at. At sea you only had to worry about the multitude of hazards that would merely kill you. The Pentagon was an entirely different story, a hall of mirrors that was well stocked with hornet nests.

Coming home for a few weeks and not having to deal with any of that for now had been an easy decision. Sitting on his front porch, listening to the sounds of an early summer afternoon all of that seemed like it was very far away. Which was very welcome indeed. Rosalynn made clear that she would have preferred to have stayed in Norfolk, but for Carter this had always been home. Watching his daughter playing with the family dogs made the extra travel worth-while.

“You seem very far away” Rosalynn said as she joined him.

“Too much going on” Carter replied.

“What else is new?”

“Your need to interfere, playing matchmaker” Carter said, “I don’t recall you doing that before.”

“If you had gotten a chance to talk to Margareta you would understand” Rosalynn replied, “The two of them are so bound up in duty and the garbage their own families have engaged in that they are unable to figure it out for themselves. I swear her father ought to be horsewhipped for what he has done to her.”

“That is a bit strong” Carter said, “That still doesn’t explain why you brought her to Cuba.”

“She told me about an evening they spent in Tel Aviv at this dangerous sounding bar, how they talked, and the hours slipped away” Rosalynn said, “Then how he and his crew went all out to make her feel welcome when she visited the Grindwal. Helping her seemed like the least I could do.”

 

[Peabody-Martini]

Chapter Two Thousand Three Hundred Three



21st June 1974

Tzschocha, Silesia

Considering the date, Mathilda sitting in the chapel located inside the keep of the old castle might have been considered ironic by those who didn’t really know her. This was the oldest and most heavily protected part of the castle and the feeling of the sacred seemed to have seeped into the very stones themselves that made up the walls. Mathilda could feel the Earth herself here. Even the Christian iconography which decorated the chapel revealed one of the great tricks played by the people of this region in times past even if most had forgotten it. The figure of Jesus and his mother along with the Saints mirrored the old Gods of these lands the way they had been interpreted here. Places like Jerusalem in what Mathilda felt was laughably called the Holy Land had very little bearing on life on the ground Silesia, not a thousand years earlier when the castle was built any more than today. The students were a mixed bag when it came to religion and the school did their level best to accommodate everyone while pleasing no one.

Looking at her watch, which had been a birthday present from Opa von Richthofen, Mathilda saw that it was noon on the longest day of the year and officially the first day of summer. The watch was waterproof and had a stainless-steel case perfectly suited her. It, along with the other gifts she had received were of a practical nature from those who truly knew her. Mathilda had little use for pretty, delicate things which broke easily. Mostly the gifts had been in the form of clothes meant to be worn outdoors. Wulfstan had sent her a card with twenty-Mark banknote in it. In it, Wulf had said that now that she was a young woman, he had wanted to send her a pistol in case any boys came sniffing around. However, he couldn’t, because it was sort of illegal. So, he had sent her money instead. Mathilda wondered how her older brother would react if she had shown any interest in boys, she doubted that Wulf would find it nearly as funny.

“What are you doing in here?” Mathilda heard a voice ask.

Looking over her shoulder, Mathilda saw Anna Schultz looking at her and like always was looking to start a fight. Anna really had no idea just how predictable and boring she was. Oddly, none of her little friends, who were even worse than she was in that regard, were around.

“I was just admiring this painting” Mathilda said pointing to the framed print on the wall of Mary. Supposedly it came from Rome where it had been blessed by the Pope himself and the Vatican sold them by the thousands to tourists. It perfectly encapsulated the tawdry aspects of the religion that Mathilda had quietly mocked since she had left home. Clearly, Anna lacked the depth to understand that.

“That doesn’t seem like the sort of thing that you would be into” Anna said, “Perhaps all the warnings about burning for all eternity are finally taking.”

Anna’s version of religion was about as shallow as the rest of her. Seemed to believe that only the threat of eternal damnation kept her from conducting herself in a completely psychotic manner which was saying something. The odd contradiction of a deity who was supposedly all about love and forgiveness yet would condemn people to eternal suffering for the most minor of trespasses never entered the conversation. Of course, Mathilda understood that if that were her fate then Anna would be right there with her.

“No” Mathilda replied, “I just understand that the Mother has many names and exists everywhere.”

It was a theory that Mathilda’s own mother had explained to her. Certain figures existed across all cultures and throughout time. The Mother, the Stranger, the Summer King, and so forth. Few people in this time and place seemed interested in exploring the multitude of their aspects. Mathilda had seen this herself with her father’s embrace of the superficial out of his own arrogance and need for posturing. There had been times when she wondered why her mother put up with him and distance had only made her more aware of that. Why couldn’t her father have been someone like Opa von Richthofen? Who felt little need for that sort of thing.

“What?” Anna asked, “I don’t understand.”

“I doubt you ever will” Mathilda replied solemnly.

While Anna might not have understood the context, she understood instantly that she was being made fun of and reacted angerly. At the same time, she was alone here and like all bullies she abhorred a fair fight, so Mathilda easily stepped around her and ran for the door.



Plänterwald

With it being the first official day of summer, Kiki was enjoying the rare sort of day with perfect weather and her not having to go into work to just spend a lazy afternoon. Watching Nina play with the latest puppies was always a joy and the whippet pups, all gangly oversized paws and mob her was inadvertent comedy. Though Kiki kept a close eye on her daughter, she seldom had to tell Nina to be gentle with them.

At the back of Kiki’s mind, there was the recent discussions she had had with those in her inner circle of friends and colleagues. Conversations which while distant today, were always within her thoughts. She was at a personal and professional crossroads and the consequences of her choices would be far reaching indeed.

It was the same sort of problem that she had always had. Just what did she want from her life? Ben had told her that he would support her whatever she did and had jokingly pointed out that once she made up her mind to do something then he had the choice of either doing that or else getting out of the way. Kiki had not found that remotely funny because she had hoped that he might have given her a suggestion or two.

