Four
High Earth Orbit
An enormous disk of a ship coasted slowly towards high Earth orbit. A slight glow of a Gellar drive under one-quarter power slowly edged the enormous disk into the parking orbit recently vacated by the passenger liner Star of Carolina, just departed on the Forest – Tarbos – Harvey run. Once the huge cargo hull made a good orbit, the immense disk would detach and descend through the atmosphere to Off-World Mining & Exploration’s Fairplay, Colorado warehousing complex to be unloaded and reloaded. The command module would remain in orbit.
As the huge hull turned slowly in the bright light of the Sun coming over Earth’s north pole, the name of the ship became visible on the edge of the gray-painted disk:
Cachalot
The White House
President Gomez stared at the message form before him, reading the last paragraph again for the thousandth time that day.
THEREFORE, IT BECOMES APPARENT THAT WE MUST FORM AN ASSOCIATION OF SETTLED PLANETS TO PROVIDE FOR THE COMMON DEFENSE. I PROPOSE A MEETING OF THE PROJECT DIRECTORS AND SENIOR STAFF OF THE COLONY PLANETS AND MAJOR GOVERNMENT LEADERS FROM EARTH HERE ON TARBOS IN JUST OVER EIGHTEEN MONTHS, JUNE 1 2233. LIST OF PROPOSED ATTENDEES FOLLOWS.
Halfway down, following the list of OWME’s Project Directors, came four heads of state from Earth:
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA PRESIDENT ANTHONY GOMEZ
UNITED KINGDOM PRIME MINISTER JUSTIN MACDOWELL
RUSSIAN FEDERATION PRESIDENT KONSTANTIN GOGOL
REPUBLIC OF CHINA PRESIDENT KEE CHOW AN
The Japanese aren’t going to appreciate being left off this list, Gomez thought with a dark chuckle. They pretty much own the low-Earth orbit commercial satellite business.
“There’s a word for what they want to form, Tony,” Hector Gutierrez told him from his seat on the other side of the massive desk. “It’s not a nice word here in the States, thanks to a dark bit of our history, but it’s accurate. They want to form a Confederation. A limited association of sovereign states formed to regulate trade and provide for a common defense.”
“You’re right, eśe – and when you’re right, you’re right.” In private, the two tended to talk like the old childhood friends they were. “And it’s not a bad idea, either. That’s what America was founded to be.” He dropped the message form on the polished desktop. “Remember the Liberal/Progressive movements of the late 20th century? The old Democratic Party? That almost sunk that notion altogether, until the Third World War and the Libertarian Party’s becoming a force in national politics.” Gomez stood up and turned to look out the window, hands clasped behind him, unconsciously adopting the posture made famous by another President, many decades earlier. “Can you believe the Republican Party was on the right of national politics those days, and it was the old Democratic Party that was considered the ‘left?’ It’s only been the last fifty years that we managed to undo a lot of what they did back then – at least now Congress and the Supreme Court remembers that there’s a Constitution. I hear tell that some of them have actually read it.”
Vice President Gutierrez was looking thoughtfully at the ceiling, his mind turning over very rapidly. “And what’s more, if they manage to put something together, they’ll have to have a plebiscite of the various planets to put it in place – at least, if they want to have a free population. How’s that going to work on Earth, with all these different nations? Most all the planet has elected governments now, but there hasn’t been a serious international forum since the old UN collapsed in the mid two-thousands.”
“I’m not too worried about that. There’s the European Common Market, the African Confederation that’s still trying to form up, the Asian/Pacific Co-Prosperity Alliance, and the North American Free Trade Organization – and for that matter, there’s still technically a UN office in Belgium, you know. We’ll work something out, if there ends up being a good reason to do it.”
“So, are you going to this meeting? We can sure get passage on an OWME passenger liner, but you’re looking at being off-Earth and out of touch for at least a year, amigo. The ‘esteemed opposition’ is gonna take it out of your hide in the next election, bro, if you leave planet for a year.”
Gomez smiled lazily, like a cat contemplating a canary with a broken wing. “I know. That’s why I’m sending you.”
“Me?”
“You, Heck,” Gomez grinned at the Vice President as he invoked an ancient childhood nickname. “You’re the man this time. You’ll have to speak for the United States. I can’t go – you just explained one reason, and there are plenty of others. We still have a domestic agenda, remember?”
