The state of TIAH
November 25th, 2006
Alternate Historian's Note: November is NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month. In 2004, we produced our novel Warp, and last year we got a start on The Protocols Of The Elders Of Zion during this annual event. Both of these novels were based on timelines from TIAH – Warp was based on the Mlosh timeline, and Protocols on the Greater Zionist Resistance timeline. Although we posted numerous links to these novels on Lulu, TIAH didn't post any excerpts from them. We're going to do it a little differently this year. This year, the November posts on TIAH will be excerpts from the novel that is being written by us for NaNoWriMo. We will still have Guest Historian entries – Stephen Payne (who has compiled several and made them available on Lulu for free – just go through the Add to Cart system to get it) has some already written and waiting, and he is going to be joined by Guest Historian JD – so, if you want to make a Guest Post this month, go ahead and send it to us, and it will appear along with our novel post.
in 1872, the Mary Celeste reaches the island of St Mary in the Azores. First Mate Albert Richardson makes an unexpected take it or leave it offer. Benjamin, Sarah and Sophia Briggs can take six months rations and stay ashore. Richardson will entreat Morehouse to detour to St Mary and pick them up before sailing to Gibraltar as planned. -entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!-
in 1940, U.S. President-elect Charles Lindburgh met with Prime Minister Oswald Mosley and King Edward VIII at Buckingham Palace. First Lady elect Anne Morrow Lindbergh is charmed by fellow American Wallis, Duchess of Windsor. The tragedies of their respective lives is a common thread that bonds the group. And at this apex of government, the so-called Axis Powers join forces determined to reverse the catalogue of disasters that have beset Anglo-America since Versailles. The series of events culminating in the human tragedy known as World War II proceed with an unstoppable momentum. In the language of Karl Marx, irreversible historical processes are in operation. -entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!-
in 1945, a formal record of the meeting of the non-proliferation committee for the Congress of Worlds is transcribed for distribution to security-cleared personnel. Trouble is the very criminal who leaked the nuclear technology to the aggressors on planet earth in the first place has ratted the committee out. A surprise welcome party is already being planned for the exploratory mission when they land in Roswell, New Mexico July 1947. -entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!-
in 1953, the Piltdown artifact has now been under deep refrigeration for several days. The attendant scientists have found that the cold of the Natural History Museum's preservation vault has served to slow the growth of Piltdown's flesh, but has failed to retard it completely. As it stands, the head is fully fleshed, except for the skin and hair. Lids have grown over the formerly vacant eyesockets, which now bulge properly as if filled. The spinal column is regenerating at the approximate rate of one vertebrae every eighteen hours, with skin and muscle housing proceeding apace. A particularly brave representative of the Ministry of Health approached the living corpse to draw a blood sample, and nearly suffered a lack of wits when the head began to twitch and rock, as if in annoyance. The sample was successfully drawn, however, and rushed to the biological laboratories. The scientists can do little but watch and anticipate as they await the findings of the biochemists... - entry by Guest Historian JD -
in 1990, a body washes ashore at Salalah in Oman. As long-standing allies of the British Government, senior officials of the Sultanate of Oman contact Whitehall immediately through express channels in the secret service. Less than ten hours later, members of the exComm3 subcommittee receive a slideshow briefing in an underground room at Admiralty House, Whitehall, London. Pictures of the body reveal alien genetic modification. Fears about the Extraterrestrial Technology (ET) hidden in Iraq reach a fever pitch. -entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!-
Before(cont.)
“This is the kind of traffic I needed this morning,” Kevin said as they sped up the highway to Pflugerville. They almost had the road to themselves; the only other vehicles around were other National Guard trucks and jeeps.
“They just barely got the other people off the road by curfew,” Sergeant Morris said. “See, they had to leave behind some of the cars.”
Sure enough, there were several abandoned cars on the sides of the road where people had to leave when the curfew was in danger of catching them. “It's like a car lot. We could take our pick,” Kevin said. He was leaning against the jeep's window, trying to keep his eyes open. The long day was really catching up to him, and he felt bone-tired. “Hope your ex has a comfortable couch.”
“She does. I know; I slept on it plenty.” They both chuckled. “So, you ever been married, Bradley?”
“Nope, never able to get a woman convinced I was the one.”
“I bet that 3 million bucks'll help with that.”
“Yeah, but I don't know if that's the kinda woman I wanna marry,” Kevin said. “Specially since that's the kinda woman'll make it disappear in a year or two.”
“Amen,” Morris said. “I shouldn't complain, though. Divorce was my fault. I was just never around enough after the kids were born. Bein' a sergeant sucks.”
“At least you get to order people like me around.”
“One of my favorite compensations.” He peered at a huge green road sign for a minute, then switched to the outside lane. “I think this next exit is us. Steph usually brings the kids to me when they visit, so I hardly ever come out here.”
“Did you call her to let her know we were coming?”
“It's probably best if we surprise her,” Sergeant Morris said, a little sheepishly. “She don't like it when I call. Starts yellin' at me.”
“You don't today might be a little different?”
“Well, maybe. But I don't wanna take the chance.”
“Sounds like this is gonna be a fun night for us both.”
Joan saw headlights play across the wall and she looked out the window to their driveway. “There's a jeep pulling up outside.”
Steph ran to the door and opened it up. The headlights turned off and she saw two men hop out of the jeep and start walking towards the house. She ran over to the black man and hugged him tightly.
“Yeah, she looks real mad at you, Sergeant,” the white man said.
Steph looked over at him for a second as the kids came pounding up to their father. She realized that she was crying, and wiped away the tears before speaking. “Jake, why didn't you call me?”
