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[Rheinbund]

3 August 2011
Staatsschutz headquarters
Trier, Eiffelland

“Mr. Ziesche, Mr. Meißner, we know that you repeatedly traveled to the same city outside Eiffelland on the same day to end up in the same hotel at the same time. We also know that Von Weizenburg traveled to the same city one day later. We found out that there was always one fourth person in that same hotel as well. This person,” Staatshauptdirektor des Staatssschutzes Heinz-Karl Farnbach said. “I ask you the same question as we asked Von Weizenburg: Do you know this man?”
“Why should we know him? Because accidentally we were in the same hotel on the same day?” Ziesche asked.
“That happened eight times. Then we don’t talk about coincidence any more,” Farnbach said.
“But still the answer is no. I do not know that man,” Ziesche said.
“I don’t know him, either,” Meißner said.
“Do you know Joachim Freiherr Von Weizenburg?” Farnbach asked.
“Yes, we do. He was a big financer of our movement,” Ziesche said.
“But we didn’t know that he organised those assaults,” Meißner said.
“But you did try to profit from them,” Chancellor Von Seydewitz, who was also at the meeting, said.
“Was that agreed upon? With the Mr. X living abroad?” Farnbach asked.
“What are you suggesting, Mr. Farnbach? That we had agreements with this unknown person and Von Weizenburg?” Meißner asked. “How dare you suggest something like that without proof?”
“And you, Herr Kanzler, would have tried to profit from such a situation as well,” Ziesche said.
“But it brings us back to the original question: Did you know what Von Weizenburg was up to?” Von Seydewitz asked.
“No, we did not,” Ziesche answered. “You can ask it a million times, but the answer will stay the same.”

After a while, Farnbach and Von Seydewitz left the room to discuss. After 10 minutes, they returned.

“Very well, you are free to go,” Farnbach said.
Ziesche and Meißner stood up and walked to the door.
“One more thing before you leave, gentlemen,” Chancellor Von Seydewitz said loudly. “I want that idiotic movement of yours filled with brainless imbeciles to be very calm from now on. I warn you to keep your people at bay. This means that I don’t want to see any assaults, terrorist attacks, executions or any other kind of violence in general from you or your movement again. I especially warn you not to do any harm of any kind to members of the Von Weizenburg family. Should these warnings be ignored, I will personnally dismantle all far right organisations this country knows and throw you with your minions into the coal mines, right in‑between the far left people there. Is that clear, you vultures?”


12 August 2011
3 p.m.
Trier, Eiffelland

“Good morning, lady and gentlemen,” Oberarzt Sauerbruch said to Bastian’s parents and younger brother. “I have good news. The fractures in Bastian’s arms and left lower leg are healing extremely well. We will take off the plaster bandages and remove the screws and plates in his arms next week Friday. The pelvis fracture and the shattered upper leg bone are also healing very well. The hip prosthesis adheres very well as well. As you know, we already removed the zipper out of his belly. His organs have perfectly healed. There is no risk for a peritonitis any more. The tubes in his belly will be removed. The vessel prosthesis in his left leg is functioning perfectly, although it will have to be checked every three months after he’s released from hospital. All in all, Bastian is one of the easiest complex patients I ever had. Everything goes well, and there are no complications up to now.”
“Thank you for your work up to now, but how will it go afterwards? Is his brain affected? Will he be able to walk or use his arms?” Bastian’s mother asked.
“I don’t know if his brain or spine is affected. We will take him off the narcosis after his arms have been operated. Then it will appear if his brain has been damaged or not. From an orthopaedic point of view, he will be able to use his arms and legs as before, with a couple of restrictions to his left leg,” Sauerbruch said.
“What are those restrictions?” Bastian’s mother asked.
“He won’t be allowed to carry anything heavier than 5 kg, to ski or skate, or to use a bicycle, moped or motorcycle. He will have to stay under control of an orthopaedic surgeon for the rest of his life, and he will have to do sport under supervision of a physiotherapist,” Sauerbruch said.
“What will happen if he won’t wake up, or has brain damage?” Bastian’s mother asked.
“In any case, he will be released from this hospital after his pelvis fracture and his upper leg bone shattering have been healed. As it goes now, that will be the beginning of October. Let’s pray that that won’t happen, but should he indeed not wake up, he will go to a nursing‑home. If he wakes up but appears to have a brain damage, it will depend on what can be reached with revalidation if he will go to a nursing‑home or a revalidation centre. If he wakes up without any brain damage, he will be admitted to a revalidation centre. But we will already start with mobilising his arms here in hospital,” Sauerbruch said.


10 p.m.
Trier, Eiffelland

“Tomorrow we will go to the prison to visit dad,” Hilde said to Christoph. They had gone to a pub in the city centre to discuss the recent events and to spend some time together as brother and sister. Initially, Christoph didn’t want to, but Hilde convinced him by saying that once they had to talk about everything anyway.
“It will be the first time since I escaped from that villa that I will see him again,” Christoph said. “Have you visited him yet?”
“Once. Directly after visits were allowed. I wanted to know from him what had happened,” Hilde said. She paused for a few moments. “I don’t know any more what to think. We had a very good life with the three of us, but Dad considered his ideas more important than us. He prepared to leave us behind without even telling us. How bad is it in this country that you need to leave your own children behind?”
“The only answer I can give is: Look around in the whole country. 99% of the people has a comfortable life: A good house to live in, enough food, good clothes and at least some luxury. Life is extremely good here,” Christoph said. “He didn’t have a reason at all.”
“When I currently look around, the first thing I see is my gay brother,” Hilde said sadly and disapprovingly. She paused for a moment. Then she continued. “I already had the feeling that you didn’t agree with Dad’s ideas. To avoid the activities for the far right movement, you fled to your schoolwork. Also I hode at school that I belonged to the rightwing movement. All far-right people who are at least a bit sane hide it. But you seem to disagree with it. Why? Only because you’re gay?”
“You really don’t like it that I’m gay, do you?” Christoph asked.
“No, I don’t. A guy sleeping with a guy is just not right,” Hilde said.
“If I would sleep with a girl, I would fool her and make myself unhappy. You yourself wouldn’t want to have a guy that in his heart wants somebody else, do you?” Christoph said. “But let’s discuss that later. I just told you to look around in this country. I did that several years ago, and concluded that we are doing quite well for a morally decayed and impure country. In fact I didn’t see a problem. That was several years ago. Because of that, I wanted to stay away from the far right movement as much as possible. I have never consciously asked myself whether I was gay or not until about four months ago, but maybe subconsciously I already took it into account. And that is something I will never be able to answer.”
“How do you feel about tomorrow?” Hilde asked.
“I don’t know. Dad was a good father to both of us. I have many good memories of him. It was only recently that the dream turned into a nightmare for me. He is also the man that tried to kill the guy I love, forced me to do it with a girl while he watched me doing it and wanted to put me on a boarding school to break my contacts with my friends here in Trier,” Christoph said.
“Is Bastian dead?” Hilde asked frightened.
“No, he survived everything. But he is severely wounded. That is all I know. His family doesn’t allow me with him,” Christoph said.
“Why not?” Hilde asked.
“They blame me for what happened to Bastian. If we wouldn’t have got a relationship, Bastian would not have been beaten up. That is their course of thoughts,” Christoph said.
“Poor you,” Hilde said, on the one hand still disapproving her brother’s homosexuality but on the other hand seeing the tragedy of a lover who is denied to visit his beloved. “Come. We have to go. It will be early tomorrow.”

