Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Colonial Clockwork Marine

Vol1: Chapter 1

June 1948, Allied occupied Germany at the Western front. 

Fighting off an unsettling bout of nausea and total blackness of thought. A disoriented man in his early 30's dressed in a bloodied but still snappy British officer's tunic, finds himself bracing on to a wall of a fairly familiar surrounding. Further trying to recall his bearings, after receiving an audacious amount of head trauma from an earlier engagement. The finely lit plastered hallway with matching incandescent lamps plus carpeting, did not bode well to his anxious mood after realizing his whereabouts.

Startled as a light tap came to his shoulder, and before him is a stunningly blonde blue-eyed American Lieutenant from the US allied contingent of the Judge Advocate General's Corps or JAG for short. The JAG officer spoke, "My apologies, Lieutenant-Colonel Kevin S. Grimes, are you still unwell from the incident? The General of the British Army Legal Corps would like to speak to you urgently on the current matter... sir." Curiously the sir came out after some reconsideration from the almost robotic statement of the escorting junior officer as she began to resume her steps after a few seconds.

Recalling his last visit to the Unified Allied Military Provost command building, which was one of the last standing high end hotels left untouched by the war here in Berlin. He sourly dreaded that recent visit as his battalion's designated personnel officer (S1), left him in piles of paperwork after receiving a summons from the higher ups in regard to his peacekeeping battalion's discipline over a large brawl plus destruction of property at a local establishment in the red light district between some of his drunken men and the military police.

The British officer replied still in ear shot, "No problems here, let's just get this over with, Umm... Lieutenant?" He was a bit dumbfounded as Grimes dragged his feet to catch up with the JAG officer.  Walking now in lock step with the US JAG officer towards the UK Army's Legal Corps front office doors. As the one escorting him; though tantalizing to his sights, was from a different country and not the usual military police grunts from the UK and further assumed that the lot of them were probably out in force to police over the thousands of soldiers out on their weekend pass over the allied forces occupied city districts. Clearly there is a nameplate visible on the left pocket of the Lieutenant's uniform, but for some reason or another he could not read the words properly as if looking at a mirrored reflection of the printed text at the junior officer's name plate and judged that he might need to see an eye doctor after this debrief.

"Yes, Lieutenant-Colonel. It's just Valkyrie, Lieutenant Valkyrie...sir." said in a nonchalant voice from the JAG officer. "There she goes again...", sighed Grimes quietly and must have thought that the Lieutenant was a nervous fresh grad off West Point and into her first overseas assignment or something.

Grimes was slightly annoyed at her rookie mistake with rank protocol then followed through with a response to correct the JAG officer like any responsible senior in the military. "Alright, thank you Lieutenant Valkyrie, but in the future please address me as Major Grimes. As you see my rank insignia might be confusing to you Yanks, but a single crown means that I'm a Major in His Majesty's British army. If it goes together with a star then you can address me as you were."

Before Grimes could hear a rebuttal from Lieutenant Valkyrie, the thick oak double doors of the UK Army Legal Corps office fluttered open as if by a gentle gust of wind and followed by an unfamiliar booming voice calling out his name, "Grimes, get your boots in here and on the double man!" Before Grimes can digest all of this; he finds himself now alone in the corridor in wonderment, on how a busty female officer can dash so quickly and out of sight with the pair of heels that she was wearing moments ago. Before stepping into the UK Army Legal Corps office, Grimes simply shrugged at his shoulders and blurted out the words in tiredness over his long day, "The world is round."