Stupid Luck and Happenstance.
- Thread starter Peabody-Martini
- Start date
The European network in general, except for the British one, as that one was cracked earlier by Kat and were Fleming's buttmonkeys.... Although with Soviet Russia RIP likely they are expected to be fired in the cases that lacked knowledge of the dangerous type, or in Burgess and a few counted cases they have at least a decade or two in a backwards ass-end post until the information that they knew ceased to be effective.
That's unlikely as it undermines one of the basic premises of a cell organization and gives too much information to an operative who has basically been coerced into cooperation. What he probably has been told to do is if foreign agents are uncovered by his organization then his handler is to be informed prior to him taking any action.
Part 35, Chapter 422
Chapter Four Hundred Twenty-Two
23rd September 1944
Kat had several things on her mind that Saturday morning. The first was that she had gotten back to Oberst Koch, Generalmajor, she corrected. He had told her that she had won additional decorations in the last campaign of the war, which seemed absurd. What had she actually done? They also felt that she should have honor of being the one to take the scare cat that had been left in Stalin’s lair in the Kremlin basement to the Military Museum on Fischer Island as her final act as a member of the Hellcats.
Then there was the return to normalcy in the Imperial Household. For years they had lived with wartime austerity, now many wanted to see the return of ritual, custom and the social calendar. That had entailed the appointment of a new Obersthofmeisterin and a Kammerfräulein, the Chief Lady-in-Waiting and Maid of Honor of the Chamber. That seemed simple enough until Kat learned that the Empress wanted her, someone she knew and trusted, to be the Kammerfräulein which would be problematic enough, considering. There was also a major problem with the job.
The job of Obersthofmeisterin would be going to Duchess Cecilie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, the mother of Emperor Louis Ferdinand. Something that Kat dreaded. When Kat had first entered into the Order of Louise the then Empress had talked frequently and frankly about her unhappy marriage and philandering, womanizing husband. Kat had been working for the BT at the time, as a result she had access and knowledge that any journalist would cheerfully sell their first born to have. Kat still personally found the former Empress extremely intimidating. Since the death of Emperor Wilhelm the Third, Cecilie had been living quietly with her daughter Alexandrine at the Cecilienhof Palace.
Now, Cecilie was back and Kat had the privilege of working closely with her to ease the burdens on Kira. Since it had been discovered that the Empress was carrying twins the order that she rest as much as possible was being strictly enforced. As the appointed companion and confidant of the Empress Kat was getting to know what a bug plastered across the windshield of a car felt like. Kat actually found herself looking forward to the trip out to Judenbach, much to her surprise.
Munster, Lower Saxony
Kurt was back in Panzertruppenschule I exactly as Field Marshal von Wolvogle had predicted. Eight weeks of mind numbing instruction on the history of the Prussian Staff System, the roles they would be expected to play in it and the glory of paperwork in triplicate. It didn’t help that the instructors were the sort who could make skinny dipping with beautiful and glamorous women sound boring. He was fairly sure that he would probably have an easier time paying attention to the classes if he hadn’t made the mistake of calling the residence of Manfred von Wolvogle hoping for a bit of advice. Gerta, von Wolvogle’s daughter had talked to him and told him that the old General was unavailable and explained why.
Gerta had been concerned that her father had gone to war on the Eastern Front with the intention to die a hero’s death. Instead Manfred von Wolvogle had returned in triumph, riding his horse at the head of one of his Army Corps through the streets of Berlin and received the Grand Cross of the Pour le Mérite from the Emperor himself. Then he returned home to peaceful retirement. In the movies that was where “THE END” would have come onto the screen fading out and the lights would have turned on. Instead this was real life.
Field Marshal von Wolvogle had started to decline both mentally and physically from the instant he had returned home. Sliding into senility. He frequently mixed up Gerta, Gerta’s mother, his wife and Gerta’s half-sister who was decades her senior. Of those people, Gerta was the only one willing to help out in the old General’s care, for which a fulltime staff had been needed. Gerta had also her own television career to worry about.
