And Mr. Little asks his German friends to help Mr. King. At first they'll say no, but after Schultz makes quick trip to Berlin they might say yes. Maybe the black cats will make a reappearance.
Stupid Luck and Happenstance.
- Thread starter Peabody-Martini
- Start date
And Mr. Little asks his German friends to help Mr. King. At first they'll say no, but after Schultz makes quick trip to Berlin they might say yes. Maybe the black cats will make a reappearance.
That isn't needed.That message to the FBI...
Really looking forward to the US reaction.
Since the war is over maybe now the funds will go to the civilian use of rockets and computers.
Think that Zuse Electronics and other German business are sitting in a crap load of technological advances and patents originally made for the war , that now, coupled with the upscaled mass production state of the German Industry, are going to literally fuel the recovery and rise of Germany,
Now The Germans are going to fill the world Markets with wonders for the common people and high quality items that are as good if not more than the American ones, produced to a fraction of the spending in materials and work force, and with the reduction in cost passed to the user, who certainly will buy a German product that let him save money rather an American one that its more onerous.
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Admiral von Schmidt with his connections to Abwher and from talking with his daughter Nessa, will find out the the Oak Ridge boys and the USN are working on nuclear reactors to power ships and submarines.
The Manhattan Project was not one big budget item, it was literally hundreds of projects that were funded with money hidden under innocuous sounding programs.
So while Oppenheimer and Groves were cut off, Congress did not cut everything so research is still being conducted, but in a more unfocused manner.
I think that Admiral von Schmidt will try to pull a "Robert Moses" and get himself appointed to be the head of several different projects and unify all the research and development programs under his direction.
The Manhattan Project was not one big budget item, it was literally hundreds of projects that were funded with money hidden under innocuous sounding programs.
So while Oppenheimer and Groves were cut off, Congress did not cut everything so research is still being conducted, but in a more unfocused manner.
I think that Admiral von Schmidt will try to pull a "Robert Moses" and get himself appointed to be the head of several different projects and unify all the research and development programs under his direction.
Yeah, and one psycho nicely got everything together in what to practical products and key documentation for the Abwehr to profit from it, alongside a double dosage of 9 mm Parabellum style painkillers.
He's more likely to act as the oversight authority, and put Nessa who he knows, to the head of the research team to build a viable atomic power plant,first as a ground installation then as a mobile power plant for Naval vessels.
Ironically i can imagine that the Plutonium would be potentially used for the study of a Thorium based Atomic Powerplant, as Thorium it's an order of magnitude safer than Uranium and/or Plutonium based fission reactions, produces less toxic residues and its highly unlikely to explode if an accident happens.
Part 41, Chapter 521
Chapter Five Hundred Twenty-One
21st January 1946
Silesia
In might have been the dead of winter but even now there were the signs of the changing of the seasons. The first buds on the trees that would cause this forest to suddenly burst into life as the temperatures warmed in a few months were already visible. Manfred was on his skis, without which he would be foundering in waist deep drifts. He was trying to get a read on the state of the Roe deer in this forest. They remained too few in number to need a cull hunt, so he was armed with only binoculars and a note book. It was ironic that he was planning on retiring to his estate, updating his autobiography and minding this forest, just as Käte decided to resume her career.
She had been a Nurse Practitioner when she had met him. After one of the pilots of JG-1 had suffered a serious head injury, the Neurologist who she had worked with had treated him. Käte had been sent to do the follow up. Now, with the children pretty much grown up she had decided that it was time to put her toe back into the water. Apparently, that involved going back to University as well.
The elections were rushing towards them and the National Liberals had asked him his opinions about the platform that they were running on. It mostly revolved around a return to normalcy and platitudes about some heroic time before the world had changed. Manfred had told them that they were going about it all wrong. The problem wasn’t Lang, that was evidenced by the simple fact that even with Lang gone the legion of imitators who had come up on his coattails were still there. The other problem was that people had memories of what the past was like and would be less than thrilled at the prospect of watching a shaky Government attempt to put the toothpaste back into the tube.