 

[Peabody-Martini]

Chapter Two Thousand Three Hundred Four



1st July 1974

Wahlstatt, Silesia

Looking through the front page of the Berliner Tageblatt with a green highlighter pen, Niko was searching for the right kind of story. This was entirely because of Bas’ brilliant idea for the ultimate prank and a chance to get revenge on that offensive American. Bas had said that it was a chance to restore balance to the Universe. The “In” as Bas put it was that his mother was from the Seattle area in Washington State. It was an obscure corner of the United States that had taken Niko a few minutes to find on a map. So, this American might just believe that Bas bought into the whole Yankee Doodle Dandy horseshit if he could sell it right. Never mind that Bas was still looking forward to mopping the floor with his head if he ever got the chance.

It was odd though. Niko had never seen Bas play the long game like this before much less come up with an elaborate plan. Bas had trouble coming up with the right sort of bait to hook the American with though. That was where Niko came in. He figured that the best place to look was the pages of the BT, International and Local News, the Opinion and Editorial pages. Bas had cheerfully read the Sports page and the Funnies before he had seen the time and had run off to practice. There was a major Intermural Track & Field event coming up and Bas said he wanted to do well, 1976 and Montreal was right around the corner. It had seemed bewildering to Niko that Bas was aiming to get to the Olympics. That was right up until it was suggested to Niko that he pick a field to concentrate on with Fencing, Shooting, and Equestrian events being said to play to his strengths. They wouldn’t just be representing their nation, but the Prussian Institute and all of its various campuses. When he had told Opa about that, Opa had said that he was incredibly proud of how Niko was turning out. Niko wondered if Opa would be nearly so proud of him if he knew that he was getting roped into the latest tomfoolery that Bas was up to again.

Reading a story about the upcoming State elections in Silesia, Brandenburg, and Berlin, Niko had an idea float to the surface about what would interest the American. It would also give Bas far more credibility than appearances should warrant. The only question would be if Oliver North would check into the veracity information before he ran with it, someone would have to be pretty stupid or arrogant not to realize that it was stuff that could be found in the newspaper. Then Bas’ little scheme would come unraveled and that would be the end of it.



Tempelhof, Berlin

Watching Nadine handing different colored crayons to Nina, trying to encourage her to take a more artistic approach when Nina just wanted to color outside the lines was amusing. That was until a girl who Kiki didn’t recognize rode a bicycle up the alley and Nina heard the effusive greeting of a dog across the way. Nina lost interest in the drawing and was at the window trying to get a better look at what was happening. Kiki knew that was Katherine’s house, she had lived there for a time after her mother died and figured that she should probably visit Kat when she was home. The trouble was that Kat’s role as the Prefect of Berlin kept her busy and elsewhere. Kiki could see that Kat’s car was gone, which almost always meant that so was she.

“Ben was the same way when he was little” Nadine said, “Always needing to see everything that was going on.”

“That is good, I guess” Kiki replied.

“Something bothering you?” Nadine asked.

Kiki almost told her mother-in-law that there was nothing but thought better than that. The distrust that Nadine had in Kiki had dissipated over time. Mostly because Kiki no longer hid what had been the secret which she had been keeping from her, just who exactly she was. Still though, the fact that Kiki was the mother of her grandchild had improved matters more over the last few years. Ben had asked her to not repeat the same mistakes, mostly because no matter what else happened Nadine would always be his mother.

“Work has gotten stale” Kiki replied, “I know that sounds strange considering where I work, but it’s true. There are a few possibilities that I am looking into though.”

“How will this affect Ben and Nina?” Nadine asked.

“It depends on what I do” Kiki said, “There is a chance I can continue the work I started in Patagonia, they would come with me if I did that.”

“You remember what happened the last time you went there?”

“There isn’t a war this time” Kiki replied, “And there is little chance that I would get pregnant right before leaving.”

Nadine gave her a look.

“I know that you don’t plan on things happening to you like that, but it always seems to” Nadine said, seeming to measure each word carefully. “There must be something closer to home that involves less risk?”

Yes, Kiki had, but she wasn’t about to tell Nadine that. It wasn’t risk that worried her, it was that her restlessness would only get worse with time.

“And since you brought up the subject of pregnancy, have you given any thought to giving Nina a little brother or sister?” Nadine asked and Kiki really wished that she would go back to not talking to her.

 

[Peabody-Martini]

Chapter Two Thousand Three Hundred Five



9th July 1974

Mitte, Berlin

Walking into the CIA’s Berlin Station from the rest of the United States Embassy was a surreal experience. While every inch of the space was nearly constantly swept for bugs, they were taking no chances. While the Germans had realized that they needed world-class Intelligence Agencies after the First World War, the US had been much slower to catch on. North had been shocked to learn that the United States had disbanded the Cipher Bureau, also known as the Black Chamber, an agency that had been built as a direct result of experience gained during the same conflict. “Gentlemen don’t read each other’s mail” was what the then Secretary of State had said to rationalize the decision. It wasn’t until almost two decades later that the US Government had awoken to the problem in 1947 with the creation of the CIA, NSA, and the rest of the “Alphabet Soup” Agencies. By then the rot had set in though and whole agencies had been badly compromised. No one knew just how much damage had been done during that time, but strange events in the Thirties and Forties were getting a second look. Weapons systems that had mysteriously failed, people who had vanished from the face of the Earth, scarce resources redirected into fruitless blind alleys, and dozens of other such occurrences all painted a disturbing picture. Someone had been busy working against American interests that entire time. Like everyone else, North didn’t need too many guesses as to who it must have been. Just proving it without starting a war would be impossible, so everyone was being told to just drop the matter and continue their work towards catching up.

That presented a number of problems, mostly because North was not inclined to just forgive and forget. The Station Chief was having none of that though and had been leaning hard on everyone in the field to get results including North who was here in his capacity as a Liaison Officer within the Embassy. Everyone knew that wasn’t his job though. That was where the letter that had been posted to North came in. The Station Chief’s people had gotten to it first and it seemed to be the answer to their prayers. Some disgruntled, and possibly broke, functionary had sent them information with the promise of more, provided they paid up. However, North knew the maxims that Soldiers had lived by since the dawn of time. Right after Never Volunteer, the Recruiter lied, the Food always sucks, and Hurry up and Wait, was one hard truth, If Something felt too good to be True then it probably was. This new source certainly felt too good to be true.

“Sir, with all due respect until we can verify that this is real, this should be treated with caution” North said, “The last thing we need is for another black eye.”