Kurt had ended up talking to Gerta for almost an hour. She’d not had anyone to talk to. Of her closest friends, Helene had met a man who she was infatuated with and Katherine was fully occupied with the business of the Court of the Empress. In the end Kurt had agreed to come to Werder when he got the chance. Kurt had a terrible feeling that all he would be doing is arriving in order to say goodbye. It would have been better if his last memory of von Wolvogle had been that day just outside Moscow.
1000 Meters over Southern Bavaria
It was a good day to be up here doing this. Lenz had a few weeks off before he was to start preparing JG-1 for redeployment and he was up flying. He had traded one of the most powerful warplanes in existence for one that didn’t even have an engine. Lenz knew what the real score was, the sailplane had the two most powerful engines available. One was the Earth itself pulling constantly at one gravity and the other was the Sun that created the temperature differentials that generated wind and thermals. The sailplane itself was a spruce/birch plywood fuselage and cloth covered wooden wings. Built to be strong while being light as possible.
Lenz scanned the air ahead, looking for the puffs of clouds that were the telltale of rising thermals. Today, the wind was from straight south which meant that if he could gain enough altitude he could soar inside the wave generated by the mountains. Few things were more thrilling than climbing as if in an elevator, while accelerating in level flight.
In his last letter Tilo had described the concept of Zen that he had discovered while in Vietnam, the idea of having the mind and body working in perfect concert. Flying the sailplane was like that. Naturally, it would be Tilo to write at length about that sort of thing. Of all the Schultz kids, Tilo had always been the most spiritual. Lenz had heard somewhere that traditionally in large Catholic families the youngest sons became Priests. That had clearly not been in the cards for Tilo, he’d rejected Catholicism fairly early on and replaced religion with philosophy. In the Far East, Tilo had discovered that those two things were not as far apart as he had thought. If Tilo ever made it home then Lenz would be very interested in what became of him.
Lenz felt the turbulence that meant that he was entering a thermal. He rolled the sailplane into a tight circle, applying a lot of rudder as he leveled out the wings. He glanced down as saw the altimeter slowly start circling up. Just blue skies, white clouds and the snowcapped mountains below.
23rd September 1944
Kat had several things on her mind that Saturday morning. The first was that she had gotten back to Oberst Koch, Generalmajor, she corrected. He had told her that she had won additional decorations in the last campaign of the war, which seemed absurd. What had she actually done? They also felt that she should have honor of being the one to take the scare cat that had been left in Stalin’s lair in the Kremlin basement to the Military Museum on Fischer Island as her final act as a member of the Hellcats.
Then there was the return to normalcy in the Imperial Household. For years they had lived with wartime austerity, now many wanted to see the return of ritual, custom and the social calendar. That had entailed the appointment of a new Obersthofmeisterin and a Kammerfräulein, the Chief Lady-in-Waiting and Maid of Honor of the Chamber. That seemed simple enough until Kat learned that the Empress wanted her, someone she knew and trusted, to be the Kammerfräulein which would be problematic enough, considering. There was also a major problem with the job.
The job of Obersthofmeisterin would be going to Duchess Cecilie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, the mother of Emperor Louis Ferdinand. Something that Kat dreaded. When Kat had first entered into the Order of Louise the then Empress had talked frequently and frankly about her unhappy marriage and philandering, womanizing husband. Kat had been working for the BT at the time, as a result she had access and knowledge that any journalist would cheerfully sell their first born to have. Kat still personally found the former Empress extremely intimidating. Since the death of Emperor Wilhelm the Third, Cecilie had been living quietly with her daughter Alexandrine at the Cecilienhof Palace.
Now, Cecilie was back and Kat had the privilege of working closely with her to ease the burdens on Kira. Since it had been discovered that the Empress was carrying twins the order that she rest as much as possible was being strictly enforced. As the appointed companion and confidant of the Empress Kat was getting to know what a bug plastered across the windshield of a car felt like. Kat actually found herself looking forward to the trip out to Judenbach, much to her surprise.
Munster, Lower Saxony
Kurt was back in Panzertruppenschule I exactly as Field Marshal von Wolvogle had predicted. Eight weeks of mind numbing instruction on the history of the Prussian Staff System, the roles they would be expected to play in it and the glory of paperwork in triplicate. It didn’t help that the instructors were the sort who could make skinny dipping with beautiful and glamorous women sound boring. He was fairly sure that he would probably have an easier time paying attention to the classes if he hadn’t made the mistake of calling the residence of Manfred von Wolvogle hoping for a bit of advice. Gerta, von Wolvogle’s daughter had talked to him and told him that the old General was unavailable and explained why.
