It's obviously an evolution of the Panther (which ITTL was derived from the VK30.02D) something like a German equivalent of the British Centurion. It is however clearly moving clearly in the direction of the Leopard series.
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Stupid Luck and Happenstance.
- Thread starter Peabody-Martini
- Start date
It's obviously an evolution of the Panther (which ITTL was derived from the VK30.02D) something like a German equivalent of the British Centurion. It is however clearly moving clearly in the direction of the Leopard series.
I figured that Kat would figure out right away what the USA was up to. As for delivering a message, that shouldn't be too hard. I doubt that all her mail is being opened. Deliver a letter to the nearest German consulate. Have them put it into an American envelope, with American stamps, and then have someone drop it into a mailbox near her house. Simple.
If this was a movie, a trained operative would slip a letter into her pocket or some such.
If this was a movie, a trained operative would slip a letter into her pocket or some such.
Part 42, Chapter 531
Chapter Five Hundred Thirty-One
1st April 1946
LaGuardia Airport, Queens, New York
There were some days that you were walking around with a giant kick me sign on your butt. It wasn’t helped by it being a Monday and April Fool’s Day. For Ed Walters it was the not a fun day to be working as a Customs Agent particularly considering that the Trans World Airlines flight had just arrived from Paris and as always it was a real freak show. Businessmen and socialites who viewed Ed as a servant at best mixed in with Bohemian artistic types who were obnoxious.
Then there was the sort he was looking at right now. The woman’s Russian passport identified her as Katya Markova and she had a valid tourist visa. She had looked like she was about to jump out of her skin with fear as Ed had inadvertently taken his frustrations out on this woman who was having a hard time answering questions around a limited understanding of English. It had not been until after he had her taken aside and watched her burst into tears that he had learned about his mistake. The translator had discovered that she was here to visit her cousin who she hadn’t seen in fifteen years and that Russian women had a great deal to fear when it came to men in uniform. When Ed had her taken aside she legitimately feared for her life. Ed got left feeling like a total heel.
Eventually they had let her go to get on her connecting flight to San Francisco.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Gerta would have admired how Kat had played that role and kept in character. She had identified the Customs Agent who was having a bad day and had played off his frustrations. It would be someone like that who would take those frustrations out on her and she had played the role of the timid Russian woman who’d been terrorized for decades by the Stalinist Police State perfectly. She’d seen the looks of horror and guilt cross the man’s face as she had spun a story that was a mixture of truth and conjecture. He had eventually apologized for scaring her.
Getting into the United States unnoticed had been the problem she’d encountered. She had to factor in what would happen if she were caught or stopped and how to leave no record of her presence. Kat had reached the conclusion that if it couldn’t be avoided then she needed it to work for her. American Customs would be on the lookout for anyone with a foreign accent, but exactly what sort of accent.
Traveling openly as Gräfin Katherine was out, every intelligence agency in the world knew that name. She had instead revived the identity that she had used in Belarus, Katya Markova. Any background check would reveal that she had been a University student in Moscow before the war, for the last couple of years she had been working as a Domestic in Berlin, paid taxes and lived quietly according to the official records. Applying to the US State Department for a tourist visa as Katya had been amusing and ironic considering what had prompted this trip.
The plan had worked out quite well. She’d ducked answering almost all the questions and they’d not even bothered to search her bag though there was nothing to find. Sure, this was dangerous. But she had realized when she’d looked at her final marks a few days before and passing all her courses had been the high point of her entire month that she had fallen into a routine. A bit of cloak and dagger was exactly what she needed, even if it was only to visit a friend.
She walked towards the different portion of the airport where the domestic flights arrived and departed. She hated to admit it, but this was fun.
Berlin
It was a pleasant evening, Gianna and Asia had the house mostly to themselves. Petia had gone to her bedroom and was reading a rather dense historical drama. Helene was out on a date with Hans, dinner and a movie. Kat had said that she would be out of town and had not said when she would be back, Gianna was used to that by now.
