“It Is For The Good of Society!”
[Author’s note: if you’re tired of Trump or the election, try this short story. I had the idea for this story a few days ago, after I heard a Planet Money podcast about the history of smart guns. Parts of this story — about the Colt Company’s attempts to manufacture smart guns, their disastrous demonstration with the Wall Street Journal, and Barack Obama’s executive order — are true. The rest is an educated guess about what might happen in the future.
This is not a pro-revolution piece, as you will see if you read all the way to the end. That said, there is a reason I wanted to publish it today. Lazy leftists’ opinions are not welcome. The rest of you: enjoy, and let me know what you think. — Patterico]
“But what about our Second Amendment rights, President Broadsman?” Tony Mark asked theatrically.
Cass Long tilted his head slightly to the right, as both men had seen President Pierre Broadsman do countless times on 3V. “What is this Second Amendment of which you speak?” Long intoned, as if addressing the entire tavern.
“Our God-given right to bear arms?” Mark asked.
Long tilted his head even further. “Who is this ‘God’ of whom you speak?”
“Excuse me, Mr. President,” said Long. “What gives you the right to seize the firearms of the law-abiding citizens of this country?”
The tilt of Long’s head reached nearly 45 degrees, and his face bore a mock-serious expression. Mark imitated the expression, and tilted his own head likewise. Both men slid off their stools to their feet. “IT IS FOR THE GOOD OF SOCIETY!” they intoned together, as their exaggerated serious expressions broke into laughter.
A couple in a booth turned to look at Long and Mark. Long held the man’s gaze until the man turned away.
The men sat back down on the stools. Long quoted the Conservative Party’s knock on Broadsman: “‘Broadsman: Ignoring amendments from the Second to the 22nd.’ Not this time, pal. Your fifth term is your last.” Long took a sip from his bottle of beer and said: “Putting that son of a bitch up against the wall is going to be the best part of this whole thing,” he said.
Mark looked at Long steadily. “I think freeing Reisman is going to be the best part.”
Long returned the look. “When it goes down, Reisman will be freed. Everyone will be freed. Nobody will ever be imprisoned for exercising their rights again.” Long spat angrily. Mark knew what was coming. “To secure these rights,” Long said, “governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”
“I know,” Mark replied. “Whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends…”
Long finished the sentence with Mark: “…it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it.”
“Damn straight,” Long said. He added: “Mark, I love Reisman too. But I also love what he stood for — what he stands for — and I know you do too. He wouldn’t be happy if all we did was bust him out of jail. Don’t you see?” Long leaned forward towards Mark. “We’re not just going to alter the government, Tony. We’re going to abolish it.” He straightened up, nodded, and took another sip of beer. “Come April 20, Reisman will be free. The whole damned country will.”
Mark looked down at the table and said nothing.
* * * *
Mark had to admit, the plan actually might work.
It all went back to the 1990s, when an investment banker from New York named Donald Zilkha bought the legendary Colt’s Manufacturing Company. Zilkha had an idea that sounded like a stroke of genius — if you were, like Zilkha, a New Yorker who had never fired a gun. He wanted to build a “smart gun”: a gun that would fire only when its owner was the one pulling the trigger.
But there was a problem. There were a lot of problems, actually. Cops and gun enthuasiasts didn’t trust the guns to work. And even gun control advocates didn’t like the idea, fearing that guns would become too mainstream if everyone thought they were safe. Ultimately, the idea became toxic after a demonstration to a Wall Street Journal reporter ended in disaster. The CEO of Colt put on the special wristband that was supposed to communicate wirelessly with the smart gun, and then picked up the gun and pulled the trigger . . . and nothing happened. The publicity from the front-page story killed the smart gun program at Colt.
But Democrats were enamored of the smart gun idea. President Barack Obama ordered government agencies to conduct feasibility studies to evaluate whether government agencies could employ smart guns. Surreptious funding under the Hillary administration kept the gun manufacturers’ research going over the decades. It continued under the Chelsea administration, and intensified under Broadsman. But the programs were very secretive. Nobody wanted to repeat the Colt disaster.
But then, nobody expected the Z-series microtransmitter.
The Z-series made possible, among other things, the wonders of the 3V — an entertainment experience that many swore rivalled reality itself. 2055 was the year that the handwringing of the early 21th century about limited “broadband” access suddenly seemed as comically antiquated as the giant Harvard Mark 1 computer of the 1940s had seemed in 2010. Movies, gaming, and all other digital entertainment was, in a matter of months, utterly smooth, three-dimensional, and almost literally endless.
