More like a combination of Ike and Obama. Actually, with Obama Crown Prince in Kenya, Powell might just be TTL's Obama.
New Deal Coalition Retained Pt II: World on Fire
- Thread starter Prince Daemon Targaryen
- Start date
More like a combination of Ike and Obama. Actually, with Obama Crown Prince in Kenya, Powell might just be TTL's Obama.
This means that in the future, great britain and germany will have one king or queen?
No, Charles' heir is Henry, Prince of Wales. It means that Nixon is slowly taking over the world
No, Charles' heir is Henry, Prince of Wales. It means that Nixon is slowly taking over the world
Eh, what's the worst that could happen?
NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!No, Charles' heir is Henry, Prince of Wales. It means that Nixon is slowly taking over the world
I thought about '92 elections. Who do you think that the frontrunners can be?
I think that it going to be like this:
Gop: Kemp, Bush senior, Kirk, Cohn
Dems: Clinton, Carey
Progressives: Brown, Lamm
I think that it going to be like this:
Gop: Kemp, Bush senior, Kirk, Cohn
Dems: Clinton, Carey
Progressives: Brown, Lamm
Well ITTL his political carreer was sunk due to his sex life being exposed in the primaries.
Bookmark1995
Banned
What about Gravel. I mean, he was the vice-president through America's toughest conflict.
Well, he is also minaprogressive, what can hurt his chances to get his party nomination. However, he has good chances be secretary of state in future republican or even progressive administrations.
He's still the leader of congressional democrats...
The Americans
This was written in collaboration with and with the permission of @President Earl Warren
Nobody, not even the teachers and especially not the students, paid the slightest semblance of attention to the school bells as they rung out to signal the end of the school day. Some of the teachers were busy thinking about how their family members and acquaintances were doing, especially those in combat overseas, while others merely wished to drag themselves home for some rest after a long day of dealing with rowdy children and grading homework. The children, far more energetic than the adults even after going through school—or perhaps especially after going through school—eagerly chatted with their classmates about various topics.
Paige stooped down to pick up her backpack before stepping outside the classroom and threading through the crowd of students and teachers to Henry’s classroom, where he was organizing a bookshelf, with a rather stern-looking Ms. Willards behind him. Evidently, Henry had done something to aggravate his teacher, most likely knocking over the bookshelf if the copy of White Fang sitting in a surprisingly undisturbed flower pot is anything to judge.
Henry finished putting back the last book into its proper place on the shelf and began putting his notebooks and pencil case into his backpack, while Ms. Willards went into the back room to put away some wayward glue sticks and scissors.
Paige was just about to ask Henry how he’d managed to knock down the bookshelf when Henry spoke first “have you heard the rumors?”
Paige raised an eyebrow “about what?”
Henry continued, “there’s a rebellion going on inside the Soviet Union. Multiple ones, in fact.”
Paige tilted her head, “I can guess not everybody’s on board with the war, but where did you hear this from? That gossip fountain Sally?”
“Nope, the newspapers.” Henry retorted as he placed his pencil sharpener carefully besides his eraser, “they featured some interview with a refugee who fled from one of the eastern Soviet countries, said that some of the Red brigades are fighting each other over poor treatment.”
“Huh”, Paige mused, “I guess that brick wall of socialist solidarity has some really big cracks in it, then. Can’t say I’m surprised though, the Soviets never seemed to care particularly about the welfare of their allies too much.”
“You know, I never realized how many different kinds of people were actually in the Soviet Union until I read that article. Estonians, Ukrainians, Chechens, Tatars,” Henry paused to flip through his English folder, “really makes you think though, why did they rebel? Why not all the different groups that got discriminated against here? Like the Japanese during World War II, or the Blacks during Jim Crow and Segregation?”
Paige raised a finger to her lips, head tilted upwards in thought, before replying, “Well, the Blacks DID rise up, in a way, back in Birmingham in ’66, and again in ’70 after Martin Luther King Jr. nearly got killed. But if I had to guess why the majority of them didn’t start shooting and burning, I’d say it’s because we let them express themselves.”
Henry scoffed, “You think they were contented just because we let them walk around with a bunch of signs and make speeches? That doesn’t sound like much to me. I know I wouldn’t be satisfied if I were them.”
Paige placed her hands on her hips. “The government did end up listening to them, didn’t they? They passed the Civil Rights Act in 1963, didn’t they?”
Now it was Henry who tilted his head, “From what I heard, it only passed by one vote, and before that a lot of them got beaten or even killed by the police.”
“True,” conceded Paige, “but I do believe that we’ve progressed beyond that, just as we’ve progressed from back when we had all the Japanese rounded up and sent away when World War II started.” She paused, “Perhaps it was because we listened and changed that kept all of us together, and it’s because the Soviets didn’t that now their people have finally had enough.”
Henry finished packing and left the classroom with Paige, walking towards the school gate. “So how much homework do you have today?”
Paige threw a quick glance at her backpack, “Hmm, well, I have a worksheet about fractions and decimals, but that shouldn’t take too long. And I also have a social studies essay from Ms. Jeffries. She wants us to write our opinion on the topic,” Paige cleared her throat before imitating Ms. Jeffries’s voice, “‘Are potentially extremist speakers like George Rockwell and Fred Phelps good for the country, even if they only state beliefs that a lot of people agree with?’”
Henry turned to her, “well, what do you think?”
Paige was silent for a moment before responding, “To be honest, I really don’t know. I’m going to have to think about—” She was interrupted by Henry.