Of all the things they could be doing, they were sitting in the parlor watching a variety show on television. There was a man juggling a half dozen apples and taking bites out them, someone in the audience started heckling him and he threw one of the apples at that person. This caused others in the audience to start jeering and others started getting apples thrown at them. Then the apples started flying back. About that time the host of the show finally intervened. At least that was halfway exciting. Minutes earlier it had been an act involving three dancing poodles that they agreed had been pointless and boring. Still, they made no effort to change the channel. It was a small mercy when there was a knock on the door. After a moment of debating whose turn it was to answer it, Asia had dug in her heels about it being Gianna’s turn. Getting up from the couch she looked out the window. Douglas Blackwood was waiting out front.
Gianna opened the door a crack. “Sorry, Sir” She said in Russian, “The Lady of the house is unavailable tonight.”
“My Russian is terrible” Doug replied in French, “Do you know when Katherine will be back Gia.”
“No” Gianna said back in the same language, “It’s safer that way.”
Doug couldn’t disagree with that. “When she gets back, let her know I stopped by” He said.
“Sure thing” Gianna said, “Have a good night, Douglas.”
With that Gianna closed the door. It wasn’t until he was half a block down the street wondering about where Kat might have gotten off to when something about the brief conversation with Gianna occurred to him.
1st April 1946
LaGuardia Airport, Queens, New York
There were some days that you were walking around with a giant kick me sign on your butt. It wasn’t helped by it being a Monday and April Fool’s Day. For Ed Walters it was the not a fun day to be working as a Customs Agent particularly considering that the Trans World Airlines flight had just arrived from Paris and as always it was a real freak show. Businessmen and socialites who viewed Ed as a servant at best mixed in with Bohemian artistic types who were obnoxious.
Then there was the sort he was looking at right now. The woman’s Russian passport identified her as Katya Markova and she had a valid tourist visa. She had looked like she was about to jump out of her skin with fear as Ed had inadvertently taken his frustrations out on this woman who was having a hard time answering questions around a limited understanding of English. It had not been until after he had her taken aside and watched her burst into tears that he had learned about his mistake. The translator had discovered that she was here to visit her cousin who she hadn’t seen in fifteen years and that Russian women had a great deal to fear when it came to men in uniform. When Ed had her taken aside she legitimately feared for her life. Ed got left feeling like a total heel.
Eventually they had let her go to get on her connecting flight to San Francisco.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Gerta would have admired how Kat had played that role and kept in character. She had identified the Customs Agent who was having a bad day and had played off his frustrations. It would be someone like that who would take those frustrations out on her and she had played the role of the timid Russian woman who’d been terrorized for decades by the Stalinist Police State perfectly. She’d seen the looks of horror and guilt cross the man’s face as she had spun a story that was a mixture of truth and conjecture. He had eventually apologized for scaring her.
Getting into the United States unnoticed had been the problem she’d encountered. She had to factor in what would happen if she were caught or stopped and how to leave no record of her presence. Kat had reached the conclusion that if it couldn’t be avoided then she needed it to work for her. American Customs would be on the lookout for anyone with a foreign accent, but exactly what sort of accent.
Traveling openly as Gräfin Katherine was out, every intelligence agency in the world knew that name. She had instead revived the identity that she had used in Belarus, Katya Markova. Any background check would reveal that she had been a University student in Moscow before the war, for the last couple of years she had been working as a Domestic in Berlin, paid taxes and lived quietly according to the official records. Applying to the US State Department for a tourist visa as Katya had been amusing and ironic considering what had prompted this trip.
The plan had worked out quite well. She’d ducked answering almost all the questions and they’d not even bothered to search her bag though there was nothing to find. Sure, this was dangerous. But she had realized when she’d looked at her final marks a few days before and passing all her courses had been the high point of her entire month that she had fallen into a routine. A bit of cloak and dagger was exactly what she needed, even if it was only to visit a friend.
She walked towards the different portion of the airport where the domestic flights arrived and departed. She hated to admit it, but this was fun.