And, among many other consequences of the Z-series, the on-again-off-again smart gun research was revived with a vengeance. Within 13 years of the introduction of the Z-series, wireless smart-gun technology was deemed foolproof. In 2071, the NRA celebrated its 200th birthday with a campaign against the technology — but even the NRA could no longer credibly argue that the technology would prevent guns from firing. When President Broadsman declared: “Z-series wireless technology is as reliable as a trigger,” the NRA couldn’t deny it. Instead, the NRA tried to tell America that computerizing firearms would give the government more control over their operation — a claim that leftists ridiculed as rank paranoia.
Neither President Broadsman or the NRA knew about Sabine Hessler.
They didn’t even find out after Reisman was arrested. Which was the greatest testament to Reisman’s loyalty that Mark could imagine.
* * * *
Mark would never forget the day that Long brought him the news.
“Mark, Reisman has been arrested,” Long said.
“What? What happened?” Mark asked.
“Weapons violation,” Long said.
“Of course it was.” Mark had a sudden, awful thought. “Did they find out about Sabine?”
“No,” Long said. “But it’s almost certainly a matter of time.”
Sabine Hessler was a top programmer at Smith and Wesson. What the government didn’t know — what nobody except Mark, Long, and Reisman knew — was that she was also a member of the notorious Heller Group run by Long, Mark, and Reisman. The Heller Group had been on the U.S. Government’s Domestic Terror Watchlist for 20 years. It was an open secret that the movements of top H.G. leaders were routinely monitored by FBI agents. Outwardly, Long and Mark acted as though they had no idea. They still routinely mocked President Broadsman in public, and talked with abandon about their Second Amendment rights — as if they didn’t care that their statements could end up as part of an affidavit in support of a warrant to search their houses.
And, as it happened, all H.G. leaders had had their homes searched at least half a dozen times. Broadsman and his goons were not known for being subtle. As Broadsman would always say: “It Is For the Good of Society!”
But Long, Mark, and Reisman were more clever than Broadsman gave them credit for. They had secret places to meet that Broadsman didn’t know about. And they had Sabine Hessler.
Hessler had come to them in 2068 with a microchip that she said contained a secret that only the tinfoil-hat crazies at the NRA had dreamed of. Only the NRA thought the government would get the secret . . . not the Heller Group! As one of the developers of S&W’s smart-gun technology, Sabine Hessler had developed a way to defeat the wireless technology of S&W’s smart guns. The Z-series wireless technology! Countless editorials in the New York Times and Washington Post had assured the public that no such thing was possible. And here, Sabine Hessler held that impossibility in the palm of her hand.
With Hessler’s secret, any smart gun could be jammed. All of them could. All of them.
Long and Mark saw the implications immediately. This microchip, dwarfed in size by one of Sabine’s fingernails, could overthrow the entire United States Government.
It all went back to President Broadsman’s order that the U.S. Government replace all conventional firearms with Z-series smart guns by July 4, 2076. “On that day, the 300th anniversary of the founding of our nation, we will declare independence from the menace of uncontrolled firearms!” Broadsman declared in his 2064 State of the Union speech. The executive order would apply to all law enforcement agencies — and even the military.
This had not been a popular order among the federal rank and file. FBI agents and other federal law enforcement agents had quit in droves. There had even been a minor rebellion at Fort Leonard Wood, as soldiers — resisting the order to surrender their conventional firearms — temporarily took over the Major General’s office. President Broadsman signed an executive order allowing summary execution of the rebels, and not long after, he presided over a public ceremony in which all conventional federal weaponry was destroyed. The tricentennial pledge had been fulfilled two years early.
Broadsman and the Democrats always maintained that this was just a federal initiative. But states had been passing their own smart-gun legislation for years. Long and Mark knew it was just a matter of time until all citizens were restricted to smart guns.
But, with the information on Sabine Hessler’s microchip, it was enough that the entire U.S. Government had “smart” guns. Because Sabine Hessler — in Mark’s mind the greatest patriot since Nathan Hale — had given the Heller Group an unparalleled opportunity.
With the ability to render useless any firearm wielded by any member of the U.S. government, the Heller Group was the first rebel group in U.S. history with a real chance of taking over the entire federal government.
They had the arsenal, Long said. All they needed was enough people. And to keep Sabine’s secret safe. The date was set: April 20, 2075. On that day, Long said, the tree of liberty would be refreshed — but not with the blood of patriots. Broadsman’s blood, and the blood of the rest of the feds, he said, would be enough to nourish the tree.
