NationStates Jolt Archive

The sergeant slapped her in the face again, "Hey, I'm talking to you, say something damnit..."

'I don't smoke' she murmerd, not looking at the man.

The sergeant nodded as the medic kept giving the old man CPR, "Don't smoke eh? Want something to drink? Water? Vodka? Anything?"

She nodded, 'Water if you have it please.'

He nodded and pulled his water system off his back, and handed it to her (it's a camelbak style system) he opened the valve and said, "You need to draw the water out, same as with a straw, just dust it off before and after you're done..."


He then folded his arms and leaned back against a small brick wall that was behind him.

She took a long, gulping drink, before handing the tube back to the soldier. She mumbled, 'Thank you'.

The sergeant suddenly got a call over the radio, the riot was largely contained, his unit was to pull out...

He stood up, looked at the man that one of his soldiers had shot in the stomach, and then he chuckled as he pulled the woman he'd given water to, up and on her feet. He pushed her over to a nearby Hummer and motioned at it, "Get in..." he said.

The other soldiers stood up, two got into the hummer, dragging the other woman along with them.

Four of the soldiers leveled their MP-5s towards the remaining male reporters, one smiled, "Stand up!!! Now! Move against the wall!" he was motioning for them to stand against the nearby brick wall.

He geusterued hopelessly towards his bleeding comrade, a bullet wound to the gut hampering his ability to stand. 'In Gods name,' he shouted, 'show some mercy!'

The corporal of the section of four, their weapons trained on the men, suddenly decided to spare them. He motioned for his men to lower their weapons, and he let the medic help the man who was shot in the stomach.

The medic managed to get the bullet out and stop the bleeding, and he patched the wound back up, used some blood-clotting agents to assure the bleeding was stopped, and he used some morphine to dull the pain.

The corproal's men moved into another nearby hummer, the corporal waved goodbye to the two men, the one unwounded man holding his still weak comrade in his arms.

The hummers sped off into the night, the sergeant sitting in the back of the lead hummer, with an arm around each of the women, smiling before he said, "Well, you two ladies will enjoy where we are going next..."

They said nothing, staring silently at the blacked out windows.

The sergeant smiled as he pulled each of them closer, and then sighed, "Ladies, please, at least say something... I tell you what.." he said with a grin, "You have two choices, you can either stay with me, or you can take your chances and you may leave, but I decide where you go."

Still they said nothing, a bead of sweat on one of their foreheads. Gira, the youngest was figeting with her coat pocket.

The sergeant pulled her hand out of her coat pocket and then reached in to see what might be in there that they could have possibly overlooked after they frisked them earlier.

He frowned, "What is in your pocket?"

She didn't reply, instead continuing to fiddle with her pocket.

He slapped her in the face as she attempted to reach back in her pocket... He then sighed, realizing there was nothing in there. He frowned, "Why didn't you just tell me there was nothing in there... Well anyway, you two had better say something, make up your mind what your choice is, and fast."

The two hummers continued to speed off into the night, heading towards Stahlecker City.

Fritz smiled at her, "Would you like to go to where he is? I can take you there, it'll just be a short ride... Or I can have you call him, and arrange something..."


Fritz picked up the phone, and called Don Salazar, and confirmed that the man was indeed there... He turned to her, "Yes, he's there..." and then said, "Do you want to speak to him?" He handed her the phone and Don handed his phone to the man.Aiwendil took the phone, issuing a deep sigh of relief. “Thank goodness, Lókë. I was afraid they’d done something terrible to you.”

The man laughed weakly. “You might say that, but I’m all right now,” he said, pausing. “I take it you want to get home as soon as possible?”

“Yes, as much as I complain about Eldanor, I really want to get out of Sahara as soon as we can. Unfortunately, I’ve lost my identification and my passport.”

“That might cause some trouble,” he told her, frowning. The man then sighed. “We’ll figure out something, Aiwendil. Can you meet me in Stahlecker City tomorrow?”

She turned to Fritz, and asked, “Could you drive me to Stahlecker City tomorrow? And is there anywhere that would be a good place to meet with my friend?”

Fritz nodded, "Certainly, I'll drive you there first thing tomorrow morning, whenever you're ready to go, just let me know. Or perhaps we could take my helicopter?"


He grinned, "As for meeting your friend, we can meet at the governor's mansion, the governor, I am very good friends with, we are relatives, Stahleckers are close, close, poeple. Anyway, he will want to hear about your problems here so that can correct them."

She nodded gratefully and spoke into the phone once more. "Tomorrow, yes, the governor's mansion?"

"Sounds good," the man said.

"See you then," Aiwendil told him, hanging up.

Fritz smiled, "Well, tomorrow it is then, would you like something to drink or will you be turning in right away?"

ooc: Get your ass on MSN.

The sergeant pulled her hand out of her coat pocket and then reached in to see what might be in there that they could have possibly overlooked after they frisked them earlier.

He frowned, "What is in your pocket?"

She didn't reply, instead continuing to fiddle with her pocket.

He slapped her in the face as she attempted to reach back in her pocket... He then sighed, realizing there was nothing in there. He frowned, "Why didn't you just tell me there was nothing in there... Well anyway, you two had better say something, make up your mind what your choice is, and fast."

The two hummers continued to speed off into the night, heading towards Stahlecker City.