Gerta had been concerned that her father had gone to war on the Eastern Front with the intention to die a hero’s death. Instead Manfred von Wolvogle had returned in triumph, riding his horse at the head of one of his Army Corps through the streets of Berlin and received the Grand Cross of the Pour le Mérite from the Emperor himself. Then he returned home to peaceful retirement. In the movies that was where “THE END” would have come onto the screen fading out and the lights would have turned on. Instead this was real life.
Field Marshal von Wolvogle had started to decline both mentally and physically from the instant he had returned home. Sliding into senility. He frequently mixed up Gerta, Gerta’s mother, his wife and Gerta’s half-sister who was decades her senior. Of those people, Gerta was the only one willing to help out in the old General’s care, for which a fulltime staff had been needed. Gerta had also her own television career to worry about.
Kurt had ended up talking to Gerta for almost an hour. She’d not had anyone to talk to. Of her closest friends, Helene had met a man who she was infatuated with and Katherine was fully occupied with the business of the Court of the Empress. In the end Kurt had agreed to come to Werder when he got the chance. Kurt had a terrible feeling that all he would be doing is arriving in order to say goodbye. It would have been better if his last memory of von Wolvogle had been that day just outside Moscow.
1000 Meters over Southern Bavaria
It was a good day to be up here doing this. Lenz had a few weeks off before he was to start preparing JG-1 for redeployment and he was up flying. He had traded one of the most powerful warplanes in existence for one that didn’t even have an engine. Lenz knew what the real score was, the sailplane had the two most powerful engines available. One was the Earth itself pulling constantly at one gravity and the other was the Sun that created the temperature differentials that generated wind and thermals. The sailplane itself was a spruce/birch plywood fuselage and cloth covered wooden wings. Built to be strong while being light as possible.
Lenz scanned the air ahead, looking for the puffs of clouds that were the telltale of rising thermals. Today, the wind was from straight south which meant that if he could gain enough altitude he could soar inside the wave generated by the mountains. Few things were more thrilling than climbing as if in an elevator, while accelerating in level flight.
In his last letter Tilo had described the concept of Zen that he had discovered while in Vietnam, the idea of having the mind and body working in perfect concert. Flying the sailplane was like that. Naturally, it would be Tilo to write at length about that sort of thing. Of all the Schultz kids, Tilo had always been the most spiritual. Lenz had heard somewhere that traditionally in large Catholic families the youngest sons became Priests. That had clearly not been in the cards for Tilo, he’d rejected Catholicism fairly early on and replaced religion with philosophy. In the Far East, Tilo had discovered that those two things were not as far apart as he had thought. If Tilo ever made it home then Lenz would be very interested in what became of him.
Lenz felt the turbulence that meant that he was entering a thermal. He rolled the sailplane into a tight circle, applying a lot of rudder as he leveled out the wings. He glanced down as saw the altimeter slowly start circling up. Just blue skies, white clouds and the snowcapped mountains below.
Last edited:
Yes and no. The trick to this is like hypnosis. You can't make a subject do something they would normally refuse to do, instead you direct them towards something they would do, but "suggest" that they do it with more vigour. So for example, in this case, you send Hoover after organised crime or Socialists, (the "communists" that were any use will have been turned by the Abwehr). This strengthens Hoover's hand and makes him far more valuable long term. You only make them do something absolutely against their normal principals as a last resort as this will normally burn an agent. At that point you either get them out, let them go or you tie up the loose end.
Hoover is on the hook for life. He just doesn't realise it yet.
I wonder how much of the FBI has been seeded with pro German sympathizers?
You could have young men of German descent in college being recruited by Abwehr with suggestions that they join the FBI after graduation.
And while they were promised at first that they wouldn't do anything that would compromise United States national security, they would later find themselves doing little things that may be considered borderline but then the "requests" get more and more into the range of being a conflict of interest and they would be into deep to get out.
