Signaller
Not too sore, are you?
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Are we going to discover that something like Blutz Waves exist here? 
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With This Ring (Young Justice SI) (Thread Fourteen)
- Thread starter Mr Zoat
- Start date
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- self insert young justice
AverusBlack
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This seems like a targeted attack. Are we sure it's Dru-Zod and Ursa that were stopped and not some decoy?
Zig
Not too sore, are you?
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No, De-Coy i still in the phantom zone.
AverusBlack
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CrazyNoVa
Not too sore, are you?
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The best part about that sentence is that because of how batshit crazy DC lore is, I legitimately can't tell if you're joking or if there actually is a character named De-Coy out there.
Diplomacy (part 7)
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Mr Zoat
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Universe 191
22nd May 1954
01:01 GMT
Mr. Evans takes a sip from his coffee mug with a moue of distaste. "Are you sure that you don't want one, sir?"
I shake my head as I wait for the call. "You know I've never had a taste for it."
"It is rather early in the morning."
Mr. Murrow expressed a preference for a live interview. Or rather, his management team did, probably assuming that I'd decline, or that if I said 'yes' that I'd go to America and they could do the interview there. Since I rather like the Foreign Secretary and didn't want to give him a heart attack I didn't agree to that, but I did say that I'd be willing to do an interview if they wanted to send their team here. But since the program is live, we're forced to be active before dawn to make their broadcast slot.
"Oh, I can manage an interview. Remind me to thank the technicians in person."
He looks a little concerned. "The… British technicians, you mean?"
Recording and transmitting the interview in real time to the United States via satellite required a little extra work at our end, but working out how to send that signal out to American households from theirs was far more difficult. Aside from anything else, our equipment isn't remotely compatible. But, they managed it, and-.
The producer gives me the nod, and I stroll out of the wings and onto the stage. I can't quite prevent myself glancing at the camera pointing at me, and raise my right hand in a polite wave.
No audience and no applause. This isn't The Tonight Show, run by comedians and frequently interviewing them. And my handlers are a bit concerned about someone taking a shot. The actual noise is… Hums from the machinery, footsteps, muffled speaking that hopefully won't get picked up by the microphones. And the subtle movement of rifle straps from my protection detail, because we weren't able to screen the whole crew in the sort of detail that we'd like to.
They did all have their taints checked, however.
I turn my attention to my interviewer as I approach the seating. Originally from North Carolina, he moved to the United States as Featherstone's media restrictions began to bite and became one of their harshest critics. As a result, he's just about the only Southerner in the Reunited States media. I haven't watched much of his work, but his interview with former Confederate General Clarence Potter was fair and balanced, and he kept his cool when Potter recounted his intention to assassinate President Featherstone which was only foiled by another clumsier assassin.
How these little things change events.
"Mister Talwyn." Mr. Murrow nods politely as I sit down, his expression neutral. "Thank you for joining us."
I smile, drawing upon sixty years worth of advancement in media manipulation techniques. "Mister Murrow, thank you for having me."
"Mister Talwyn, you are the owner and Chairman of Black Arrow, the British company responsible for Britain's journeys into outer space. Is that correct?"
I nod. "Chairman and largest shareholder, yes. I founded the company only a.. few months after the end of the last war, and I'm very proud of what we've been able to achieve."
"How do you explain the tremendous advancements you've been able to make in the field of rocketry?"
"Well, there's a number of factors. Having hundreds of highly qualified engineers leaving military service with all the skills they'd acquired was a big help. The.. support of the British government in ensuring a favourable legislative environment. But in terms of social impact, I think it was due to the British people needing something to look forwards to, to believe in, that wasn't the inevitability of Great War Three. Presenting them with a positive vision of our nation's future was enough to make them get behind us, support us, and… Well, avoid the sorts of social upsets that other nations on the losing side saw after the dust settled."
Like the German army having to step in to prevent the French government getting guillotined by a French mob, or former General Patton having to gun down fanatical Freedom Party stalwarts when they tried ambushing him. Though I'm honestly a little sceptical about that one; to my nose it reeks of a bungled O.S.S. operation.
"And what does that vision consist of?"
"Peaceful exploration of our solar system, the exploitation of the natural resources contained therein, and an effective military deterrence for the purpose of self-defence."
"And what form does that military deterrence take?"
"The greatest weapons held by the United States of America and the German Empire are fission bombs. 'Superbombs', as they're colloquially known. Each of them is capable of demolishing a town, and I'm sure that both nations have plans for larger ones, or for mounting them on large rockets so that they no longer have to worry about their bombers being intercepted by enemy aircraft before they reach their target. The greatest weapons currently in the possession of The Kingdom of Great Britain are our orbital railguns. Each of them are similarly capable of demolishing a town."
