Icarus Falls (An Alternate 1960s)
- Thread starter AnywhereButOTL
- Start date
Thanks! Here you go:
I wasn't sure which image to put in the cutout(if any one at all) so I wasn't all that happy with that part. Here's a link to a version where Tricky Dick is transparent(haha) so if anyone has a better image to put there, have at it.
I agree 100%. I can't even tell what that thingy is on the original picture.
Agree. Here it is:
Yeah, that's much better.
FTR, I think it's an antenna or a microphone.
Reckon it's the bayonet on the end of one of those guards' rifles.
You do NOT want to know what all my guesses before that were
You do NOT want to know what all my guesses before that were
That's what it looks like. That's got to be the most embarrassing Presidential death possible. Slips on the stairs while exiting Marine One, impales himself on a bayonet.
D'oh!
Oof. Imagine if right after Nixon resigned President Ford fell down the stairs more violently than usual and had that happen to him, that would be a surefire way to get some chaos.
163.
Texas Primary Results, Democratic Party
Hubert Horatio Humphrey - 62.8%
Shirley Anita St. Hill Chisholm - 28.7%
Other/Unpledged - 8.5%
_______
“I agree with President Andreotti,” Bush said, propping his feet up on the edge of Brooke’s seat as he pulled the telephone receiver closer to him, “events like the Rome bombing are indicative of a need for tighter security both in Europe and in the United States. Public surveillance is a vastly underutilized tool, if we could start educating the public on it then we could potentially stop attacks like this in the future.” Conferences with the Europeans had become frequent following the Paladin announcement and Bush supposed that they were all still deeply frightened by everything that had happened, nobody had complained about his foreign policy in nearly three weeks.
“What do you suggest?”
“A public campaign of some sort, if we could get the public to do our work for us then it would save resources that can be put into other things, like blight resistant crops and more clandestine work to figure out where Paladin has relocated to.”
“That’s good, perhaps we could form little neighborhood watch groups to look out for terrorism. They’d be good not only for that but also stopping petty crime as well. Advising the public to report suspicious activities would be cheap and hopefully effective as well.” Heath sighed.
“I’m worried that we might receive a hundred unnecessary calls for every legitimate report. We shouldn’t rely on this public watch campaign too much.”
“Of course not,” Andreotti replied, “the public campaign is there just in case our own men fail...as a safety net. Most of the real work will be done by professionals.”
“That is acceptable. Are there any other proposals?” Bush nodded.
“I propose that European airport security be upgraded to match American security, that way no flights can be hijacked or otherwise disrupted by Paladin, because right now our airways are dangerously exposed.” For a long moment there was silence, then Andreotti spoke.
“I agree with President Bush, the car bomb was bad enough but would have been catastrophic if it had exploded in a plane.”
“That is a good point. With Paladin such an imminent threat then these measures may be needed. I’ll move to introduce them.” Moments later the other European leaders had agreed, some reluctantly, to introduce stricter airport security measures and make sure that the skies were safe from terrorism. Sitting at his desk Bush smiled to himself, this was working out quite nicely, as soon as Paladin could actually be found and destroyed, then it would work out even better.
_______
Rome was not the only place that bombs were exploding. Over the course of the new year thirty bombs had exploded in Rio De Janeiro, planted by communist insurgents hiding in the slums where a good portion of the resistance had been forced to hide ever since the American bombing campaign in Brazil had begun.
The bombs mostly targeted military targets, checkpoints and barracks, though it wasn’t uncommon for shops and businesses operated by those who supported the government to be bombed as well. The city had been on edge as a result and though life proceeded mostly normally the military government was moving quickly, determined to stamp out every last trace of dissent that they encountered.
The slums were soon effectively quarantined from the rest of the city, with checkpoints appearing on major roads, and there was idle talk of walling especially troublesome areas off. The refugee camps continued to grow but as their infrastructure grew better and many of them began to resemble towns more than detention centers the concern of them becoming havens for the insurgency faded and attention instead turned to the cities.
Kissinger, attuned as he always was to the Brazilian theater, made suggestions to the military junta and soon the government began to speak of surveillance. The slums needed to be watched and informants were needed. Buoyed by money from more than a few of the CIA’s secret accounts, the junta’s network of spies grew and nighttime visits by the police became commonplace as dozens were spirited away.
Eventually some of the informants, their economic status upgraded due to their loyalty to the government, moved away from the slums but new informants were always easy to come by and as the junta watched the slums grew very quiet, the loudest of the dissenters now either languishing in torture chambers or buried somewhere in the countryside. The rebellion, once so strong, had been splintered and battered, many of its leaders dead or incarcerated. But even as the junta tightened its grip on the country the survivors weighed their options and waited for an opportune time to strike.
_______
A Pleasant Conversation Between Two Friends With Differing Political Views
“Theres no real evidence to say that President Bush was behind any of it.”
“It’s still suspicious, Gray and Reagan both having stuff happen to them almost at the same time.”
“Gray got shot by an angry black guy, which is understandable considering what his people did with the EPAB, and Reagan had a stroke. How is that suspicious?”
“Any other time and I’d probably agree with you but the timing is weird. Right before a big trial that could potentially incriminate the President and both of the defendants are rendered incapable of standing trial.”
“Explain your theory then, how did Bush do it?”
“Well...hiring a black guy to shoot Gray probably wouldn’t be too hard, most of them are pissed at the FBI anyways, and him getting killed on the scene was pretty convenient too.”
“That’s silly, no way a hit man would agree to do something that risky. I’d use a sniper if I were Bush.”
“I bet there was a sniper...as a backup.”
“You conspiracy theorists...what’s next, was the moon landing faked?”
“No...stop trying to change the subject, this is serious!”
“You’re just angry because Bush is turning out to be a good President. I told you that he’d be fine.”
“He’s hiding stuff, I just know it. Just wait until something spills, because when it does then there is going to be a whole waterfall of scandals.”
