"My aunt. Were you not listening? You're just like those Zonies. I had to make three international phone calls to chaseh this letter out and it came too latesh for me to see him before he died. I hate the so-called Germansh Democratix Republic."

The Federal Border Guard looked over the papers.

"Where are you heading?" he asked in a strong Bavarian accent.

"My mistake," he said simply to Louisa. He said nothing further to her, thinking it best to let her calm down before the guard came in, asking questions.

When the guard asked where he was headed he responded, "Leipzig," and nothing more.

The West German border guard took a look at Jacob's passport. Finding nothing untoward, he handed it back and then inspected Louisa's own passport.

Returning that, he nodded to the pair of them.

"Have a safe trip."

He went back into the corridor and could be heard talking to the elderly couple.

A few minutes later, a large black steam locomotive went past the right hand window, running backwards. From his position, Jacob could read the name 'Deutsche Reichsbahn' on the cab and the number 52 8080 on the front before a cloud of steam obscured his view.

Then someone else came into the compartment. A dark-haired woman wearing a blue garrison cap with a similar coloured uniform. She was holding a ticket puncher in her hand and a torch in the other.

"[Language unknown: Me voratiing]," she said with a clipped precise accent, "[Language unknown: Mofock, cherne."]

He nodded and watched the guard leave. In the time when his eyes weren't on the train maneuvering into position, he kept an eye on Louisa. What was she doing? She seemed tipsy, belligerent, but there was still the idea in his suspicious mind that she had lied to him. He didn't have proof, but her letter didn't state she was attending a funeral, but he didn't see, or the letter didn't state, another reason for her to go to East Germany.

"Good morning," he said in reply to the female guard. He produced his ticket from one pocket and presented it to her.

The woman took the paper ticket that had been issued at Munich Central station, inspected it and then punched a triangular hole in it with her ticket punch.

She did the same with Louisa's ticket. Louisa noticeably forgot to thank her.

"We're going to wait here for twenty minutes while I find out what has happened to the Stuttgart carriage. Please do not leave the train."

He smiled wryly, asking playfully, "The Stuttgart carriage, really? How long has it been missing?" He asked the question as if Stuttgart carriage were a person and he were a cop.

The woman nodded.

"It was supposed to be here...", she looked at her watch, "Almost 30 minutes ago. It should have been waiting for us on the other platform when we arrived. It has probably been delayed somewhere.

She walked down the corridor.

****
Ten minutes later, Jacob heard the shrill of the guard's whistle blowing. Then the train started to move again.

It clattered out of the station at fairly slow speed, making a number of turns. Louisa had fallen asleep as the three carriages of the train bumped along the track.

The train guard did not return.

Out of the window, Jacob saw them pass through a small station with the name 'Feilitzsch'. Apart from the lights and a solitary station master, it was completely empty. Well, it was two in the morning.

There wasn't that much to see out of the window, just dark fields and the occasional section of trees.

Then the train began to slow to a walking pace and Jacob saw the night brighten up. A white beam of light briefly shown into his face then went past him.

Then he saw a white sign go past with the words that indicated he had now crossed the Rubicon...


Then standing about ten metres after that was a pair of uniformed soldiers. One was holding a lantern, the other an assault rifle.

He was now in the German Democratic Republic. East Germany.

He had crossed the Iron Curtain.
This message was last edited by the GM at 06:30, Sat 03 Aug 2019.

He thought it best the alcohol not be visible when the East Germans came in and likely began turning everything upside down in their search for contraband. As Louisa slept he gently took it and looked for a place, either in his compartment or in the bathroom, to throw it away. Afterward, he'd wait for the train to stop and for the East German guards to board.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:14, Sat 03 Aug 2019.

It was quite easy to dispose of the alcohol. He could tip it down the toilet, flush it and the entire contents would disappear onto the track below.

The bottle... well, he could throw that out of the window. It would be ages before anyone found it in a closed off border zone.

The train rumbled on for a bit longer, then pulled into the station of Gutenfürst. Grey and blue jacketed men in uniform were standing on the platform. This was a three carriage train and there were about twenty people present.

The door to the carriage opened and some rather loud yelling followed from the corridor

[Language unknown: Inoer witiouder! Icaardthethe Ndehatone p trany TIOFO! Maonei ha tr pldifo eisier of iela'reonil!]

He checked his meager effects one last time and then checked on Louisa. If she were still asleep he'd nudge her awake and tell her what was happening, if the East German guard's booming voice didn't do that all ready. He'd be waiting with his passport and papers when the guards arrived.

Louisa woke up with a confused look and a general lack of coordination.

"[Language unknown: Of? Hat setderout yinnd ousdernot po? Enenev but n?]"

She tried to stand up... then looked like she was going to puke.

He regretted waking her up the moment he did it. Looking pale and squeamish, having imbibed in too much sickly sweet schnapps, she seemed poised to be sick at any moment.