They both nodded, the older, Sara, now spoke up in a husky voice, 'We choose you. We will retain some honour, we are not barrack room whores.'

The sergeant smiled, "Good choice, so what are your names, ages, and tell me some interesting things about yourselves..."

The younger shook hands warily, her young piping voice sounding above the rumble of the veichle, 'My name is Gira Arras, I am nineteen years old. I am, I was from Yerevan. This was my first commision...'. As her voice trailed off, she was interupted by the elder. 'My name is Sara Jara. Named after my foster mother. I am twenty nine years old this saturday.'

The sergeant nodded, "Yes, I've never heard of any of those places, but I do know they're in Momanguise, not exactly certain where..."


He smiled at Sara, and patted her on the back, "Well happy birthday..."

She gave a weak smile, 'Thanks, that's really...' she yawned and curled up. Gira meanwhile continued to figit, and a button came off and went flying accross the floor. She swore, and scanned the darkness for it, Sara sat up suddenly, an odd look on her face. 'You can have a spare one of mine,' she offered, pulling one out of her pocket. Gira nodded, but had seen the button and walking tentativly managed to grap it off the floor.

The sergeant smiled, "Ah, well my name is Nicholai Kirov, I'm sure you can tell by my name, I'm not Mississippian, I'm the son of Russian immigrants..."


He pointed to a road and told the driver, "That way, my farm is that way, down that road..."

He took the rural road and speed off, kicking up dirt as he went. About twenty minutes later there were at the sergeants farm. It was about 800 acres in size, and the house was at least 8,000 square feet, a fairly decent size. He'd saved away money from various lootings during his campaigns and battles.

He stepped out of the hummer, thanked his fellow soldiers for driving him home, and then told the two women, "We're here, get out..."

They followed, Gira speaking against the howling wind. 'Russian? I am half Russian. My family came from Murmansk, the bay of Kola. They used to tell me stories about watching the british convoys unloading tanks, food. Where were you from?'

He smiled, "A small village along the Volga, near Stalingrad. I was born there and lived there for about ten years, before my family moved to Mississippi, my parents said to fit in better I shouldn't make a big deal out of being a foreigner, so I should claim to be a native born, but not lie that they were immigrants... I find Mississippi is a fine place, but I took an offer to move to Western Sahara because they were giving farms out to whites willing to settle here, basically for free."

He opened the door to the house and entered, beckoning for them to follow.

Fritz smiled, "Well, tomorrow it is then, would you like something to drink or will you be turning in right away?"

"Something to drink would be quite nice."

bump

Fritz smiled, "What would you like?"

She shrugged. "I don't know, maybe just a glass of water?"

He nodded and promptly walked over to a private bar inside his nearby office, returning with a bottle of "Fabus Purified Drinking Water", he handed it to her, "Here you are."

Aiwendil took it, nodding gratefully, and began to take large sips of the water. She drank until the bottle was almost half-way empty, then put the cap back on. "Thanks," she told him.

He smiled, "Okay, anything else you want?"

"Not really," she replied, shaking her head.

He nodded his head, "Well then, perhaps you should turn in now, it'll be an early today tomorrow... I'll be up, don't worry though, this place is large enough so my being up won't disturb you, just take a room farther down on the second floor."

She smiled. "I'll go do that," Aiwendil told him. "Have a good night."

She walked down the hall, selecting a room at the far end, about the same size as her last one was. Locking the door behind her, she went into the bathroom, filling the tub, and slidding in for a warm bath.

Fritz went and poured himself a glass of brandy and then went to his room to get some sleep.

After bathing herself for a while, Aiwendil emptied the bath tub and got out, re-dressing herself. Holding back a yawn, the woman slipped into bed and driften off into a peaceful sleep.

The next morning, Fritz was up at about six in the morning, seeing that breakfast was ready, and having a morning swim and a morning smoke. He was wondering if she was up yet.

bump

Aiwendil woke up around six-thirty, merely out of habit from getting up so early. She muffled a yawn and rolled out of bed. The woman took a quick bath, dressed, and brushed her hair, then left her room and went down the hall. She could smell a delicious meal being prepared.

Fritz smiled as she walked into the room he was in, he was cooking the food himself, "How are you this morning, did you sleep well?"

She smiled. “Very well, thank you,” she told him, looking at what he was cooking. “Smells delicious.”

Fritz smiled, "Yes it is very good..."


Suddenly his phone rang, he answered it, "Hello, yes, what, really, me? Seriously? Okay, I'll leave as soon as I can..."


He hung the phone up and looked to her, "Well, I've just been appointed the Governor-General of Namibia, a part of the newly formed Mississippian Southern Africa... I need to get rid of this estate here, I won't have the time or energy to manage it and maintain it... Do you want it?"

Aiwendil seemed shocked for a minute, but she answered, “Are you sure? If you are, I’m enormously grateful for such generosity. How could I ever repay you?”

She then smiled. “Oh, congratulations on becoming the Governor-General, I’m sure you’ll do a splendid job.”

He shook his head, "No, no, you don't need to repay me, I just don't want you to fall into the false belief that because some of my countrymen were beastly in their conduct towards you... I don't want you mistakingly thinking that all of us are as they are... Indeed if I can find them, I'll see they hang... Anyway, congratulations on your new estate, I'll move my personal affects out as soon as I can, but you may keep most of the furniture and a few of the weapons, and the employees, well they'll continue to work here of course, and we can work something out about the plantation work and profits and such, at a later time."