Berlin
It was a pleasant evening, Gianna and Asia had the house mostly to themselves. Petia had gone to her bedroom and was reading a rather dense historical drama. Helene was out on a date with Hans, dinner and a movie. Kat had said that she would be out of town and had not said when she would be back, Gianna was used to that by now.
Of all the things they could be doing, they were sitting in the parlor watching a variety show on television. There was a man juggling a half dozen apples and taking bites out them, someone in the audience started heckling him and he threw one of the apples at that person. This caused others in the audience to start jeering and others started getting apples thrown at them. Then the apples started flying back. About that time the host of the show finally intervened. At least that was halfway exciting. Minutes earlier it had been an act involving three dancing poodles that they agreed had been pointless and boring. Still, they made no effort to change the channel. It was a small mercy when there was a knock on the door. After a moment of debating whose turn it was to answer it, Asia had dug in her heels about it being Gianna’s turn. Getting up from the couch she looked out the window. Douglas Blackwood was waiting out front.
Gianna opened the door a crack. “Sorry, Sir” She said in Russian, “The Lady of the house is unavailable tonight.”
“My Russian is terrible” Doug replied in French, “Do you know when Katherine will be back Gia.”
“No” Gianna said back in the same language, “It’s safer that way.”
Doug couldn’t disagree with that. “When she gets back, let her know I stopped by” He said.
“Sure thing” Gianna said, “Have a good night, Douglas.”
With that Gianna closed the door. It wasn’t until he was half a block down the street wondering about where Kat might have gotten off to when something about the brief conversation with Gianna occurred to him.
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Ah Kat, never can take a normal holiday can you?
That Russian default language is the real big hitch in the disguise.
That Russian default language is the real big hitch in the disguise.
I was prepared this time and wasn't drinking anything when I read that.
Sir, this is one of the most entertaining stories I can remember reading in years. Thank you.
WHY, Why i have the suspicion that the Canucks AND the British are going to laughing their arses to the sheer incompetence of the Americans to pin down or detect Kat, if she isn't sending them into fool's errands to get less dumber.
A Canadian who grew up in Montreal and presumably learned his French there, listening to French spoken by someone who learned it from a father that grew up in Montreal, hmmmmm.
Doing a bit of infiltration and international espionage to relax after a stressful time at school.
Of course if the Americans later learn of her visit they will end up searching high and low for a reason. That she might just have been visiting a friend and there was no crisis will not seem believable to them, so they will conclude it must have been something important and covered up expertly.
I mean seriously, once somebody hears rumors about atomic terrorism averted at last minute and puts that together with what Fleming may be writing, looking for destroyed volcano fortresses might not be too out there.
Things may end up attributed to her in paranoia that she had nothing to do with. Or she may just stumble into something due stupid luck and happenstance and they will attribute it to non-existent prognostic intelligence capabilities.
Of course if the Americans later learn of her visit they will end up searching high and low for a reason. That she might just have been visiting a friend and there was no crisis will not seem believable to them, so they will conclude it must have been something important and covered up expertly.
I mean seriously, once somebody hears rumors about atomic terrorism averted at last minute and puts that together with what Fleming may be writing, looking for destroyed volcano fortresses might not be too out there.
Things may end up attributed to her in paranoia that she had nothing to do with. Or she may just stumble into something due stupid luck and happenstance and they will attribute it to non-existent prognostic intelligence capabilities.
Part 42, Chapter 532
Chapter Five Hundred Thirty-Two
3rd April 1946
Seattle, Washington
Nancy was starting to think that she hadn’t thought things through. She was studying the conflicting schedules as she had written in her datebook and had realized that if she was going to do this she would have just enough time to finish finals her in one country then hit the ground running in a strange new place at a radically different University only a couple of weeks later. The breakfast crowd was thinning out in the cafeteria as the morning wore on and Nancy was dreading facing her classes today. She barely noticed that someone had sat down across the table from her.
“No one knows how to make bread or coffee here” A strangely accented voice said, “Intolerable.”
Nancy let out an exasperated sigh, she didn’t have time to deal with someone’s idea of a prank right now. “Can you leave me alone” She said to the person bothering her, only to have her jaw drop when she saw who it was.
