Friedrich woke as they were approaching Millennium's base. He understood now, having slept, why it was he was so uncomfortable. It was hardly the first time he had come to the conclusion. He detested sex because of Babi Yar and Babi Yar explained a lot of his animosity towards the Hauptsturmfuhrer and Zorin Blitz. This conclusion was hard to accept given how he was the only one who manifested any outwards signs of those days affecting him. The rest seemed to have moved on.
She had emerged from the incident more psychopathic than ever, relishing her transformed personality. The Major too had been transformed. For that matter so had Friedrich, he found war, any aspect of it to be that much more enjoyable after Babi Yar. Although his guilt would follow him after the massacre it never manifested itself with the same suicidal severity. The Hauptsturmfuhrer changed too after that, he became quieter after that and even more detached from his fellows.
The boat turned the corner into the stream leading up to the base and Friedrich was regretting that the boat ride would end so quickly. He would lose this pleasant time to himself, to think. The memories had troubled him a lot more since the Major announced they were going to war soon.
They had all awoken in a Hospital ward, supervised by the Dok. He had been checking all of them, especially the two women for damage. The Captain, as Friedrich was to found out just over a month later, was a Werewolf and endowed with super human strength. Normally he could control his force, but when he had been drunk he had lost his control and he had hurt the other two. Zorin Blitz seemed both distressed and annoyed by what had happened whereas Rip Van had been sobbing. He could hear with disgust as the Dok said to both of them, less with out of perversion as Friedrich later came to understand than with delight at examining devastation to the human body. "Das ist mein hand und das ist der speculum" Blitz had tried to give one of her imperious frowns, but from her hangover it was impossible, all should could do was wince in pain and groan as if begging to be killed.
Friedrich had tried to sit up but his head had hurt too much. He then remembered he was an SS officer and was afraid of disciplinary action which might be taken against him and he had gone low into the sheets, his eyes half open so that if anyone came to see him, he could pretend to be asleep. If he could not see them he could delay getting into a strafbattalion. Next to Friedrich the Hauptsturmfuhrer was sitting on his bed, an empty expression on his face.
Friedrich had noticed that the IV bag he was being given was full of water, replacing the water his body had raided to get rid of the alcohol he had tried to kill himself with. He swore, given how his head felt and the indescribable disgusting taste in his mouth that he would never touch another drop. Eventually however he was well enough to actually move his head when no one else was around. Then the Dok came around before Friedrich could react and he had said, through his strange operating spectacles "Really, Obersturmfuhrer you are not fooling anybody."
Friedrich had slowly sat up and looked at the Dok and only dumbly muttered "Obersturmfuhrer sir? I'm only an Untersturmfuhrer and after last night I'm sure not even that for much longer."
The Dok had smiled and shaken his head "Hardly for the efficiency and innovativeness with which you liquidated enemies of the Reich you have all been promoted up one rank."
Friedrich felt like he was going to be sick again, but fought it back. The Dok did not even offer him something to safely vomit in. "What do you need me to do sir?" he had asked dumbly.
"Get dressed and go sit by the Sturmbannfuhrer's bed, I will be along with water for you to drink." Friedrich had looked to his uniform which was hanging on a coat hook, and he was grateful he was in his underwear so that no one would have to see him naked, especially since Blitz and Rip Van were just literally next door.
As Friedrich had risen up and walked over to take his uniform the Dok had gone over to the Captain and said "Hauptsturmfuhrer you need to see to Unterscharfuhrer Winkler" which was Rip Van's actual last name "you hurt her quite badly and as an officer you should apologize." Friedrich had just started buttoning his shirt as the Hauptsturmfuhrer had nodded in shame.
He had looked up and asked "Where is my uniform?" in a dry raspy voice, in complete contrast to the cocksure voice Friedrich had heard last night.