Ooc- There are about 5,000 acres of farmland that he owns, around the mansion on other sections of the estate.

She nodded gratefully. "Thank you. You have shown me a great deal of kindness and I thank you for all you've done for me. I'm honored you want to give this all to me. I'm sure you will be an excellent Governor-General."

He smiled, "I'm glad to give it to somebody who is so deserving of kindness. You've endured terrible hardships here because of some of my countrymen, consider this my way of trying to help you move on and get by what happened... If you ever need anything though, don't hesitate to call..."

He sighed a little, saddened to see his estate go, but knowing it was probably in good hands, "Anyway, take care of this place, it's been in the family since 1885. I'm sure you'll manage it well..."

ooc: *drums fingers*

“Thank you, thank you so much,” she said, casting a glance around the whole place. “And rest assured, I’ll manage it to the best of my abilities.”

Momanguise, what are you drumming about... It's your line...


http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=7453866&postcount=276

“Thank you, thank you so much,” she said, casting a glance around the whole place. “And rest assured, I’ll manage it to the best of my abilities.”


Fritz smiled, "You're welcome... Well I know you'll do fine... But I need to be leaving shortly, Namibia beckons..."

She nodded. "Yes, I understand, and I wish you well."

I for one support this as my country has spoken portuguese for I don't know how long!

Fritz smiled, "So, you take care, I'm going to head out, maybe you'll stop by in Namibia and visit sometime, or perhaps I can come back here in a while and see how the place is doing..."


He started to pack a few of his items into a bag, as a few of his servants also joined in, packing bags and boxes.

She nodded. "Yes, that would be good."

When he and the servants began to pack, Aiwendil joined, glad to be of help.

Fritz and the others finished packing. He smiled as his items were loaded into a few trucks outside... He tossed her the keys to his twenty car garage, "You'll find the keys to the various vehicles are in the cars already... I just ask that you don't touch my 79 Eldorado, that car was given to me by my father, I'll have it shipped to Namibia in a while, but the others, they are all yours, enjoy."

"Sure, I'll be happy to oblige. I doubt I'll ever get to use them all, anyway."

He smiled, nodded, "Thank you..." And then promptly left, his car speeding off towards Stahlecker City and the waiting airport.

She suddenly remembered she had to meet her colleague.

bump

She walked down to the garage and unlocked the door, closing it behind her. There were a lot of cars inside. She got in a small green one, buckled her seat belt, pulled out, and started driving in towards the city.

The Salazar boys had already gotten the man into the city and were waiting at the governor's mansion. Don looked at him, "So, what do you think of the place?"

"A nice place to say the least," he told Don, observing the mansion.

Moments later, Aiwendil pulled up in the car and hopped out.

Don waited for her and the man to start talking...

The man walked up to her and gave her a friendly hug. “I’m glad to see you are all right, Aiwendil.”

“I’m happy to see you’re in one piece,” she told him.

“I’m happy to be in one piece. Now, when do we intend to leave?”

“Well, I do have something to tell you. Fritz Stahlecker was appointed Governor-General of Namibia and he’s left his estate here to me.

The man gaped for a minute. “Are you serious?”

“Yes,” she said, nodding. “So, I’m going to stay here for a little while, I think. I’ll have some of my belongings sent from home as soon as I can.”

“Well, I’m happy for you, but what about your job?”

She shrugged. “It doesn’t matter, I’ll just tell them I quit, it’s not like I got much airtime. Besides, after this whole fiasco they were sure to fire me. I haven’t had much luck with any on my stories lately. I’m sure I can find a job here for the time being. So, do you need a ride to the airport?”

“Sure, hopefully I can get a flight out.”

Two men suddenly came out of the governor's mansion, walking up to her, one held out a clipboard with papers on it, the other held out a pen, "Ma'am... Department of Commonwealth Revenue Services... You recently came into possession of some real estate worth an estimated four hundred million dollars... Please sign here so that you can be waived of property tax as per Mr. Stahlecker's request that the taxes be covered by himself."

She was mildly surprised, she hadn't expected anything of the sort to occur. But she shrugged and signed the papers, once again thankful for the man's generosity.

Don, not knowing she'd received Fritz's estate, frowned, "What is going on here? Is something wrong? She doesn't need to sign any papers!" (He think's they are undercover DISFB)

bump

"It's all right, Mr. Stahlecker was appointed Governor-General of Namibia and gave me his estate."

Don nodded, "Okay, well that is good... So, what are you and your friend going to do now? Do you plan to stay in Western Sahara?"

She nodded, "Yes, I do, but I think my friend is going to go home."

Don nodded his head, "Hmmm... Yes... I see..." He looked around, and then said, "Well I can get him a plane ride back."

The man nodded. "Thanks, I'd appreciate that."

Don smiled and nodded, "Great, we'll get right on that for you."

"Good, good, I'm looking forward to getting back home."

Don yawned, "Boy, I'm sure tired today, early morning, well anyway, my brother and I need to get moving and look into a tractor and combine, we need to buy some new stuff for this next crop."

The man nodded. “Yes, good luck with that, I guess I’ll go stay with Aiwendil here until you can get me that flight back to Eldanor. Would you mind calling us when you do?”

Don nodded, "Sure, I'll call right away okay..."