But Mark didn’t know if all that could happen. Even if the government could be disarmed, he said, how could the Heller Group get enough people to overtake the entire federal government? He wanted to free Reisman. He saw Long’s proposal as overly ambitious. Doomed to fail.
Reisman would never be free.
He decided to confront Long.
* * * *
“No,” said Long. “Absolutely not. Out of the question.”
Mark had spent the last ten minutes outlining his case. He barely mentioned his concerns that the revolution might not work. Long would not take that argument well. So Mark hit on the theme of loyalty to Reisman. He wasn’t saying the revolution would fail. But Reisman was critical to their mission — and Reisman had been there from the beginning. They owed it to him to make freeing him a priority.
Long trained his grey gaze on Mark. “The revolution is the top priority. Freeing Reisman before we utterly crush this government is too great a risk.”
“But Long –”
“No, hear me out. Do I need to list the transgressions of this administration for you? Armed raids on anyone who disagrees with them? Laws that forbid political advertising not approved by Broadsman’s hand-picked ‘Free Speech Commission’? The abolition of any notion of freedom of association? Reisman is far from the only political prisoner in this country. Are we going to free them all with Broadsman still in power? No. He goes first. It’s the way it has to be.”
“Listen, Long, if anyone has a right to be upset at Broadsman, it’s you. If I had a wife, and Broadsman did to her what he did to Evelyn –”
“This is not about Evelyn!” Long snapped. “I’ll never forgive him for that, but there is so much more at stake.” He paused, and for the first time in Mark’s memory, Long’s notoriously steady stare failed him. Long blinked several times and looked at the table. But when he lifted his head, the gaze was back, as pitiless as ever. “You’re a valued member of the organization, Mark. But I’ve made my decision.”
I’m the original member of the organization, pal, Mark thought. I was here years before you were. But Mark said nothing.
And so, desperate, three weeks later Mark approached Smith, a top Heller Group agent, with his plan to free Reisman before the revolution.
* * * *
To his surprise, Smith signed on to Mark’s plan one week from the time Mark first brought it up. Mark had started the conversation gently, by talking about his loyalty for Reisman.
It wasn’t long before Mark started recounting to Smith his conversations with Long — conversations that, Mark said, showed that Long had gone off the deep end.
“And then I asked him: what if someone held a gun to your daughter’s head?” Mark said to Smith. “And Long says to me: ‘Is he a government agent?’ I said, ‘Well, no.’ And Long says: ‘Then you can’t take his gun.'”
“So then I asked him, ‘What if he said he was going to rape her?'” Mark said. “Long says to me: ‘Is he a government agent?’ I said no. And Long says: ‘Then there is never any justification for taking any firearm away from a citizen.'”
“The guy is a total fanatic,” Mark continued, warming to his subject. “He’s fine with the worst criminals having guns — as long as they’re not working for the government. Is that crazy or what?”
“Well,” Smith said. “I get what he means. I mean, Broadsman is the guy who wants to take guns from the citizens. Not us.”
“I know,” said Mark. “But Long’s just nuts. He’s totally unreasonable. And I’m really worried that he’ll never pull this off.” Mark paused, wondering if he’d said too much. “I mean I hope he does,” he added. “But I just really want to get Reisman out first. Just think about it, OK?”
“OK,” said Smith. And to Mark’s surprise, one week later, Smith said he was in. He would help organize a break-out of Reisman from custody before the revolution went down. If everything went south, at least they’d have Reisman.
“I’m so glad you’re helping me,” said Mark. “You know what Broadsman would say.”
Smith nodded. “It Is For the Good of Society,” he said — and smiled bitterly.
They set the date: April 19. One day before the revolution. It would give Broadsman the least amount of time to react. Mark reached down, as he often did, and grabbed his own personal handgun as if to reassure himself that it was still there. “From my cold, dead hands,” he said.
Smith nodded. “From our cold, dead hands,” he said.
* * * *
Mark awoke the day of April 19, tired. He felt like he could barely sleep. Yet he felt a grogginess that he couldn’t attribute to his tossing and turning. He reached habitually for his weapon.
It wasn’t there.
Mark took a step towards his door. He didn’t remember leaving it closed. He turned the knob.
It was locked.
What in the hell was going on??
Mark pounded on the door. He waited, and pounded again. This time he yelled. He waited, pounded, and his yelling turned almost into screaming.