You could have young men of German descent in college being recruited by Abwehr with suggestions that they join the FBI after graduation.
And while they were promised at first that they wouldn't do anything that would compromise United States national security, they would later find themselves doing little things that may be considered borderline but then the "requests" get more and more into the range of being a conflict of interest and they would be into deep to get out.
Unless the German government don't have the same hard on for dismantling the British Empire that the Americans had, in which case while it may still happen, it will be slower and likely less messy, no partition of India, no rise of Idi Armin in Uganda for example.
I suspect that it will still happen though, for economic reasons rather than political, and because just as tides change, all Empires that rise, do eventually fall.
Part 35, Chapter 423
Chapter Four Hundred Twenty-Three
25th September 1944
United States Department of Justice Building, Washington DC
The Capitol was waking up on a grey Monday that threatened rain. John Allan Aleshire was starting his first day as a Field Agent for the Federal Bureau of Investigation. He had been accepted for training in the FBI Academy after completing his law degree at Princeton when he had been recruited by the FBI. The US Army Air Corps had also been interested in him but the FBI had offered him a job in Financial Crimes, investigating fraud, a field that had always fascinated him.
To think that his life could have been very different. A few years earlier he had approached the German Consulate in New York seeking to volunteer to fight against the Russians. His family name was Alscher until it had been changed just prior to the First Great War when anti-German sentiment had reached a fever pitch. He had just been one of many who had felt the need to return to Germany as it was being invaded by the Soviets. He’d been turned away to his disappointment but he’d been approached by a man later that day who had identified himself simply as Schultz who had pointed out that there were better ways he could serve Germany.
John was an outstanding student at New York University and it had been Schultz himself who had ordered the Consulate Staff to turn him away and destroy all evidence that he was ever there. While Germany desperately needed soldiers, the Empire also needed men well placed to pursue its goals far beyond the current war. Schultz had encouraged him to stay at NYU, eventually going on to Princeton. The whole time John had been in contact with Schultz who had arranged for him to get jobs and cash when needed. He had also arranged for him to receive specialized training at a place somewhere upstate that had given him a leg up on his fellow recruits at the Academy.
Over the weekend he had been in the park with his fiancée when he had discovered that he was sitting on a bench next to Schultz. He had not seen the rotund German agent approach. Schultz had told him that the work he was going to be doing was just was as important as what his own sons, who had fought in Russia and continued to fight in China were doing. He had said that he was proud of John but in the future John would need to be extremely cautious and that he would be meeting his new handler soon.
John looked up at the Building that held the Headquarters of the FBI. What an adventure.
Sultanate of Riyadh, Arabian Desert
Nassim Abdullah was looking through the binoculars at the city whose walls seemed to glow in the moonlight. It was said that the people there had dealings with the worst sort of infidels, the British. For the tribes of the desert that was intolerable. Once the Turks had pulled out of the region their gutless lackeys in the cities had remained surrounded by walls and constantly begging the distant European powers for weapons, vehicles and any form of help they could get. The fools didn’t realize that made them slaves to those very powers.
In the desert if you couldn’t make it or take it, you didn’t need it. That was the only thing that the city dwellers were good for. Let them be the ones to beg so that nomads like Nassim could take it from them. Sheep get fleeced yet people who acted like sheep were always surprised by that simple reality. In a rare example of solidarity among the tribes they had decided to teach the people within the City State of Riyadh a lesson that they would not soon forget.
The rumor was that the British had sold a number of Vickers machine guns to the city. Perfect for the sort of cowards that lived in the city but Nassim knew a harsh truth. The British had sold the Sultan of Riyadh their junk at inflated prices. Buy low and sell dear. The British had not invented that by any means but they had turned it into such an artform they had managed to use it to take over half the world. Just not here, here even the British had failed and the desert tribes wanted to keep it that way. Tomorrow they could go back to settling the score with the other tribes.
Nassim started towards the city a wrath-like figure gliding through the cultivated fields. A few arm-spans to Nassim’s right, his cousin Hamid moved with equal silence and purpose. They approached the wall which was still warm from the heat of the day. It was twice the height of a man and crumbling from the ages that it had been standing. They could see the sentry standing in the light of a lantern. The fools didn’t even know how to set a watch properly, the man would be blind to what was moving in the night.