"No, sit back down, dear. Get your papers ready. We're crossing the border into East Germany."

10:20, Today: Jacob Fleury rolled 8 using 1d10 with rolls of 8.  Agility.

"I don't feelsh..."

Louisa started to move out to the corridor, heading for the bathroom. The next thing Jacob head was a bump, some apologetic German and the sound of vomiting.

Then a Grenzer yelling for help.

This isn't going to end well, he thought, watching Louisa bump along out of the compartment and out into the hall. When he heard the cry for help, he knew, indeed, it hadn't.

10:32, Today: Jacob Fleury rolled 4 using 1d8 with rolls of 4.  Perception Check.

The Grenzer's sharp voice made it clear what was going on.

"Soldier! Give me a hand with this drunk! Now!"

There was a female scream and a sharp thud against a window.

He eased from his seat and stood in the doorway of his compartment. He looked out into the hallway, to see what was happening and to see if the sound of a thud against a window could be explained.

It most certainly could. The Grenzer had Louisa pinned up against a window with one arm held behind her back.

OOC: Take a Knowledge Check. Target 4

Another Grenzer was walking rapidly towards him, holding a pair of handcuffs, which he passed to the first guy. He secured Louisa's arms behind her back very tightly, with visible pain on her face.

"Stick this woman in a cell until she sobers up. And get someone to grab her luggage from this compartment."

The first Grenzer handed her to the woman, then turned back towards the compartment, seeing Jacob as he entered.

"You! Is that your wife?"

10:11, Today: Jacob Fleury rolled 3 using 1d6.  Knowledge check.

I'll pause a moment to see what the Knowledge check reveals, if anything, and then respond to the guard.

The guy doing the yelling is a Lieutenant. He's wearing a Passport Control cuff band, which means he is in fact a Stasi officer.

The other guy has no special marks of note and appears to be whatever the East German equivalent of a grunt is. Except this grunt has barely started shaving.

So many things to consider but so very little time to do it. It was something he had become accustomed to, trained to do, but when it hits you in the face, complete with snarling guards with dog-like faces who're snapping off words as rapidly as machine gun fire, it is still a little off-putting.

The woman, Louisa. Is there any reason to go to bat for her? What did he know of her? What little he'd learned--she was a woman going into East Germany to attend a relative's funeral--couldn't be verified through the furtive eyes he'd cast upon her letter. Not to say it wasn't true, he just couldn't confirm it.

To him, she was simply a woman who couldn't hold her schnapps, that sickly sweet liqueur. How could anybody drink it on its own? So the answer is no, there is no reason to jeopardize himself and his mission before it starts, and to put himself between the easily-angered border guards and the damsel in, seemingly, distress.

It came as a small surprise when he found himself saying, despite his conclusions, "No, she's not my wife. She's my...friend."

The man looked confused.

"Your... friend? Well, in that case you can come with me to fill out the forms... and pay my laundry bill."

Jacob noticed that the Grenzer's pants and boots had a large array of vomit on them. So did part of the floor.

"What is this lady's name? You will need to retrieve her luggage from the luggage compartment... and whatever cases she has here."

Their words brought a taste for violence into his mind. The heat of anger burned in him. He thought of his days boxing. He wanted so much to tell these brutes to go to hell, then back it up by reducing their faces to bloody pulps on general principles.

But he didn't.

Training. He remained calm. The mission was important, don't let this distraction become something bigger than it is. His voice was even, "I told you we were friends, not mates or even casual lovers. I just met her. I have no idea what her name is, other than her first name, which I think she said was Linda. We were simply passing the time talking. To me, that qualifies us as friends."

He leaned back against the compartment doorway and spoke easy. "I have no idea what her luggage looks like, so I can't get it from the luggage compartment. I don't know where her compartment is, she came into my compartment to talk. So, I can't fetch her cases either."

He shrugged.

The Lieutenant's face twitched for a second, then his tone went to increasing anger.

"Then you will go through this carriage and if necessary, this entire train to find that luggage", he snarled, "Else you will be joining her in a cell. Is that clear, Comrade?"

He stopped.

"Also, I need your papers. Now."

He remained leaning against the doorway. "I'll be glad to do that, comrade. But for me to succeed in the task you've given me, Linda will have to come with me to point out her compartment so I can get her cases, and also accompany me to the luggage compartment, to tell me what her luggage looks like."

He stepped into his compartment to retrieve his papers. "Otherwise, I may bring you the wrong bags." He glanced at her. "You may want to let her out of those handcuffs so she can point these things out to me."

The Leutnant started to walk forward and followed Fleury into the compartment.

"If you bring the wrong bags, you will have to go back and find the right ones, won't you. You'll just have to ask her yourself when you bring them to the Visa Office."

He stepped into Fleury's personal space and his right arm grabbed Jacob's shoulder.

"Now, if I hear any more backchat from you, you'll be wearing handcuffs as well. Do you understand?"