The two men exchanged smiles, and Jake said, “Sorry, Steph, but I've been trying to teach this guy how to use a hazmat suit all day.” He extended a hand out to the white man and gave the introductions. “Specialist Kevin Bradley, Stephanie Morris. The pretty young lady here is my daughter Joan, and that big man there is my son, George.”
“Nice to meet y'all,” Bradley said, extending his hand out to Steph.
She shook with him and then turned back to Jake. “So, what are you doing here?”
Jake avoided her eyes as he said, “Well, we were kinda wondering if we could maybe spend the night here. We gotta head out early in the morning on our mission, and - “
“All right.” Jake and the kids all looked at her in surprise. “What?”
“I was expectin' to have to smooth talk you,” Jake said.
“Let's just say I'll feel a little safer with a couple soldiers under my roof tonight,” Steph said, turning back to the house.
The state of TIAH
November 26th, 2006
Alternate Historian's Note: November is NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month. In 2004, we produced our novel Warp, and last year we got a start on The Protocols Of The Elders Of Zion during this annual event. Both of these novels were based on timelines from TIAH – Warp was based on the Mlosh timeline, and Protocols on the Greater Zionist Resistance timeline. Although we posted numerous links to these novels on Lulu, TIAH didn't post any excerpts from them. We're going to do it a little differently this year. This year, the November posts on TIAH will be excerpts from the novel that is being written by us for NaNoWriMo. We will still have Guest Historian entries – Stephen Payne (who has compiled several and made them available on Lulu for free – just go through the Add to Cart system to get it) has some already written and waiting, and he is going to be joined by Guest Historian JD – so, if you want to make a Guest Post this month, go ahead and send it to us, and it will appear along with our novel post.
in 1872, the Mary Celeste leaves the island of St Mary in the Azores without the Briggs on-board. First Mate Albert Richardson tells the crew that a rescue ship is on its way and they need not be concerned. He assumes the Captaincy with a heavy heart. -entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!-
in 1941, planes and midget submarines of the Imperial British Navy began a surprise attack on French North Africa under the command of British Admiral James Somerville. This attack brought the French Republic into World War II. At 6:00 a.m. on November 26, the six British carriers launched a first wave of 181 planes composed of torpedo bombers, dive-bombers, level bombers and fighters. The British hit French ships and military installations at Oran at 7:53 a.m. They attacked military airfields and at the same time they hit the fleet anchored in Mers-el-Kébir. Overall, twenty-one ships of the French Mediterranean fleet were damaged and the death toll reached 1,297 with 350 injured. At 9:00 US Forces seize the French colony of Martinique in the Caribbean as the Axis Powers of Anglo-America strike the first blows in World War II. -entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!-
in 1946, on arrival at Union Station, Toronto former British Prime Minister Winston Spencer Churchill gives his famous Iron Curtain speech - 'From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic an "Iron curtain" has descended across the Continent. Behind that line lie all the capitals of the ancient states of Central and Eastern Europe. Warsaw, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Belgrade, Bucharest and Sofia; all these famous cities and the populations around them lie in what I must call the Nazi sphere, and all are subject, in one form or another, not only to Nazi influence but to a very high and in some cases increasing measure of control from Berlin.' Lord Halifax can only seethe in silence from Ottawa where he is a guest at Rideau Hall, residence of the Governor General of Canada. Halifax hoped for an accommodation with the Nazis which would enable a speedy return to London before winter sets in, and this speech from Churchill is (in the words of US President Charles Lindbergh) 'an unnecessary insult to the German Nazi Government'. He actually preferred his time as Viceroy of India to this current position as Head of the British Government in Exile which he had taken at His Majesty's insistence. In fact he had even preferred his role as US Ambassador from 1940, a neutral location that had enabled him to take up his current position when the Royal Family fled to North America. Its getting too cold for comfort out here in Ontario, really. -entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!-
in 1970, the National Olympic Committee announce that for the first time the Winter Games will be held outside North America or Europe. The ’72 games will be the first major international sporting event since the 'Dropshot' War of 1957, and a neutral location is necessary to involve athletes from the combative nations of America, China and the Soviet Union. -entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!-
Before(cont.)
After nearly getting caught for the third time, Janice decided that she needed a rest. She pulled off into a ditch and turned off her goggles. The battery was almost dead, anyway. She had a spare, so she probably had one more night of exploring she could do, but after that, she was going to have to drive with her lights on – and that meant she was going to be caught.
She was going to be dead if she kept driving tonight, though. She had nearly run off the road several times when her eyelids drooped too far. She got a blanket from the trunk, locked all her doors, and curled up in the back seat.
She startled herself awake after a few minutes and pulled the cell phone out of her purse in the front seat. She set it to buzz at 5 in the morning and set it down on the floorboard next to her head. She then lay her head back down, got as comfortable as she could, and tried to calm the hundreds of thoughts buzzing around in her head. She was exhausted, but every time she felt the sandman's grip, another thought ran to the front of her mind to distract her. She knew that she needed to keep an eye on the Geiger counter; that she should have done something to camouflage the car, or hide herself better; that she should have updated her web page, but then thought that might give away her position... and all these little flies buzzed about in her head until she couldn't stand it anymore. She pulled a sleeping pill from her purse and swallowed it down with some her bottled water. The jug was nearly empty – she'd need to fill it again in the morning, provided she was able to.
Tapping on her window startled her awake. She reached for her gun and opened her eyes. Standing outside of her window was a young woman who looked even more exhausted than Janice; her brown hair hung limply over her eyes, which were barely open at all. Janice rolled the window down slightly and said, “What do you want?”
“Please, ma'am, I just want someplace to sleep out the night,” the young woman said. “I been hikin' all day and night and ain't seen nary a car, and my feet are killin' me.” She tried a small smile, but Janice's expression withered it.