He then made the call and walked back over to them, "You there, sir, your flight has been booked, there will be a lieutenant waiting for you there, a reserve officer, ask for the garrison post of Company A, the 2nd Platoon, Lieutenant Harrison, he has your ticket."

The man nodded. "Okay, thanks a bunch."

"I'll drive him. Would you mind giving me directions?" Aiwendil asked.

Don nodded, "Yeah, turn right out of here, turn left at the first intersection, go straight for about six miles, you'll see a large sign for the airport, follow the large white arrows painted on the ground or the signs along the side of the road, you can't miss it, okay?"

She nodded. "Yes, great, I got it. And thanks so much for helping my friend."

The man nodded as well. "Yeah, I really appreciate your hospitality to me and all the help with getting the flight and stuff."

"We should be going now," Aiwendil said, and waved goodbye to the two brothers. She and her companion hopped in the car and drove off the way Don had told them too. They made idle conversation for the next few minutes until they reached the airport.

At the airport, the lieutenant was waiting for the man, holding a ticket in his hand, he walked up to the man, "You the guy from Eldanor? Here you are..." He handed him his ticket, as he said, "Enjoy your flight."

"Ah, thank you," he said, accepting the ticket. Her turned back to Aiwendil, and kissed her on the cheek. "Take care, Aiwendil."

She smiled. "Yes, you too, get in contact with my family, will you? Tell them I'm fine. Have a godo trip, and stay in touch."

He nodded and walked to the boarding area.

The lieutenant saw the man off on to the plane and then turned to the woman, "You're not a Mississippian, you're from Eldanor as he is, yes? Might I ask why are you staying?"

The woman nodded. “Yes, I am indeed from Eldanor, you are correct. Mr. Fritz Stahlecker gave me his estate before he left for Namibia, so I’m staying there for the moment.”

The lieutenant nodded, "Okay, so you're heading back then, you don't need directions do you?"

Aiwendil shook her head. “No, no, I’ll find my way just fine, my memory is pretty good.”

The lieutenant nodded and walked back to his post, suddenly her phone rang, it was Fritz Stahlecker calling from Namibia.


"Hello, this is the Fritz, just calling to see how you and house are getting along... Any complaints about the place yet?"

She laughed. "No, no, I've been out all day, I just drove my friend to the airport, I haven't had much time to look around the place. I'm sure it's great, though," Aiwendil paused. "So, how's Namibia?"

He sighed, "Hot, hot and dry, the irrigation and climate altering programs are just getting started here, it's nowhere near what Western Sahara or Mississippian Egypt are like... Say, would you like to come down here for the weekend and see the governor's mansion, it's a great place here, awfully big though, plenty of room for others to be here for a while, just if you want to that is."

“Oh, so sorry to hear that,” she told him. “And thank you very much for the invite, it would be a pleasure to come and visit with you again.”

Fritz quickly suggested, "Where are you? At the estate or in Stahlecker City? I could have a plane waiting for you at the airport if you'd like to come down for a little visit soon, or whenever you have an opening in your schedule, are you busy now?"

“Ah, well, you called at the right time. I’m at the airport now; I just dropped my friend off. I guess I’ll just go and hop on the plane, eh?”

Fritz smiled, "That sounds great, just tell them the ticket can be charged to Fritz Stahlecker of Namibia, they'll take care of you, get you first class and all. Well then, you've a plane to catch, yes? Have a safe flight, see you soon..."

“Yes, yes, thanks again,” she told him, smiling. “Goodbye then, see you in a little while.”

She hung up and parked the car. Aiwendil hopped out and entered the airport.

Fritz sat back, smoking a cigar, waiting for the plane to arrive, he'd already had his driver ready the car, in a short while, he'd be driving to the airport to pick her up, he wanted to meet her when she got there, and not be late. He'd leave after a few cigars, giving himself plenty of time to fight any traffic that might manifest itself in his path.

Aiwendil got onto the plane with relative ease, and was seated in first class. She was staring out the window as the plane landed and she got off with the rest of the passengers.

Fritz was waiting for her at the gate, "Ah Aiwendil, how was your flight?" he asked her as she was stepping out into the terminal. He then took her luggage out of her hands, "Let me carry that for you, you've had a long flight, you just relax."

She smiled. “Thank you, thank you, it was long, but I enjoy flying, I do it quite often because of my job, but it never seems boring. Have you been waiting long?”

He shook his head, "Nah, not more than an hour, besides, it was worth the wait to see such a lovely young lady and be able to help her with her luggage. Don't you agree?"

She blushed. “Oh, thank you, you’re too kind.”

He smiled, "Just being honest."


He shouldered one of her duffle bags and then asked, "Shall we go then? I have a car waiting."

She nodded and followed him. "Was traffic all right?"

He chuckled a bit, "Yeah, traffic was great... I drove on the shoulder."

He grinned somewhat at the last part, "I can do that, I'm the governor-general here, remember."

She smiled. "I don't blame you, traffic can be frustrating. I do a lot of driving and flying and just generally traveling around."

Fritz walked out to the car and then put all the luggage in the trunk, and then smiled, "Say, do you want to drive? Eldorado is a great car..."

She grinned. "Yes, I've never had the pleasure of driving one before."

Fritz tossed her the keys, "Okay, I call shotgun though." He opened the driver's door for her, helped her get in, and then walked around and got in the passenger side.

There were numerous buttons on control panels along the door and the dash, he smiled a bit, "Be very careful about which buttons you touch, this car is customized..."