“Pleased to see you too” Kat said with a smile. Nancy glanced down at the conflicting academic schedules. The winter term at the University of Berlin would have ended last week.
“What are you doing here?” Nancy asked.
“Friends don’t let friends drown” Kat replied.
“You came here just to help me?” Nancy asked, that was astonishing. Nancy couldn’t believe that Kat was here.
“It is a bit more involved than that” Kat said, “And I’m not actually here.”
Nancy looked at Kat quizzically. What was going on?
“I owe you an apology” Kat said, “Your friendship with me might have put you in a precarious position.”
“I don’t see how” Nancy said. Kat had come halfway around the world because she was paranoid or was it because she knew something that Nancy didn’t. At that moment it struck her that she didn’t actually know very much about Kat beyond what she chose to put in the letters. She was purported to be quite insane by some accounts.
“This is what will probably happen” Kat said, “You will be approached by agents from your Government. Probably the FBI though your Naval Intelligence also would love nothing better than to have a chance to repay me for what happened in Australia.”
“Australia?” Nancy asked wide eyed.
“Two of their people tried to grab me outside a party in Sydney” Kat said, “It ended badly for them.”
“Like how badly?” Nancy asked.
“They ended up in the hospital and it was a messy diplomatic incident that needed to be hushed up” Kat said, “Emil Holz and Louis Ferdinand were able to smooth things over with Australian Government.”
“Someone trying to kidnap you had resulted in the German Kaiser and a world-famous Field Marshal being involved?”
“In fairness, Louis was only the Crown Prince at that point” Kat said “Emil Holz was still an obscure Generallieutenant and I was his house guest.”
Nancy was staring at Kat with the look that said, “Dear God, what have I gotten myself into.” Kat got that a lot when people had to digest learning about who she really was.
“What if I back out?” Nancy asked.
“It’s a bit late for that” Kat said, “That would just alert them to the fact you are aware of what they are doing.”
Nancy stared at Kat for a long moment. “Are you saying that I might get investigated by the FBI because of you?” She asked, Kat noticed that there was anger rising in her voice. This was why Kat had come in person. If Kat had sent a letter by back channels, then it would have only scared Nancy causing her to panic. She would be receptive to Kat’s help in getting out of this mess later. Until then Kat just needed to keep her from creating an ugly public scene.
“I’d say that you’ve already come under scrutiny” Kat replied, “The assumption all along was that there was a chance that the letters might be intercepted.”
“There were things in those letters that I didn’t even tell my mother” Nancy hissed at Kat, “And you knew the whole time.”
“I opened up to you in those letters because you weren’t in my world” Kat replied, “You knew me as Kat, not that repellent, sickeningly perfect person who people think I am.”
Nancy remembered all the times that Kat mentioned that she considered Dame, later Freiherrin, Katherine to be like an unwelcome roommate. But to actually hear her say that aloud, how she really didn’t like that figure.
“Good morning, Nancy” Nancy heard Beatrice say, “Who is this?” Beatrice had made a point of never taking a class that started before nine in the morning, preferring them to fall in the afternoon if that was possible. Of all the days she could have picked to be up before ten o’clock.
“This is Kat” Nancy said, “Who I’ve been writing to for years.”
“Really?” Beatrice asked with entirely too much enthusiasm, “Why’s she here?”
“Because I found out she was coming and was worried about the details” Kat replied. That was an interesting evasion, it was technically true but left out a great deal. It hit Nancy that Kat did that a lot, but she’d always been fairly candid in her letters. At the same time, it rang true that Kat came because she was worried, that made it difficult to be angry with her.
“I’ll let you two talk, nice to meet you Kat” Beatrice said before she walked off, presumably to get her own breakfast.
“The truth” Nancy said, “How much of what you told me was real?”
“Most of it” Kat replied.
Nancy stared at her for a long moment, “Who’s Ian?” She asked, “No details left out.”
“He’s a British Intelligence Officer” Kat said, “Imagine a weasel in human form.”
“Douglas?” Nancy asked.