“That’s a liberal pipe dream but I’ll let you indulge, I’m off to book tickets to the convention, you want one?”
“...Sure.”
“See, there you go, you’ll be a Republican yet.”
_______
“Colonel Glenn, this lunar base is going to be a major undertaking, can you provide a rough estimation of how much it will cost us over the rest of the decade?” John Glenn, standing behind a podium, was listening to questions from congress. He had just introduced the proposed increase of funding for NASA and so far it seemed that congress was amiable, not concerned in the slightest by the idea of giving NASA another two billion dollars per year.
“The lunar base would be built over the course of two years beginning in 1975 and would feature a landing area, a number of rovers and a set of habitations which would be used as science laboratories and quarters for the inhabitants of the base. Expenses are still being calculated but we estimate that the base will cost roughly twelve billion dollars over the course of the rest of the decade, from 1975 to 1981. The scientific benefits gathered from this base however would be beyond any calculable value and would include the prestige of being the first and only nation to have a permanent presence off of the planet. Sufficient investment could result in a self sufficient base as early as 1980.” A few of the assembled congressmen, Ted Kennedy included, applauded briefly before Glenn motioned for silence.
“Since the Cold War is now over would there be any potential for Soviet involvement in this project?” This question had a decidedly pointed tone and Glenn almost smiled as he remembered a political cartoon that he had seen a few days before, showing Bush and Kosygin aiming pistols at one another, all the while maintaining that they were the best of friends. Even if the powers of the world had banded together to fight Nazis instead of each other the past tensions that had sparked the Cold War were still glaringly present in everyday life.
“This base is a purely American venture. One day it may become an international base where astronauts of all nationalities mingle and advance scientific learning but right now, since we are the only nation in the world with the resources to maintain an active space program we shall be the only nation in the world to keep a lunar base as well.” A few of the more conservative congressmen appeared mollified by that answer and Glenn watched as a familiar hand raised, it was Representative Paul.
“Colonel, what is the unemployment rate in the United States right now?”
“14.5%, and dropping.” Glenn said cordially, knowing exactly what Paul was trying to do.
“Do you really think that it’s wise to spend twelve billion of our taxpayers’ dollars to pursue a base on a moon that we have already visited? Our economy is still shaky, we have troops deployed illegally to war zones all across the globe, many strictures of the security state that President Rhodes implemented are still in place even though we have no need for them, and there is an alarming sentiment that we should abandon the gold standard, which would completely collapse our economy and yet we are still hearing proposals such as yours. Is this really the best way to spend our money?” There was a scattered wave of applause from the fiscal conservatives present but they were few and far between and the noise died quickly.
“I think that you are misinterpreting the impact of this lunar base,” Glenn said, “you seem to think that spending money on this base will weaken the economy when the opposite is actually true. Every single time that NASA has had its fund increased the unemployment rate has dropped as orders for rockets and other space based infrastructure are placed and more people are hired to manufacture those rockets and satellites. What I am proposing here, beyond the obvious base on the moon, is a self sustaining, perpetually expanding economic opportunity which, if we grow it the right way, could potentially lead to an economic boom bigger than any other in the history of mankind. Space is still a very new field and there are countless opportunities lying in wait out there. But beyond that, the purpose of this lunar base is also to battle the general malaise that has gripped our nation since the Sino-Soviet exchange. Since that exchange we have landed a man on the moon, assembled a vast array of satellites capable of shooting down an ICBM from thousands of miles away, put into orbit the world’s first kinetic artillery, planned a manned mission to Mars and a manned flyby of Venus, organized the support necessary to lodge humanity permanently on the moon and you want to stop here? I’m sorry Representative Paul, but if you think that you’ve got better things to spend our money on then I’d like to hear them right now.” There was no response from Representative Paul and Glenn turned to the rest of the assembled congressmen, the silence was deafening.
“Alright then,” he said, “any other questions?”
And that is how you start a career in politics.
I'm glad that you used the down time well; that whole last section was amazing.
I agree with that. Excellently written and the Glenn part was the best part.
Orville_third
Banned
Great updates! Of course I do think Paul actually would respond to Glenn.
And is Phil Ochs still around? What does he think of this?
And is Phil Ochs still around? What does he think of this?
Thank you, I had to go write a paper for school, about space exploration fittingly enough. And now that that is out of the way for the moment I can continue writing this.
You're probably right, but I guess Paul decided to stop fighting a losing battle when he still could, he's a smart guy after all.
Phil Ochs is currently in Chile, hanging out with Allende and his other friends there. After Reagan's election he joined in the protest movement even more vigorously only to be arrested numerous times. After being released he watched the protest movement effectively die around him as Reagan continued to expand the surveillance/security state and decided that early 1970 was a good time to flee the country and head to South America. He is also convinced that the CIA is surveilling him and given the heavy CIA presence in Chile at the moment that could very well be true.
164.
“Two budget increases in as many months, you’re a hero John!” Glenn and Paine were seated comfortably in the director’s office, looking at a little model of the lunar base and celebrating their success.
“It was nothing sir, anyone would have done the same.” Paine didn’t look entirely convinced by Glenn’s modesty.
“The way you shut down Paul though, people are talking about that, there’s more than a few people who would happily draft you to run for President.” That surprised Glenn and he laughed.
“No way. I already said that I’d stay out of it, I’m perfectly happy with Hubert getting the nomination.” Paine nodded.
“There are going to be more than a few votes for you at the convention so get ready for some media attention once that starts to happen. Hell, you may end up as Humphrey’s running mate if things get really out of control.” Paine almost looked pleased by that thought.
“That’s an interesting thought, and I’m not entirely sure what I would do if that happened.”
“My advice to you is to not get too involved in Humphrey’s campaign. I may be biased since I tend to vote Republican but I don’t think that Humphrey is going to win the election.” Glenn nodded reluctantly, everything seemed to be pointing to a Bush victory, the only factors seemed to be how many electoral votes Bush would secure.
“Well...I’ll see what happens.”