“Look, chick, I have no way of knowing you aren't feeling me out for your rapist boyfriend who's waiting to see if I have a gun or not. I do, by the way,” she said, pointing the pistol at the woman's face, “and I don't mind using it. There's a farmhouse you can flop in about 15 miles down that road,” she said, pointing down the long, long road. “Get going.”
“Please, lady, I ain't got no boyfriend with me, and I won't try nothin'. I just wanna sleep someplace 'sides the ground.”
Janice rolled the window back up and tightened her grip on the pistol. She threw off the blanket and unlocked the door, holding her gun on the woman while she got out. “Tell you what. You get your happy little butt down the road that way,” she pointed in Waco's direction, “and the National Guard will be happy to give you a place to sleep for the night.”
“What're you talkin' about?”
“You don't know?”
“Don't know what?”
Janice snorted. She looked around with one eye on her guest, but couldn't see anybody else. “Martial law's been declared. They're saying that they nuked the president in Crawford.”
The young woman looked like she'd been slapped in the face. “That... that cain't be,” she whispered. “I was just there this mornin'.”
Janice's attitude changed immediately. “Well, why didn't you say so in the first place? Have a seat, honey. I got a lot of questions for you.”
The state of TIAH
November 27th, 2006
Alternate Historian's Note: Welcome back from the holidays. If you're reading this, then you've seen the note we managed to put up on the main site about our Blogger problems. We have no idea how long this will take to fix; we have yet to receive a reply from Google about it. Until we do sort it out, we will be posting here. Don't change your bookmarks yet, but I have to say that Wordpress is very nice compared to Blogger, so I am definitely thinking about making this permanent. If you like it, too, email and let us know. In the meantime, be sure to visit out Guest Historian's, too, when they have a web site they want you to visit. Stephen Payne's work can be had from Lulu, as well. Thanks for sticking with us!
in 9000 BC, minor climatic changes in the north sea reverse the separation of the British Isles from mainland Europe. The consequence of this geographical event is that territorial integrity is preserved between the French Province Bretagne (also known as Brittany) and the land referred to by Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae (circa 1136) as Britannia major ("Greater Britain"), for Monmouth to distinguish it from Britannia minor ("Lesser Britain" or Brittany). History records that in 1604 King James I of England and James VI Scotland on ascending to the joint crowns chose against the title King of England and Scotland. His advisers in court, who were French speakers, selected Grand Bretagne relying heavily upon Geoffrey of Monmouth's definition. Today everyone in Grand Bretagne/Great Britain is aware of their kinship with the French province, and no one is under the illusion that the verb great was chosen through arrogance or pride. -entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!-
in 1872, on the island of St Mary the Briggs pray for their deliverance at the hands of blessed First Mate Albert Richardson of the Mary Celeste. They pray also for their eldest son Arthur Stanley who remained at home for the voyage. -entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!-
in 1941, the series of events culminating in the human tragedy known as World War II proceed with an unstoppable momentum when the French government react aggressively to the pre-emptive strike by the Imperial British Navy on the French Fleet anchored at Mers-el-Kébir and the US seizure of Martinique. In the language of Karl Marx, irreversible historical processes are in operation. President Philippe Pétain addressed a joint session of the Parliament Français, calling "deux six un un [2611] a date which will live in infamy". The allies prepare for war with the Axis powers of Anglo-America. -entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!-
in 1973, Gerald Ford was confirmed as the new Vice President of the United States, assuming the presidency less than six months later. Ford had become a national figure since his appointment to the Warren Commission, sensationally traveling to Dallas with Chief Justice Earl Warren and other commission members for a series of private meetings in Dallas with Jack Ruby during June of 1964. Upon its release in 1964, all files of the Warren Commission were sealed from public view for 75 years by executive order of President Johnson. In 2039, it was finally revealed that Ford, acting on the explosive information provided by Ruby, had strong-armed the CIA into unseating Vice President Spiro Agnew and President Richard Nixon, gaining him the White House. The CIA exacted revenge, scuppering Ford's re-election attempts by clandestinely backing one of their own, the “Georgia Giant”, James Earl Carter. -entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!-
in 1990, the US Department of Defense (DoD) modifies the planned deployment of the Patriot Missile system in friendly countries in the middle east, especially Israel. The DoD has not fully disclosed the nature of the threat from Iraq, now understood to be biological warfare agents based on Extraterrestrial Technology (ET). Like exComm3, DoD are keeping to the vaguely threatening weapons of mass destruction (WMD) line to build up hysteria and anti-Iraqi hostility. -entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!-
Before(cont.)
“Are you sure you can't tell us anything else?”
Jake smiled at his son and said, “No, now, you know there are things we gotta keep secret, and this is one of them. You go on to bed, now.”
George moaned, but hugged his father and trudged. Joan gave her father a kiss on the cheek and said, “Night, dad. Good night, Mr. Bradley.”
“G'night, Joan,” Bradley said.
When the kids were gone, Steph passed them each a pillow and a blanket. She asked Jake, “You sure there's nothing I need to know?”
“Nothing we can talk about.”
“All right.” She looked at him for a few seconds longer than she meant to, then turned to Kevin. “If y'all are gone by the time we get up, good luck.”
“Thanks,” Kevin said. “We'll need it.”
“Now, see, I didn't need to hear that,” Steph said, only half-joking. “Good night.” She turned and went off to her own bedroom, glancing once over at Jake as she turned out the lights and left.
“So, I take it the divorce wasn't that long ago?”
“9 months,” Jake said, kicking his boots off and laying down on the larger of the two sofas they were commandeering. “Long enough.”
Kevin shrugged. He kicked off his own shoes and lay down on the love seat he was sleeping on. His feet hung over the arm. “Sure I can't have that one?”