“Ah-ha! So, you’re a communist! HEY EVERY—” The rest of his words were cut short by a swift pinch to his ear.
“Stop that. I’m not a communist and you know it,” Paige replied, having been rather offended by Henry’s teasing.
“Are too,” Henry cheekily replied.
“If I’m a communist, then you’re a Nazi. After all, you listen to that loudmouth Rockwell on the radio every time he pops up,” retaliated.
Now it was Henry’s turn to be offended. “He published a book refuting Nazism and testified against a lot of other Nazis!”
Paige leaned down to slightly tower over Henry, “Haven’t you heard the saying, once a wolf, always a wolf?”
It seemed that they were about to have either a verbal or physical struggle, until Paige noticed that Henry’s face was bright red and suddenly felt her own cheeks clenched up. “Henry?”
“What?”
“Can we just stop talking about this?”
Henry quite visibly deflated, “…yeah, ok.”
“Thanks.”
An uncomfortable silence descended on the two children, both turning their heads slightly away from one another, until Henry perked up at something he just remembered, “Remember the Beeman’s?”
Paige turned back towards Henry, “What about them? I know their son died in Europe. We both saw that military officer come and give them the news, not to mention the screams.”
Henry slightly turned away from Paige, “I think the grandparents got arrested.”
Paige’s eyebrows furrowed, “What? What for? Didn’t their son die in the army? And how do you know this, anyways?”
Henry didn’t turn to meet Paige’s stare, “I overheard mom and dad talking. The FBI thinks the grandparents used their age to hide their spying from the younger folks, playing it off as them getting senile.”
Paige’s tone turned incredulous, “Spies? But, but,” stammered Paige, before calming down “Their grandson died for them, for the country. And they did all that behind his back, against everything he believed in?”
Henry shrugged, “Who knows? They’re all traitors, for all I know. And that’s good enough of a reason to arrest them for me.”
Paige spoke, more to herself than to Henry, “Still, it’s hard to believe that people from the same family can be so different.”
“Remember what Rockwell said,” Henry answered in a sagely voice, before imitating Rockwell, “’The wolves dressed up as sheep clothing even fooled me. That is why we must look out for more of these traitors…’”
“I think they’re innocent,” Paige abruptly declared.
Henry stopped his imitation of Rockwell, “You do? Innocent?”
“Yeah,” Paige replied, “I’m been to their house before, and I’ve met the grandparents. They both were in the military during the Second World War. The grandmother was a WAAC and the grandfather got a purple heart in France. I don’t think they’d do such things if they were spies. Besides, I passed by them walking home from school a few days after that military officer came to their house. The grandmother quite literally fainted when she heard someone mention their grandson’s name, and the grandfather had to carry her into their house.”
“It could’ve been an act,” Henry suggested.
Paige shook her head, “I don’t think so. I think they’re victims of all the paranoia about spies and such due to this war. Maybe one of their neighbors reported them—I’d guess the Halley’s. You know they’re still furious about that time when the Beeman’s called the police on them for partying late at night and got their daughter arrested for dealing drugs.”
“You sure are trusting of possible Soviet spies,” replied Henry.
“Or maybe I just don’t buy into all the scare-talk about every neighbor potentially being a spy,” Paige retorted.
“Oh?”
Paige didn’t respond, still dismayed about the arrest of the Beeman’s grandparents, before turning her thoughts to her parents, “Hey, Henry. Do you think our parents have been acting…weird?”
Now Henry turned to look at Paige, “I don’t know, what is weird?”
Paige recalled how her parents seemed to speak in sharper tones and possess shorter tempers recently, “Didn’t mom yell at you for not doing your homework when she got home last Tuesday?”
Henry didn’t think much of it, “Yeah, so? She always does that when I don’t.”
Paige pressed him, “Usually she doesn’t start yelling until after a few times. Not to mention she even started slamming the doors a lot, and she wasn’t even mad then. The last time I saw her that mad was when you got into a fight with Roy, and she only slammed the door that day, never for a week like now.”
Henry stopped, “Maybe dad’s been having a bad time at work and some of that rubbed off onto mom?” It was more of a suggestion than an answer, as Henry was still confused about the whole thing. “I mean, he is part of the Red Hunting Committee now, so I guess he has to be more uptight about things now.”
Any further conversation they had was stopped when a dark green car entered the roundabout and slowed to a crawl next to Paige and Henry.
“Isn’t that Mrs. Jenson?” Henry asked.
“Yeah, what she’s doing here? It’s not like she lives in our neighborhood, after all.” Paige wondered.
The tinted window rolled down, revealing the red-headed Mrs. Jenson, wearing a thick but loose-fitting jacket. “Paige, Henry?” She called out to the two children, “Your parents called me this morning: they’re running late and you both have a doctor’s appointment after school. I’m supposed to take you both to the clinic.”
Henry groaned, even as he opened the car’s door and tossed his backpack in “Aw, come on! Not another one!”
Paige agreed, “But we just had one last month! And I don’t want to get my throat poked again!”
Despite her protests, Mrs. Jenson maintained a calming smile. “I know, I know, I honestly don’t know why your parents keep doing that. But it won’t take too long.” She stopped to check all the car’s locks, “But it won’t take long, and I promise to take you both out for ice cream if you both behave.” Even for Paige, the promise of ice cream, a luxury in wartime, was enough to keep her quiet.