When the door opened, Long and Smith were standing together on the other side. They did not look surprised. Then they both drew firearms and pointed them . . . at Mark.
Smith did all the talking. Long just stared at him, as Smith said: “You have probably figured out that I went to Long the day you mentioned your traitorous plan. Long had been concerned about you for some time. We couldn’t permit an independent raid to rescue Reisman. Broadsman would have found out how we did it. He would have found out about the Z-series microtransmitter. It would have killed the revolution.”
“But the revolution won’t work!” Mark said. “You still have time to call off this madness! The federal government is just too big!”
Smith and Long both looked at Mark. Long’s mouth turned up, ever so slightly, in one corner. Smith said: “Mark, there’s something you need to see,” said Smith.
Smith switched on the 3V, and suddenly the room was filled with footage of people being marched out of offices, and TV anchors with professional but panicked looks on their faces. Mark recognized some of his friends, pointing guns at people in uniform. Mark looked in shock as a man he had met last month pointed a gun at Broadsman’s head and pulled the trigger.
“My God,” he said, not sure if he was talking to himself or to Long and Smith. “It’s really happening. It’s working!”
He looked at Long and Smith again. “But why today? It was supposed to happen tomorrow.” He felt again for his waistband. “And where’s my gun??” He turned to Long, who gazed at him coolly. “Cass. You can’t tell me you took my gun. I’m a civilian. I’m not a government agent!”
Smith shook his head. “As I told you, Long had suspected you were a problem for . . . some time now. You were told the wrong date, as a precaution.”
Smith continued: “Anyway, surely you recognize the significance of the day, Tony. April 19, 2075.”
“Of course. The anniversary of the shot heard around the world,” Mark said. Not only had it been all over the 3V in recent days, but he had overheard H.G. members mention it — albeit, he now realized, always in somewhat hushed tones.
“How could we wait until tomorrow?” Smith asked Mark. “How could you ever think we could wait until tomorrow?”
Mark looked back at the 3V, and noticed footage of Heller Group members entering private homes and pulling people out at gunpoint. He looked at Long. “Those people aren’t government agents either, Cass. What the hell is going on, Cass? Why is this happening a day early? Where’s my gun? Why are you taking everyone’s guns, Cass? What gives you the right?!”
And, at that moment, Long spoke for the first time that morning. And somehow Mark know what Long was going to say. It was a phrase he had heard Broadsman say so many, many times. Yet, somehow, when Long said it now, it didn’t surprise Mark at all.
The only thing that surprised him — just a little — was that when Long said the words . . . he said them without a trace of irony.
This is probably the first short story I have written in 25 years.
“Don’t quit your day job” — har, har, get it out of the way now.
I’m a fan of Isaac Asimov. Character development ain’t my thing. Relentlessly moving the plot forward, with cardboard figures and stilted dialogue — mmm, that’s the stuff!
This may end up being the only comment on this post, what with today’s election. Anyway, I had fun writing it. I hope someone has fun reading it.
Patterico (86c8ed) — 4/19/2016 @ 7:39 amthis is like one of those action movies where nobody eats a single bite the whole movie
happyfeet (831175) — 4/19/2016 @ 7:56 amFantastic would have accepted it in the ’50s. I’m not sure about Galaxy. Early Keith Laumer or Richard Matheson, I’d say, maybe Murray Leinster. Not dark enough for Fritz Leiber. But if you want to develop a following as an author, you need happy or optimistic endings, at the very least the bad guy getting his comeuppance. People will always pay to be distracted, seldom to be depressed.
nk (dbc370) — 4/19/2016 @ 7:59 amThis is good.
Beware people whose motives are the good of society.
DRJ (15874d) — 4/19/2016 @ 8:00 amShown it to your brother, Patterico?
nk (dbc370) — 4/19/2016 @ 8:16 amKeep going. Ya can’t stop in mid story.
Hoagie ™ (e4fcd6) — 4/19/2016 @ 9:13 amYou have to learn to write by writing. I wouldn’t quit your day job, but I wouldn’t quit writing either.
I like to write, but I can never think of stories.
