Wednesday, May 31, 1967, 1800 Central European Time, just outside Rødbyhavn, Denmark

The heavy rain pattered on the side of the ferry as the passengers travelling by foot, motor vehicle or the railway carriages carried onboard waited for docking to be completed.

Just over an hour earlier, they had departed from the West German port of Puttgarden, crossing over the Fehmarn Belt. Some of those in the railway carriages had travelled from as far south as Rome. In any event, they had not expected to be close to half an hour late, but you just had to deal with delays. One day someone might build a bridge over this strait. Or dig a tunnel.

In the vehicle deck, a bubble gum pink Beetle was parked. Its two passengers had driven the seven-hour journey from Frankfurt in that vehicle, albeit with a couple of breaks for food etc. and still had another two hours to go. At least.

It depended how quickly they got off this very and through Danish immigration. Hopefully, two women travelling to Copenhagen for a holiday would be passed through quickly.

This is of course not what they were doing... what precisely would be something they'd learn when they got there. But they knew their specific skills would be needed for this operation.

“I suppose this must feel like home to you,” Ursula remarks, tapping on the rain-slick window with the cigarette hand, before she takes another pull from it. “It feels like hell to me. When we could be in the Riviera by now, sipping negronis in our bikinis... And look at us here. Serves me well, for letting the Brit choose our holiday destination,” she adds, in a mock despondent tone.

Not a single word of it is true. They are not on their way to Denmark on holidays, it wasn't Victoria's decision and neither is it Ursula's - and Ursula isn't even her real name. But Ursula likes to stay in character, the one thing spies and actors have in common.

She unzips her knee-high boots and slips both legs over the dashboard, feet propped against the windshield, arranging the short hem of the lime green babydoll dress. She makes it look easy.

“Vogelfluglinie? More like Schweinfluglinie. I could die of boredom here.”

She turns the radio on: Procul Harum intones the solemn lyrics of A Whiter Shade of Pale. Ursula rolls her eyes at the mournful tune.

“Wunderbar. Next time we could crash a funeral."

Victoria had her documents ready and was travelling relatively light in the luggage department. She had remembered a proper jacket this time though and looking at the weather so far she was going to need it. Otherwise she was probably not attired for the weather, short dress, heels and a Seymour Beret, she had left her loose though.

She did not actively engage in the conversation with "Ursula" other then to nod along, but once they had to leave the car for the formalities Victoria let her go first.

She played with her gloves as they waited in the line flashing the officer a large smile as she handed over the required documents.



-

Ursula shot another eye roll at her companion and turned the knob, looking for something a bit more cheerful.

She had been initially excited about the mission: finally something abroad, somewhere glamorous and Western. Seven hours of autobahn later, in the dour company of the English girl, her enthusiasm was more than a bit chipped on the surface. But in her former life as Katya she had endured much, much worse, and in her current life as Ursula she knew that the show must go on. Besides, they were almost there, and the promise of food and drink and conversation shone like a beacon in her mind, as if Copenhagen was just behind that curtain of cold rain.

She rolled down her window and produced her Reisepass, legs still up.
This message was last edited by the player at 10:11, Mon 24 Jan 2022.

They did not in fact need to leave the vehicle, instead handing their passports to a police officer, who looked at them for a bit and then walked off into a building. A customs officer glanced over their vehicle.

"Anything to declare?" he asked. Not that he was expecting the answer to be yes, but people did like to go over the duty-free limits here.

Ursula smiled at the man, shrugging nonchalantly.

"Nothing at all," she said in a provocative tone, making no effort to cover her legs. Finally some mild fun.

Victoria shock her head at the question and then waited for their documents to be returned or for then to be asked to exit the vehicle.....



-

In reply to Victoria Fitzwilliam (msg # 7):

The officer rolled his eyes as the police officer walked back with their passports, now both with an extra stamp.

[Language unknown: Nti aiing. Sonno ur nt os.]