When Christoph and Hilde walked to the underground station to go back home, they suddenly met Uwe Wehnert with a couple of friends.
“Look whom we have here,” Uwe said. “Brother and sister Von Weizenburg. Or should I say the Von Weizenburg sisters?”
Christoph stiffened for fear.
“That tiny little queer told me that he would try to melt his sister’s heart for me. But to do so, he needed some information about my heroic deeds, not only the ones I committed, but also the ones I steered. I talked about several attacks on gay bars, but all those gay bars suddenly appeared to be guarded by the police. 40 of our friends are in jail because of this guy. But now I see a much easier way to get what I want. First I want the girl and second I want revenge. We’re gonna drag them into that alleyway there, rape the girl in front of his eyes and finally perform the worst kind of gay‑bashing ever seen in history,” Uwe said. Christoph started to run and dragged Hilde with him.
Four guys in the closest‑by pub saw what was happening. They ran out of it and positioned themselves between Christoph and Hilde on the one side and Uwe with his friends on the other side. One of them was Prince Ludwig. He knew that Bastian was still in hospital, and had recognised Christoph. “What’s happening here?” he shouted.
“Who are you to ask that?” Uwe shouted back. “Get out of the way. Those two are ours.”
Christoph and Hilde saw how Ludwig looked at his three friends. All four knew each other from their Taekwon‑do lessons. Ludwig and his friends moved perfectly synchronously with each other to take up the initial Taekwon‑do fighting position. Then Ludwig said sharply: “Come and get them.”
The fight lasted 10 seconds. Several people, guys and girls, came out of the pub to watch it. After the end of the fight, Uwe Wehnert and his friends ran away as fast as possible. Ludwig and his friends went to Christoph and Hilde.
“Everything OK with you?” Ludwig asked.
“Yes,” Christoph said. “Thank you. Those guys wanted to beat me up and rape Hilde.”
Ludwig looked at Hilde, and saw how she stared at one of his friends, totally in love. Ludwig’s friend, Markus, noticed that and walked to her. “When I interpret the signs correctly, Hilde is about to loose her honour anyway. Voluntarily to be precise,” Ludwig said softly to Christoph.
“You’re damn right,” Christoph said softly.
“You won’t make any problems about his ancestry, will you?” Ludwig joked softly to Christoph.
“Maybe he’s not a nobleman, but he certainly qualified for becoming one. You’re a member of the Royal Family, so now I’m at the right adress to arrange that,” Christoph joked back softly.
“I’ll speak to my father in his favour,” Ludwig joked softly. Then he continued more seriously: “You have to go back home quickly. I don’t know if those guys plan to come back with reinforcements, but in that case I can’t hold them.”
“We were already walking to the underground, when this happened,” Christoph said.
“Take a taxi. Do you have enough money for that?” Ludwig asked.
“I have some money, but not that much. By the way, how am I going to explain that at home?” Christoph asked.
“Ask the taxi not to stop in front of the house, or at the underground station, so that you can collect your bikes,” Ludwig said while giving a 50 Marks note to Christoph. “That should be enough.”
“How can I thank you?” Christoph asked.
“Don’t worry about that. Did you hear anything about Bastian?” Ludwig asked.
“No. His parents are keeping me away from him. They hold me responsible for what happened. But I find it funny that Bastian doesn’t say anything, either,” Christoph said.
“Well, I have to tell you something about it I’m afraid. Bastian is being kept under permanent narcosis because of the severity of his wounds. Sorry that I say it so bluntly, but I don’t know how to say it differently,” Ludwig said.
Christoph frightened up. “Is it that bad?” he asked.
“That is the last news I have. He is recovering, by the way. His mother maintains a blog about him. Wait, I’ll send it to you,” Ludwig said while taking his smartphone. His fingers went over the device, and Christoph got a message on his smartphone.
“Thanks. I’ll read it at home. Sorry but we have to go now. Talk to you later,” Christoph said. He went to Hilde to get her into a taxi. Hilde and Markus exchanged telephone numbers, and Christoph and Hilde went away.
Then Ludwig noticed that a couple of girls were giggling and looking at him. “Oh, my goodness,” Ludwig said to his friends. “Let’s get out of here. As soon as those girls get to know who I am, they transform into a shoal of piranhas and rip us apart. I already experienced that once. Furthermore, I don’t want to be here when those other guys come back with reinforcements.”
They went into the pub, grabbed their bags and left.
On the way to another pub, one of Ludwig’s friends asked: “May I seduce the girls next time you get into such a situation?”
“Be my guest,” Ludwig said. “All my other friends already do. You’re the first one to ask.”

In the taxi back home, Christoph said to Hilde: “You certainly like Markus, don’t you?”
“I certainly do. The guy is fantastic,” Hilde said dreamingly. She waited a few seconds, and then suddenly continued sharply: “But what was it that Uwe said about melting my heart for him in exchange of information?”
Oops, I have something to explain, Christoph thought.


13 August 2011
Trier, Eiffelland

Christoph, Hilde and their uncle went to the prison where Christoph’s and Hilde’s father was staying. It was a large grey building outside Trier. The building was scary and saddening, designed to never let anybody out, unless legally through the door. The building was surrounded with a canal, a fence with signs “Achtung! Hochspannung!” on both sides, a roll of barbed wire, a 10 meters high and 1 meter thick wall and another fence with signs “Achtung! Hochspannung!” on both sides. On all 4 corner points, there were towers which were manned by people who looked both at the inside and at the outside of the building. It was the prison for the people that needed additional protection, because there was a high chance that they would be freed or try to escape, or because they were extremely violent, or because they were prisoners of the Staatsschutz, like Joachim Freiherr von Weizenburg and his group. Christoph saw it for the first time. One way or another, he felt pity for his father.

Inside the building, Christoph, Hilde and their uncle were examined and then led to a room where Joachim Freiherr von Weizenburg was sitting. They started to talk. The Freiherr von Weizenburg told about the daily life in the prison, and the others about their lives. At a certain moment, the Freiherr von Weizenburg said: “There is one thing we have to talk about. Gregor, did you take the family tree with you?”
“Yes, I did,” Christoph’s uncle said. He took the book out of the bag he was carrying, and also a pen. The Freiherr von Weizenburg opened it and went to the last page.
“Christoph,” he said, “did you hear anything about Bastian?”
“He is still in hospital, but he is recovering,” Christoph said. He didn’t want his father to know that he wasn’t allowed to visit Bastian.
“I told you about your duty to continue the line,” Christoph’s father said. “After I die, you will become the new baron. This means that you will have to marry and raise children. Your own. So that you can pass the title on to your own son.” He paused for several seconds. Then he continued. “Are you still in love with Bastian?”
“Yes,” Christoph said.
“So you want to spend your life with a man on your side?” his father asked.
“Yes.”
“So the son and heir doesn’t want to fulfil his duties.”
“Dad, I already told you, the world - has - changed.”
“Not my world.”

Hilde and Uncle Gregor remained silent while observing the discourse between father and son.

“You’re a disgrace to the family, Christoph,” the Freiherr von Weizenburg said.
“You are currently in prison under suspicion of high treason. I am not. You gave our family a bad name, not me. So who is the disgrace to the family?” Christoph asked.
His father slapped him in the face.
“And once again you don’t have anything else to do than slapping me in the face,” Christoph said. His father took the pen in his hand.
“You insolent boy. You don’t deserve it, but out of my fatherly feelings to you, I will give you one last chance,” Freiherr von Weizenburg said while moving the pen through his fingers. “I have a fortune of about 100 million Marks. After I die, you and Hilde will inherit 50 million each. That is, if you do your duty: Marry a woman and ground a family. Choose wisely.”
“Not even in 50 million years,” Christoph screamed furiously. “I’ll live the live I want and not the live you want!”
“Very well,” his father said. He took the pen in his right hand, moved its tip to the last paper in the family tree, and stroke Christoph’s name out of the family tree.
“You are talking about family honour, the title and continuing the line so that my son can inherit the title. Indeed, that is how it went for centuries. The title was inherited from father to son, but once in history it was earned by the founder of the family. And I will show you all how it was earned,” Christoph screamed.
“Good luck with that,” his father said to Christoph. Then he continued to Christoph’s uncle: “Throw him out of your house. He’s not a member of the family any more. He’s not my son any more, so we don’t have any obligations to him any more.”

Gregor von Weizenburg found himself in a nasty problem. On the one hand, the will of the patriarch of the family. On the other hand, the youth office, the public opinion that would start to observe him soon and his own notion that a schoolboy should not be left to his own devices. He took the decision to stand up against his brother.