“I told you – hundred grand, you can sleep anywhere in this house you like.”
“You run an expensive hotel.” Kevin flipped the blanket over himself and tried to get comfortable. “That kinda money, I should at least get a mint on my pillow.”
“I'll see what Steph has.” He closed his eyes and let the day's tension fade away from him. “Get some sleep. We're gonna have to leave before they get up.”
“OK.” Kevin set the alarm on his watch for 4:30; another early morning. “You know, I thought my early mornings were done.”
“Life has little surprises for everybody.”
“I think I got 'em all at once, then.”
Jake had a laugh over that one. Before too long, he grew quiet and Kevin let him sleep. In spite of the exhaustion he felt, he stayed up a little longer. He was going over some of the hazmat procedures he had learned earlier, but he also just wanted a few minutes to think about after this was all over.
After. That was going to be a beautiful time. A nice house, maybe some investment in a business or two, or just stocks and bonds – he wasn't decided on that, yet. Then, travel. He'd see the world, maybe have a girl in every port, maybe he'd find one special someone to share the good times with. It was going to be great.
Unfortunately, he was still stuck in before, so he rolled over, pulled the blanket tightly around himself, and dozed off.
The state of TIAH
November 28th, 2006
Alternate Historian's Note: Welcome back from the holidays. If you're reading this, then you've seen the note we managed to put up on the main site about our Blogger problems. We have no idea how long this will take to fix; we have yet to receive a reply from Google about it. Until we do sort it out, we will be posting here. Don't change your bookmarks yet, but I have to say that Wordpress is very nice compared to Blogger, so I am definitely thinking about making this permanent. If you like it, too, email and let us know. In the meantime, be sure to visit out Guest Historian's, too, when they have a web site they want you to visit. Stephen Payne's work can be had from Lulu, as well. Thanks for sticking with us!
in 1872, on board the Mary Celeste, Captain Albert Richardson continues to believe the barrels are full of sea-water substituted by the New York Ship owners J.H. Winchester and Co. who he suspects will claim the $34,000 insurance value for the raw alcohol by wrecking the Celeste. Driven by his own suspicions, and also keen to end the crew’s tension, he decides to open the barrels the very next day. -entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!-
in 1941, in response to the "day of infamy" pre-emptive strikes by the Axis Forces on Mers-el-Kébir and Martinique known as "deux six un un" (2611), the allied powers comprising the social democracies of France, Germany and Italy declare war on fascist Anglo-America. -entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!-
in 1990, Israeli Prime Minister Yitshak Shamir senses duplicity in the strange messages he is receiving from the British and US Governments. They are suspiciously keen for the State of Israel not to participate in the upcoming Gulf War and indeed are about to deploy a defensive missile system and, even more amazingly, man it themselves. To destroy the Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) Shamir suggests going pre-emptive – why take a defensive position? He proposes a reprise of the 1981 strike on Osirak which destroyed Iraq's nuclear reactor – likely to be reactivated as the current R&D site by the Iraqis – and the Pentagon guys go just about crazy. This new defensive policy is a complete break with former teaming agreements such as the joint invasion of Suez, the US arming of Israel during the Yom Kippur War etc. Shamir grasps that the British and Americans are not completely levelling with him. -entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!-
in 2126, Mullah Elijah Rafsanjani angrily shouts at his son Muhammed to switch off the Al Jazeera television channel which is showing countless re-runs of the recent showcase trial of Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majidida al-Tikriti versus the redneck George Walker Bush. “'Only Allah knows what tomorrow will bring', father” retorts Muhammed, quoting from the Koran. A fiendish idea starts to take shape in the recesses of the Mullah's cunning mind. -entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!-
Before(cont.)
In spite of the utter brain-crushing fatigue, Janice was elated. She had a witness who was in Crawford at the time of the alleged explosion who was very much alive and not showing the slightest sign of radiation exposure. The young woman, Linda Raintree, had apparently had a tiff with her mother the night before and run away. With little idea of where to go, she had been wandering around the roads since then, trying to hitchhike on a day when virtually all traffic into and out of Crawford had ceased.
Just because she was a cautious person, Janice had run the Geiger counter over Linda a couple of times, and it registered no elevation in radiation levels. After answering as many questions as she could, Linda had collapsed in Janice's back seat and was now sleeping like the dead. Janice had changed batteries in her night-vision goggles and was tearing down the road at a highly unsafe speed to get her passenger to a motel.
Her plan was to check Miss Raintree into a room, possibly catch a nap herself, then head into Waco. Having an eyewitness was good, but she still wanted visual confirmation of Crawford's continued existence, and she had formulated a plan. Baylor University had to have a meteorology building that would have rooftop access and a high view of the surrounding area. She'd get into the city, get to the top of that building, and use her binoculars and long-range camera to locate and take pictures of a certain ranch. Then, she'd get the hell out of there and see about publicizing all of this.
After that, she'd probably have to stay on the move until the people took back control of the country. She wanted to record a few of these observations, but didn't want to wake Raintree by talking into her recorder; she'd just have to remember to do it later. She knew a couple of guys who would gladly form a resistance cell if need be. Mike and Eli had been itching to shoot a few government agents since acquiring their first illegal firearms. Their rather unsocial tendencies could finally be harnessed to some public good.
Whether public support could be harnessed was another matter. It all depended on how much those in current control of the country wanted to retain that control. They had the media, and could pump out propaganda about her and “debunk” her evidence much more effectively than she could get it into the public eye.
She saw a small motel on the side of the highway and pulled off the road. She parked on the shoulder long enough to turn off her goggles and turn on her headlights. She stowed the goggles under the seat and assumed the persona of the befuddled ditz who had somehow managed to evade curfew through sheer dumb luck.