The Dok had snorted with laughter and said "You, or one of the women soiled it last night with emesis, we are have it washed to try and get the smell out." The Hauptsturmfuhrer had put his head into his hands at this and sighed. "Go sit by that nice young woman and comfort her, you really did hurt her" the Dok admonished. The Hauptsturmfuhrer began sobbing. By this time Friedrich had his trousers on and was starting to button up his jacket. He looked to see where the Major was. He was still sleeping, or appeared to be sleeping by the window of the hospital. The Hauptsturmfuhrer had walked into the other room, head hung in shame. Friedrich had finished straightening himself out before walking over to see his commanding officer.
The doors to the base opened wide. The shadows of the base protected those inside from the sun. They came in and Friedrich saw Zorin Blitz, Rip Van and the Major waiting. The boat came to a halt. Kriegsmarine personnel came out to grab the rope that Friedrich threw out to them. The engine went silent not long after as they tied up the boat to the dock. Friedrich climbed out and the Hauptsturmfuhrer leaped out. Both stood next to each other. Friedrich looked up at the Hauptsturmfuhrer, nodded his head to show he was ready and they walked together to the three officers.
The very presence of all these people of whom he was uncertain combined with the presence of the Major, made him tense. Blitz was still smoking and Rip Van was holding onto her musket, Blitz was looking with contempt at Friedrich and Rip Van was looking at Friedrich, not because she liked the sight of him, he was sure of that, but because she did not want to see the Hauptsturmfuhrer.
He remembered now hearing the whimpers from the other room. Friedrich, his officer's cap on, gloves on and looking as if nothing were amiss had peeked into the other room, out of curiosity. His usual sad yet serious expression had been on his face as he had done so. The Captain was, with his usual cold face, hesitantly reaching out to touch a sobbing Rip Van, who recoiled from his touch. "She has suffered tearing and bleeding Herr Hauptsturmfuhrer" a middle aged, stern nurse had pronounced. The Haupsturmfuhrer had dropped his hand and instead continued looking at Rip Van, his face frozen in his controlled expression, either uncaring, or far more likely now that Friedrich had at last, he believed come to an understanding of that night, unsure what to do.
Zorin Blitz's face had been pained whenever she had moved. Friedrich had shaken his head and turned back to the Major.
Back in the present day he could see that Rip Van still was scared by the Captain, and he sensed it was something she regretted and he probably did too. That move had been a mistake. The Major was smiling pleasantly. "Alles in ordnung?" he asked as the two men reached.
Friedrich had smiled mischievously, sensing from the Major that another part of the plan was in place, one step closer to war. "Jawohl Herr Sturmbannfuhrer."
"Ah most excellent that man will certainly do his part and fulfill his instructions. Humans can be so easily bought off with promises of immortality, even if, such as he did, it involves betraying everything they swore to protect" he chuckled "how pathetic, they all are. It's free as well."
"I am most glad to hear that because fuel for that little excursion is going to cost us $50 and the maintenance will probably cost as much as the fuel. Little else around here is free" said the Untersturmfuhrer Zeitzler, the Battalion accountant, emerging to Friedrich's left.
The man was one of the tallest officers in the Battalion, but in every other way he fell down in being the ideal SS man. His body was sleek but not athletic and being a vampire accentuated how unhealthily pale he had looked when he had still been human. He was bookish, obsessed with the rules of accounting and he had admitted to Friedrich as they had both watched in disgust the liquidation of the Krakow Ghetto that he hated the regime, not just for its appalling financial corruption, but for the way it destroyed people's lives and thereby the wealth of the world.
"Zeitzler?" Friedrich had asked gently, right then and there "is there anything in life that you do not break down to finance?"
Zeitzler had looked at him for a moment a bland expression on his face and then said "No."
At first Friedrich had been outraged "Why you cannot do that, money isn't everything you know!"
"On the contrary Herr Obersturmfuhrer money is everything. Everything you see around us has its value in money. Everything is divided down to its economic worth, even in the minds of the most innocent child. It is simply the way the world works. To be sure there are those who place the value of money much less highly than others. There are those, not too dissimilar from myself, whose only goal is to manage and acquire money."
Friedrich had been puzzled "What do you mean not too dissimilar from yourself? Are you calling yourself a greedy banker and robber? If so, go join them!" he said indignantly pointing the Einsatzgruppe.