“I’m sorry for you, Joachim, but you don’t throw a schoolboy on the street just like that. It is your decision to consider Christoph your son or not, but he remains my nephew,” Gregor von Weizenburg said.
“That is your decision, but I take that million you’re currently using for him back. He’s not my son any more, so I’m not responsible any more,” Joachim von Weizenburg said.
“Then we see each other in court to fight about an alimony for him,” Gregor von Weizenburg said.
“What is happening here?” Joachim von Weizenburg asked coldly. “I am still the patriarch of the family.”
“When Christoph said that the world has changed, you replied ‘not my world’. Let me put it this way: Your world has become a bit smaller. If the patriarch does bad things, he needs to be corrected. Like now. Again, you don’t throw a schoolboy on the street. Homosexual or not, he remains my nephew. I can’t stop you from disinheriting him, but I can and will stop you from taking his future away,” Gregor von Weizenburg said.
“He just said that he wants to show us how the title was earned by the founder of the family. Give him that chance. The best way to show that is to start from zero,” Joachim von Weizenburg said vilaineously.
“Dad, you just said that you have a fortune of 100 million Marks. What difference will that 1 million make then?” Hilde asked.
“Very well. Let him have that million then,” Joachim von Weizenburg said with a tired tone in his voice, not willing to face his brother and daughter, and understanding that he would loose the plea anyway. “But that is the last thing I will do for him.”

After they had left the room, Christoph said humbly to Hilde and his uncle: “Thank you for what you just did.”

 

[Rheinbund]

28 August 2011
Motorway A13 Bad Hersfeld - Trier

Yesterday
Time stood still
As we walked into the night together
The memory is locked in our hearts forever
It seems just like yesterday
Time stood still

The song was playing on the radio of Christoph’s uncle’s car. The family was driving back from a short weekend holiday on the beach in Bad Hersfeld. A place with many memories for Christoph. On the beach of Bad Hersfeld, he and Bastian made love for the first time. That was also the first time that Christoph made love to a guy.

I thought that I’d seen love before
But what you showed me
Well that’s something more
Love found two strangers walking on the shore
We threw our watches in the sea
I looked at you, you looked at me
And time stood still

The song was about two people who met on the beach and fell in love with each other. But apparently they fell apart, or something else happened because of which they didn’t see each other again. At least that was what Christoph concluded from the next refrain.

Time stood still
But love goes on forever
The memory is burned in our hearts forever
Oh yes

Time stood still
The moment’s gone forever
But I will love you till
Time stands still in our hearts forever
Oh yeah

The song fitted perfectly with Christoph’s sad mood. And he saw the parallel with his own situation.
The weather had been fantastic. Hot, hardly any wind and continuously sun. Christoph had joined his sister and cousins in swimming in the sea, building sand castles, playing beachvolleyball and so on, but his thoughts were elsewhere. Hilde and Helene had repeatedly asked what the matter was, but Christoph always said “oh, nothing”. He continuously thought of how it was when he was in Bad Hersfeld with Bastian, how it was in the month after that, and how it could have been if his luck and happiness had not been taken away 2 months ago.

Meanwhile, his uncle and aunt became concerned about him as well. Because of that, his uncle started a conversation with him in the car.

“Christoph, you don’t seem to do well at the moment. I know that much happened to you, but Hilde seems to do better than you do,” he said. “She even falls in love again. Although I’m not really happy with the fact that her new boyfriend is 3 years older.”
“For Hilde’s boyfriend, I know the guy. You don’t need to worry about him. He won’t force Hilde to do anything she doesn’t want,” Christoph said.
“I also have a good impression of him, but nevertheless. Hilde is 15 and Markus is 18. That is quite a difference. But maybe it will work out anyway. Let’s await the events,” his uncle said. “But then still you.”

During the past month, the athmosphere in the family had improved a lot. The tension Christoph initially felt had disappeared. Even Reinhold had become jovial to him. He did his best to fit in the group, but somehow he didn’t manage. Also because he was still afraid of the family’s opinion on homosexuality.

“Believe me, Uncle Gregor, I am really thankful of what you and Aunt Uschi are doing for Hilde and me. You can’t do better than you currently do. The things I am dealing with do not have to do with you, but it is better if I leave them unsaid,” Christoph said.
“Christoph, I know what past our family had. We were in the extremist rightwing scene, but we were all wrong with that. What your father did, made me think as well. What is important, is what you contribute to the country. And then ethnicity doesn’t matter. I also observed you. I don’t know how bad it is with your boyfriend, and I don’t know why you don’t visit him at the hospital, but what you are currently dealing with, is probably heartbreak. To me, homosexuality is unnatural and something I disapprove, but it also does something to me to see you suffering from heartbreak. Follow your heart, but please also give me the time to get used to the idea that you do it with guys,” his uncle said.
“I can’t visit Bastian at the moment. His mother doesn’t want to,” Christoph said.
“Why that?” his uncle asked puzzled.
“She holds me responsible for what happened to Bastian,” Christoph said.
Then he felt Reinhold’s hand patting his shoulder. Christoph looked at Reinhold, who was sitting on the back seat. “Poor you,” Reinhold said.


29 August 2011
Charité
Trier, Eiffelland

“Like I said earlier, Bastian is the easiest complex patient I’ve ever had. All his injuries are healing extremely well, and the neurologist says that there are no neurological deficiencies. His brain and spine are intact,” Oberarzt Dr. Sauerbruch said.
“But he says he can’t remember anything about the fight. The last thing he remembers is that he drove back home with Christoph,” Bastian’s mother said.
“We see that more often. It is called retrograde amnesia. That is normal, so you don’t need to worry about that,” Dr. Sauerbruch said. “I am really satisfied about how Christoph is recovering.”
“We are planning to claim a compensation for what has been done to Christoph. Could you help us with that?” Dr. Sauerbruch asked.
“Of course. Although Bastian is recovering speedily, he will miss a year of his life because of this. I won’t have a problem with it if you financially ruin all the culprits,” Dr. Sauerbruch said.

“There is one thing I’m wondering about, Mum. Why hasn’t Christoph visited me yet?” Bastian asked. Indeed, he had woken up out of the narcosis, and indeed apart from the retrograde amnesia, cognitively nothing was wrong. He was treated by a physiotherapist so that he could use his arms again, and that went extremely well. He hadn’t regained his muscle power yet, but he already could eat with fork and knive again. He could also write and type again. His mother had brought a cheap minicomputer with an external keyboard. The minicomputer was connected to the TV screen in the ceiling, so he could surf on the internet. He was writing the blog about his recovery himself now.
“Well, we have to discuss that. In fact it is his fault that you are lying here,” his mother said.
“His fault? What do you mean?” Bastian asked puzzled.
“He knew about his father’s ideas, so he knew that this could happen to you, but in spite of that he started an affair with you. He only thought of his own pleasures and his fight with his father, not about you. You’re too good for a spoilt noblechild. Let him take somebody else als the stone of offence in his struggle with his father,” his mother said.
“What are you talking about? I know him as a completely different person than you describe him. Indeed, he knew that he took a risk, but as far as I understood, it was only a risk for himself that he was taking,” Bastian said.
“Believe me, Bastian, those spoilt noblechildren only think of themselves. Let him be and find yourself someone better,” his mother said.
“Mum, I appreciate it very much what you’re doing for me, and I appreciate it also very much that you want to protect me, but if you keep Christoph and me apart, I’m lying here for nothing,” Bastian said.

His mother remained silent. Bastian as well. After a few seconds, he continued.

“I want to know from him what happened. Let him tell his story to us. If it is really like you say it, it is indeed better that our relationship ends, but I want to take that decision myself. I don’t want you to take that decision for me,” Bastian said.

His mother remained silent for a moment. Then she said: “Maybe you’re right. This is indeed not something I have to decide. We will let him tell his story. I will call him.”

Christoph was excited after the telephone call with Bastian’s mother, but also nervous. He didn’t know what would await him, but he knew what would depend on it. He considered it a pity that he could not discuss it with his therapist upfront. When he told his aunt and uncle about it, his aunt directly offered to drive him to the hospital, although it would be easy to get there by public transport. Christoph first went to his room to change clothes. He would feel more secure in long trousers and polo-shirt than in shorts and T-shirt.

