Chapter One Thousand Seven Hundred Fifty-One
12th September 1966
Charlottenburg, Berlin
Suse had been warned about lectures before nine o’clock in the morning. Still, she had signed up for this one because she wanted to get through Post-Secondary Education as quickly as possible and get on with her life. Hopefully freeing herself from her embarrassing family entanglements in the process.
The lecture at the Technical University’s Main Campus might have been one of the most boring subjects imaginable, Introduction to Materials Science. With the Space Program being all the rage, the lecture was focusing on the work of Belgian Engineer Karel Bossart, how it played a key role in the ongoing Programs of the ESA and the properties of stainless steel. The way that it was being presented was rather dry, especially considering the nature of it. Not that Suse minded, presently a bit of boring was good because it allowed her to decompress a bit. The summer had been a little too eventful and not in a good way. After she had broken up with Manfred, though whether they were ever together in the first place was debatable, she had spent the summer in Prague with her family.
That was when the trouble started.
Her brother, Alois, had told all his friends at the Culinary Academy he attended that his older, unattached sister was coming to town and the description that he had given them of her was extremely problematic. It was the very thing most likely to anger Suse and Alois had thought was funny since they had been children, the idea of her being a cuddly little elf. That had been reflected in the gifts that Suse had received as a group of feckless boys had tried and failed badly to get her to go on a date with one of them.
Then Suse’s mother had opened her mouth in one of her rather embarrassing conversations. There were times that she was certain that her mother just liked pressing buttons to see if anything went off in a fun way. Suse had no idea how the conversation had gotten around to the topic, but her mother had asked if all of Manfred was as big as the rest of him. It had taken entirely too long for her to realize what her mother was getting at, so Suse had been left sputtering and red-faced as she had tried to explain that their relationship hadn’t progressed to that point. Inadvertently revealing several other aspects about herself in the process that her mother found incredibly amusing. Months earlier Kat had been worried by the fact that Suse was her mother’s daughter. It had been during that conversation with her mother that she had come to understand why. And the most grating part was that she had turned down the opportunity to go with Jo to the East Frisian Islands because that had seemed entirely too pedestrian at the time.
Trieste, Austria
The VW Microbus was still parked next to the warehouse a short distance from the pier. Louis could see the power cord that ran to it that Laninga was complaining about snaking out of the building. Zella had said that the Microbus had been built specially for them by VW’s Sonder-Kfz Division to provide her and Yuri a place to work and sleep while they were in the field. All the windows and the back doors had been left open, that was to be expected because it had never really cooled down the night before. Yuri was sound asleep on the backseat that had folded down into a bed and Louis assumed that Zella was up in the tent like structure that was from where a section of the roof had hinged upwards. The remainder of the interior was a working space with televisions bolted to the wall, video players set up on a table just below and a pair of stools, one laying on its side. There were boxes containing tapes and cases for video equipment crammed in everywhere.
“Anyone awake?” Louis called out.
He heard movement up top and Zella’s bare feet appeared before she dropped down through a hatch in the ceiling. She was wearing red and white striped men’s pajamas, sort of an odd choice.
“What do you want Louis?” Zella asked as she sat down in the open side door. It was extremely clear that she had not wanted to get out of bed.
“To tell you that Wunsdorf got back to me about your request to accompany us the next time the flotilla goes out” Louis said, “They told me that it was entirely at my discretion.”
“Oh” Zella said, clearly not thrilled about that.
“You need to understand that being on the boats of the flotilla can be dangerous even at the best of times. If there is any action protection is scant and the accommodation will make what you currently enjoy seem luxurious” Louis said, “Most of all though, you have to be prepared to do what you are told and cannot be seen as undermining the chain of command.”
“I know how the military works” Zella replied, “I’ve a lifetime of experience.”
“Do you also understand the sort of presumptions that the crews have made about you?” Louis asked.
“Also speaking of other things that I’ve dealt with my entire life” Zella said.
“They think you are my woman” Louis said flatly.
Zella just laughed at that. “Speaking of presumptuous” She said, “You are my best friend’s little brother.”
“Perhaps it would be better for everyone if you stayed here” Louis said, disliking her attitude. “Your Cameraman seems perfectly capable.”
The instant Louis said that, he saw anger lite up in Zella’s eyes. “Don’t you dare” She said coldly.