“You still want to push ahead with a planetary defense?”
“Damn right. Let’s be real, Heck – there isn’t likely to be too much come out of this meeting. You expect a bunch of businessmen to form a Galactic government?”
“From where I sit, miĵo, it doesn’t seem all that unlikely. You and I have only been pols for what, nine years? What were we doing before that?”
Gomez shrugged, conceding the point. “Well, that’s all the more reason for you to go – I can’t send a second-level functionary to something like this, and besides, I can trust you. These others,” Gomez waved a hand vaguely at the Oval Office doors, “they’re all Washington regulars. You and me, we went to school together, built a business together, we were in the trenches together. I need you to go to Tarbos, Heck.”
“I guess I can’t argue with that. So, when should I figure on leaving?”
“There’s an OWME liner leaving for Forest in three weeks, and then it goes from there to Tarbos. I’ve already got berths for you, Sandy, Maria and Manuel.”
“Well, at least my family gets a year-long space vacation. Say, will there be any landfall on Forest? Manuel always wanted to see it, ever since he read about the Grugell Invasion in middle school.”
“I’m sure you can arrange something,” Gomez said.
Tarbos
A scattering of hyperphone replies lay on Bob Pritchard’s desk. Aside from his old friend Stefan Ebensburg on Caliban, he’d received replies in the affirmative from all of the thirteen inhabited worlds. He read the names with a great deal of satisfaction:
From Earth:
United States, Vice President Hector Gutierrez
United Kingdom, Prince Harry IV, Prince of Wales
Russia, Vice President Vladimir Tarakanov
China, Prime Minister Kee Chow An
Only China’s Head of State is coming in person, Pritchard noted. Well, that’s to be expected – a major nation’s President can’t really be off world for a year. I wonder how Kee Chow An is getting away with it? His Parliament must be going nuts… He continued reading.
Caliban, Halifax, Forest, Selin, Chernov, New Albion, Zed, Harvey, Coronado, Arabia; all the names of attendees were of Assistant Directors or other high-level executives, but only Caliban’s Stefan Ebensburg was coming in person; and as yet, there was no answer from Corinthia. The name of the attendee from Forest was familiar, but didn’t belong to any OWME executive that Pritchard could remember. Crider, he asked himself, Crider, where have I heard that name before?
Of course! The Grugell invasion on Forest, he’s the big hero that led the scouts. The Battle of Crider Meadow, when they shut off the orbital broadcast power. Well, that’s interesting – he’ll be the only ordinary citizen here, not a politician or an executive. I wonder why they picked him? Old Bert Grolier’s heart probably won’t stand a shuttle launch from Forest, but he’s got assistants. Why this Crider fellow?
But the meeting was on, and it was only now that the thought occurred to Pritchard that had occurred to several other people in the process already: We’re forming an interstellar government, here.
I wonder what we should call it?
He stood up, gathering the stack of replies and dropping them in a drawer. A stab at a silver button on his desktop opened an audio channel to his primary assistant. “Marie? I’ll be over at the Central Library for a while.”
“All right.” Pritchard strode from his office, thinking hard: I’ve got a lot of preparation to do in the next few weeks.
To see more of Animal’s writing, visit his page at Crimson Dragon Publishing or Amazon.
and the Libertarian Party’s becoming a force in national politics
That is damn near Agile Cyborg quality there. Sorry Animal, maybe it should’ve been some other party, but the Libertarians are just such idiots. Then again, how can you have a political party filled with people who don’t like politics?
He is much more of an optimist than the curmudgeons around here. *refuses to make eye contact*
We are still in the monkey stage. Until we can break out of that our species will consist of slavers and those who demand the yoke.
I have personally dubbed the defeatist attitude around here as “vantablack-pilled” where people actively reject any sign of positive developments.
Those who demand the yoke, because that way – someone else is responsible, not them. The irony being they don’t see how easily “I was just following orders” would come out of their own mouths.
any sign of positive developments
Eh, you did read that the Libertarian ascendancy came in the wake of the 3rd world war didn’t you? Seems like two steps back to take one forward.
The new libertarian man is just as mythical as the new soviet man.
