Stupid Luck and Happenstance.
- Thread starter Peabody-Martini
- Start date
Secrets like Jehane or Schultz or Vladimir aren't really her secrets to keep, they're really Kira's or the Abwher's.
Shadow Master
Banned
My thoughts exactly!
Another great update! PM, have you ever read ARMOR? Kat kinda makes me think of Felix, right about now...
Not without breaking Doctor/Patient confidentiality, and probably quite a number of German laws in the process. The chances are the book would get pulped in a heartbeat and Brandt lucky to get all job as a janitor afterwards.
That's assuming he doesn't come home to a little black cat one day...
You know it's interesting the historical baggage you carry without even fully realizing it but reading about German doctors and medical experimentation is really giving me cold shivers and Brandt's manner and apparent lack of empathy is not helping.
In this time line the Holocaust never happened and I've done my best to show how this study would be performed involving consenting volunteers as opposed to contemporaneous studies, the Tuskegee syphilis experiment for example. Brandt is arrogant, lacks empathy and has an attitude that is more common in the Medical Profession than you'd think.
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Mmm... Considering what American Doctors did to Black American men with syphilis ( Tuskegee syphilis experiment - Wikipedia ) for forty years, I would call that a bit high handed.
I fully realize Brandt's attitude is one that is common in the medical profession as I've run into it myself, and I'm aware that this kind of study is common in the development of new pharmaceuticals and therapies. All I'm saying is that it managed to trip an unpleasant historical association I wasn't even aware I was holding on to.
Part 37, Chapter 455
Chapter Four Hundred Fifty-Five
11th April 1945
Subic Bay, Philippines
The USS Charette was returning to Subic Bay after her latest patrol which had been spent shadowing the Allied Fleet as they tightened their blockade on Japan. Commander Ernest E. Evans was watching the Helmsman as he skillfully piloted the ship in to port. Even though the Charette had spent the last few weeks at sea, even they had heard about U-541 and how some crazy German sub Captain had given a rather murderous wakeup call to the Japanese on what was effectively the last few hours of his involvement in that war. The IJN Musashi, one of the most heavily armed and armored battleships ever built had been shanked in the night and had broken up only a few miles from the Japanese Coast.
It was noticeable that all the other Destroyers normally based here were absent. In all likelihood the Secretary of the Navy had finally gotten a whiff of what Destroyer Captain’s like Evans had been trying to tell them for ages. The Kraut’s submarines were dangerous, elusive and the US Navy had difficulty tracking them. U-541 had probably been one of the Type XIXs that the Charette had chased around the Philippine Sea. The US Navy had only managed to catch them when they were loitering on the surface and had gotten careless. Underwater, they were ghosts.
If Evans had to guess there was probably a New Class of German Submarines in the Baltic at this very minute. Based entirely on lessons from the war against Japan and absolutely nothing the US Navy currently had was prepared to handle that.
Berlin
Peter had been looking through Doctor Tangeman’s notes. He was annoyed that Kat had not been a part of the control group. Instead she had ingested a large quantity of MDMA and had spent five hours talking to Tangeman and Brandt while almost completely out of her head on the stuff. Interestingly, the early training that she had from Abwehr had held up. She had revealed very little about the various operations she'd been involved in. Her connections with Johann Schultz and the true identity Gianna Strobel had gone unmentioned. She had done this by talking entirely about herself which was actually ironic considering how loath she had been to do that in the past. Peter would need to remind Tangeman and Brandt that some of what Kat had mentioned fell into the category of High Level State Secrecy and all her personal records needed to be kept secured. It wouldn’t matter to Tangeman, she considered maintaining her patient’s confidence as sacrosanct. Brandt however was a loose cannon, he would need to be kept on tight rein for the duration of the study.
Still, the session had filled in a lot of blanks that Peter had before. She had said that she had witnessed the death of Merten Beck but had still not said who had done it. Peter figured that he already knew the answer to that. Otto Mischner’s inner circle and it was highly unlikely that there would ever be charges pressed, much less a conviction. Too many, including within the Federal Police, would feel that Beck had gotten what he had deserved and his fate saved the taxpayers a considerable amount of money. The rest was all the various traumatic incidents that Kat had endured and lived with. Her friend Maria had said that most people would be a quivering mess in the corner if that had happened to them. He’d come to the same conclusion.
Peter considered about what he would say to Kat when he saw her. His hope had been to spare her of this, instead Kat had been induced to reveal far more than she had about herself then she had at any time in her life. Peter knocked on the front door of the house that Kat shared with her friends. The door was answered by a hard-looking woman in her forties who muttered something in Russian that was a suggestion of what Peter could go have done to him by a Billy goat. Still, she made no effort to block his entry. That was when he found himself confronted by a furious Helene von Richthofen.
“I thought you were supposed to make her better” Helene said angerly.
“It’s a process” Peter said, “And that involves working through some very difficult things.”
