Part 126, Chapter 2139
Chapter Two Thousand One Hundred Thirty-Nine
22nd April 1972
Kiel
She was slipping in and out of sleep midmorning on a Sunday. Kiki didn’t want to get out of bed and face the various responsibilities, instead she wanted to sleep the day away.
Opening her eyes, Kiki could see the light coming in through the deck-lights above, the prismatic glass blocks set in the fore deck of the Epione. She had planned for the interior paneling and floor in light-colored hardwood, mostly maple and ash with walnut accent stripes. This was on top of making sure that as much natural light and air as possible made its way into the barge. That included the bay windows and skylights on the upper deck.
On the lower deck, that had proven a bit difficult. Each cabin had a porthole that opened, but they were of questionable value seeing that they were only fifty or sixty centimeters above the waterline so opening them at the wrong time could cause problems. It was a part of the Epione’s riverine nature, but there would be times when she would need to traverse rough water. That was why she had invested in a state-of-the-art ventilation and air-conditioning system. It was something that she had needed due to the installation of the medical suite anyway. That wasn’t the only new technology that had gone into the Epione. There was the solar array on the roof fore and aft of the wheelhouse. The Epione was the first craft to boast that feature which the European Space Agency wasn’t planning on launching into orbit. The Master’s cabin was located under the fore deck, so it was the only cabin that had the deck-lights in addition to the portholes.
Thinking about the Epione caused her to completely wake up. It was a disappointing development because Kiki also became aware of her present unclothed state. It was a reminder of what had gone on with her and Ben the night before and just thinking about it caused her to feel heat on her cheeks. It was something that they had done many times, but this had been one of the few times he had gotten everything right and that certainly made it memorable. Afterwards they had fallen asleep. Kiki had a dim memory of hearing Ben getting up, water running, and the door closing. She was a bit surprised that he didn’t stick around. He had woken Kiki with a kiss many times, usually as a way to get her to agree to another round and that had worked far more often than she was willing to admit. Even if it wasn’t particularly memorable, it was nice to be so close to him.
It was then that the door opened, and Kiki heard the sound of claws on the wooden floor before something landed on the bed next to her. She felt a cold, wet nose poking at her before Rauchbier started licking her face. She liked being woken with kisses, but not like this. “Enough” Kiki moaned, she scratched Rauchbier’s ears before she pushed him away.
“He needed to go out” Ben said before he handed Kiki her blue dressing gown.
“Where’s Nina?” Kiki asked as she pulled it on.
“With Fianna” Ben replied as he handed Kiki a cup of coffee. “She asked me to tell you that breakfast is ready whenever you are and wants to know when you are going to find a Cook so that she doesn’t have to worry about that.”
“I am working on that” Kiki said, “That won’t be as easy as it was with the additional crew.”
They had found two new crewmen in just a matter of hours, with the Atlantic Fleet trickling back from South America there were a substantial number of Sailors who were looking for greener pastures in the private sector or at least a billet where the crew wasn’t packed in like sardines, which was what happened most of the time with warships. The two who Gregor vouched for were of that sort. Finding a Cook was a bit more complicated. They had had men and women whose prior experience included working in establishments with Michelin Star ratings, the thing was that few of them were interested in working aboard the Epione once they understood what they would be doing. On the other side of the ledger were those with experience working aboard ships but would not be up to the task if Kiki found herself entertaining a Head of State, or someone equally significant.
“Fianna knows that” Ben said, “She just wishes that you would get it done.”
Kiki shrugged; it wasn’t as if she didn’t have other things going on. Everything happened in its own order and there wasn’t a whole that even she could do to change that.
“The other thing is that Grand Admiral von Hausen invited us to have a luncheon that he and his wife are throwing” Ben said, “So, you are not going to be able to lay around sleeping all day.”
“I hate his bird” Kiki stated flatly. Referring to the parrot that the Admiral kept as a pet. As a Junior Officer, von Hausen had lost an eye during the Battle of the South China Sea. Eventually, he had convinced the Navy to issue him a waiver to allow him to go back to sea and he had leaned into the whole piratical aspect by wearing a black eyepatch and adopting a black pennant to mark his Flagship. The men of the Navy loved it and had given him a parrot as a gift. As Kiki had learned, it had been taught to “speak” by a group of Sailors and it loved to sneak up on unsuspecting people and surprise them by loudly squawking obscenities into their ear. The bird adored von Hauser though, so it had stayed around as he had been appointed Grand Admiral at the end of a long career.
“You only need to put up with Rüdiger for a couple hours” Ben replied, “Getting cleaned up and clothes would probably be a good idea.”
“The Medical Service doesn’t answer to the Navy, so one of these days I am going to shoot the damned thing” Kiki said to Ben before she started walking in the direction of the bathroom.