Victoria flashed a smile and a thank you before taking back their passports.
"So do you want to drive first or should I ?" They still had a couple of hours left before they reached their destination...


-

Katya turned her head towards her companion.

"Oh, you talk? Don't tell me you've known how to speak all along? You got me fooled for the whole trip."

She turned her head the other way, watching the awful weather for a second. She was tired of driving, but letting Vicky behind the wheel meant leaving the car to change places. Not an enticing prospect, but at least she would be able to sprawl for the next two hours, maybe even take a catnap while Silent Vicky drove.

"Genau, du bist dran."

In the scarce seconds she was outside, fat cold raindrops made a polka dot pattern on her lime green dress. It wasn't nearly as cold as Leningrad but it was much wetter. The stoic Russian in her shrugged off the cold and snuggled in the passenger seat, drawing her bare legs against herself to curl up.

"Wake me up if there is any excitement."
This message was last edited by the player at 12:22, Tue 01 Feb 2022.

2030 Central European Time, Vesterbro, Copenhagen, Denmark

It was getting dark as they entered the outskirts of Copenhagen, the streetlights now coming and altering the skyline of this capital city.

They'd been told to go to Vesterbro and check into a particular hotel there. From their knowledge of the city, they suspected this would be a place that rented rooms by the hour.

Sure enough, as they arrived, four women in miniskirts were standing around touting for business... while a fifth was in a loud argument with a bald fat man, probably her pimp.

The hotel was called "Pension Ludo", made up of a five-storey building, with a neon sign that had half the letters flickering. Time for one or both of them to go inside...

Looking around Victoria was unsure how secure the car would be parked here. In saying that she was not about to leave anything of worth in it as he opened the door to get out. "Shall we go in ?"

She will retrieve her bag as well and then head over to the hotel reception.



-

Fräulein Lang had never been in Denmark before so she didn't know Copenhagen, but as they found the Pension Ludo mentioned in their orders, she realized she knew Vesterbro. There was a Vesterbro in every major city. She had known other Vesterbros in Rome, Marseilles and West Berlin. Names changed, the words whispered or yelled were in another tongue, but the atmosphere was just the same. She did her best to push the memories aside and focus on the task at hand.

"Natürlich," she replied to Victoria, grabbing her suitcase and following the British girl into the seedy motel.
This message was last edited by the player at 08:08, Wed 02 Feb 2022.

The receptionist was a woman in her early 50s, who appeared, from the contents of the ashtray in front of her, to be on her second packet of the day.

She looked up at the two women as they entered, and reached for her pen.

[Language unknown: "Con asomdi. Ive onleos eeous ovenottin it sa ar lier strardnde?"], she said in Danish. When she got no response, she tried again in German.

[Language unknown: "Allin noeeme. Nteto trhond vir illeveere il ur u al ulurfi?"]

OOC: Denmark legalised same sex relations in 1933 and has very much led the way in LGBTQI+ rights.

Ursula makes a show of looking at Victoria for a couple of seconds, as if evaluating how much time is she actually going to need, then winks and smiles cheekily at the receptionist.

[Language unknown: "Atwhi roinri ivndpo, oselpr. Wiac ndei fo oer is nd... romaan,"] she replies, elbowing the other girl softly.
This message was last edited by the player at 09:42, Mon 07 Feb 2022.

Victoria gave a nod as she scanned the reception and then another when she was elbowed. Bringing her gaze towards the receptionist she gave a smile as she waited for their key.


-

[Language unknown: U preartdin unliee nomi hoelil, A es k rende ounwh el ev adol setverounoer.]

The woman pulled out a large book and pulled out a pen that had clearly seen better days. As she handed it to Katya, she could see that it was leaking.

She handed them a key to room 8 and told them it was up on the second floor. Entering the room, they found there were two single beds, a small bathroom with toilet, sink and shower. A telephone had been fitted in the room, along with a transistor radio. Although there was no brown-eyed girl.

Katya had been instructed to call a local number when she arrived and would get further instructions from there.