She pulled the car into the deserted parking lot and cut off the engine. Leaving Miss Raintree asleep in the back seat, she walked up to the night desk and put on her flashiest smile. “Hi,” she said, waving at the surprised clerk. “Can I get a room?”
“Wow, lady, how'd you get past the Guard?” The clerk was a young fellow, probably a Baylor college student who had reported for the worst shift of his working life. “When they pulled down the curfew, they didn't even let me leave here.”
“Oh my God,” she said, acting as surprised as she could through her exhaustion. “I haven't seen anything like that.” She shrugged and laughed. “Just lucky, I guess.”
The state of TIAH
Digg us
November 29th, 2006
Alternate Historian's Note: Welcome back from the holidays. If you're reading this, then you've seen the note we managed to put up on the main site about our Blogger problems. We have no idea how long this will take to fix; we have yet to receive a reply from Google about it. Until we do sort it out, we will be posting here. Don't change your bookmarks yet, but I have to say that Wordpress is very nice compared to Blogger, so I am definitely thinking about making this permanent. If you like it, too, email and let us know. In the meantime, be sure to visit out Guest Historian's, too, when they have a web site they want you to visit; we have both Stephen Payne and JD today. Stephen Payne's work can be had from Lulu. Thanks for sticking with us!
in 1872, on board the Mary Celeste, the crew open six barrels, causing a violent rush of fumes and then steam proving at least that the cargo really is alcohol. Fearing that the ship is about to explode, Captain Albert Richardson orders everyone into the lifeboat, which he secures to the ship with a strong tow-line. -entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!-
in 1919, the World Crisis enters a new phase as a deadly strain of influenza known as Spanish Flu rages across the traumatized continent of Europe killing even more people than the recently cease fired World War. This unparalleled human misery is of course the work of the greatest necromancer of the age, Grigory Rasputin who invoked deep magicks to summon the four horsemen of the apocalypse back in 1914. Over the course of the next five years their inhuman appetite is sustained by the continuous human sacrifice known as trench warfare. Disguised as Prince Yusopov, Maestro has already dispatched Rasputin and delivered an armistice. Today he arrives in the Vatican to lead a great council of magicians who seek to restore peace and prosperity to a shattered world. -entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!-
in 1941, the Axis Powers of Anglo-America are expanded when Canadian Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King declares war on the social democracies of France, Germany and Italy. Citizens of Franco-German descent in North America react with fury to these "November days". Of particular concern to the triumvirate comprising U.S. President Charles Lindburgh, British Prime Minister Oswald Mosley and King Edward VIII is the threat from Québécois to secede from the Dominion of Canada. -entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!-
in 1952, U.S. President-elect Douglas MacArthur fulfilled a campaign promise by going to Korea to find out what could be done to end the conflict, famously saying "There is no substitute for victory". Back in '51 as UN Commander in Chief (Korean Peninsula) MacArthur had had his request denied to end the conflict by launching thirty to fifty nuclear weapons at Manchuria, was angered at what he perceived to be Harry Truman's “limited war” and subsequently relieved of his command by the President. General Omar Bradley later speculated that MacArthur's disappointment over his inability to wage war on China had "snapped his brilliant but brittle mind." With the United States detonating the world's first hydrogen bomb on November 1st 1952, and “Brass Hat” back in the saddle again just twenty-eight days later, the world wonders just how the conflict will end. -entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!-
in 1963, FBI Director J Edgar Hoover, President Lyndon Baines Johnson and Chief Justice Earl Warren meet in the Oval Office. Agenda: to agree the action plan for the Presidential Commission into the assassination of John F Kennedy which occurred just a week before. Hoover gives the heads up: "Upwards of fifty witnesses place the shooter on the Grassy Knoll, we've got too many gunshots, bullets that don't originate from Oswald's rifle, Jack Ruby talking crazy, Zapruder's contradictory video footage, lines of hard evidence to the Soviets, Castro, the Mob and murdered Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem plus George Bush and Richard Nixon in town on the same day". Turning to Warren, LBJ takes a sip from his ever-present Fresca and starts 'the treatment' - "OK Earl, here's the brief - 'Oswald acted alone and neither he nor Ruby were part of a larger conspiracy'. Executive orders same as the Japanese internment order you wrote up for FDR in '42". Warren shuffles out in misery trying hard not to think about the body count for this news management exercise. Hoover leaves a few short minutes later, instructed to crush the corruption charges which were threatening to destroy Johnson's Vice Presidency only a week before. Stubbing out his cigarette, LBJ presses a button in the bookcase, releasing a door to a concealed side room. Addressing a robed grey humanoid sitting in lotus position, Texas' favorite son says "Ambassador, we're all set", flashing his winning smile. -entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!-
--AP NEWSWIRE 11/29/2007 04:04 GMT--
'Uncle Arnold' Retires
- NEW YORK (AP)
Arnold Zenker, anchor of CBS Evening News and America's longest-standing news personality announced today he was leaving his position 'for personal reasons.' Zenker, often termed "the most trusted man in America", has held anchorship of the highest-rated news program in the country for over 40 years. As director of CBS's news programming division, Zenker was tapped to temporarily replace Walter Cronkite during an AFTRA strike in April 1967. Viewers immediately warmed to the charming if novice newscaster and ratings shot through the roof during the three weeks of Zenker's planned anchorship. CBS, bowing to public demand, retained Zenker as chief anchor following the end of the strike, which prompted Cronkite to sign with rival NBC upon the termination of his contract.