22nd April 1972
Kiel
She was slipping in and out of sleep midmorning on a Sunday. Kiki didn’t want to get out of bed and face the various responsibilities, instead she wanted to sleep the day away.
Opening her eyes, Kiki could see the light coming in through the deck-lights above, the prismatic glass blocks set in the fore deck of the Epione. She had planned for the interior paneling and floor in light-colored hardwood, mostly maple and ash with walnut accent stripes. This was on top of making sure that as much natural light and air as possible made its way into the barge. That included the bay windows and skylights on the upper deck.
On the lower deck, that had proven a bit difficult. Each cabin had a porthole that opened, but they were of questionable value seeing that they were only fifty or sixty centimeters above the waterline so opening them at the wrong time could cause problems. It was a part of the Epione’s riverine nature, but there would be times when she would need to traverse rough water. That was why she had invested in a state-of-the-art ventilation and air-conditioning system. It was something that she had needed due to the installation of the medical suite anyway. That wasn’t the only new technology that had gone into the Epione. There was the solar array on the roof fore and aft of the wheelhouse. The Epione was the first craft to boast that feature which the European Space Agency wasn’t planning on launching into orbit. The Master’s cabin was located under the fore deck, so it was the only cabin that had the deck-lights in addition to the portholes.
Thinking about the Epione caused her to completely wake up. It was a disappointing development because Kiki also became aware of her present unclothed state. It was a reminder of what had gone on with her and Ben the night before and just thinking about it caused her to feel heat on her cheeks. It was something that they had done many times, but this had been one of the few times he had gotten everything right and that certainly made it memorable. Afterwards they had fallen asleep. Kiki had a dim memory of hearing Ben getting up, water running, and the door closing. She was a bit surprised that he didn’t stick around. He had woken Kiki with a kiss many times, usually as a way to get her to agree to another round and that had worked far more often than she was willing to admit. Even if it wasn’t particularly memorable, it was nice to be so close to him.
It was then that the door opened, and Kiki heard the sound of claws on the wooden floor before something landed on the bed next to her. She felt a cold, wet nose poking at her before Rauchbier started licking her face. She liked being woken with kisses, but not like this. “Enough” Kiki moaned, she scratched Rauchbier’s ears before she pushed him away.
“He needed to go out” Ben said before he handed Kiki her blue dressing gown.
“Where’s Nina?” Kiki asked as she pulled it on.
“With Fianna” Ben replied as he handed Kiki a cup of coffee. “She asked me to tell you that breakfast is ready whenever you are and wants to know when you are going to find a Cook so that she doesn’t have to worry about that.”
“I am working on that” Kiki said, “That won’t be as easy as it was with the additional crew.”
They had found two new crewmen in just a matter of hours, with the Atlantic Fleet trickling back from South America there were a substantial number of Sailors who were looking for greener pastures in the private sector or at least a billet where the crew wasn’t packed in like sardines, which was what happened most of the time with warships. The two who Gregor vouched for were of that sort. Finding a Cook was a bit more complicated. They had had men and women whose prior experience included working in establishments with Michelin Star ratings, the thing was that few of them were interested in working aboard the Epione once they understood what they would be doing. On the other side of the ledger were those with experience working aboard ships but would not be up to the task if Kiki found herself entertaining a Head of State, or someone equally significant.
“Fianna knows that” Ben said, “She just wishes that you would get it done.”
Kiki shrugged; it wasn’t as if she didn’t have other things going on. Everything happened in its own order and there wasn’t a whole that even she could do to change that.
“The other thing is that Grand Admiral von Hausen invited us to have a luncheon that he and his wife are throwing” Ben said, “So, you are not going to be able to lay around sleeping all day.”
“I hate his bird” Kiki stated flatly. Referring to the parrot that the Admiral kept as a pet. As a Junior Officer, von Hausen had lost an eye during the Battle of the South China Sea. Eventually, he had convinced the Navy to issue him a waiver to allow him to go back to sea and he had leaned into the whole piratical aspect by wearing a black eyepatch and adopting a black pennant to mark his Flagship. The men of the Navy loved it and had given him a parrot as a gift. As Kiki had learned, it had been taught to “speak” by a group of Sailors and it loved to sneak up on unsuspecting people and surprise them by loudly squawking obscenities into their ear. The bird adored von Hauser though, so it had stayed around as he had been appointed Grand Admiral at the end of a long career.
“You only need to put up with Rüdiger for a couple hours” Ben replied, “Getting cleaned up and clothes would probably be a good idea.”
“The Medical Service doesn’t answer to the Navy, so one of these days I am going to shoot the damned thing” Kiki said to Ben before she started walking in the direction of the bathroom.
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