The Veldt Is Not Enough (Bernadette and James)

[farothel]

James McDermott

 

Seeing Bernadette disappear into the bathroom in his peripheral vision, he looked at the bartender.

"South African food sounds okay too," he said, "Do you perchance have some Kudu. I've always wanted to try that. Or wildebeest."

[Sicarius07]

Bernadette Ritter

It took a few moments for Bernadette to return, the notebook tucked away in her handbag. When she did, Bernadette looked disappointed, and shook her head to convey her dismay without words.

[Silent Hunter UK]

On 4/4/2024 at 10:02 PM, farothel said:

James McDermott

 

Seeing Bernadette disappear into the bathroom in his peripheral vision, he looked at the bartender.

"South African food sounds okay too," he said, "Do you perchance have some Kudu. I've always wanted to try that. Or wildebeest."

"No, this is a bar, not a game restaurant. But if you go into Jo'burg proper, there are plenty of places that can cater for your meat desires."

James saw the AVIS employee walking towards him, raising a hand to capture his attention. "Sir!" he called out once he'd got a deal closer. "Your Land Rover has just arrived."

Edited April 8 by Silent Hunter UK (see edit history)

[farothel]

James McDermott

 

"Thank you," he said to the AVIS employee, before paying for the drinks and then nodding to Bernadette, moving out to get their car.

[Sicarius07]

Bernadette Ritter

Bernadette nodded, downing the last of her drink before heading into the Land Rover. Once she got in, she sighed. "Worthless to us now. It's all in Japanese."

[Silent Hunter UK]

The Land Rover wasn't exactly a luxury vehicle inside, but it was comfortable enough and seemed capable to handling the terrain of rural South Africa.

[farothel]

James McDermott

 

"Let's have a quick look around," he said to Bernadette, "if you read the map, I'll drive."

He was glad the Land Rover didn't look all that nice, so it wouldn't attract too much attention. And luckily his living in the UK for some time has made him used to driving on the left side of the road, so that shouldn't pose a big issue either. He would keep to the speed limits (or lower if the road conditions don't allow faster driving), not wanting to damage the car on the first day they had it. He would scout out two routes to their rendez-vous and at least as many different bug out routes.

[Sicarius07]

Bernadette Ritter

"Not a problem." Bernadette was not the best navigator owing to her life of not owning a car - when the Nazis weren't using Volkswagon as an investment scheme, the bombed out ruins of Germany made driving a challenge, save for the Allied officers, who were always chauffeured. But she endeavored on as best she could, marking the map with potential signs, making up a shorthand in her head rather than using real words in German or English.

[Silent Hunter UK]

Soweto looked, in a way, like something out of the Soviet bloc, but in a different way. Rows and rows of tiny four-roomed single-storey houses and barracks, linked by paved roads in some cases, dirt in the others. Hundreds of people, all black, were out and about, doing their washing, cooking etc.

However, unlike in the USSR, there were no signs of electricity provision. No street lights, no telephone wires. Ritter wasn't even sure there was proper plumbing. Perhaps there was. Street signs were also rather absent.

It was clear that the apartheid government were doing the bare minimum here to house their workers.

OOC

https://youtu.be/V8y1PmXk3UU?si=5R9B-YqQXIV9yAey

A near-contemporary film clip.

 

[Sicarius07]

Bernadette Ritter

Bernadette was reminded uncomfortably of the German ruins in the aftermath of the Second World War. At least then, the devastation was, for lack of a better word, temporary. The Americans came in with their Marshall Plan and rebuilt. It was a long few years but there was something to hold on to with progress being made. Squalor was not a temporary state of affairs.

"Disgusting." The word escaped Bernadette's lips before she could think.

[farothel]

James McDermott

 

"Looks like Korea when I was there," he said to Bernadette, "but warmer and with blacks instead of Koreans."

Or some of the Indian reserves back home, but he wasn't about to say that.

"We can only do our little part to try and change things," he said as he kept driving, memorizing the routes.

[Silent Hunter UK]

Memorising the routes would probably be quite difficult - their map wasn't very detailed for the area they were in.

A dilapidated-looking truck, probably from the last war, drove past them in the opposite direction. James was having to remember that they drove on the left in this former British colony.

Then they heard the sound of a jet aircraft approaching.

[farothel]

James McDermott

 

"Also like Korea," he said to Bernadette, while trying to figure out where it was coming from, what jet the South African Air Force had and why a jet was flying so low here.

[Sicarius07]

Bernadette Ritter

Bernadette liked the sounds of jet engines, it reminded her of the Berlin Airlift. She didn't live in Berlin during the Soviet siege, but she associated it with Western support. Knowing that the map was poor in quality, Bernadette was undeterred. Grabbing her pen, she forced ink to draw the routes she could find. If there's one thing a secretary could do, it was to write their way to success.

[Silent Hunter UK]

On 5/3/2024 at 3:15 PM, farothel said:

James McDermott

 

"Also like Korea," he said to Bernadette, while trying to figure out where it was coming from, what jet the South African Air Force had and why a jet was flying so low here.

The aircraft was coming from the north-west and flying quite low. It looked like a small twin-engine aircraft in a two-tone blue with a T-shaped tail. Definitely some form of jet, but it wasn't one that the Americans had to his knowledge.

Bernadette thought it might be something the British had sold the country pre-embargo.