When he arrived at Bastian’s room in the hospital, he didn’t know what to do first. Bastian was lying in his bed, and Bastian’s father, mother and younger brother were standing in the room. Then Bastian said: “Come here. I want to hold you in my arms.”
Christoph sprinted to the bed and embraced Bastian. Then he started to cry. Bastian went through Christoph’s hair with one hand and indicated to his family with his other hand to leave the room for a while. After a few minutes, Bastian’s family returned into the room. Then Christoph started to talk.

“I have to tell that I knew what my father was doing. Once I heard it when he gave orders for a terrorist attack. So you are right that I knew to what my father was capable. Indeed you could argue that I could have known that Bastian was in danger as well, but it never came to my mind that my father could send his henchmen to Bastian. Really, never. Would that have come to my mind, I would not have started a relationship with Bastian. I would not have wanted to take the risk of endangering him. Please believe me.” With those words, Christoph ended his plea.
“What did you do when you found out that your father was planning those terrorist attacks?” Bastian’s father asked.
“I did the only right thing I could do. I went to the police,” Christoph said. “Please don’t tell anybody that I did.”
Christoph remained silent for some moments. Then he continued. “I really feel sorry for what happened to Bastian, and I will hate my father for the rest of my life because of it. Bastian, I’ve missed you so much during the last two months.”
“Come here, Christoph,” Bastian said while spreading his arms.


OOC: all songtexts: Bad English – Time stood still

 

[Rheinbund]

9 September 2011
Charité
Trier, Eiffelland
16:00

“How was the first school week?” Bastian asked Christoph, Prince Ludwig and Prince Sebastiano. The two princes had decided to pay Bastian a visit in the hospital, because they had become more or less friends of him and Christoph. Furthermore, Bastian had heard Christoph’s story about how Ludwig had saved him from Uwe Wehnert, and he wanted to see the rescuer of his boyfriend. And it was also an official visit to show the stance of the Eiffellandian Royal House towards far right violence. Finally, of course, Bastian was the first boy with whom Ludwig kissed two years ago, and also the boy that had deflowered Sebastiano. That created a bond as well.
“Everything has started full-blown again,” Ludwig said. “But we can handle. We are going to organise a charity event for Augsburg at school, by the way.”
“So you’re being your ultimate self again,” Bastian smirked.
“Hey. I’m just doing what I have to do,” Ludwig said, acting as if he was cranked.
“I know, I know,” Bastian said.
“But how are you doing?” Sebastiano asked.
“Very well given the circumstances. I’m not allowed to sit yet, but that will come. Everything is healing very well. Unfortunately, I will need a year to revalidate, so I won’t go to school the coming year. Next year I will be in the same year as Christoph. I’ll go to the revalidation centre in a month, when the fractures in my pelvis and leg have healed,” Bastian said. “Everybody here is nice to me as well. Especially one student‑nurse. She is a completely crazy nymphomaniac and falls for guys of our age. That means also me.”
“So you’re playing the unreachable love here,” Sebastiano laughed.
“You could put it that way. But you don’t have to worry about her. Christoph, do you still remember Achim and Leo from the Ascension Day holidays? They visited me here last weekend and sandwiched her after her shift,” Bastian said. “By the way, they also told that the far right scene has suddenly become strangely quiet, and that several far right attacks on gay and leftwing pubs were prevented because the police were already present in disguise. Several hundreds of skinheads were arrested in June and the first half of July while they were attacking gay and leftwing pubs.”
“I think I already know why,” Christoph said. “Ludwig, do you remember those guys that wanted to beat me up last month? One of them is an important guy in the far right scene. He knows more or less everything about the plans of the Trierer skinheads scene with regards to ambushes and assaults. He fell for my sister, but my sister didn’t like him at all. I made use of Uwe’s feelings towards my sister by telling him that I could try to weaken her heart, but then he had to tell about his acts of heroism, which meant the plans of the Trierer skinheads. He agreed and told me about those plans. But instead of telling them to my sister, I told them to the police. And that was also the reason why those guys wanted to beat me up.”
“Apparently they found out. Or figured it out,” Sebastiano said. “Does your sister know?”
“Yes, she does. And I had some difficult moments with her because of that,” Christoph said.
“Well, this time it was for a good cause, but normally you don’t sell your sister like that,” Sebastiano said ironicly, faking an accusing tone in his voice.
“Believe me, normally I wouldn’t do so, and Hilde has done enough to make me feel sorry for it,” Christoph said. “But in the end she forgave me.”

At that moment, a nurse came in. Because of the extremely hot and beautiful weather, Christoph, Ludwig and Sebastiano were wearing Bermuda shorts and had their shirts half open. Furthermore, as always, Ludwig had paid extremely much attention to his looks. Litterally not a single hair was lying in the wrong position. During the summer, he had even taken care of it that his skin had an even tan all over his body. And such a tan that it was exactly good. He was wearing a white shirt without a single crease in it, not even on the back.
The first thing the nurse did was looking at the guys’ legs, and then to their upper bodies.

“Hello Schwester Leandra. We were just talking about you,” Bastian said.
“Whow, what a beauties you have here once again. Especially him,” the nurse said while looking at Ludwig.
“Well, this one is mine,” Bastian said while slinging his arm around Christoph’s waist. “The other two are in a relationship with each other.”
Ludwig and Sebastiano put their arms around their shoulders and kissed each other on the mouths shortly to confirm that.
“What kind of city is this? The cute guys are either gay or in a relationship,” the nurse said sadly.
“Or both,” Sebastiano grinned.


Unter den Kastanien
Trier, Eiffelland
17:00

During the summer holidays, Ludwig had obtained his driver’s licence, and a present from his parents. He was currently Trier’s youngest owner of a Porsche Cabrio. Now he was driving it on the main road through Trier’s largest inner city park, called Tiergarten, with Sebastiano on the passenger seat. It was 31 Centigrades, so the roof was open. The wind played slightly through the two guys’ hair. Traffic was busy because rush hour had just started, but there were no traffic jams yet.
“Sebastiano?” Ludwig asked.
“Yes,” Sebastiano replied.
“My father and mother are bound to the Palace because of the war. Friedrich, Laura and Philipp are visiting Wolfgang and Antonia in Weissenfels. This means that we can have the lakehouse for ourselves this weekend. Let’s go there tonight after our sports trainings and have hot and steamy sex all weekend long. Let’s take a boat and do it in the open air on the lake tonight,” Ludwig said.

Whow, Ludwig was up to something, Sebastiano thought. Normally he wouldn’t talk about “having sex”, but merely about “sleeping with”. Apparently the weather had a very special influence on him. But this was not only because of the weather.

“I absolutely like the idea, but is there a special reason?” Sebastiano asked.
“No, not at all. I just want to use the occasion. Next week Karl will have two weeks off, and Eleonore will be here as well. And from next Monday onwards, the preparations for the charity event will start. Then we won’t be able to see us very often,” Ludwig said.
“What about food?” Sebastiano asked.
“That has been taken care of. We only have to cook and make breakfast ourselves. I really wanted to be alone with you, so there will be no servants,” Ludwig said.
“Whow, you organised it perfectly again,” Sebastiano said. “What about the guards?”
“Let’s pretend that they don’t see us,” Ludwig said.
“Ludwig, you always have such a good ideas. We won’t need that many clothes I think, so packing should be easy,” Sebastiano grinned.


