Chapter 157: Georgetown
Wednesday, January 11th, Evening
AS days went, this was an early day. The car service that the party used brought her to the townhouse in Georgetown. She got out and was followed by her ever organized, ever-loyal assistant, Skye Gregory. Congresswoman, or more correctly, Representative, Isabella "Izzy" Scott walked through the front door.
Skye was right behind her. Izzy studied her friend from high school. Everyone knew her as her assistant, but that was barely scratching the surface of what Skye does for her. It was a political choice; she does have a chief-of-staff, the position that Izzy wanted for Skye, who was just in name only; Skye does most of the work.
"What time is Kari bringing the package over?" Izzy asked.
"As soon as we call for it," Skye said.
Izzy nodded, "Okay, what are you feeling for dinner?" she asked.
"Already on the way," Skye said.
"That's why I pay you the big bucks," Izzy said.
"Yeah, that and a dollar, I might have a dollar," Skye said.
"You have a dollar?" Izzy asked, "Can I borrow it?"
"Funny, Izzy," Skye said.
"Why are you so efficient?" Izzy asked.
"Because it's the only way you go in the right direction," Skye said.
"Good point," Izzy said.
"Yeah, well, I need a shower," Skye said, and walked past Izzy.
Izzy nodded and went towards her room. Once in her room, she got out what she called her costume. After a quick shower, she changed into a more comfortable, less formal version of her costume. Someone was visiting after all.
Once done, she went to her office and found Skye setting up for their take out. Usually, they have a cooked, but with the guest tonight, Skye gave him the night off. Whoever it was that was visiting, Kari was keeping it really tight to her chest.
Izzy took a seat behind her desk and opened her take out container. She looked over to Skye. Her "assistant" sat in her usual chair, eating her take out. Most people underestimated Skye, which was part of the reason Izzy insisted on Skye working so close to her. Skye had a way of just blending in and looking unimportant.
"So, do we have everything we need?" Izzy asked.
Skye nodded, "Everything on Kari's list has been taken care of," she said.
"By the way, Kari's handling this, I half expect the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs to show up," Izzy said.
Skye looked at Izzy, "Do you think Kari can pull that off?" she asked.
"I don't put anything past Kari," Izzy said, "Especially if she put her mind to it."
"That's true," Skye said and looked down at her dinner.
"Skye, has it been worth it?" Izzy asked.
Skye looked up and to Izzy, "What been worth it?" she asked.
"Making my career your whole life?" Izzy asked.
Before Skye could answer, Kari Johansson, Izzy's "special projects" person came into the office. Kari's look best described as Nordic, she's tall, athletic, blonde hair with piercing blue eyes. Izzy met Kari at Yale University, where they were both members of Silliman College and roommates. Kari's family connections were invaluable to help open up doors and find secrets.
The visitor they've been waiting for was standing right next to Kari. He was older than all three of them. He wore an ill-fitting suit, which told Izzy he didn't wear it often. From what she could tell, he was in good physical condition. His graying hair was cut short and well maintained. Everything about this man screamed the military.
"Hello, this is the man you've heard about," Kari said.
"Thank you, Mister…" Izzy started to say.
"Dawson, just plain old Dawson, ma'am," he said, in that reinforced Izzy's call he was military, and probably high-ranking military.
"Then, I'm just Izzy," she said.
"Very well, ma'am," Dawson said.
"Dawson," Kari said, "The connection and screen are over this way."
"Very well," Dawson said, he walked over to where Kari pointed with a laptop and started to set it up. Kari took her usual seat. Kari reached over and found her take out. The three women waited as the older gentleman set up his laptop and made sure it interfaced with the large flatscreen they had. When he finished checking the computer, he brought up PowerPoint. When he was ready, he turned to them.
"As Ms. Johansson told me you're concerned in this area because the 30th Armored Brigade Combat Team is in the area. Also, the reason for the concern is many members are constituents of your district. This briefing is just basically about the area, and not about the specific unit deployments. So, I'll hit the highlights," Dawson said and clicked the remote.
