Fifteen
High orbit over Tarbos
The Cachalot’s Captain was not happy.
“Say again, Tarbos Ground,” she barked into the wand mike on her command console.
“Permission to leave orbit is denied. You are to remain in your parking orbit until released by Tarbos Ground Control.”
Control of all ship traffic in the Tarbos system was, by Company regulation, completely subject to the planetary ground control department, but this was an unexpected reach beyond the normal exercise of jurisdiction.
“Tarbos Ground, we are due back at Earth in six weeks. The Director better have a good reason for keeping us here.”
“Cachalot, I cite OWME Shipping & Container Division’s General Order Four.”
That set Captain Benton back in her chair. General Order Four was quite simple:
No OWME starship will leave a designated parking orbit when there is a clear and present danger to ship and/or crew.
Tarbos Ground Control’s use of GE4 meant that they suspected a danger somewhere near the planet – somewhere close enough to be a risk before the Cachalot could travel far enough to jump to subspace.
And OWME had lost three ships in three years to unknown attackers, presumed to be the warlike and hostile Grugell.
“As you were, Helm,” Captain Benton ordered. “All stations stand down from under-way status. We’ll be staying in parking orbit for a while. Exec, get a shuttle ready – we’re going to the Skyhook and down to talk to someone in the Director’s office.”
The K-101, Fifty kilometers above and behind the Cachalot
“Homely ships, Commander, are they not?”
Kadastrattik XII opened his eyes lazily. The huge off-white disk of the human ship had dominated their main scanner screen for three revolutions of the planet below, and he’d gotten sick of looking at it. He ignored his Sub-Commander’s remark.
“Have we received any more messages from the surface?”
His Signals watch officer didn’t even look up. “No, Commander. Nothing since the initial code.”
“He’s taking his time, this renegade,” Kadastrattik muttered. “Order an inspection and diagnostic routine on all weapons systems. We’d best be prepared for the second option.”
Tarbos, the Convention Center
Mike Crider stood once more at the podium, concluding his description of the Battle of Crider Meadow and the Battle of Settlement.
“That, delegates, is why the Bill of Basic Rights must contain a guarantee of the right to bear arms. When the Grugell came to Forest, we fought them of with hunting rifles. Now I know, the main reason we’re here, the main reason we’re forming this association of free planets, is to raise and equip a Navy. Some of you are no doubt thinking, ‘if we’re to have a Navy, why do we need a Constitutional right to bear arms?’ I’ll tell you why. In fact, I’ll give you three reasons why.”
He paused for a moment, looking out over the assembled Convention. They were openly calling it a Constitutional Convention now, and the soon-to-be-born government had a name – the Confederated Free Planets, or simply the Confederacy.
Some of the expressions Mike was seeing were skeptical. Most were not. The Grugell invasion of Forest was too recent for that.
“One.” Mike held up one finger. “Numbers. It’s a big galaxy, and this Navy won’t be able to be everywhere at once. It might be weeks before a ship or ships could get to a planet in trouble. Now every planet can and should have their own armed force, but let’s look at Tarbos here for an example – Tarbos has four million residents, and only four thousand security troops. But based on figures I’ve been provided, roughly half of Tarbos’ population owns at least one firearm – which yields a standing militia of two million.
“Two.” He held up two fingers now. “It’s not just about the Grugell. We don’t like to talk about it, but you all read the news-screens. I’ve been reading them every morning in my room, before we come over to the day’s sessions.” He extracted a notepad from his pocket. “In the last ten days here in Mountain View, there have been three muggings, two armed robberies, one rape, and one attempted murder.” He dropped the notepad back in his pocket and glared at the group. “That’s a pretty low crime rate for a city of three million, like Mountain View, but it won’t get better. It will get worse. The Company screened the emigrants from Earth pretty well, but they can’t screen the people who are born on these planets, and as the generations go on, the demographics will shift to be more like Earth normal – and that means you’ll have criminals. And we learned long ago on Earth, the best way to deter criminals is an armed citizenry.
“Now, that brings me to three.” He held up three fingers. “And three is the biggest one of all.”
Mike stood still for a moment, seemingly lost in thought.