“Tell that to Langley” The Station Chief replied, “Or the House Intelligence Committee. If they find out that we sat on actionable intelligence, then we will be lucky if they only burn us at the stake on the National Mall.”

“I agree Sir” North said, “But if this turns out to be another one of their tricks, I can’t imagine anyone in Washington being any happier with us.”

“Have you looked at the letter? It isn’t just news about the election, it contains insights and analysis by someone who is an insider” The Station Chief asked, “It is in regard to the elections coming up at the start of September. It dovetails neatly with what our other source had to say.”

That gave this a whole different spin. For the last few years, the CIA had run an asset inside the Court of the Kaiser himself. Only the Station Chief and the Handler knew the identity of the asset, even so, North understood that the Germans would not be forgiving if ever caught him. Especially if it were the woman who had been dubbed the Tigress who answered directly to the Kaiser or one of her people. There were rumors about that sort of thing, all ugly. It also related to the timing of the elections. Word was that the Social Democratic Party was worried about their hold on power. So, they were experimenting with holding an election right after most people in this country would have just returned from the long summer vacation and would feel good or at least indifferent about the political party in power. Washington DC’s interest was that if the SPD were no longer in power, a Government lead by the National Liberals would probably be more agreeable to the US Government.

“That might be so, Sir” North said, “But I don’t like the feeling of this.”

“You are basing your objections on that?” The Station Chief asked, “Can’t you see that all the months you have been putting yourself out there are finally paying off?”

For months, North had been getting sent to observe the German 2nd Army based outside of Berlin in Zossen-Wunsdorf. It also happened to be the same location as the secretive German High Command which the CIA had been trying to get a source inside for years. Only the British had ever successfully infiltrated that complex of buildings that housed the OKW and had managed to get away with a trove of material that had reshaped the history of the last few decades. Unfortunately, the Germans were aware of what they were guarding and had handed off North to Major Manfred von Mischner, a man whose boundless ego and condescending attitude had made that task pure Hell. Then there where the men directly under von Mischner’s command, who lived down to every base stereotype of the German Army and seemed to revel in it. North shuddered to think what someone like von Mischner did to keep control of an outfit like that.

 

[Peabody-Martini]

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.

----------------------------------------------------------------

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.

 

[Peabody-Martini]

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.

 

[Peabody-Martini]

Chapter Two Thousand Three Hundred Eight



24th July 1974

Mitte, Berlin

“I don’t see what the big deal is” Anna said, her voice full of insolence and Nancy really wanted to slap her. Tilo’s mother was listening in on the conversation because she was visiting much to Nancy’s annoyance.

“Do you understand how institutions that pride themselves on academic excellence maintain that excellence?” Nancy asked, “They do it by getting rid of those who let their grades slip.”

“Then I will just go to a different school like Gretchen did” Anna replied, completely indifferent to what Nancy had just said.

The Tzschocha School had given Nancy an earful about how about Anna having become an indifferent student over the course of the last school year and how she frequently mistreated her fellow students. They had told her that if Anna didn’t return with better attitude in September, then she would be well advised attend school elsewhere.

This came at a time when Marie Cecilie, or Rea as her family called her, had decided to shake things up. For years, much of the public had assumed that she was gay while Nancy was aware of the minor detail that Rea never had been gay. Now she was about to clarify the truth about her existence and make some arrangements that would leave the Government of Denmark fuming. Having Anna’s problems added on top of that was the last thing that Nancy needed at this moment.

“It is easy to be lazy and careless, at first” Nancy said looking Anna right in the eye. “But it seems like every time I did that, I paid a price for it until I learned better.”

“What? Missed an appointment at a hair salon?” Anna said with a sneer. Nancy knew that this was the side of her daughter that Tzschocha saw as a huge problem. Once again, she wanted to slap Anna but knew that would solve nothing. That was when Helga saved her the trouble. Nancy heard the sound of the blow that sent Anna sprawling and a few seconds later she stood back up, a red mark across her cheek and a shocked look on her face.

“Oma!” Anna exclaimed.

“Don’t you Oma me” Helga said, “Your mother has bent over backwards to persuade you to stop being such a stupid little bitch. Tell her about the times you were careless Nancy, what the consequences were. All three of them.”

Nancy had no clue as to how Helga had figured out what she had been referring to so quickly.

“It was more than just three times” Nancy said, “But those were the big ones.”

“What are you even talking about?” Anna asked, hurt, and bewildered by this turn of events.

“Every time I left things to chance, I lost” Nancy said, “And a few of those times, I ended up with a baby to care for as a result.”

“You are saying that I was a mistake?” Anna asked, totally aghast that Nancy would say such a thing.

“What I said about you being a stupid bitch” Helga said, “You, your brother and sister were never mistakes. Though there are times when you seem hellbent on making yourself into one. Constantly being a pain in the ass, I would have thrown you out on your ear for far less than you mother has put up with.”

Anna was completely appalled hearing the sharp tone that her grandmother was using. All the times that she had deliberately shoved her thumb into the eye of the adults in her life it must have never occurred to her that they had opinions of their own about her that were decidedly not complimentary.



Boston, Massachusetts

This was not what Tatianna had in mind when she had gotten involved with the BND. The summers spent in Ireland had been enjoyable and the efforts to speak with the appropriate accent had been a challenge. Now though, things were not as simple, and she found herself waiting tables in an Irish themed restaurant knowing that her family was traveling to Montreal at that very moment to visit her grandparents. The absurdity of her situation wasn’t lost on her as she found herself talking to tourists whose knowledge of Irish food and culture was limited to say the least. The owner of the place made a point of hiring young women from Ireland, mostly those wanting just to take a look around in America, make some money and then go home. It was perfect for Tatiana’s purposes in familiarizing herself with Boston. Though as she was finding out, it was an actual job and there were very real expectations that she would do it.

Needing to take a quick break, Tatiana entered the restroom and locked the door. Splashing water from the sink onto her face, she looked at herself in the mirror. “Your name is Anne Morgan, and you are a University student in Belfast when you are not doing this” She whispered to herself. There had been a few times when she had wanted to go off on a particularly boorish customer, but she had already figured out that when she got angry, she reverted right back into being herself. It was something that would be disastrous here because the other people who worked here would instantly know she wasn’t who she said she was.