What kinnath sed.
A: Don’t mistake me for a Libertairan.
B: You reject positive developments in real life to wallow in pessimism and despair.
This is how I feel every time Libertarians get close to pulling back some power in the government:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8tcIJvae1fI
reject positive developments in real life
Really? Which ones have I rejected recently?
I’ll cop to skepticism of course, even some occasional cynicism, but not despair.
I’ll just point it out next time it happens – I doubt it will take long,.
“I have personally dubbed the defeatist attitude around here as “vantablack-pilled” where people actively reject any sign of positive developments.”
QFT. And this has nothing to do with libertarianism, big or small.
Libertarians winning an election is the least plausible thing in this story? Was there a part about flying pigs I missed?
Who said that in any sci-fi story, you get one free counterfactual, and superluminal travel is free?
By that standard, we’re still in the realm of hard sci-fi here…
This is my world. I made it. I am its God. And you have to admit, it would take a god to make the Libertarian Party amount to anything.
OT, Snap, crackle, pop anyone?
Actually, it’s time to pass a budget, not a CR.
Fuck that, cut spending.
Which would require a budget…
How does it take a budget to not spend?
Appropriations are where the real numbers are.
Because the alternative is a continuing resolution, which by definition continues current spending.
It may be hard to believe, but we haven’t hit the dysfunction of Argentina yet. You think we’ll be any smarter about acting before we reach that point?
Jar, you can simply not pass anything authorizing the appropriation or expenditure of funds. You don’t have to have something spending.
While not spending, draw up a new baseline without manditory anything, and actual reductions to below our revenues.
/dreams
I know that latter thing will be a budget, but you can simply not spend between now and the next decade when they get around to it.
The depressing thing is that medicare, social security and interest payments continue no matter how shut down it gets and that’s about half of the spending right there
It least I’m still getting paid.
that’s about half of the spending
Old numbers. They are about two thirds now. https://fiscaldata.treasury.gov/americas-finance-guide/federal-spending/#spending-categories
Not to be argumentative but that chart has them totalling 51%
On the govt union thing (a problem in itself but another discussion)….I asked Mrs. Suthenboy “What do you call someone that makes the same mistake over and over and never fucking learns?” Without hesitation she answered “A Democrat?”
Trump is going to win again.
Government is shut down? Huh, did not know that.
The all important sucker vote
The question isn’t how many farmers and ranchers will vote for Democrats, because they’re a tiny portion of the population. According to government data, fewer than a million and a half Americans farm as their primary occupation, or less than one-half of 1% of the population. But rural America writ large is central to Trump’s coalition, and Democrats tiptoe around those voters, desperate to show they’re listening and they care. They’d get a lot farther if they began their argument by saying “the Republicans you’ve been voting for up and down the ballot, starting with Trump? They take your votes for granted and make your lives worse in return.”
Democrats would never do that to any of their core constituencies. You can trust them.
Shouldn’t there be a whole bunch of blacks running toward that whistle?
Most people would rather be safe than free. Or even have the illusion of being free. Shouting freedom before a battle? That doesn’t happen. Allahu akbar, banzai, hoka hey, le mot de Cambronne, the rebel yell…that’s what a battle cry sounds like.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6jSqt39vFM
Slogan means battle cry in Irish (Gaelic). Soldiers can only well so much – hence the bugles, drums, whistles, flags, etc.
Only tribal societies can get by with just yelling, which often is borderline screaming.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjZCTGnrjf4
I like the Aztec death whistle:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKwUBtZYdYs
Imagine how that got invented. Someone who knows what dying scream sounds like blew into a crude whistle and the rest is history.
This scene has a legit “dying scream”: https://youtu.be/kDnim_yyLug?si=ABoTuEwZF9wqBHIk&t=212
Makes sense as many of extras were real combat vets. War movies made by vets are the ones worth watching. The violence got toned down for obvious reasons.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wveDGdtt-Mg
The scream at the 2:08 is chilling. The deputy did not survive.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_x_LNTFXNT8
The shooter was a Vietnam vet who was arrested not long after.
***
On January 12, 1998, Andrew Brannan, a 49-year-old Vietnam War veteran, fatally shot 22-year-old deputy sheriff Kyle Dinkheller after a traffic stop in Laurens County, Georgia.