10 September 2011
Trierer See, Eiffelland
7:00 a.m.

A boat was floating on the Trierer See. In it were two blonde guys: Ludwig and Sebastiano. They hadn’t slept all night. Instead, they had looked at the moon and the stars, swum naked in the lake, passionately made love several times and watched the sun rise above the lake. They had just made love once again. Their hearts were still beating in a rapid pace, and they were still breathing heavily. Sebastiano was lying in Ludwig’s arms. An empty bottle of rosé was standing in a crate. A half-full bottle of rosé was standing in a wine cooler. Both guys were a bit tipsy because of the rosé and the sex. The sky was deep blue. The temperature hadn’t been under the 25 degrees all night. Now the sun was warming the air again.
“Oh, Sebastiano, you’re so sweet, you’re so gorgeous, I love you,” Ludwig said while he pressed Sebastiano a bit closer to himself.
“I love you too, beautiful Prince,” Sebastiano said and kissed Ludwig on the lips. That resulted in another passionate kiss.
Ludwig and Sebastiano rolled aside so that Sebastiano wasn’t lying on Ludwig any more, and wrapped their arms and legs around each other. They remained lying that way until they breathed calmly and their hearts beat in a normal pace again. Then Ludwig kissed Sebastiano on the nose and said: “Let’s take another naked swim. Now we still have the opportunity, and the water is still great. In an hour or so, we won’t have the lake for ourselves any more.”


12 September 2011
Near Trier, Eiffelland

It was the law in Eiffelland that it was forbidden to record talkings between suspects and their barristers. This law was also applicable to people who had been accused of high treason. This had, however, a disadvantage with criminals who were in the upper levels of criminal organisations: Those people could continue to steer their criminal activities through their barristers while they were in prison. They could even organise an escape attempt, although that only rarely happened. The Eiffellandian prisons were secure. Escaping from them was extremely difficult, not only because the guards were trigger‑happy.
Von Weizenburg didn’t have the illusion any more that he would be able to escape. Everything would be done to keep him behind bars. When he would try to escape, he would be either hindered or shot. But he still had a large influence in the far right movement. An influence he still used through his barrister Dr. Walter Rost. He was always visited by his barrister on Monday morning. Like now.

“I’m worried about Karstens,” Von Weizenburg said. “The other prisoners let everything out on him and Patke. I had heard that police officers have a bad time when they are imprisoned, but I never realised that it would be that bad.”
“Karstens tried to commit suicide because of that,” Rost said. “Now the prison guards are doing everything they can to keep him alive. He has to eat with plastic tableware. Yet another reason to tease him. I am trying to arrange a relocation to another part of the prison for him, and that the others can join him, so that he won’t be harrassed any more, but that hasn’t succeeded. They claim that there is no room for doing so.”
“What about a hunger strike?” Von Weizenburg said.
“You’ll be force-feeded. That won’t help,” Rost said. “By the way, Patke is a suspect in a murder case that took place in this prison.”
“I know. Somebody continuously harrassed Patke, so he used the occasion. Everybody knows it was him,” Von Weizenburg said.
“I’m working on that case as well,” Rost said.
“We’re making you busy I’m afraid,” Von Weizenburg said.
“Oh, that doesn’t matter. It’s not for the cause any more, but defending people who wanted to do something for the cause must also be done. By the way, did you know that your house was bugged?” Rost asked.
“No, but we can presume that, given what the prosecutor all knows,” Von Weizenburg said.
“The Staatsschutz admits that they bugged your house. All bugging systems have been removed directly after you were arrested,” Rost said. “But I have some more news. Meißner has a spy in the Staatsschutz. Last week that spy overheard some interesting things. Apart from the Staatsschutz’s bugging system, there was a second bugging system in your house as well.”
Von Weizenburg looked amazed at Rost. “Who could have done that?” he asked.
“I don’t know, but it wasn’t the Staatsschutz. They sticked to each and every rule that applies in this country in this case. I am looking for mistakes in that matter but haven’t found any,” Rost said. “But Meißner’s spy heard somewhere else that there was contact between your son and one of Gomulka’s men. Furthermore, Uwe Wehnert also thinks that your son told some things to the police. Several assaults on gay bars, meeting places of leftwingers and pubs of foreigners failed because the police were already there.”
“Well, as you know, Christoph isn’t my son any more. I stroke him out of the family tree. But apart from that, did you know that one of his hobbies is electronics?” Von Weizenburg said. “He is always experimenting with it. The boy would have cost me a lot of fuses, would I not have the fuse‑box replaced with a switch box when I bought my house in 1995.”
“Then apparently he improved a lot since his childhood. There were microphones in all rooms which were connected to MP3-recorders with start-stop systems. They only recorded the noises, not the silences. And apparently Christoph is not only an electronics nerd but also a computer nerd. All the microphones and MP3-recorders were connected through a wireless network,” Rost said.
Von Weizenburg remained silent for a moment, to process the fact that it was Christoph who had tipped the police and later on the Staatsschutz about the terrorist attacks. From a certain moment onwards, they were prevented one by one. And the Staatsschutz knew a bit too well where all the assaults of 7 July would take place.
“Kill him,” Von Weizenburg said. “I know that our hands are tied for the moment because of special interest from the authorities. But that won’t last. Kill Christoph as soon as the special interest for us has fainted.”

 

[Rheinbund]

3 October 2011
Barracks of the Königlicher Garde
Trier, Eiffelland
19:00

Two and a half months ago, Paul Ullmann, promoted from Lieutenant to Oberleutnant last Friday, heard from his superior that he would be transferred to a function at the administration department, with a promotion to Oberleutnant. It looked like a very dull job according to him, but his superior had told him that it was an incubation function for the higher ranks in the Königlicher Garde. “We have the impression that you are a talented young man, Ullmann. You have a bright future in front of you,” his superior had said. Today had been Ullmann’s first day in his new function. He had a bit mixed feelings about it. Of course the first day in a new job doesn’t tell everything, but why had he got this job?
Ullmann was still an adherent of the far right movement. About half a year ago, Von Weizenburg had invited him and 19 others from the Königlicher Garde for a weekend in his holiday house in Northern Eiffelland. Saturday morning and afternoon, they had walked, rafted and climbed. In the evening, during dinner, Von Weizenburg had unfolded his plans to kidnap Prince Ludwig. All had agreed to participate. It would take place on 8 July, when also a series of terrorist attacks would take place. But on 8 July, the terrorist attacks did not take place. And Ludwig cancelled all his appointments that day. Ullmann cancelled the kidnapping. A few days later, Von Weizenburg was arrested.
In the weeks after that, the officers suddenly became extremely picky on the people that would take part in the kidnapping. Except on him. He was transferred to the administration department, to a function that would make him ready for the higher ranks. It was clear to him that the kidnapping had been discovered, but apparently not in such a way that Ullmann and the others could be arrested. So they had decided to freeze them out. But why did he not get fatigue duties but was transferred to a function that would make him ready for the higher officer ranks? Would they really want to make him a higher officer? Or would they just want to have him in a position where he could not do any harm?

He had got a message that he had to go to a pub in a small village 50 km from Trier and ask for “Dr. Schultz”. He had eaten in the canteen and changed his uniform for civil clothes. Now he was walking to his car. He wondered why he had got that message. He had heard that the GEL and the VU were keeping themselves low‑profile at the moment. The recent events had placed them into the focus of the Staatsschutz. What would be expected from him then? Any actions from within the Königlicher Garde would be out of the question as well. Ullmann stepped into his car, started the engine and drove to the gate. It had been quite warm this day, but an hour ago it had begun to rain. Now it was raining quite heavy.