In Manfred’s opinion the National Liberal Party needed to reinvent themselves. Being the Party of Germany how it existed prior to the First World War was not about to win elections. The exodus that was going on to the United States and South America throughout the Nineteenth Century hinted at the problem with that. Even Manfred, who’s family benefited from that system knew what the problem was. A rigidly stratified society proved fertile ground for the likes of Marx, Lenin and Robespierre and the opportunistic infections that followed, such as Stalin and Napoleon. The truth was the answer was in this forest. For all of his gifts and flaws, Augustus Lang thought nature was something one saw in a park. Trees were just houses and furniture in the process of becoming. Concrete and smokestacks were where jobs, invention and industry happened. It was a question of vision. What sort of place did the people of the Empire want their grandchildren and great grandchildren to live in? The concrete of the cities or places like this where the only sound was the wind.
Manfred spotted the tracks of the deer in the snow. He was hoping to get an idea of the numbers today. With luck the majority of this particular herd survived the winter.
London, England
To Cmdr. Fleming
I read the advanced copy of Romanov Express provided by your publisher.
While I remember many of the events that you based your book on, I don’t recall several items featured, notably shoot outs and car chases.
Most of all, the way you depicted any fictional relationship between a character based on me and your Agent Bond borders on slander.
If you ever return Germany I wish to go over those mistakes one by one so that you can make the necessary corrections.
We don’t want this to be seen as a serious error in judgement on your part.
Sincerely K.M.
The now Countess Katherine von Mischner had sent that telegram to Ian’s publisher as well as him a couple months before. The publisher had asked for a rewrite of several chapters of the book and Ian had the telegram matted and framed. Apparently, Katherine hadn’t liked some of the aspects of the way she had been depicted and sent off that telegram full of implied threats. Ian suspected that invitation to go to Germany would result in him getting grabbed by Abwehr and having her punctuate her points on his mistakes by breaking bones and carving him up with that wicked knife of hers.
The truth was that the rewrite had probably made it a better novel over all. In retaliation for her criticism of the advanced copy he’d made Andrea Herzog a plain, androgynous figure. Ironically, he’d somehow managed to capture what Kat Mischner, the working-class girl from Pankow-Heinersdorf was really like as opposed to the Countess Katherine in the process. This had also had a moderating effect on James Bond in the process. It was sort of hard to depict him as the man’s man when he needed to be a professional around the woman he was partnered with, lest she force feed him his own balls.
“Are you still with us, Mr. Fleming?”
Ian was snapped out of his musings about his book by the boring meeting that he was attending. With the war over they were going over the strategic realities. The Germans had announced that they were planning on sending the surviving Bayern Class Battleships to the breakers. They had not however announced the building of any replacements. The Admiralty had been keeping a close eye on the spillways where any such ships would be built, and they had seen nothing other than an Aircraft Carrier with an odd angled deck that had not been ready in time for the war. Fleming had realized over the past weeks that meetings like this were what he had to look forward in the coming years if his literary career didn’t pan out.
“Yes, Sir” Ian said, “Just trying to think of what the Jerry might be up to.”
He exhaled, that was a good save.
21st January 1946
Silesia
In might have been the dead of winter but even now there were the signs of the changing of the seasons. The first buds on the trees that would cause this forest to suddenly burst into life as the temperatures warmed in a few months were already visible. Manfred was on his skis, without which he would be foundering in waist deep drifts. He was trying to get a read on the state of the Roe deer in this forest. They remained too few in number to need a cull hunt, so he was armed with only binoculars and a note book. It was ironic that he was planning on retiring to his estate, updating his autobiography and minding this forest, just as Käte decided to resume her career.
She had been a Nurse Practitioner when she had met him. After one of the pilots of JG-1 had suffered a serious head injury, the Neurologist who she had worked with had treated him. Käte had been sent to do the follow up. Now, with the children pretty much grown up she had decided that it was time to put her toe back into the water. Apparently, that involved going back to University as well.
The elections were rushing towards them and the National Liberals had asked him his opinions about the platform that they were running on. It mostly revolved around a return to normalcy and platitudes about some heroic time before the world had changed. Manfred had told them that they were going about it all wrong. The problem wasn’t Lang, that was evidenced by the simple fact that even with Lang gone the legion of imitators who had come up on his coattails were still there. The other problem was that people had memories of what the past was like and would be less than thrilled at the prospect of watching a shaky Government attempt to put the toothpaste back into the tube.