Just before Mrs. Jenson got back into her car, however, a shrill whistle broke through the noise of the cars and other people. “You there in the green car!” The teacher supervising the roundabout waved as she walked briskly over, casually noting the description of the car and woman before peering inside. “I haven’t seen you here before. Who are you and where are you taking Paige and Henry?”
“It’s alright, Mrs. Edwards,” Paige interjected as she rolled down the window, “it’s just Mrs. Jenson. She’s a friend of our parents and taking us to a doctor’s appointment. Mom and dad were never really good at planning these types of things, and they’re running late today.” Seeing Mrs. Edwards still skeptical, she added, “we’ll be fine. I promise.”
“Hmm, alright, if you say so, Paige,” concluded Mrs. Edwards as she waved the green car along. Soon it mingled in along with all the other cars of various parents both coming to pick up their children and those heading home or for wherever they go after school, completely indistinguishable.
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“Gaad seems to have woken up on the wrong side of the bed this morning,” Philip remarked as he and Elizabeth drove to Paige and Henry’s school.
“No doubt about that,” snorted Elizabeth, “He stopped the briefing just to yell at some guy in the background. That man has a terrifying temper, I’ll give him that, even if I’ll never enjoy working for the FBI”
The earpiece cracked, “I advise you two not to try me, especially not today.”
“Still, he’s not half as irritating as Mr. Douglas,” mused Philip (who was deliberately ignoring the earpiece), as he thought of the head of the local Red Hunting Committee, “At least Gaad gets to the point on everything. Douglas likes to write a novel where he could’ve just used a sentence!”
“Do keep your mouths shut” cracked the earpiece again.
Elizabeth turned to Philip, slightly amused, “Surely he isn’t that bad, at least not as bad as some of our more…determined comrades?” Even though her tone betrayed nothing, a slight smirk crept up her lips.
“His speeches are twice as bad as Rockwell!” Philip scowled, getting a bit too fired up about his experience inside the committee, “And the whole committee is like a bunch of teenagers! Heck, two weeks ago they had to cancel a meeting because Douglas popped a tire while going to donate to a church! At one in the morning!” The earpiece remained silent this time, although Philip thought he heard a sigh on the other end.
A sharp jolt of the car snapped them out of their conversation as they ran over one of the speed bumps that laid hardly a quarter of a mile away from the school.
“Do you think Henry got in trouble again, Philip?” Elizabeth asked as she closed the door behind her and stepped onto the curb.
“If it were just Henry, I certainly wouldn’t be too worried. What I want to know is why Paige hasn’t come home either. She hasn’t gotten into trouble for over a year,” Philip replied.
“Well, where are we supposed to look?” Elizabeth scanned the school, “not many people are here at 5 pm, and I don’t know if they’ve even seen Paige or Henry.”
Her eye fell on Mrs. Edwards, who was leaning back on a bench casually glancing left and right of the roundabout. Mrs. Edwards had often been the one to catch Henry misbehaving on the playground; if anyone on campus had seen Henry or Paige, she’d be the one.
“Mrs. Edwards!” Elizabeth called as she somewhat jogged over to the bench, Philip following behind her. Mrs. Edwards stood up straight upon seeing the Jennings.
“Ah, good evening Mrs. Jennings. How can I help y—?” She was cut short by Elizabeth.
“Have you seen Henry or Paige this afternoon?” asked Elizabeth, “They haven’t returned home yet.”
“Oh yes, some red-head by the name of Mrs. Jenson took them to a doctor’s appointment, since you were both running late today,” casually replied Mrs. Edwards.
Elizabeth and Philip exchanged glances before responding, “But we never scheduled a doctor’s appointment this morning, nor did we tell Mrs. Jenson to pick them up!”
Mrs. Edward’s eyes briefly widened before narrowing, “Your kids told me that everything was fine. If it’s a kidnapping, I advise you to take this to the police. At this point, the school can do nothing.”
Silence ensued before a digital version of Eye of the Tiger emanating from Philip’s cell phone broke the stalemate. Philip and Elizabeth excused themselves before returning to their car to answer the call.
“Hello?”
“Elizabeth and Philip Jennings,” a stern feminine voice replied. Both the Jennings knew that voice, “Misha?”
“Indeed.” The voice gave no indication of any sort of personal recognition.
“Might I point out that we were commanded not to contact any of our comrades unless otherwise ordered?” spoke Elizabeth into the phone.
“I believe you will find the reason for this call to be more than adequate,” Misha replied, and the Jennings heard what sounded like muffled shouting before—
“Mom! Dad! Hel—” The distinctive sound of struggling to speak through a gag was only less shocking than the voice.
“Paige?!” Elizabeth may be a highly intelligent Soviet spy, but even she couldn’t prevent the shock from seeping into her words.
“We also have Henry as well, both of whom I snatched from their school earlier today.”
Philip reached to start the ignition. “Don’t bother looking at my house. I assure you that they have been taken somewhere where you will never find them.”
“But why, Misha?” gritted Philip through his teeth, “Have we not been forever loyal to the cause of the worker’s revolution? Have we not done all we’ve could, unwavering in our devotion to the socialist cause?”
Elizabeth grabbed the phone from Philip, “Why not ask Granny or Zhukov? They can attest to our—"
“Granny and Zhukov are dead,” replied Misha, the chill in her voice audible even through the static of the phone, “they were deemed as insufficiently devoted to the success of the revolution, and thus eliminated.” Philip and Elizabeth could only sit silently.