“We all come from a place that has one thing in common. At least it does now, after millions of people died fighting to make it that way. That thing is a word, just one two-syllable word, but it’s an important one, because it stands for an idea. It’s an idea that eighty million people died for. That word, that idea, is freedom.
“There are two kinds of freedom. There is freedom to, and freedom from. What we’re talking about here deals with both kinds. Free people, as I see it, should be free to do as they please, as long as they don’t hurt their neighbors. But when there are people out there, and there will be, who will try to hurt their neighbors, then free people should be free to defend themselves, and free to own the means to do that. That’s where we come to the freedom from. Free people should be free from fear. Free from subjugation. Free from invasion. There’s only one way to guarantee, absolutely guarantee, that a free people will remain free, and that is to have the guarantee in our Constitution that every free citizen who chooses to be armed shall be free to be so.”
Without waiting to gauge the group, Mike stepped down. Murmurs floated through the hall as he walked slowly back to his seat. Hector Gutierrez was waiting for him.
“That was good stuff, Mike,” the Vice President observed sotto voce. Harvey’s Project Director Annalee Fadzen was at the podium, arranging her notes to speak on another issue. “Just between you and me, I think the Right to Bear Arms will pass. I make it twelve yes votes, three no, one I can’t call.”
“It would be nice if we had an odd number of delegates,” Mike whispered back. “Think how confusing it will get with tie votes.”
“We’ve been really lucky so far,” Gutierrez agreed.
Mike frowned. “Doesn’t it seem a little, well, odd, sixteen people deciding the form this interstellar government is going to take?”
“Wait until tomorrow. You’ll feel a lot better about it.”
Tarbos Security Headquarters
The eyepieces of the human’s microscope weren’t adjustable for Clomonastik’s narrow face, and so he was required to squint uncomfortably into the device with one eye or the other. Three technicians and Colonel Perkins waited impatiently for him to finish.
“Well.” Clomonastik stood up straight, massaging the small of his skeletal back. “If only you’d put your benches a little higher, I’d be much more comfortable.”
“Sir?” Colonel Perkins wasn’t a man gifted with patience. “What do you think?”
“Colonel, I’ll want to see the results of your metallurgical studies to be sure – mind you, that never was a specialty of mine. I went to Command School, not the science and engineering academy. But I know enough to give you an answer. On the surface, though, I’d say that you’re looking at fragments from a Grugell device, yes.” He gestured at the microscope with a thin, clawed hand. “The fragments are distinctive, and your analysis of the explosive residue is even more so. It’s a Grugell high explosive. We called it,” he chattered out an unintelligible Grugell word, “which, unfortunately, has no real translation.”
“Any conclusions, sir?”
“I can only offer you my opinion, Colonel, with the qualification that what I offer is a uniquely informed opinion at this time and place. You have a cloaked Grugell frigate very near this planet, very likely in high orbit, and they are sending landing craft down to liaise with someone on the surface. The trick of fooling the conspirators using a bomb fused to detonate – that’s an old, old trick, first documented in our history in an incident called the Night of Seven Blades. An assassination attempt was made on Emperor Ignostak III in the same manner. The Emperor survived, of course, but most of his family was killed in a series of incidents during that same night. The Emperor’s reaction to those attempts led to the complete militarization of our culture.” Clomonastik looked reflectively at the ceiling. “I would suspect, Colonel, that you have a student of history up there.” He scratched his pointed chin. “You know…”
“Yes? What?”
“Colonel, do you think it would be possible to have a Grugell Navy uniform tailored for me, were I to provide the specifications?”
“Certainly. Won’t it be kind of an old uniform? You’ve been out of touch for twenty-some years.”
Clomonastik laughed. “No. The Grugell officer’s uniform has not changed in over three hundred Grugell years. We are not as – how shall I say it – capricious as you humans.” “Very well, sir. I’ll look into it.”
To see more of Animal’s writing, visit his page at Crimson Dragon Publishing or Amazon.
Hmm, so there has been some clandestine meeting of Grugell and humans in one of the federated planets. Would need to be one with very tight, top down control.
How would they communicate?
Jive Sign Language is universal throughout the galaxy.