In Manfred’s opinion the National Liberal Party needed to reinvent themselves. Being the Party of Germany how it existed prior to the First World War was not about to win elections. The exodus that was going on to the United States and South America throughout the Nineteenth Century hinted at the problem with that. Even Manfred, who’s family benefited from that system knew what the problem was. A rigidly stratified society proved fertile ground for the likes of Marx, Lenin and Robespierre and the opportunistic infections that followed, such as Stalin and Napoleon. The truth was the answer was in this forest. For all of his gifts and flaws, Augustus Lang thought nature was something one saw in a park. Trees were just houses and furniture in the process of becoming. Concrete and smokestacks were where jobs, invention and industry happened. It was a question of vision. What sort of place did the people of the Empire want their grandchildren and great grandchildren to live in? The concrete of the cities or places like this where the only sound was the wind.
Manfred spotted the tracks of the deer in the snow. He was hoping to get an idea of the numbers today. With luck the majority of this particular herd survived the winter.
London, England
To Cmdr. Fleming
I read the advanced copy of Romanov Express provided by your publisher.
While I remember many of the events that you based your book on, I don’t recall several items featured, notably shoot outs and car chases.
Most of all, the way you depicted any fictional relationship between a character based on me and your Agent Bond borders on slander.
If you ever return Germany I wish to go over those mistakes one by one so that you can make the necessary corrections.
We don’t want this to be seen as a serious error in judgement on your part.
Sincerely K.M.
The now Countess Katherine von Mischner had sent that telegram to Ian’s publisher as well as him a couple months before. The publisher had asked for a rewrite of several chapters of the book and Ian had the telegram matted and framed. Apparently, Katherine hadn’t liked some of the aspects of the way she had been depicted and sent off that telegram full of implied threats. Ian suspected that invitation to go to Germany would result in him getting grabbed by Abwehr and having her punctuate her points on his mistakes by breaking bones and carving him up with that wicked knife of hers.
The truth was that the rewrite had probably made it a better novel over all. In retaliation for her criticism of the advanced copy he’d made Andrea Herzog a plain, androgynous figure. Ironically, he’d somehow managed to capture what Kat Mischner, the working-class girl from Pankow-Heinersdorf was really like as opposed to the Countess Katherine in the process. This had also had a moderating effect on James Bond in the process. It was sort of hard to depict him as the man’s man when he needed to be a professional around the woman he was partnered with, lest she force feed him his own balls.
“Are you still with us, Mr. Fleming?”
Ian was snapped out of his musings about his book by the boring meeting that he was attending. With the war over they were going over the strategic realities. The Germans had announced that they were planning on sending the surviving Bayern Class Battleships to the breakers. They had not however announced the building of any replacements. The Admiralty had been keeping a close eye on the spillways where any such ships would be built, and they had seen nothing other than an Aircraft Carrier with an odd angled deck that had not been ready in time for the war. Fleming had realized over the past weeks that meetings like this were what he had to look forward in the coming years if his literary career didn’t pan out.
“Yes, Sir” Ian said, “Just trying to think of what the Jerry might be up to.”
He exhaled, that was a good save.
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Doubtful, they could barely maintain their antiques OTL. The Bayerns are worthless now, they are almost certainly worn out after all that traipsing around the Pacific. The newer ships probably aren't ready for disposal yet, though some may hit mothballs.
That said, I don't see it as terribly unreasonable that the Germans wouldn't be building replacements from the UK point of view. The German military branches are all going to be taking fierce cutbacks, so perhaps someone would forward that suggestion. Yes, I know it's because the Germans are going to the carrier, but no one else does.
I do wonder if there will be a long series of James Bond ITTL. No Soviet Union, and frankly no big bad. I suppose that if the US relinquishes their death grip on the idiot ball they might become a big bad, but all in all the world is looking to be a fairly quiet place.
The UK and others should realize that the Germans have sufficient surface combat power with the Preussen and her sisters for the current conditions of lessened international tensions.
