The adventures of Prinz Eugen and the young engineer Volume 1.

Chapter 7

The next day started like every other day for the young mechanic. He slept through the rest of the day before and woke up shortly before his alarm clock rang. Since he slept in his dirty working clothes he had no chance to clean them. Therefore he dressed in his normal uniform after taking a shower. Bringing his clothes to the dormitory washing saloon to be cleaned, he realized that he had not eaten for over 24 hours. Entering the canteen he got himself a big breakfast. Sitting down and eating it he realized that the soldiers which came from their guard posts were even more silent than normaly. Looking around he saw none of them talking, just whispering in little groups. Looking around further he found no reason why they would behave like that until he realized that they were all paying him more attention than normally. It struck him like a slap in the face. He wore his proper uniform, displaying his rank for once and he immediately understood why they were all silent. Normaly he was just around them in his working attire and they didn't care about a dockworker, but now he was dressed like an officer. Realizing that, he packed his breakfast and walked out of the canteen to eat it at the dock. Arriving there he unpacked his food and continued his meal. Wondering if he could enjoy the peaceful atmosphere of the canteen in the early morning ever again. He got not far contemplating his thoughts since Prinz Eugen stepped into their dock. " Good morning. I see you are awake, eating and ,for once, somewhat properly dressed." She greeted him. Swallowing his food he answered. " Moin. How are you today? And why are you here that early?" "Good that you are asking. I need you to prepare my rigging. I will leave the port for some time." " Is there a Mission I have not been informed of ?" He asked. " No, there is not. The Admiralty decided to send me as a liaison to our allies in the Northern Parliament." She answered, not comforting his anxiousness in a bit. " They send you into the far North? Where to? Kronstadt? Murmansk? Or all the way to Vladivostok?" He asked, even more concerned. " They want me at Murmansk. I am supposed to meet there with the main fleet of Northern Parliament. And don't you worry about anything. You will be joining me there. I still need your excellent services there after all." She said with that devious smile of hers. He, realizing what that meant, grew pale. " Wait, when was that decision made and how am I supposed to follow you there?" He asked worried. " Well, you will prepare me and my rigging for arctic service and I will go by sea and you will travel to our eastern land border between Ironblood and the Northern Parliament and an escort will bring you to Murmansk. It will take me about a week. I will see you there I guess. Now help me to attach my rigging to me." She said. Trying to comprehend all the changes that this new order meant, he helped Prinz get her Rigging attached to her. He made lubricant changes and adjusted her gear for prolonged use in the arctic environment and flooded the dock for her when she was ready to leave. " Have a good journey Prinz Eugen." He wished her when she was about to leave. " I may have a head start, but I am looking forward to a warm welcome from you when I arrive there. If you manage to beat me in that little race." She said with her sweet smirk and left. He watched her leave and closed the dock afterwards. She left a signed order for him on the workbench. It stated that the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen and any staff attached to her were supposed to report to the commander the Northern Parliament of the naval base of Murmansk within 7 days from today. That meant him and Prinz. With the signed order in his coat pocket he hurried to collect his tools, some of his fine literature and all the clothing he had here, Packing it all in his seabag he packed his half finished breakfast and hurried out of the dock to sign his post off at the station's office. Having that done he realized he had about 1 hour until the next train left. Walking from the base to his home he thought it all over again and made a mental traveling plan. "Go by train from Wesermünde to Bremen. From there take the express train to Berlin and the eastern express from there to Memel where I could pass the border to enter the Northern Parliament." Arriving at his home, he had little time to feel welcome or to realize all the buildup dust. He walked into his room and grabbed as many winter and good clothes as he could fit into his duffle bag. Finishing that he grabbed his civilian scarf and locked the door to his home behind him. 20 minutes later he sat in a heated passenger waggon of the national railroad on his way to Bremen. His first major stop on this journey. "What did I just get involved in?" He thought when finally getting some rest. He tried to figure out why he was still assigned to follow Prinz into a foreign land. He was assigned to the maintenance department of the naval base and not to her. "There must have been a reason",his thought continued. But he could not figure out why he was now given these orders and he did not figure them out over the first 15 hours of his travel.