East Berlin's June Boat Song

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I met Philip in a cell in the deepest corridor of Stasi prison No. 17 on the southern outskirts of East Berlin.The former majestic counterintelligence detective sergeant is now wearing a gray and coarse linen prison uniform, and is thrown into the place where he once held criminals.

He was sitting on the iron frame bed with a thin quilt, with his back to the prison door. In the lonely winter day outside the cold iron window, his figure looked extremely lonely and desolate.

I tried to hold back my emotions and ordered the warden to open the door.

"I don't think Minister Milk will allow your transgression." The warden, who was in his 40s and as fat as a warthog, looked gloomy.

"Don't talk nonsense, open the door." I said coldly, I didn't even bother to look at him.He touched his nose and took out the key resentfully.

"According to the regulations, visits to the prison shall not exceed a quarter of an hour."

He gave me a sideways look before disappearing down the corridor.It wasn't until I stepped into the cell that Philip turned around slowly.

"came back?"

Philip's pale and thin cheeks showed a faint and sincere smile, as sincere as ever.I still remember his two tear stains under the pale light in the corridor that day. Maybe he already knew what would meet the minister and him, but he didn't plan to back down, he just hoped to send me away.

I nodded, opened the corners of my mouth and offered a bright smile, trying to make the atmosphere more pleasant.

"Are you okay?" I sat next to him and held his hand, frighteningly cold.

"It's fine, they won't do anything to me." He lowered his eyes, his expression was gentle, and his tone was flat: "However, I hope they can give me a good time."

He smiled, his eyes flickering: "You know, I have been following the minister for almost 20 years."

With a sore nose, I turned my face away and secretly wiped my tears.

"Little Rhine." He held my hand in turn and squeezed it, motioning me to look at him: "Don't remember that the Minister beat you at that time, he was doing it for your own good, you know? Internally, you are advertised as a pawn that Milk arranges beside him, and he makes everyone think that you are Milk's person."

"So." I turned to look at him: "Did he know from the beginning that he would lose?"

Philip smiled lightly: "There is no such thing as winning or losing. It's just that differences in ideas lead people to take different paths. Whichever path works will become the process of history. He didn't lose, he just failed. Sometimes failure doesn't mean you lose, do you understand?"

I nodded a little ignorantly, but shook my head again.

Philip bent his eyes and smiled fondly: "Look, even if he is gone, his beliefs will still be passed on, whether it is you, me, or even Milk Rhine, he wants to give everything for this country , The crimes committed by this country have caused the people to suffer, for example, he always believes that the police should protect the people, not to monitor the people."

"He still has a lot of ideas, but these ideas are hard to fit with today's reality. Although Milk has taken a different path from him, he is not a bad person, and his heart has always been in Germany. So... Rhine, Don't fight against Milk, now you have General Azrael backing you, but they are Soviets after all, they are fundamentally different from us, they can abandon you at any time, just like abandoning the minister. You are too close to them , Milk would not consider you a part of East Germany."

"However, I really want to make my own contribution to the country and do my job well." I lowered my head, "It's just that the reality is getting more and more complicated. I don't know what is right and what is wrong. .”

"There is no absolute right, and there is no absolute wrong. When you don't know what to choose, you should first listen to your inner voice." He stared into my eyes, smiled and said, "Your kind heart, It will teach you how to go on."

"What if one day I'm no longer kind?"

"Then, when that day comes, you won't be entangled in the so-called right and wrong anymore."

He stretched out his hand to stroke my head, and said affectionately: "Little Rhine, you are a kind child. Kind people always mature late, have simple ideas, have no guard against the people around them, and are too honest. Although I don't know Why do General Azrael and Colonel Kopatsky favor you so much, but I still want to remind you that big men like them will never do meaningless things, or in other words, will not do anything that cannot bring to the definite benefit."

"You have to be careful, you know?"

I nodded. In fact, I haven't mentioned anything about my father since I came back from West Berlin.

If I could become Julian's informant and make good friends with senior KGB like Sasha and Yevgeny, and they could investigate my past with Lilith, then they must have investigated the matter of my father very clearly.You must know that Beria once took over the research and development project of the atomic bomb from Kurchatov, and Julian and Sasha had a close relationship with Beria, so there is no reason to be ignorant.

But none of them mentioned it, never.

Philip and I continued chatting for a while, and I assured him that I would try my best to get him out of prison. Philip just smiled and shook his head, saying that he didn't care about his current situation.

"At least I can get the long-lost peace."

My dear Sheriff is like a saint at this moment, bathed in the cool sunlight, we look at each other for a long time, and then give each other hugs.

"I will visit you often."

"I am looking forward."

I said goodbye to him, then went straight to the warden's office and slipped him a thick stack of marks.

"At least give him an extra quilt." I looked at him coldly, with a hint of threat in my tone: "If he gets some damn pneumonia or other diseases from freezing, I can't guarantee that my pistol won't go off. "

The warden's face trembled a little, and then he calmed down: "As you wish, Sheriff Mueller."

He took Mark, and I left the prison.

I drove to the headquarters of the Stasi. I first trained the new batch of secret police under my command, and then called the captains of the five investigation teams to discuss the next counterintelligence mission. The Director's Office reports on the daily work of Director Schneider...

After everything was dealt with, it was getting late, and I walked out of Building 13 with a yawn.

It’s really a narrow street. As soon as I went out, I saw Milk wearing a Stasi coat uniform and carrying a black briefcase, standing in the open space in front of the buildings and looking at me with a smile.

My yawn froze on my face, but I reacted instantly.

"Hello, Minister Milk." I bowed to him and smiled naively.