Fleming could set the stories in the prewar years - plenty of skulls to be dug there.
This brings up an interesting point: have the Services disestablished the Women's Auxiliaries and demobbed the women serving in them; started to RIF some of the women, possibly in favor of retaining men (cue commanders protesting the loss of some of their more capable people); transferring the Auxiliaries into their parent Services en masse as a Women's Corps; or, least likely, disestablishing the Auxiliaries and allowing interested women to request transfer into the parent Services.
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"No boom."
"No boom today. Boom tomorrow. There's always a boom tomorrow."
Commander Ivonava's quote here seems just about right for the current situation.
More great stuff, and a much saner world when no one sets off a nuclear bomb in Washington, DC. I wonder what the fallout from this near miss will be.
RIF?
Since the auxiliaries are both smaller and on a voluntary basis, I do not think the demob problems are as widespread as with the males.
I would assume some sort of "quiet" transfer. Basically retaining those with rare skills (say, people like Helene or Kat) or experience (veteran nurses, etc) while demobbing the rest. Of course, we need to pay heed to the "other" side, meaning the draw by the private sector on people like this and - I know this is heresy to some - the wish of those women to start a "proper family", mayhaps even with the Feldwebel they met while serving.
Since the auxiliaries are both smaller and on a voluntary basis, I do not think the demob problems are as widespread as with the males.
Reduction In Force - the equivalent of a layoff, involuntary separations from service. Really surprising to some who thought they had a career for life. I first encountered the term while my dad was in the Army so I associate it with the Armed Services but it seems to have migrated into the business world. It causes problems for some who have no skills in demand in private industry ("Ain't no openings for machine gunners out there.")
For Germany ITTL the "proper family" is a widespread and deeply ingrained cultural belief. Wider discussion of the "proper family" question is something better suited to Chat.
Or set them in say, Africa, Middle East, South America....
Plenty of spots for conflict in the back alleys that'll never get public attention all that much. Could even make a Kat expy a recurring foe/friend for Bond, sometimes they have shared goals, other times not so much....
And the sexual tension you can cut with a knife.
Part 41, Chapter 522
Chapter Five Hundred Twenty-Two
27th January 1946
Vladivostok
Tilo looked at the hundreds of men milling around the train station. These were all the ones from the 3rd Marine Infantry Division who were being sent home, the remainder were going to stay here in Korea for now. Reier was enjoying the fact that he was able to ride with the Officers and Noncoms in the cars that were decidedly less crowded and odorous because Tilo had pulled him up the ladder. They were looking forward to several days on the train going through scenic Siberia in the wintertime. Ironically this was faster than going by ship through Panama. Eventually they would arrive in Cuxhaven. What happened next was anyone’s guess.
Many of them, especially the conscripts, were expecting demobilization and Tilo was among them. His expectation was that he would go back to complete his education, but he suspected that it would basically starting from scratch having very little to do with who he had been before. Reier would probably stay in the Marine Infantry with the Sealions until age or injury forced him out.
There was some yelling and the train started to board, Tilo picked up his rucksack and duffle bag. At the moment that was all he owned in the world. Some clothes, tools, weapons and a few books. As the train pulled out of the station the mood was celebratory. A few bottles were being passed around and there were some idiots who were trying to sing some stupid song. Tilo would have to be a lot more drunk before that became remotely enjoyable.
Seattle, Washington State
The rain had turned to slushy snow during the night. The weather was a problem in the Woman’s dorms because the heating was uneven. It seemed like the rooms were either broiling hot or freezing cold. Beatrice, Nancy’s roommate complained about that constantly. Needless to say, that complaining didn’t change anything. They had been told that the problem would be solved soon. The more cynical among them had said that the University’s administration was waiting for spring to correct the problem for them.
This month’s letter from Kat that had been postmarked from Montreal. She had been briefly on the same continent but was still thousands of miles away much to Nancy’s disappointment. Perhaps next time, those were the words that Kat had used, and Nancy had understood. Kat had said in the letter that she had been in Montreal to meet her boyfriend’s parents, apparently it had been a difficult situation and she had made the best of it. The rest of the letter had been words of encouragement for what Nancy was doing. Included was a photograph of Kat and Douglas. In one of her prior letters Nancy had pointed out how Katherine and Douglas worked as wordplay, Cat and Dog. Kat had said in the latest letter that Nancy wasn’t the first one to point that out. Someone named Jost had laughed himself sick when he had pointed that out to Kat’s brother at some point more than a year earlier.
