Notes from the New Guy
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October 10, 2008
I've been a fan of Thinking Horndog for several years. I was inspired to pen some storied back in 2004, but never had the guts to post anything, or even to send a note to an author until about three months ago when I wrote Thinker to complement him on his skill.
Somehow I was talked into trying my hand at writing and with encouragement from Duke of Ramus, who was kind enough to put me into contact with Mulligan, I then set out to write the short story 'The Librarian'. Well, when that began to look more like a novel than a magazine article, I extracted a few of the characters and wrote 'The Starbucks Incident' thinking that my first job as an architect should be a cottage; not a cathedral!
I'm a big fan of SciFi and am drawn to the technology, but focusing on the technology doesn't help the reader indentify with the story. I've spent a lot of time bugging Thinker and Duke about sizes, numbers, distances, capacities, and a plethora of minute details. Mostly because I don't want to set a limiting precedent with my stories, or depart from the capabilities and limitations that have been established in their minds if not in their stories.
While the premise is that the Swarm is an unstoppable force, the stories to date make it seem easy enough to get the better of the invading vermin. True, there have been reports of heavy casualties, but the detailed encounters have always had the good guys come out on top rather handily.
My personal contact with British natives has primarily been adult males who were either in the military or worked in a steel mill. I found them to be no more passive that the typical country boys and working stiffs I've known all across the USA. They're not the type to stand around with their hands in their pockets while bad shit is going down.
I don't believe there is a bar on this planet that I would hesitate to enter with a couple of my SAS buddies at my back, even though all of us are old men now. Old farts are risky to fool with. Youth and enthusiasm is rarely a match for experience and treachery.
One thing I don't recommend for a bucket list, though, is participating in a gunfight. I'd like to say that I make every effort to avoid them, but that's not entirely true. Like many males with an Anglo-Saxon heritage I tend to be protective of women and children, and I've witnessed others do the same thing.
I was riding the 'E' train in Queens, NY and saw this really big guy slapping around a woman. Before I could interfere, two other men pulled the assailant off the woman. A fight broke out between the three men and one of the guys started really wailing on the big dude. The woman pulled a knife and stabbed the guy who was trying to help her and shouted, "Don't hurt my man!" Important tip, ask the woman if she needs help before interfering. Maybe she likes getting beat up on the subway.
New York City has a reputation for its citizens turning a blind eye to street violence, but that wasn't my experience during the thirteen years that I lived there. There were at least three of us moving to stop the violence before the knife appeared. Three more grabbed and disarmed the woman. True, there were a couple hundred people in that subway car, but there were no more than twenty within reach and a significant percentage took action.
One evening on my way home after work I spotted my wife getting off the same subway train I was on and slipped up behind her on the train platform. When she started up the stairs I grabbed her ass and ducked knowing that she would spin around swinging. She had to act fast because two men who saw what I did had thrown me to the ground and were about to teach me some manners.
If things like this can happen in New York City where there are very few armed citizen, image what would happen in Charleston, Savannah, Birmingham, Tupelo, Dallas, or Albuquerque where there are armed citizens everywhere. There are very few daylight armed robberies in these areas because the perpetrators are typically shot by a witness.
So, here we are in a restaurant and an extraction starts. Then some weenie pulls a gun and starts shooting people. If there are a hundred people in the place, my guess is that three are going to pull their own piece and put a quick end to the violence.
The point I'm trying to make through all this rambling is that very few adult males in North America are going to be passive when faced with an extinction level event. It may take some convincing before most would actually believe that such an event is around the corner. Hitler and Mussolini were ignored until they got into Britain's face. Japan was ignored until Pearl Harbor, and we all know how that turned out.
Humans have a greater capacity for denial than for violence, but once denial is breeched there is no limit to the violence. Terrorist were ignored by the Americans until 9/11. Once denial was no longer possible, the governments of at least two countries believed to be supporting terrorism changed hands before the fires at the World Trade Center were finally extinguished.
Once the Sa'arm finally piss-off the humans, they will become an endangered species. If the Confederacy tries to rein the humans in, then they will suffer the consequences as well. This may be a fantasy universe, but let's have some reality were the human spirit is concerned.
Duke of Ramus has demonstrated the Kamikaze spirit in at least one of his stories. That kind of dedication and tenacity is more prevalent than most people realize. Then again, maybe I've been thrust into situations were I've seen the best and the worst that human beings are capable of.
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