There's a slight… Not a twitch, but he goes a little more still for an instant than he had been. The demonstration a little over a week ago was the first demonstration of the weapon, the first time it had been fired at an Earthly target, but we couldn't cover something like that up completely. Far too many people worked on the project for something like that, though I'm confident that no one knew exactly what we were up to.
Because it was all assembled in space.
"The principles involved are quite simple. If you take a pebble and drop it into a sandpit, it makes a divot and throws-" I make an expanding motion with both hands. "-the sand it displaced outwards. Our railguns use magnetic repulsion to throw metal rods into the Earth's atmosphere from outside of it."
"If you don't mind me saying so, that sounds like something out of Buck Rogers."
"Oh, not at all. The physics of the railgun are common knowledge amongst physicists, much as the basic principles of the fission bomb were known during the First Great War. It's only more recently that our knowledge of practical matters has advanced to the point where it becomes possible to use it as a weapon. Honestly, our measuring device which measures using rays of light or our oven which cooks using radio waves are far stranger. But probably a bit less significant to the field of geopolitics. No, we won't be in Buck Rogers territory until we produce laser or plasma weapons, and those are both a long way off."
"Perhaps you could explain for our viewers what those are?"
"'Laser' stands for 'light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation'. In effect, you get a very powerful ray of light. To weaponize it, you would need a ray powerful enough to outperform a bullet, which would have to be very powerful indeed, and well beyond our capabilities. Likewise, plasma is a sort of energised gas, and in our work the creation of plasma is more the unintended consequence of inefficiency rather than a goal itself."
"That doesn't sound particularly peaceful."
I shrug. "The same rockets that carry explosives into enemy cities can carry people to the moon or to Mars. Likewise, a powerful industrial laser in a factory can be used to create precise cuts in sheet metal, and a weak one can be pulsed extremely rapidly to convey messages from place to place. I think that after the last forty years the world can do without novel weapon systems for a little while."
"I believe that your company makes those as well. In fact, you recently conducted a sales demonstration for interested parties."
I nod. "Sending rocket into space is quite expensive. Selling time on our communications satellites doesn't begin to cover our costs. And while the Second Great War may be over for our countries, there's still fighting in a lot of places. Or places that are concerned that fighting might start."
"Such as?"
"I believe that Brazil and Mexico are concerned about the possibility that the United States might start to lean on them. When one country can destroy a city with a single bomb, any country that can't return the favour desperately needs to make sure that such a bomb can't get through or it can't guarantee its people's safety. How would the people of the northern United States have felt if Featherstone had put more resources into the Confederacy's nuclear program before the war, and demonstrated a bomb before things kicked off?"
"Extremely scared, I would imagine."
"Quite so. And while I suspect that the War Office are too realistic to think that they could afford to invade the Empire of Brazil, I'm sure that someone has brought up the idea of detonating a fission bomb nearby just to remind them who's in charge. Of course, there was an American party at our demonstration as well, and we're happy to sell to anyone with money."
He nods. "Speaking of the former President of the Confederacy, I know that the people of the United States are interested in Britain's involvement with his crimes."
Ah. Sounds like the warm up's over.
22nd May 1954
01:01 GMT
Mr. Evans takes a sip from his coffee mug with a moue of distaste. "Are you sure that you don't want one, sir?"
I shake my head as I wait for the call. "You know I've never had a taste for it."
"It is rather early in the morning."
Mr. Murrow expressed a preference for a live interview. Or rather, his management team did, probably assuming that I'd decline, or that if I said 'yes' that I'd go to America and they could do the interview there. Since I rather like the Foreign Secretary and didn't want to give him a heart attack I didn't agree to that, but I did say that I'd be willing to do an interview if they wanted to send their team here. But since the program is live, we're forced to be active before dawn to make their broadcast slot.
"Oh, I can manage an interview. Remind me to thank the technicians in person."
He looks a little concerned. "The… British technicians, you mean?"
Recording and transmitting the interview in real time to the United States via satellite required a little extra work at our end, but working out how to send that signal out to American households from theirs was far more difficult. Aside from anything else, our equipment isn't remotely compatible. But, they managed it, and-.
The producer gives me the nod, and I stroll out of the wings and onto the stage. I can't quite prevent myself glancing at the camera pointing at me, and raise my right hand in a polite wave.
No audience and no applause. This isn't The Tonight Show, run by comedians and frequently interviewing them. And my handlers are a bit concerned about someone taking a shot. The actual noise is… Hums from the machinery, footsteps, muffled speaking that hopefully won't get picked up by the microphones. And the subtle movement of rifle straps from my protection detail, because we weren't able to screen the whole crew in the sort of detail that we'd like to.