“Have you given any thought about running for Senate again? It would be nice if you were a congressman because then you could just speak on my behalf any time that you wanted instead of having to be invited every single time.” Glenn just smiled.
“I’ve been asked to run for lieutenant governor of Ohio in ’74 but I’m not sure if I want to do that, I like the sound of the Senate and if I can get through the primaries alright then I’ll probably be fine.”
“Best of luck John.” Glenn nodded, even if he was a national hero he was still new to politics, and plenty of luck would be just what he’d need.
_______
“Lieutenant Colonel, do you know why you’ve been called here today?” The command tent was hot and stuffy but Lieutenant Colonel Schwarzkopf didn’t let himself show any signs of discomfort.
“Yes sir,” he said, sitting before him was his one superior and the commander of all American troops in Pakistan, “you want me to explain what happened yesterday.” In front of him General Frederick Weyand nodded.
“You lodged a complaint against our logistical support, saying that the rounds they were supplying are defective. Explain what you meant.”
“Since we have moved operations into the mountains here the enemy has started making use of fortifications made of hardened clay and stone, which is virtually impenetrable for all of our conventional rounds and a good deal of our artillery. We need better weaponry if we want to be able to blast their fortifications apart.”
“We’ve noticed these sets of fortifications cropping up lately, and I agree that they’re a threat but right now we simply can’t spare any air support to take them out.” Schwarzkopf shook his head.
“I don’t need air support sir, I need better weaponry. The explosive rounds that our cannons and artillery use aren’t designed correctly to penetrate this style of fortifications, they just blow a chunk off of the outside of the fort and that’s it.” Weyand glanced at one of his lieutenant and nodded.
“What would you do differently?”
“Mount the explosives at the back of the round, that way they wont explode on contact, instead they’ll punch through the clay and stone and then explode inside of the enemy forts. We have rounds like this but so far my men have not received any and we are suffering for it.” This seemed to intrigue Weyand and he smiled thinly at Schwarzkopf.
“I’ll see that our supply changes accordingly, I’ve been hearing reports like this for the past few weeks but you are the only one to come directly to me.”
“Thank you sir.” Schwarzkopf left the tent and watched a pair of Chinooks roar overhead. When he had first been sent to Pakistan in the wake of the final nuclear exchange between the Indians and Pakistanis he hadn’t known what to expect but now he knew what the war was reminding him of. The whole thing was almost exactly like the invasion of North Vietnam, which he had been roped into at the insistence of the ARVN, who wanted American officers along for when they took Hanoi. The fighting then had been almost nonexistent, except for sharp little ambushes and stretches of booby traps, all that the shattered NVA had been capable of. Vietnam now was apparently pretty peaceful and Schwarzkopf hoped that Pakistan would follow suit as soon as he and his men eradicated the jihadists in the mountains. That would take them a while but if there was one thing that they did have then it was time.
_______
On the other side of the globe President Bush was wondering about the fate of Pakistan as well, looking at a set of reports and other notifications.
To his right Kissinger was briefing him on the possibility of sending teams to mine a number of crossings on the border with Uyghurstan and Bush was wondering just how bad things would have to get before he stopped pretending that the Uyghurs weren’t involved int he war and started bombing them as well. U2 flights over the Uyghur border had revealed more than a few volunteer columns making their way into Pakistan, where they were promptly torn apart by patiently waiting gunships, but that wasn’t ultimate proof that the government of Uyghurstan was involved in the whole thing.
Diplomatic relations between Uyghurstan and America had been chilly as the war in Pakistan threatened to spill over the border and Bush had no doubt that the Islamic government in Urumqi was ferrying aid not only to the jihadists in Pakistan but also to the insurgents in northern China as well. But just knowing that they were behind such acts wasn’t nearly enough of a reason to justify bombing runs or even a full fledged invasion of the little upstart nation, that would have to wait.
“Do it. It’ll cut down on the number of missions we need to fly on the border.” Signing the order Bush turned back to his other work as Kissinger departed. He still had yet to find a new director for the CIA but seeing as how Kissinger was doing a good job at keeping the agency in line Bush supposed that that wasn’t of paramount importance at the moment. What was were the new security laws that he would be introducing to congress any day now once the final kinks were worked out of them. They would make it mandatory for metal detectors to be included in airports and greatly increase border security. Similar measures were being worked on in Europe and Bush supposed that they would pass easily, especially when the first spores started blowing their direction. There had been alarming reports of wheat blight being discovered as far south as central Romania and though Bush supposed that at least some of the reports were just jumpy peasants overreacting to regular blight it was still good to overreact rather than not react at all. The famine measures he had proposed to help the USSR and other affected countries were still in committee but they would pass by the end of the month, he knew that much. Nobody wanted to cause millions to die of starvation because of a reckless vote after all.
_______
“Are the pictures ready?” Zhirinovsky nodded and handed a little packet over to the man that he had met outside of the barracks. Fedorchuk had told him exactly what would happen with the carefully laid out plan that they had adopted and so far it seemed to be going perfectly.
“Be careful with them, we don’t want anyone to know that it was us that put them out.” The man just nodded before tucking the packet into a pocket.
“Don’t worry, everything will be done correctly.” Zhirinovsky watched the man disappear into the night before heading back into the barracks, he felt nervous now and wondered if he would be able to sleep. The thought of becoming governor helped tone down the anxiety he felt though and as he laid back on his bed he felt quite good about the future, Fedorchuk had hired professionals after all, everything would be done correctly.
_______
“We have effectively cut a swathe around the affected areas in the Ukraine and Moldova and it appears that the problem there is under control but Kazakhstan is worrying me.” Gorbachev was on his third glass of vodka but so far the alcohol had done nothing to cut the fear and anxiety that he was feeling. On the other side of the table Kosygin nodded.
“We have flamethrower units heading there to cut it off before it hits Central Asia. Now tell me again, assuming we stop it here what will our losses be?”