Rifles were only good if you could see what you were shooting at, not that it mattered. The sentry was speared on Hamid’s dagger before he knew that they were even there. Nassim felt a stab of envy. Hamid had a new Lee-Enfield rifle that he had just acquired from the sentry. They had been told no shooting until all the sentries had been taken out. That meant that Nassim had plenty of time to acquire one of his own if Allah was willing.
25th September 1944
United States Department of Justice Building, Washington DC
The Capitol was waking up on a grey Monday that threatened rain. John Allan Aleshire was starting his first day as a Field Agent for the Federal Bureau of Investigation. He had been accepted for training in the FBI Academy after completing his law degree at Princeton when he had been recruited by the FBI. The US Army Air Corps had also been interested in him but the FBI had offered him a job in Financial Crimes, investigating fraud, a field that had always fascinated him.
To think that his life could have been very different. A few years earlier he had approached the German Consulate in New York seeking to volunteer to fight against the Russians. His family name was Alscher until it had been changed just prior to the First Great War when anti-German sentiment had reached a fever pitch. He had just been one of many who had felt the need to return to Germany as it was being invaded by the Soviets. He’d been turned away to his disappointment but he’d been approached by a man later that day who had identified himself simply as Schultz who had pointed out that there were better ways he could serve Germany.
John was an outstanding student at New York University and it had been Schultz himself who had ordered the Consulate Staff to turn him away and destroy all evidence that he was ever there. While Germany desperately needed soldiers, the Empire also needed men well placed to pursue its goals far beyond the current war. Schultz had encouraged him to stay at NYU, eventually going on to Princeton. The whole time John had been in contact with Schultz who had arranged for him to get jobs and cash when needed. He had also arranged for him to receive specialized training at a place somewhere upstate that had given him a leg up on his fellow recruits at the Academy.
Over the weekend he had been in the park with his fiancée when he had discovered that he was sitting on a bench next to Schultz. He had not seen the rotund German agent approach. Schultz had told him that the work he was going to be doing was just was as important as what his own sons, who had fought in Russia and continued to fight in China were doing. He had said that he was proud of John but in the future John would need to be extremely cautious and that he would be meeting his new handler soon.
John looked up at the Building that held the Headquarters of the FBI. What an adventure.
Sultanate of Riyadh, Arabian Desert
Nassim Abdullah was looking through the binoculars at the city whose walls seemed to glow in the moonlight. It was said that the people there had dealings with the worst sort of infidels, the British. For the tribes of the desert that was intolerable. Once the Turks had pulled out of the region their gutless lackeys in the cities had remained surrounded by walls and constantly begging the distant European powers for weapons, vehicles and any form of help they could get. The fools didn’t realize that made them slaves to those very powers.
In the desert if you couldn’t make it or take it, you didn’t need it. That was the only thing that the city dwellers were good for. Let them be the ones to beg so that nomads like Nassim could take it from them. Sheep get fleeced yet people who acted like sheep were always surprised by that simple reality. In a rare example of solidarity among the tribes they had decided to teach the people within the City State of Riyadh a lesson that they would not soon forget.
The rumor was that the British had sold a number of Vickers machine guns to the city. Perfect for the sort of cowards that lived in the city but Nassim knew a harsh truth. The British had sold the Sultan of Riyadh their junk at inflated prices. Buy low and sell dear. The British had not invented that by any means but they had turned it into such an artform they had managed to use it to take over half the world. Just not here, here even the British had failed and the desert tribes wanted to keep it that way. Tomorrow they could go back to settling the score with the other tribes.
Nassim started towards the city a wrath-like figure gliding through the cultivated fields. A few arm-spans to Nassim’s right, his cousin Hamid moved with equal silence and purpose. They approached the wall which was still warm from the heat of the day. It was twice the height of a man and crumbling from the ages that it had been standing. They could see the sentry standing in the light of a lantern. The fools didn’t even know how to set a watch properly, the man would be blind to what was moving in the night.
