Five Earths, All in a Row

[Prince Charon]

Originally Posted by warellis

https://www.artstation.com/artist/jakubrozalski

Something might be useful for Dsp-Earth stuff from the 1920s? Most of the mech stuff I mean.

Thank you. Yes.

[Prince Charon]

Recently saw a post by Ghostdancer linking to one of his articles, specifically about applying familiarity penalties to spells. It's focused on RPM, but can work for other Energy Accumulating or even Effect Shaping styles, and I think it fits well, here (although I probably won't be requiring the Inventions option, or if I do, will be using fairly low penalties). If you're interested, have a look, and let us know what you think.

[Prince Charon]

2014 (January 1): On Earth-5, Ambrosius Aurelianus Romanorum appoints the new Consuls in Fa-Rome: Lucius Vorenus and Titus Pullo replace Drustanus and Esyllt. On Earth-1, the Aurora Borealis and Aurora Australis withdraw back to the poles, and fade. Many mystics and other sensitives are quite certain that something happened this night, but know not what. In some Orthodox Christian areas on Earth-1, Saint Basil leaves gifts for people, which is no-longer so unexpected. In Inp-Britain, the New Year Honours list is released. Among those mentioned is the late Sir Alan Turing, KBE, whose importance to the war effort in Earth-1's WWII was leaked to Earth-2 quite some time earlier.

Jan. 2: On Earth-2, Alexei Luthor escapes from Hamilton Penitentiary, along with several other inmates. Gomez Addams and his new wife, Morticia, return from their long honeymoon on the island of Hibi-Jibi. On Earth-1, after many delays, the Boeing SE-3H Star Sentry Space Warning And Control System (SWACS) vehicle is finally authorized for deep space missions. In Inp-New Jersey, another 'Joker' appears, resembling the Heath Ledger version. Oddly, this one seems to have some of the memories of a previous 'Joker' (see November 18, 2013), offering his assistance to a rival gang to the one that killed his predecessor. Unfortunately, they accept.

Jan. 4: In Dsp-USA, the All-Star Squadron is formed from the Justice Society of America, and local hero groups like the Minutemen in NYC, or the Seven Shadows in Chicago. A smaller task force of this team, called the Invaders, is planned to enter Occupied Europe ahead of other 'extraordinary irregulars', while much of the All-Star Squadron is intended to protect the homefront - exactly how much is a matter of great concern to military planners. In Inp-USA, a third season of the Young Justice cartoon begins on the CW, at 9am in each time zone. The first episode includes some focus on the inhibitor collars, in the hope that this will help DARPA perfect the version they've been working on. An entry flare (a particle spray consistent with something entering this dimension) is detected by Inp-Earth/Earth-1 particle sensors, on a vector suggesting it originated from Dsp-Earth/Earth-2. Seemingly random, intermittent bursts of infrared radiation are also detected, around this time.

Jan. 6: The Nazi rocket (see Dec. 17, 2013, and Jan. 4, 2014) reaches optimum range. The vehicle disgorges several submunitions, which explode in a carefully timed sequence, creating a Kessler ablation cascade in the Inp-Earth/Earth-1 orbitals. While vehicles, satellites, and stations equipped with force shields are generally protected, unshielded satellites are by far the majority. All spacecraft within or passing through the debris cloud must maintain their shields more-or-less continuously, which is problematic for some designs, and make long-term orbit within the cloud generally impractical. Unnoticed due to holographic systems, radar stealth, and the use of the warp drive to dump heat (in tiny, boiling metal orbs) far from the vehicle itself, a Cytherean raider that followed the Nazi vehicle in releases several drop-pods, which soft-land in the countryside near Atlanta, in the Inp-US state of Georgia. The raider itself lands in the ocean off the coast, under cover of darkness; infrared anomalies (see Jan. 4) stop. On Earth-2, Gomez Addams joins the United States Rocketry Service.