“Nineteen percent. We’ll need to call upon the Americans for help.” Kosygin did his best to appear stoic but Gorbachev knew that the mere mention of receiving foreign humanitarian aid agitated him.
“We’ll grow more millet next year, and hopefully by then our first generation of blight resistant crops will be finished as well. We just have to get through this year and then hopefully we’ll be alright.” Another glass of vodka was poured and Gorbachev stared at the liquid, wondering what would happen if the losses were higher than official predictions were making them out to be. They had been creeping higher as time went on and that was worrying, though since the blight had effectively been stopped in the west it seemed that things were looking up.
“Has Fedorchuk spoken to you recently?”
“Not beyond his usual reports, why?”
“I was wondering if he’d been trying to convince you to not accept foreign aid.” Kosygin shook his head.
“He’s not that stupid, he doesn’t have the power to do that and he never will, since you and me effectively control two thirds of the government any motions of his that we don’t like are effectively doomed to failure.”
Gorbachev nodded, he couldn’t help but feel worried though, Fedorchuk did have almost complete control over the New Red Army, even if that army was still battered and understrength, and would be a force to reckon with if he ever decided that the USSR would be better with him at the helm.
“I hope you’re right.” Kosygin didn’t answer, instead looking at the little map that Gorbachev had spread across the table earlier, the USSR dotted with little black spots indicating outbreaks of blight.
“What happens if the blight hits Central Asia or Chechnya?” Gorbachev grimaced, both areas would be almost impossible to cleanse.
“Nothing good. But don’t worry sir, it won’t get there, I guarantee it.”
“Two budget increases in as many months, you’re a hero John!” Glenn and Paine were seated comfortably in the director’s office, looking at a little model of the lunar base and celebrating their success.
“It was nothing sir, anyone would have done the same.” Paine didn’t look entirely convinced by Glenn’s modesty.
“The way you shut down Paul though, people are talking about that, there’s more than a few people who would happily draft you to run for President.” That surprised Glenn and he laughed.
“No way. I already said that I’d stay out of it, I’m perfectly happy with Hubert getting the nomination.” Paine nodded.
“There are going to be more than a few votes for you at the convention so get ready for some media attention once that starts to happen. Hell, you may end up as Humphrey’s running mate if things get really out of control.” Paine almost looked pleased by that thought.
“That’s an interesting thought, and I’m not entirely sure what I would do if that happened.”
“My advice to you is to not get too involved in Humphrey’s campaign. I may be biased since I tend to vote Republican but I don’t think that Humphrey is going to win the election.” Glenn nodded reluctantly, everything seemed to be pointing to a Bush victory, the only factors seemed to be how many electoral votes Bush would secure.
“Well...I’ll see what happens.”
“Have you given any thought about running for Senate again? It would be nice if you were a congressman because then you could just speak on my behalf any time that you wanted instead of having to be invited every single time.” Glenn just smiled.
“I’ve been asked to run for lieutenant governor of Ohio in ’74 but I’m not sure if I want to do that, I like the sound of the Senate and if I can get through the primaries alright then I’ll probably be fine.”
“Best of luck John.” Glenn nodded, even if he was a national hero he was still new to politics, and plenty of luck would be just what he’d need.
_______
“Lieutenant Colonel, do you know why you’ve been called here today?” The command tent was hot and stuffy but Lieutenant Colonel Schwarzkopf didn’t let himself show any signs of discomfort.
“Yes sir,” he said, sitting before him was his one superior and the commander of all American troops in Pakistan, “you want me to explain what happened yesterday.” In front of him General Frederick Weyand nodded.
“You lodged a complaint against our logistical support, saying that the rounds they were supplying are defective. Explain what you meant.”
“Since we have moved operations into the mountains here the enemy has started making use of fortifications made of hardened clay and stone, which is virtually impenetrable for all of our conventional rounds and a good deal of our artillery. We need better weaponry if we want to be able to blast their fortifications apart.”
“We’ve noticed these sets of fortifications cropping up lately, and I agree that they’re a threat but right now we simply can’t spare any air support to take them out.” Schwarzkopf shook his head.
“I don’t need air support sir, I need better weaponry. The explosive rounds that our cannons and artillery use aren’t designed correctly to penetrate this style of fortifications, they just blow a chunk off of the outside of the fort and that’s it.” Weyand glanced at one of his lieutenant and nodded.
“What would you do differently?”
“Mount the explosives at the back of the round, that way they wont explode on contact, instead they’ll punch through the clay and stone and then explode inside of the enemy forts. We have rounds like this but so far my men have not received any and we are suffering for it.” This seemed to intrigue Weyand and he smiled thinly at Schwarzkopf.
“I’ll see that our supply changes accordingly, I’ve been hearing reports like this for the past few weeks but you are the only one to come directly to me.”
“Thank you sir.” Schwarzkopf left the tent and watched a pair of Chinooks roar overhead. When he had first been sent to Pakistan in the wake of the final nuclear exchange between the Indians and Pakistanis he hadn’t known what to expect but now he knew what the war was reminding him of. The whole thing was almost exactly like the invasion of North Vietnam, which he had been roped into at the insistence of the ARVN, who wanted American officers along for when they took Hanoi. The fighting then had been almost nonexistent, except for sharp little ambushes and stretches of booby traps, all that the shattered NVA had been capable of. Vietnam now was apparently pretty peaceful and Schwarzkopf hoped that Pakistan would follow suit as soon as he and his men eradicated the jihadists in the mountains. That would take them a while but if there was one thing that they did have then it was time.
_______
On the other side of the globe President Bush was wondering about the fate of Pakistan as well, looking at a set of reports and other notifications.
To his right Kissinger was briefing him on the possibility of sending teams to mine a number of crossings on the border with Uyghurstan and Bush was wondering just how bad things would have to get before he stopped pretending that the Uyghurs weren’t involved int he war and started bombing them as well. U2 flights over the Uyghur border had revealed more than a few volunteer columns making their way into Pakistan, where they were promptly torn apart by patiently waiting gunships, but that wasn’t ultimate proof that the government of Uyghurstan was involved in the whole thing.