Opening the door, Tatiana forced herself to smile as she faced another group sitting around a table as they puzzled over the menu. In her preparations for this she had heard a comedian once joke that the Irish didn’t do cuisine or culture, they did penance. She was being given a full understanding as to what exactly that meant.

 

[Peabody-Martini]

Chapter Two Thousand Three Hundred Nine



26th July 1974

Boston, Massachusetts

It was Friday night. The restaurant was packed, Tatiana felt like she had already run a marathon and the evening was only half through. The front room was packed and there was a private party in the banquet room. She had only worked here for a week, and she was already starting to hate the smell of the food. Then there was the music which she mostly tuned out except when people wanted to strangely sing along with it. These people couldn’t sing in key if they were cold sober, and most of them were already plastered before they set foot in here due to the many bars and taverns throughout downtown Boston. It being Boston in the summertime, the weather was hot and humid. She could feel sweat trickling down the back of her neck and soaking into her clothes. As much as her mother had hated for her to have done it, Tatiana was grateful that she had had the foresight to get her hair cut short before she had left Berlin. Otherwise, this would have been even more unpleasant.

Oddly, no one had questioned her authenticity in this job though she was surrounded by young women who actually were what they claimed to be. An offhand comment that she had overheard referring to her as “That Ulster girl” oddly explained everything. Their understanding was that she was studying in Belfast and had grown up in County Antrim when the truth was that Tatiana had only spent time in those places over the last few years. They were mostly from the West Counties and attributed any mistakes made Tatiana as the result of regional differences. Still, that was exactly the sort of thing that Frau Sagen had warned her to be cautious of. If someone else from Antrim turned up here, just how long would it take them to see through her cover? It was something that she would need to work hard to avoid.

“Are all the girls as pretty as you are where you come from?” A middle-aged customer, a businessman from the look of him asked, his was voice slurred and he was staring lewdly at her as she was placing drinks from a tray onto the table.

Tatiana just gave him a look that froze him in place once she caught his gaze. “Never you mind about that, Sir” She said pleasantly as she fought the urge to slam the edge of the tray into the bridge of his nose. Her mother had once told her that most men were pigs and that like all herbivores pigs knew instantly when they were in the presence of a predator. This man went pale as soon as Tatiana spoke as everyone else at the table laughed unaware of the actual interplay.



Plänterwald

It hadn’t been an argument, but it was certainly a terse conversation. Once the idea of them having another child had been put out there, it had become something that neither Kiki nor Ben could let go of. When she had discussed the matter with Zella and Aurora, they had very different opinions. Zella was sort of against the idea of having children generally, with her younger brother having a family wasn’t under a whole lot of pressure on her in that regard. Aurora and her husband had been struggling to conceive though and the entire subject was upsetting for her.

The conversation between Ben and Kiki had been terse. Not only because he worried about what he feared was rewarding bad behavior on his mother’s part, but what about Kiki herself? Yes, there were many concerns, but he had pointed out that she had never actually said what she wanted. That she had been largely quiet. The trouble was that her answer was both yes and no. She didn’t want to put her whole life on hold for a year again, but when she looked at her career, she saw that there really had nowhere to go in it. Eventually she was going to be promoted to Oberstarzt, but it was like her brother Louis getting promoted to Kapitan-zur-See. To rise any higher than that would bring politics into the picture, the brother and sister of the sitting Emperor would be unlikely to be allowed to become Flag Officers because of the optics involved. It seemed that the institutional memory of the Reichstag included members of the Empire’s various royal families being appointed to command entire Armies, too often with unacceptable results. These were same members of the Reichstag who would need to approve any such promotion barring wartime emergency.

Ben, bless him, was outraged by that. He felt that Kiki had shown countless times her own competency and had never taken any shortcuts. Of course, Kiki also had to explain how she remembered that giving birth to Nina had been terrifying because of the less-than-ideal circumstances. Him being gone and having had only a few weeks to process things had made it especially difficult. There were also the risks that Kiki understood were inherent in pregnancy. She saw them often professionally and that was enough to send her scrambling in the other direction. Finally, there was the emotional aspect and that was all over the place. She had done her level best to explain all of that to Ben. Mostly though she felt as if she had spent a lot of that time babbling.

Laying in bed listening to Ben’s even breathing as he slept just a few centimeters away, she thought about the pall that the conversation had cast over the evening as they had prepared for bed. Nora Berg, whose opinion Kiki had not shared with Ben had warned her that there was no contraception more effective than frank discussions about reproduction. Kiki and Ben had managed to prove her right on that score.

 

[Peabody-Martini]

Chapter Two Thousand Three Hundred Ten



1st August 1974

Montreal, Canada

No one had any idea where Tatiana was, but neither Katherine nor Douglas was acting like this was out of the ordinary. She was the only one absent as they gathered for an impromptu family reunion. Sir Malcolm had found that talking to his grandchildren was frequently difficult, there was a lot of technical jargon used by his namesake grandson and Marie Alexandra was fluid in her use of language to an astonishing degree. Young Malcolm had tried to explain what he was doing at the Computer Sciences Department at the University of Berlin, and it had swiftly sounded like Greek to him. All Sir Malcolm had been able to understand was that it had something to do with making computers a consumer product, that he was presently the equivalent of a Graduate Student and that he had applied for a Doctoral Program at one of the Technical Universities in Germany. When Sir Malcolm had pointed out that it was wonderful that there would be a Doctor Blackwood in the family in a couple years and that it was something that they could all be proud of. Not even Margot could take issue with that.

Sir Malcolm had also watched with considerable amazement as Douglas’ youngest daughter had chatted with a Chinese woman Downtown in what she said was Cantonese. It made him happy that this was the same granddaughter who he had gone to great lengths to ensure that she would get accepted into McGill University. It had not been difficult because Sir Malcolm and Douglas were both Alumni and this was keeping up that family tradition. All of Emma’s children were attending school in distant British Columbia and much to Margot’s annoyance, they were members of the Fosse family whose money was from timber and woodchips. Entirely too pedestrian for Margot’s tastes. As opposed to the Mischner family whose apparent fortune came quite literally from not just train robbery but controlling just who was allowed to rob the trains or smuggle what into Europe. Margot had forbidden anyone to ever talk about that in her house.

