History, Politics And Current Affairs

jemhouston wrote: ↑Tue Nov 14, 2023 6:25 pm Linda Hamilton and Sigourney Weaver

Linda Hamilton would be about right.

Poohbah wrote: ↑Tue Nov 14, 2023 6:02 pm

jemhouston wrote: ↑Tue Nov 14, 2023 5:33 pm

Poohbah wrote: ↑Tue Nov 14, 2023 5:11 pm

Remember, Sophie's only 22 here.

That was the big defect of the classic WW2 movies: they used actors who were really too old for the roles they played.

Angelina Jolie was born in 1975. I was trying to think of female action star of the mi-80s in her twenties.

Given the fact the studios could only hang onto so many actors during WW2, which was one reason they actor they used were too old.

Figure this story wouldn't hit the screen until the late 90s at the earliest. Angelina Jolie would be in the age range then.

Sarah Michelle Gellar - from Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

I really like the story. What I find to be borderline rule-of-cool-ish is Sophe only coming up in HTH against dumbasses. One of my two biggest pet peeves in fiction is waif-fu. The other is female archers using longbows.
Anyway. Cynthia Rothrock herself stated unequivocally that any half-trained man of similar bodyweight and up (duh) would wipe the floor with her. Yes, Sophie is fighting smart, and going for atemi, but sooner rather than later she should come up against somebody who outweighs AND outclasses her. That‘s simply the law of averages. Men are generally stronger, quicker and more aggressive than women.
My personal (albeit anecdotal) experience is practically folding and tying up a female black belt while I was a green belt in Judo. I simply employed weight, strength and aggressively using what techniques I knew ar that time. The fight was over in under thirty seconds. Back then I was "only" around 100kg, she was in the 65/70ish range. No contest. Same in self defence, krav maga and karate.

Realism. It exists.
Reference for acceptable woman-fu: The apartment/staircase fight in Atomic Blonde, and even that made Hollywood allowances. She was tanking way too many hits. Even the strongest determination can oy take you so far.

Sophie has been known to shoot first.

jemhouston wrote: ↑Wed Nov 15, 2023 11:51 am Sophie has been known to shoot first.

Until she doesn‘t.

Jotun wrote: ↑Wed Nov 15, 2023 11:36 am I really like the story. What I find to be borderline rule-of-cool-ish is Sophe only coming up in HTH against dumbasses. One of my two biggest pet peeves in fiction is waif-fu. The other is female archers using longbows.
Anyway. Cynthia Rothrock herself stated unequivocally that any half-trained man of similar bodyweight and up (duh) would wipe the floor with her. Yes, Sophie is fighting smart, and going for atemi, but sooner rather than later she should come up against somebody who outweighs AND outclasses her. That‘s simply the law of averages. Men are generally stronger, quicker and more aggressive than women.
My personal (albeit anecdotal) experience is practically folding and tying up a female black belt while I was a green belt in Judo. I simply employed weight, strength and aggressively using what techniques I knew ar that time. The fight was over in under thirty seconds. Back then I was "only" around 100kg, she was in the 65/70ish range. No contest. Same in self defence, krav maga and karate.

Realism. It exists.
Reference for acceptable woman-fu: The apartment/shtaircase fight in Atomic Blonde, and even that made Hollywood allowances. She was tanking way too many hits. Even the strongest determination can oy take you so far.

Fair critique, and I may have Caitlin point it out. Which will change Sophie's actions going forward, and not necessarily in the way Caitlin was hoping

Too overmatch for fist going guns.

I'm hoping she knows better than to get a knife fight. No one wins, one just loses less.

Poohbah wrote: ↑Wed Nov 15, 2023 4:16 pm

Jotun wrote: ↑Wed Nov 15, 2023 11:36 am I really like the story. What I find to be borderline rule-of-cool-ish is Sophe only coming up in HTH against dumbasses. One of my two biggest pet peeves in fiction is waif-fu. The other is female archers using longbows.
Anyway. Cynthia Rothrock herself stated unequivocally that any half-trained man of similar bodyweight and up (duh) would wipe the floor with her. Yes, Sophie is fighting smart, and going for atemi, but sooner rather than later she should come up against somebody who outweighs AND outclasses her. That‘s simply the law of averages. Men are generally stronger, quicker and more aggressive than women.
My personal (albeit anecdotal) experience is practically folding and tying up a female black belt while I was a green belt in Judo. I simply employed weight, strength and aggressively using what techniques I knew ar that time. The fight was over in under thirty seconds. Back then I was "only" around 100kg, she was in the 65/70ish range. No contest. Same in self defence, krav maga and karate.