Through the turbulent waning years of the 60s, Zenker was often a calm and reassuring voice of reason on the nation's airways. During the Apollo moon landing in 1969, his emotional observation "We have finally begun to explore the frontiers of our potential" became almost as famous a quote as Armstrong's "One small step for man", and his quiet, solemn announcement "The war is over" at the conclusion of Vietnamese hostilities is remembered as one of the defining moments of news broadcasting.
Zenker proved his survival skills in the sometimes cutthroat business of television by retaining his original viewers and proving himself popular to several following generations. John Lennon and Ronald Reagan's assassination brought the nation tuning in invariably to hear what "Uncle Arnold" had to say, and the ending of the Cold War and Zenker's tireless efforts to fully assist the public in making sense of turbulent and confusing events only brought his star higher.
It was, however, on September 11, 2001 that America most needed Arnold Zenker, and despite health problems near the beginning of the year, Zenker set a record for endurance by remaining on the air for a full 36 hours following the attacks. This feat, however, is said to have damaged his health further, and at the conclusion of the invasion of Afganistan, Zenker began requesting longer and longer sabbaticals from CBS News. He was, however, on hand during the Iraq War and much of its aftermath, proving himself a tireless proponent of the press. CBS has not yet announced a replacement for Zenker.
Reference
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- entry by Guest Historian JD -
Before(cont.)
Janice helped Miss Raintree stumble into the motel room and laid her down on the bed. The young woman barely woke up during the walk, and was asleep again as soon as Janice let her go. Janice was starting to feel the same way. She grabbed a few things from her car, locked it up, then went into the room and locked the door. She also chained the lock and put a chair up against the door knob. She wished that she could do something about the window, but there was nothing big enough in the room to push in front of it. She settled with just drawing the curtains in front of it.
She hunched herself down on the spare chair in the room and turned on her recorder. “Personal journal, Janice Carbonari. I've found a witness that was in Crawford at the time of the supposed explosion, who saw no indication that a nuke had gone off in her town. I'm about to do something very stupid to confirm to myself that she is telling the truth, but first, I need to get some sleep.” She thought about just turning the recorder off, but had a couple more things to say. “If I do confirm this, I have to do something. It won't be enough to just write my articles and give my talks in front of other conspiracy buffs, anymore. It'll be time for direct action. If I manage to post this, I urge everyone who reads or listens to it to do the same. We can't be content to stay in the shadows after this. We have to rise up and bring down these arrogant bastards before they can totally destroy America; Hell, maybe the world.”
In spite of her own trepidation about being found, she opened up her laptop computer and, much to her amazement, found a wireless Internet connection operating flawlessly in the area. She uploaded all of the audio she had made and wrote up a few notes on her discoveries, then looked at the clock on her screen. It was almost 3:30, and she had been awake for far too long.
She pulled a pillow from the bed and sat down with her back against the door. She put the pillow behind her head and got as comfortable as she could. If little Miss Raintree decided to leave, she'd have to disturb Janice, first. Of course, if Miss Raintree was a plant, she might not care about disturbing Janice...
It was a thought that Janice had entertained a couple of times during the night. Linda's story was a little too perfect, a little too much just what she needed. She had decided that she didn't care. If Miss Raintree proved to be a government agent, that would prove that Janice was on the right track, too. She'd have to hope that she wouldn't be killed immediately; that they would consider her important enough to interrogate, giving her a chance to escape.
She set the alarm on her watch for 6 AM and closed her eyes.
Kevin's alarm seemed to go off a second after shutting his eyes. He blinked awake and sat up. Sergeant Morris was still snoozing away on the sofa, so Kevin threw a pillow at his head. Morris woke with a start and a curse. “Sorry, Sergeant, I didn't have a trumpet for Reveille.”
“You know, I can open your hazmat suit without you even feelin' it.”
“I'll keep that in mind.”
Sergeant Morris sat up and pulled on his boots, then stood and stretched. “Always hated early mornin' shift. C'mon, let's get goin'.”
Kevin pulled on his shoes and popped his neck. He was a little sore from the uncomfortable position he had been in on the love seat. “We're not saying goodbye to your family?”
“No need to wake 'em up.”
“OK.” Kevin followed him into the kitchen, where he was pulling some juice out of the fridge. Kevin picked a cup off of a shelf and let Morris fill it.
“Grab a banana, suck that juice down, then let's get going.” Morris wrote a note on the pad on the fridge's door, then swallowed some juice for himself and put the carton back. He looked over at Kevin and said, “Let's hit the road.”
Kevin gulped down as much juice as he could, picked a banana from the bunch on the kitchen counter, then followed Morris out the door to their jeep. It was as quite as the grave outside; there weren't even crickets or frogs awake at this hour. Inside the jeep, Kevin took a bite of banana and said, “It is way too danged early.”
“Civilian life just got you soft, Bradley.”
“I like being soft.”
Morris laughed. “Well, once you get this job done, maybe they'll let you take your money and get real cushy.”
“I can always hope.”
The state of TIAH
November 30th, 2006
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Alternate Historian's Note: Welcome back from the holidays. If you're reading this, then you've seen the note we managed to put up on the main site about our Blogger problems. We have no idea how long this will take to fix; we have yet to receive a reply from Google about it. Until we do sort it out, we will be posting here. Don't change your bookmarks yet, but I have to say that Wordpress is very nice compared to Blogger, so I am definitely thinking about making this permanent. If you like it, too, email and let us know. In the meantime, be sure to visit out Guest Historian's, too, when they have a web site they want you to visit. Stephen Payne's work can be had from Lulu. Thanks for sticking with us!