“My boyfriend” Kat said, “He’s a photographer, he’s not a soldier or operative. It’s one of the things I like about him.”
“Maria?”
“We can play this game all day” Kat said, “It won’t change anything.”
“Who’s Maria?” Nancy said, repeating the question.
“She’s my mentor, a Journalist and Editor at the Berliner” Kat said, “Her husband happens to be Emil Holz.”
“Gianna?”
“One of my adopted sisters” Kat said flatly. Something about the way Kat said that suggested that there was a bright line there that Nancy wouldn’t want to cross. She had mentioned all of those people in the letters. For Nancy this was all too much, the actual presence of Kat herself was way too intense and not at all like what she had expected.
3rd April 1946
Seattle, Washington
Nancy was starting to think that she hadn’t thought things through. She was studying the conflicting schedules as she had written in her datebook and had realized that if she was going to do this she would have just enough time to finish finals her in one country then hit the ground running in a strange new place at a radically different University only a couple of weeks later. The breakfast crowd was thinning out in the cafeteria as the morning wore on and Nancy was dreading facing her classes today. She barely noticed that someone had sat down across the table from her.
“No one knows how to make bread or coffee here” A strangely accented voice said, “Intolerable.”
Nancy let out an exasperated sigh, she didn’t have time to deal with someone’s idea of a prank right now. “Can you leave me alone” She said to the person bothering her, only to have her jaw drop when she saw who it was.
“Pleased to see you too” Kat said with a smile. Nancy glanced down at the conflicting academic schedules. The winter term at the University of Berlin would have ended last week.
“What are you doing here?” Nancy asked.
“Friends don’t let friends drown” Kat replied.
“You came here just to help me?” Nancy asked, that was astonishing. Nancy couldn’t believe that Kat was here.
“It is a bit more involved than that” Kat said, “And I’m not actually here.”
Nancy looked at Kat quizzically. What was going on?
“I owe you an apology” Kat said, “Your friendship with me might have put you in a precarious position.”
“I don’t see how” Nancy said. Kat had come halfway around the world because she was paranoid or was it because she knew something that Nancy didn’t. At that moment it struck her that she didn’t actually know very much about Kat beyond what she chose to put in the letters. She was purported to be quite insane by some accounts.
“This is what will probably happen” Kat said, “You will be approached by agents from your Government. Probably the FBI though your Naval Intelligence also would love nothing better than to have a chance to repay me for what happened in Australia.”
“Australia?” Nancy asked wide eyed.
“Two of their people tried to grab me outside a party in Sydney” Kat said, “It ended badly for them.”
“Like how badly?” Nancy asked.
“They ended up in the hospital and it was a messy diplomatic incident that needed to be hushed up” Kat said, “Emil Holz and Louis Ferdinand were able to smooth things over with Australian Government.”
“Someone trying to kidnap you had resulted in the German Kaiser and a world-famous Field Marshal being involved?”
“In fairness, Louis was only the Crown Prince at that point” Kat said “Emil Holz was still an obscure Generallieutenant and I was his house guest.”
Nancy was staring at Kat with the look that said, “Dear God, what have I gotten myself into.” Kat got that a lot when people had to digest learning about who she really was.
“What if I back out?” Nancy asked.
“It’s a bit late for that” Kat said, “That would just alert them to the fact you are aware of what they are doing.”
Nancy stared at Kat for a long moment. “Are you saying that I might get investigated by the FBI because of you?” She asked, Kat noticed that there was anger rising in her voice. This was why Kat had come in person. If Kat had sent a letter by back channels, then it would have only scared Nancy causing her to panic. She would be receptive to Kat’s help in getting out of this mess later. Until then Kat just needed to keep her from creating an ugly public scene.
“I’d say that you’ve already come under scrutiny” Kat replied, “The assumption all along was that there was a chance that the letters might be intercepted.”
“There were things in those letters that I didn’t even tell my mother” Nancy hissed at Kat, “And you knew the whole time.”
“I opened up to you in those letters because you weren’t in my world” Kat replied, “You knew me as Kat, not that repellent, sickeningly perfect person who people think I am.”