Misha continued, apathetic to their shock, “Consider this a precaution to ensure your loyalty to the socialist revolution. Maintain your diligence as you have before and they will not be harmed…” The voice on the phone paused, “…much. In addition, should we suspect that you are even attempting to find them, either yourselves or through the police, they will die.”
Before Philip or Elizabeth could respond, an incessant buzzing replaced Misha’s voice.
Elizabeth only sat there stunned, but Philip was more energetic in his response.
“Please, Gaad! You heard what she said, I know you did! You have to save them!”
“I beg your pardon, but exactly why should the FBI devote resources to finding your two children?”
Anger replaced panic in Philip’s mind, “What?”
The earpiece cracked, “As you are aware, the FBI is currently involved in tracking down any spies that compromise the national security of this nation. Spies like Duluth and you two.” Before Philip could retort, Gaad continued, “To put it simply, we have better things to do than to investigate comparatively minor crimes like kidnapping. That is something for the local police, and I advise that you treat it as such, especially since we’re not in the business of helping Soviet spies.”
“Then we will immediately end this deal,” Elizabeth replied as she grabbed the phone from Philip, who offered little resistance, “Do not forget that we are only doing this for our children. Should anything happen to them, there is no reason for us to continue acting as your puppets, and you will lose your precious insider information on all of the spies in the area.” Her tone sounded the same as the day when they had originally been coerced into becoming double agents, but now they were backed by the resolve that only a mother could raise when her children are in danger.
The earpiece remained silent for several seconds. “…A convincing argument, I will admit, but I do wonder if we could simply find another spy…”
Abruptly, a new voice popped up, “please, Director Gaad, sir, is it not the job of the FBI to help those in danger? We’ve got to find those kids.”
“I hope you’re not neglecting your duties operating this wire to argue with me, Agent Louis. As I’ve said already, we’re not in the business of helping Soviet spies.”
“Then for the children! They don’t have anything to do with their spying, and they’re not even adults, for crying out loud! Or have you forgotten the motto of the FBI?”
“You’ve got a lot of nerve to say something like that to your superior, agent.” Somehow, Philip and Elizabeth could sense more anger coming out of that statement than anything Gaad had shouted before.
“So where is the bravery or integrity in leaving two American children to die? Or have you only remembered fidelity?”
A sharp silence filled the air, before Gaad finally spoke.
“…Do remember your salary review is coming up within three weeks, Agent Louis.” Strong words, but there was an unmistakable tone of defeat behind them.
“Of course, sir.”
The voice in the earpiece spoke louder now, but softer too, “Very well. I will arrange for a team to begin a search, as well as issuing a classified notification to all police departments within the region.”
Philip and Elizabeth only looked down in relief before the voice’s sharp edge returned, “In the meantime, continue fulfilling your end of our deal. That is all.” A sharp static sound filled the earpiece for a split second, followed by silence.
Nobody, not even the teachers and especially not the students, paid the slightest semblance of attention to the school bells as they rung out to signal the end of the school day. Some of the teachers were busy thinking about how their family members and acquaintances were doing, especially those in combat overseas, while others merely wished to drag themselves home for some rest after a long day of dealing with rowdy children and grading homework. The children, far more energetic than the adults even after going through school—or perhaps especially after going through school—eagerly chatted with their classmates about various topics.
Paige stooped down to pick up her backpack before stepping outside the classroom and threading through the crowd of students and teachers to Henry’s classroom, where he was organizing a bookshelf, with a rather stern-looking Ms. Willards behind him. Evidently, Henry had done something to aggravate his teacher, most likely knocking over the bookshelf if the copy of White Fang sitting in a surprisingly undisturbed flower pot is anything to judge.
Henry finished putting back the last book into its proper place on the shelf and began putting his notebooks and pencil case into his backpack, while Ms. Willards went into the back room to put away some wayward glue sticks and scissors.
Paige was just about to ask Henry how he’d managed to knock down the bookshelf when Henry spoke first “have you heard the rumors?”
Paige raised an eyebrow “about what?”
Henry continued, “there’s a rebellion going on inside the Soviet Union. Multiple ones, in fact.”
Paige tilted her head, “I can guess not everybody’s on board with the war, but where did you hear this from? That gossip fountain Sally?”
“Nope, the newspapers.” Henry retorted as he placed his pencil sharpener carefully besides his eraser, “they featured some interview with a refugee who fled from one of the eastern Soviet countries, said that some of the Red brigades are fighting each other over poor treatment.”
“Huh”, Paige mused, “I guess that brick wall of socialist solidarity has some really big cracks in it, then. Can’t say I’m surprised though, the Soviets never seemed to care particularly about the welfare of their allies too much.”
“You know, I never realized how many different kinds of people were actually in the Soviet Union until I read that article. Estonians, Ukrainians, Chechens, Tatars,” Henry paused to flip through his English folder, “really makes you think though, why did they rebel? Why not all the different groups that got discriminated against here? Like the Japanese during World War II, or the Blacks during Jim Crow and Segregation?”
Paige raised a finger to her lips, head tilted upwards in thought, before replying, “Well, the Blacks DID rise up, in a way, back in Birmingham in ’66, and again in ’70 after Martin Luther King Jr. nearly got killed. But if I had to guess why the majority of them didn’t start shooting and burning, I’d say it’s because we let them express themselves.”
Henry scoffed, “You think they were contented just because we let them walk around with a bunch of signs and make speeches? That doesn’t sound like much to me. I know I wouldn’t be satisfied if I were them.”