They did all have their taints checked, however.
I turn my attention to my interviewer as I approach the seating. Originally from North Carolina, he moved to the United States as Featherstone's media restrictions began to bite and became one of their harshest critics. As a result, he's just about the only Southerner in the Reunited States media. I haven't watched much of his work, but his interview with former Confederate General Clarence Potter was fair and balanced, and he kept his cool when Potter recounted his intention to assassinate President Featherstone which was only foiled by another clumsier assassin.
How these little things change events.
"Mister Talwyn." Mr. Murrow nods politely as I sit down, his expression neutral. "Thank you for joining us."
I smile, drawing upon sixty years worth of advancement in media manipulation techniques. "Mister Murrow, thank you for having me."
"Mister Talwyn, you are the owner and Chairman of Black Arrow, the British company responsible for Britain's journeys into outer space. Is that correct?"
I nod. "Chairman and largest shareholder, yes. I founded the company only a.. few months after the end of the last war, and I'm very proud of what we've been able to achieve."
"How do you explain the tremendous advancements you've been able to make in the field of rocketry?"
"Well, there's a number of factors. Having hundreds of highly qualified engineers leaving military service with all the skills they'd acquired was a big help. The.. support of the British government in ensuring a favourable legislative environment. But in terms of social impact, I think it was due to the British people needing something to look forwards to, to believe in, that wasn't the inevitability of Great War Three. Presenting them with a positive vision of our nation's future was enough to make them get behind us, support us, and… Well, avoid the sorts of social upsets that other nations on the losing side saw after the dust settled."
Like the German army having to step in to prevent the French government getting guillotined by a French mob, or former General Patton having to gun down fanatical Freedom Party stalwarts when they tried ambushing him. Though I'm honestly a little sceptical about that one; to my nose it reeks of a bungled O.S.S. operation.
"And what does that vision consist of?"
"Peaceful exploration of our solar system, the exploitation of the natural resources contained therein, and an effective military deterrence for the purpose of self-defence."
"And what form does that military deterrence take?"
"The greatest weapons held by the United States of America and the German Empire are fission bombs. 'Superbombs', as they're colloquially known. Each of them is capable of demolishing a town, and I'm sure that both nations have plans for larger ones, or for mounting them on large rockets so that they no longer have to worry about their bombers being intercepted by enemy aircraft before they reach their target. The greatest weapons currently in the possession of The Kingdom of Great Britain are our orbital railguns. Each of them are similarly capable of demolishing a town."
There's a slight… Not a twitch, but he goes a little more still for an instant than he had been. The demonstration a little over a week ago was the first demonstration of the weapon, the first time it had been fired at an Earthly target, but we couldn't cover something like that up completely. Far too many people worked on the project for something like that, though I'm confident that no one knew exactly what we were up to.
Because it was all assembled in space.
"The principles involved are quite simple. If you take a pebble and drop it into a sandpit, it makes a divot and throws-" I make an expanding motion with both hands. "-the sand it displaced outwards. Our railguns use magnetic repulsion to throw metal rods into the Earth's atmosphere from outside of it."
"If you don't mind me saying so, that sounds like something out of Buck Rogers."
"Oh, not at all. The physics of the railgun are common knowledge amongst physicists, much as the basic principles of the fission bomb were known during the First Great War. It's only more recently that our knowledge of practical matters has advanced to the point where it becomes possible to use it as a weapon. Honestly, our measuring device which measures using rays of light or our oven which cooks using radio waves are far stranger. But probably a bit less significant to the field of geopolitics. No, we won't be in Buck Rogers territory until we produce laser or plasma weapons, and those are both a long way off."
"Perhaps you could explain for our viewers what those are?"
"'Laser' stands for 'light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation'. In effect, you get a very powerful ray of light. To weaponize it, you would need a ray powerful enough to outperform a bullet, which would have to be very powerful indeed, and well beyond our capabilities. Likewise, plasma is a sort of energised gas, and in our work the creation of plasma is more the unintended consequence of inefficiency rather than a goal itself."
"That doesn't sound particularly peaceful."
I shrug. "The same rockets that carry explosives into enemy cities can carry people to the moon or to Mars. Likewise, a powerful industrial laser in a factory can be used to create precise cuts in sheet metal, and a weak one can be pulsed extremely rapidly to convey messages from place to place. I think that after the last forty years the world can do without novel weapon systems for a little while."
"I believe that your company makes those as well. In fact, you recently conducted a sales demonstration for interested parties."
I nod. "Sending rocket into space is quite expensive. Selling time on our communications satellites doesn't begin to cover our costs. And while the Second Great War may be over for our countries, there's still fighting in a lot of places. Or places that are concerned that fighting might start."