Nancy remembered all the times that Kat mentioned that she considered Dame, later Freiherrin, Katherine to be like an unwelcome roommate. But to actually hear her say that aloud, how she really didn’t like that figure.
“Good morning, Nancy” Nancy heard Beatrice say, “Who is this?” Beatrice had made a point of never taking a class that started before nine in the morning, preferring them to fall in the afternoon if that was possible. Of all the days she could have picked to be up before ten o’clock.
“This is Kat” Nancy said, “Who I’ve been writing to for years.”
“Really?” Beatrice asked with entirely too much enthusiasm, “Why’s she here?”
“Because I found out she was coming and was worried about the details” Kat replied. That was an interesting evasion, it was technically true but left out a great deal. It hit Nancy that Kat did that a lot, but she’d always been fairly candid in her letters. At the same time, it rang true that Kat came because she was worried, that made it difficult to be angry with her.
“I’ll let you two talk, nice to meet you Kat” Beatrice said before she walked off, presumably to get her own breakfast.
“The truth” Nancy said, “How much of what you told me was real?”
“Most of it” Kat replied.
Nancy stared at her for a long moment, “Who’s Ian?” She asked, “No details left out.”
“He’s a British Intelligence Officer” Kat said, “Imagine a weasel in human form.”
“Douglas?” Nancy asked.
“My boyfriend” Kat said, “He’s a photographer, he’s not a soldier or operative. It’s one of the things I like about him.”
“Maria?”
“We can play this game all day” Kat said, “It won’t change anything.”
“Who’s Maria?” Nancy said, repeating the question.
“She’s my mentor, a Journalist and Editor at the Berliner” Kat said, “Her husband happens to be Emil Holz.”
“Gianna?”
“One of my adopted sisters” Kat said flatly. Something about the way Kat said that suggested that there was a bright line there that Nancy wouldn’t want to cross. She had mentioned all of those people in the letters. For Nancy this was all too much, the actual presence of Kat herself was way too intense and not at all like what she had expected.
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But they have to learn that TTL. Progress isn't smooth and easy. And it is used in some TTl vehicles (as per Knightmare's video link).
And there's a massive adverse reaction about the 'Ford Fireball' or the 'Chevrolet Conflagration' or 'Dodge Inferno.'
Uh... Honda RA302
Well, it's not like people drive F1s on their daily lives, but I'd be a bit wary of driving a magnesium-bodied car.
I'm not saying it's a brilliantly good idea but it was one of the things being looked at in prewar Germany. Aluminium will win out on safety grounds if that path is taken yes, but best to keep it real. TTL will make missteps just like OTL did. But that doesn't mean they might not take a road not taken OTL. And have lighter, longer lasting and more fuel efficient cars during the period 1950-1980 than OTL?
FBKampfer
Banned
They would already be well aware of magnesium's pyrotechnic properties. It was a noted issue with magnesium brackets and mountings for engines in aircraft.
Under normal operating temperatures, the magnesium wouldn't ignite, and just provided a strong, lightweight mounting point for the engine.
Also, PM, what's the progress on the German gas turbine engines? They were quite advanced by 1945, and if I recall, we're planned as upgrades for the E-series once they worked out the bugs of the exhaust recovery systems.
Under normal operating temperatures, the magnesium wouldn't ignite, and just provided a strong, lightweight mounting point for the engine.
Also, PM, what's the progress on the German gas turbine engines? They were quite advanced by 1945, and if I recall, we're planned as upgrades for the E-series once they worked out the bugs of the exhaust recovery systems.
Part 42, Chapter 533
Chapter Five Hundred Thirty-Three
3rd April 1946
Jena
It was an adjustment. Lang still read the newspaper with an eye towards decisions that he might have made only to remind himself that he was now a private citizen. There were however moments of satisfaction when programs he’d started bore fruit. Volkswagen, who had done well in the war, were looking to advance beyond the Type 1 based cars in the compact car market. The concept car they had come up with looked to have been built as cheaply as possible but was actually an innovative departure from the Type 1 designed by Ferdinand Porsche a decade earlier. A two-door compact with a large hatch in the back for loading. Built around a two-cylinder air-cooled boxer engine in the front and front wheel drive. It was the first car designed inhouse by Volkswagen. The article mentioned that they were looking at having it reach the sales floor by this summer. The project of establishing VW as a major undertaking that he had participated in while he was still coming up in the Reichstag. He was always happy to see that the auto manufacturer was flourishing.
