Macragge1
Banned
The point about realpolitik is very valid - regardless of your feelings about Britain, it's basically an extremely traumatised nation with a fair few atomic weapons - the best bet is to keep it onside at all costs.
Protect and Survive: A Timeline
- Thread starter Macragge1
- Start date
The point about realpolitik is very valid - regardless of your feelings about Britain, it's basically an extremely traumatised nation with a fair few atomic weapons - the best bet is to keep it onside at all costs.
thank you!
my father's parents didn't speak English very well, so getting descriptive accounts was generally on the level of what I wrote, give or take. on top of that, sometimes relatives would evade giving details, I'd get information second- or third-hand. I know for example that the only real toy my father and his two brothers had growing up in Israel was a memorable toy fire truck that their father had gotten in France. And why was he in France? to look for any way of finding his sister. he was not successful. this wasn't the kind of stuff my father's father sat down and talked about to the grandkids, so this kind of information was usually relayed indirectly.
hell, I'm not even clear on what our paternal family's last name was before they moved to Israel. In Israel, my father's parents apparently adapted the Hebrew word for "goalie." (שוער aka "Shoer.") And before that? Horowitz, maybe. My father's father had every right to his privacy, of course. He had lost every single relative and had served in both the Soviet Army and then in the Israeli army. This meant that if he felt like keeping something vague and/or to himself, he was amply entitled.
my father's father passed away just over a year ago, and my father's mother is not herself anymore.
(truth is always stranger than fiction
)Macragge1
Banned
Operation Prospero [5]
On the air America/I modeled shirts by Van Heulen
Our waiting was further interrupted by the arrival of a Swiss helicopter a few days later - on hearing that the crew were distributing food marked with the Swiss flag, Whitelaw ordered us to....
*
He could be anywhere he could be anywhere he could be anywhere.
Marching in a line, heading towards the town. A Union Flag furling and unfurling in a hot and lazy wind - this is not a healthy place. There is no scorching, no jagged edges - at a glance, it is just a road in the country.
Look closer.
The grass is too long - the land is taking the place back. The road is cracking up. Something else. Something else.
No leaves - it's nearly April and there's not one leaf.
The sky is heavy but the atmosphere's worse. The Pilot and the Commando walk side by side, metres apart - neither will turn their backs on the other. The Scientist is right behind the Commando - he's made his choice. The rest keep their distance - shifting eyes behind steamy lenses.
A car sits sulking by the side of the road - two wheels lopsided in a culvert. Empty.
The sky gives way and it's pouring.
Overboots slip and slide through ashen puddles. It's tiring and they're hungry - no eating with a mask. Put one foot ahead of the other and one foot ahead of the other and we'll get through it. No going back at any rate.
The Commando stops. The Pilot stops the next split-second.
'Hear it?'
Shaking heads.
A twig snaps and it hits them like an airburst.
'You boys lost?'
He's there and he's real but they can't take it in. Sheepskin jacket, Stetson, revolver in his holster. He's heavyset and unshaven with his hands on his hips and he's the most beautiful thing they've seen in years.
The team look at each other like guilty schoolboys - the Co-Pilot takes the mantle - 'We're British...we came...we came to find you. We didn't know if there were any of you -'
The American looks at his boots and looks back up.
'Well, boys, I'm the only one left - just me.'
Stomachs sink - the Scientist sits and puts his head in his hands. Absolute vacumn.
Laughter - it starts as a chuckle, but soon the man is slapping his knees, howling.
He laughs for slightly too long.
'I thought you limeys were meant to have a refined sense of humour' - he wipes a little tear from the corner of his eye - 'we got through, some of us. We got through.'
The Commando now - 'Who's in charge?'
'The Lord himself don't know, my man - the president must be somewhere, I suppose - we've been working for the Emperor'.
'What.'
'The Emperor of New Rome - the New York Caesar' - this time he can't do it deadpan - he cracks up on 'Caesar'. 'I'll take you guys to see the boss up in the town - Secretary of the Interior - what's left of it - get you boys some chow and a shower'
They look at him like he's a fucking prophet.
On the air America/I modeled shirts by Van Heulen
Our waiting was further interrupted by the arrival of a Swiss helicopter a few days later - on hearing that the crew were distributing food marked with the Swiss flag, Whitelaw ordered us to....
*
He could be anywhere he could be anywhere he could be anywhere.
Marching in a line, heading towards the town. A Union Flag furling and unfurling in a hot and lazy wind - this is not a healthy place. There is no scorching, no jagged edges - at a glance, it is just a road in the country.