Gabriel Hanna (64d4e1) — 4/19/2016 @ 9:17 amI enjoyed this. It’s a better story than “If You Were a Dinosaur, My Love,” which won a Nebula and wasn’t nearly as charitable to the author’s political opponents (that would be conservatives, if it wasn’t obvious). Highly reminiscent of “A Nice Morning Drive,” published 40 years ago in Road & Track, and eerily prescient about car regulation:
http://www.2112.net/xanadu/articles/a_nice_morning_drive.htm
There’s a misstep in Mark’s final protest to Long, in that he complains “why is this happening a day early?” right after that’s been answered pretty comprehensively. Arguably, even that’s OK, though, as he’s upset and excited, thus not thinking clearly. I also would enjoy hearing what comes next, even though you had good reasons for stopping where you did. Mark has committed no crime against the new government, and yet it’s obvious he’d threaten their legitimacy. The trial — or lack thereof — would be worth exploring.
Eliot (5db132) — 4/19/2016 @ 9:36 amI am a fan of Asimov as well. Your knowledge of yourself would make Virgil proud. oh, and i liked the story, too.
felipe (b5e0f4) — 4/19/2016 @ 9:46 amI’m with nk (and again, it pleases me he and I read and were influenced by the same writers). Patterico, I already suggested you read some of the F. Paul Wilson political fiction…you will enjoy it.
As for critics, please. It reminds me of the Stephen King business. Someone would always say to him “You know, I always wanted to be a writer.” He would reply, equally brightly, “I always wanted to be a brain surgeon.”
Now, Patterico, you write for you…and maybe some friends. Later, you write for money. Two different things. But both require you believe in yourself. And you do.
Simon Jester (2708f4) — 4/19/2016 @ 10:12 amDRJ, if you ever get a chance, read Jack Williamson’s 1947 story “With Folded Hands.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/With_Folded_Hands
It’s much better than the Wikipedia entry suggests.
Freedom multiplied by security always, always equals a constant. The more of one, the less of the other.
Simon Jester (2708f4) — 4/19/2016 @ 10:15 amGood story. I see it as almost as much Heinleinish as Asimovian.
Seriously, between power supply issues, token recognition, signal jamming, etc. a smart gun is like a dull knife. They are both dangerous to the user because you can’t be sure they will function properly.
Never trust anyone who recites slogans. You can never be sure who is a true believer and who is mocking it. And mockery is the sincerest form of imitation.
Advo (322ad6) — 4/19/2016 @ 10:54 amJust think “Once upon a time”….and the story will write itself, Gabriel Hanna. I used to have a load of fun writing stories for little kids years ago. First it’s fun and second they believe anything.
Hoagie ™ (e4fcd6) — 4/19/2016 @ 10:56 amI thought imitation was the sincerest form of mockery. Now you tell me.
Hoagie ™ (e4fcd6) — 4/19/2016 @ 10:57 amI thought, Rod Serling.
SarahW (67599f) — 4/19/2016 @ 10:58 amYes I thought it has certain resonance with tmhahm, also some of pournelle’s work, one quibble, technology would have advanced to rail guns and other directed energy weapons.9
narciso (742ca9) — 4/19/2016 @ 11:00 amThis URL says it all: http://www.ghostwoods.com/2010/05/how-to-write-a-book-in-three-days-1210/
For a very good, but not entirely undisgusting or safe for work, example of the Lester Dent formula, mentioned in the first link, here’s a moderately disgusting NSFW story by Terry Bisson (not to be confused with Terry Brooks): http://www.flurb.net/1/bisson.htm
(You’ll see why it’s the example I picked right away.)
nk (dbc370) — 4/19/2016 @ 11:03 amThere can’t be a trial. If the “revolutionaries” really believe in what they did they have to let Mark go, and tell the world what he said.
reff (4dcda2) — 4/19/2016 @ 11:17 amat some point, before the events in that tale, there would be ‘time of troubles’ like what preceded the hunger games, there are also aspects of harrison bergeron, a high honor indeed,
narciso (732bc0) — 4/19/2016 @ 11:29 amO’Brien to Smith, Nineteen Eighty-Four:
Kevin M (25bbee) — 4/19/2016 @ 11:59 amThen there are the Weapons Shops of Isher.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Weapon_Shops_of_Isher
Simon Jester (c9c313) — 4/19/2016 @ 11:59 amhttp://www.jerrypournelle.com/reports/jerryp/iron.html
Kevin M (25bbee) — 4/19/2016 @ 12:03 pm“The right to buy weapons is the right to be free!”
Kevin M (25bbee) — 4/19/2016 @ 12:04 pmI liked it. A little sword play, bringing a knife to a gunfight, aimed at some of the more offensive government agents, say Broadman’s security detail, could be the opening round of the revolution.
Reisman is a loose end. He seems to be the popular leader of the revolution. The new tyranny will need to deal with him and Mark. Or you could twist this and have Reisman confront Mark over his lack of zeal and faith in the new regime as Mark is locked away in the dungeon.
