Almost…
Hopefully, the Kindle will be up tomorrow, but the paperback will have to wait until we get the proof copies back.
As always, Tina did a super job on the cover!!!
And sleeping in my own bed! PP is doing better, kids are better (but wired on meds)…
Tried to get them to ‘pose’ with Papa before I left…
The dogs didn’t think much of their antics either!
But they finally decided to ‘cooperate’ for versions of kids cooperating… LOL
And the dogs just flopped and ignored all of us.
The first ‘confirmed’ Narco-Sub (technically not a submarine, as it can’t submerge, it is a low profile vehicle) has been spotted in Europe.
At dawn on Sunday, Spanish police descended on a picturesque bay just north of Vigo, on Spain’s Atlantic coast. The so-called narco-submarine, used for smuggling cocaine, was being abandoned by its crew. They appear to have scuttled it to hide the evidence. Two were arrested and a third suspect was reported to be on the run.
Full article, HERE.
This story is well done, and goes into some of the background of previous ‘finds’ in South America. I know at one time, a number of years ago, there was at least one attempt by the cartels to buy a working submarine from a foreign entity. And they smaller LPVs have been run out of both the Atlantic and Pacific sides of South America at least for 15-20 years. Before, it was sailboats with masts removed, superstructures shaved, and painted blue to match the color of the water.
Who knows how many of these have already gotten through. How many have already made it to Europe?
Lives and drugs are cheap to the Cartels. How many did they send before one made it???
A couple of ‘torture’ implements for those old farts out there…
Bonus points if you remember the shift pattern… LOL
And something ‘some’ of us grew up with…
And yes, it still works! Son-in-law uses it in the very small front yard.
Here’s another one for y’all to look at/bleed on… 🙂
Comments/recommendations appreciated.
Chapter 11
Danny sighed as he walked back aboard, and Estrella asked, “Is there a problem that I need to be aware of, Captain?’
Danny threw up his hands. “Not unless you can tell me where I can hide those…objects, discs, whatever the hell they are where no one can find them.”
Estrella’s voice bristled for lack of a better word, “You no longer trust me, Captain,” she asked icily.
“No, no, it’s not that. It’s…somebody wants these discs pretty bad. And I’d rather they be off the ship and safe, but I don’t have any idea—”
Estrella paused for a few seconds, startling Danny, then said, “Well, I now have an account at GCU, and I just leased a box that should fit them.”
Danny jerked. “You what? You’re not—”
Estrella said coldly, “Not what? Am I not crew? Am I not a certified pilot, navigator, and?”
“What prompted this?”
“Dani and I talked. I’m drawing a commensurate salary for my position and needed someplace to keep the money.” Three packages came floating down the passageway, and he reached up to grab them. “There is a messenger drop at 21-X-30. Put these in there, and they will be delivered to my box at GCU.”
“Um, just out of curiosity, how did you get an account at Gal Credit Union?”
“It wasn’t hard. I did it online. They don’t require you to actually be present to start one, and they use a security code for access. And you now have forty-five segs to make your appointment with Mapper.”
Befuddled by what was going on, Danny carried the three packages back to the module where Efrot stood at the end of the module in his radiation suit. “You okay with the watch?”
Efrot nodded. “I stand watch, Captain. I let no one aboard other than crew.”
Danny said, “That’s right, no one else, not even station security is allowed onboard. If they try, run for the ship and let Essie lock it down.”
“Yes, Captain.”
Danny dropped the packages, noting that the messenger drop appeared to be unmonitored, then rode the mover into the main hub, paid his docking fees, and went by the chandlery and ordered another bot. He also scheduled a reprovision, since he how had a crew that was eating onboard, and grumpily added a food pack, not knowing where he would find a cook.
He made it to the Lounge with five segs to spare and slumped at a table next to Mapper’s as he was deep in discussion with LT Brisker. He ordered a coffee from the autowaiter, sipped it glumly, wondering where Daniella was. A seg or two later, Mapper growled, “Get over here, Danny.”
Danny got moved over and sat facing an obviously unhappy Mapper as he activated the privacy screen, then asked, “What the hell happened at Gany? Did you deliver the book to Abraham Rabin as I instructed you?”
Danny shook his head. “No, they told me that… Abraham Rabin was no longer there.”
Mapper slammed his fist down. “No! That… shouldn’t…who did they say is the new director?”
Danny shrugged. “No idea. They didn’t tell me anything, just signed for it and slammed the door in my face.”
