The plot against Britain - a Kaiserreich mystery

Kurt_Steiner - unfortunately not, not yet in any case . But you never know how where these international plots stop...

Davisx3m - there will be more to read soon.

Karaiskandar - I was a bit afraid people wouldfind the last chapter a bit dry. Glad to see that was not the case.

Tommy4ever - Well, I tried to think how most people would react after being told that a worldwar was used by a shadowy group to reshape parts of Europe. I hope to keep Karel Van Doorn a normal man being swept up in something greater than he can imagine. The tricky part is keeping him credible as such throughout the story.

Timmy0307 - Thanks . And I agree with you on jenever, prefer a good whiskey or just plain beer myself.

Connavar - Yep, this AAR will have a somewhat Dutch feel around it. Making Karel Dutch also hasthe benefit of him being a (somewhat) neutral observer in the many conflicts that will take place soon.

I will be away for the weekend, so the next update will probably the tuesday. Untill then I have some hints about Karels next destination:

- It is a city that has changed its name.
- It was once built in a swamp.
- Obviously, Karel has a reason to go there.

Not that hard to find the answer, I think.

Lighthearter said:

Washington DC.

- Lighthearter

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Quite a bit off.

Some morehints for you all:

- Malaria once run rampant in this city, earning it nicknames as the 'graveyard for Europeans'. The average life expectancy of a new arrival was six months.

- A permanent European presence was established in 1615.

- In 1936 the city would have had more than half a million inhabitants.

Karaiskandar, Katapraktoi - the answer was Batavia, or Jakarta. It was build on the location of a small Javan city. The Dutch governor-general Coen initially wanted to call the new city Nieuw-Hoorn (New Hoorn) after his city of birth, but finally named it Batavia after the Batavii tribe (who lived in the Netherlands during Roman times).
Unfortunately the location was ideally suited for the Malaria-parasite (the Dutch habit of building canals didn't help either). Later-on the city was rebuilt as the capital of the Dutch East-Indies. After Indonesian independence it was renamed Jakarta and became the capital of Indonesia.

I hope to post the next update tomorrow. Karel and the mysterious Mr. Costers will arrive in Batavia to try and find a piece of the puzzle. However, how will Elsa react to Karel's absence?

Gears set in motion​

3 januari 1936, the skies above the Indian Ocean

Karel looked out of the window of the Douglas DC-3 to look out on the large blue ocean beneath him. Sights like this where one of the perks of flying. Beside him sat Mr. Costers, obviously less than impressed with the sights, as he was fast asleep. Karel had spend almost two days travelling with the man, but he had hardly said a thing to him. In fact, he had only said they where to travel to Batavia together, to find some more clues on why Shell and the Dutch authorities where able to seize the oilfields of Brunei and Sarawak so quickly after the fall of Britain. Even more mysterious was the fact that those colonies where now in German hands, yet Shell maintained its control of these facilities instead of Kaiserliche Deutsche Erdöl. Especially since the German Empire wasn’t exactly known for such defence of the free market in their colonies. Did the Germans somehow strike a deal? And why would the German Empire agree with a deal with a secondrate power like the Netherlands?


Karel knew that such dealings must have left a papertrail of some kind: visa for foreign diplomats, suspicious troop movements, replacing of officers, perhaps even payments to Shell of some kind. He also knew those stuffy bureaucrats of the colonial administration must have filed all that paperwork in one of the many governmental archives in Batavia. Long live Dutch bureaucracy, for once.

Besides him Costers finally awoke. Costers was a man of average height, yet had a powerful build that set him apart from most man. His face looked like it was carved from granite: with many deep lines and the odd scar running through it. His hair betrayed his age, being grey at his temples and receding at his forehead. Other than his appearance Karel only knew Mr. Costers was probably Flemish, judging from his accented Dutch. Karel decided to finally exchange more than three words with Mr. Costers. He still had many questions about his assignment, their pursuers and above all, why was Elsa forced to accompany Montague Smith. He knew she was in danger now because of him, so why let her travel with the man being the main target.

“Morning Mr. Costers.”

Costers simply replied with a nod.

“You know, I have been wondering why Mr. Montague Smith didn’t travel with us.”

“You’re better off not knowing.” Costers spoke in his low gravelly voice. He closed his eyes, obviously about to fall asleep again.

“That’s not good enough, I’m afraid. He send me on some trip around the world while he runs around with my girlfriend, being chased by some guys wanting him dead. I think I have a right to know.”

“A right to know? You have to earn a right to know things!” Costers suddenly was wide awake, his eyes burning. “Those men weren’t after him, they where after you. Your little article didn’t exactly made you any friends. Currently Mr Smith is risking his neck to get your little girlie out of the country to prevent them from hurting you through her. Don’t you get it, you owe us, we don’t owe you anything. You can repay us by doing what you do best, finding out a few secrets and keeping your mouth shut.”