50 km from Trier
Eiffelland
20:00

When Ullmann parked his car on the village place, he noticed four other cars he recognised. One of them belonged to the sergeant that was also a member of the group of people that would have carried out Prince Ludwig’s kidnapping. The three others belonged to three other members of that group. Since his referral had become official, his far‑right mates had become quite hostile to him. Understandable, because they got fatigue duties and he got an unofficial promotion. But he hadn’t asked for his promotion. Maybe he could clear that now. After he had parked his car, he went into the pub through the pouring rain.
Inside, he asked for Dr. Schultz and was led to a room at the first floor. There he saw his 19 far‑right mates, together with Meißner, the leader of the GEL.
“Good evening, Herr Oberleutnant Ullmann,” Meißner said. “Right on time. Take a seat. We want to discuss the state of our movement.”
“Good evening everyone,” Ullmann said and took a seat.
“How was your first day in your new job?” Meißner asked.
“What can I say after a first day in a new job?” Ullmann asked. “I was introduced to a lot of people, and I was told about my new tasks. I don’t know what’s going to await me.”
“Why so sad about it, Herr Oberleutnant? Your friends here told me that you got a job that is going to prepare you for the higher officer ranks. And you were promoted. Nothing to be sad about,” Meißner said.
“But why are we getting fatigue duties for even the smallest offenses, while you get a promotion?” one of the others asked.
“I don’t know. I didn’t ask for the promotion. I just got it. Only God knows why,” Ullmann said.
“Lies. I will tell you why you got a promotion and we get fatigue duties. You told your superiors about Operation Flamingo and told our names as well, in exchange for your promotion,” the sergeant in the group said.
“And that’s also why you wanted to cancel the operation,” a third person said.
“Me, a traitor? You take that back,” Ullmann said to the sergeant while standing up.
“I take nothing back, traitor,” the sergeant said while standing up as well.
Ullmann walked to the sergeant and gave him a punch in his face. Then an enormous fight broke out. In the end, two men grabbed Ullmann by the arms to hold him upright.
“Let’s kill him, then we’re done with him,” the sergeant said.
“Stop,” Meißner said. “No killings. Do you really think we can get away with his death? What will happen if he doesn’t show up at his new job tomorrow? They will start looking for him. And sooner or later, they will find out what happened. We can’t use another scandal at this moment, so no killings. Maybe in a couple of years, when the attention to us has weakened, but not now.”
“But I don’t want to let him get away with his betrayal,” the sergeant said.
“He won’t get away with it. Don’t worry,” Meißner said. “Ullmann, you betrayed our cause. You’re no longer a member of the GEL. You no longer belong to our movement. You are no longer welcome at our events. Of course I will notify the rest of the GEL as soon as possible. Throw him out.”
Somebody opened the door and Ullmann was thrown out.


Barracks of the Königlicher Garde
Trier, Eiffelland
21:00

Oberst Barnim walked to the apartment of Oberleutnant Kessel. When he arrived there, he ringed. His wife opened the door.
“Good evening, Mrs. Kessel,” Barnim said. “Can I come in? I would like to talk to your husband.”
“Of course, Herr Oberst, come in,” Mrs. Kessel said.
“How are you, by the way? I heard that your baby was born a month ago,” Barnim asked.
“I’m fine, thank you. We got a healthy baby girl. She is currently sleeping,” Mrs. Kessel said while leading Barnim to the living room, where her husband was sitting. “Do you want to see her?”
“I would love to, but then we would disturb her sleep. Let’s let her sleep,” Barnim said.
“Well, she disturbs our sleep often enough, but maybe you are right. Let’s let her sleep,” Mrs. Kessel said. “Horst, here is Oberst Barnim. He wants to talk to you.”
“Good evening, Herr Oberst,” Oberleutnant Kessel said. “Do you want anything to drink? I have an extremely good cognac.”
“Yes please,” Barnim said. “I want to discuss something with you. In private. Let’s go to the balcony.”
“In this weather?” Kessel asked.
“Exactly because of that they invented umbrellas,” Barnim said. “I want to show you something, but we need to go to the balcony for that.”
Kessel got an umbrella and opened the balcony doors. Then both men stepped outside.
“Good. Just as I expected. We have a perfect view on the parking lot,” Barnim said while taking his binoculars. “Not let’s wait for what I want to show you.”
“But what is it that you want to show me, Herr Oberst?” Kessel asked.
“The successful closure of Phase I of my revenge on the newly promoted Oberleutnant Ullmann,” Barnim said. “The Staatsschutz informed me that our 20 far‑right moles met the head of the GEL Meißner in a pub 50 kilometers from here. Some of those moles began to wonder why they got fatigue duties over and over again while Ullmann was promoted. And now they all are wondering. Ullmann just met them all, together with Meißner. The Staatsschutz agent on the spot notified me that he came out of the pub with blood on his face and a black eye. Now he’s driving back. To here. Now I want to see his face, and I want to see it with you.”

Barnim and Kessel had to wait for a quarter of an hour, but then Ullmann’s car drove through the gate.
“Ah, there he is,” Barnim said. He took his binoculars and watched. After Ullmann had locked his car, he walked to the apartment building.
“Yyyyeeeeeeeessss. Well blooded, and a good black eye. He has been kicked out of the far‑right movement, and apparently hard. Do you want to look?” Barnim asked while handing the binoculars to Kessel.
Kessel took the binoculars and watched Kessel’s face. “Indeed, they quite beat him up,” he said.
“He has been punished for his betrayal and violation of the oath, by his own friends, who also rejected him. But everybody knows about him. He won’t get any other friends in the Königlicher Garde. He’s on his own now,” Barnim said.
“What is going to happen to the others?” Kessel asked.
“When they drive back, they will be hindered by an old man on the road driving 60, so that they will arrive here late. Hopefully only a few minutes late. Good for some extra fatigue duties for a small offence. But let’s not only talk about them. Let’s also talk about you. Major Böhm will get early retirement. His cancer is incurable. I will promote Hauptmann Krafft to Major, but then I need a new Hauptmann as well. What do you think of becoming the new Hauptmann and take Krafft’s position?” Barnim asked.
“I would love to do so, Herr Oberst,” Kessel said enthousiasticly.
“OK, then that’s arranged,” Barnim said.
“Thank you very much, Herr Oberst,” Kessel said thankfully.

 

[Rheinbund]

OOC: I know this is a very old story, but its epilogue still needs to be finished. Herewith.

IC:

30 July 2011
Beach of Talemantros

After Gomulka had arrested Von Weizenburg and his men, he had got a 3 months paid leave. He immediately booked a three-weeks holiday to the beach of Talemantros for him and his two sons Max and Bernd. Now they were staying in a beach resort in Talemantros, near Talemaniki. Sometimes they made a day-trip to one of the many historical locations in Talemantros. Max and Bernd had become friends with the children of the neighbouring Wendmarker family. They often ate together, and sometimes made day trips together. And sometimes Gomulka took all the children with him for a day trip. But he never left Max and Bernd alone. He was afraid of doing so.

Today Gomulka, his children and the Wendmarker family had spent the day at the beach. After they had had dinner, they went back to their houses. After the children had gone to bed, the Wendmarkers invited Gomulka to come over. Gomulka had served them so often in his house, now it was their turn to invite him. Gomulka declined the invitation.
“Aber warum, Herr Gomulka?” the Wendmarker man asked.
Gomulka considered lying that he was tired. But he had also realised that the fact that he lied about his work had killed his marriage, because of which Karstens had got the opportunity to seduce his wife. He had also the impression that he would kill the friendly athmosphere if he would lie. So he started talking.
“I can’t leave my children alone at this moment. I will tell you why, but that’s a long story. Three weeks ago, my wife and children were kidnapped. My wife was shot by the kidnappers. And this all happened while I was away from home for work,” he said.
“How terrible,” the Wendmarker woman said. “But why?”
Gomulka told that he was in charge of the operation to uncover the terrorists, and his family was kidnapped because of that, during a period in which he was working all‑day to catch those terrorists. In the end, he said: “So they were kidnapped while I was away. And despite the fact that I was busy saving the lives of thousands of people, I feel guilty that I wasn’t there to protect my family.”