It was difficult writing while wearing a coat with gloves as Nancy was sitting at the desk writing this month’s letter to Kat. Beatrice was sitting at the other desk with a blanket over her shoulders cooking something that smelled highly questionable on the hotplate that they weren’t supposed to have.
“Writing to your pen-pal again?” Beatrice asked.
“Yes” Nancy said. Not elaborating further.
“What about?” Beatrice asked.
“What’s going on with me, the classes I’m taking, your complaining about the weather” Nancy said, “Inside and out.”
“You don’t have a problem with all of this?” Beatrice asked incredulously.
“What’s the point in complaining about things I can’t change?” Nancy asked in reply. She remembered the letters from Kat describing what winter in Russia had been like. Compared to that, other than the damp, merely freezing cold wasn’t that bad.
Berlin
The report had landed with a thud on Lang’s desk. He had hoped that the final days of his tenure as Chancellor would be quiet, but the world had other plans. A ship had gone from Chicago to Nova Scotia, unknown to US Customs it had been carrying a cargo that had the potential to upend world power if anyone ever found out about it. The long-range flights that were being conducted in a joint operation between the Luftwaffe and RAF had provided cover for those materials to be smuggled back to a secret laboratory in Bavaria. Lang was staring at the preliminary report on what had been discovered. Most of it was of things that German researchers were already aware of, an implosion type device using what had turned out to be an ultra-pure plutonium core. It was the next item that had surprised researchers. Apparently, the man who they had taken the information and materials from was working on a two-stage device that would be far more powerful than just an atomic bomb.
Sitting on his desk was a series of recommendations by the Wilhelm Institute. Nessa von Schmidt, the daughter of Jacob von Schmidt had been the one tasked with the preliminary examination of the materials was being tapped to head the project. She had inherited her father’s genius somehow, regardless of gender that was the sort of intellect that could not be put to waste. In a turnabout the Wilhelm Institute was recommending that a program of strategic deterrence may be what they needed to eventually resort to. In the meantime there were already several proposals on how this technology could be utilized.
27th January 1946
Vladivostok
Tilo looked at the hundreds of men milling around the train station. These were all the ones from the 3rd Marine Infantry Division who were being sent home, the remainder were going to stay here in Korea for now. Reier was enjoying the fact that he was able to ride with the Officers and Noncoms in the cars that were decidedly less crowded and odorous because Tilo had pulled him up the ladder. They were looking forward to several days on the train going through scenic Siberia in the wintertime. Ironically this was faster than going by ship through Panama. Eventually they would arrive in Cuxhaven. What happened next was anyone’s guess.
Many of them, especially the conscripts, were expecting demobilization and Tilo was among them. His expectation was that he would go back to complete his education, but he suspected that it would basically starting from scratch having very little to do with who he had been before. Reier would probably stay in the Marine Infantry with the Sealions until age or injury forced him out.
There was some yelling and the train started to board, Tilo picked up his rucksack and duffle bag. At the moment that was all he owned in the world. Some clothes, tools, weapons and a few books. As the train pulled out of the station the mood was celebratory. A few bottles were being passed around and there were some idiots who were trying to sing some stupid song. Tilo would have to be a lot more drunk before that became remotely enjoyable.
Seattle, Washington State
The rain had turned to slushy snow during the night. The weather was a problem in the Woman’s dorms because the heating was uneven. It seemed like the rooms were either broiling hot or freezing cold. Beatrice, Nancy’s roommate complained about that constantly. Needless to say, that complaining didn’t change anything. They had been told that the problem would be solved soon. The more cynical among them had said that the University’s administration was waiting for spring to correct the problem for them.