"All right then, does it work normally? Any buttons I should press? I apologise, but I've never been in a car like this."

Fritz nodded and smiled, "Well this button here..." He pointed to the most prominent button on the dash, "It activates a 5.56mm mini gun that is stored in the front right side..."


He pointed to another one, "This one here, well these two here, you can eject either of the front seats, each seat has a parachute and a propulsion system..."


He chuckled a bit, "It's probably best just to stick to the buttons for the radio, and temperature control... Other than that, this car is normal."

She nodded. "Sounds very cool. Ready to go, then?"

Fritz shook his head, "Not quite, one thing..." He set the CD player on, it started playing, "The Ride of the Valkeryies", he smiled, "Ready..."

"All right," she said, and pulled out of the airport parking lot. "So, which way to your home?"

Fritz pointed to a nearby sign, "Governor's Mansion and Commonwealth Senate Building, 4 miles", it pointed west.

She nodded and drove the way he was directing her to. "So, is it a nice place?"

Fritz nodded, "Oh you'll see, it's great, better than my, well your estate in Western Sahara..." He smiled at that last part, happy the estate was in good hands.

She smiled and nodded. "Yes, the place in Western Sahara is really nice, I'm sure your new place must be twice as good."

He pointed at a fork in the road, "Take the left road..."


He then nodded his head and leaned back a bit in his seat, relaxing somewhat, "Yeah, it's a great place, you're welcome to stay there of course, certainly, whenever you're in Namibia or anywhere in Africa, I can probably arrange for you to stay somewhere that is both safe and comfortable."

She took the left road and smiled. "Thank you so much, you've helped me so much in the last few days."

He nodded, "Yes, but it was nothing you didn't deserve, having endured such hardships in Western Sahara."

"I might've, but only a truly kind person would have done such a thing. You are a very kind person."

He nodded his head, "I'm glad you think so... I don't have many friends, other than my family members there aren't many people I feel comfortable talking to or being around, I'm just sort of shy I guess... But when I saw you needed help, I knew that it was my duty to help you, for one thing, nobody else was around to do so, and also you were in very bad shape when I found you... I was worried you'd have died from exposure to the elements, the heat can kill in a matter of hours..."

"Yes, I'm glad you cam along and helped me, the heat here is horrible, and I'm thankful, because you probably saved my life."

He then quickly pointed to one last sign, "Turn there and we've basically arrived..."

She turned at the sign. "When you first found me, you were going hunting, correct? Do you hunt often?"

He nodded, "Yes, I enjoy hunting, mostly big game... Perhaps you've heard of my travels through Central and Eastern Africa, detailed in my book, "In Pursuit of Adventure", not just was I hunting game, but I put myself in a place where a duo of man eating lions attempted to get me... They had been terrorizing a farming settlement in southern Mississippian Egypt, the whites there were well armed but lacked the knowledge to handle the lions... It took me six days to finally kill both of them... One was twelve feet long and weighed over nine hundred pounds, the second one was eleven feet long and weighed nearly a thousand pounds... I have them at my residence here, stuffed..."

bump

“Sounds interesting. Perhaps you could give me a copy so I could read it when we get back to your residence.”

Fritz smiled, "Ah, of course, I'll give you a signed copy..."

She grinned back. “That would be wonderful. I can’t remember the last time I’ve read an exciting book.”

Fritz then asked her, "So, have you written any books, perhaps about your experiences in the media or a very interesting story?"

She shook her head. “No, no, my life or my work hasn’t been really exciting or interesting, and I barely passed language arts in high school.”

He shook his head, "Well, you'd be allowed to go to any university or college in our Federation if you want... I know you'd do great."


He suddenly pointed down a road, "Right there... Here we are, turn down that road and we're there..."

She smiled. “Yes, thank you for your offer, but I never was a good student.”

She turned the car down the road he had pointed to.

Fritz stepped out of the car and then walked around and opened the door for her, "Shall we take a look around the grounds or do you want to get right in and freshen up from your flight?"

"Let's take a walk around, okay?"

Fritz nodded his head, "Okay, sure, let's take a walk then..."

He snapped his fingers at a nearby guard and pointed to the car, the guard knew what he meant, get the bags out of the car and take them all into the mansion while he was walking around with her.

She smiled. "Show me what's to see, then."

Fritz nodded and led her to the main garden, thousands of flowers in hundreds of rows, extending as far as the eye could see.

He looked at her, "Like it?"

Her eyes widened in awe somewhat, and she replied, “It’s beautiful!”

He bent down and picked one of the flowers, a Namibian red rose, specially bred and engineered to grow in the hot climate. He handed it to her, "A beautiful flower for a beautiful woman..." he said with a smile.

Aiwendil accepted it carefully, lifting it to her nose and smelling the wonderful fragrance it had. She smiled at him. “It is a very pretty flower.”

He smiled, "I'm glad you like it... Would you like to walk around a bit more, it looks like it might start storming soon. Ever since we altered the climate here, it storms a lot, and very viciously at times."


Up in the sky, the ominous clouds seemed ready to unleash a conflagration of destruction down upon all foolish enough to be caught up in it.

She smiled. “Yes, maybe just for a bit longer. Tell me, how do you change the climate?”

He shook his head, "I wish I could tell you, it's totally classified, we've used it before though, for intelligence reasons, mainly to blame other nations for causing weather problems for us, mostly involving cold and snow..."