in 1872, on board the Mary Celeste, Captain Albert Richardson is deeply troubled. His insurance fraud theory disproved, he reconsiders Brigg’s words, which he had dismissed as a cruel deception played upon the former Captain. Fully aware that the cargo has 1701 barrels, and the manifest shows 1700, he determines that barrel #1701 will be opened the very next day. What the hell, the rescue ship is due any day now. -entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!-
in 1919, inside the Vatican, Maestro initiates a great council of magicians seeking a final conclusion to the World Crisis. A short and dour individual, his appearance is quite unremarkable except for a single detail. His eyes are almost fully rolled upward, with only a quarter moon of pupil revealed to his fellow magicians. -entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!-
in 1941, Axis forces commence land operations in the Mediterranean theatre as the British Eighth Army led by Field Marshall Bernard Law Montgomery reaches the western border of Egypt preparing to overrun French North Africa. In the Élysée Palace, President Philippe Pétain evaluates his very limited options following the destruction of the French Mediterranean Fleet at Mers-el-Kébir on the "day of infamy" known to the French Union as "deux six un un" (2611). He telephones Brigadier General Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle in Algiers with fresh orders for La Grande Armée Afrique. Monsieur General, the very future of France is at stake - he impressed on de Gaulle. The emphasis was unnecessary, de Gaulle believed that he was the right man in the right place at the right time to reverse the catalogue of disasters that had beset the great nation of France ever since the surrender of Napoléon III at the Battle of Sedan in 1870. “Bring it on” he tells Pétain. -entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!-
in 1966, personal assistant Bill Moyers arrives for his 3 o'clock with the President. Without the fearsome presence of his boss to concentrate on, he focuses for the first time on the modifications that have recently been made to the vacant Oval Office. Wood-grain linoleum has replaced the cork floor damaged by Ike's golf swing. And a soda tap has been installed at the Resolute desk to service Johnson's near-addition to Fresca, a citrus soft drink made by the Coca-Cola Company. Relaxing momentarily, he follows a drip slowly running down the tap, hitting the floor with a mild fizzle and a wisp of smoke twists up. Moyers leans forward inquisitively and takes a sip from a half-empty cup on the Resolute desk with one eye fixed firmly on the office door. Without warning Moyers is fighting for his life with what tastes like napalm in his throat. Coughing like crazy, a huge hand winds his back, "Shouldn't drink another man's fire-water, don't you know that son?" says a Texan drawl from behind. Two questions drift in the racing thoughts of Moyer's shrieking mind - what was in the cup? where did the President appear from? -entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!-
in 1990, the Israeli Secret Service (Mossad) show Prime Minister Yitshak Shamir pictures of a human body with unmistakeable evidence of alien genetic modification which washed ashore at Salalah in Oman four days before. He immediately sees the connection to the British and US refusal to authorise an Israel attack on the Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) in Iraq. A conventional attack would release biological warfare agents based on Extraterrestrial Technology (ET) into the atmosphere. An opportunist, Shamir immediately decides that the agents will be released, but in the direction of Tehran – defeating both Iran and Iraq, securing his position in history as the guarantor of the State of Israel into the twenty-first century. -entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!-
Before(cont.)
The kitchen wasn't as messy as he used to leave the one they lived in together, Steph was relieved to see. They left the carton of juice out, and there was a little juice slopped over on the table, but otherwise, everything was spotless. She took a paper towel from the roll above the sink and wiped off the table, then went to the fridge and got out some eggs.
Joan walked in, looking around expectantly. Her face fell when she saw that her mother was alone. “They're already gone?”
“Yeah. I s'pose they left before dawn.”
Joan nodded and sat down. “Do you think we have school today?”
“I haven't checked, yet.” She turned on the radio on the kitchen counter and the familiar voice of the emergency lady was telling them that the curfew hours were being lengthened. “I'm guessing no school,” Steph said, cracking an egg over a skillet on the stove.
“Wonder when we'll go back.”
Steph shrugged. “How long did it take the schools in New York to go back to normal after September 11?”
“I dunno. I think it took a while.”
“Mm-hm.” Steph grabbed the bacon from the fridge and slapped a few strips onto another skillet and started them sizzling. “I guess you're gonna have a break, then.”
“That's cool, I guess.”
“I should check in with my job, though. They'd understand about yesterday, but if they let us drive on the roads, now, I should go in.”
“How many people are really gonna be looking for a new house now, mom?”
Steph shrugged. “You got a point, I guess.”
“And,” Joan said quietly, “I'd kinda like it if you could stay with us.”
Steph looked over at her daughter. Joan was tall, like her father, but still so young, and so unready to face the world. She walked over and kissed her on the forehead. “OK, baby. I'll call in.”
“Thanks, mom.” Joan smiled and held her mother's hand. The two of them looked at each other for a second, then broke the moment. Steph went back to cooking and Joan got the juice out of the refrigerator.
George stumbled into the kitchen, yawning and stretching. He sniffed the bacon and eggs and said, “Awright.” He got the plates from the cupboard and set the table, then sat down and yawned some more.
“You get enough sleep, Georgie?”
“No,” he said, rubbing his eyes. “Do we gotta go to school?”
“No,” Joan and Steph said in unison.
“Awright,” George said, smiling widely. “I'll go back to bed after breakfast.”
Steph laughed a little at how easy it was for him to enjoy all this. “Don't sleep too late, now.” She pulled the eggs off the stove and spooned some onto the plates for the kids, then a little onto a plate for herself. She then took a paper towel, folded it up, then pressed down on the bacon in the skillet, getting it nice and crisp. After another few seconds of frying, she served that to the kids, saving a couple of choice pieces for herself.
As she sat down to join the kids, George asked, “So, dad and that other guy left already?”
Steph nodded. “I guess they had to get goin' real early. They were gone when I got up.”
That put a damper on the boy's mood. “Too bad.”
“Yeah,” Steph agreed. Joan looked a little questioningly at her mother, but didn't say anything. The three ate the rest of their breakfast without talking about the horrible things keeping them in this morning.