Realism. It exists.
Reference for acceptable woman-fu: The apartment/shtaircase fight in Atomic Blonde, and even that made Hollywood allowances. She was tanking way too many hits. Even the strongest determination can oy take you so far.

Fair critique, and I may have Caitlin point it out. Which will change Sophie's actions going forward, and not necessarily in the way Caitlin was hoping

Thank you. Waif-fu is an absolute criterion to cease watching a movie to me. Like so many other things, modern cinema is overdoing it.
I really don‘t want to see Sophie turned into a bleeding container of broken bones and ruptured organs, but she comes across as overconfident and a bit arrogant when dealing with close-up work.

19 December 1987
Area 2, Nevada Test Site
Nye County, NV

Richie Madano was unceremoniously dumped out of the helicopter. Immediately, the helicopter rose back into the sky, leaving him alone with two armed men, obviously guards of some sort. Behind them was a set of Quonset huts.

One of them said, "Welcome, Detainee 217."

"Where am I?"

"Over twenty miles from the nearest potable water source, and we ain't telling you which way that is. But we are pretty close to some radiological hot spots from the glory days of atmospheric nuclear testing, and a quite a few test craters that vented. If you decide to pull a runner, we're not going to bother chasing you. Buzzards gotta eat, too."

"I want my lawyer, damnit!"

The two guards looked at each other, and then laughed.

19 December 1987
Headquarters, 10th Air Force
Nellis Air Force Base
Las Vegas, NV

"Sophie?"

"Morning, Caitlin."

"Morning. Look, before we have our big, dramatic scene in the ops bullpen, there's something you need to understand about last night." Caitlin sighed, then said, "You were dangerously aggressive, foolishly arrogant . . . and extremely lucky. Even a half-trained man could probably beat the crap out of you. Size tells in fighting. You got lucky--you went up against drunken idiots who weren't ready for someone who was willing to do grievous bodily harm from the very start, especially a woman. Next time, you won't be, because word has probably gotten around by now. Going forward, don't go hand-to-hand, got it?"

Sophie considered things for a moment, then said, "All right. Message heard and understood."

* * *

Sophie stepped into the JSOC planning cell to see Hummel wearing grim expression.

"What happened?"

"We talked to General Stroud's staff at AAFSOUTH about your idea. They were less than thrilled. Stroud is apparently going to come out here soon, so we'd better be ready to answer questions."

Sophie sighed. "And I'm still trying to figure out how to subvert the phone switches--"

At the far end of the cell, a major in a flight suit sneezed.

Hummel said, "Damn it, Major, go home, don't infect the entire cell!"

Sophie saw the numbers dancing. And felt the answer coming to her.

Hummel turned back to Sophie and asked, "Chief?"

"Hang on, sir. The numbers are doing their thing."

A minute later, she said, "I just figured out how to subvert all the phone switches down to San Antonio."

* * *

Decker's expression was skeptical.

"All right, Chief, explain it to me like I'm a slightly dumber than average golden retriever."

"All right, sir."

Sophie went to the whiteboard and drew a rough map of Texas. She marked the cities behind enemy lines, showing DFW as contested.

"All right, sir. Each of these cities has an electronic switching system from Ma Bell, right in the telephone company central office. The old school way they did this was with what they called a "crossbar switch," which is electromechanical. Starting around 1975 or '76, they began installing electronic switches that are essentially computer systems--you can program them all sorts of ways to do various things. A lot of the new features on phones require these electronic switches."

Decker nodded. "OK, so it's a computer. So you break into the telephone company office and type commands on a keyboard?"

Sophie smiled. "No, sir. You dial a special number. and you do it over the phone line. Now, you have to fool the switch into thinking you're authorized to do that, but we know how to do all that."

Decker nodded. "All right, so you slip into enemy territory, find a working phone, plug your computer in . . . great. So we can take over the switch in Dallas, we got troops there. So what? Our target is way down in San Antonio."

Sophie said, "We tell the switch in Dallas to pass our program to Waco. Waco, in turn, passes it to Austin, Austin passes it to San Antonio, and Bob's your uncle. Saves me one hell of a walk, sir."

Decker smiled. "Economy of effort. That said, are you sure about being able to get in?"

"I interned at Parsippany in '85, sir. And we have . . . arrangements . . . for getting inside those switches."

Decker nodded. "All right. Get cracking on that--AFTER we make our manners to General Stroud. I'm going to need some analytical rigor behind our idea, so I'm counting on you to answer the General's objections."

"Yes, sir. BTW, could Major Shagan find a reason to be up in the main ops bullpen around 0915 or so?"