That was the logical answer and it was true enough but it sounded inadequate even to Peter.
“Kat has barely left her room in the last two days” Helene said.
“I’ll talk to her about that” Peter said.
“Yeah, good luck with that” Helene said before she stormed off. Peter heard a door slam somewhere in the house. Kat’s initial reaction must have been worse than expected.
Peter walked up the stairs, he considered the layout of the floor. Kat would select her bedroom with tactical considerations in mind. She would want to have a full view of the front entrance without being seen herself, she would also want to be able to ambush someone coming up the stairs from their weak side. He knocked on the first door to his left.
When the door opened Peter could hear a heavy bolt being drawn. It was solid reinforced oak hung in a steel frame. He had no idea if it had come with the house or, more likely, was an addition that Kat had made herself. The door to her bedroom would probably stand up to everything shy of an anti-tank gun. It wasn’t Kat but Gianna who opened the door.
“It’s Doctor Holz” She said over her shoulder.
Peter heard a noncommittal noise from inside the room.
“She’ll talk to you” Gianna said before heading down stairs, she didn’t seem to be angry like Kat’s other friends. Peter hoped that was a good sign.
When Peter entered the room, he saw that Kat was laying in her bed facing the wall. It reminded him of how she was the first time he’d seen her.
“When you didn’t show up this afternoon I figured I needed to come looking” Peter said, “How was your session on Monday?”
Kat rolled onto her back and stared at him. “It was terrifying” She said, “As I was talking about what had happened, I saw it playing out in front of me like if I was watching a movie and it was happening to someone else. I couldn’t stop it, it just kept going.”
“The theory is that you keep reliving those moments over and over on some level” Peter said, “As deep as you try to bury them they keep resurfacing. This experiment is to see if it’s possible to break that cycle with a new therapy.”
“Do you have any idea what it’s like to find out that this part of me thinks that everyone I care about wants to kill me?” Kat asked.
“No” Peter said, “But all the people closest to you are aware of your paranoia.”
That was not the answer that Kat was expecting to hear because she started crying.
“I’m sorry I got you into this” Peter said handing her his handkerchief, “I’ll talk to Doctor Tangeman and…”
“No” Kat said sitting up and blowing her nose. She was wearing the old tattered sweater that she always wore when she was in her worst depressive episodes. Judging from the smell, both it and her had seen better days. “I have to try.”
“This is an experiment” Peter said, “There are risks…”
“You think I don’t know that” Kat replied, the look on her face was one that Peter was quite sure more than one Russian saw before everything went black.
11th April 1945
Subic Bay, Philippines
The USS Charette was returning to Subic Bay after her latest patrol which had been spent shadowing the Allied Fleet as they tightened their blockade on Japan. Commander Ernest E. Evans was watching the Helmsman as he skillfully piloted the ship in to port. Even though the Charette had spent the last few weeks at sea, even they had heard about U-541 and how some crazy German sub Captain had given a rather murderous wakeup call to the Japanese on what was effectively the last few hours of his involvement in that war. The IJN Musashi, one of the most heavily armed and armored battleships ever built had been shanked in the night and had broken up only a few miles from the Japanese Coast.
It was noticeable that all the other Destroyers normally based here were absent. In all likelihood the Secretary of the Navy had finally gotten a whiff of what Destroyer Captain’s like Evans had been trying to tell them for ages. The Kraut’s submarines were dangerous, elusive and the US Navy had difficulty tracking them. U-541 had probably been one of the Type XIXs that the Charette had chased around the Philippine Sea. The US Navy had only managed to catch them when they were loitering on the surface and had gotten careless. Underwater, they were ghosts.
If Evans had to guess there was probably a New Class of German Submarines in the Baltic at this very minute. Based entirely on lessons from the war against Japan and absolutely nothing the US Navy currently had was prepared to handle that.
Berlin
Peter had been looking through Doctor Tangeman’s notes. He was annoyed that Kat had not been a part of the control group. Instead she had ingested a large quantity of MDMA and had spent five hours talking to Tangeman and Brandt while almost completely out of her head on the stuff. Interestingly, the early training that she had from Abwehr had held up. She had revealed very little about the various operations she'd been involved in. Her connections with Johann Schultz and the true identity Gianna Strobel had gone unmentioned. She had done this by talking entirely about herself which was actually ironic considering how loath she had been to do that in the past. Peter would need to remind Tangeman and Brandt that some of what Kat had mentioned fell into the category of High Level State Secrecy and all her personal records needed to be kept secured. It wouldn’t matter to Tangeman, she considered maintaining her patient’s confidence as sacrosanct. Brandt however was a loose cannon, he would need to be kept on tight rein for the duration of the study.
