"If it were possible to go back a half billion years to the formation of the Burgess Shale and play the tape of life again, evolution would not repeat itself. " - Stephen J. Gould
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Again he scanned the distant skyline, straining his eyes to see a tiny dot, anything at all. Again he saw nothing but empty desert. The daylight was fading.
He lowered his field glasses to look over his existing assets. A makeshift airfield with C-130s, ground assault vehicles and support troops stand ready. But the company of helecopters, the most critical element, had not all arrived entacked.
Bluebirds seven and two limped onto the airfield hours late, white puffs of smoke streaming from their engines. Bluebird one was exhibiting some sort of avionics issue. And where oh where was Bluebird eight?
This field had been surveyed three weeks before. But since then, a fine white powder had settled over what had been a solid surface. They had trained for this mission at White Sands. If they had trained at Black Rock this issue may have been noticed. Only the choppers seemed effected by the dust.
When at long last the lone helicopter arrived, smoke pouring from it's engine as had been feared, the electronics issue with One had been repaired.
"My orders say we go in with no fewer than five, but I have final say. I'm making the call. We go in."
The raid began in the wee hours of the morning. The pilots had gone over contingency plans in the event of another chopper malfunction, weight distribution, battlefield landing and takeoff spots in the event people had to be rescued from a dying Bluebird.
So off they went into the early morning on their mission. There was noting to do but sit and wait.
Hours later he scanned the distant skyline, straining his eyes to see a tiny dot, anything at all. And as the sun rose five black dots appeared. Closer and closer they came, unimpaired by the desert.
And one by one they landed.
Radio silence broken the first words he heard were, "We got 'em!".
He picked up the satellite phone which made an instant connection far away. And far away a receiver was lifted...
"I have good news!"
...
"Yes, yes Sir... We did."
...
"Yes Mr. President. We got them all.
...
"Yes All!. All fifty two!"
...
"The Iranians never saw us coming."
With that, she slowly turned the pages of the magazine, past images of Mt. Saint Helen, past an images of President Carter, past the text of his acceptance speech. Folding it closed she looked at the cover. Newsweek 1980, The Year in Review.
Carefully placing the aged periodical in it's protective cover and setting it aside she glanced up at the large screen near the front of the cabin. The brightly colored Atari display showed their flightpath, a slightly curved jaggy line from Epcot City heading east out over the Atlantic.
As the sun began to set she turned her attention to the window beside her. Looking out over the clouds she could see one of the F-15 escorts. Painted a bright coral color, the planes were deployed to see other ships and aircraft safely thru the Bermuda Triangle. It was hoped that if ever taken, the coral jets and their pilots, dressed in nautilus flight suits, might be treated favorably by their Atlantian captors.
As she watched the escort, she recalled the humble beginnings of what might have been seen as a crackpot agency. Despite the naysayers, Project Bluebook had since become an official part of NASA and the SETI Institute. Well funded, they actively engage in the prevention of alien abduction. They even have support from the US Air Force.
Next she turned her attention to her briefcase computer which lay on the adjacent seat. She opened it, retrieved the screen keyboard and mouse, and arranged them on the table in front of her. A slight lemon smell indicated that the computer's sodium-citrus batteries were fully charged. Powerup showed the usual AT&T Unix logo. With a quick tap and two clicks, Wordstar '98 instantly appeared. She arranged the periodicals and newspapers on the table. As she clicked, "New Document", she felt confident in her ability to complete her task, the ring on her finger flashed turquoise in affirmation. Covering four decades of history, this would be the speech of a lifetime.
"A revolution had begun in the late 1960s around the time of my birth. And that revolution continues to this day."
With that opening line she retrieved a micro-cassette labeled "Outline" and put on her headphones. Pressing play, she quickly lost herself in the past, exploring both history and memory, occasionally reading source material and pausing to add text to her speech. She closed her eyes and slipped away...
The Golden Age of Wireless
Sage Limbo had a voice that was smooth, low, and purposeful. A perfect fit for the emerging late night high fidelity politics being dispensed on FM radio in the early 1980s. His messages were accompanied by electronic music from the likes of Tangerine Dream and Jean Micael Jarre. Seamlessly weaving passages from JRR Tolkien, Ursula K Le Guin, and Hunter S Thompson into national news and daily events, Limbo was the first radio personality to bare the distinction "head jockey". With his growing throngs of followers softly chanting, "Sage... Sage... Sage..." a movement was begun.