Jan. 7: By early morning (GMT), all surviving space stations within the Kessler cloud around Earth-1 have been moved into higher orbits. News services on Earth-1 estimate casualties in excess of 230 people from the previous day's attack, almost entirely civilians with unshielded or poorly shielded spacecraft. News services in Dsp-Germany greatly exaggerate the casualties. A Wolpertinger is caught on camera in the Black Forest, Inp-Germany, which is somewhat west of its traditional range in Bavaria. Tests of the recording suggest it to be genuine. On Earth-3, the Scandinavian Federation rocket field in Stp-Dutch Guiana launches a pair of interplanetary astronefs towards Earth-2, each heavier than earlier vessels, carrying personnel and equipment from all signatories of the Compact of Mainz. In The Times (Inp-London), an article appears about Haversham's Sovereign Cognitive Enhancer, which notes that it seems to be significantly less effective and reliable outside the Steampunk Earth/Earth-3 worldline (more specifically, the effects are rarely permanent, and the temporary effects are often somewhat weaker than expected).

Jan. 9: After much negotiation, and a number of promises from the Dsp-German and Soviet ambassadors, the Provisional Government of the Dsp-Republic of China, feeling betrayed by Dsp-USA's support of Dsp-Japan since June 10th, officially joins the Axis powers, declaring war on the Allies. Many are surprised it took this long, a result of both difficulty coordinating all factions, and reluctance to get involved in an interplanetary war. On Earth-1, most governments have announced strategies for dealing with the new issues regarding satellite coverage, caused by the Kessler cloud. Several orbital garbage collection companies have been founded, and more are expected, but it will take quite some time, possibly years, to deal with the cloud. In Inp-Sydney, Australia, two men are admitted to hospital after being bitten by what appears to be a venomous wild sheep. In Inp-Los Angeles, California, USA, Elon Musk announces plans for a civilian manned Mars mission, in cooperation with NASA and the USSF's Space Exploration Command. When asked if he is concerned about the effects of the Kessler Cascade, he points out that the planned vehicles are already designed to be well-shielded.

Jan. 11: On Earth-1, the Hall of Justice, official headquarters of the operational forces (id est, superhero teams) of the Justice League NGO, opens outside Inp-Washington, D. C., USA. On Earth-2, young Henry Pym is given an ant farm for his birthday. Dsp-Superman encounters Dr. George Grant, the first Metalo, a mad scientist in a suit of powered armour. The Last Son of Krypton is not impressed. On Earth-3, the Stp-British Parliament discusses eliminating the purchase of commissions in the Army, something that the Britains of the two elder Earths did in their respective 1871s. As yet, no conclusion is reached on the subject.

Hate the character limit so much...

[Prince Charon]

Jan. 13: Operation Pencil Sharpener, a joint Wagner/Athena mission (to insert Inp-Israeli & Polish special forces into Occupied Poland, deliver an American SpecOps team to Dsp-USA, and bring doctors, scientists, engineers, & military advisors to the Seleneans) breaks orbit of Inp-Earth. OV-101 Enterprise (with a command/mission control module in her cargo bay) will serve as lead vessel of a Constellation including OV-104 Atlantis, an SC-5 Galaxy flight, one SB-52 flight and one SB-1 flight as escorts, and one SE-3H. British (two Victor*s, one Avro Vulcan*, one BAE Systems Nimrod SRM.5), Russian (upgraded Ptichka and Baikal), and EUSF vessels (one Airbus Starwhale (a Starfighter-upgraded Beluga variant), three Airbus A400S Astros, one SRM.5) are also present, along with three dedicated bomber-tenders: one Galaxy (USSF), one Antonov An-256 Sputnik (VKO), and one Airbus A380S (EUSF). Civilians, carried by three Boeing 747 spaceliners, include a USO troupe, Doctors Without Borders, and Engineers Without Borders, as well as embassy teams and a few embedded journalists, carried on the military vessels.

^ Overall command of the mission (Mission Commander, or MCOM) is held by Colonel Ethan Mallory, USSF, while command of the Enterprise herself (Flight Commander or FCOM) is given to Major April Roberts, USSF (who wishes the ex-Navy personnel would stop calling her 'Captain'). The trip will take around three weeks, each way, due to reaction mass limits. Spy satellites, some cloaked (through various means, mostly Star Trek (Klingon)-based), are to be deployed during the mission.

^ A news report on the mission mentions that the reason the impulse engines continue to glow when not accelerating, is that they are made to serve as supplementary radiators. Many long-range vessels also take in the trace amounts of dust and gas along their course, transfer heat into it, and emit it on opposite sides, or use it for minor course corrections.