Still, the thought of having Marie Alexandra coming here to live warmed Sir Malcolm’s heart. While her red hair and piercing blue eyes left little doubt as to who her mother was, the shape of her face and chin really did favor Douglas to a large degree. So much so that she reminded Sir Malcolm of what Margot herself looked like sixty years earlier when they met just before the First World War. Where does the time go? He thought happily to himself. To look back on a long life required one to have lived it.

The other two girls, Sophie Sommers, and Angelica de Medici who Kat and Doug had brought were interesting. Apparently, Sophie was an aspiring competitive cyclist and Angelica was mostly interested in learning about the world outside the small corner of Italy where she had spent most of her life. Sir Malcolm was aware of how Kat had a habit of taking in young women who had nowhere else to go and encouraged them to be far more than their frequently painful origins. He was also aware that one of them had been the Princess Royal of Germany, but Margot hated mention of that. She hadn’t recognized the girl at the time.



Tempelhof, Berlin

Having an IUD removed was a simple procedure, with massive implications that were weighing on Kiki as she was sitting in recovery waiting to be released. Of course, this being a teaching hospital it was complicated. There was a lot of interest in one of the Assistant Department Heads being a patient, especially by her students. For once, Kiki wasn’t objecting to the presence of her personal security. They were more than capable of keeping the curious at bay. However, there were those who not even the First Foot could keep away while Kiki was recovering.

“You are really going through with this?” Berg asked as Kiki finished explaining her reasoning. It wasn’t lost on Kiki that Nora Berg had waited until Ben was elsewhere before she had entered the room. It wasn’t that Berg was suspicious of Ben, it was that she was worried that Kiki wasn’t making an informed choice.

“Why does everyone keep asking me that?” Kiki asked in reply.

“Because it is a major decision that will have bearing on the rest of your life” Berg replied, “I’m sure that you will have plenty of opportunity to regret it in the months and years ahead, regardless of what happens.”

“We all can’t be as optimistic as you are” Kiki said sarcastically, which Berg seemingly ignored.

“I am just stating what I have seen over the course of my career” Berg said, “And on average you have eighteen months.”

“That is so typical of you” Kiki replied, “Everything is averages and odds.”

“We both see it all the time Kiki” Berg said, “It is a wonder that any of us make it into this world considering the risks involved, ask your sister about that.”

“I saw what happened to Vicky” Kiki said, “And that is a terrible thing to mention.”

“It is an old argument” Berg replied, “The head versus the heart, the heart wins almost every time. Here you are, perfectly aware of the risks involved yet you are taking this chance.”

“Have you ever thought that life is never as simple as you make it out to be?” Kiki asked.

“Or is it that you make it too complex?” Berg asked in reply.

Neither of them had an answer for that.

 

[Peabody-Martini]

Chapter Two Thousand Three Hundred Eleven



3rd August 1974

Zoppot, West Prussia

“I had Walter when I was thirty-five” Maria said to Emil as they watched Zella as she was returning with Yuri along with her niece and nephew who she had taken to get ice cream. “She is thirty-three and I would say that it is only a matter of time before she starts hearing the ticking of her biological clock if she isn’t already.”

“Perhaps” Emil said, “But that is something that you might want to keep to yourself. You know how Zella gets, if confronted she will just dig in her heels regardless of what she actually thinks.”

The night before, Zella had expressed disbelief about her friends, Kiki, and Aurora trying to get pregnant at the same time. The attitude that she displayed had been a bit too defensive about the subject. Maria understood that her daughter had a terrible experience when she had been at University. At the time Zella had clearly not been prepared to have been a mother and the career that she had carved out for herself would never had happened if she’d had a child depending on her. Now though, watching Zella with Annika and Peter, Maria thought that perhaps Zella was rethinking her hard stance. If Maria were wrong, then so be it, but she would love it if Zella ever changed her mind. She wondered if Yuri had ventured any opinions about the future of their relationship. Maria knew that it was only a matter of time before he did, and she just hoped that Yuri was prepared for how Zella tended to react without thinking at times.

“I know that side of Zella extremely well” Maria replied.

“You raised her to be a tough, independent woman” Emil said, “And you were successful. Many might say a bit too successful.”

“Don’t give me that Emil” Maria replied, “Somehow we ended up with a version of you who just happened to have been born a girl.”

Emil just smirked at that. They both knew what he was like as a young man. He still had that scar on his cheek where his mother had slapped him when he finally came home after running away to go to war when he was fifteen. Then he had led a revolution before being a key player in the formation of the Fallschirmjäger. He had often been described as having been the original Green Devil having gone from a Soldat in the trenches of Verdun all the way to being the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces High Command. Now at the age of seventy-four he was faced with the prospect of retirement again, this time from BMW where he had revolutionized their motorcycle development and production. Keeping them competitive with far larger Japanese corporations at a time when it seemed like nearly every other manufacturer was falling into insolvency. Maria had no doubt that Emil would find something else to do with his time.



Montreal, Canada

For Marie Alexandra, her first visit to the University had been like all the school trips and club events combined. The instant that she had arrived in the vast auditorium where Freshman Orientation was to begin, she had seen the massive banner that read Bienvenue à la promotion de 1978 de l'Université McGill and had known that she had made the right choice. Listening to the University’s Principle/Vice-Chancellor speak, Marie had realized that she was just one of thousands of students who would be starting there in just a few weeks. Until that moment, she had just sort of assumed that she would be going home at the end of the holiday. She had realized that she wouldn’t be, instead her family would be leaving her here in Montreal. Then had come the tour of the University and Marie had found the experience to be completely mind blowing. Her being fluent in French and English had smoothed out any issues she might have had. That was a bigger deal here than she had realized and it wasn’t just that she spoke French, but the right kind of French.

Her mother had told her that if she attended McGill then she was prepared to set up an allowance, enough to give her spending money and allow her to pursue her studies without the need to have outside employment unless it was what she wanted. It was all dependent on her keeping her grades up. Momma also said that she would arrange to ship some of Marie’s things to her, but she would probably have to assemble her collection here in in Canada from local sources. Oddly, that actually sounded like it would be a lot of fun.