A few hours later, the Wendmarkers went to their house. Gomulka waved at them from the doorway, and closed the front door. When he turned around, he saw his 10 year old son Max standing in the hall.
“I didn’t hear it all, but I heard some things,” he said. He paused for a moment, and then continued: “What exactly happened? Or better said, why did it happen? You’ve been away from home for 2 months, and during these 2 months this ‘Uncle Jens’ pops up, sleeps with Mum, kidnaps us and brings us to a creep that kills Mum. Why did they do this, where were you when this happened, and why were you away?”
Gomulka realised that he couldn’t lie to Max, either. Both his children were intelligent, but while Bernd was an absent-minded professor who knew an enormous lot, Max was a sharp analyser of the events around him. He was also the tougher and more musculous one. And lying to Max was impossible.
“I will tell you if you promise to keep it a secret,” Gomulka said.
“I promise,” Max said.
“Good. You probably still know about those terrorist attacks, and about the arrestment of Von Weizenburg,” Gomulka said.
“Yes, I do,” Max said. Those terrorist attacks had become a thankful subject of his plays with his friends.
“I always told that I am a policeman, but in fact I work for the Staatsschutz. And I had to uncover the terrorists,” Gomulka said.
“So that’s why we suddenly got those agents in the house,” Max said. “But we were kidnapped despite them. What happened?”
“We were prepared for an attempt to kidnap you, but we weren’t prepared for it that the kidnappers belonged to the Staatsschutz,” Gomulka said. “That ‘Uncle Jens’ was in fact a high-ranking officer. And in the same night he kidnapped you, we were preparing to capture the terrorists. We finally knew where to find them. Thanks to the guy that saved you from your kidnappers by the way.”
“But you were away for two months, not only for that night. If you would have been there, ‘Uncle Jens’ wouldn’t have been able to rope in Mum,” Max said.
“My men and I had to work all‑day to catch those terrorists. That’s why I was away. Believe me, I did not do so light‑heartedly. But I had to do so to save the lives of thousands of people. And despite that, I still feel guilty about it,” Gomulka said.

That summer, Gomulka would have more of these talkings with his son.


1 November 2011
Trier, Eiffelland

When Gomulka returned to his work, he got another job. His superior had said about it: “Gomulka, you have two children, and you have to take care of them on your own. You need a regular job now because of your children. That is impossible at the front line, no matter how much you like it there. You need another job. Apart from that, I want to reward you for your good work. You were already in for a promotion, but you will skip some steps. You will become Staatsschutzdirektor, in the department you’re currently working in. You will also get a dedicated line from your house to the headquarters so that you can work from home when needed.”
That was two months ago. Gomulka started in his new function last month. It was office work, but Gomulka managed to make it interesting for him and be at home for his children each night. Because of the raised salary, he could hire someone to keep the apartment clean and do the shopping for food.
He had also had some talkings with both his sons. In the beginning, they still reproached him for leaving them alone, but he had managed to explain them what happened, and in the end, the relationship between them improved. But he still felt guilty about the death of his wife. Something that would never change.


5 November 2011
Trier, Eiffelland

Christoph woke up with Bastian’s arm around his waist. Immediately the good memories of last night came back. Bastian was still in the revalidation center, but this weekend was the first one that he would spend at home. The Holzbrenners had celebrated that together, and Christoph had been invited for the whole weekend. Bastian’s birthday, which was three days ago, would be celebrated this weekend as well. Today Bastian’s friends would come by, and tomorrow the family.
Christoph had helped Bastian into bed last night, and after that they had made love. It was the first time since Bastian had been beaten up last July. Now they were sleeping naked in Bastian’s bed. Bastian was spooning Christoph.
Since the events of last July, Christoph had been suffering from nightmares. He had also become a very light sleeper. Actually this night had been the first one in months that he had really slept. Without nightmares. He sat up, stretched himself, turned around and saw that Bastian was already awake.
“Morning,” he said.
“Morning,” Bastian replied. “My goodness, you can sleep. I’ve already been awake for 2 hours.”
“Really? Why didn’t you wake me up then?” Christoph asked.
“Do you know how cute you are when you’re asleep?” Bastian replied.
“You’re the first one to tell me, apart from my mother,” Christoph smiled. He gave Bastian a kiss on the mouth, and said: “Come. I’ll take you to the bathroom and help you with washing.”


18 November 2011
Danzig

“Today the trials against the members of the NRBA, the extremist rightwing group led by Joachim Freiherr von Weizenburg, came to an end. All members were sentenced to longterm imprisonments and varying durations of forced labour,” the reporter on the television told.
“So that went terribly wrong,” the man watching the television said to himself. The plan had been good. Freiherr Von Weizenburg seemed to be a good choice as well, but later on turned out not to stand the tension, and started to do strange things. Running a big business was apparently something else than running a terrorist group. Furthermore, the Baron’s son had never been taken into account.
The man still had his contacts in the Staatsschutz. He knew what happened. He knew about the two bugging systems in Von Weizenburg’s house: One from the Staatsschutz, one from Von Weizenburg’s son. How long had the latter one been in place? Had Christoph found out about the whole operation over that system, of did he first overhear a discussion and later on installed the system? How could he have done so without disturbing everybody?
In any case, Christoph von Weizenburg had majorly sabotaged the man’s plans to place his rightful claim to the Throne of Eiffelland. Indeed, he was the descendant of King Lothar VII, the last King of the Hadamar family, who died unmarried and without children according to the official history. But the official history was false. King Lothar was married. And out of that marriage, a son had been born. The only problem was, that this all happened without the approval of Lothar’s father, King Philipp IV. Soon after Lothar’s son had been born, the King found out what his son and heir had done. He acted swiftly and the scandal was kept a secret. All evidence about the marriage and the birth of the baby was destroyed, the woman died in what was called an accident and the baby went to an orphanage. But soon after that, friends of the woman took the baby away from there, raised him and told him about his descendance. Not able to take revenge, he travelled to Augsburg, started working for a jeweller there, married the jeweller’s daughter, and grounded a family of jewellers. 150 years later, the family moved to Danzig after some dirty affairs in Augsburg.
And now there he was, the descendant of King Lothar, jeweller in Danzig. And quite rich, fortunately. He would have left it at that, would he not have been an ultraconservative who despised what he saw happening in Eiffelland. And the current monarch even signed for it! Eiffelland had fallen prey to moral decay. That would eventually lead to the fall of the country. The only faction realising that, the far right movement, was so small that it was ignored. No wonder. Ziesche and Meißner were not really the kind of people that could mobilise masses. They really needed an external event to promote themselves. And that was what the man had wanted to provide. Unfortunately, he had chosen the wrong henchman. And now it would become much more difficult to start such a plan again.

The front door of his apartment was opened. His wife came in. The man walked to the door.
“Hello, Hanni,” he said while kissing her on the mouth. “How was the movie?”
“Great. Greetings from Stefanie, by the way,” she said. Stefanie was their youngest daughter. “And how was your day?”
“Great,” the man said. “By the way, Egon told me today that he wants to introduce his girlfriend to us. He will take her to dinner next Tuesday.” Egon was their son. He already worked in the jewelry, but lived in another apartment somewhere else in the city.
“Oh, so finally we get to see her. He talks so much about her. I bet they are already making wedding plans,” Hanni said.

Indeed. There was good news on the home front. Egon would probably continue the line of King Lothar VII.


