"Identity papers, please."
Two sheafs of crumpled paper exchanged hands. The officer's brows furrowed in concentration as he read the name, looked at the photo, then up at the face before him.
"Hat and glasses off, please."
"Oh, I forgot… Here you are…"
They were removed. The officer studied the face. Bright green eyes ruined by the slack, tired face. Light brown twin braided locks. But as his eyes travelled down, he noticed the roundel pin, the crest on her sleeve, and, eyes widening, the rare tricoloured waist-sash.
He was too awed and surprised, even as an officer of the Royal Marechaussee of over a decade, to process the figure before him. With little comprehension left in him he idly stamped the papers, and handed them back.
The tired-looking girl nodded her thanks, put her hat and glasses back on, and went on her way.
A long road to my goal, she thought. A goal so simple, yet so challenging to accomplish. With a thin smile she walked through the simple wooden barrier and onto the quiet platform. Only a few men lingered on the cold, snow-scattered station at Enschede, and half of them were railway workers either huddled by the cast-iron braziers or with their heads buried in the local newspaper.
Even with her drab overcoat over her colourful uniform De Ruyter stood out like a sore thumb. Curious eyes wandered her way, but with the coat collar high and the dark hat their interest quickly waned.
It wasn't long until the high-pitched whistle of the locomotive could be heard, and soon the train hauled itself to a stop at the platform. Guards jumped off and hurried over the coffee stall while the conductor exasperatedly called after them.
"Where are you off to, fraulein?" asked the conductor, a thin but warm man in his forties.
"Ah, well, um…" De Ruyter stammered, as she tried to marshal her thoughts in the wake of this new experience. To be free of the base and even Holland was exhilarating, but on her own she was quickly feeling lonely and dispirited.
The conductor, sensing her discomfort, gave her a big smile. "First time, huh? Well, how about your travel papers and tickets? Surely you must have those."
"Ah, yes," Digging into her coat pocket she fished out the documents and handed them over.
"Ah, Hamburg! Quite a distance. These tickets seem to be in order..." Here the conductor stamped the tickets and handed them back. "I shall get little Willy to store away your luggage. Wilhelm! Wilhelm!"
De Ruyter stammered her thanks as the conductor tramped off down the platform. Steam billowed from the engine vents as the pressure worked itself up again. She climbed up into the green carriage.
"Last call… last call…"
She looked out of the large window as the guards, full of coffee and bread, made their way back to their posts.
The train lurched forward, and soon they were on their way. With the scenery monotonous and the gentle rattling of the carriage, De Ruyter was soon nodding off. The noise and jolting ride vanished before the gentle waves of sleep…
The familiar sound of lapping waves. The slow, steady rocking of a vessel at sea.
De Ruyter opened her eyes. She stood on the wooden deck of the ship, a ship completely devoid of human movement and activity. Only the bracing wind, the glorious golden sun, and the keening of gulls greeted her, and the flapping of the white sails guiding the ship along.
Footsteps. A slow, measured cadence. De Ruyter looked around… and from the cabin emerged the man himself, Michiel de Ruyter.
The two, one a shipgirl and the other a legendary hero, regarded each other for a moment.
"Wie ben je?" the hero with the bulging features and the cleft chin asked, in a not unkind voice.
"Mijn naam is De Ruyter," she answered.
"But that is my name," the hero replied. "My family name, that is. I am sure you are not my sister…"
"I was named De Ruyter in your honour, sir."
"Please, do not call me sir. You may call me by whatever you wish. Although calling me by my own name might prove a challenge…"
De Ruyter thought for a moment. "Then I shall call you Michiel, your first name. Will that do?"
"No, no, that will not do." The hero looked visibly embarrassed by the suggestion.
"I know," De Ruyter finally said, "I shall call you bestevaer, your nickname. You won't object to this, surely?"