"Such as?"
"I believe that Brazil and Mexico are concerned about the possibility that the United States might start to lean on them. When one country can destroy a city with a single bomb, any country that can't return the favour desperately needs to make sure that such a bomb can't get through or it can't guarantee its people's safety. How would the people of the northern United States have felt if Featherstone had put more resources into the Confederacy's nuclear program before the war, and demonstrated a bomb before things kicked off?"
"Extremely scared, I would imagine."
"Quite so. And while I suspect that the War Office are too realistic to think that they could afford to invade the Empire of Brazil, I'm sure that someone has brought up the idea of detonating a fission bomb nearby just to remind them who's in charge. Of course, there was an American party at our demonstration as well, and we're happy to sell to anyone with money."
He nods. "Speaking of the former President of the Confederacy, I know that the people of the United States are interested in Britain's involvement with his crimes."
Ah. Sounds like the warm up's over.
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Darko
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"theirs"
I'm sure that was something they'll never forget, no matter how much they try.
Artificial_Icecube
Know what you're doing yet?
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Do you write these in batches or do you actually sit and write a new chapter every single day?
Duke Long
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'fighting'?
'fighting'?
Chojin Patriarch
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Very much in the 'Oh my God what am I doing awake?' hours. A time that only night-shift folks would be reasonably busy. Which means something is afoot and it looks like Talwyn is enjoying folk's discomfort.
I rather imagine their reaction to him leaving England for America would be an emphatic 'Pardon my French, but fuck, no." Far too much risk of some intelligence agency making him disappear into a black-site for 'questioning.'
Honestly, don't act like they're not experts in their field just because they're foreign, sir...
No doubt because of different signal standards. American television used the NTSC encoding standard for television, whereas the UK used PAL. For a start, they don't even use the same refresh rate...
And in any other circumstance, there'd probably be polite applause, but...
And the guards aren't being paid to clap.
That's some impressive self-control. I suspect a northerner would have given him a knuckle sandwich to chew on, career bedamned.
For folks wanting an idea of how he sounded, this should do nicely.
On the other hand, Murrow is one of the good ones. If you don't be an asshole with him, he won't be one with you.
Sadly, it's not like he can say "I stole spaceflight technology from alien lizards." Especially since I'm assuming they're using conventional launch methods... But once they're out of sight of the ground...
When the lands around you look like shit, you naturally tend to look upwards.
...Honestly, I can believe he'd get involved in a gunfight with assassins.
To maybe-misquote Teddy Roosevelt: 'Speak softly but carry a big stick.' And Britain has a pretty big stick right now.
And good luck shooting them down.
I also wouldn't be surprised if they couldn't be turned outwards as well.I'm sure this is being recorded as well as going out live. And those recordings are going to be pored over in detail by the intelligence agencies, I bet.
And unlike an air-raid, there's next to no warning when they're coming, as we saw.
In this case, Science Truth is stranger than Science fiction.
One of the limiting factors of energy-based weapons: Obscene power requirements. A couple of AAs can run a laser pointer, sure, but to produce enough heat to melt steel? That's gonna take some serious juice.
Spitting truths their governments would rather not hear. And after a World War, that sort of sentiment is a lot stronger...
And with no Cold War to keep heads cool, some of those fights are going to turn rather hot.
There would definitely be some soiled pants in the halls of power... And making such a demonstration can be a lot more effective than keeping it all secret.
No doubt said War office is drooling over the possibility of getting samples of that tech for the purposes of reverse engineering it and making 'proper' American versions of it.
Because Murrow was a man not about to not ask the hard questions. Especially during the McCarthy era.
Hopefully Talwyn can navigate the metaphorical minefield and give the Americans a good impression of him. Not just in the name of profits, but perhaps making it a little more troublesome for some nut in a foreign affairs office to decide to 'silence' him... There's already been one assassination attempt so far, and it may not be the last.
And that one might aim for the head.
Mr Zoat
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Thank you, corrected.
One segment Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Two on Saturday and Sunday.
Khettien
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So...the anatomical definition I'm familiar with is that the taint is the expanse of skin located between the genitals and the anus. What exactly are they looking for there? I admit, I'm not fully up to the lizard-people-as-illuminati conspiracy theories.
Mr Zoat
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Guns. As that version of the SI mentioned earlier, it's a pretty good place to smuggle a weapon.
Darko
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This version of Paul was nearly assassinated a few chapters ago.
The assassin hid his weapon there.
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Steelplaza
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Paul is introduced as a CEO who technically has no position in the British government. He could pretty easily duck and say that he didn't even found his company until after the war ended, and he has no obligation or authority or even knowledge to talk about what the British government might have been thinking before and during the war.