At the moment he was in his home office surrounded by the rewards for his tenure as Chancellor. Freiherr Augustus von Lang of Jena, Knight of the Black Eagle, holder of the Pour le Mérite Civil Class and a number of other awards. It was all so… ironic.
“Deep in thought” Franz Lang said. Lang’s father had retired from the University a decade earlier. Since then he’d pursued his passion of writing a history of the Roman Republic. When Lang had moved back to Jena he had invited his father to move in, talking with him had made the transition to his new life easier.
“Just thinking of my current station in life and what the revolutionary who I was twenty-five years ago would have made of all of this?” Lang said.
“But then, what have you in common with the child of five whose photograph your mother keeps on the mantlepiece? Nothing except you happen to be the same person” Franz said, “An Englishman, George Orwell, wrote that in an essay about the involvement of the British Empire in the recently concluded war. I think that applies to you as well.”
Lang had actually met Eric Blair shortly after the Spanish Civil War, it sounded like the sort of thing he’d write.
“Thank you” Lang replied, “It does fit.”
“You’re welcome” Franz said, “But you won’t be so happy about the letter that arrived this afternoon.”
“Regarding?” Lang asked.
“One of your half-brothers wrote from Argentina” Franz said, “They are hoping that they could bring some more peace to the world.”
“I’m shocked you are so sanguine about that” Lang said.
“Forty-five years is more than enough time to get over a divorce” Franz said, “That doesn’t make your own sense of abandonment any less profound.”
“Mostly I’ve pushed that out of my mind” Lang said. It seemed hard to believe, but his mother was still alive, living with her second family in South America. The letter today had merely been the latest. Lang himself had received several. Apparently, they were looking to meet their relatives living in Germany. Lang had burnt the ones he’d received but they were not giving up.
Seattle
In the end Nancy missed most of her classes that day. Once she got over her feeling of anger at Kat’s warning about how Nancy could have the FBI focused on her because of their friendship. She had realized that her friend had come halfway around the world to give that warning. They had left the cafeteria and walked around the University of Washington campus with Nancy as the tour guide. It was one of the rare nice Spring days that Seattle sometimes had between weeks of endless rain.
In the end they had just hung around in Nancy’s dorm room and Kat told her stories about her adventures. Things that there was no way she could ever put in a letter. The helicopters, the mission planning, the adventures, it was all so incredible. Then came a strange moment when Kat had mentioned a Seager Lauritz and how he’d had a crush on Kat for months. When Nancy had asked what had come of that, Kat had gotten sad and changed the subject. That was when Nancy had remembered that documentary, how a large percentage of people in Kat’s unit had never returned from missions. Kat had painted herself into a similar corner with a man named Heinz Thorwald, she had mentioned that he had specialized in impossible shots, fired at staggering distances. Nancy remembered that name as the Commander who’d gone out and simply was never heard from again.
Then Kat had astonished Nancy by talking frankly about her struggles with persistent traumatic stress and how she had volunteered to do an experimental therapy. Nancy had asked what that was like. Kat had said it was indescribable, once she had gotten past the hard stuff she had been one with everything for a few hours. There was no self, no Dame Katherine, no fear or anxiety, she was absolutely free for a few hours. It was profoundly liberating and terrifying at the same time.
Later, as they went to go get dinner a jet from the nearby airfield where the Boeing assembly plant was had shrieked by overhead. Kat looked at it with a knowing smile. “I’m on vacation” She said.