Opa and Oma Blackwood, well, Opa Blackwood anyway, said that Marie could stay in the room she had always occupied when she visited Montreal so long as she didn’t run wild. Of course, Marie had no idea what running wild would even look like. It was also not a secret that Oma Blackwood didn’t like her very much, but perhaps this was finally an opportunity for Oma to finally get to know Marie as a person as opposed to how she tended to think of her solely in the context of her as Katherine von Mischner-Blackwood’s youngest daughter. She was also Douglas Blackwood’s daughter and that was reflected in how it had been swiftly arranged for her to get all the proper documents as a resident of Montreal. She had even been asked if she wanted for arrangements to be made for her to get a driver’s license. That had not occurred to her until she had been asked.

Amazingly, Marie realized that she would probably be happy to spend the next few years here.

 

[Peabody-Martini]

Chapter Two Thousand Three Hundred Twelve



10th August 1974

Prague, Bohemia

Paul knew that his presence here alone might cause him problems down the line. It was like his friend and occasional musical collaborator, Steven said when he told him about this invitation when he had mentioned this invitation, how music transcended politics. Steven had said that music was politics, in reply. Of course, with Steven it was all about absolutes. The existential crisis that had led Paul on this journey first to Vienna and then on to Prague was outside of Steven’s experience. That crisis had resulted in a song off of one of his most successful albums during that part of his life. Finding himself making a living playing music and recording had seemed unreal. Like if any second Paul and Art were going to have someone break the fourth wall, end the production, and then tell them to go back to their previous lives. Paul had told Art that they would just need to fake it until that happened.

In the meantime, consumed with that idea Paul had gotten caught up in who he was and who he might have been. Looking in the mirror he imagined himself as a tailor working in an old-world city in the Nineteenth Century for some reason. It had been a muse that had probably been fueled by the hashish he was smoking at the time. It took an odd turn when his father heard the song and told him that his grandfather, who had the same name as him, had been a tailor in Vienna. It was something that Paul had put at the back of his mind and had not thought much more about, and life happened. A decade ended, the volatile creative partnership he’d had with Art had ended, and as the new decade entered its midpoint Paul had found himself at loose ends. It seemed like a good time to explore that buried truth about himself.

Vienna was odd, the city itself was like a time capsule with everyone focused on the days when the city had been the Seat of Empire along with being a center of culture and learning. To Paul it felt like being in the apartment of an elderly woman who had been an Actress in her youth and on every surface was a reminder of what had once been. The shop where his grandfather had once worked was in the exact same spot. Most of the people working there had turned out to be distant cousins of his. The feeling of that place being utterly familiar and totally alien was one of the strangest that Paul had ever encountered.

The invitation from Michael of Bohemia had arrived at his hotel the same day. It seemed that the King of the neighboring country had heard about him traveling to Europe. The Austrians regarded the Germans as uncouth and uncultured. It was something that went double for the Bohemians whether or not they were German or Czech hardly mattered. Still, Paul had heard that an invitation from Michael was highly coveted, he just needed to remember that participating in whatever madness the King was up to was strictly optional. Something that was apparently easy to forget when people got caught up in it.

“The Musician Paul Simon of New York” Was announced as Paul entered the Court of the Bohemian King.

“You could have just said my name” Paul told the Footman who had announced him. The Footman gave him a smirk as if to say, “What would be the fun of that?” Before disappearing.

The scene that greeted Paul was like something from the Renaissance. The man who he assumed was Michael was dressed like a Teutonic Knight in a white surcoat and chainmail. He was holding a heroic pose with a sword in his hand as an artist was drawing in sketch pad. By his feet were a pair of big shaggy dogs and a little boy playing with a wooden horse. When he saw Paul, Michael dropped his pose.

“Wonderful to meet you” Michael said as he strode up and shook Paul’s hand in a crushing grip.

“I wish I could say the same” Paul said, “But to my ancestors that get up was the stuff of nightmares.”

“I regret that was the practice, not necessarily the ideal” Michael replied, not in the least put out by what Paul had said. “I have been trying to revive the latter.”

Paul had certainly read about this. Bored rich men playing at being Medieval Knights when the truth was that it was a mixture of a club where they could get drunk with friends and a charitable foundation. The trouble for someone like Paul who was aware of the dark history behind it, it was just as much about violent crusades in Northern Europe, what would eventually be called pogroms aimed at anyone deemed “Pagan” or non-Christian and it didn’t take too many guesses as to who would be at the top of the list, as it ever was about pageantry.

“I might be worth the effort” Paul said, “Just there are those of us who remember that the past is hardly sunshine and lollypops.”

“Yes, you are Jewish, so this was quite thoughtless of me” Michael said as he scooped the little boy up. “This is my son Philipp, Birdie asked me to keep him and the dogs with me this week. They’ve been driving her nuts. Now I’ll have you know that we take religion very seriously here in Bohemia, the 30 Years war started right here and the last thing we need is a repeat of that bloody mess. Separation of Church and State and all of that.”

“That is good to hear” Paul said.

“That also reminds me that I need to remember to ask Birdie what we are supposed to be this week” Michael said, “Catholic I think, but it doesn’t hurt to ask.”

“Wait, what?” Paul asked, wondering exactly he had just heard Michael say.

 

[Peabody-Martini]

Chapter Two Thousand Three Hundred Thirteen



12th August 1974

Breslau, Silesia

It was Ina’s idea that Christian should come to the family holiday at her grandfather’s estate. The trouble was that all of them were accomplished people and who was he to be courting the granddaughter of the Kurfürst? It was bad enough that he had spent the last several months at the Heuberg Training Area. While his education was considered adequate for turning bolts on an assembly line or being a soldier. He had progressed past that with a number of awards, a couple meritorious promotions, and an appointment to the prestigious Imperial First Foot Guard Regiment. If Christian wanted to continue his career, then the expectations he was expected to meet had gone up and those far higher up the food chain were demanding more, far more. At issue was that he had been awarded the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross and the Knight’s Cross, House Order of Richthofen for valor displayed in Argentina. Apparently, having an Enlisted Man with those awards went against the grain and it was up to him to do something about it, or else…

Christian had worried that his background with be painfully obvious when he arrived in Stetten, the small Market Town that was just outside the Heuberg reservation. He had been both right and wrong on that count. Most of his Class was composed of recent University Graduates who were roughly the same age as he was, Christian was one of the few who had been a real Soldier. That meant that on the first morning as their Instructors were chewing them out over the multitude of things that they inevitably had messed up out of ignorance, Christian had already had things squared away. That had resulted in a great deal of resentment.