"No, that is fine. Bestevaer," He smiled at the memory of the nickname. "It has been a long time since anyone has called me that. Now that we have introduced ourselves, I must ask you, what are you doing aboard my ship?"
"This is my dream," she replied simply.
"But that cannot be, for this is my dream as well." The old admiral scratched his cheek idly, in thought. "Well, stranger things have happened." He shrugged his shoulders. "Welcome aboard my ship, De Ruyter."
He bowed, and she curtsied slightly in response. The famous admiral turned and strode to the gunwales, and De Ruyter followed.
"This ship goes wherever I wish it to go," he began, not looking at the shipgirl beside him. "But most of the time I wish it to sail endlessly across this kind sea, so that I may never tire of it."
"This is the enduring dream I have. Do you have one, too?"
"Yes, bestevaer, I do."
"Can you tell me?" The admiral looked down at her, a mischievous smile on his lips.
"I wish to find the person who burned away my previous life," she replied, without emotion.
"Revenge, is it? That is not a noble dream to work towards, De Ruyter."
"No, it's not about revenge…"
"Then what is it about?"
"Fraulein… fraulein…"
"It's about…"
"We're here, fraulein, this is Hamburg…"
De Ruyter snapped awake. Looming over her was the thin conductor, his hand on her shoulder.
"We're here, fraulein, Hamburg." He smiled that big smile of his, now a symbol of comfort for the Dutch cruiser.
"Thank you, sir." She stretched out and then stood up.
"A good sleep, yes? Most of the time, that's what many do. Anyway," the conductor glanced out the window. "Your luggage is waiting outside, and I believe some friends of yours are waiting for you…"
"Friends?" De Ruyter was puzzled at this. Who else could possibly know of her mission, besides her Admiral?
She walked out of the carriage. There on the bustling platform under the restored station roof, swathed with scarves and in a double-breasted navy coat several sizes too big for her, stood Leipzig, a light cruiser who De Ruyter knew a little. Beside her was a solitary guard dressed in the winter blue of the Marines.
"De Ruyter! Over here!" she yelled, even though her voice was muffled by the scarves and they were less than three yards away.
"Leipzig, what a surprise!" The two cruisers hugged each other. "How is it that you know of my journey?"
The German cruiser grinned. "Your dear Admiral sent us word of your arrival, didn't you know? In any case, your next train isn't until tonight at midnight, so we decided to come and pick you up…"
"That really is quite kind of you," De Ruyter replied, as they began moving down the platform towards the street. "Where are we going?"
"Here in Hamburg we have a small base mainly for reserves and recuperation. We'll wait there!"
They reached the bustling street, and De Ruyter could feel the curious stares creeping up on her again as the citizens of Hamburg observed the small uniformed group.
Leipzig waved merrily at the citizens, and after recognizing her from the newspapers, continued about their business.
They got into the Kubelwagen and drove down the cold streets. De Ruyter looked on with interest at the lively streets full of wayward merchants, street entertainers and fine, upstanding citizens out shopping. It could have been any day in spring, yet the citizens of Hamburg strode purposefully through the snow as if did not exist.
"Here we are," Leipzig muttered, as they passed through a stone arch bearing the iron balkenkreuz. The two cruisers stepped out onto the cobbled courtyard, while the guard drove into the garage.
"There isn't anything you need in your bags, is there?" Leipzig asked, as they walked towards the handsome main building.
"No, it's just my fighting kit in there," De Ruyter replied.
"Ah, of course, of course." The German girl opened the door and held it open. "After you."
De Ruyter walked into the warm entrance hall, a pleasant corridor smelling of varnished, seasoned oak and the faint chemical stench of the various paintings that lined the walls.
"This way, De Ruyter," Leipzig took off her gloves and moved ahead of her charge. They shed their coats and hats onto the groaning coat rack and De Ruyter examined her friend for a moment.
Little had changed of the cheery complexion before her. Though she was sure that Leipzig had seen many more battles than she could ever dream of, there was no trace of it on the genuine smile. Her amber crown braid was tied as expertly as ever, with that same level of German neatness that many of the girls of the Kriegsmarine prided themselves on.