Quite a few sci-fi writers have posited that as a species advances, the members of that species will trend towards a common, ‘efficient’ language. I suppose this makes slightly more sense than the universal translator or the Babel fish.
So, I’ve just been pretending that everyone, human and Grugell, has been speaking Esperanto or Interlingua or something…
Well we know it is possible from Clomonastik’s example, but that was an exceptional situation.
I am suspending my disbelief about the Grugell having this kind of mindset and I’m playing along. Otherwise, I don’t see them doing the subterfuge thing, and it would take an enormously ignorant (and yet powerful) human to play along as well. The latter part is more imaginable than the former.
Quite. I’m having a hard time picturing another scenario where this unique situation would present itself.
Who was it who said, “Hard sci-fi can have one counter-factual technology, and you get FTL travel for free?” Maybe the universal translator is the one counter-factual technology?
Shaka, when the walls fell.
Jive Sign Language
Rachell [Raygun] Gunn has found her true calling?
1. Get a uniform
2. Seize control of the ship.
3. Nuke the humans
4. Return to Grugel a conquering hero!
5. Fuck Grugel-bitches.
I thought that too.
Defectors should never be trusted with anything of value, no matter who’s side they started on or how long they’ve doubled for.
Kim Philby haz a sad.
The Soviets never used Harold Philby for anything important after he defected. In fact, for the first ten years of his defection, he was under virtual house arrest in Moscow (although kept well-supplied with money, liquor, and women.) Eventually in the 70’s, Philby was given some minor training and disinformation work, but he was never allowed access to anything sensitive. The KGB was openly concerned that Philby would try to repatriate himself to the West, and interviews with his wife after his death confirm that Philby was quite disappointed with the reality of International Socialism.
I’m not a defector! I’m a POW who cleverly took advantage of my unfortunate situation!
Investment
Someone’s 10-cent investment in a copy of Action Comics No. 1 in 1938 has turned into a $15 million payday for a later owner of the now-rare comic book that first introduced Superman. An anonymous buyer has purchased the well-preserved copy for a record-breaking amount from a seller who also wished to remain anonymous, according to Associated Press.
“This is among the Holy Grail of comic books,” said Vincent Zurzolo, president of Metropolis Collectibles/Comic Connect, the company through which the sale was negotiated. “Without Superman and his popularity, there would be no Batman or other superhero comic book legends. It’s importance in the comic book community shows with his deal, as it obliterates the previous record.”
The previous record for the sale of a comic book was set when an original copy of Superman No. 1 sold at auction for $9.12 million in November 2025. Both values are much higher than the original 10-cent value of each, equal to about $2.25 today. They’re also higher than what this particular copy of Action Comics No. 1, believed to be one of 100, originally sold for when actor Nicolas Cage purchased it in 1996.
Cage secured the issue for $150,000 at the time. He kept it in his possession for four years before it was stolen from his home in Los Angeles in 2000. More than a decade later, in 2011, it resurfaced. The pivotal printing was buried in a storage locker that a man in Southern California purchased. When Action Comics No. 1 was returned to Cage, he only held onto it for six months before selling it at auction. He made $2.2 million from the sale and later named his son after Superman’s birth name, Kal-El.
Clean living pays off.
I would bet more thought and artistic sweat went into the first Superman than,say, a typical van Gogh that had no buyers beyond his own brother. Yet which one would you rather have today?
De gustibus, jesus, de gustibus.
thanks for the story Animal
Countless headlines: Grok Deepfakes pick person into pick disrespectful or provocative image
So fucking tiresome.
Grok doesn’t deepfake people.
People deepfake people.
Being unable to use tools themselves, many Progressives hate tools, and tool users.
Mommy will provide everything.
One of the most capable people I ever met is totally hard-left liberal. Of course, he’s a retired teacher married to a retired teacher.
We need sensible image control.
only took two hours
Reality sets in
https://www.sheknows.com/entertainment/articles/1234959570/harry-meghan-divorce-update/
Harry & Meghan ‘Could Finally File For Divorce’ as Their ‘Deeply Emotional’ Dispute ‘Threatens to Tear Them Apart’—They’re ‘Truly Broken’
How awful. What’s for lunch?
Not a sandwich that’s for sure.