The state of TIAH
December 1st, 2006
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Alternate Historian's Note: NaNoWriMo is over, but we have more novel-writing to do. And, since Blogger still hasn't restored our ability to update the old TIAH site, we plan to do it here. We also have Guest Historians who will be writing entries for your entertainment. As regards returning to the main site, please raise a fuss with Blogger and Google about this, if you have a blog or can post to one. I have yet to receive a reply from them about our situation, and it is starting to tick me off. Don't change your bookmarks yet, but I have to say that Wordpress is very nice compared to Blogger, so I am definitely thinking about making this move permanent. If you like it, too, email and let us know. In the meantime, be sure to visit our Guest Historian's, too, when they have a web site they want you to visit. Stephen Payne's work can be had from Lulu. Thanks for sticking with us!
in 1872, on board the Mary Celeste; Captain Albert Richardson is a risk-taker, but after his service in the slaughter known as the American Civil War, he takes no chances with his men. He orders the remaining five members of the crew into the lifeboat, which he secures to the ship with a strong tow-line. For good measure, he takes the ship’s navigation tools and a supply of rations. He goes below deck to open barrel #1701. Minutes later he returns shrieking, "Cut the rope, cut the rope!" And they are adrift in the Atlantic. Richardson sits speechlessly on the lifeboat as they distance themselves from the Celeste. By the time he is completely dry, the crew has noticed that 28-year old Captain Albert Richardson’s hair has gone completely white. -entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!-
in 1941, the British Eighth Army led by Field Marshall Bernard Law Montgomery crosses the western border of Egypt preparing to overrun French North Africa. The academic disciplines of physics and history compete as Karl Marx' theory of irreversible historical processes is about to be sorely tested as an irresistible force is about to collide with an immovable object. In Algiers, the Desert Rat known as Brigadier General Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle readies La Grande Armée Afrique for a fight to the death. The destruction of the French Mediterranean Fleet at Mers-el-Kébir severely limits supply options for de Gaulle. As a former boxing champion in La Grande Armée he knows that a knock-out punch is required in the first round. Driven by the greater glory of France, he prepares French Forces to defeat the “axis of evil” criminals responsible for the "day of infamy deux six un un" (2611). -entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!-
in 1966, Bill Moyers regains consciousness in a locked underground room in the White House. His unidentified companion brings him up to speed - "'Nam is one big meat-grinder for the project. Hybrids like Johnson are being developed by the Alliance for re-population; conversion failures are hidden amongst combat body count". Incredulously, Moyers looks away and his eyes settle on a silent TV screen showing the United Nations Security Council in session. US Ambassador Arthur J. Goldberg is speaking to British Representative Lord Caradon, there is a bottle of Fresca in front of both of them. His mouth in an o-shape, Moyers turns back to his companion and says - "I think I understand". -entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!-
in 1990, Israeli Flying Ace Ilan Ramon receives a mission briefing directly from Prime Minister Yitshak Shamir. Ramon was the leader of the 1981 attack which destroyed the Iraqi nuclear reactor at Osirak. Codenamed Operation Opera, eight F-16 multi-role fighters and six F-15 escorts had flown so close together as to appear as a single large jet on Iraqi radar. Shamir explains that the mission he has in mind is similar in tactical execution, but more decisive for the future of the State of Israel. -entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!-
Before(cont.)
Janice woke up and looked at her watch. It was just a few minutes until the alarm was going to go off, so she turned it off and looked over at the bed. Miss Raintree was sleeping like a baby, Janice stood and stretched, envying the young woman's easy rest. Her neck was sore and her back and butt were complaining from sleeping propped up at the door.
She went to the bathroom and splashed some water on her face, used the facilities, then went back to the door. Miss Raintree stirred a little, but didn't wake up. Janice still could use some evidence from her, or at least contact information, but doubted that anyone was still available at Raintree's Crawford address. This was probably the best place to leave her.
She touched the young woman's shoulder and shook her. Raintree woke up, disoriented. “Hey, kid, it's OK. You're in a motel about twenty miles from Waco. I need to leave you here for a few hours, maybe most of the day. I'll pay for the room.” She looked into Raintree's eyes and asked, “Will you stay here till I get back?”
The young woman pushed some hair out of her face and mumbled, “Sure.”
“It's very important that you are still here when I get back. Do you understand me?”
“Yeah, yeah,” Raintree said, flopped her head back on the pillow.
“I'm leaving some money for you to get breakfast and lunch at the diner here. I should be back before dinner.” I hope, she didn't add.
“Thanks.”
“You bail on me, and I'm going to hunt you down.” She tightened her grip on Raintree's shoulder. “You got me?”
Raintree looked hurt and confused. “OK, OK. I'll stay here.” When Janice let go of her shoulder, she said, “I got noplace else to go, anyway.”
Janice turned to the door, then thought of something and turned back. “If somebody other than me tries to get you to take off with them, don't. You know some things that certain people don't want to become public. OK?”
Raintree just mumbled. Janice let her go back to sleep. She left a couple of Andrew Jacksons on the table, picked up her things, and walked outside. It had gotten chilly overnight, and her breath fogged up as she stood there and got used to it. She looked over in the direction of her car, so no one around it, and then walked over to the motel's front desk.
The same guy was still there, looking bleary-eyed and grumpy. “I need to pay for another day,” she told him.
“Fine,” he said. “$49.50.”
She pulled out some more of her dwindling supply of twenties and handed them over. He got her change and handed it back to her. “Any news on when you'll be able to leave?”
“No.” He looked dejectedly over at the television behind the counter. “They say the emergency is 'ongoing'. Crap. I was gonna graduate this semester, too.”
“Life's hard all over,” Janice said, walking back to her car.
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