"Oh, I see, then. Very advanced technology, is it?"

Fritz smiled, "Yes, very, very, advanced. I couldn't even begin to explain how it works, I just know that it does... They've got a lot of spooky stuff in some of those labs though, scary, light-years ahead of what you'd expect to see."

She nodded. “I understand. But what do you mean by spooky, though? Scary stuff in there?”

He shook his head, "They can reanimate the dead, turning them into mindless, bloodthirsty zombies, using something called the IG Virus... They have biological weapons that can be tailored to races, tribes, nationalities, even individuals, if they can just isolate one gene sequence unique to the desired target group. Chemical agents that can cause a person's blood vessels to erupt in thirty seconds... Other nerve agents that can spasm a man to death in ten seconds... It's just scary stuff."

She nodded, shocked. “Do they use any of it? That is scary stuff, far beyond what I’ve ever heard of.”

He nodded his head a bit, "Yes, in 2004, in Fabus City in Libya... They killed three million with IG Virus, as part of a test to see how difficult it would be to contain millions of zombies... Officially a muslim terrorist blew up a room full of containers of the virus, but he was actually an agent for the Libyan Colonial Intelligence."

She shivered. "That's a scary thought."

Fritz nodded, "Yes, you're right, it is indeed... Look at the clouds though, they're perhaps even scarier... Shall we go inside?"

As he was talking, a bolt of lightning streaked down and exploded against a tree about two-hundred feet away, sending splinters of wood flying. He grabbed her hand and ran for cover behind a nearby gardener's shed, then after the splinters had all landed, he frowned and said, "That was close, we'd better go, eh?"


Suddenly a deluge of rain began, beating down heavily against the earth, making pinging sounds against the metal roof of the sheds and garage.

“Very close. But perhaps we should stay here until the storm blows over. I wouldn’t want you to get hurt.”

He shook his head, "Nonsense... I'll be fine..." He took his coat off and held it over the both of them like and umbrella as he took her hand and raced for the side entrance door of his mansion. About two minutes later they made it inside just as the rain was giving way to hail.


He looked outside at the hail, some the size of basketballs, "Lucky us, eh? We made it in just in time, let's stay away from the windows though, go to an interior room, it's the safe thing to do, eh?"

She smiled. "Thank you. Yeah, let's go away from the windows, wouldn't want to be hit by hail, would we?"

He shook his head, "No, of course not... So, are you hungry, or would you like something to drink?"

She nodded. "Yes, I didn't have much to eat on the plane."

He smiled a bit, "Since I haven't been here too long, the servants, well they've not yet arrived, so I hope you don't mind if I cook dinner myself, I'm a fairly decent cook, I learned a lot in the service, when I was recovering for up six months after stepping on a mine, I was the company cook..."


He frowned a bit, not liking the memories surfacing again, stepping on that landmine, losing his left leg, having to have another leg cloned and the whole period of time it took for it to finally feel normal again.

"Oh, you stepped on a landmine? I'm sorry, I can't even imagine the pain you must've gone through. But I'm sure you're an excellent cook."

He nodded his head, "Yes, it was quite painful..." he wanted to change the subject, it was uncomfortable to talk about and try as he might to conceal that fact, it still showed, so he just tried to quickly change the topic, "So, any idea what you want to eat?"

"Oh, I don't know, whatever you can manage, I'm sure it will taste just fine."

Ooc- Let's jump ahead a bit, their eating and talking about food could go on for a while...



Ic- After they finished eating, he lit up his pipe, well that is after he cleared the table and tossed the few pieces of steak left to his pet cat. It had been a rather good steak dinner, he seemed to think she enjoyed it, he wasn't sure though... After he walked back into the room and put his pipe out so as not to bother her with the smoke, he asked, "So, did you like dinner?"

She smiled. "It was wonderful, I have to say. You are a much better chef then you told me you were."

He blushed a bit, "Oh, you're just being kind..."

He smiled then, "Do you really mean it?"

She nodded and smiled. "Oh yes, of course, I wouldn't lie to you. You make an excellent cook."

He yawned and then looked over at the clock, not yet eight and he was already tired, it had been a busy day... They could still hear the hail pounding down, louder than ever.

He looked over at her, "Well, what now? Any suggestions? Going anywhere, at least for now it seems, is not an option, that hail is awful out there."

She shrugged. "No, not really."

He shook his head, "Ah come on, anything, whatever you want to do, anything, there is bowling alley, a shooting range, numerous swimming pools, all indoors here..."

She smiled. "Bowling, maybe, then."

He smiled, "Bowling it is. This way then..."

She smiled. "Are you good? I'm not very good myself, I haven't played in years."

He grinned, "I usually only manage a 280 if I'm lucky..." He was being modest, falsely modest, he was a great bowler and he knew it, and was proud of it.

She laughed. "I'm not nearly as good, I don't believe I've ever gotten over 190, you'll surely beat me."

He chuckled a bit, "Oh, I don't know about that..."

He then smiled, "Father always told me, if playing against a lady, never play to win, you don't make friends by winning..."

She smiled. "Well, like I said, I'm not very good. Would you mind telling me about your family, though? I'd love to hear."