Look closer.
The grass is too long - the land is taking the place back. The road is cracking up. Something else. Something else.
No leaves - it's nearly April and there's not one leaf.
The sky is heavy but the atmosphere's worse. The Pilot and the Commando walk side by side, metres apart - neither will turn their backs on the other. The Scientist is right behind the Commando - he's made his choice. The rest keep their distance - shifting eyes behind steamy lenses.
A car sits sulking by the side of the road - two wheels lopsided in a culvert. Empty.
The sky gives way and it's pouring.
Overboots slip and slide through ashen puddles. It's tiring and they're hungry - no eating with a mask. Put one foot ahead of the other and one foot ahead of the other and we'll get through it. No going back at any rate.
The Commando stops. The Pilot stops the next split-second.
'Hear it?'
Shaking heads.
A twig snaps and it hits them like an airburst.
'You boys lost?'
He's there and he's real but they can't take it in. Sheepskin jacket, Stetson, revolver in his holster. He's heavyset and unshaven with his hands on his hips and he's the most beautiful thing they've seen in years.
The team look at each other like guilty schoolboys - the Co-Pilot takes the mantle - 'We're British...we came...we came to find you. We didn't know if there were any of you -'
The American looks at his boots and looks back up.
'Well, boys, I'm the only one left - just me.'
Stomachs sink - the Scientist sits and puts his head in his hands. Absolute vacumn.
Laughter - it starts as a chuckle, but soon the man is slapping his knees, howling.
He laughs for slightly too long.
'I thought you limeys were meant to have a refined sense of humour' - he wipes a little tear from the corner of his eye - 'we got through, some of us. We got through.'
The Commando now - 'Who's in charge?'
'The Lord himself don't know, my man - the president must be somewhere, I suppose - we've been working for the Emperor'.
'What.'
'The Emperor of New Rome - the New York Caesar' - this time he can't do it deadpan - he cracks up on 'Caesar'. 'I'll take you guys to see the boss up in the town - Secretary of the Interior - what's left of it - get you boys some chow and a shower'
They look at him like he's a fucking prophet.
Hm, methinks that the Swiss are going to regret handing out food marked with their flag on it. In theory it is a threat to the government's rather shaky authority. Food is the new currency and we can't have someone interfering with that.
Nice to see our American cousins seem to have maintained a sense of humor in adversity. Bit of a contrast to the grimness of the UK.
Nice to see our American cousins seem to have maintained a sense of humor in adversity. Bit of a contrast to the grimness of the UK.
From what I'm wrong, LPG conversions were very popular in the 70s and 80s when Ireland was not well off and petrol prices were relatively high. It was only when companies used the increased demand to raise prices that it did fall in popularity.
In 1982 or thereabouts many if not most houses would indeed have a fireplace.
My bad there. If I made mention of the power stations before it is because they all burn peat, and they are situated relatively close to the bogs.
It doesn't change the reality that oil is the lifeblood of industry, and that it is indeed in the best interests of Ireland to help the UK get back on its feet. One good turn deserves another...
As long as Whitelaw didn't order them to nuke Bern or Zurich or anything like that...
Our American friend does indeed seem interesting.
Our American friend does indeed seem interesting.
wow
sweeet
pity about the trees
hope Stetson-man isn't inhaling massively fatal doses of radiation
let the ----ing Swiss have their flags, I say, be grateful, but sovereignty and control will have their way... I hope the Swiss take it in stride, "hell, it's a gift, tear the label off if you like"
sweeet
pity about the trees
hope Stetson-man isn't inhaling massively fatal doses of radiation
let the ----ing Swiss have their flags, I say, be grateful, but sovereignty and control will have their way... I hope the Swiss take it in stride, "hell, it's a gift, tear the label off if you like"
altamiro
Banned
I think what Whitelaw is afraid of is people questioning their ability to govern. "If the Swiss can get over fod from 1500 km away, why can't our government?". They probably won't bother with explanation that it might be because the Swiss haven't been nuked...
Secretary of the Interior - Is this Donald P. Hodel then? Or merely some guy calling himself Secretary of the Interior?
What the hell? Did you just make that ending optimistic?!?!
I wonder...
Good update, as always.
And as always a bit of question time (not only for Macragge1, I am interested in the views of all)
On the one hand it seems hard to believe that Switzerland has not been affected by the Soviet attack (I imagine that in a situation such as that of the Exchange both parties have tried to settle outstanding accounts up to Ancient Egypt) on the other side if the Swiss were able to dodge the war even this time, why risk people and resources through a France devastated by the missiles of the Warsaw Pact? Other ideas?