Rifles were only good if you could see what you were shooting at, not that it mattered. The sentry was speared on Hamid’s dagger before he knew that they were even there. Nassim felt a stab of envy. Hamid had a new Lee-Enfield rifle that he had just acquired from the sentry. They had been told no shooting until all the sentries had been taken out. That meant that Nassim had plenty of time to acquire one of his own if Allah was willing.
Last edited:
Holy Crap you have German Agents infiltrating everywhere.
Beig in the FBI though, this can either be good or bad, hard to tell relaly. But I guess that depends on if he is caught or not,
@Peabody-Martini
Is the Deutschlandlied the national anthem here as well for Germany?
I mean, it has not been overly tainted by the Nazi's so much that al three stanza's would be sung, I assume...
Is the Deutschlandlied the national anthem here as well for Germany?
I mean, it has not been overly tainted by the Nazi's so much that al three stanza's would be sung, I assume...
By the 1940s, OTL the British colonial administrators were aware that they would be the last generation to control India and the second or third (second was right OTL, likely third TTL) last generation to control Africa. TTL this won't change but they will withdraw more gradually and with some retained military presence to guarantee stability. More like French African Community in fact. Without US and USSR pressurising them, this will happen more slowly and, as said above, less untidily. Lack of loss of Malaysia and Burma and sinking of Philips' fleet will mean they have enhanced prestige in the Far East compared to OTL and no Communist arms/agitation. But Indians getting organised and better trade relations with China and Indochina desirable.
Good for Germany in Eastern Europe as Britain and France will likely spend 25 years from 1946-1971 preoccupied with their postcolonial settlements and preserving economic interests. If Germany plays a straight bat and doesn't try to antagonise them, there should be little prospect of conflict. Britain will probably have to be more accommodating of Iranians in 1953 as handing over hegenomy to Americans won't be an option. However unlikely to be a Suez as Britain and France not obviously declining powers TTL. I would say an Indian Federation in place by 1951/2, a Ghana by 1960, West Indies Federation (which may not last as OTL, no great internal trade drivers) and Malay Federation by 1962/3. Malta may subsume into UK TTL. By the early sixties Egypt will have negotiated a chunk of the Suez Canal revenues. By the late sixties and early seventies the African colonies will have gained full autonomy and be on the road to independence. Later independence but more trained and qualified people in key jobs and better educated populace at independence as trade -offs
Good for Germany in Eastern Europe as Britain and France will likely spend 25 years from 1946-1971 preoccupied with their postcolonial settlements and preserving economic interests. If Germany plays a straight bat and doesn't try to antagonise them, there should be little prospect of conflict. Britain will probably have to be more accommodating of Iranians in 1953 as handing over hegenomy to Americans won't be an option. However unlikely to be a Suez as Britain and France not obviously declining powers TTL. I would say an Indian Federation in place by 1951/2, a Ghana by 1960, West Indies Federation (which may not last as OTL, no great internal trade drivers) and Malay Federation by 1962/3. Malta may subsume into UK TTL. By the early sixties Egypt will have negotiated a chunk of the Suez Canal revenues. By the late sixties and early seventies the African colonies will have gained full autonomy and be on the road to independence. Later independence but more trained and qualified people in key jobs and better educated populace at independence as trade -offs
This is more of a case of why this timeline is great.
Peabody-Martini will take your questions and comments and adapt them to serve the timeline.
P-M has been very patient and gracious with everyone who has commented on this timeline and has not publicly rebuked anyone for making any stupid posts, questions, or ideas (looks at self in the mirror).
From what I have seen in the best of timelines, they inspire the reader to imagine a much more richer world in which we put in our own ideas and fill in details that the author has not put in.
One of things I like to imagine about in this timeline is how the Royal Canadian Navy is performing a vital mission in shutting down shipping to Japan but there are sailors and officers who are grumbling about not being part of big battles in the Pacific.
This is something that is not important to the timeline, but it is something I think about.
It would seem the US is as penetrated as it was by the KGB and by German intelligence in WWI, where some truly impressive sabotage operations (and biowarfare development!) were going on.
I wonder what the TTL term will be when the house of cards is exposed in place of the Red Scare.
I wonder what the TTL term will be when the house of cards is exposed in place of the Red Scare.
Germany at least is working on the same thing, and it is reasonable to assume that the UK is still working on their biowarfare program.