Paige placed her hands on her hips. “The government did end up listening to them, didn’t they? They passed the Civil Rights Act in 1963, didn’t they?”
Now it was Henry who tilted his head, “From what I heard, it only passed by one vote, and before that a lot of them got beaten or even killed by the police.”
“True,” conceded Paige, “but I do believe that we’ve progressed beyond that, just as we’ve progressed from back when we had all the Japanese rounded up and sent away when World War II started.” She paused, “Perhaps it was because we listened and changed that kept all of us together, and it’s because the Soviets didn’t that now their people have finally had enough.”
Henry finished packing and left the classroom with Paige, walking towards the school gate. “So how much homework do you have today?”
Paige threw a quick glance at her backpack, “Hmm, well, I have a worksheet about fractions and decimals, but that shouldn’t take too long. And I also have a social studies essay from Ms. Jeffries. She wants us to write our opinion on the topic,” Paige cleared her throat before imitating Ms. Jeffries’s voice, “‘Are potentially extremist speakers like George Rockwell and Fred Phelps good for the country, even if they only state beliefs that a lot of people agree with?’”
Henry turned to her, “well, what do you think?”
Paige was silent for a moment before responding, “To be honest, I really don’t know. I’m going to have to think about—” She was interrupted by Henry.
“Ah-ha! So, you’re a communist! HEY EVERY—” The rest of his words were cut short by a swift pinch to his ear.
“Stop that. I’m not a communist and you know it,” Paige replied, having been rather offended by Henry’s teasing.
“Are too,” Henry cheekily replied.
“If I’m a communist, then you’re a Nazi. After all, you listen to that loudmouth Rockwell on the radio every time he pops up,” retaliated.
Now it was Henry’s turn to be offended. “He published a book refuting Nazism and testified against a lot of other Nazis!”
Paige leaned down to slightly tower over Henry, “Haven’t you heard the saying, once a wolf, always a wolf?”
It seemed that they were about to have either a verbal or physical struggle, until Paige noticed that Henry’s face was bright red and suddenly felt her own cheeks clenched up. “Henry?”
“What?”
“Can we just stop talking about this?”
Henry quite visibly deflated, “…yeah, ok.”
“Thanks.”
An uncomfortable silence descended on the two children, both turning their heads slightly away from one another, until Henry perked up at something he just remembered, “Remember the Beeman’s?”
Paige turned back towards Henry, “What about them? I know their son died in Europe. We both saw that military officer come and give them the news, not to mention the screams.”
Henry slightly turned away from Paige, “I think the grandparents got arrested.”
Paige’s eyebrows furrowed, “What? What for? Didn’t their son die in the army? And how do you know this, anyways?”
Henry didn’t turn to meet Paige’s stare, “I overheard mom and dad talking. The FBI thinks the grandparents used their age to hide their spying from the younger folks, playing it off as them getting senile.”
Paige’s tone turned incredulous, “Spies? But, but,” stammered Paige, before calming down “Their grandson died for them, for the country. And they did all that behind his back, against everything he believed in?”
Henry shrugged, “Who knows? They’re all traitors, for all I know. And that’s good enough of a reason to arrest them for me.”
Paige spoke, more to herself than to Henry, “Still, it’s hard to believe that people from the same family can be so different.”
“Remember what Rockwell said,” Henry answered in a sagely voice, before imitating Rockwell, “’The wolves dressed up as sheep clothing even fooled me. That is why we must look out for more of these traitors…’”
“I think they’re innocent,” Paige abruptly declared.
Henry stopped his imitation of Rockwell, “You do? Innocent?”
“Yeah,” Paige replied, “I’m been to their house before, and I’ve met the grandparents. They both were in the military during the Second World War. The grandmother was a WAAC and the grandfather got a purple heart in France. I don’t think they’d do such things if they were spies. Besides, I passed by them walking home from school a few days after that military officer came to their house. The grandmother quite literally fainted when she heard someone mention their grandson’s name, and the grandfather had to carry her into their house.”
“It could’ve been an act,” Henry suggested.
Paige shook her head, “I don’t think so. I think they’re victims of all the paranoia about spies and such due to this war. Maybe one of their neighbors reported them—I’d guess the Halley’s. You know they’re still furious about that time when the Beeman’s called the police on them for partying late at night and got their daughter arrested for dealing drugs.”
“You sure are trusting of possible Soviet spies,” replied Henry.
“Or maybe I just don’t buy into all the scare-talk about every neighbor potentially being a spy,” Paige retorted.
“Oh?”
Paige didn’t respond, still dismayed about the arrest of the Beeman’s grandparents, before turning her thoughts to her parents, “Hey, Henry. Do you think our parents have been acting…weird?”
Now Henry turned to look at Paige, “I don’t know, what is weird?”
Paige recalled how her parents seemed to speak in sharper tones and possess shorter tempers recently, “Didn’t mom yell at you for not doing your homework when she got home last Tuesday?”
Henry didn’t think much of it, “Yeah, so? She always does that when I don’t.”
Paige pressed him, “Usually she doesn’t start yelling until after a few times. Not to mention she even started slamming the doors a lot, and she wasn’t even mad then. The last time I saw her that mad was when you got into a fight with Roy, and she only slammed the door that day, never for a week like now.”