Jan. 15: In Dsp-Metropolis, the Superman meets girl reporter Lina Lewis, a former classmate of Messers Siegel and Shuster. He is amused by how similar she is to the fictional Lois Lane (and wonders which of the two, if not both, had a crush on her, that she made such an impression on them), and by the fact that she sought him out because of his recent interview (see Aug. 3; it took her a while to arrange things, and then she had to track him down), in which he commented on having never met a reporter like her. On Earth-1, the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit begins astronaut training, much to the annoyance of many in the Army who were hoping to have a lock on Spaceborne troops.

Jan. 18: On Earth-1/Infopunk Earth, the 'Democratic People's Republic of Korea' is officially dissolved, as Kim Jong Un is crowned 'Divine Emperor of the Holy Empire of Korea', with all due ceremony. The 'new' government publishes a map which shows the Empire's claimed borders. Unsurprisingly, it includes the territory of the Republic of Korea, as well as areas of disputed ownership, and some, like Okinawa and Kyushu (which Kim Jong Un's sister, Kim Yo Jong, is said to be Princess of), that are rather difficult to justify. On Earth-2, George Grant (see Jan. 11, above) is drafted into the Army, his trial delayed until after the war. Warrant Officer Grant is assigned to the Cambridge Project, the development of mass production (or at least large-scale production) military power armour.

Jan. 21: In Dsp-New York, circus strongman Rolf Müller is found guilty of, among other things, assault, disorderly behavior, and having homosexual relationships, and is remanded to the custody of Dr. Clark Savage, Jr.'s experimental Crime College. There, it is hoped that the regimen of exercise, education, medication, and brain surgery will be able to turn him into a straight and productive member of society. The fact that these medical procedures are court ordered over the prisoner's objections, rather than voluntary, is made note of, quite loudly, in the Earth-1 press. In Inp-Kitty Hawk, NC, a few of the winged kittens (see Dec. 17, 2013) take their first flights. Psi sensitives indicate they the kittens are mildly psychokinetic, but may have no powers beyond assisted flight. In Inp-Newark, NJ, a bombing spree kills about fifteen members of various gangs, and fifty-three innocent bystanders. The new Joker (see Jan. 2, 2014) is killed in a shootout with police.

Jan. 23: In Dsp-Soviet Union, Natasha Romanova becomes the Black Widow. On Earth-1, the thoughtform of movie-Natasha informs Scarlett Johansson of this, and she immediately relays the information to the CIA. In Inp-Japan, JAXA officially announces the launch schedule for Project Yamato, a new class of 'Hazard Clearing Vessel' (enemy vehicles and installations can be very hazardous), with the Core Module being launched on February 3rd (the public had been aware for some time that something was going up then, but not what). Despite the rumours, Project Yamato does not involve turning a sunken battleship (and war grave) from WWII into a space battleship, though the project is named for that vessel.

Jan. 24: In Inp-USA, the plans for the Yamato-class 'Hazard Clearing Vessel' are hand-delivered to DARPA by a Japanese courier. Analysis will determine that while the Yamato should have one hell of an impressive alpha strike, the main gun requires a significant cooling-and-charging cycle between firings (five minutes to charge and fire, ten minutes to cool before it can be charged again), was very expensive and difficult to build, and is likely to be troublesome to maintain. Department of Space formed in Dsp-USA, with Dr. Robert Goddard as its first Secretary. US Rocketry Service placed under the Space Department.

Jan. 26: 'Captain Kickstarter: Age of the Crowdfunded Superhero' published in Inp-USA. Also in Inp-USA, the 21st Airborne Division (see September 10, 2013) is set to begin astronaut training, and is redesignated 21st Spaceborne Division. In Inp-UK, No. 4 (Europe) Group, RAF Space Command, is officially activated, and assigned as Britain's component of the EUSF. On Earth-2, Dsp-Soviet invasion of Dsp-Alaska and Dsp-Canada begins. Some Earth-1 news services nickname this 'the Hoth Front,' not only for the cold, but for the Soviet's slightly bulkier version of the Überschwerer Kampfschreitpanzer (see July 10, 2013); this model is well suited to the cold, has larger weapons, and is better armoured, but is slower and less maneouverable.

Jan 28: On Earth-1, the SA-10D Starbolt is officially introduced. Thanks to weight-saving measures, it is able to carry both better armour than a standard A-10, and stronger shielding and inertial dampening field systems than other upgraded jet fighters of that size, as well as somewhat better sensors.