The academic end of things had been slightly better. There the Instructors had mostly been interested in checking boxes and any actual knowledge that Christian had was a box they could check. Did he speak any languages other than German? Yes, he had gotten to the point where he was nearly fluent in Spanish after how long he had spent in Argentina, he had also picked up a great deal of Polish and English when… They didn’t care about the particulars. Technology was easy, he knew radios and other things like the Sperber scopes, anyone who worked with those for more than a few days had to become an expert or else they would be driven insane. Small arms? Was that a joke? Christian was a Maestro with an AG45, ask the Chilean Army about that. Other areas like mathematics and literature were not so easily addressed. Then there were the things that he was expected to know or learn in a hurry if he knew what was good for him. Seriously, why did they stress having him know how to ride a horse? What century was this again?

There had also been the pass/fail nature of the courses. Failure wasn’t just a failing grade. It meant reassignment and possible discharge. Because his presence there had been his choice, he worked damn hard to stay in the program. Many of those who had come from the University who had never failed at anything in their lives had learned a bitter lesson by failing to take it seriously and gotten themselves a term of service among the Soldaten as a result. If they made it through the program as an Aspirant, they still needed to prove themselves as a Squad Leader. Having the wrong attitude there could get you killed in a thousand unpleasant ways. So, having them being just a regular soldier was probably the best way to teach them an important lesson.

To Christian’s amazement, he made it through the program and was waiting for pending reassignment when Ina had called and invited him to visit her during the Summer Holiday. He wanted to go back to the Panzer Corps, but no one knew what the labyrinthine bureaucracy would decide to do. He could just as easily be assigned to be a Supply Officer in a Bavarian Landwehr Division defending the Swiss Frontier from possible attack. At the moment though, stepping out of the train station with the prospect of finding himself facing Ina’s family in the coming hours, counting rations in Bavaria didn’t seem so bad.

He spotted the beat-up old VW Bergwind that Ina drove pulling into the loading zone and Ina stepping out. Despite it showing every centimeter of the thousands of kilometers on mostly rural Silesian roads, Ina loved the thing. Manny had once told Christian that their father had offered to buy her a brand-new Iltis, but she was having none of that. She liked the old car. When asked, pointed out that the diesel engine and four-wheel-drive transmission in the Iltis was based on the one developed for the Bergwind a few years earlier. Why would she want the inferior copy? Christian had been unable to tell if that was a joke or not, but either way Ina apparently intended to drive the Bergwind until it died.

“You decided to come after all” Ina said with a smile as Christian threw his bag into the back of the Bergwind.

“I wouldn’t want to be late for my execution” Christian replied as he sat down in the passenger seat.

“Don’t give me that” Ina said as she put the car into gear and pulled into traffic. “Mathilda wanted to come but it would have been too crowded in here.”

One of the other advantages of the Bergwind was that it gave Ina the perfect excuse to only have one passenger. Leaving a nosy teenager behind wasn’t exactly a hardship for either of them.

“Now, you know that Opa and Poppa are going to have questions” Ina said, “There is also my mother, so I hope you are ready to give them the answers that we discussed.”

“Why not just give them straight answers like we did with my parents?” Christian asked.

“It isn’t that simple Chris” Ina said, “Remember what I told you about how my mother had to do to get Opa to consent to her marriage to my father?”

“You really think it would come to that?” Christian asked, “Getting the Emperor involved?”

“What do you think?” Ina asked in reply.

 

[Peabody-Martini]

Chapter Two Thousand Three Hundred Fourteen



16th August 1974

Charlottenburg, Berlin

“Yes, I’m happy for you Aurora” Zella said into the phone, the expression on her face didn’t reflect what she was saying or the tone of her voice. When Yuri had answered the phone Aurora had asked for Zella, her voice bubbly with happiness.

This was after Zella had returned early from the Summer Holiday on the Baltic Sea, which she had gone on with her family. All she would say to Yuri was that she wished that her mother would mind her own business without elaborating. Yuri knew about the often-contentious relationship Zella had with her mother, something along the lines of only those who know you best can drive you completely insane without even trying.

“I see… Please don’t do that, I know you mean well but…” Zella said, “As I said, I’m happy for you, I mean that…”

There was a long pause as Zella listened. Then Zella said, “Good night, Aurora.”

Zella gently hung up the phone when the expression on her face suggested that she wanted to slam the handset through the table which it sat on. She had been working hard to control the volcanic temper that everyone knew she had. After that accident a year earlier which no one had believed was actually an accident, she had finally admitted that she needed to make a few changes.

“Aurora is going to have a baby and she is at the point where she is trying to convince herself she made the right choice by convincing others that they should do the same things” Zella said, “I just hope that this doesn’t end like it did the last time. Aurora nearly went insane after that.”

Yuri remembered that Zella’s friend Aurora was in the hospital and home sick for an extended period of time the prior winter. Just no one had mentioned exactly what had been going on.

“What happened?” Yuri asked, “I don’t mean to nose in on your business or your friend’s, but that would be useful.”

“Aurora and Moishe have been trying for a long time” Zella replied, “Aurora suffered a miscarriage last winter and that wasn’t the first time. Each time it gets worse, and everyone is worried about her.”

“I see” Yuri said.

“I don’t think you can” Zella said, “You have this life growing inside of you, unique and special, even if it is something you didn’t want. Then it is gone. Any woman who tells you that is not a devastating experience is a liar.”

Yuri stared at Zella, unsure what to say in reply to that.

“The worst part is that you are also relieved that it is over” Zella said, “At least I was.”

“You went through that?” Yuri asked.

“Unless you were completely daft, you knew I wasn’t a virgin when you met me” Zella replied, “Life happened, and do you see a child anywhere?”