Henry stopped, “Maybe dad’s been having a bad time at work and some of that rubbed off onto mom?” It was more of a suggestion than an answer, as Henry was still confused about the whole thing. “I mean, he is part of the Red Hunting Committee now, so I guess he has to be more uptight about things now.”
Any further conversation they had was stopped when a dark green car entered the roundabout and slowed to a crawl next to Paige and Henry.
“Isn’t that Mrs. Jenson?” Henry asked.
“Yeah, what she’s doing here? It’s not like she lives in our neighborhood, after all.” Paige wondered.
The tinted window rolled down, revealing the red-headed Mrs. Jenson, wearing a thick but loose-fitting jacket. “Paige, Henry?” She called out to the two children, “Your parents called me this morning: they’re running late and you both have a doctor’s appointment after school. I’m supposed to take you both to the clinic.”
Henry groaned, even as he opened the car’s door and tossed his backpack in “Aw, come on! Not another one!”
Paige agreed, “But we just had one last month! And I don’t want to get my throat poked again!”
Despite her protests, Mrs. Jenson maintained a calming smile. “I know, I know, I honestly don’t know why your parents keep doing that. But it won’t take too long.” She stopped to check all the car’s locks, “But it won’t take long, and I promise to take you both out for ice cream if you both behave.” Even for Paige, the promise of ice cream, a luxury in wartime, was enough to keep her quiet.
Just before Mrs. Jenson got back into her car, however, a shrill whistle broke through the noise of the cars and other people. “You there in the green car!” The teacher supervising the roundabout waved as she walked briskly over, casually noting the description of the car and woman before peering inside. “I haven’t seen you here before. Who are you and where are you taking Paige and Henry?”
“It’s alright, Mrs. Edwards,” Paige interjected as she rolled down the window, “it’s just Mrs. Jenson. She’s a friend of our parents and taking us to a doctor’s appointment. Mom and dad were never really good at planning these types of things, and they’re running late today.” Seeing Mrs. Edwards still skeptical, she added, “we’ll be fine. I promise.”
“Hmm, alright, if you say so, Paige,” concluded Mrs. Edwards as she waved the green car along. Soon it mingled in along with all the other cars of various parents both coming to pick up their children and those heading home or for wherever they go after school, completely indistinguishable.
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“Gaad seems to have woken up on the wrong side of the bed this morning,” Philip remarked as he and Elizabeth drove to Paige and Henry’s school.
“No doubt about that,” snorted Elizabeth, “He stopped the briefing just to yell at some guy in the background. That man has a terrifying temper, I’ll give him that, even if I’ll never enjoy working for the FBI”
The earpiece cracked, “I advise you two not to try me, especially not today.”
“Still, he’s not half as irritating as Mr. Douglas,” mused Philip (who was deliberately ignoring the earpiece), as he thought of the head of the local Red Hunting Committee, “At least Gaad gets to the point on everything. Douglas likes to write a novel where he could’ve just used a sentence!”
“Do keep your mouths shut” cracked the earpiece again.
Elizabeth turned to Philip, slightly amused, “Surely he isn’t that bad, at least not as bad as some of our more…determined comrades?” Even though her tone betrayed nothing, a slight smirk crept up her lips.
“His speeches are twice as bad as Rockwell!” Philip scowled, getting a bit too fired up about his experience inside the committee, “And the whole committee is like a bunch of teenagers! Heck, two weeks ago they had to cancel a meeting because Douglas popped a tire while going to donate to a church! At one in the morning!” The earpiece remained silent this time, although Philip thought he heard a sigh on the other end.
A sharp jolt of the car snapped them out of their conversation as they ran over one of the speed bumps that laid hardly a quarter of a mile away from the school.
“Do you think Henry got in trouble again, Philip?” Elizabeth asked as she closed the door behind her and stepped onto the curb.
“If it were just Henry, I certainly wouldn’t be too worried. What I want to know is why Paige hasn’t come home either. She hasn’t gotten into trouble for over a year,” Philip replied.
“Well, where are we supposed to look?” Elizabeth scanned the school, “not many people are here at 5 pm, and I don’t know if they’ve even seen Paige or Henry.”
Her eye fell on Mrs. Edwards, who was leaning back on a bench casually glancing left and right of the roundabout. Mrs. Edwards had often been the one to catch Henry misbehaving on the playground; if anyone on campus had seen Henry or Paige, she’d be the one.
“Mrs. Edwards!” Elizabeth called as she somewhat jogged over to the bench, Philip following behind her. Mrs. Edwards stood up straight upon seeing the Jennings.
“Ah, good evening Mrs. Jennings. How can I help y—?” She was cut short by Elizabeth.
“Have you seen Henry or Paige this afternoon?” asked Elizabeth, “They haven’t returned home yet.”
“Oh yes, some red-head by the name of Mrs. Jenson took them to a doctor’s appointment, since you were both running late today,” casually replied Mrs. Edwards.
Elizabeth and Philip exchanged glances before responding, “But we never scheduled a doctor’s appointment this morning, nor did we tell Mrs. Jenson to pick them up!”
Mrs. Edward’s eyes briefly widened before narrowing, “Your kids told me that everything was fine. If it’s a kidnapping, I advise you to take this to the police. At this point, the school can do nothing.”
Silence ensued before a digital version of Eye of the Tiger emanating from Philip’s cell phone broke the stalemate. Philip and Elizabeth excused themselves before returning to their car to answer the call.
“Hello?”
“Elizabeth and Philip Jennings,” a stern feminine voice replied. Both the Jennings knew that voice, “Misha?”