Jan. 31: The 'Operation Pencil Sharpener' constellation reaches the Dsp-Earth/Earth-2 universe. The spacecraft transition separately, and are thus able to make detailed recordings of multiple transitions, at close range and from both sides.


Thoughts?

[tshiggins]

Nicely done. The Kessler cascade attack is brutal and effective, and thus a very clever attack. It also provides great cover for the Cytherean insertion.

I can't wait to read the reactions to the Inp-Earth military presence on the Dsp-Moon, and the enthusiastic reception they receive from the Seleneans. Almost everybody on Dsp-Earth will realize the Inp-Earth powers will have a nearly unassailable commanding position if they're permitted to stay there for even a couple of years.

[Prince Charon]

Originally Posted by tshiggins

Nicely done. The Kessler cascade attack is brutal and effective, and thus a very clever attack. It also provides great cover for the Cytherean insertion.

I can't wait to read the reactions to the Inp-Earth military presence on the Dsp-Moon, and the enthusiastic reception they receive from the Seleneans. Almost everybody on Dsp-Earth will realize the Inp-Earth powers will have a nearly unassailable commanding position if they're permitted to stay there for even a couple of years.

I'll be posting the current draft (very much a work in progress) of February, 2014 in the main thread on SB.com (EDIT: for those who don't know, that's the discussion thread, not the fiction thread) fairly soon, if you want to have a look. There's also going to be a mention of Black History Month (there are opportunities to interview a number of people who's counterparts are dead on Inp-Earth).

The work of Operation Pencil Sharpener is one of the things that needs expansion. Still deciding how long the main body of the Constellation (as opposed to the ones who are there for the Seleneans alone) will stay on the Moon, for example.

[Prince Charon]

Over on SB.com, wellis (warellis, here) had a question, and I thought my response might be of interest, here:

Originally Posted by wellis, on SB.com

Just watched a bit of Wonder Woman several hours ago. Does Dsp-Earth/Earth-2 Wonder Woman look like Linda Carter?

Originally Posted by Prince Charon

Thinking probably not, or at least not much. Imagine a Very Beautiful, Very Fit, six-or-so foot tall Greek woman (Captain America is a little taller than her, which drew her interest, as she thought Men were supposed to be short). She might change clothes by spinning, though, because magic.

EDIT: She's a little bit shorter than the Wonder Woman from Justice League: The New Frontier, but looks pretty similar otherwise, and has a voice rather like Lucy Lawless.

It's probably a good thing that Cap told her that it's a bad idea to make drinking cups from the skulls of any of her enemies.

[Prince Charon]

Another military article from Dieselpunk/Earth-2:

Space Command of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...y_flag.svg.png

Ranks

Insignia are those of the Air Force of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, with the blue background replaced by black, and the black outline on the enlisted and NCO rates replaces by red. Political staff (politruks and commissars) use normal Political Directorate of the Red Army ranks and insignia.

OF-10 Colonel General of the Space Command

OF-9 General
OF-8 Lieutenant General
OF-7 Major General

OF-5 Colonel
OF-4 Lieutenant Colonel
OF-3 Major

OF-2 Captain
OF-1 Senior Lieutenant
OF-1 Lieutenant

OF(D) Junior Lieutenant

OR-7 Starshina
OR-6 Senior Sergeant
OR-5 Sergeant
OR-4 Junior Sergeant

OR-3 Corporal

OR-1/OR-2 Private

Uniforms are those of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, save for the insignia, above.

Space suits are adapted from J. S. Peress's 'Tritonia' Diving Armour, in white.

[Prince Charon]

Something related to Earth-4, that I might have missed if not for a post on SV.com:

In 1562, Bishop Diego de Landa, who had been given charge of the Diocese of Yucatán (later an Archdiocese), had a number of Mayan books burnt, along with thousands of 'cult images.' On the three Earths ahead of Clockpunk Earth, only three or four Maya codices survive. However, the current date on Earth-Four is 1557, and the timeline is rather divergent. So, this would be something a lot of scholars would be deeply interested in, and would want to sort out sooner, rather than later.

Certainly not the only one, though.