Yuri remembered when he first met Zella. How forward she could be. That night in the hotel room in Warsaw when she had simply not cared that he was there when she got dressed to cover a major story. Zella didn’t say anything else as she pulled out a record from the cabinet that she kept them in. It was in a plain white jacket with the word Autobahn handwritten on it, meaning that it was an advance copy of something that she had acquired from somewhere. When Zella dropped the needle on the record, the room was filled with the sound of a car starting of all things followed by the strangest music that Yuri had ever heard. He couldn’t tell what sort of instruments were being played. Zella was sitting on her couch, Yuri could tell that she was trying to check out, completely lose herself in music.



Meuse Heights, near Verdun, France

Sjostedt was feeling rather foolish as he walked through what had been a battlefield when he had been a young man. The blasted landscape was gone, replaced by a forest. It was shocking that so many years had passed. He had been advised to keep on the paved trails because there was still unexploded ordnance and God only knew what else around, even if there weren’t the entire area was regarded as a vast gravesite by the respective Governments of the two nations that had fought this battle. That was hardly a surprise.

He’d had months to try to puzzle out what Coyote had been talking about. The place where it had all begun? And this unfinished business. Sjostedt didn’t have the first clue where to start or what he should be doing. The whole thing about Coyote was too insane, and he had said as much to Emil’s brother Peter who was a retired Psychiatrist when he had come to check on him at Emil’s request. Peter had listened to Sjostedt’s story and said that Coyote was a manifestation of his own subconscious. What unfinished business did Sjostedt still think that he had out there in the world? The alternative was the supernatural, that Sjostedt really had been visited by the Diné Trickster spirit.

Which of those two was more likely?

The Mesa desert where he had been born had felt wrong and he had spent months pondering those questions as he had recovered from the heart attack and the surgical intervention that had saved his life. It had occurred to him that he had come of age in the brutal war that he had fought in. Perhaps Verdun was the answer. Walking through a forest in France on a warm summer afternoon, Sjostedt felt no closer to the answers he was seeking.

 

[Peabody-Martini]

Chapter Two Thousand Three Hundred Fifteen



19th August 1974

Los Angeles, California

The day was relatively cool for this time of year. High seventies or low eighties. The weather report said that it was supposed to heat back up tomorrow and that was bad news considering everything that was going on.

“It’s a euphemism” Big Mike said from the passenger seat.

“I know what it means” Ritchie replied, “So does everyone else, they just don’t want the press running with someone stupidly using a loaded term.”

That was the main concern that the Department Brass had was that someone somewhere was going to say or do something stupid. There was more than just the regular tension that existed every summer in LA as hot weather dragged on for week after week. The city was overdue for what they were calling a “mass disturbance” which was the euphemism that Mike was talking about. They knew that the term they had been ordered not to use was riot. Ritchie had also heard from the Headquarters of the 160th Regiment that the 40th Division was on alert so that they could react swiftly in the event of an emergency, so he should be prepared to come in if needed. That meant that even the Army was expecting something to happen, no one was quite sure what though. Just a bad feeling that was hanging in the air. The obvious question, one that no one had asked as far as Ritchie knew; Was there something that the Brass knew that they were not telling them?

“This time of the year makes me wish I worked out in the Western Division” Mike said, “Cool ocean breeze, cruising along the beach, such a hard life out there.”

“More like the same bullshit we put up with here, except in swimsuits” Ritchie replied.

“Who pissed in your Wheaties today?” Mike asked.

“No one” Ritchie replied as he turned a corner. “Trouble in the air.”

“Like every summer since forever” Mike said.

“I guess” Ritchie said, “Summer, winter, what do those terms even mean here? That is what I miss about the East Coast, you have actual seasons there.”

“Didn’t you tell me that you hated winters in Upstate New York?” Mike asked in reply, “And that the summers are super muggy?”

“Spring and fall are nice though.”

Mike had no reply to that.

Ritchie knew that it was one of those grass is always greener on the other side of the fence sort of situations. The thing that Upstate New York really had going for it was that it wasn’t Los Angeles, and it was about as far away from where he presently was as he could get.



Montreal, Canada

There was a bit of fun for Kat in sitting with Gloria in Margot’s parlor. This was mostly due to Gloria standing in direct opposition to most of what Margot stood for. Not that it presented too many issues. When Margot found out who Kat’s guest was, she suddenly had errands to run on the other side of Montreal.

Gloria was absolutely giddy with delight as she saw what Kat was giving her this time. An accordion file folder that contained the newly declassified details of her wartime exploits. That included many things that Kat had thought would remain secret forever, things that she personally felt no one should see but now couldn’t stop. The thing was that people like Gloria were about to learn some unpleasant things about Kat. She had thought about what she would do when all of this came out and the one hard truth was that she was tired of hiding from the past.

“These are the citations from you getting the highest medals for bravery in your nation” Gloria said, “Why were these secret?”

“Read them and you might understand” Kat replied.

Gloria sorted through them until she found the one that Kat expected her to. She saw the Imperial seal in black wax attached to parchment, say what you will about Louis Ferdinand, but he did go all out when it came to bestowing awards. As Gloria read the citation the look on her face became increasingly puzzled.

“This is absolutely insane” Gloria finally said, “You volunteered to get shot?”

“You can see why I didn’t want it released during my lifetime” Kat replied, “We had to make it look real to draw Beria out.”

“You were actually hurt, I heard that you have serious problems because of that incident” Gloria said. Kat wondered who had told Gloria that, she really wished they had kept their mouth shut.

“If I hadn’t done that, all the pain and suffering, all the death, would have been for nothing” Kat said, “The war would have ended with the same players still on top in Moscow, the figurehead would have been different is all. We would have won the war but lost the peace.”

“That is not what I was expecting?” Gloria replied as she looked through the hundreds of pages.

“It is just the truth” Kat said, “And I am tired of hiding it.”

“You certainly are not hiding anything” Gloria replied, “Your detractors are going to have a field day trying to present this in an unflattering light.”

“Let them” Kat said, “They have been tiresome little boys for ages, saying all sorts of terrible things and everyone knows this. Do you honestly think this will make a difference with them?”