He sat down and smiled, "Ah, well this might take a while, my family, I am one of eighteen children... I have nine sisters and eight brothers, and a few adopted brothers whom my family took in and granted the Stahlecker name to... My father is Hans Stahlecker, my mother is Francesca Stahlecker, her maiden name is Galtieri, yes a relative of Leopoldo Gailteri of Argentina... Anyway, my father was about forty-six, my mother was sixteen, when they met in Argentina, he ended up marrying her after just knowing her for one day, she said she couldn't resist his charm... They seemed to really hit it off from what I've heard."

She listened carefully. “Seventeen siblings you have, then? That’s a bunch. I only have four, two brothers and my other sister. I don’t even think I have eighteen cousins, to tell you the truth.”

He let out a light laugh, "I have about seven hundred and fifty cousins. My relatives seem keen on big families."

She seemed a little shocked. “How many aunts and uncles do you have?”

He was a bit puzzled, he himself didn't even know that, he made an educated guess, "Fifty or sixty, at least..."

“Whoa, that’s a lot. I don’t even think I have more then two.”

He smiled, "Well, maybe someday you'll have a lot of extended family relations, eh?"

She smiled. "Perhaps, some day. I'd like to have a big family."

He smiled and then nervously asked, "Ah, so do you have many family back at home? I mean is there a man waiting for you back in Eldanor?"

"No, just my parents and my siblings, mostly. There's no man for me back there."

He smiled when she said that, he was obviously happy at her answer, "So would you happen to be interested in any men right now or aren't you at that point in your life? You don't have to answer if you don't want, it was a bit of a personal question... I was just..." he hesitated and then quickly said, "Just curious is all."

She smiled. “I believe I might be interested in seeing someone.”

He then asked, "What's his name? Do I know him?"

She smiled and laughed a little bit. "Well, if you want to, I' like to see you."

He smiled, "Ah, Let me think about that." He immediately replied with another smiled and a prompt, "My answer is one-hundred percent, certainly, absolutely, of course, yes indeed."

She smiled and nodded. "Mine is too."

Fritz leaned in a bit, slowly brushing her hair back before he kissed her, he then asked, "So, shall we go to the bowling alley then?"

She nodded. "I guess so," she told him, smiling.

His phone then rang, he excused himself to go answer it, "Yes, what? Angola? Tribes? Is it near our borders? Just the interior and their coastal villages? Do we have any vital economic interests? Watch the situation and if it doesn't die down and end itself in a few days, well just some airborne forces ready to go in there if Donald won't or can't properly handle the situation."

Aiwendil waited patiently for him to get off the phone, but listened to his conversation. When he was done, she asked, “Anything wrong?”

Fritz shook his head, but was obviously a bit upset, "Tribal violence in Angola... Donald is doing nothing to stop it..."

She patted his arm and said, "I'm sure it will be fine, really. I don't think you should worry about it right now."

Fritz smiled, "Okay, I'm sure you're right... Let's go bowl for a bit, things in Angola will probably solve themselves."

She nodded. "Yes, let's have a nice night together. You're the governor of Namibia, not Angola, so don't worry."

He totally agreed with her, "Yes, you're right... This is Namibia, not Angola... I shouldn't worry myself. Let's go, I've promised you a round of bowling..."

She smiled and extended her arm. "Even though you're much better, I'm sure we'll have a lovely night. So, where is this bowling alley?"

Fritz led her down the hall to the bowling alley, a true testament to his wealth, the walls were adorned with numerous Renaissance paintings. "Here we are..." he said with a smile.

She looked at the pictures in wonder. "They are all very beautiful. But shall we get started?"

He nodded his head, "Yup, you're right... Let's start..."

He threw the first ball, a strike.

She picked up a ball and slipped her fingers into the whole. It rolled right down the lane, knocking out about four pins. She went again and only managed two, but smiled. "Good try, I guess."

Fritz smiled, "Don't worry, I'll help you improve..." He helped her get her posture right and the grip on the ball and the next throw she made she got all the rest of the pins she'd missed with her first ball.

She smiled as the rest of the pins were knocked down. "Thank you."

He smiled, "No problem, my pleasure."

"So, I think it's your turn to go, right?"

He smiled, "You seemed to have such fun with that turn, let's take another one just like that, in fact, if you want, the whole game we can just have me helping you work on your technique if you'd like?"

He put his hand on hers and helped her get a good grip on the ball and then walked through it with her as she rolled it down, it rolled towards the right spot and wound up as a strike.

She smiled and nodded. "That would be great," Aiwendil told him.

He got the next ball ready and helped her throw it again, another strike... This continued for the next half dozen or so balls until finally they came to the last one. He looked at her, smiling, "I think you're more than capable of getting the strike on your own, but if I help you, I get to be close to you, so as your instructor, my unbiased opinion is you need me to to help you..." he chuckled a bit, "Actually if you really want, you can try it yourself, you don't need my help anymore..."

She grinned. "I like having your help, really."

He helped her again, walking her through each step, his hand on hers, just as before. She got a strike.


He smiled and then said, "See, a near perfect game, you're well on your way to being a bowling champion..."

He was about to continue when the alarm rang, the sound it gave meant the doorbell was ringing. He pressed an intercom on the wall, "Be there in a minute, hold on please."


He beckoned for her to follow, "Come on, let's go see who it is, shall we?"


He walked towards the front door to see who it was. After he realized it was MNCWPS, Mississippian Namibian Common-Wealth Parcel Services, an overnight package delivery, he opened the door. They were holding their clipboards above their heads. One sighed, "Awful weather, just awful, eh?"