Still, the session had filled in a lot of blanks that Peter had before. She had said that she had witnessed the death of Merten Beck but had still not said who had done it. Peter figured that he already knew the answer to that. Otto Mischner’s inner circle and it was highly unlikely that there would ever be charges pressed, much less a conviction. Too many, including within the Federal Police, would feel that Beck had gotten what he had deserved and his fate saved the taxpayers a considerable amount of money. The rest was all the various traumatic incidents that Kat had endured and lived with. Her friend Maria had said that most people would be a quivering mess in the corner if that had happened to them. He’d come to the same conclusion.
Peter considered about what he would say to Kat when he saw her. His hope had been to spare her of this, instead Kat had been induced to reveal far more than she had about herself then she had at any time in her life. Peter knocked on the front door of the house that Kat shared with her friends. The door was answered by a hard-looking woman in her forties who muttered something in Russian that was a suggestion of what Peter could go have done to him by a Billy goat. Still, she made no effort to block his entry. That was when he found himself confronted by a furious Helene von Richthofen.
“I thought you were supposed to make her better” Helene said angerly.
“It’s a process” Peter said, “And that involves working through some very difficult things.”
That was the logical answer and it was true enough but it sounded inadequate even to Peter.
“Kat has barely left her room in the last two days” Helene said.
“I’ll talk to her about that” Peter said.
“Yeah, good luck with that” Helene said before she stormed off. Peter heard a door slam somewhere in the house. Kat’s initial reaction must have been worse than expected.
Peter walked up the stairs, he considered the layout of the floor. Kat would select her bedroom with tactical considerations in mind. She would want to have a full view of the front entrance without being seen herself, she would also want to be able to ambush someone coming up the stairs from their weak side. He knocked on the first door to his left.
When the door opened Peter could hear a heavy bolt being drawn. It was solid reinforced oak hung in a steel frame. He had no idea if it had come with the house or, more likely, was an addition that Kat had made herself. The door to her bedroom would probably stand up to everything shy of an anti-tank gun. It wasn’t Kat but Gianna who opened the door.
“It’s Doctor Holz” She said over her shoulder.
Peter heard a noncommittal noise from inside the room.
“She’ll talk to you” Gianna said before heading down stairs, she didn’t seem to be angry like Kat’s other friends. Peter hoped that was a good sign.
When Peter entered the room, he saw that Kat was laying in her bed facing the wall. It reminded him of how she was the first time he’d seen her.
“When you didn’t show up this afternoon I figured I needed to come looking” Peter said, “How was your session on Monday?”
Kat rolled onto her back and stared at him. “It was terrifying” She said, “As I was talking about what had happened, I saw it playing out in front of me like if I was watching a movie and it was happening to someone else. I couldn’t stop it, it just kept going.”
“The theory is that you keep reliving those moments over and over on some level” Peter said, “As deep as you try to bury them they keep resurfacing. This experiment is to see if it’s possible to break that cycle with a new therapy.”
“Do you have any idea what it’s like to find out that this part of me thinks that everyone I care about wants to kill me?” Kat asked.
“No” Peter said, “But all the people closest to you are aware of your paranoia.”
That was not the answer that Kat was expecting to hear because she started crying.
“I’m sorry I got you into this” Peter said handing her his handkerchief, “I’ll talk to Doctor Tangeman and…”
“No” Kat said sitting up and blowing her nose. She was wearing the old tattered sweater that she always wore when she was in her worst depressive episodes. Judging from the smell, both it and her had seen better days. “I have to try.”
“This is an experiment” Peter said, “There are risks…”
“You think I don’t know that” Kat replied, the look on her face was one that Peter was quite sure more than one Russian saw before everything went black.
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Heh, not even the luck of a suicidal last battle.
I can guess that this closes the War record of the fabled U-541 with the flag to the top.....
It will be a medal ceremony or the Admiralty will dump the medals for the captain and crew with a cargo truck to make it short?
Will the U-541 wind up in the KLM hall of the museum next to the battleship turret?
The Whole Sub?, Mayby as an outdoor exhibit, but access would be difficult for large crowds.
It can be done.
USS Blueback for instance. Its been on display at OMSI for some time.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Blueback_(SS-581)
https://omsi.edu/submarine
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It's possible. U-505 is on indoor display at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago.
https://www.msichicago.org/explore/whats-here/exhibits/u-505-submarine/
When it comes to impressive displays, the navy can naturally trump everyone else, like they did with Von der Tann's turret. Their toys are so BIG! At most, a dozen people can tour a bomber at once, or about that many fit into an APC, but a ship--that's the sort of thing that just impresses by size and power.
It can be done.
Or the USS Silversides in Lake Michigan. Silversides even allows people to spend a night in the sub.
Would Garner's statements have any substantial basis in fact or would they be mostly political bullshit aimed at making the US look as if it was kinda-sorta on the WAllies' side now that the war is mostly over? The guy is a politician so anything he says has a political bullshit component, I'm just wondering what the percentage is.
I’d say it was common. Now serious efforts are taken to either weed out this attitude or at least dont show it.
Its not like the people interested in the underlying science are not wanted.