“Not good. Not good at all. I should have heard something.” He turned to his holo keyboard and typed rapidly, mumbling to himself as he looked at things, swiping randomly. He finally sat back, disgust on his face. He almost spit, “They gave it to Dresden from old Earth. He hates me, and he’s known for stealing other’s research. If there is a bright nova in this, he can’t read the book, and will probably have to send it to Earth. That still doesn’t explain why he… no maybe it does. He wants the other artifacts you salvaged. He may have connected the book to Helios, and if he did, he will move stars and planets to take credit for it. Did you file any salvage rights to the ship or any ships you found over there?”
“No, I… didn’t have time. When the bot died, and I was getting sicker, I just came back.”
“Well, you’re lucky you did. But I need you to—”
“Go back,” Danny interrupted. “There is one more of those discs and it’s connected to something on the nav station. Doc Eddlestone said there was data, but he couldn’t read it, it was… encrypted or something like that. But I’m not sure about my new crew and how willing they are to go through that shit to get there and back.”
Mapper hitched his shoulder. “They signed on. They will ride it out.”
“I don’t know. And I’m not sure I want to be responsible for killing one of them if—”
“Get the radiation treatment before you leave. Have all of them do it. The sooner you can leave, the better.”
Danny said doubtfully, “I’ll put it to them. If they don’t want to go, I’m not going to force them.”
“And stay the hell away from station admin until I get some answers.” Mapper reached down and pulled a date cube out of his satchel, shoved it across the desk and added, “You might need this, it’s the previous map you made over there. I wouldn’t load it until you get back there. And do a full map and look for signs of a habitable planet in addition to photoscans and vidscans of all the ships there. I’m going to authorize Moose and Squirrel for you to use, also.” He made a shooing motion and turned away, dismissing Danny.
Danny bounced the data cube on his hand, started to say something, thought better of it and shoved the cube in his shipsuit as he got up. Stepping through the privacy screen, he looked quickly around, didn’t see Daniella, and departed with a sigh.
***
Four divs later, he said, “Essie, please have all crew report to the mess, including the watch.”
Essie made the announcement and asked quietly, “We are going back there aren’t we?”
Danny looked up at the camera. “How… how did you guess?”
“Your vitals are elevated, you’re distracted, and you just put that data cube back in the safe. That was the one that was sent to Mapper. You aren’t taking the crew, are you?”
Danny chortled, “That’s what we’re about to address. Mapper says take them, but I want to give them the option. And I’m not sure Adrion would survive it.” He walked slowly to the mess and was surprised to find everyone there. He walked over to the autochef and dialed a bulb of coffee. “Okay, here’s the skin. We have a job. The one that almost killed me. It’s seven jumps through different rifts. The first two are easy, there is a time dilation around point three, point four and six are gravity warps, and bad ones. Like tearing you apart bad. Point five was pretty mild, just shifted light across the spectrum. Point seven is a gravity again, into a black hole, twenty Gs to get out, and eight is heavy radiation into an odd little pocket galaxy with nineteen wrecked or abandoned ships in there.”
Adrion snickered. “So, what’s the problem, Cap’n? There’s salvage to be had, right?”
The others chimed in, talking among themselves more than to him, until Zuckie asked, “Why are you taking this contract?”
“It pays well—”
“Bullshit. There’s something over there you’re after isn’t there? No sane person goes through that without a real good reason.”
Danny’s shoulders slumped. “It’s a Cartographer’s Guild contract. I need that work to stay solvent. Ghost eats a lot of money in refueling and maintenance, and I can’t make it on just the supply runs I make.”
Estrella said, “Captain, Moose and Squirrel are coming. Load them in their normal locations?”
“Uh, sure.”
Gronk, all four arms crossed, grunted, “What Moose and Squirrel?”
Passing a hand over his face, Danny straightened up. “They are sensidrones. They’re… big, expensive, and belong to the CG. Mapper wants them deployed in this pocket galaxy.”
“Funny names,” Adrion said, “They are over ten million credits apiece, and pretty specialized.”
Danny looked sharply at him. “How do you know about them?”
Adrion shrugged. “Handled them a time or two.”
“What else do you know about them?”
“They’re almost always paired. Moose has… probes? Horns? That extend out of the front to collect EM signatures. Squirrel has a brushy thing it extends out the back to collect particulates if it flies through atmosphere or an Ort cloud. They’re autonomous once programmed, perform both active and passive mapping, depending on tasking, and can last up to six months.”
Danny was impressed and said so, “Very good. They’re now your babies.”
Zuckie asked, “So what do we need to do? Rad inoculations and?”