Decker called Shagan over, and asked, "Got a plausible reason to be in the main ops bullpen area at 0915?"

Shagan nodded. "I can do that."

"Good, sir. At 0919, Special Agent Caitlin O'Shaugnessy is going to go to my cubicle with a good head of rage on and publicly tear me a new asshole for my antics of last night. I'm going to let her rant and rage, and then I'm going to say a few words that will rate a BEADWINDOW. Not much--anyone without guilty knowledge won't know what I'm saying. I need you to unobtrusively look over the crowd for any reactions that seem off, sir."

Shagan nodded. "Easy enough. I've got your back, Chief."

Decker said, "I'm going to 'just happen' to visit General Vandenhelden to discuss what happened last night--he needs to know, and he's a good egg--and when appropriate, I will jump in and drag you back down here for a what will officially be an ass-chewing, but will really be a chance for us to debrief, and you go back upstairs with an appropriately chagrined-but-pissed-off expression."

"Sounds like a plan, sir."

The plan is coming together

I'm not 100% certain, but I think the Telephone Systems group of Bell Labs was still in Whippany in 1985. I don't think they moved to Parsippany until 1987. However, I was in middle school at the time, and I could be misremembering.

I'll do some research in Dad's stuff and let you know.

Belushi TD

OOC - IRL as well. Dad was annoyed when they made him move to Parsippany for about 3 or 4 years, but at least he had an office that overlooked a lake. Interesting fact - I did the environmental work about 3 years ago following the demolition of the building he used to work in, prior to its redevelopment.

Nice new chapter and thanks for implementing my critique.

Jotun wrote: ↑Tue Nov 21, 2023 12:48 pm Nice new chapter and thanks for implementing my critique.

O'Shaughnessy may yet regret that chat...

Poohbah wrote: ↑Tue Nov 21, 2023 3:21 pm

Jotun wrote: ↑Tue Nov 21, 2023 12:48 pm Nice new chapter and thanks for implementing my critique.

O'Shaughnessy may yet regret that chat...

Probably less than she would regret not having it and Sophie ending up crippled, dead or worse.

Poohbah wrote: ↑Tue Nov 21, 2023 3:21 pm

Jotun wrote: ↑Tue Nov 21, 2023 12:48 pm Nice new chapter and thanks for implementing my critique.

O'Shaughnessy may yet regret that chat...

If she's ex-Texas Highway Patrol. she may see Sophie as her best means of revenge against the Russians. Or she maybe trying to save her body and soul.

jemhouston wrote: ↑Tue Nov 21, 2023 8:58 pm

Poohbah wrote: ↑Tue Nov 21, 2023 3:21 pm

Jotun wrote: ↑Tue Nov 21, 2023 12:48 pm Nice new chapter and thanks for implementing my critique.

O'Shaughnessy may yet regret that chat...

If she's ex-Texas Highway Patrol. she may see Sophie as her best means of revenge against the Russians. Or she maybe trying to save her body and soul.

Or just be tired of kids getting hurt because they made a mistake.

Johnnie Lyle wrote: ↑Tue Nov 21, 2023 9:13 pm

jemhouston wrote: ↑Tue Nov 21, 2023 8:58 pm

Poohbah wrote: ↑Tue Nov 21, 2023 3:21 pm

O'Shaughnessy may yet regret that chat...

If she's ex-Texas Highway Patrol. she may see Sophie as her best means of revenge against the Russians. Or she maybe trying to save her body and soul.

Or just be tired of kids getting hurt because they made a mistake.

Or all of the above, perhaps?

Wolfman wrote: ↑Tue Nov 21, 2023 9:16 pm

Johnnie Lyle wrote: ↑Tue Nov 21, 2023 9:13 pm

jemhouston wrote: ↑Tue Nov 21, 2023 8:58 pm

If she's ex-Texas Highway Patrol. she may see Sophie as her best means of revenge against the Russians. Or she maybe trying to save her body and soul.

Or just be tired of kids getting hurt because they made a mistake.

Or all of the above, perhaps?

She embraces the healing power of “and.”

19 December 1987
Headquarters, 10th Air Force
Nellis Air Force Base
Las Vegas, NV

Precisely on time, Caitlin O'Shaugnessy stepped into Sophie's cubicle.

"Chief, I don't know what covert ops rock they found you under, but the next time you get an urge to go freelancing, lie down until it passes. I've been on the phone since 0530 with the AFOSI mother ship at McGuire AFB, the Air Force Staff Judge Advocate office in Valley Forge, and Las Vegas PD, and they all are asking me where the hell those two people disappeared to."

