A Twisted Cold War

I posted this to SHWI, I'll post it here too for consideration/flames... :)

July, 1971
There he was. Bob Novak made his way across the food court of this
newfangled shopping mall with his hot dog and drink, and sat across
from his contact. Vladamir Checkov, who Bob knew only as Vlad,
russled his newspaper before setting it down, the signal that
everything was safe.

"What is it?" Novak asked quietly. "Have you been getting my drops?"

"Of course, Bob. We need to change locations a bit, though. Some
different signals as well. The FBI is onto some of those." Bob
nearly choked on his hot dog. "Don't worry, Bob. They're not onto
*you*." Vlad laughed, and while his only accent was perfect midwest
American, the laugh was decidedly Russian. The KGB O-3 settled down,
clearing his throat. He then went over the changes in procedure and
reviewed other nuances of tradecraft with his agent.

After half an hour of this, their food and drinks finished, Bob asked,
"Am I helping America or am I helping the Orthadox Union?" He needed
his conscience reassured, and Vlad was no stranger to doing this for
his agents, even the ones who just did it for the money.

"Both." Captain Checkov answered simply. "What is your country doing
in Vietnam, Bob? Helping a godless, liberal government in Saigon
resist the will of its people to have moral, Christian government.
Johnson and Nixon have both sent our troops into their country, killed
their babies... And this is just Vietnam, Bob. Your Bolshevik
government does the same thing worldwide, to peoples, be they
Christians or heathens, who want strong, moral government. We
defeated our regicidal Bolsheviks, Bob. America can do the same.
You're passing me this information for Christ and for your soul;
America can still have Christian government in your lifetime. With a
little time, so can the world."

No, the Orthadox Union was no threat to world peace, Novak thought, to
hell with what George McGovern though. Pffft, extremism in the name
of liberty and all that baloney. Liberty could cost people their very
souls, tempt them with sin. Well, to an extent it was a good thing;
Bob certainly didn't want America to be like the UCOR, but couldn't a
happy medium be found? His stomach sank, then rose again. Yes, he
was doing the Right Thing.

"For a very short time, Bob, Russia had an openly communist regime in
power. They made my country officially atheist, the ultimate goal of
any secular government. And, of course, they murdered the family God
had chosen to govern us. But the Orthadox church intervened, fought
the good fight... And the soldiers of Christ prevailed, Bob. We'll
prevail in America, too." With that, Vlad dumped his garbage into a
recipticle and left.

Bob did likewise and left the mall, reeling a bit from sensory
overload. Something seemed un-Christian about the monstrosity, but
Bob couldn't say what exactly. He admitted he was probably just old
fashioned in that regard...

A negro in a suit was approaching him. Something Vlad forgot to
mention, Bob thought; the Russians knew how to keep their Taters and
other colored southern...

A sedan drew near and stopped. More men in suits got out. "Mr.
Novak," the black man began, flashing ID. "Agent Fredricks, FBI.
You're under arrest for espionage." Another agent grabbed his hands
from behind, cuffing him while Bob was paralyzed with fear. "You have
the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used
against you..."

Had Vlad been flipped? Was there a microphone under the table where
they'd talked? Probably both. Bob didn't feel so much like a
Christian patriot all of a sudden. Good Lord, mother, this would kill
her. No no no...
************
Flame away, don't know if this is really plausible... :)

--T.J.
 
Last edited:

Diamond

Banned
It may not be 'plausible' (tho that's hard to tell without some background knowledge), but it sure is creepy, well-paced, and entertaining.
:)
 
Pretty good, though it bares some similarities to the Crazy Days ATL I've been working on the original AH.com boards. One question though: Is the US of this ATL really a Communist/Socialist regime, or is that just hyperbole?
 
Diamond said:
It may not be 'plausible' (tho that's hard to tell without some background knowledge), but it sure is creepy, well-paced, and entertaining.
:)
Thanks! I've given it some more thought, and IMHO a right-wing backlash to the Bolshevik takeover, resulting in an expansionist, often totalitarian/always authortarian Russia is definitely plausible, but such a TL mirroring ours as exactly as in my short bit there is pretty much ASB territory.

--T.J.
 
POTUS P.Diffin said:
Pretty good, though it bares some similarities to the Crazy Days ATL I've been working on the original AH.com boards. One question though: Is the US of this ATL really a Communist/Socialist regime, or is that just hyperbole?
Oh no, not at all. America is the same, except that the political left are the hawks, as they're more nuasiated by the alt-Soviet Union's (Orthadox Union) ideology then the right. Conservatives, OTOH, tend to be dovish, with the hard right opening calling America the real bad guys.

Basically I'm a cynic, and don't find a shred of intelectual integrity in either political wing. I could see a conservative celebrity standing in an AAA battery in Hanoi if Ho were a right wing tyrant instead of a leftist dictator, just as easily as I can see Jane Fonda doing it in OTL.

For the record, I keep my posts apolitical whenever possible, but when it's not possible I spread the abuse around. Otherwise we get, "Anne Coulter sucks! Noam Chomsky sucks!" flamewars. Well, we probably will anyway but I'll try not to be the one who starts it... :D

--T.J. "Is that the BOP? It thought it was the Charmin..." Swoboda
 
Could my spelling and grammar have been any worse in that post? nausiating nausiating nausiating... than than than than... How about an edit feature? :)

--T.J.
 
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