PDV
Revelation That Uncertainty Is Itself An Answer
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"word for it", unless this is a Britishism I've never heard
Mr Zoat
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Thank you, corrected.
Mr Zoat
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That's the first I've heard of that.
Diplomacy (part 8)
New
Mr Zoat
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Universe 191
22nd May 1954
01:05 GMT
"Ah… Do you mean, 'what did I know personally', or 'what did the British government know'? Because I'm afraid that I'm not the Foreign Secretary, and…" I shake my head. "At the time, my position wasn't anything like armigerous enough to be included in whatever reports we had on our ally's internal affairs."
"Let's start with what you knew personally."
I nod. "I realise that it sounds incredible, but the first time I heard the name 'Jake Featherstone' I was in space. And the Confederacy was already on the verge of collapse."
He blinks. "I hadn't realised that the British space program went back that far."
"Travel in space teaches you that momentum is a harsh mistress. Without an atmosphere to provide resistance, an object in motion tends to remain in motion. If a ship wants to turn around, it has to-" I make a turning motion with my right hand. "-turn over and then accelerate back in the direction of travel, first neutralising its own momentum before it can start travelling back in the direction it came from. And if the journey had been planned with the assumption that the traveller would take advantage of planetary bodies to aid in turning, it may not even have the fuel to do that. And if you don't have enough fuel to do that, sometimes people on the ground decide that it isn't worth worrying you about certain things."
"Like a war."
"To be fair, they're not wrong. We have a similar protocol in place now."
"So you didn't have any involvement in the war at all."
"No, not quite. As I said, I was on Earth near the end. I was actually responsible for intercepting the German Empire's fission bombs. If I remember the normal crew complement for German Heavy Bombers, I killed sixteen people in total, and prevented the deaths of a million or so. Didn't even become an Ace."
"I wasn't aware that the German Empire used superbombs."
"Yes, they were going to keep quiet until they went off. Then they didn't go off, so that was probably for the best. We recovered the bombs, but… The British position in the war was untenable, and we didn't want Germany to try forcing a conventional landing. So we didn't try.. returning them to sender with the fuse lit or anything like that."
"How were you able to intercept a particular heavy bomber?"
"British intelligence gathering is pretty good. We knew that the Germans were working on fission bombs, and we knew roughly where they'd be launching from once they were ready. Reconnaissance planes would have been shot down, but it's a-" I point upwards. "-good deal harder to shoot down something outside of the atmosphere. And if you know exactly where the target is, it's a lot easier to intercept."
"When did you first hear about the Freedom Party's mass murders?"
"Oh, after the armistice. Probably a few weeks after it became common knowledge in the United States. The Irish Broadcasting Corporation made a point of broadcasting it to Britain with enough power to block out our own main radio stations."
"You didn't see the camps from space?"
"I saw camps from space. A group of people looks like a group of people, and a training ground looks a lot like a prison camp."
"Death camp."
I nod. "Those too. The fact is, putting people of suspect loyalty in detainment during major wars is such a common practice that every major participant in the war did it. And loathsome as the man turned out to be, there was a major Black insurgency during the First Great War. Nothing I saw shouted 'mass executions here', though I… In no way doubt the authenticity of the reports."
"And now that you know about them? How do you feel?"
I sag in my seat. "Jesus Christ."
He nods. "I think a lot of us had that reaction."
"I mean… Even… Putting aside the monstrous barbarity of the act… What the-? What was he thinking, forcing such a huge proportion of his population to become economically inactive just before -and during- a major war? Black Confederates were involved in every part of Confederate society during the First Great War, some even fought as soldiers. It's like he cared more about killing Blacks than beating the United States."
"Did anything like that happen over here?"
"If it did, the government kept quiet about it." I shake my head. "I don't think so. The British Empire ruled over people of every ethnic background, and a good deal of what we were fighting for was to rule over them again. And we never had an uprising in the way that the Confederates did. Murdering the few people from other parts of the world who lived here wouldn't have made any sense at all."
"And the French?"
I nod. "You'd do better asking the Germans, but as I understand it they didn't go quite as far as the Confederates… But they were heading that way."
"And what did the British government know?"
"I don't know for certain. I could probably get access to the files if I asked, but I don't see the point. They probably knew that the camps existed, that Black people were being rounded up and moved to them, but I doubt that the Confederates were going to give clear answers if they'd asked what it was in aid of." I sigh. "I'd like to remind your American viewers is that Britain is the reason why the Confederates freed their slaves in the first place, and the reason why Africa and the Middle East don't have slavery. Or… Didn't. I understand that our waning influence has resulted in the practice resuming in some places."
"Resumed by who?"