***
Cops get trained by watching such films.
I watched that unedited video as part of one of my instructor certification classes. Chilling is a good word for it.
Brannan was (and is, I’m fairly sure he’s still alive) impressively insane. Around ten years into his sentence, Brannan was asked by an interviewer if he regretted anything that he did that day. He responded by making direct eye contact with the interviewer, and saying, “If I could relive that day, I would do exactly the same thing.”
Apparently, the trigger for Brannan was that he felt disrespected by a younger man telling him to take his hands out of his pockets. Quite a thing to murder a cop over. I repeat, they are not like you.
Dinkheller…well, I don’t necessarily feel good about speaking ill of the dead. But that man had no business at all being a police officer or carrying a gun.
“Imagine how that got invented”
They weren’t the only ones that had those. The ones who did not usually used a horn of some kind to make the lowest sound possible. Interesting note – infrasound, that is sound lower than our ears can hear, can elicit a feeling of dread even though we cant hear it.
Remember – in the scariest monster contest, sapiens sapiens won.
spoon
There was a big multilateral peace movement after WW1 because of how destructive it was. It was also a big reason why the US stayed out WW2 until Pearl Harbor.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kellogg%E2%80%93Briand_Pact
***
A common criticism is that the Kellogg–Briand Pact did not live up to all of its aims but has arguably had some success.[4] It was unable to prevent the Second World War but was the basis for trial and execution of wartime German leaders in 1946. Furthermore, declared wars became very rare after 1945.[5] It has been ridiculed for its moralism, legalism, and lack of influence on foreign policy. The pact had no mechanism for enforcement, and many historians and political scientists see it as mostly irrelevant and ineffective.
***
I’m sure most of us here knew that already, but for the benefit of any lurkers, etc. I explained it Barney style with crayons and finger puppets.
The scourge of affirmative action
Trump suspended refugee admissions into the U.S. in January. But the president made an exception to his ban in May, allowing 59 white South Africans, whom he claimed are a persecuted minority in the majority-Black nation, to enter the U.S. as refugees.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has called reports of white persecution in his country “a completely false narrative.” The facts are on Ramaphosa’s side.
The limit on the number of refugees allowed to legally enter the U.S. was 125,000 in the last year of President Joe Biden’s administration. Trump has agreed to admit only a fraction of that — 7,500 people — as refugees in 2026.
If the reduction in overall refugee admissions is combined with new restrictions on non-white and non-Christian immigrants, Trump will prevent many legitimate refugees — such as courageous Afghan Muslims who risked their lives working for the U.S. during the war against the Taliban — from entering our country.
He’s flooding the country with white Christians!
Ramaphosa, isn’t he the one that campaigned on legalizing the killing of whites?
“The facts are on Ramaphosa’s side” <— Now see Scott, when you say shit like that….
I wonder if anyone has asked the refugees?
Ramaphosa, isn’t he the one that campaigned on legalizing the killing of whites?
He campaigned on anti-corruption. Whether or not he was serious….
I think you are thinking of Julius Malema.
Demographers project that by around 2045, less than half the U.S. population will be made up of non-Hispanic whites. This has horrified white supremacists and has spawned a baseless racist conspiracy theory called the Great Replacement Theory. The theory falsely claims Jews and others have organized an “invasion” of the U.S. by nonwhite immigrants to replace whites.
Preposterous hogwash. Nobody’s advocating increased immigration.
Here’s the really fucked up part: Hollywood makes movies like American History X and then let the voice of reason a Neo-Nazi. Not sure if it’s intentional or just plain dumb.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hz7JdLugr34
[head desk]
From the ded thread: I called back the lawyer’s office. The head guy (the face on the billboard) is someone I’ve known a very long time. The secretary took down my info and said she’d talk to the lawyers and get back to me in an hour. I name dropped and told her my last name. Sixty seconds later she called back. “He said to bring you in. And also he says Hey.” So they got me in tomorrow. We’ll see what happens. I’m assuming I will have to be vague about this in the future. I haven’t put anything out on social media about it.
Good luck.
This is the right move.
I’m not sure how much they can sue for based on my injuries, but this is the best possible guy I can have in my corner.