The slide changed to say The Principality of Waldberg. "As the slide says, this is where we're focusing," he said, and the slide changed again. It had a timeline with a few bullet points. "In short, The Principality of Waldberg is a European Micro-State located in what is known as the Silesian region and is boarded by Germany, the Czech Republic, and Poland. The ethnic mix is relatively balanced between ethnic Germans, Poles, and Czechs, as we would call it," the slide changed again, with a background of a flag.
"A brief canned history; after World War One, they separated from the German Empire, and became an independent Principality, keeping the Kronprinz in power. They did suffer some of the same harsh economic conditions as the rest of the region. They cracked down on several attempted revolts, including a Waldberg Communist Party Revolt."
The slide changed again, had the same flag as a background. "During the Second World War, the Kronprinz aligned the country with the Third Reich. Their military provided two divisions on the Russian Front, the Grasland-Schaften Division, and the Hohergipfel Division. Apparently, our information is sketchy here, but the Waldberg Army performed so well the Red Army took particular attention when they "Liberated it and made it a Soviet Protectorate," he said.
The slide changed, and the background was a different flag. "After the liberation, Soviets installed a Soviet-Style Government, under the name, The People's Republic of Waldberg. The Royal Family fled to the West. I believe to the FDR, or more simply West Germany."
"They were part of the Warsaw Pact and provided two second-line divisions for the defense against NATO. These were known as the 1st Berg Graden Motorized Rifle Division and the 2nd Hohergipfel Rifle Division. They were considered rather good units, by NATO. The Soviet hierarchy didn't give them much leeway."
The slide changed, and a third flag was in the background. "Upon the Collapse of the Iron Current, and the fall of the Warsaw Pact, the first democratically elected government was installed. The country during this time was known as the Waldberg Republic. The first government invited the Royal Family back as a way of reconciliation. Instead of living as a rich exiled Royal Family in the German Republic. The family was one of the few in Europe that aren't related to the English Crown. The family returned to Waldberg."
The slide changed again, and the first flag returned. "Eventually, during the post-Soviet Hard Economic Times, there was another revolution/coup d'etate restored the Royal Family to power, this time as a constitutional monarchy. This restoration resorted to the country's name to The Principality of Waldberg. The coup was led by than Brigadegeneral Elias Van Grasland-Schaften."
"This pattern seems quite common as Waldberg has gone through periods of stability, near civil war, and outright civil war several times. There is an antidote that the National Sport of Waldberg is the Coup d'etate."
The slide changed again, showing a new timeline, but the same flag. "Most recently a place coup, lead by Generalmajor Wilhelm Von Grasland-Schaften, installed the current Kronprinz. It's not uncommon because of this instability for the members of rich families to send their young members aboard for education."
The slide changed. "Currently, the country is politically a quagmire. The general division politically of the country are these three political factions. What we would consider the hard right is known as the Royalist Faction, or Royalistische Partie, or RP, tend to conform with the Pre-Second World War direct Kronprinz rule government system.
The slide changed. "The second faction, or the left faction, which is locally called the Soviet Faction, or the Waldberg Volkspartei, or WVP. They want to return to a Cold War Era government. The tendency is for them to look East for guidance. They're the old communist party in all but name."
The slide changed. "The third faction, the moderate faction, which is a but of groups lumped together and called the Moderates. There is no firm organization. They seek closer ties to Europe and NATO. They have even proposed admittance to the Euro Sphere and the European Union. The EU has denied all requests to date. As said before, the national sport is the coup d'etate. The Moderates in our best assessment want to generally peaceful rule and country."
The slide changed again. "In short, the country is a powder keg, with a lit fuse. The country is politically unstable, has a lot of guns, and people willing to use them. Fortunately, they tend to look at shooting each other. That, Izzy, is where we're at," Dawson said.
"Thank you," Izzy said, "Do you need a ride?"
"I've made arrangements," Dawson said, "May I go?"
"Yes, you may," Izzy said.
Dawson cleaned up and left. Once he was gone and what he told her sank in, she slumped down.
"I'm sure they'll be fine," Kari said.
"I hope so," Izzy said, with a half-hearted nod, "I really do hope so."