"It's hard work, Sergeant Muller, coming from so far away." He stretched out his fingers and broke off: "Karlshorst is to the east, your home is to the west, Prison No. 17 is to the south, and our headquarters is on the south. To the north, tsk tsk, you have burned a lot of gasoline this day."

He bent his eyes and smiled happily: "Don't forget that our gasoline is mined by the working class."

My expression froze, and then I tried to squeeze out a brighter smile: "Of course, I won't forget, I'm not entangled in official duties, you have entrusted me with important tasks."

"We are everywhere!" I read the Stasi slogan aloud.

He snorted disdainfully, raised his eyebrows, then turned and left.

Looking at his leaving back, I seriously suspect that this person has a habit of finding fault with me.Or he has a mental illness, and he can't continue his life without having a few words of yin and yang with others.

Continuing to yawn, I swaggered towards the parking lot.

When I got home and had a warm dinner with Alan, I lay on the sofa and smoked, trying to relieve the fatigue of the day.

Allen sat by the fire, chatting with me without a word, and sometimes he would be lost in thought and fell silent.I think this kind of atmosphere is very good, relaxed and free from any burden.I realized that over the years I've grown very used to having Alan around.

So I said, "If you marry Natasha in the future, can you find a house to live near here, otherwise I will really die alone."

Allen's eyes widened slightly: "What did you say?"

"Huh?" I looked at him sideways, his beautiful face was illuminated by the fire, and his red hair seemed to be full of vitality. I just love to see his energetic appearance, so I smiled, Said: "You will marry Natasha."

He lowered his head suddenly, with a tangled expression on his face: "I don't know..."

"Wow!" I couldn't believe it: "I can see that Natasha likes you very much, don't hurt her, and don't mess with Russian women easily, this nation is very tough..."

I frightened him and said, "She will kill you."

Allen looked up at me, as if frightened by me, and twitched his mouth: "That's really scary."

"So, treat people well, we are different now." I took a puff on my cigarette, pretending to be mature and prudent.

Allen chuckled suddenly: "Then you and that general are still engaging in illegal activities."

"Hey! Don't talk nonsense, I'm just his informant."

"Yo, you still know how to protect him. Didn't you say that there are no bugs here?" Allen leaned forward: "Why, are you still worried about me leaking the news? After so many years...you still don't believe me?"

"No, Alan, I trust you." I sat up and looked him straight in the eyes: "At least, in this world, I rarely trust others like I trust you."

"So, please stay by my side all the time, please? We are friends for life, even if you marry Natasha, no, it doesn't matter who you marry, we are friends for life."

Allen's eyes flashed suddenly. My friend who puts pleasure-seeking first in life is most afraid of making promises, but he is always generous to me. He narrowed his eyes and smiled, and then stretched out to me shot.

"Yes, Rhine, I will be friends with you forever."

I thought life would be on the right track like this, but one day in March, after we had sex with Julian, he lay his pillow on my chest and suddenly said something very surprising.

"Let's go on a mission with Sasha."

I frowned: "What do you mean?"

"The assassination of Haydn in West Berlin last time made me realize that your real level is really not enough." He looked up at me, so pitiful that I couldn't help but kiss him on the forehead.

Hey, obviously I am the one who needs to be cared for.

"As for Sasha, in the entire KGB, and even the GRU, he couldn't find a top agent comparable to him."

"So you mean, I'm going to study with Sasha?"

"Yes." He touched me, his fingertips were as delicate as satin, and said softly, "I think Sasha is willing to teach you too."

"Have you discussed it?" I was a little surprised at their advance arrangements, although they always make their own decisions.

"Well, and, I have already greeted Milk."

"God!" I sat up suddenly: "So I was the last one to be notified? You don't even ask what I mean?"

Julian smiled softly, hugged me into his arms and lay down again: "Rhein, we are all for your own good. You are still young, and you still have a long way to go. First of all, you have to strengthen your own strength, no matter in which aspect .”

He kissed my forehead: "You have to know that being able to study with a KGB colonel like Sasha is a dream that many intelligence officers can't imagine."

"for how long?"

"Half a year."

I was taken aback again!

"Half a year! So I have to go out to perform missions for half a year?! Damn, then I won't see you for half a year!"

Julian's eyes flickered: "Didn't you say you want to grow old with me? What is half a year?"

"Hey, you are too ruthless!" I muttered dissatisfiedly: "Aren't you afraid that I will stay alone with Sasha and forget you completely?"

I grinned grimly and pressed on him: "You know, I'm a playful man."

Julian raised his beautiful eyebrows, put his hand on my waist and squeezed it: "So, this is the main point I want to tell you."

"You and Sasha go out alone, you can't let you be too free, and you can't let you mess around, although you can't beat Sasha."

He smiled and almost stunned me: "You can hold hands, hug and even kiss with him."

"But you can't sleep with him." His expression turned cold: "Not even once."

I shook my head in disbelief: "You are so strange, I really can't understand you Russians."

He rolled over and pressed me under him, kissing my eyes.

"If you don't understand it, you don't understand it. Do as I say."

I snorted displeasedly: "Then what if it's not me who can't hold back? You probably forgot that I'm also a first-class handsome guy, and Sasha has always been very kind to me."

Julian's eyes lost focus for a moment, and then he smiled and said, "Sasha won't, because you are mine."

"Sasha will not attack my people."

"That's different..."

The next words were blocked by a violent kiss, and then under his next round of offensive, I was threatened and warned that if there was any physical/physical relationship with Sasha, he would shoot and execute himself me.

— on the charge of betraying love.