I’m not sure how much they can sue for based on my injuries
Disclaimer: I’m not an ambulance chaser, so I have no idea.
Anything that is not permanent is going to be hard to get meaningful recovery for. “I had to go to a pt twice a week for 3 months” isn’t gonna get the jury’s motor running.
That said, you’re doing all the right things. Do not trust your insurance company even one iota. They’re not your friend right now, they’re your enemy.
From my own PI suit, they can ask for what is reasonable. In other words, pain and suffering is real, and asking for compensation is reasonable. Loss of your vehicle, especially when you are previously handicapped, is a real loss. And so on. They cannot ask for damages above and beyond.
But, the important point about a lawyer is what Trashy said: don’t trust anyone. No one is working for you other than the lawyer, in fact, they are all working against you.
Coverage for any expenses not covered by insurance, plus an actual fair payment that replaces your destroyed car would be a great start.
I’m assuming I will have to be vague about this in the future.
Wise plan.
B: You reject positive developments in real life to wallow in pessimism and despair.
Yes, I am depressed.
I’m much younger that 4score, but I have been around for a little while. Life has lots of up and down cycles, but the trend was generally upward for the majority of my life.
Until Obama. That was an inflection point. Things have been trending downwards ever since at was seems like an ever increasing pace. And I am tired of watching this slow-motion train wreck as I get to what should be my retirement years.
But, the decline seems to have flattened out since Trump’s election last year. The only question is whether this is a new inflection point and things will start to get better again. Or whether it’s just a minor pause before things continue to go to shit.
The left seems to be increasing willing to march us onward to a civil war. And so, I do despair and view the occasional positives to be merely life laughing ironically at me.
Increasingly willing? They are actively pushing for it.
I’ll perhaps give you a bit of sunshine for today.
Yes, there seems to be a self destructive impulse on the left, and there are a lot of people (young women especially) who are unthinkingly marching toward that destruction.
On the other hand, the issue has been identified and is being reacted to by parts of the culture. Public school is less and less popular, and the arguments for sending kids to public school that used to be treated seriously in sane circles are now being laughed out of the room. People are now inherently skeptical of anybody who claims victimhood. The march of DEI in corporate America has been halted and the worst excesses have been curtailed. The tools the left have liberally used over the past 120 years to manufacture societal drift are dull and ineffective.
Meanwhile, if you turn off your screens and go outside, life is continuing much as it has for a long time. Yeah, you may need to get out of certain cities to see it. Yeah, people are addicted to their screens. Yeah, families are broken and kids are raised as vessels for vicarious living. Yeah, everything is unaffordable. However, the average person is still finding ways to enjoy life and the world around them. There are plenty of pockets of people who work hard, enjoy nature, let their kids be kids, and appreciate the little things. Plenty of communities where faith, family, and minding your own business are the key pillars. Plenty of folks who would gladly give their shirt off their back if you needed it.
Life hasn’t changed so much , it’s the availability and access to information. TV has brought so much into our living rooms and we can’t get it out.
We have changed, our kids have changed, our grand kids are unrecognizable.
Those of you that are young parents still see the little kids that depend on you for every thing. Every time I see a baby I can only smile, the little one
brings so much joy to the family. Then think of your own life, our own parents are gone or elderly. Our adult kids are off seeking their fortune and we still worry about them.
Then one day it’s over…
This is a decent article. https://www.nationalreview.com/2025/10/donald-trump-has-broken-the-progressive-ratchet/
tldr; In some areas Trump broke the ratchet. The left has slowly turned things up on things like DEI and trans, but Trump set them back several steps. They will have to either slowly ratchet up again, or go straight to the end product which most people no longer support.
Given all the peace, technology and prosperity, I think humanity has been doing fairly well. We don’t need to look to sci-fi for answers. In any case, a big chunk of the technology we have today would have been considered impossible 100 years ago. 66 years passed between the Wright Brothers and the moon landing last time I checked.
And so, I do despair and view the occasional positives to be merely life laughing ironically at me.
Laugh, and the world laughs with you. Cry, and the world laughs at you.
thanks for that
Limey news headlines:
“Billions wasted on migrant hotels!”
Wake up sheeple.
Don’t sell your guns.