3rd April 1946
Jena
It was an adjustment. Lang still read the newspaper with an eye towards decisions that he might have made only to remind himself that he was now a private citizen. There were however moments of satisfaction when programs he’d started bore fruit. Volkswagen, who had done well in the war, were looking to advance beyond the Type 1 based cars in the compact car market. The concept car they had come up with looked to have been built as cheaply as possible but was actually an innovative departure from the Type 1 designed by Ferdinand Porsche a decade earlier. A two-door compact with a large hatch in the back for loading. Built around a two-cylinder air-cooled boxer engine in the front and front wheel drive. It was the first car designed inhouse by Volkswagen. The article mentioned that they were looking at having it reach the sales floor by this summer. The project of establishing VW as a major undertaking that he had participated in while he was still coming up in the Reichstag. He was always happy to see that the auto manufacturer was flourishing.
At the moment he was in his home office surrounded by the rewards for his tenure as Chancellor. Freiherr Augustus von Lang of Jena, Knight of the Black Eagle, holder of the Pour le Mérite Civil Class and a number of other awards. It was all so… ironic.
“Deep in thought” Franz Lang said. Lang’s father had retired from the University a decade earlier. Since then he’d pursued his passion of writing a history of the Roman Republic. When Lang had moved back to Jena he had invited his father to move in, talking with him had made the transition to his new life easier.
“Just thinking of my current station in life and what the revolutionary who I was twenty-five years ago would have made of all of this?” Lang said.
“But then, what have you in common with the child of five whose photograph your mother keeps on the mantlepiece? Nothing except you happen to be the same person” Franz said, “An Englishman, George Orwell, wrote that in an essay about the involvement of the British Empire in the recently concluded war. I think that applies to you as well.”
Lang had actually met Eric Blair shortly after the Spanish Civil War, it sounded like the sort of thing he’d write.
“Thank you” Lang replied, “It does fit.”
“You’re welcome” Franz said, “But you won’t be so happy about the letter that arrived this afternoon.”
“Regarding?” Lang asked.
“One of your half-brothers wrote from Argentina” Franz said, “They are hoping that they could bring some more peace to the world.”
“I’m shocked you are so sanguine about that” Lang said.
“Forty-five years is more than enough time to get over a divorce” Franz said, “That doesn’t make your own sense of abandonment any less profound.”
“Mostly I’ve pushed that out of my mind” Lang said. It seemed hard to believe, but his mother was still alive, living with her second family in South America. The letter today had merely been the latest. Lang himself had received several. Apparently, they were looking to meet their relatives living in Germany. Lang had burnt the ones he’d received but they were not giving up.
Seattle
In the end Nancy missed most of her classes that day. Once she got over her feeling of anger at Kat’s warning about how Nancy could have the FBI focused on her because of their friendship. She had realized that her friend had come halfway around the world to give that warning. They had left the cafeteria and walked around the University of Washington campus with Nancy as the tour guide. It was one of the rare nice Spring days that Seattle sometimes had between weeks of endless rain.
In the end they had just hung around in Nancy’s dorm room and Kat told her stories about her adventures. Things that there was no way she could ever put in a letter. The helicopters, the mission planning, the adventures, it was all so incredible. Then came a strange moment when Kat had mentioned a Seager Lauritz and how he’d had a crush on Kat for months. When Nancy had asked what had come of that, Kat had gotten sad and changed the subject. That was when Nancy had remembered that documentary, how a large percentage of people in Kat’s unit had never returned from missions. Kat had painted herself into a similar corner with a man named Heinz Thorwald, she had mentioned that he had specialized in impossible shots, fired at staggering distances. Nancy remembered that name as the Commander who’d gone out and simply was never heard from again.
Then Kat had astonished Nancy by talking frankly about her struggles with persistent traumatic stress and how she had volunteered to do an experimental therapy. Nancy had asked what that was like. Kat had said it was indescribable, once she had gotten past the hard stuff she had been one with everything for a few hours. There was no self, no Dame Katherine, no fear or anxiety, she was absolutely free for a few hours. It was profoundly liberating and terrifying at the same time.
Later, as they went to go get dinner a jet from the nearby airfield where the Boeing assembly plant was had shrieked by overhead. Kat looked at it with a knowing smile. “I’m on vacation” She said.
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