I stare at him for a moment. "Africans and Middle Easterners, of course. I'm afraid that the particular circumstances of slavery in the Americas might have resulted in Americans getting the wrong impression about how slavery historically worked. Most slaves in history were owned by people who looked much like themselves. Black Africans owned Black Africans from other tribes, captured in raids or war, or purchased from people who captured them. Middle Easterners were major customers, and the reason why -unlike in America- there isn't a substantial black population in the Middle East is because they castrated the men they bought. Difficult to breed without the requisite equipment."
Mister Murrow hesitates for a moment. Probably not the harsh situation, but his employers still have to worry about government censure for bad language. It's going out post-watershed so I don't think I've said anything that's going to get them into trouble, but I probably skirting the edge there.
"What do you think would have happened if the British government had known?"
"President Featherstone would probably have gotten a letter pointing out that he was being a moron and actively hurting our side, which he would have ignored, unless he was having an unusually bad day, in which case he would have barged into our ambassador's office and harangued the man on the subject of keeping out of the Confederacy's internal affairs. Britain wasn't in a position to refuse an ally aiming at the same enemy as us, however distasteful we found their home policies. If we'd known well in advance what he and the French were planning to do… I don't know. I'd like to think that we'd have sat the war out, but realistically I don't think so. I think the government would have held their collective noses and just not informed the rest of us."
"How are relations between the Kingdom of Britain and the German Empire?"
"As good as can be expected, recent incident notwithstanding."
"What incident would that be?"
"One of their diplomats tried to murder me." I rub the site of my injury with my right hand. "Got a blooming great bruise where my armour stopped the bullet." His eyes widen slightly. "But I talked it over with His Majesty the Kaiser, and it wasn't an authorised attack. He removed the diplomat's immunity from prosecution and the man will be spending some considerable time in prison."
"Do you have any idea what motivated him to attack you?"
"A combination of things. He got it into his head that I was somehow solely responsible for the revival of Britain's fortunes in the post-War era, made somewhat more personal by the fact that one of his nephews was one of the sixteen people I killed. He seemed to think that if he killed me then Britain would naturally slip into the role of German puppet state."
"You do seem to have played a pre-eminent role."
"Oh, please. I'm sure it would be nice to be an omnidisciplinary genius who effortlessly masters every field he turns his attention to, but that's… Certainly not me. I'm a manager, and as any engineer will tell you, the manager is a person who doesn't know anything and insists on getting in the way anyway. No, I'm afraid that the bulk of the credit goes to hundreds of other people labouring in a hundred roles all across my company."
"And how do you see relations developing going forwards..?"
22nd May 1954
01:05 GMT
"Ah… Do you mean, 'what did I know personally', or 'what did the British government know'? Because I'm afraid that I'm not the Foreign Secretary, and…" I shake my head. "At the time, my position wasn't anything like armigerous enough to be included in whatever reports we had on our ally's internal affairs."
"Let's start with what you knew personally."
I nod. "I realise that it sounds incredible, but the first time I heard the name 'Jake Featherstone' I was in space. And the Confederacy was already on the verge of collapse."
He blinks. "I hadn't realised that the British space program went back that far."
"Travel in space teaches you that momentum is a harsh mistress. Without an atmosphere to provide resistance, an object in motion tends to remain in motion. If a ship wants to turn around, it has to-" I make a turning motion with my right hand. "-turn over and then accelerate back in the direction of travel, first neutralising its own momentum before it can start travelling back in the direction it came from. And if the journey had been planned with the assumption that the traveller would take advantage of planetary bodies to aid in turning, it may not even have the fuel to do that. And if you don't have enough fuel to do that, sometimes people on the ground decide that it isn't worth worrying you about certain things."
"Like a war."
"To be fair, they're not wrong. We have a similar protocol in place now."
"So you didn't have any involvement in the war at all."
"No, not quite. As I said, I was on Earth near the end. I was actually responsible for intercepting the German Empire's fission bombs. If I remember the normal crew complement for German Heavy Bombers, I killed sixteen people in total, and prevented the deaths of a million or so. Didn't even become an Ace."
"I wasn't aware that the German Empire used superbombs."
"Yes, they were going to keep quiet until they went off. Then they didn't go off, so that was probably for the best. We recovered the bombs, but… The British position in the war was untenable, and we didn't want Germany to try forcing a conventional landing. So we didn't try.. returning them to sender with the fuse lit or anything like that."
"How were you able to intercept a particular heavy bomber?"
"British intelligence gathering is pretty good. We knew that the Germans were working on fission bombs, and we knew roughly where they'd be launching from once they were ready. Reconnaissance planes would have been shot down, but it's a-" I point upwards. "-good deal harder to shoot down something outside of the atmosphere. And if you know exactly where the target is, it's a lot easier to intercept."