On a related note, have been thinking a bit about diplomatic missions from Earth-1 to the other Earths. Sending anyone to Earth-2 is somewhat dangerous (the Nazis and Soviets don't exactly strike one as trustworthy, and might be very reluctant to believe a mission is purely diplomatic), but the others, less so. Plus, as the Starfighter upgrade and variants thereof have spread, more and more nations are getting ready to send such missions out... along with humanitarian aid missions that may not always be welcome (after all, the other Earths still have slavery, and in some cases have noticed that this is a serious hot-button topic on Infopunk Earth).

[tshiggins]

Okay, here's something PC and I've been kicking back and forth. Hope you guys like it.

Insertion

The air whistled in through the holes in the fuselage as Major Nicholas “Stormy” Lincoln pulled off his helmet, puked on the deck and watched the contents of his stomach mix with the sticky residue of his co-pilot. He felt his ears pop.

United States Space Force operational protocols dictated that, in the case of fuselage compromise, his space helmet remain attached to his pressure suit until the crew chief gave him a thumbs-up. But he’d been holding that in since the seven punctures appeared in the canopy screen on the right side of the cockpit, two days ago, and the chest of Capt. Lance “Knight” Doyle had disappeared through the bulkhead behind him.

Chest and bulkhead had exited the right side of the fuselage at approximately 16 kilometers per second and put the SB-1 spacecraft conversion into a murderous spin that almost tore off the right wing and must have sent a fragment through the right-side engine, which promptly shut down. Lincoln had used most of the helium in the tanks of the reaction control system to correct the spin, and less than 20 percent of capacity remained by the time he set the crippled craft down on the Selenean landing pad on Luna-2.

The adrenaline crash had almost caused him to throw up in his helmet when the pad began to lower into the hangar buried nearly 20 meters below the regolith.

The Earth-2 NAZIs were pock-marked evil rat-bastards, no lie, but they sure as hell knew how to fly.

The constellation (“Operation Pencil Sharpener.” What Pentagon pencil-neck thought up that one?) had made the transit from Luna-2 orbit to Earth-2 LEO in 31 hours – a trip that had taken the Apollo missions about four and a half days, nearly five decades ago and a parallel universe away.

The magi-tech fusion impulse engines (almost literally) dreamed up by Star Trek nerds made space-flight a dream.

The constellation completed the burn for the insertion into the prograde orbit with 54 degrees of inclination, just fine, and had proceeded along a track that took them northeast from the Pacific coast of South America, across the Gulf of Mexico and then the North Atlantic to the vicinity of Great Britain, and then south again across Eastern Europe to the Indian Ocean and the southern Pacific.

On the first orbit, the EUSF guys and the converted SB-52s delivered a little payback for the kinetic weapons the NAZIs had used to attack Earth-home. It wouldn’t bring back the lives lost, but nobody would be able to use the harbor at Saint-Nazaire, in NAZI Occupied Northern France, for the duration of the war – or for a long time afterwards, either.

It also meant this world’s Great Britain wouldn’t lose the 169 dead and 215 commandos taken as POWs, which is what happened when the Earth-1 Britain executed their version of the successful raid, more than 70 years ago.

After the crowbars dropped, the orbital bomber pilots got busy making after-action reports, while everybody except the SE-3H Star Sentry crew and the guys on the two Nimrods settled in, alert but calm, to watch the sun rise above the deceptively serene curvature of Earth-2.

Down there, some weird-ass version of WWII raged and occasionally spit death at what the folks back home had started to call 21st Century Earth, or simply “Earth-home.” The crews of the three SWACS spacecraft had to sort through the noise and clutter of all the comic-book crap in Earth-2’s LEO.

About 55 minutes later, the every alarm on those three birds shrieked at once, as they suddenly realized that not all the noise and crap from the east came from solar EM, Earth-2 military satellites or space junk. A squadron of 21 NAZI spacecraft in a freakin’ retrograde orbit had started a burn that would bring them to an “encounter” with the expeditionary constellation at greater than 16 kilometers per second (more than 35 thousand miles per hour, for the armchair pilots back home).

About 20 minutes after that, people started to die.

Col. Mallory had done the best he could, under the circumstances. He’d ordered everybody to burn like hell toward atmo, angle of insertion be damned, and had the escorts – including Lincoln’s modified B-1 bomber, form up to the east of the transports.