Karel was taken aback by this flood of words from the normally taciturn Mr. Costers. Obviously there was more going on than he thought. He just hoped that old man could get his girl out of the country.

“One more thing. I can’t go around adressing you as Mr. Costers this whole trip.”

“Yes you can. Only my friends adress me with my first name. You are not one of them.”

Costers closed his eyes, either trying to sleep or signalling he had no intention answering any more questions. Karel chose to follow his example, it would be a while before they would arrive anyway.



6 januari – Oostende, Kingdom of Flandern-Wallonie

“Miss Molenaar, we are almost ready to leave. Please enter the boat, before the coastguard spots us.” The man near the boat was hurrying her on to enter the small motorboat. With it she, and a handful of other young people would travel to the Union of Britain. Young people setting sail for the syndicalist promised land, all trying to build a new future in that workers paradise, at least most of them where doing that.

Elsa Molenaar however had different plans. It had been just five days ago that Karel had come storming into the appartment with two strange men. Apparently Karel had stumbled upon a secret that might cost him his life, and had to leave the country immediately. She would be in the care of an elderly gentleman apparently trying to find some hidden thruth. Yet sitting still was not something that suited Elsa, especially when the man she loved was in danger over some article he wrote. Apparently there was some sort of cover up over the reasons behind the British Revolution of 1925. A big problem was that most of the clues lay in one country they couldn’t enter, the Union of Britain. Many nations, including the Netherlands, had refused to acknowledge the syndicalist governments in Britain and France as legitimate. As a result Britain remained closed off from the investigation, for most people however.
Yet Elsa had heard some rumours in her time. She had been participating in SDAP-demonstrations with her father since she was a little girl and had actively supported the SDAP ever since. During those activeties she had heard some rumours about the ‘Red Underground’, a smuggling ring taking young and promising men and women to the Union of Britain. Elsa knew that could be her way in. No way that she would let Karel run all the risks. They where in this together whether he liked it or not. Therefore she

“Mrs. Molenaar, we will leave soon.”

“Just a second. Let me finish my cigarette.” There was one thing she had yet to do.

She had left Amsterdam for the rumoured ‘Red Underground’ three days ago. Secretly escaping from the appartment the day before Montague Smith would pick her up for her flight to Canada. Yet she had underestimated the old fox. He was there at the station when she tried to take the train to Brussels, but instead of stopping her he had given her a letter and a ring. Apparently the ring was prove of her working for him. She smiled, boys and their secret clubs, secret handshakes and such. The letter contained the names and adresses of two men who could help her on her trip. One of them was a military commander, the other a member of the TUC that governed Britain. Apparently Mr. Montague Smith had served with both man during the Great War.

“Mrs. Molenaar..”

“Yes, yes. I’m coming”. She took the letter from her bag and put her cigarette against it. The paper caught fire quickly. Then she calmly walked to the boat, her time in Britain would be well spend.

We now have two storylines: Karel and Mr. Costers rummaging through the archives in Batavia and Elsa trying to find the mysterymen Montague Smith wrote her about.

The riddle of the week is: who are these men?

Your hints:
- One of them serves on the TUC, one in the Army.
- Sir Montague Smith served with bot men during the Great war. He fought at Gallipoli, in Iraq and at the Western Front.
- Both man can be considered somewhat upperclass, but not enough to be forced into exile.
- Both men had a role in reallife WW2. Major enough to be known, not major enough to be decisive.

A question about the updates: I have split this update into two parts, telling both the story of Karel and Elsa. Do you all prefer this kind of updates, or do you rather have the chapter focussed on one leading person?

Karaiskandar said:

The new kind of update is pretty interesting IMHO.

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Thanks. Personally I like to weave two stories at the same time, as it speeds up the story to the truly interesting parts.

Tommy4ever said:

Interesting update. It sounds like Elsa's story will by a bit more intersting than that of her bf at the start.

Also you spelt cigarette wrong.

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Ouch. Few things hurt as much as using Dunglish (Dutch English). Have corrected the typo. Indeed Elsa will get her place in the spotlight for the moment, but Karel will have his share of adventures in the near future...

Timmie0307 said:

or he just used the Dutch version of cigarette

nevertheless I like the format!

Tim

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Well, while Elsa is undoubtedly smoking Dutch cigarettes, it was a honest mistake on my part. The easiest words to mess up in a foreign language are those that sound almost the same...

Katapraktoi said:

No idea who the men might be. Still not sure if I'm correct in assuming TOC is the Trade Union Congress in England? Just browsed on random and thought it sounded plausable. Guess I'll have to find out in the coming updates. Keep up the good work, I'm still in the story deep as ever, interest high. To me it doesn't matter if you split or keep the two stories in one update, I'm happy as long as they keep coming. =)

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The TUC is indeed the Trade Union Congress. In Kaiserreich it has become the governing body of the Union of Britain.

Glad you like the story, I do my best to keep the quality of the story high.