Between the pilot and the Commando is definitely going up the tension: it is "only" the grueling stress, or both have a hidden agenda?
The American is a joker or is crazy like a horse? Why he does not have a radiation protection suit in an environment where the roentgen meter was a buzzer drive?
What happened to the U.S. President?
And as always a bit of question time (not only for Macragge1, I am interested in the views of all)
On the one hand it seems hard to believe that Switzerland has not been affected by the Soviet attack (I imagine that in a situation such as that of the Exchange both parties have tried to settle outstanding accounts up to Ancient Egypt) on the other side if the Swiss were able to dodge the war even this time, why risk people and resources through a France devastated by the missiles of the Warsaw Pact? Other ideas?
Between the pilot and the Commando is definitely going up the tension: it is "only" the grueling stress, or both have a hidden agenda?
The American is a joker or is crazy like a horse? Why he does not have a radiation protection suit in an environment where the roentgen meter was a buzzer drive?
What happened to the U.S. President?
John Farson
Banned
Good update, as always.
And as always a bit of question time (not only for Macragge1, I am interested in the views of all)
On the one hand it seems hard to believe that Switzerland has not been affected by the Soviet attack (I imagine that in a situation such as that of the Exchange both parties have tried to settle outstanding accounts up to Ancient Egypt) on the other side if the Swiss were able to dodge the war even this time, why risk people and resources through a France devastated by the missiles of the Warsaw Pact? Other ideas?
Between the pilot and the Commando is definitely going up the tension: it is "only" the grueling stress, or both have a hidden agenda?
The American is a joker or is crazy like a horse? Why he does not have a radiation protection suit in an environment where the roentgen meter was a buzzer drive?
What happened to the U.S. President?
That reminds me of something. Would the US have used the "opportunity" of all-out nuclear war to turn Vietnam into a glow-in-the-dark parking lot in revenge for the Vietnam War? Even without the "revenge" angle, I still expect Vietnam to have been heavily nuked both by the Americans as well as the Chinese, since it was a key Soviet ally at the time.
Likewise, what's the situation in Afghanistan? Have the Soviet occupation forces been nuked by the US?
Well the cowboy guy said "the president must be somewhere, I suppose" so maybe he's still alive. Just not really in effective control.
He said that when he was on his Caesar of New York schtick, though, so it might not be true.
Mutinies or just bad communications? (We're only makin' hypothesis...)
And I suppose that even if he's dead he's somewhere.
Also, why do I get the rather odd thought that the cowboy guy is George W. Bush ? What was he doing in '84?
Macragge1
Banned
Secretary of the Interior at the time of the attack was William P. Clark Jr - Hodel got it in early '85 OTL - whether it's still him now remains to be seen
Good update, as always.
And as always a bit of question time (not only for Macragge1, I am interested in the views of all)
On the one hand it seems hard to believe that Switzerland has not been affected by the Soviet attack (I imagine that in a situation such as that of the Exchange both parties have tried to settle outstanding accounts up to Ancient Egypt) on the other side if the Swiss were able to dodge the war even this time, why risk people and resources through a France devastated by the missiles of the Warsaw Pact? Other ideas?
Between the pilot and the Commando is definitely going up the tension: it is "only" the grueling stress, or both have a hidden agenda?
The American is a joker or is crazy like a horse? Why he does not have a radiation protection suit in an environment where the roentgen meter was a buzzer drive?
What happened to the U.S. President?
Enough of Switzerland must have survived for them to send at least some aid to the outside world, even if they have, shall we say, mishandled it. Whitelaw's going to have the Swiss crew interrogated though, I should imagine.
Stress is a factor with both the Pilot and the Commando - the Pilot's psyche is shot thanks to the war, whereas the Commando blames the Pilot for his friends' death in the aeroplane.
There's certainly something off with the American, but he'll probably be fine for fallout - the Brits are being cautious with their full suits, but we must remember that they destroyed their Roentgen meter soon after hitting the US coast - this area might well have got lucky with regards to fallout patterns.
Vietnam will have been pasted - even if the US ignores them, which is possible, the Chinese have the far more recent Sino-Viet war of '79 fresh in their minds - combined with this, Vietnam is an actual military threat to them, whilst to the US, it's merely a grudge.
I imagine a couple of bombs got thrown at Afghanistan - probably the capital and the biggest Sov. airbase - it's a secondary concern though to the front in Europe and to strategic East European/Russian targets.
I like this theory.