BobStewartatHome (a52abe) — 4/19/2016 @ 12:09 pmReisman = Goldstein
Kevin M (25bbee) — 4/19/2016 @ 12:13 pmMeet the new boss
Kevin M (25bbee) — 4/19/2016 @ 12:15 pmSame as the old boss
No, the rest of the story is a four-sentence paragraph, right out Night of the Long Knives. Like the SA, Mark is taken to a “Dachau”. A firing squad lines up. An officer reads the death warrant: “By order of the Leader ….” Bang!
nk (dbc370) — 4/19/2016 @ 12:17 pmone thinks it would be much like the omega glory, by then the state would have crushed the first generation of insurgents, and annihilated the conscienceness of beliefs, ie white guard, vlasovites et al.
narciso (732bc0) — 4/19/2016 @ 12:25 pmYou know, if one can disable all the guns remotely like that, one could probably fire then all remotely as well. Which just goes to show the idiocy of the “Internet of Things” applied to anything of importance.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 4/19/2016 @ 12:28 pmIt’s perfectly obvious what words Long speaks at the end, right?
Patterico (af8e88) — 4/19/2016 @ 12:34 pmKevin M @ 26 (new and old boss, if comments are renumbered):
Exactly.
Patterico (af8e88) — 4/19/2016 @ 12:36 pmSarahW @ 15:
That’s about right.
Patterico (af8e88) — 4/19/2016 @ 12:37 pmFrom my interactions with gun control activists on the internet, I can assure you that they really have a strong thrill of their fantasies of government agents kicking down doors and shooting gun owners.
SPQR (a3a747) — 4/19/2016 @ 12:39 pmThe next words are obvious. So is what happens next.
DRJ (15874d) — 4/19/2016 @ 12:40 pmI do have a suggestion that Mark could come out on top, in the names. Bonus points to anyone who can explain.
Patterico (af8e88) — 4/19/2016 @ 12:48 pmTwo terms of Hillary, two terms of Chelsea, and five terms of Broadsman, only takes you to 2051 or 2052. There must have been a few Conservatives or something. Probably between 2033 and 2057 (the start of Broadsman’s first term)
What happened to the gun research in the meantime?
The ending brings out Edmund Burke’s (and Thomas Jefferson’s for that matter) point about revolutions.
Sammy Finkelman (366297) — 4/19/2016 @ 12:53 pmNot everybody knows what April 20th is – and what April 19th is. Is it important that none of the characters mentions it?
Sammy Finkelman (366297) — 4/19/2016 @ 12:55 pmEliot (5db132) — 4/19/2016 @ 9:36 am
I think that the story would be improved – as a story – if there was a little bit of foreshadowing that there’s something’s wrong with the choice of the April 20th date – but not enough for Mark to contemplate that it might actually be changed. Or, rather, never planned on, but told to the people less hih ranking in the plot.
The line: “Why is this happening a day early?” needs to be with “But why today? It was supposed to happen tomorrow” so that it reads: “But why today? Why is this happening a day early?” he blubbered. “It was supposed to happen tomorrow!”
And the answer could be: “You, and some others, were told the wrong date, as a precaution, in case it leaked.” Mark said nothing, just giving Smith and Long a look. Smith continued: “Anyway, surely you can recognize the significance of the date of April 20. How could you ever think we could do it on that date?? And surely you recognize the significance of the date of April 19?”
The date issue needs to be foreshadowed.
Sammy Finkelman (366297) — 4/19/2016 @ 1:16 pm“I do have a suggestion that Mark could come out on top, in the names. Bonus points to anyone who can explain.”
Hmm. Cass Long = Gaius Cassius Longinus, one of Caesar’s assassins. Tony Mark = Mark Anthony, who went on to defeat Cassius at the Battle of Philippi. Not sure that Mark Anthony really “came out on top” in the long run (thanks, Octavian), but that’s my best guess.
Pub Editor (b5f37e) — 4/19/2016 @ 1:57 pmhaving given due plaudits, there is a problem, 60 years later, it’s unlikely that the ruling class would be that concerned with bandits, jack london presupposed this in the iron heel, but he was kind of full of himself,
narciso (732bc0) — 4/19/2016 @ 2:34 pm@ Patterico (#30): Oh yes, amply obvious. Thanks for writing this, I enjoyed it.