“Rad inocs, full physicals, the whole thing. Guys, this is dangerous. You don’t have to go! I… I can do this by myself.”
Gronk rumbled, “Captain try to cut us out of salvage?”
He threw up his arms. “Fine! I’ll call medical right now. They should be able to get you into the autodoc today. But don’t bitch at me if we make it through and back again.” He stomped out of the mess mumbling to himself and went to the bridge. “Essie, open me a link to medical, please. I need to schedule these idi—”
Estrella snipped, “Their appointments are scheduled in one div. I have squirted their appointments to their datacomps. Your appointment is in two point five divs.”
“I need to—”
“Refueling, reprovisioning and sensor loading is complete. You need to hire a cook. I have prepared a list. Based on medical recommendation a twenty-four div wait is planned in case of any reaction to the radiation inoculations. Departure is scheduled for eighteen tomorrow, local operations.”
Danny glared at the monitor. “Fine! Send me the damn cook’s list, he grumbled. “Damn AIs are killing a captain’s ability to run his own ship.”
“As if you could run this bucket of bolts without me. You might remember that, Captain.” Estrella countered acerbically.
***
Three divs later, Danny moaned as he crawled out of the autodoc, “Damn. That’s not fun. I hope that shit works, because if it didn’t I’m gonna come back and haint somebody’s ass over this.”
The robomed unit squawked, “Does not compute. Please speak in standard linguistics. Is the patient in pain? Please tell the med unit where the patient hurts or point to the location.” Danny shook his head and climbed back into his shipsuit, staggered out of medical and wove his way to the Lounge.
He glanced around, saw that Mapper had his privacy screen activated, and slumped in a chair. The auto waiter trundled over and he said, “Double shot of Old MacWhinney, straight up.”
The auto waiter said, “Alcohol is contraindicated with rad inoc. Customer is allowed high fruticose liquid or protein drink only.”
Danny sighed. “Protein. Damned nanny bots.” Mapper waved at him and he got up with a groan and stumbled over, almost falling into a chair. “Before you ask, can’t leave for twenty-four divs. Gotta monitor for reaction to the treatment, which sucks. I don’t think I hurt this bad when they treated me after I got rad poisoning last trip.”
Mapper nodded and cocked his head as he looked at Danny. “You look like shit, but better than you did last time. Did you hire a cook?”
The auto waiter delivered the protein drink and Danny tasted it. He grimaced then replied, “Yeah. Olafson. He came from the stroids, so he should fit right in. I just hope he can actually cook. We’ll find out tonight, he promised to go get his rad inoc and be on the ship by eighteen.”
“Olafson? Ragnor Olafson?” When Danny nodded, Mapper called up his holo keyboard and typed for a seg or so, ignoring him. He swiped a couple of times, grunted and finally nodded. “Finished up an eighteen-month contract with AMC, came back here a week ago. Been arrested five times for drunk and disorderly. STASEC was about to boot his ass off the station if they arrested him again. No indication he ever drinks on the job though. AMC is willing to rehire.”
Danny nodded, Fucking amazing. Is there anything Mapper can’t find out? How the hell… he taps a few keys and knows more in a minute than I could find out in two divs. Dammit. “Thank you. That’s a lot more than I found out.” He took another sip of the drink, grimaced again and slugged it down. “I’m going back to Ghost and hope I don’t puke on the way. Moose and Squirrel are loaded and Adrion seems to know a lot about them, so I put him in charge of them.”
“Good call. Get as much of a scan of the galaxy as you can. Particularly of any possible civilization. There is a chance there were survivors of some of those ships if there is a habitable planet in that galaxy.”
“If I find them, what am I supposed to do? I—”
“Just get a position for the planet. You can’t do anything other than that. Now go before you fall down.”
***
Olafson proved to be an adequate cook the next day at lunch when the crew finally came up for air, but they were all cursing Danny with a vengeance over the aftereffects of the inoculation.
At seventeen, Danny sat down in the pilot’s couch, strapped in, and looked around to make everything was secured and glanced over at Gronk, ensconced at the navigator’s chair. “Checklist please, copilot.”
Estrella started down the list, “Umbilicals.”
“Disconnected.”
“Power.”
“Internal.”
Thirty items later, she said, “Clock.”
Danny reached up and wound the 8-day clock bolted to the top of the instrument panel, “Clock wound.”
“Checklist complete.”
“Okay. You ready, Gronk?”
“Gronk ready. Courses reviewed, plotted and inputted to AI.”