3 December 2011
Trier, Eiffelland

Christoph was pushing Bastian’s wheelchair while they were going to a park. Despite the fact that it was December, it was still a comfortable 20 centigrades. The sun was shining in a cloudless sky. The trees had lost their leaves, but in spite of that it was nice for a walk in a park.
“Do you still want me, now that I’m not a rich kid any more?” Christoph asked jokingly, referring to the fact that the Von Weizenburg fortune had been seized.
“Not a rich kid any more? You still have one million Marks,” Bastian said.
“Yeah, OK, that’s true, but I was a heir to 50 million Marks when we got a relationship. That’s not the case any more,” Christoph said.
“How do you feel about the fact that your family’s assets have been seized?” Bastian asked.
“My father had already disinherited me, so it doesn’t matter to me any more,” Christoph said. “You will be able to live a comfortable life with all that money, but what is comfort worth if you are unhappy?”
“What do you mean?” Bastian asked.
“My father wanted me to break all ties with you, marry a girl and get a heir with her. I didn’t want to do so, so he disinherited me. He even doesn’t consider me his son any more,” Christoph said.
“Really?” Bastian asked.
“Really,” Christoph said.
“Strange that such things still happen in the Eiffelland of 2011,” Bastian said.
“Well, like I said, what is comfort worth if you are unhappy?” Christoph asked. “Besides, I’m intelligent enough to earn myself a comfortable life. Not as comfortable as the one that was destined to drop into my lap, but comfortable enough.”
“But now I have to conclude that I am worth more than 50 million Marks to you,” Bastian said. Meanwhile, they had arrived at a very nice part of the park, where they could look at a fountain in a large pond.
“You are priceless,” Christoph said while steering the wheelchair near a tree, putting it on the breaks and giving Bastian a kiss on his hair.
Bastian smiled as an answer. Then he asked: “Could you help me out of this chair? I want to sit in the grass with you for a while.”
“Of course,” Christoph said. Bastian could already stand, although a bit unsteady. He could also get into his wheelchair when lying on the ground. It was only a bit difficult to get on the ground from the wheelchair, but the two guys managed to make it happen. Bastian dragged himself to the tree to lean against it with his back. When he had done so, Christoph seated himself between his legs and leaned against his chest.
“Christoph, you once said that you would never have started an affair with me if you would have thought of the possibility that your father would send his henchmen to me. Despite the situation I’m in now, I’m glad that you never thought of that possibility. Only God knows if we would have been together in that case,” Bastian said while fondling Christoph on his belly.
Christoph turned his head and smiled at Bastian.
“But there is one thing I don’t understand. I remember from previous discussions that you care a lot for your ancestry and your nobility, but now you explicitly say that you don’t want to marry and get a heir, and you also say that you don’t care for your rich kid life,” Bastian said.
“My rich kid life wasn’t even the result of my ancestry. My greatgreatgrandfather was an alcoholic. He had already drunk up the family fortune. After that, my greatgrandfather started Weizenburg Spedition, and my grandfather and father built it further up. Money is something everybody can earn with the right portion of luck,” Christoph said. “My ancestry, however, is something else. I am the descendant of people who played important roles, sometimes even key roles, in the Eiffellandian history. It was a Freiherr Von Weizenburg who wrote the first constitution of Eiffelland. It was also a Freiherr Von Weizenburg who lobbied for the abolishment of the death penalty. Unfortunately, he didn’t live long enough to see that law become effective, but he started the lobby. And the Von Weizenburgs were also important for Eiffellandian science: They supported many scientists, and, as you know, they were also important for the Enlightenment in Eiffelland. There are a lot more Von Weizenburgs who played such a role. And, something that especially you should like, the Von Weizenburgs were the first ones to stop using the third person singular when talking to their servants or other people from lower society classes.”
Christoph referred to a habit of the Eiffellandian nobles until the beginning of the 19th century: Eiffellandian nobles did not talk directly to people from lower classes, but used the third person singular instead when they gave orders to or asked something from people from lower classes. They considered themselves so superior to the common people that they did not talk directly to them.
“My father is a terrible psychopath, and he belongs in the coal mines,” Christoph continued, “but he is an exception in the Von Weizenburg family. My ancestors have written history, in fact partly determined history. That is something I am proud of and care for. That is something we all in the family care for. No matter what horrible things my father did, we Von Weizenburgs are Von Weizenburgs.”
“But you don’t consider yourself better than the rest, do you?” Bastian asked.
“Not at all. I’m different, that’s all. But I have the same obligations to the world as everybody else has. Maybe even more: Noblesse oblige, as you know,” Christoph said. “By the way, the King has taken the title away from my father. In that case, two things can happen: Either the family looses its status as nobility, or the title is passed on to the heir. The last thing happened. But my father is the only one who can reverse my disinheritance, and he will never do so, so now Hilde is the Freifrau.”
“So she is the head of the family at the moment?” Bastian asked.
“Not yet. She will remain under my uncle’s custody until she is 18, and after then I don’t think my uncle will accept her authority over him. But officially I will have to ask her permission if I want to marry,” Christoph said.
“So we have to be nice to her,” Bastian joked.
“Indeed,” Christoph joked back.
“But in a couple of years Hilde can boss you around. How do you feel under that?” Bastian asked.
“Hilde can’t boss me around more than I allow her to boss me around,” Christoph said. “And she knows that. But we are getting along very well.”
“And what about the fact that you don’t inherit the title?” Bastian asked.
“I can’t blame Hilde for that. I have to blame my father for that,” Christoph said. “And of course I’m angry at him. I don’t think I will ever forgive him.”
The two guys remained silent for a while. Then Bastian asked: “But back to my initial question, you care for your family, but don’t want to continue the line.”
“I never said that I don’t want to continue the line. I like children very much, and I hope I can raise some myself. I only don’t want to marry a girl. But this is Eiffelland in 2011. We are allowed to marry, and we are allowed to either adopt children or ask a lesbian couple to carry our babies. Only my father’s too mouldered to understand that,” Christoph said.
“But then your children are still born outside marriage, so technically they are bastards,” Bastian asked.
“I think the current King would not mind working on a way out of that problem,” Christoph said.

The two guys remained silent for a while. At a certain moment, Bastian noticed that Christoph had fallen asleep in his arms. He knew about Christoph’s sleeping problems, but he never realised that they were so severe. He decided to let him sleep for a while, not only because he enjoyed very much that he had him in his arms this way. Others always told that amourousness never lasted, but Bastian doubted about that. He had a very special person in his arms.
And a guy with many facets. Extremely caring. He wanted to become an engineer in electronics, but he could also become a very good nurse, given the way he helped Bastian during the weekends. Impulsive. Never a dull moment with him. And probably because of that he did a dangerous sport: Mountaineering. And he wasn’t really afraid of that kind of dangers. But despite that, and despite his pride about his ancestry, Christoph was an insecure guy. And vulnerable. Maybe that explained his occasional hotheadedness, as a kind of shield. But that shield hadn’t stopped his father from hurting him. His sleeping problems clearly proved that.
Technically Christoph had become an orphan. His mother was dead, and his father was serving a life imprisonment. He had already indicated that he never wanted to see his father again. So he would never visit him in prison, either. The day of the final verdict was the day at which father and son had seen each other for the last time.
Bastian still remembered how Von Weizenburg was taken away after the verdict. Christoph and the other members of the Von Weizenburg family were sitting in one of the front benches. Christoph sat at the end of the bench, next to Bastian who sat in his wheelchair next to the bench. After the verdict, Von Weizenburg rose from the dock and looked hard at Christoph. Christoph looked hard back, kissed Bastian for several seconds, and looked hard at Von Weizenburg again, who turned his face away in disgust. It remained to be seen whether Von Weizenburg would miss his son.

“They’ve been sitting there for quite a while. First they talked but now they’re silent. It even looks like Christoph is sleeping,” Uwe Wehnert said while giving the binoculars to his friend Egon Rost.
“Indeed. What a beautiful couple,” Egon said with much disgust in his voice. “Why don’t we go there and drown them both in the pond?”
“You know that we can’t kill them, Egon. I would love to do so, but I’m not going to act against Meißner’s orders. And you know that we get the Staatsschutz in our necks if we kill them,” Uwe said. “Indeed, he must die, but not now. If we kill him in two years, that’s early enough. And then he’ll die a slow and painful death. First we’ll force him to watch how we torture his lover to death, and then we’ll torture himself to death.”
“Wait. The other guy is moving. He’s grabbing his smartphone. And now poor Christoph is awake,” Egon said sarcasticly.

“Hi mom,” Bastian said into the smartphone.
“Hi Bastian. Where are you at the moment?”
“We’re in the park now. And actually you’re disturbing a very romantic moment,” he teased.
“Well, I couldn’t know that, can I? Anyway, we’re getting hungry, so I want to start cooking dinner. How late can you be here?”
“We can be there in half an hour,” Bastian said.
“OK. See you then.”
“See you then,” Bastian said and broke the connection.
“That was your mother?” Christoph asked. He had woken up when the telephone rang.
“Yeah. She’s starting to cook dinner, so we have to go home,” Bastian said.
“My goodness, did I sleep that long?” Christoph asked.
“Yes, you did. I’m asking myself if that’s a positive or negative sign,” Bastian said ironicly.
“Positive,” Christoph said while kissing Bastian on the cheek. “I feel safe with you.”


OOC: what I described as a habit from the Eiffellandian nobles was actually a habit from the Prussian nobles. I don’t know exactly when that stopped IRL, but I used the beginning of the 19th century for my nobles.