Beldar (fa637a) — 4/19/2016 @ 2:50 pmI didn’t catch “Cass” and “Tony” until I read it the second time. It confused me until Tony Mark reminded me of Mark Antony. If that’s what you meant, then one theme is that the cycle will continue when the revolutionaries care most about power.
DRJ (15874d) — 4/19/2016 @ 4:11 pmnumidia was the iraq/afghanistan of that generation,
http://www.michaellivingston.com/shards-of-heaven-the-start-is-nigh/
narciso (732bc0) — 4/19/2016 @ 4:13 pmGuns and revolution – keep writing.
mg (31009b) — 4/19/2016 @ 5:47 pmWell done. Yes, the subtext here is that there’s always someone else who will take over. Or:
Indeed.
I said this post wasn’t about Trump, but . . . hmmm.
Patterico (86c8ed) — 4/19/2016 @ 5:50 pmHow about a thread for the NY Primary?
ropelight (f7b9c9) — 4/19/2016 @ 5:53 pmMark Anthony may have lost it all because he dumped Octavia for Cleopatra but …
He was the grandfather of Claudius, the great-grandfather of Caligula, and the great-great-grandfather of Nero.
The future is longer than the next iPhone release.
nk (dbc370) — 4/19/2016 @ 6:01 pmHow about a thread for the NY Primary?
ropelight (f7b9c9) — 4/19/2016 @ 5:53 pm
There’s been one up since 7:32am. Refresh your browser.
nk (dbc370) — 4/19/2016 @ 6:06 pmHey, very good! I really liked it! You say you don’t go into character, but you do, with the action and dialogue. I also like how you dropped in clues as to the plot and the other characters’ place in it, instead of paragraphs of deadly exposition.
You beat me to it!
Patricia (5fc097) — 4/19/2016 @ 7:11 pmI think it applies to Trump, even though that wasn’t the point.
DRJ (15874d) — 4/19/2016 @ 7:22 pmEnjoyed it.
Beyond that, my reputation as a literary critic is nonexistent, so my opinion doesn’t mean much.
I am reminded of the twist at the end of The Hunger Games, when Katniss sees the new ruler as no different from the deposed ruler, and assassinates the new ruler.
As far as the tech stuff, I found this series enjoyable and hard to put down:
MD in Philly (f9371b) — 4/19/2016 @ 7:33 pmhttp://www.jbsimmons.com/
http://www.amazon.com/Unbound-The-Omega-Trilogy-Book-ebook/dp/B00MVUP2BY
You know, it’s funny — I hadn’t thought to when you asked. But then I texted the link to him and to all my sisters.
Hey, I’m not a published author like he is. (Did I mention he has a new book out? I should post about it soon. I read it last year, but it came out recently.) But it’s still fun to write.
Hey, nk, I have been meaning to thank you for the book. I have not gotten to it yet but I will. Thanks for thinking of me.
Patterico (86c8ed) — 4/19/2016 @ 8:50 pmThanks. I don’t pretend to have any skill, but if I have learned anything as a reader of fiction, it is:
and
I may not have followed these rules at all times, but I tried to.
Patterico (86c8ed) — 4/19/2016 @ 8:53 pmwell life imitates art,
http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/2016/04/david-codrea/hillary-clinton-george-zimmerman-shouldnt-gun/
narciso (732bc0) — 4/19/2016 @ 8:55 pmSorry to come to this so late, but I thoroughly enjoyed the story. We could use more interesting fiction to distract us from the drudgeries (no, don’t mean that as a pun either) of daily life.
I think by the time this story is set that Ft. Leonard Wood would have long been renamed Ft. Chelsea Manning.
JVW (9e3c77) — 4/19/2016 @ 10:05 pmHa. Too much Chelsea for one story!
Patterico (86c8ed) — 4/19/2016 @ 10:09 pmDon’t stop now!
Ken in Camarillo (17aa36) — 4/19/2016 @ 11:00 pmWell I’m still confused.
I get the reference to April 20th, Hitler’s birthday; but what is the significance of the day before, other than throwing off Mark’s own timetable?
I really didn’t catch any of the Roman stuff.
I liked the story; should be cleaned up and tightened. (But I always say that, especially to my prolix self.)
Stuff I life: The climax, when you find out what’s really going on; the idea of the “smart” guns being vulnerable; the doublecross… though I would have liked to see foreshadowing of the disarming of Mark… not enough to let the cat out of the beans, but enough that it doesn’t come as a complete surprise.
Some concerns:
* Some mechanism to prevent people from hiding dumb guns.