Not even with runny jam and dried flowers?
Sometimes I think she’s a hoax, like Tony Clifton.
The thing that never happens, happened again.
https://x.com/EndWokeness/status/2010722341433860557
Good thing the Repubs in Congress fast-tracked that election security bill, right?
Right?
The fact that both parties fight so hard against any kind of election security, is the one single thing that makes me think that elections aren’t just anti-revolution theater.
Interesting take on the Iranian internet blackout:
https://x.com/shanaka86/status/2010637527523508359/photo/1
Basically, you can block video, but that’s about it.
Turns out the Cold War-era networking protocols designed to survive a nuclear exchange are pretty robust in the face of lossy connections.
Related:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interplanetary_Internet
Too bad we’ve moved off of protocols and moved onto platforms.
Man, I miss the Protocol Era of the internet. Our on-prem XMPP server worked great with Pidgin + the OTR plugin for end-to-end encryption.
slumbrew:
I was just contemplating that the other day. The last protocol with widespread normie acceptance I can think of is BitTorrent.
Tor, maybe?
BitTorrent is more prevelant than Tor, I’d wager.
Beyond that, I’m coming up blank. A lot of people are using WireGuard but somewhat unknowingly (AFAIK, that’s what most VPN companies use).
Good old TCP/IP
Heh.
Damn – Chris Bray pointed me to this.
LOL!!!
I do have to wonder – exactly who is pulling over whom here? I got the impression that the MPD had pretty much closed for business…
If this doesn’t clear up by September, we’re gonna need to take a long detour around MSP to get to honey harvest.
But enough about Omar and her friends.
Chris Bray pointed me to this.
Just like when the Germans rolled their tanks and stormtroopers into Paris.
Starchitecture
“Leadership asked when we were helping design the space to bring in some Easter eggs and details to represent who we are at GM, you know, honoring our culture and our history and our innovation,” Rebecca Waldmeir, GM industrial design architecture and experience manager, told CNBC during a tour of the new headquarters.
Other surprises include references to relevant Detroit streets, design influences from GM’s famed design campus in suburban Detroit and artwork and sculptures of its products.
Aside from the aesthetics, GM officials say the new offices will assist with collaboration and are more relevant to how the company expects its employees to work in a post-pandemic world. It will house executive offices and other corporate functions such as marketing, legal and finance.
“A headquarters really should be, at some level, a beacon for the culture of the company,” said David Massaron, GM vice president of infrastructure and corporate citizenship. “When you come in here, it should help people understand who we want to be.”
I hope they have a Cadillac Cimarron parked in the lobby.
Catera.
No, definitely a Cimmaron. It’s a beacon to bean counting that will stand as the yardstick by which to measure crap for the next 500 years.
The Chevy Cavalier with a nicer interior for 40 percent more? Our neighbor had one of those POSs back in the day.
Dear TPTB,
I have submitted an article for review. Now I’m going to have a drink to restore my composure.
You have composure?
Sorry you set yourself up for that one.
In the never ending war between Man and the WordPress Block Editor, the WordPress Block Editor won the last battle.
I was reminded of you the other day, Richard:
https://www.powerlineblog.com/ed-assets/2026/01/Screenshot-2026-01-09-at-10.36.34%E2%80%AFAM.png
(Usual Powerline thing – might have to copy and paste & not just click)
I have an 18′ foot diameter dome tent. Now I’m getting a disco ball for it the next time I set it up.
We expect pictures.
https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/12/us/minneapolis-immigration-officers-mobilizing-protests
Around 1,000 additional US Customs and Border Protection agents are expected to deploy to Minneapolis, according to two federal law enforcement sources, as tensions between federal law enforcement and local counterparts flare after an ICE-involved shooting last week left a mother of three dead.
The agents started deploying Friday and continued over the weekend, one of the sources said. That comes on top of a deployment of about 2,000 federal agents to the area that CNN reported early last week.
Somebody understands the Iron Law about rewards and punishments.
On the random meme front, this made me unreasonably happy
https://accordingtohoyt.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/1855276788217810944.jpg
Tonio saves the day
Good use of AI:
https://x.com/smod4real/status/2010750904623075523/video/1