Riding the coat tails of the feel good ethos of the 60s, Limbo single-handedly made politics accessible to everyone thru a cult of strong opinion and what conservative comic Craig Miller would later call "Truthshness". Thru Sage and those who followed, the common man had become an expert at everything.
As one noteworthy journalist wrote, "He may have popularized bogus conspiracy theories but he did get one thing right. The energy crisis of the 1970s was a hoax. But as everyone now knows the hoax was perpetrated to forward the interests of the emerging alternative energy market. And it worked."
Limbo was born Barret Eugene "Barry" Hansen. He got his broadcasting start at a college radio station in St Paul Minnesota where he played Polka and. bluegrass records. He later hosted a talkshow devoted to tales of the Midwest. Many stories were well spun fiction and became very popular. A member of the Lutheran church, Hansen was a very unlikely left wing revolutionary.
In the last 60s Barry made the leap to FM when, like many aspiring entertainers, he moved to Los Angeles. There he mat a DJ named Mary Turner. She had been spinning disks for LAs oldest rock and roll station , KMET. When he was hired as cohost he dropped the name Barry in favor of the more mystic sounding Sage. He would later host another popular late night talk show where his popularity grew to meteoric heights. From this point forward, liberal politics would be both vacuous, and virtually unstoppable. And thus began the impressive career of Sage Limbo.
Over the years that followed, other head jockeys with monikers like Pink Void and the Quisatz Insomniac would rise, all owing their illustrious broadcasting careers to Limbo and the left wing populism he helped to create. The 80's had become the 60's on steriods.
She carefully closed the magazine, a rare image of Limbo on the cover, and placed it in it's protective cover. Rolling Stone, March 1987. Glancing out the window, she noticed that the escorts were gone. It was almost dark now, the sun had almost set. She could makeout clouds far below.
She began to reflect on culture, the passage of time over the past twenty years. In the early twenty first century, American culture exists in a world of high fidelity sound, a continuation of the stereo set culture of the 70s. Talk shows like Sage, and electronic music fueled this evolution. Now the average American home is equiped with walls lined with sound generating speaker paper. Companies like McIntosh, Marantz and Kenwood sell computer integrated sound systems. The purest of audiophiles use vacuum tubes made in the Soviet Union. The common man comes home everyday to a domesile filled with beautiful soothing electronic music.
Toy Computers
She updated her text and reached for an old copy of Computer World. The cover showed a cartoonish image of a lone helicopter flying over a desert. Opening it to the cover story she began to read.
To commemorate the successful hostage rescue the videogame company Broderbund released Choplifter. The game was originally released for the Apple 2. Seeing it's potential, Atari offered a notable sum and purchased all rights. Shortly thereafter standup arcade versions began to emerge. Gripped by a wave of patriotism, every arcade in the country wanted a Choplifter game. Atari's profits began to soar.
The company would go on to make other popular military style games like Missile Command and Battlezone. Thus began the rise of Nolan Bushnell.
From the Ashes of Watergate
Time Magazine, January 1984
President George HW Bush once said, "The meek will inherit the earth, the rest of us will go to the stars." He was accused of being a space cadet, and now not in small part because of his efforts, here we are. The changes the Bush Administration made back in 1984 had humble and yet powerful beginnings. Tax credits for rooftop victory gardens and solar. In a show of support he even upgraded the Whitehouse panels that Carter had left behind. By the late 80's, NASA had modified the shuttle to carry external fuel tanks all the way to orbit. Shortly thereafter, permanent space structures were constructed.
Bush made good on his claim to being the education president. A world traveler, his education secretary insured this education include exposure to foreign cultures, especially those "foreign" cultures right in our own land. Americans are mandated to learn a second language in gradeschool. By the early 90s, US citizens are becoming citizens of the world.
Vice President Dan Quayle had a hand in America's rapid advancement in manned space as well, but his contributions were initiated by tragic loss. On January 28, 1986, as the Space Shuttle Challenger countdown began, the nation and the world learned of the tragedy. High atop launchpad 39-A, Shuttle Commander Dick Scoby reached up and turned the abort knob. An emergency engine power-down commenced. Seated next to him, Dr. Judy Resnik asked, "What's wrong"? Scoby turned to her, headset still on. With a tear in his eye he said, "I've just been informed. President Bush has been assassinated."
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