Sophie turned and smiled at Caitlin. "Good morning, Special Agent O'Shaughnessy. I have no idea where they are, nor do I give a jolly damn. Prisoners are like cue balls: the harder you hit 'em, the more English you get out of them."

"Goddamnit, Chief, the Constitution says--"

"The Constitution is not a suicide pact. Habeas corpus has been suspended in certain cases, this was one of them, and they're no longer your worry until they cough up something."

Caitlin said, "Don't think that this is over."

Sophie smirked. "Never is. The ride never ends, Ms. O'Shaughnessy. Run along, dear, this is well above your pay grade."

Decker came over, wearing an unpleasant expression. "Chief, a moment of your time, please."

Sophie put on a neutral expression. "Yes, sir."

Sophie followed him downstairs, into the JSOC cell, and into his office. Hummel was waiting with a similarly unpleasant expression.

The door shut behind Hummel, and Decker chuckled quietly. "Good thing no one can hear us in here. Well done. Shagan was giving my the high sign almost as soon as you started talking. You two were perfect. Just enough to freak out anyone with guilty knowledge. Everyone else just thinks it's a pissing contest."

Hummel nodded. "So, we got a bite."

Decker said, "All right, Hummel and I will put on our game faces, and you will retire out of the office as if you just got taken down a peg."

* * *

An hour later, Sophie got called into a meeting in the JSOC conference room. Caitlin was there.

Shagan said, "Two people were shitting their pants as soon as Chief Henrix mentioned . One Major Todd Jorgensen from the Air Mobility shop, and Lieutenant Colonel Brock Addison in Combat Plans."

Sophie said, "So we lift 'em and have a chat."

Caitlin cleared her throat.

"Uh, guys . . . I'm going to have to insist on probable cause going forward, and we aren't quite there yet. The one thing that makes 303 renditions even remotely tolerable is that they're extremely rare. We have what's officially described in Terry v. Ohio as a 'reasonable articulable suspicion.' Now, we've got way more than a hunch; Major Shagan observed specific behaviors that were indicative of guilty knowledge, given the extremely limited disclosure in our shouting match. We have sufficient grounds to investigate them, and I'm getting the ball rolling on that. But we do not have probable cause for any kind of warrant, be it wiretapping or searching their homes, or making an arrest."

Sophie asked, "We can always surveil their office lines."

Caitlin nodded. "Of course. No expectation of privacy on AUTOVON."

"Can we run a trap and trace on their home phones?"

Caitlin thought for a moment, then said, "That's the lowest standard of evidence required--there's no expectation of privacy for information you have to give to Ma Bell to make the phone work. We're still going to need an order from either the court out in town or the base magistrate, but with a reasonable suspicion as the basis, that shouldn't be too hard. I'll get our legal people on it."

A few moments later, with action items passed out to various people, the meeting adjourned.

* * *

The party at Binion's was going full blast, and Christy Canyon was enjoying it, dragging Sophie out onto the dance floor several times for dancing. Sophie enjoyed moving to the music.

She felt a vibration at her hip, glanced quickly at the pager display, and pulled Christy in close, tapping her back twice with her left hand while taking Christy's left hand in her right--their agreed signal that the operation was on.

Christy followed through with a twirl, then moved in and kissed Sophie, drawing a cheer from the crowd.

They exited the dance floor arms linked, whispering in each others' ears and giggling.

* * *

They took the elevator up to the tenth floor, making their way down the hall to Room 1016. Sophie unlocked the door and ushered Christy into the room.

"You guys looked convincing enough." Caitlin pointed a thumb over her shoulder at the surveillance video monitors showing the hallway and the elevators.

Christy chuckled. "Well, I wouldn't kick her out of bed for eating crackers."

Sophie laughed. "Nice to know."

Christy said, "Diane told me all the details--"

Caitlin said, "And I don't need to hear them."

Sophie giggled. "Caitlin, we gotta hook you up with somebody."

"I'm good. Come on, guys, game faces on."

Christy grew serious. "Yes, ma'am." She poured herself a cup of coffee and settled down behind a bank of surveillance video monitors from street level. Sophie poured her own cup and sat down next to her, getting feeds from cameras mounted on lampposts.

Caitlin poured herself a cup and started a fresh pot. "Going to be a long night, people."

Sophie sipped her coffee, looking at the monitors, then at the rogue's gallery lined up above them. She felt her mind slip into what she called her "overwatch mode," looking at nothing in particular, but absorbing everything in general.

And waited.

Next thing you know, a gentleman in a white suit will come to recruit Caitlin. That is if a certain General doesn't come first.

They both like people who while flexible on where the line is, know when the line is set in stone.