"Yes, well, goodbye and thank you for nothing," Ursula retorted, watching him leave as she continued to smoke. She ordered some chocolate cake for Masha and Pernod for herself, and clinked glasses with Vicky as soon as it arrived.

"Yes, well," she replied to her toast. She indicated Masha with a sideways glance and took another drag from her cigarrette.

[Language unknown: "And ne entectearwil el wit tith ingdayout wasar her ioueenent unbeol me dinersallain ofmi naarfi etthu ut anmiwh ng. A undwilsan aibe tic art ropaio ons sheac ulfi no ich caioutro tamees iv ca, n evwi ilica."]

She lets that sink in while she takes a sit of her liquour. She smiles, thinking of the thrill of smuggling the girl into West Germany.

[Language unknown: "To, Onewiltheive m omchom acaril ac topapo. Wh etevhi sisimi plver Ndlearnd. For adfi me no hiek llsewe illrearut, li wiaihe k ncpo? I toev i acacal itasio. Tr sebe noerla, pe ulicro at ckut ai t nceencany. Prentiiou?"]

Masha spoke up at this point.

[Language unknown: "Ion kor inei the? A reaenttho lo urewe se."]

In reply to Masha (msg # 93):

Victoria replied
[Language unknown:  "Evewe olen naerriom ekfofi wh atin. Ne an la."]

[Language unknown: "Beee ou ck masan, ll. Not eitiur olinut, weicet any thuineint roit ec eve iohas m ekut oun lat o ieer Sani."]

She said seated and looked at Vicky with an intense, serious stare for perhaps the first time since they met for this mission.

[Language unknown: "I? Erha hasiv iouardtra li inect ngal re, ma ersec saou ughasthas il reaha nasti ear?"]

[Language unknown:  "Rea ceac m k nde hapl ?"]


-

[Language unknown: Adckchin san et n omeha no rien fomael lartinvir in ardaveconear?]

Masha's eyes were showing a degree of nerves - and also of worry; she had taken a pretty drastic step by any measure.

Katya/Ursula wasn't a believer, or someone to get really attached to people. But still, Masha's story was too similar to her own to ignore, and if she had an ounce of faith, she'd call it a message from the divinity. She didn't, but she was still loath to leave the Russian girl alone in Denmark, left to her own devices. After that long pause of thinking and biting her lower lip, Ursula finally spoke.

[Language unknown: "We. Ter unou beof k Ouecho ch i estestion ma en mo, Ticousthi, ilst linatiica en m. Maningest ounut pe be laall Itna Esdiei berich. Vor for olio inio nde maekinre weoupe ac Shevirvor. Est WIL mipa beul eechioanck arethista her Paicad onewilanypre, lo lldi daylesnti andomenti es iouwilvor pl etand n ch miliai ecca nc Tralicmo, ch ilng ivehat'intconect. Neive Hasio o Pro Lintch latevewas, nd Le di stsice ailes thu ev rut ee." ]

She searches in her bag and slips her a wad of cash under the table.

[Language unknown: "Vensantio ted Pl hidi wa stastient, wa stioulearone enadnd. Wil ascom k n for, Consomkor, estlesnte ei n pa eceneeis. Re ain vir nc ol se oer nceromdin, diwa ughar an. Tra ect nde verhisous fowa ioecwiilom asint os."]

If a certain girl had had that little fortune in Rome, seven years ago... The things she wouldn't have had to do.

She tells her the phone number of her apartment in Frankfurt, makes her repeat it, then write it down for her until she's satisfied she knows it by heart.

[Language unknown: "Werwh itta wa alol, ati nious is t cath, stisethas iound, ncehouyin I roous m. K ingvirble iv Houresday, Ich les me onsmo ei. Of ni, inasst ard. Dayherverventin? Ingvenall m es?"]

Victoria gave a shrug and collected her things ready to get up and leave. She would follow Katya until they were close to the hotel. Stay another night and leave in the morning or head off now ?"


-

Masha took the money and stuffed it inside her bra before getting up and joining the others as they left.

Soon they were outside the West German Embassy, where the security guard asked them what the purpose of their visit was.

Ursula made sure to explain, in careful German and showing her passport, that she had found little Masha at Tivoli, and that she was a Russian gymnast, asking for political asylum in West Germany, fearing for her life if she returned to the USSR. Naturally, being a kind-hearted and responsible West German citizen, Ursula Lang was more than willing to sponsor and vouch for her.

Victoria did nothing more then watch their backs and tried to see if they had been followed or whether anyone was now taking an interest. She was sure the embassy was watched, probably by multiple teams.


-

In reply to Katya Sokolova (msg # 101):

The West German official took Katya and Masha into a room, then started to take some notes on an official looking pad.

[Language unknown: Notit hilaca haha u Venthostr loprfo-omhe, ntel Usut redoneion fi ore red man usilll erentiard miver ultoss o Ushatr. Rourre eela ndekorica atetedwas o ard ardnc cares.]

Ursula crosses her legs in the short dress and tall boots. The more attention she diverts from Masha the better.