This month’s letter from Kat that had been postmarked from Montreal. She had been briefly on the same continent but was still thousands of miles away much to Nancy’s disappointment. Perhaps next time, those were the words that Kat had used, and Nancy had understood. Kat had said in the letter that she had been in Montreal to meet her boyfriend’s parents, apparently it had been a difficult situation and she had made the best of it. The rest of the letter had been words of encouragement for what Nancy was doing. Included was a photograph of Kat and Douglas. In one of her prior letters Nancy had pointed out how Katherine and Douglas worked as wordplay, Cat and Dog. Kat had said in the latest letter that Nancy wasn’t the first one to point that out. Someone named Jost had laughed himself sick when he had pointed that out to Kat’s brother at some point more than a year earlier.
It was difficult writing while wearing a coat with gloves as Nancy was sitting at the desk writing this month’s letter to Kat. Beatrice was sitting at the other desk with a blanket over her shoulders cooking something that smelled highly questionable on the hotplate that they weren’t supposed to have.
“Writing to your pen-pal again?” Beatrice asked.
“Yes” Nancy said. Not elaborating further.
“What about?” Beatrice asked.
“What’s going on with me, the classes I’m taking, your complaining about the weather” Nancy said, “Inside and out.”
“You don’t have a problem with all of this?” Beatrice asked incredulously.
“What’s the point in complaining about things I can’t change?” Nancy asked in reply. She remembered the letters from Kat describing what winter in Russia had been like. Compared to that, other than the damp, merely freezing cold wasn’t that bad.
Berlin
The report had landed with a thud on Lang’s desk. He had hoped that the final days of his tenure as Chancellor would be quiet, but the world had other plans. A ship had gone from Chicago to Nova Scotia, unknown to US Customs it had been carrying a cargo that had the potential to upend world power if anyone ever found out about it. The long-range flights that were being conducted in a joint operation between the Luftwaffe and RAF had provided cover for those materials to be smuggled back to a secret laboratory in Bavaria. Lang was staring at the preliminary report on what had been discovered. Most of it was of things that German researchers were already aware of, an implosion type device using what had turned out to be an ultra-pure plutonium core. It was the next item that had surprised researchers. Apparently, the man who they had taken the information and materials from was working on a two-stage device that would be far more powerful than just an atomic bomb.
Sitting on his desk was a series of recommendations by the Wilhelm Institute. Nessa von Schmidt, the daughter of Jacob von Schmidt had been the one tasked with the preliminary examination of the materials was being tapped to head the project. She had inherited her father’s genius somehow, regardless of gender that was the sort of intellect that could not be put to waste. In a turnabout the Wilhelm Institute was recommending that a program of strategic deterrence may be what they needed to eventually resort to. In the meantime there were already several proposals on how this technology could be utilized.
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I hope Lang briefs his successor on why keeping the fact that Germany has (or is close to having) working atomic bombs should stay hidden for now and that they are best served by keeping it in reserve only revealing it if things get really dire or someone else reveals they have built one.
Peaceful atomic energy applications (for a given value of peaceful is used in aircraft carriers/submarines) seem like a good way forward as long as everyone involved puts safety first.
I don't think the powers that be are quite done with Tilo yet, his plans for the future are not going to work out the way he thinks they will.
Peaceful atomic energy applications (for a given value of peaceful is used in aircraft carriers/submarines) seem like a good way forward as long as everyone involved puts safety first.
I don't think the powers that be are quite done with Tilo yet, his plans for the future are not going to work out the way he thinks they will.
Both the best and worst way to reveal you have nuclear weapons is to use it in Anger.
The question is, who could actually threaten Germany enough to warrant it's use?
Britain? The constant Frenemy, for the foreseeable future their aims coincide so no need there.
France? They have become comfortable with not attacking Germany and the trade benefits that comes with not being idiots.
America? Isolationism means that they have no aims that would clash violently enough with Germany to warrant war where a nuclear weapon could be viably deployed.
Difficult question.
The question is, who could actually threaten Germany enough to warrant it's use?
Britain? The constant Frenemy, for the foreseeable future their aims coincide so no need there.
France? They have become comfortable with not attacking Germany and the trade benefits that comes with not being idiots.
America? Isolationism means that they have no aims that would clash violently enough with Germany to warrant war where a nuclear weapon could be viably deployed.
Difficult question.