He nodded his head, "Yeah, where do I sign?"

They handed him the papers for him to sign, he did so and they moved the massively large crate off the truck, it must have weighed at least 4 tons.

He looked at it, "What the heck is that?"

The man looked at the shipping information form, "It says here, fifteen-hundred assorted firearms, from Paul Stahlecker..."


His face lit up, "Ah, seems he is sending me a welcoming present for getting my new job here..."

She smiled. “A very nice gift. Is he one of your brothers?”

He nodded his head a bit, "Yeah, I guess you could say that, I was told to consider myself a brother, even though we're just cousins... My parents died when I was young, and so Hans and Francesca took me in at age three, and told me to consider them to be my parents, so I have, even though they're not really my parents, everybody considers them my parents though... So in that regards, Paul is my brother..."

She nodded. "I see. They must've been very nice people. Anyway, can we get back to our game?"

He nodded his head and then tipped the delivery man with a few 1000 dollar bills. As he was walking back inside he said to her, "Sure thing, just let me call Paul really quick and thank him before I forget, okay?"

"Of course."

After he made the call to Paul, which only lasted about forty seconds, he set the phone down and then walked over to her side, "Well now, back to the game eh?"

She nodded. "Yes, let's continue."

They walked back to the bowling room and proceeded to play a few more games before suddenly the phone on the wall rang.


Fritz picked it up, "Yes, hello, who is it? What? Seriously? You're certain? Well yes of course you can go after the identified cells here if you must... Crush the mob, for sure."


He set the phone back down and then shook his head as he walked over to the TV, "There was a terror attack in Western Sahara, near Stahlecker City, at least five hundred MSAAS feared dead... We have a few groups here in Namibia, mafia mostly, that might be linked to the groups that attacked the base in Western Sahara."


He turned the TV on and there was the footage of the bombed out base, the ruined barracks. He frowned and he was visibly very upset, "I need to find out what is going on, what the Czar and Czarina want me to do about this, I have to make a few calls, okay? Duty calls, I guess we'll have to finish this current game in a bit, sorry..."

Aiwendil nodded. “Go do what you have to, this is obviously important. Any idea what happened?”

He frowned, "Terrorists, or professional criminals being paid by somebody..."

She frowned. “That’s horrible! Five hundred dead, they believe? I’ll let you get on with your work, I can see it’s really important.”

He nodded his head, "Thanks... I'll be in my office room, down the hall and on the left, the door will be open if you need me."


He then walked off to go make some phone calls and talk with military commanders.

She smiled and returned to playing her game, and noticed that she had greatly improved with his help.

About two hours later, he came walking back into the bowling room. He smiled at her as he watched her get a strike, "Great job, I see you've learned well."

She smiled. "Thanks for helping me. But tell me, how did things go? Can you tell me anything?"

He frowned, "Yeah... Five hundred and twenty two killed, including seventy-three civilians, of which twelve were children... Over two thousand injured, the bomb was so powerful it cause heavy damage to a nearby apartment block. They're currently working on clearing away the debris."

bump- your turn ma'am. :)

Aiwendil shook her head sadly. “That’s so horrible, especially that all those innocent people, and those children, died. Why did it happen?”

Fritz frowned, "Apparently some of the MSAAS from that regiment, were involved in rescuing your nation's princess, and more terrorists from the group involved decided to avenge their dozen or so comrades who died in Eldanor."

She frowned. “I’ve obviously been away from home too long. I didn’t know any of that happened.” She sighed. “I hope everything turns out all right.”

He nodded his head a bit, "So, would you like to go back to Eldanor for a bit? If so, I'd gladly take you there in one of my jets, that way you could avoid the largely insane customer base that most of our national airlines cater to... Don't get me wrong, I love Mississippi, but letting people take RPGs onto airplanes is just a bit out there..."

She nodded enthusiastically. “Oh, that would be great. But they let people bring RPGs on airplanes here? That is insane.”

He nodded his head, "Yeah, it is a bit crazy, eh? So, do you want to go on a private plane then?"

Aiwendil smiled and nodded. “That would be just wonderful.”

Fritz nodded his head, "We can leave whenever you want. Should we call ahead first and tell anybody there that needs to know, that we're coming?"

She smiled. “Yes, I guess I should call my family, I’m sure they’ll be really happy to meet you.”

Fritz was a bit puzzled, "Are you sure? We Mississippians seem to project a bad image to much of the world... Do you mind my asking, how are we viewed in Eldanor?"

She shrugged. “Most people don’t think badly of you, some do, but my family will still like to be meet you.”

He chuckled a bit, perhaps nervously, "Well that is good to know that we aren't outright hated in your nation... Hahahaha. I've been to numerous nations and been spat on before I even said hello to people."

She shook her head. “No one would ever do that to you in Eldanor, don’t worry.”

He smiled, "Good to hear... So, what is the weather like in Eldanor? Is it cold this time of year?"

The woman nodded. “Yes, cold and stormy. Lots of snow. We get huge snow storms.”

He shuddered at the thought of the cold, the mere mention of snow reminding him of his days in arctic training for the armed forces, "That sounds rather cold, but good for skiing" he added with a smile.

Aiwendil nodded. “Yes, and it’s quite beautiful. And the cold is something you can live with.”