[Language unknown: "T menruture urtin eiropl entio aisom? Riles k ect a ethiur wa ni ivoncatr fosshi'neol sean. Ofec po illandund chwene ek et Whiencave. Un onetinfor ica taith Ic erefornot ek, ineek? Sonencour no n taetin was, eric U sasiti Re wer somastate ni ckalto at oer. It tedingter forlinica wil elplmo ha erene oumailsa, wiloutredard us isast Erehatlar... Revor ore romvenatinde m iehas larersthe." ]

She manages a little suppressed sob, fräulein Lang.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:49, Thu 15 Dec 2022.

Victoria would probably not go in with the other two. She should/would stay outside and keep watch. Is that an option ?


-
This message was last edited by the player at 23:54, Sun 18 Dec 2022.

In reply to Victoria Fitzwilliam (msg # 105):

She can stay out in the reception area, yes.

The diplomat scratched his head a little and made some further notes.

[Language unknown: P atethaame anse astss ni her ad hisaek ndie m ivetli wit. An m miio whiomenot pr ilmen an Thaionhou Ic llnowe mieice hat forncewas wa latastiveles'oerest wasoneprethu i urlirehero...]

He reached for a folder under his desk, labelled [Language unknown: WHNALI NOSIFOENLI] and looked through it.

[Language unknown: Na asher adevte a, Ma us ek vor os riicle mi werandsti k ivearente. Terioniou ngth thoandcom.]

Luck roll for Katya please.

[Language unknown: "P iveartcon, iengng sa."]

22:34, Today: Katya Sokolova rolled 6 using 1d12.  Luck


Yessss!

It took an hour, but they were then called back and Masha was issued a visa to allow her to enter West Germany, where she could apply for political asylum.

Katya was advised that Masha would probably have to be put into care or fostered out due to her age; her parents were of course still in the Soviet Union.

Relieved, Ursula made some enquiries about the possibility to apply as Masha's guardian. It was a level of exposure she would rather avoid, but there was no point in going to such pains to bring poor Masha to Germany and then abandon her to some stranger.

She explained the situation to the girl as they walked out of the embassy, nodding to Vicky in an aside.

[Language unknown: "Be redvorvor tr hiecin weli trand n webut mo Sticonbleica? St le isouil est aiweal loecne ho."]

[Language unknown:  "U ich is utnent ch hifi. K thiinekor tioerewasven not ekplng"] She stands and follows the other out and back to the hotel.

-

Ursula nods in agreement, and heads back to the hotel. She packs quickly, and retrieves the money from the room safe. All in all it had been a pleasant and very lucrative job, and helping Masha out brings some joy to her dark little heart.

Unless Vicky, Masha or the fate have other plans, she drives them back to Germany in the Beetle.

In reply to Katya Sokolova (msg # 111):

They had no other plans. Once Katya and Victoria got to Offenbach, they could spend a few days at leisure... but they would soon be called to action again for the cause of freedom.
This message was last edited by the GM at 12:54, Sat 07 Jan 2023.

And spend them in leisure they did, although Offenbach was hardly a pleasure traveler's dream... And she had stuff to do.

Katya/Ursula spent most of that time acquiring wildly inflated bills and documenting imaginary expenses so she could  keep a large proportion of her unspent advance money.

Katya Sokolova rolled 6 using 1d10.  Convincing swidler (d10).

It was a kid's game for her. Partially because it was in the very nature of the job to need unjustifiable expenses (who gave you a receipt for a bribe?), but mostly because nobody was interested in looking too closely, particularly the person in the best position to do so: Homburg Joe. The more money she pretended to spend, the more money he could ask from his betters; conversely, if she returned most of the funds, Homburg's overseers would eventually decide that the allocations were excessive and reduce them.

And nobody wanted that.

So when all was said and done, 17,000 kroner our of the twenty grand were accounted for as operational expenses. She piously returned the remaining three thousand to her Frankfurt handlers, together with the documents, and used a black market dealer to exchange them. When all was said and done, Katya walked away with around $2,400 - roughly equivalent to ten months salary of Ursula Lang, the struggling nightclub singer.

A few days later, as Israeli forces were taking control of the Old City in Jerusalem, Katya received a telephone call. She was told to report to the nearby public baths for a meeting with a woman called Marie Schussel and provided the appropriate code words.

Victoria shared the driving as they departed, it gave her time to think as to what her next move would be. If they found somewhere to stay together then so be it otherwise Victoria said her good byes and merged into the crowd.

She had a couple of things to attend to but the rest of the time was her own and she spent it sipping coffee and champagne.



-

For a German citizen, fräulein Lang didn't hold very strong opinions on the state of Israel and its policies. But then again, she was something of a new citizen.

So the phone call found her in high spirits. She had made a final payment for her beloved Beetle, in hard cash money, and she still had a thousand dollars left after it. It was nice to be suddenly debt-free and with some savings.

She parked the pink Beetle near the baths and went inside, carrying a small bag with her bikini and some toiletries. She had never visited this particular establishment, but she supposed it was the usual drill: check in at reception, get a towel, proceed to the locker room to get changed, and then into the baths proper.