“Indeed.” The voice gave no indication of any sort of personal recognition.
“Might I point out that we were commanded not to contact any of our comrades unless otherwise ordered?” spoke Elizabeth into the phone.
“I believe you will find the reason for this call to be more than adequate,” Misha replied, and the Jennings heard what sounded like muffled shouting before—
“Mom! Dad! Hel—” The distinctive sound of struggling to speak through a gag was only less shocking than the voice.
“Paige?!” Elizabeth may be a highly intelligent Soviet spy, but even she couldn’t prevent the shock from seeping into her words.
“We also have Henry as well, both of whom I snatched from their school earlier today.”
Philip reached to start the ignition. “Don’t bother looking at my house. I assure you that they have been taken somewhere where you will never find them.”
“But why, Misha?” gritted Philip through his teeth, “Have we not been forever loyal to the cause of the worker’s revolution? Have we not done all we’ve could, unwavering in our devotion to the socialist cause?”
Elizabeth grabbed the phone from Philip, “Why not ask Granny or Zhukov? They can attest to our—"
“Granny and Zhukov are dead,” replied Misha, the chill in her voice audible even through the static of the phone, “they were deemed as insufficiently devoted to the success of the revolution, and thus eliminated.” Philip and Elizabeth could only sit silently.
Misha continued, apathetic to their shock, “Consider this a precaution to ensure your loyalty to the socialist revolution. Maintain your diligence as you have before and they will not be harmed…” The voice on the phone paused, “…much. In addition, should we suspect that you are even attempting to find them, either yourselves or through the police, they will die.”
Before Philip or Elizabeth could respond, an incessant buzzing replaced Misha’s voice.
Elizabeth only sat there stunned, but Philip was more energetic in his response.
“Please, Gaad! You heard what she said, I know you did! You have to save them!”
“I beg your pardon, but exactly why should the FBI devote resources to finding your two children?”
Anger replaced panic in Philip’s mind, “What?”
The earpiece cracked, “As you are aware, the FBI is currently involved in tracking down any spies that compromise the national security of this nation. Spies like Duluth and you two.” Before Philip could retort, Gaad continued, “To put it simply, we have better things to do than to investigate comparatively minor crimes like kidnapping. That is something for the local police, and I advise that you treat it as such, especially since we’re not in the business of helping Soviet spies.”
“Then we will immediately end this deal,” Elizabeth replied as she grabbed the phone from Philip, who offered little resistance, “Do not forget that we are only doing this for our children. Should anything happen to them, there is no reason for us to continue acting as your puppets, and you will lose your precious insider information on all of the spies in the area.” Her tone sounded the same as the day when they had originally been coerced into becoming double agents, but now they were backed by the resolve that only a mother could raise when her children are in danger.
The earpiece remained silent for several seconds. “…A convincing argument, I will admit, but I do wonder if we could simply find another spy…”
Abruptly, a new voice popped up, “please, Director Gaad, sir, is it not the job of the FBI to help those in danger? We’ve got to find those kids.”
“I hope you’re not neglecting your duties operating this wire to argue with me, Agent Louis. As I’ve said already, we’re not in the business of helping Soviet spies.”
“Then for the children! They don’t have anything to do with their spying, and they’re not even adults, for crying out loud! Or have you forgotten the motto of the FBI?”
“You’ve got a lot of nerve to say something like that to your superior, agent.” Somehow, Philip and Elizabeth could sense more anger coming out of that statement than anything Gaad had shouted before.
“So where is the bravery or integrity in leaving two American children to die? Or have you only remembered fidelity?”
A sharp silence filled the air, before Gaad finally spoke.
“…Do remember your salary review is coming up within three weeks, Agent Louis.” Strong words, but there was an unmistakable tone of defeat behind them.
“Of course, sir.”
The voice in the earpiece spoke louder now, but softer too, “Very well. I will arrange for a team to begin a search, as well as issuing a classified notification to all police departments within the region.”
Philip and Elizabeth only looked down in relief before the voice’s sharp edge returned, “In the meantime, continue fulfilling your end of our deal. That is all.” A sharp static sound filled the earpiece for a split second, followed by silence.
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FieldMarshal
Banned
It's wonderful, @All Hail Enterprise, but cell phones in 1990? Unless that's part of the advanced tech we've seen ITTL.
Aside from that nitpick, a wonderful update.
Aside from that nitpick, a wonderful update.
FieldMarshal
Banned
Well, yes, but they were bricks. Not the easily portable device with a customizable ringtone as described in the text.
However, as I said before technology is years ahead of it's OTL equivalent, so it wouldn't surprise me if cell phones pop up just a few years earlier than they did.
Sledgehammer: Balkans
Sledgehammer: The Balkans
On March 1, 1991, the guns that had stood in a tense silence since Fenrir petered out five months before erupted in a sheet of flame. From Gdansk to Krakow to Bratislava to Zagreb the frontline descended into the chaos and immense death that characterized modern war. Operation Sledgehammer, the offensive that the Allies believed would end the war, had begun in four main theaters: Balkan, Caucasus, Northern, and Central.