Diplomatic relations between Uyghurstan and America had been chilly as the war in Pakistan threatened to spill over the border and Bush had no doubt that the Islamic government in Urumqi was ferrying aid not only to the jihadists in Pakistan but also to the insurgents in northern China as well. But just knowing that they were behind such acts wasn’t nearly enough of a reason to justify bombing runs or even a full fledged invasion of the little upstart nation, that would have to wait.
“Do it. It’ll cut down on the number of missions we need to fly on the border.” Signing the order Bush turned back to his other work as Kissinger departed. He still had yet to find a new director for the CIA but seeing as how Kissinger was doing a good job at keeping the agency in line Bush supposed that that wasn’t of paramount importance at the moment. What was were the new security laws that he would be introducing to congress any day now once the final kinks were worked out of them. They would make it mandatory for metal detectors to be included in airports and greatly increase border security. Similar measures were being worked on in Europe and Bush supposed that they would pass easily, especially when the first spores started blowing their direction. There had been alarming reports of wheat blight being discovered as far south as central Romania and though Bush supposed that at least some of the reports were just jumpy peasants overreacting to regular blight it was still good to overreact rather than not react at all. The famine measures he had proposed to help the USSR and other affected countries were still in committee but they would pass by the end of the month, he knew that much. Nobody wanted to cause millions to die of starvation because of a reckless vote after all.
_______
“Are the pictures ready?” Zhirinovsky nodded and handed a little packet over to the man that he had met outside of the barracks. Fedorchuk had told him exactly what would happen with the carefully laid out plan that they had adopted and so far it seemed to be going perfectly.
“Be careful with them, we don’t want anyone to know that it was us that put them out.” The man just nodded before tucking the packet into a pocket.
“Don’t worry, everything will be done correctly.” Zhirinovsky watched the man disappear into the night before heading back into the barracks, he felt nervous now and wondered if he would be able to sleep. The thought of becoming governor helped tone down the anxiety he felt though and as he laid back on his bed he felt quite good about the future, Fedorchuk had hired professionals after all, everything would be done correctly.
_______
“We have effectively cut a swathe around the affected areas in the Ukraine and Moldova and it appears that the problem there is under control but Kazakhstan is worrying me.” Gorbachev was on his third glass of vodka but so far the alcohol had done nothing to cut the fear and anxiety that he was feeling. On the other side of the table Kosygin nodded.
“We have flamethrower units heading there to cut it off before it hits Central Asia. Now tell me again, assuming we stop it here what will our losses be?”
“Nineteen percent. We’ll need to call upon the Americans for help.” Kosygin did his best to appear stoic but Gorbachev knew that the mere mention of receiving foreign humanitarian aid agitated him.
“We’ll grow more millet next year, and hopefully by then our first generation of blight resistant crops will be finished as well. We just have to get through this year and then hopefully we’ll be alright.” Another glass of vodka was poured and Gorbachev stared at the liquid, wondering what would happen if the losses were higher than official predictions were making them out to be. They had been creeping higher as time went on and that was worrying, though since the blight had effectively been stopped in the west it seemed that things were looking up.
“Has Fedorchuk spoken to you recently?”
“Not beyond his usual reports, why?”
“I was wondering if he’d been trying to convince you to not accept foreign aid.” Kosygin shook his head.
“He’s not that stupid, he doesn’t have the power to do that and he never will, since you and me effectively control two thirds of the government any motions of his that we don’t like are effectively doomed to failure.”
Gorbachev nodded, he couldn’t help but feel worried though, Fedorchuk did have almost complete control over the New Red Army, even if that army was still battered and understrength, and would be a force to reckon with if he ever decided that the USSR would be better with him at the helm.
“I hope you’re right.” Kosygin didn’t answer, instead looking at the little map that Gorbachev had spread across the table earlier, the USSR dotted with little black spots indicating outbreaks of blight.
“What happens if the blight hits Central Asia or Chechnya?” Gorbachev grimaced, both areas would be almost impossible to cleanse.
“Nothing good. But don’t worry sir, it won’t get there, I guarantee it.”
165.
Headlines from June 15, 1972 - June 26, 1972
LIBYAN PRESIDENT GADDAFI DENOUNCES ALLEGATIONS THAT PALADIN OPERATIVES ARE WITHIN LIBYA, REFUSES TO ALLOW INVESTIGATORS INTO LIBYA
NASA BUDGET CROSSES THIRTY FIVE BILLION DOLLAR MARK, PUBLIC PERCEPTION OF AGENCY STILL OVERWHELMINGLY POSITIVE
FAMINE RELIEF MEASURES PASSED THROUGH CONGRESS, SIGNED BY PRESIDENT
AIRPORT SECURITY ACT SIGNED BY PRESIDENT, HERALDED AS A BLOW TO TERROR BY VICE PRESIDENT BROOKE
FORMER PRESIDENT TRUMAN DEAD AT 88
REPUBLICAN CONVENTION CONFIRMED TO BE HELD IN AUSTIN, DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION REMAINS IN MIAMI
New York Primary Results, Democratic Party
Hubert Horatio Humphrey - 60.9%
Shirley Anita St. Hill Chisholm - 31.2%
Other/Unpledged - 7.9%
_______
“And just like that, the primaries are finished, you are effectively the Democratic nominee.” Humphrey, watching the final results of the final primary trickle into his office, nodded contentedly. He had gathered most of his former primary opponents together, any rivalry that they had once held was irrelevant, now it was time to plan for the primaries. The 1968 Chicago primaries had been chaotic and if the Democratic party was to avoid defeat for the second election in a row then they would need to work together as a unified front to pull off a smooth nomination, not only of a candidate but of a running mate as well.
Sitting before Humphrey was Henry Jackson and Shirley Chisholm, both of which had been promised cabinet positions upon Humphrey’s victory, and Humphrey was wondering if a keynote speech delivered by Chisholm would be enough to mollify the progressive wing of the party, which was decidedly unhappy to see him as the Democratic nominee.