Traversing through the warm corridors, they passing typists' pools, chart rooms and the many offices that the compound housed. They reached the officer's gasthaus and upon entry were greeted by clean-shaven stewards, who bowed as they moved through the foyer, the empty reading room, the smoking room, until they reached the quiet dining room.
"You must be hungry," Leipzig brightly remarked, as more stewards showed them to a table next to a window overlooking a nearby canal. "Can I get you anything? Tea? Coffee?"
"Coffee, served café au lait please."
Leipzig gave the orders to a waiter, who nodded and bustled off. She turned her attention to the little neat menu in front of her, while De Ruyter gazed out the window, watching a little coal barge steam past the window.
"What will you have, De Ruyter?"
"Anything. You know the food here better than I do."
"That, you are right about. Let me see… ah, that should do nicely. Waiter!"
"So," Leipzig began as the order was speedily delivered, "your mission. Herr Erichsen told me not to ask about it, but still…"
"Well, if Herr Erichsen wanted you to not ask, then he doesn't want you knowing, right?"
"Come on, just a hint? I'm dying to know…"
"I'm sorry, Leipzig, I just can't tell you…"
"Why?" Leipzig's voice grew sceptical. "What's so important about this mission of yours? And why do you have to go alone, across Germany and to who-knows-elsewhere?"
"I… I can't tell you." De Ruyter looked the German squarely as she said this. "I have to do this alone. It's for my own good."
"For your own good," Leipzig repeated. "Why does that sound so ominous? Sounds scary…"
"Moving on, how is Wilhelmshaven? I hear the operations are improving this year," De Ruyter said, hoping to turn the conversation away.
"Oh, the operations are fine, not too much work for me, though. Herr Erichsen is hard at work coaching those H-classes, and the expeditions are bringing back some good catches. This will be a good year for us."
"I see… what about the co-operation with Great Britain? How is that coming along?"
"Very badly." The light cruiser looked gloomy at the thought. "Those prideful idiots don't care about it at all, and we have had a few disasters because of their negligence."
"Is that so?"
"Yes, and those damned French are just the same as well. Won't even listen to Frau Tirpitz even when all the admirals agree to have her command." Leipzig sighed. "We'll never win the war at this rate…"
Silence for a while. Then came the drinks, then the food – hummersuppe, the creamy lobster soup with whipped cream and dill, a specialty of the region. Leipzig rubbed her hands enthusiastically at the sight, and with a slice of rye in one hand and spoon in the other, both girls tucked in.
"Ah, nothing like good himmel und erde to fill you up on cold nights such as these," Leipzig happily remarked.
They were driving now, with Leipzig at the wheel as the guards guided them at every street corner through the darkened city. As a city near the coast and thus open to Abyssal air raids, Hamburg was blacked out and it was only with the efforts of the Hamburg garrison that they would get to the station safely.
Only the whistling and steam vents told De Ruyter of the station's proximity. Guards signalled them into the kerbside and they got out.
"I do hope you find what you are looking for," the German cruiser said as De Ruyter ascended the steps to the waiting carriage. "And I hope that you return safely. I would very much like to see you and have tea again…"
De Ruyter smiled. "Hearing that from you, Leipzig, that warms my heart. Would it wound you, too, if I were to never return?"
"I would cry," the German girl said seriously, looking up at her departing friend. "I would cry knowing you would never sit at my table again…"
The Dutch shipgirl clambered down and embraced her host. "Then I promise you that I will come through this railway again, and when I do, I will have tea with you again."
"You will?" Leipzig brightened. "I can't wait! Farewell!"
"Goodbye, Leipzig." De Ruyter hopped aboard as the train slowly began moving. Steam billowed and rose, obscuring the dark locomotive from view. Before long, it cleared the platform and curved out of sight, eastward bound.