Meet the Kriegers

[tfmachad]

Engelbert had taken his nephew to a nearby hill so the boy would have a better view of the action without him having to hold him up all the time. The air show had been over for a couple of hours, but they lingered there. Engelbert had decided to stay behind so he could enjoy the company of his nephew. Ever since he moved to Liberty, work had absorbed him so much he had few opportunities to visit his family and his land.

He had gotten Hans a model of Rheinland's Snubnose bomber. He watched the boy play with the model. Hans repeated the maneuvers he had seen during show and did his best to imitate the peculiar sound of the ship's engines. Engelbert patted Hans on the head and looked around. Most of the people were gone. Some families stayed behind. While adults went about collecting their belongings, children ran up and down the hills and played. A good number of people were still at the airfield. Support personnel tended the exposed ships, readying them for takeoff. Pilots were engaged in cheerful conversations amongst themselves. People took the opportunity to take a closer look at the remaining ships now that the place was less crowded.

"How did you like the show, Onkel?" Hans asked.

"Oh. I liked it very much, Hans." Engelbert turned back to his nephew. "How about you? Did you like it?"

"It was..." Hans paused thinking of a way to describe it, "...super awesome, Onkel! Thanks for bringing me."

A bomber group had just taken off, leaving the airfield. "Look, Hans! Off the bombers go. Here, let me have yours." Engelbert took the model and put it just right in front of his nephew eyes so it would look like the miniature ship belonged to the formation. Hans smiled and then yawned.

"Alright, little one..." Engelbert stood up with a grunt and turned to the boy. He realized they had spent the whole day there, his nephew was tired. "Time for us to go home."

"May we take a last look at the ships, Onkel?" Even though he had little juice to go on, Hans seemed decided to burn it all up there.

"Sure, fly-boy, but only if you can beat me to the airfield," Engelbert said as he patted Hans on the shoulder and started running.

"Not fair, Onkel!" The boy raced after.

As they were reaching the bottom of the hill, Engelbert slowed his pace, pretending he was panting for breath, so Hans would win. "Alright, you win. We can see the ships."

But the kid never stopped racing and as Engelbert bent forward to fake loosing his breath, he lost sight of him.

"Hans?" Engelbert looked around trying to find his nephew. "Hans Krieger!" He yelled.

"Here, Onkel!" Hans showed up from behind a Wrath fighter. A pilot had her hand between the boy's shoulders, guiding him back to his uncle.

Engelbert breathed relieved. He knelled by his nephew and put his hands over the kids shoulders, "Guter Goettin, Hans! Don't scare me like that again." He took the boy's hand and raised to face the pilot, "Thank you so much. I..."

"Herr Krieger? Is that you?" Another voice interrupted from behind him.

Engelbert turned around to see who it was. "Herr Meier!" There was no hiding the emotion in his voice. He stopped short from hugging the man, grabbing both his shoulders with a broad smile in his face. "I can't believe it!"

"Neither can I, old friend," Meier said almost to himself, "this is a glorious day." He smiled back and dismissed the formalities, giving Engelbert a tight hug. He then withdrew from it, holding Engelbert by his shoulders and looking him straight in the eye, "Mein Goettin, Engelbert. I can't believe you've made it."

For a moment both men just looked at each other without saying a word, as if recalling events neither one of them wanted to say out loud.

Meier shook it and looked at Hans, "And who is this?"

Engelbert turned to Hans, picking up his model bomber. "Hans, this is Kapitaen Meier," he introduced, "Remember what I taught you about how to behave in the Kriegsmarine?"

"Yes, Onkel," Hans answered and then turned to Meier, "Matrose Krieger reporting for duty, sir!"

The boy's reaction was so unexpected and it had such heart into it, it was discomposing. The Kapitaen was startled into returning the salute in an appropriate fashion. "Jawohl, Herr Krieger!" Meier relaxed the military poise laughing at himself for being flustered by a little boy. He patted Hans on the head and said, "With soldiers like this one we can win a thousand wars. I expected no less from a son of yours, Engelbert."

Engelbert laughed. "He is my nephew, Herr Meier. My sister's son." He corrected.

""Krieger"?" Meier asked confused.

"Strong Rheinlander women," Engelbert explained with a shrug, "what can I say?"

"Indeed. Speaking of which, let me introduce you to Stabskapitanleutnant Hiltraud Kaiser. She led our Wraths flight group today."

"My congratulations, Frau Kaiser. Your group's performance was magnificent and inspiring."

"Vielen Dank, Herr Krieger."

"Frau Kaiser; Herr Engelbert Krieger, former Stabskapitanleutnant, is a war veteran of our Kriegsmarine. He and I, we have flown many missions together, isn't that so, Herr Krieger?"

"If you mean those deep space reconnaissance missions through which you slept in the back seat while I did the actual work, that's so." Engelbert joked.

Meier laughed. "Oh, don't you dare telling war stories outside of a bar."

"I'm sorry, Meier, but I'll have to decline today. I must take Hans back to his parents in New Berlin. I'll accept your invitation for another time."

"Fair enough, Krieger. You don't want me to spoil your reputation in front of the lady. We'll meet some other day then." Meier held Engelbert by the arm. "I'm very happy you've made it out of all that mess alive, Engelbert." He then turned to Hans. "I'm very pleased to meet you, Herr Matrose Krieger."

Both Meier and Kaiser walked away.

Engelbert made sure he didn't wake up Hans while he buckled the boy's seatbelts inside the Lorien's cockpit. He had carried his nephew all the way back to the ship. The boy felt asleep as soon as they left the airfield.

As Engelbert made the preparations to take off, Hans was stirring. He heard his nephew asking in his sleep, "Why did you leave the military, Onkel?"

---

Meet the Kriegers - The story of a family and of two men that shared more than just a name
Fantasmas de la Nube Siniestra
I Mon'Star: The Strange Case of Elizabeth Wallace