"When did you first hear about the Freedom Party's mass murders?"
"Oh, after the armistice. Probably a few weeks after it became common knowledge in the United States. The Irish Broadcasting Corporation made a point of broadcasting it to Britain with enough power to block out our own main radio stations."
"You didn't see the camps from space?"
"I saw camps from space. A group of people looks like a group of people, and a training ground looks a lot like a prison camp."
"Death camp."
I nod. "Those too. The fact is, putting people of suspect loyalty in detainment during major wars is such a common practice that every major participant in the war did it. And loathsome as the man turned out to be, there was a major Black insurgency during the First Great War. Nothing I saw shouted 'mass executions here', though I… In no way doubt the authenticity of the reports."
"And now that you know about them? How do you feel?"
I sag in my seat. "Jesus Christ."
He nods. "I think a lot of us had that reaction."
"I mean… Even… Putting aside the monstrous barbarity of the act… What the-? What was he thinking, forcing such a huge proportion of his population to become economically inactive just before -and during- a major war? Black Confederates were involved in every part of Confederate society during the First Great War, some even fought as soldiers. It's like he cared more about killing Blacks than beating the United States."
"Did anything like that happen over here?"
"If it did, the government kept quiet about it." I shake my head. "I don't think so. The British Empire ruled over people of every ethnic background, and a good deal of what we were fighting for was to rule over them again. And we never had an uprising in the way that the Confederates did. Murdering the few people from other parts of the world who lived here wouldn't have made any sense at all."
"And the French?"
I nod. "You'd do better asking the Germans, but as I understand it they didn't go quite as far as the Confederates… But they were heading that way."
"And what did the British government know?"
"I don't know for certain. I could probably get access to the files if I asked, but I don't see the point. They probably knew that the camps existed, that Black people were being rounded up and moved to them, but I doubt that the Confederates were going to give clear answers if they'd asked what it was in aid of." I sigh. "I'd like to remind your American viewers is that Britain is the reason why the Confederates freed their slaves in the first place, and the reason why Africa and the Middle East don't have slavery. Or… Didn't. I understand that our waning influence has resulted in the practice resuming in some places."
"Resumed by who?"
I stare at him for a moment. "Africans and Middle Easterners, of course. I'm afraid that the particular circumstances of slavery in the Americas might have resulted in Americans getting the wrong impression about how slavery historically worked. Most slaves in history were owned by people who looked much like themselves. Black Africans owned Black Africans from other tribes, captured in raids or war, or purchased from people who captured them. Middle Easterners were major customers, and the reason why -unlike in America- there isn't a substantial black population in the Middle East is because they castrated the men they bought. Difficult to breed without the requisite equipment."
Mister Murrow hesitates for a moment. Probably not the harsh situation, but his employers still have to worry about government censure for bad language. It's going out post-watershed so I don't think I've said anything that's going to get them into trouble, but I probably skirting the edge there.
"What do you think would have happened if the British government had known?"
"President Featherstone would probably have gotten a letter pointing out that he was being a moron and actively hurting our side, which he would have ignored, unless he was having an unusually bad day, in which case he would have barged into our ambassador's office and harangued the man on the subject of keeping out of the Confederacy's internal affairs. Britain wasn't in a position to refuse an ally aiming at the same enemy as us, however distasteful we found their home policies. If we'd known well in advance what he and the French were planning to do… I don't know. I'd like to think that we'd have sat the war out, but realistically I don't think so. I think the government would have held their collective noses and just not informed the rest of us."
"How are relations between the Kingdom of Britain and the German Empire?"
"As good as can be expected, recent incident notwithstanding."
"What incident would that be?"
"One of their diplomats tried to murder me." I rub the site of my injury with my right hand. "Got a blooming great bruise where my armour stopped the bullet." His eyes widen slightly. "But I talked it over with His Majesty the Kaiser, and it wasn't an authorised attack. He removed the diplomat's immunity from prosecution and the man will be spending some considerable time in prison."
"Do you have any idea what motivated him to attack you?"
"A combination of things. He got it into his head that I was somehow solely responsible for the revival of Britain's fortunes in the post-War era, made somewhat more personal by the fact that one of his nephews was one of the sixteen people I killed. He seemed to think that if he killed me then Britain would naturally slip into the role of German puppet state."
"You do seem to have played a pre-eminent role."
"Oh, please. I'm sure it would be nice to be an omnidisciplinary genius who effortlessly masters every field he turns his attention to, but that's… Certainly not me. I'm a manager, and as any engineer will tell you, the manager is a person who doesn't know anything and insists on getting in the way anyway. No, I'm afraid that the bulk of the credit goes to hundreds of other people labouring in a hundred roles all across my company."