“Shirley, do you think that Robert or maybe Ted Kennedy would be willing to endorse me at some point before the campaign?” Chisholm shook her head.
“I don’t think so. He’s gone into reclusion ever since he left the race and isn’t speaking to anyone. Ted Kennedy won’t do anything that his brother wouldn’t do so I think that we may have to seek alternate methods of winning the progressive vote.” Another thought flickered across Humphrey’s mind but he shot it down before it could start to grow, choosing Chisholm as his running mate would win him virtually all of the progressive vote, but would lose him the election in possibly a record breaking landslide.
“You’re my best bet at winning the progressive vote at the moment,” Humphrey said and Chisholm nodded slowly, no doubt wondering just how many people would declare her an ideological traitor if she publicly allied herself with him, “would you be willing to deliver the keynote speech at the convention?” That part surprised her and Humphrey saw a little flash of jubilation cross her face before a more guarded expression returned, Jackson looked mildly amused.
“You’re really going all out to keep the peaceniks on your side.” He said laconically, lacing his hands behind his head and leaning back in his chair. Humphrey had offered him a chance to become Secretary of Defense in exchange for campaigning for him, an offer that Jackson had only been too happy to take.
“I need the peaceniks, otherwise the delegates will get angry and turn the whole thing into a debacle. Plus, they’d be willing to give me anyone I wanted as my running mate if I’m nice to them.” Chisholm, deep in thought, nodded to herself before looking up.
“I’ll do it, but you’d better win this election Hubert.” Humphrey chuckled.
“Don’t worry,” he said, “I will.”
_______
“The convention is still a few months into the future, I think that I have bigger things to focus on than hobnobbing with the party bosses.” Bush and Brooke were running, side by side, on a set of treadmills. Both men had taken to running in their spare time, both as a method of exercise and a way to escape the ever growing set of issues that had arisen since they had taken office.
“I agree, but Don is fussing, he wants everything to be perfect for when you visit.” Bush sighed, Rumsfeld had proven to be a fairly excellent Chief of Staff, but when he started micromanaging then it was difficult to get him to stop.
“Let’s see, I won almost every single delegate and we’ve secured a majority for you to be nominated as my running mate since there are no strong alternatives...I think that the convention doesn’t have many chances for things to go wrong.”
“The southern party members might act up.”
“They won’t, we’ve gotten rid of their leaders and a lot of the more influential ones have already fled to the Freedom Party, they’re weak and reeling, not in any position to mount a challenge to you.” Brooke was silent for a moment.
“I’m glad you chose me to be your Vice President.”
“So am I Ed.”
_______
“There is a problem,” Kosygin’s voice was icy and Gorbachev had just enough time to wonder just what had happened now before a stack of photos hit the table, scattering across the surface, “what are these?” Gorbachev looked down at the photos and felt a wave of confusion hit him like a hammer. The photos were of him, or someone that looked remarkably like him, engaged in intercourse with an obviously male secretary.
“These are...they are…”
“Forgeries.” Kosygin finished crisply, “but they are good forgeries and they are also on being spread across the nation. Where do you think they came from?”
“Fedorchuk.” Kosygin nodded.
“You’re probably right, but before we deal with him we have to denounce this. Get a suit on, we’re going on a trip.”
_______
“This is bizarre...” Gathered around a wall, staring at a blown up image of the photo that Gorbachev had just recently been staring at, was a small group of factory workers. Just the day before the spot on the wall had been occupied by an old Leninist propaganda poster, now there was a very different poster, and the factory commissars were not pleased.
“This is obscene, tear it down immediately!” One shouted and the workers watched silently as the poster was torn to shreds, wondering what the hell they had just seen.
“I didn’t think Gorbachev was a queer...” One said uneasily, most of the workers held Gorbachev in high esteem but these new developments worried them, especially the more conservative workers and officials, the ones who were more well equipped to spread rumors.
“You will not speak of this, it is false fascist propaganda!” The commissars departed, carrying the remains of the shredded poster with them. It was far too late though, the commissars could not watch the workers all of the time, and as the workers filtered back to their places and work resumed each man wondered if anyone else had encountered the posters, and whether or not they were real.
_______
“We’re going to have to move again, the Americans are asking Gaddafi to let investigators into Libya, to look for us.” Von Schubert was unhappy as he spoke, not necessarily about the subject matter of the briefing he was delivering, but about the fact that his little board of directors was shrinking. When he had started out there had been twenty of them, now their numbers were down to eleven, the others having fled or, in one case, committed suicide.
“Where do you suggest?” Von Schubert, motioning to the world map that he was standing before, stabbed his finger at a particular nation. “It’s not as crazy as it seems,” he said, raising his voice over a small wave of protests, “just listen.”
“This is absurd,” said one man, looking alarmed by what Von Schubert had just suggested.
“It is unexpected,” Von Schubert said gently, “and our enemies would never see it coming.”
“They didn’t expect Belarus either and that didn’t stop them from swooping down on our compound, massacring our men and declaring us international criminals.” Von Schubert frowned and stared out at his men. They were scared, he could tell, scared, demoralized and unhappy that the war declared against them was being waged by such invincible forces.
“I’m going to explain this plan to you in depth,” he said, “and it hinges upon one fundamental truth. We are going to lose this war.” The last sentence created a stir amongst the assembled directors but Von Schubert kept going.
“We are going to lose this war, but we are going to lose it in such a way that destroys our enemy as well. We are going to lose, but in losing we will tear the entire world down on top of the enemy.” Silence, the men were quiet, staring at Von Schubert, intensely interested in what he had to say.
“Our current plans, the ones which we naively hoped would tear down Europe, they will still happen, but they are nothing more than a distraction, for the real plan. The plan that we are going to move into Saudi Arabia for.”
“What is this plan? Without you telling us your exposition is worthless.”