Clandestine communication between the Allies and Slobodan Milosevic’s government in Belgrade had been ongoing since it took over. The decision to support a “Greater Serbia” was agreed to at the Riyadh Conference – the Slovene and Croatian provisional governments led by Freyist opposition figures Jože Pučnik and Franjo Tuđman respectively were initially up in arms, the Croatians especially because of the significant loss of territory involved, but were eventually battered into submission by western diplomats to accede because they would be free anyway and the Serbian subjects would be other ethnicities – and significant coordination was made. Milosevic and his Serbian-dominated government secured the command structure of key divisions in the frontline and internally. While the 1st Balkan Front under Soviet Marshal Konstantin Kobets had deployed most of the Yugoslav forces to Milosevic’s direct command (though with heavy KGB supervision) to hold Yugoslavia, there were 30,000 troops directly at the frontline under General Ratko Mladić at Karlovac.
In Yugoslavia itself, at 8:00 AM Milosevic addressed the nation and announced that Serbia was unilaterally declaring independence. All over the nation key junctures fell to units that declared for the new Serbian nation. Sarajevo came under control of minor party official Radovan Karadžić who immediately drew massive Soviet, Albanian (but not for long as Albania pulled out of the war in mid-March after a coup against its hardline government), and loyalist forces to assault the city. Key air installations were deliberately targeted, essentially shutting down all anti-air defenses for all of Bosnia and the Dalmatian coast. This was deliberate on Milosevic’s part, for it precipitated the multi-day drop of 52,500 the Allied Air Cavalry Corps at Sremska Mitrovica, the largest primarily heliborne assault since Ia Drang.
The Second Battle of Zagreb was a massive defeat for the USSR, Fraticelli having turned their flank and causing a rout. Given the Allied assault into Hungary to the north, the only way out for the 1st Balkan Front to continue the fight from secure territory was the E-70 highway through to besieged Belgrade. It was a direct line and Kobets knew that the mobile SAMs and what fighters he still possessed after the first week’s battles would protect the withdrawal. There was, however, one catch. Directly straddling the highway was the Allied Air Cavalry Corps at Sremska Mitrovica. The only way out was to smash through their well-prepared defenses before the bulk of the Anglo-Italian armored columns could rip apart their rearguard. A task that he assigned to General Boris Snetkov, the victor of Milan who commanded the 2nd Motor-Rifle Army and Romanian II Corps to attack the Allies on the 9th.
Commanding the AACC was Lt. General Bruce Crandall, a veteran of the Battle of Ia Drang (in which he won the Medal of Honor). Under his authority were units of American, British, and Italian origin that were considered the elite. Since they were landed they had been fortifying the city and surrounding countryside with everything they could – the local populace heeded Milosevic’s call and helped them as allies of the Serbian people. It was on the 10th when the initial Warsaw Pact forces arrived, elements of the Romanian II Corps. They immediately threw themselves into the fray. They managed to surround the British Parachute Regiment under the infamous Colonel John Roland in the village of Martinci but were savaged by the rest of the AACC when they tried to enter the town proper. On the following two days the entire force arrived and moved to swarm over and annihilate the defenses.
It wasn’t just through Bosnia that the Allies hit. Having dispatched Syria and gotten immense reinforcement in the Caucasus, Turkey had transferred hundreds of thousands of troops to its European front. After a short artillery bombardment, they began the drive into Bulgaria, aiming straight for Sofia. In occupied Greece, Royal Navy and Italian Navy ships began massive supporting fire as tens of thousands of Free Greek, South African, Rhodesian, and Moroccan forces landed in Attica, Ionia, and the Peloponnesus. Commanded overall by South African Field Marshal Magnus Malan, the conclusion of the war in Africa allowed them to move their forces to the Egyptian coast to fight in Europe, a move Pretoria made without hesitation. Athens was liberated on the 6th to cheering crowds. What few occupation troops (mostly Bulgarian or communist Greek) were left rapidly collapsed and by the end of the month most of the nation was back under the Government of Nikolaos Makarezos.
Bulgarian/Romanian forces, at this point acting out of desperation and sheer Communist zeal (for a few), set up a defense line through the northern mountains. Malan, hoping to bypass this and enjoying full naval supremacy, decided on an amphibious invasion commanded by the black African hero commander Themba Matanzima to take the key city of Thessaloniki. Code-named Renoster, the landing proceeded on the first of April and largely wasn’t opposed on the beach due to pure surprise.
Following the major victories at Second Zagreb, Sremska Mitrovica, Edirne, Attica, and Skopje, the Balkans front was largely cleanup. The main force was the 1st Balkans Front, the 2nd and 3rd mainly rearguard and weakened Warsaw Pact ally forces. With Albania already capitulated, in April the dominoes began to fall. Yugoslavia capitulated first, loyalist forces surrendering to the Allies in Montenegro on the condition that they not be turned over to Milosevic’s Serbian government (which would treat them far worse than the Allies would). Bulgaria went next after Turkish armored divisions reached Sofia. South African forces found the near nonagenarian Greek Communist leader Nikos Zachariadis and he was executed after two days at President Makarezos’ orders. Romania, under threat and being bombarded on all sides, General Vasile Milea – who had escaped from being surrounded – disobeyed his orders to prepare Romania to resist the Allies. Instead, he flooded the capitol with armored forces. The Presidential Palace and the Securitate headquarters were swarmed, President Elena Ceausescu and her ministers arrested as gifts for the coming Allies. Milea declared himself the leader of a provisional military government and sought out the Americans and Germans through the Swiss Embassy for terms. Romania capitulated on April 23rd. Aside from sporadic communist resistance and repressive measures that the Serbian forces conducted to secure their control, by May the fighting here was over. The Balkans had been liberated.
(Credit to @NotA_Potato for the wikiboxes)