"And how do you see relations developing going forwards..?"
Last edited:
TFTwink
I trust you know where the happy button is?
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in detainment
Darko
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Some people will do horrible, evil things even if they make no sense.
Heck, it wouldn't be the first time the Confederacy had done that.
During the Civil War, General Lee would make any captured black Union soldiers into slaves.
During negotiations the Union offered to release Confederate prisoners if Lee released said black soldiers, but Lee refused, even though he needed the men.
Mr Zoat
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Thank you, corrected.
Duke Long
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Every other instance of 'black' seems to be capitalised. Personally I prefer lower case (it's not as if we capitalise 'white') but for consistency I think you either ought to capitalise this or decapitalise the others, which I have bolded in other quotes. Maybe it's a thing in the source material that Black is a proper noun? Is that why?
'Americas'
'turns'?
Chojin Patriarch
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Technically, he didn't have a position in the British government until the day he captured a pair of nukes in flight and delivered them, disarmed, to the prime Minister personally. Though that was definitely one hell of a job interview.
Love how he's talking about his circumstances without actually revealing anything, and lets people's assumptions guide their responses. A 'magic' super-science do-anything ring would definitely fall under 'Buck Rogers' stuff.
Something a lot of science-fiction overlooks in the name of convenience: Momentum and Inertia. Along with the issues of having to carry fuel, mostly by giving them magical reactors with basically infinite fuel.
Although it's probably harder to stay in touch at long distances anyway, given lightspeed lag and signal attenuation.
And not doubt the audience is picturing him swooping down in a rocket ship straight out of Flash Gordon, cannons blazing...
Would have been a bit cheeky. and also have escalated the conflict unnecessarily.
And again, not actually saying how specifically, merely implying things and letting people come to their own conclusions. I'm betting those officials hearing this will be wondering 'Do the Brits have a space-capable fighter plane?'
Huh, looks like someone in charge was trying for the title of 'History's greatest monster'. This Featherstone fellow, from context, which probably puts him in the place Hitler occupies in our world.
True enough. Unless you catch someone in the moment of a mass firing quad or something, anyway.
It might sound a little crass to our modern ears, the way he puts it, but that's the common term of the day.
Not surprising.
There must have been some serious hate in there somewhere.
Yeah, as much as some hated it, most British subjects apparently ended up having pretty good lives.
Cultural whitewashing notwithstanding, anyway, I guess?Though focused on different targets, I wouldn't be surprised.
Of course it is, because being awful to out-group people is a Human thing.
...Ouch. But yes, the only thing the old slave trade triangle did was give those selling more buyers and more incentive to gather 'product' more aggressively... Much like most things the Europeans did for or to the continent, it was bad for someone.
'Post-watershed' being later in the broadcast evening, basically after the kids have been sent to bed. Usually around 7pm.
That sort of reaction would probably have raised a few red flags in the halls of power, though.
Still an era where news spreads slowly. Mostly due to the lack of international news broadcasts, I expect. Hard to spread word of something when most information spreads by being transported via plane by couriers.
I expect the Americans already know about that thanks to their local agents. But the general public will probably be sweating a bit.
...Okay, that probably is a good reason for the guy to have taken a shot.
Though having a discreet cheat sheet of alien technology probably helps them work. Even if knowledge of its existence is limited to a very select few...
Now that's a tricky minefield to negotiate.
Some difficult subjects, I see, though it helps those of us who aren't as well-read to get caught up on events via osmosis. And a good display of only telling people a few details and let them come to their own conclusions on certain matters Talywn probably can't speak openly about, like his Power Ring. Imagine the shock if that ever got exposed, charge or no charge. As it is, aliens are probably going to be a notable matter sooner or later...
Mr Zoat
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Thank you, corrected.
LordVishnu
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Mr. Zoat
This has nothing to do with the current update, but I just wanted to say that I am in awe of your ability to continuously crank these short chapters out almost every single day.
Especially since much of the feedback you get on any particular update just seems to be the pointing out of typos.
I don't know how you've maintained motivation this long. I don't know what your financial situation is that lets you have the free time to always be working on this. I don't know, maybe it's all just momentum.
But I just wanted to let you know that I'm appreciative and just stunned that you're still here. Back at it again day after day.
Cheers.
This has nothing to do with the current update, but I just wanted to say that I am in awe of your ability to continuously crank these short chapters out almost every single day.
Especially since much of the feedback you get on any particular update just seems to be the pointing out of typos.
I don't know how you've maintained motivation this long. I don't know what your financial situation is that lets you have the free time to always be working on this. I don't know, maybe it's all just momentum.
But I just wanted to let you know that I'm appreciative and just stunned that you're still here. Back at it again day after day.
Cheers.