Chapter Two Thousand Eight Hundred and Thirty
29th June 1980
Kiel, Germany
Erich had been a bit embarrassed when Gretchen had first seen his car, a VW Passat Sedan that had seen better days. The truth was that she didn’t care as she looked out the passenger side window at the street going past. Just being here was enough for her. She had thought that it would need a whole lot of effort to convince her mother to let her come, only to be told that she was old enough to make her own mistakes. At the moment her parents were up to their neck in dealing with the mess that Anna had caused, the exasperation from that had carried over to Gretchen to the extent that they had let her go to Kiel.
Gretchen had no idea what might have motived her sister, but this time, she had been caught red-handed, or blue considering the color of indelible ink that had sprayed all over Anna when she had pulled the fire alarm. The present student body at the Wahlstatt Institute was around 90% male, so there was no way that had been the first time that someone had thought about doing that and the school had taken measures to catch the culprit. Gretchen remember that everyone had been having so much fun right up until the alarm had gone off. When Gretchen had asked her mother why Anna had done something so stupid, she had gotten an exasperated look and had been told that she and Anna needed to start acting like sisters as opposed the constant sniping at each other, which was unacceptable.
From there, it had been all about figuring out what to wear to a gala at a Yacht Club that was doubtlessly going to have a nautical theme. Gretchen had been at a bit of a loss, so she had worn what she thought looked nice. The white sundress she was wearing was perfectly in keeping with the season and she hoped that it would not be too informal for the event. When Erich picked her up from the apartment that her parents lived in due to her father’s role in the Kaiserliche Marine and Marine Infantry, that was when he had been a bit embarrassed by his car. She saw that he was wearing the summer dress uniform of the Marine Infantry and looked like he had stepped out of a recruiting poster. He had clearly been hoping to impress Gretchen’s parents. The car was not in keeping with that and he was all too aware of the fact that Gretchen’s father could squash him like a bug if he stepped out of line.
The drive to the Imperial Yacht Club had been pleasant enough, now though as Gretchen got out of the car she noticed that she could see both the white building that housed the Club and just across the water was the large grey office building that she knew housed the High Command of the KM, where her father as the Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Navy often spent his days. She didn’t know why that had slipped her mind until that moment, but it did explain a whole lot about her mother’s reaction when she had asked to come to the gala. The close proximity to the OKM meant that the Yacht Club would inevitably be a hotbed of Navy politics. Being greeted by Kapitan-zur-See von Feldt buttressed that opinion. Gretchen remembered that he had commanded the SMS Mackensen in the Pacific War, a Battlecruiser that had sustained a staggering amount of damage in the Battle of the South China Sea. He had managed to get the Mackensen back to port, only to oversee her being stripped of everything useful before being written off and sent to the breakers. He had gone on to command the SMS Adrian Baier, the last Battlecruiser to join the German Fleet and whose namesake had overshadowed von Feldt’s career in a case of perverse irony. These days von Feldt was the Kommodore of Imperial Yacht Club in Kiel, the instant that Gretchen had walked in with Erich he had taken one look at them and she could just see the wheels turning.
“What a lovely surprise to have you here Markgräfin” von Feldt said, “If you could tell your father that my invitation still stands.” He then shot Erich an approving look before going to greet someone else.
“What was that?” Gretchen asked in a stage whisper.
“Just roll with it” Erich replied, he clearly had his back up.
As it turned out, Erich had been correct that they were among the youngest people present at this event. What he had not anticipated was the shocking amount of brass and gold braid that was on full display. This was the very institution of the High Seas Fleet with its various factions and politics. Gretchen realized that just her presence was as had been stated in Star Wars, a disturbance in the force. Then she saw two people, an older couple, the man looked at Erich with complete disdain and the woman looked embarrassed, the look on Erich’s face grew strained.
“Gretchen, this is my mother and father” Erich said, his words guarded.
Erich’s father glowered at him; he had said that his father had not approved of his career choices. Namely taking a direct Commission in the Marine Infantry out of the Naval Academy as opposed to going to University with the intention of joining the Naval Command Track.
“It is lovely to finally meet you Gretchen” Erich’s mother said, trying to keep the peace and clearly unhappy with her husband. “Erich was a bit vague about who you are. Did I hear the Kommodore called you a Markgräfin?”
“It is a silly title” Gretchen replied, “My father received it when he was appointed to be the Marshal of Silesia.”
“Claudia, her father is Dietrich von Schultz” Erich’s father said, as Gretchen saw his face switch from beet red to a sudden white pallor. With that Erich’s mother, Claudia, led his father over to one of the tables where she sat him down as she tried to deal whatever sort of attack he was having.
“That actually went better than I had hoped” Erich said, much to Gretchen’s shock. How could that have gone worse?