"No hardly Herr Obersturmfuhrer" said Zeitzler "I wish to acquire money, but I do not wish to have it in order to get more than I need in material comfort. I wish to have it because money gives mathematics a purpose, something that makes sense of the equations, it is a wonderful thing to have more of it, so that you may invest it, watch the world grow, give people opportunities to expand their ideas, make everyone's lives better."
"Well that's all very well and I am hardly one to deny how money has enriched our world but how do you say it is everything?"
"It is simple" Zeitzler responded, the light of the day whiting out his glasses, "when a man is poor, no matter how hard he works, any failings on his part, no matter how small, are tolerated far less by his family than a rich man who has more failings and simply delegates the actual work to others."
As a Social Democrat, this example registered with Friedrich but he still had not fully understood what Zeitzler was talking about. His brows had come closer together and his expression became thoughtful. He had gestured for Zeitzler to go on "please" he had said.
"The wife of the first man will nag the man that he is not working hard enough, even if he works half of his waking hours, perhaps more, that their clothes are not nicer, that their housing is poorer compared to others, that their children sometimes go hungry and look shabby in church. These will all be complaints even if the man is a loving father who does not hit his children and is faithful to his wife. The rich man on the other hand can buy off any sins with his munificence, it usually being but a fraction of what he earns. His wife and children will long for his attention but tolerate its absence and continue to stick with him as long as he continues to give them nice things. Now let us also suppose that this rich man is as caring as our poor man. Should he become the poor man several things could happen." There was a scream as someone was shot, but they ignored it "One is that his wife will leave him with the children because they no longer have a use for someone who cannot provide money. Another possibility is that the man, having experienced such a grave reversal of his fortunes will slip into a spiral which his wife and children will compound by somehow expecting him to provide them with the same lifestyle and proclaim their everlasting hatred of him for his inability to do so. Still another possibility is that they will love him still and stay with him because he is a good man, a loving husband and father and that is what is most important. Nevertheless they will always love him a bit less than if he was still rich. There are of course many possibilities in between these three and it is a labored example, but do you see what I mean?"
Thinking about that issue had allowed Friedrich to blissfully ignore another terrible atrocity and go to bed feeling much better than he had in the morning.
The Major had turned and smirked at the shadowy figure. Zeitzler face was illuminated only by the flash of his spectacles. "Ah Untersturmfuhrer Zeitzler, is there any particular reason we have the good fortune to see you here?"
Zeitzler was so good he was arrogant and so he did not show the Major as much respect as the others. At the same time he made up for this by never, ever, questioning an order, except when it came to money of course. "Well sir, I came here to talk to Obersturmfuhrer Craebel about his costly little outburst!" he said irately.
The glasses flashed in Friedrich's direction. Friedrich let out a sigh, much as he liked Zeitzler in a number of ways, he could not stand his lectures. He braced himself.
"Do you realize Herr Obersturmfuhrer that you have cost a full 25 cents for those bullets! Those bullets alone by themselves cost us a full quarter of a dollar! It is unacceptable, do you hear me? Unacceptable, that there should be such rampant waste and abuse on your part sir for some childish political outburst!" Zeitzler was shaking with rage and he pointed a finger accusatorily at Friedrich, quivering, a mad expression on his face, his eyes still concealed by the illumination of his spectacles. "You are one of the worst on this base Herr Obersturmfuhrer! You have consistently wasted ammunition over the years costing us three whole dollars in unnecessary expenditures!" he was now stomping one foot, repeatedly in his fury "No more than three dollars, I have to order more ammunition from the dealers, which costs us more money due to the freight" he was in tears now "Oh how you frontkampferen never, ever appreciate the torment and agony you put me through!" he concluded tearfully.