* I understand why the government would demand every civilian swap dumb guns for “smart” guns; but why would the military and lawn-forcement themselves want crippled guns?
* Didn’t Mark learn any deviousness as the founder (by some years!) of the revolutionary cadre?
* If the Heller Group can infiltrate the grovelment, why hasn’t the government infiltrated the HG?
* Revolutions are expensive and require copious funds, along with massive recruitment, training, weaponry, logistics, intel, and enforcers; where does that all come from? (Generally, a successful revolution requires a “home territory” in which the revos are relatively safe.) Or is this movement more of a coup d’etat? In which case, the coup leaders would be high-ranking officials plucked from Broadsman’s own inner circle.
* Isaac Asimov knew next to nothing about people; they were cardboard props and enigmas, especially women. But you needn’t emulate that Asimovian failing! You know much more about the real world, from your job, your ability to empathize, your wider knowledge of the world — and of course your interaction with the transcendent brilliance of Dafydd Abhugh!* — than Asimov ever knew; make use of that advantage!
All easily fixable, if you plan to submit this story. And why not?
* Another Asimovian trait: his humility .
Dafydd Abhugh (d4fbf5) — 4/19/2016 @ 11:51 pmIt’s not mid story. That is the perfect place to end it. And no, nk, tacking on a happy ending would utterly ruin it. This story has to end the way it does, and exactly where it does. SEK3 would have run it in whatever it was he edited — The New Libertarian? With some polishing I could even see Campbell accepting it.
Milhouse (87c499) — 4/19/2016 @ 11:57 pmYes.
To those who don’t like the ending, what do you think of the ending of Animal Farm?
Milhouse (87c499) — 4/19/2016 @ 11:59 pmOh, much more. Asimov wouldn’t write this story. Heinlein would, though of course better.
Milhouse (87c499) — 4/20/2016 @ 12:00 amNo, no, no. I did not mean that he should tack on a happy ending for this story. That would ruin it.
I meant that the bulk of his work should be, if not Measure For Measure (the villain loses and his victim wins) then at least Othello (Iago in a gibbet?) if he wants to be commercial.
nk (dbc370) — 4/20/2016 @ 12:03 amAnd if we’re going to compare lesser literary lights such as Asimov and Heinlein to Patterico, then
nk (dbc370) — 4/20/2016 @ 12:12 amI’ll note that A.E. Van Vogt’s Empire Of The Atom was a loose I Claudius in a post-WWIII setting.
Trial? What trial? None of this ever happened.
Um, you’re kind of missing the point there.
No, the progression from here to there seems direct.
Too melodramatic. I’m pretty sure they didn’t say anything in the Lubyanka basement. Blokhin certainly didn’t say anything to his victims; for one thing he didn’t have time.
Milhouse (87c499) — 4/20/2016 @ 12:22 amPerfection – one of my favorite Badfinger songs. Great lyric: “There’s no good revolution. Just power changing lives.” Another: “It’s all good blood that’s spilling. To make a bigger knife.”
Thanks for the story, Pat. Article V for the win!
Ed from SFV (3400a5) — 4/20/2016 @ 1:19 amDafydd Abhugh @ 58:
April 19, 2075 = Exact 300th anniversary of the Battles of Lexington and Concord, considered the start of the American Revolution.
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-american-revolution-begins
It is observed as Patriot’s Day in Massachusetts and Maine since 1894 (except that it’s been moved to the third Monday in April.) In both states it replaced Fast Day.
Sammy Finkelman (a5988d) — 4/20/2016 @ 7:26 pmSammy Finkelman:
April 19, 2075 = Exact 300th anniversary of the Battles of Lexington and Concord, considered the
start of the American Revolution.
All right, then I have another concern: Who the heck in 2016, other than professional or amateur historians, is going to know that off the top of his head? That’s even more obscure than “Tony Mark!”
If that’s the important message of the last couple of sentences, then it really, really, really ought to be both foreshadowed and explained.
Dafydd Abhugh (d4fbf5) — 4/21/2016 @ 1:07 amFrom reading the posts, I would say that several people here knew. 😎 Which really says something about a well rounded education.
Easy Target (6ce5ae) — 4/21/2016 @ 7:14 pmYeah, but Dafydd: “The shot heard around the world.” I think most people know that, no? That phrase appears at the pivotal moment, and I gave you credit for knowing it.
Patterico (86c8ed) — 5/2/2016 @ 10:34 pm🙂
Patterico (86c8ed) — 5/2/2016 @ 10:35 pm