“It will involve the hardware, and it will be bigger than you could have ever imagined.” As he explained to them in detail Von Schubert watched an almost frightening wave of enthusiasm sweep across his men, they liked this plan, and once it was done then they could take advantage of the aftermath and flee, nobody would be looking for them, Von Schubert hoped, in the wake of something as devastating as he hoped this plan would prove to be.
_______
Over the course of June nearly five thousand American soldiers were deployed to Estonia, Belarus and Lithuania to aid in the containment of wheat blight. This action was generally warmly received by the populations of the affected nations, where anti-Soviet sentiment was still high, especially when the blight tended to be viewed as the result of some failure or another by Russia. The Soviet border was initially viewed as a potential site for tensions between American and Soviet troops but surprisingly the two armies got along as well as they could be expected to and it wasn’t uncommon for Americans to trade cigarettes across the border to the Soviets, who had suffered a severe lack of tobacco products since the Soviet Civil War. The Cold War, their commanders reminded them, was over and the Soviets were no longer enemies, even if they were by no means allies. The conduct of American troops in Eastern Europe was also carefully monitored, nobody in the upper echelons wanted a major gaffe to crop up within easy sight of both the Europeans and the Soviets.
In a similar move the Soviets made sure to deploy only the most well equipped units to their western border, both to hide the general weakness of the New Red Army after the Soviet Civil War, and to impress the Americans, who Kosygin hoped would grow to respect the USSR as a superpower once again.
Scientific data was shared between the US and the USSR as well, the two nations continuing their work on how to effectively kill the blight, which was proving to be resistant to just about everything except fire and extreme cold. Ultimately, it seemed the blight would have to be annihilated with fire and leaders around the globe prayed that nothing similar cropped up within their own nations. Harvests had been disappointing lately, there was no need to make things worse.
Headlines from June 15, 1972 - June 26, 1972
LIBYAN PRESIDENT GADDAFI DENOUNCES ALLEGATIONS THAT PALADIN OPERATIVES ARE WITHIN LIBYA, REFUSES TO ALLOW INVESTIGATORS INTO LIBYA
NASA BUDGET CROSSES THIRTY FIVE BILLION DOLLAR MARK, PUBLIC PERCEPTION OF AGENCY STILL OVERWHELMINGLY POSITIVE
FAMINE RELIEF MEASURES PASSED THROUGH CONGRESS, SIGNED BY PRESIDENT
AIRPORT SECURITY ACT SIGNED BY PRESIDENT, HERALDED AS A BLOW TO TERROR BY VICE PRESIDENT BROOKE
FORMER PRESIDENT TRUMAN DEAD AT 88
REPUBLICAN CONVENTION CONFIRMED TO BE HELD IN AUSTIN, DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION REMAINS IN MIAMI
New York Primary Results, Democratic Party
Hubert Horatio Humphrey - 60.9%
Shirley Anita St. Hill Chisholm - 31.2%
Other/Unpledged - 7.9%
_______
“And just like that, the primaries are finished, you are effectively the Democratic nominee.” Humphrey, watching the final results of the final primary trickle into his office, nodded contentedly. He had gathered most of his former primary opponents together, any rivalry that they had once held was irrelevant, now it was time to plan for the primaries. The 1968 Chicago primaries had been chaotic and if the Democratic party was to avoid defeat for the second election in a row then they would need to work together as a unified front to pull off a smooth nomination, not only of a candidate but of a running mate as well.
Sitting before Humphrey was Henry Jackson and Shirley Chisholm, both of which had been promised cabinet positions upon Humphrey’s victory, and Humphrey was wondering if a keynote speech delivered by Chisholm would be enough to mollify the progressive wing of the party, which was decidedly unhappy to see him as the Democratic nominee.
“Shirley, do you think that Robert or maybe Ted Kennedy would be willing to endorse me at some point before the campaign?” Chisholm shook her head.
“I don’t think so. He’s gone into reclusion ever since he left the race and isn’t speaking to anyone. Ted Kennedy won’t do anything that his brother wouldn’t do so I think that we may have to seek alternate methods of winning the progressive vote.” Another thought flickered across Humphrey’s mind but he shot it down before it could start to grow, choosing Chisholm as his running mate would win him virtually all of the progressive vote, but would lose him the election in possibly a record breaking landslide.
“You’re my best bet at winning the progressive vote at the moment,” Humphrey said and Chisholm nodded slowly, no doubt wondering just how many people would declare her an ideological traitor if she publicly allied herself with him, “would you be willing to deliver the keynote speech at the convention?” That part surprised her and Humphrey saw a little flash of jubilation cross her face before a more guarded expression returned, Jackson looked mildly amused.
“You’re really going all out to keep the peaceniks on your side.” He said laconically, lacing his hands behind his head and leaning back in his chair. Humphrey had offered him a chance to become Secretary of Defense in exchange for campaigning for him, an offer that Jackson had only been too happy to take.
“I need the peaceniks, otherwise the delegates will get angry and turn the whole thing into a debacle. Plus, they’d be willing to give me anyone I wanted as my running mate if I’m nice to them.” Chisholm, deep in thought, nodded to herself before looking up.
“I’ll do it, but you’d better win this election Hubert.” Humphrey chuckled.
“Don’t worry,” he said, “I will.”
_______
“The convention is still a few months into the future, I think that I have bigger things to focus on than hobnobbing with the party bosses.” Bush and Brooke were running, side by side, on a set of treadmills. Both men had taken to running in their spare time, both as a method of exercise and a way to escape the ever growing set of issues that had arisen since they had taken office.
“I agree, but Don is fussing, he wants everything to be perfect for when you visit.” Bush sighed, Rumsfeld had proven to be a fairly excellent Chief of Staff, but when he started micromanaging then it was difficult to get him to stop.
“Let’s see, I won almost every single delegate and we’ve secured a majority for you to be nominated as my running mate since there are no strong alternatives...I think that the convention doesn’t have many chances for things to go wrong.”