When the NAZIs were two minutes out, targeting computers had started to lock. At 20 seconds out, everybody (including Lincoln’s SB-1B) launched mostly-experimental space-warfare missiles and started to pray. At 12 seconds out, Lincoln could’ve sworn the radar screen pixellated as the NAZI squadron launched a f***in’ surreal number of rockets (no locks, and no locks meant ECM was f***in’ useless).

At 10 seconds, the NAZI spacecraft started to explode and the target-tracker software puked itself as fragments of blasted machines continued to close at 16 kps along wildly unpredictable vectors, and everybody started to pray.

At three seconds out, the NAZI rockets exploded into sprays of shrapnel and ball bearings, and automated point-defense disintegrators and masers began to fire. Two seconds later, shields flared and constellation spacecraft began to spray apart.

(A split-second flash of a crazy memory of dad and Uncle Clive, slightly drunk, shooting glass bottles off a stump with a 12 gauge on a summer camping trip when he was a kid.)

The two command shuttles armed with disintegrators came through fine. The beams hit the rockets and spacecraft shrapnel, and mostly teleported the atoms that comprised them in random directions. Lincoln figured he and Doyle did okay with their masers, because their craft was dead lucky enough to be on the edge of the attack, where not too much came close.

Most of time, the masers did less well. They disintegrated targets into a fine metallic dust that the shields mostly blocked. However, he’d seen the right side of at least one bird get scoured down to the fuselage frame and lose that side’s engine in a flash that blasted fragments through the spacecraft’s mid-section.

Fine metallic dust moving at 35,000 mph still did a lot of damage. Human bodies hit by that would vanish into a mist that rapidly dessicated into red dust.

By the time the cloud of fragments and the few surviving NAZI craft had vanished to the west, they’d lost four spacecraft. One other got hit, but had enough spacecraft left to peel off and start a fast limp back to Luna. The rest, including Lincoln’s SB-1, continued to burn down toward Earth-2, although Mallory had them shallow out the angle and prep for a hard retrograde burn at 100 klicks altitude.

They didn’t want to skip back out of the atmosphere instead of down into it. Down there, rockets had real ranges and destroyed vessels flew apart and then fell down and they didn’t turn into high-velocity kinetic weapons that killed you, anyway. Christ.

Everybody was just about ready to rotate around for the hard burn to kill their velocity and shallow the angle of attack when the fragment cloud appeared above the eastern horizon, again. However, by then they were well below its orbit (and wouldn’t that be a bitch to clean up after it formed a deadly metallic ring…) and thought they were okay.

And then the few surviving NAZI spacecraft started their second attack-run.

Too close to atmo and moving too fast to dive for cover, and all they could do was put up the shields and arm the point-defense masers and hope the targeting computers didn’t glitch and before “Stormy” Lincoln could complete that thought, exactly seven holes appeared in the canopy and the chest of Capt. Lance “Knight” Doyle had been reduced to red ruin, blood blowing out into space along with the cockpit pressure.

Seven holes that went all the way through his spacecraft and set it spinning, and then sent him back to Luna-2 with one engine and what was left of his RCS pressure, hoping to hell the O2 tanks hadn’t been punctured, because there was no way he could take his crippled bird down into atmo.

Exactly seven holes. He’d been counting them, for the past two days.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

General Mark A. Welsh III had worked with a lot of people, during his 38 years in the USAF, including a lot of black men. During that nearly four decades of service, and his life in Texas before then, he’d seen them in all sorts of physical and emotional states.

However, it was only in the past 18 months that he’d served as chief of staff of the Air Force that he’d seen that particular shade of gray undertone in the face of one. President Barack Obama had it, again.

“What were our total losses, general?”

“We lost six birds destroyed in the two orbital engagements, plus two more lost in atmosphere. Two others limped back to Luna-2. The lost men and machines are in the report, but it totaled eight craft lost, and two others crippled, out of 26 sent. One of those lost on re-entry broke up when it entered the lower atmosphere at trans-sonic speeds, over Earth-2’s Yucatan. The second lost power at subsonic speeds, over their Gulf of Mexico’s Bermuda Triangle. That was an EUSF cargo craft, and the Europeans say the crew managed to bail out. President Roosevelt advises us his Coast Guard is looking for survivors. This was the biggest loss of flyers in a single engagement against enemy pilots since… well, since Korea.”

“Is there any chance any of our pilots could still be alive, in a crippled vessel, in orbit?”

(continued...)