Friedrich decided that it was long overdue for Zeitzler to get something in return for his rants, which he had patiently borne. He stepped forward a stern expression on his face. His only regret was that he was not in his normal Feldgrau uniform to give the more junior, yet taller officer a lecture. Friedrich jabbed his finger into Zeitzler's chest "And you Herr Zeitzler have even less of a moral compass than any of us! Who was it jumped all over the bodies of the dead at Malmedy, giggling like a little school girl when you discovered a penny? You dummkopf! You are the one who suggested we waste valuable resources and money!" Friedrich spat with mockery and vitriol "by trying to smuggle all those Gottverdammt paintings out of the fucking Louvre, while the fucking FRENCH RESISTANCE was shooting at us! And you said" he now dropped into a cruel imitation of Zeitzler and began prancing around on his tiptoes an exaggerated haughty expression on his face."Oh no! You mustn't shoot back! You might damage a lot of what we are trying to get away!" his voice returned to his normal indignation and he thrust an accusing finger forward again "then why did you make us go in there in first place you fucking idiot? You were so clueless that you could not understand how the French hated us so much they would be willing to destroy much of their national heritage simply to get a few more of us! And you lecture me on economy?"
"Why you…" Zeitzler said and stormed forward, coming at Friedrich his fists raised. The Hauptsturmfuhrer stepped forward his right arm outstretched holding Zeitzler's head. Zeitzler frustratingly swung his arms past the Hauptsturmfuhrer trying to strike Friedrich. Friedrich glared back at him.
The tension was dissolved by the happy laughter of the Major "Oh gentlemen! Gentlemen! Do contain yourselves; such fury should be saved for the enemy!" Rip Van was giggling, with a deceitful innocence and Blitz was smiling with a quiet happiness.
By now Zeitzler was tiring, but he kept at it, the Hauptsturmfuhrer let him go and Zeitzler's momentum carried him forward, he fell at Friedrich's feet. Friedrich sighed with resignation "Will you at least save your worries Zeitzler? We have more than enough left, more than enough" Friedrich said referring to the vast amounts of money and valuables that were at Millennium's disposal.
"Indeed" chimed in the Major cheerfully, walking up to where Zeitzler was picking himself up "you have done an excellent job Untersturmfuhrer Zeitzler in keeping our assets intact, but now it truly is time for the war and no expense can be spared." The Major reached Zeitzler as he stood up and the Major smirked, his eyes concealed by the reflected light on his glasses "and think of all the Banks in London!"
At this Zeitzler's face brightened considerably "Oh yes! Oh yes!" he gleefully said "Thank you Herr Sturmbannfuhrer!"
The Major's smirk held "Now please Untersturmfuhrer, continue with your work and try and develop a plan where you husband more resources during Operation Seelöwe 2."
Zeitzler clicked his heels and gave a salute "Jawohl Herr Sturmbannfuhrer!" he then gleefully skipped away.
"Truly sir" remarked Friedrich to the Major as they watched Zeitzler skip away merrily "we are all misfits here, are we not?"
"Indeed my good Obersturmfuhrer we are, but together, as one, we fit together and come to a synergetic discipline that even during that best and most nostalgic of wars we could never quite manage." That smile appeared and the Major continued, his eyes intense, welcoming, insane and fearsome all at once. "In the war we struggled on as individuals, not part of the ideal paradigm of the SS, and we were harassed as a result by one and all, but we overcame that and have outsmarted all of them! We cheated them when they thought they could use our talents for their ends without us noticing, all the while claiming to be geniuses and supermen! But now they are dead and those that are still living shall watch with anger and resentment as we do what they could not and so much more, for soon this world will blaze in hellfire and everybody, the Nazis, the English, all who regarded us as pathetic and insignificant shall remember when they feared us, when their bravado rung hollow in their own ears!"
All save the Hauptsturmfuhrer now had that smile on their faces, Friedrich could feel himself ready to spring forward and attack, he had been wound up for over fifty years and yes, yes! He wanted people to remember it all! Babi Yar! Warsaw! Stalingrad! Berlin! Paris! Kursk! Smolensk! Normandy! Anzio! All of it, he wanted them to remember. His fists clenched up, and he gave a sinister chuckle along with the Major, Blitz and Rip Van.
"Come get ready" said the Major "We shall now overview the preliminary moves such as they are, all in one piece so that you may understand more of what we are doing."
His eyes still glowing red, Friedrich turned and bowed to the Major "Jawohl Herr Bataillonkommandeur."