“The southern party members might act up.”
“They won’t, we’ve gotten rid of their leaders and a lot of the more influential ones have already fled to the Freedom Party, they’re weak and reeling, not in any position to mount a challenge to you.” Brooke was silent for a moment.
“I’m glad you chose me to be your Vice President.”
“So am I Ed.”
_______
“There is a problem,” Kosygin’s voice was icy and Gorbachev had just enough time to wonder just what had happened now before a stack of photos hit the table, scattering across the surface, “what are these?” Gorbachev looked down at the photos and felt a wave of confusion hit him like a hammer. The photos were of him, or someone that looked remarkably like him, engaged in intercourse with an obviously male secretary.
“These are...they are…”
“Forgeries.” Kosygin finished crisply, “but they are good forgeries and they are also on being spread across the nation. Where do you think they came from?”
“Fedorchuk.” Kosygin nodded.
“You’re probably right, but before we deal with him we have to denounce this. Get a suit on, we’re going on a trip.”
_______
“This is bizarre...” Gathered around a wall, staring at a blown up image of the photo that Gorbachev had just recently been staring at, was a small group of factory workers. Just the day before the spot on the wall had been occupied by an old Leninist propaganda poster, now there was a very different poster, and the factory commissars were not pleased.
“This is obscene, tear it down immediately!” One shouted and the workers watched silently as the poster was torn to shreds, wondering what the hell they had just seen.
“I didn’t think Gorbachev was a queer...” One said uneasily, most of the workers held Gorbachev in high esteem but these new developments worried them, especially the more conservative workers and officials, the ones who were more well equipped to spread rumors.
“You will not speak of this, it is false fascist propaganda!” The commissars departed, carrying the remains of the shredded poster with them. It was far too late though, the commissars could not watch the workers all of the time, and as the workers filtered back to their places and work resumed each man wondered if anyone else had encountered the posters, and whether or not they were real.
_______
“We’re going to have to move again, the Americans are asking Gaddafi to let investigators into Libya, to look for us.” Von Schubert was unhappy as he spoke, not necessarily about the subject matter of the briefing he was delivering, but about the fact that his little board of directors was shrinking. When he had started out there had been twenty of them, now their numbers were down to eleven, the others having fled or, in one case, committed suicide.
“Where do you suggest?” Von Schubert, motioning to the world map that he was standing before, stabbed his finger at a particular nation. “It’s not as crazy as it seems,” he said, raising his voice over a small wave of protests, “just listen.”
“This is absurd,” said one man, looking alarmed by what Von Schubert had just suggested.
“It is unexpected,” Von Schubert said gently, “and our enemies would never see it coming.”
“They didn’t expect Belarus either and that didn’t stop them from swooping down on our compound, massacring our men and declaring us international criminals.” Von Schubert frowned and stared out at his men. They were scared, he could tell, scared, demoralized and unhappy that the war declared against them was being waged by such invincible forces.
“I’m going to explain this plan to you in depth,” he said, “and it hinges upon one fundamental truth. We are going to lose this war.” The last sentence created a stir amongst the assembled directors but Von Schubert kept going.
“We are going to lose this war, but we are going to lose it in such a way that destroys our enemy as well. We are going to lose, but in losing we will tear the entire world down on top of the enemy.” Silence, the men were quiet, staring at Von Schubert, intensely interested in what he had to say.
“Our current plans, the ones which we naively hoped would tear down Europe, they will still happen, but they are nothing more than a distraction, for the real plan. The plan that we are going to move into Saudi Arabia for.”
“What is this plan? Without you telling us your exposition is worthless.”
“It will involve the hardware, and it will be bigger than you could have ever imagined.” As he explained to them in detail Von Schubert watched an almost frightening wave of enthusiasm sweep across his men, they liked this plan, and once it was done then they could take advantage of the aftermath and flee, nobody would be looking for them, Von Schubert hoped, in the wake of something as devastating as he hoped this plan would prove to be.
_______
Over the course of June nearly five thousand American soldiers were deployed to Estonia, Belarus and Lithuania to aid in the containment of wheat blight. This action was generally warmly received by the populations of the affected nations, where anti-Soviet sentiment was still high, especially when the blight tended to be viewed as the result of some failure or another by Russia. The Soviet border was initially viewed as a potential site for tensions between American and Soviet troops but surprisingly the two armies got along as well as they could be expected to and it wasn’t uncommon for Americans to trade cigarettes across the border to the Soviets, who had suffered a severe lack of tobacco products since the Soviet Civil War. The Cold War, their commanders reminded them, was over and the Soviets were no longer enemies, even if they were by no means allies. The conduct of American troops in Eastern Europe was also carefully monitored, nobody in the upper echelons wanted a major gaffe to crop up within easy sight of both the Europeans and the Soviets.
In a similar move the Soviets made sure to deploy only the most well equipped units to their western border, both to hide the general weakness of the New Red Army after the Soviet Civil War, and to impress the Americans, who Kosygin hoped would grow to respect the USSR as a superpower once again.
Scientific data was shared between the US and the USSR as well, the two nations continuing their work on how to effectively kill the blight, which was proving to be resistant to just about everything except fire and extreme cold. Ultimately, it seemed the blight would have to be annihilated with fire and leaders around the globe prayed that nothing similar cropped up within their own nations. Harvests had been disappointing lately, there was no need to make things worse.
Oh god, they're going to nuke the Masjid al-Haram, probably during the Hajj too. This could get fun.
Oil
Remember at this time the majority of oil comes from the Middle East. The US is reaching maximum production, the Soviets are crippled and the North Sea is just coming online. Coupled with the unpopularity of the Saudi's one big disaster at a terminal or refinery could ignite a firestorm.
Remember at this time the majority of oil comes from the Middle East. The US is reaching maximum production, the Soviets are crippled and the North Sea is just coming online. Coupled with the unpopularity of the Saudi's one big disaster at a terminal or refinery could ignite a firestorm.