Danny nodded. “Prepare for maneuvering. Get us clearance to undock.”
Estrella handled the clearance and said, “You are cleared to undock at seventeen fifty-seven.”
Danny watched the sweep second hand, and as it hit the top of the clock, gently nudged the controls, starting Ghost slowly away from the docking module. “And we’re underway.” He toggled the PA, “Crew, Ghost is alive and we are underway. Set maneuvering watch.”
Zuckie answered, “Maneuvering watch set, all stations.”
Danny zoomed the holo, looking at the route Gronk had plotted and moved on position skirting the one time warp that had damn near killed him at a slightly different angle. He turned to Gronk, “Moving this point to mitigate this warp. I want a little steeper angle when we cross it.” Gronk grunted and made a note on his holo screen as Danny toggled the PA, “Six divs to first warp crossing. Recommend you void bladder, bowels, get two bulbs of electrolytic water. Make sure your spaces are secure for penetration and prepare to strap in fifteen segs before we get there. Sick sacks are a necessity, I say again, necessity. Anybody that misses has to clean up their own mess. Captain is off the bridge.” He clicked the PA off and pointed to the holo. “You have the conn, Gronk.”
“Gronk have.”
Danny headed to his cabin and racked out for four divs. After that, he hit the fresher, evacuated everything that would evacuate, and steeled himself for going back through the rift. He prowled the ship, rechecking everything and mumbling to himself. He walked into engineering and saw Zuckie checking the powerplant remotely. “Where’s Efrot?”
Zuckie selected a camera in the power section and pointed. “He says he’s going to ride back there. He doesn’t want to be far from the hot section if there is a problem. He modified a couch with Estrella’s mech and installed it right by the hot section access.”
Danny shook his head. “Estrella, did you authorize this modification?”
She replied, “It is within spec. There is adequate support in that area for a ten G couch, and Efrot is well within limits for any leakage of radiation. I do not recommend removal at this time, as Efrot has put a number of speciesdivs into the design and fabrication of the installation.”
“Okayyy, it’s on him.”
“We are one div from the rift, Captain. I would suggest you assume your position on the bridge.”
Danny looked at Zuckie and rolled his eyes, then turned. “Aye, Aye, AI. Off to the bridge I go.” Danny picked up a sick sack and two bottles of electrolyte on his way and stepped into the bridge. “Any changes, Gronk?”
“No, Captain. We are in position as you directed. I have performed evolutions you suggested.”
Danny nodded as he strapped himself in and keyed the PA, “Fifteen segs to penetration. Secure yourselves and call bridge when completed.” He keyed the PA off, turned to look at Gronk and said, “My intent is to complete all transitions on AI pilot. We may or may not remain conscious through all of them, and the next to last takes us into a black hole system.”
Gronk jerked its head in a motion that could have been a nod. “Gronk will not lose consciousness. Gronk will monitor navigation. Gronk authorized to override if necessary?”
“Gronk is authorized. Checklist please, Essie.”
14 segs later, everyone checked in, strapped in, and checklist completed, Danny said. “And we are entering rift now. Bend over and kiss your asses goodbye, this is gonna be a helluva ride.” Danny lasted through the first six transitions before he passed out, listening to the screams of the others, while Gronk merely grunted a couple of times.
My son-in-law is an avid fisherman, and has multiple rod/reels for a variety of types of fishing. They also have two small children. And those two items DON’T mix!
He was also trying to figure out how to better use his wall space in the garage, and had some left over PVC from a project.
Voila!!!
Ceiling mounted rod/reel track! It freed up six feet of wall space, has different sized holes for various rods so they don’t get confused, and it’s on the ceiling, keeping those expensive rods/reels out of danger, and the kids safe from hooks and tangling the line and/or breaking anything.
He’s done an amazing amount of work at the house since they bought it, and continues to come up with good ideas that improve their lives!
In a PP update, drug her to TWO doctor’s appointments yesterday 4 hours in the car, both surgeons chewed her ass for doing too much… Sigh… But I kinda knew that was coming. BUT both are impressed with her progress, so that’s a plus.
Either marketing genius, or somebody was smoking something…
Star Wars Instapots? Really???
Apparently the ‘new’ latest and greatest sales pitch to all those fans…
I would really hate to see what their ‘decorations’ in their houses look like if they are willing to go to this level of… whatever you want to call it.
From Food and Wine, HERE.
Kinda reminds me of the guy, I think in Britain, that started to build a ‘model’ of the Millennium Falcon cockpit. It ended up taking over something like one floor of his house, or his garage, I don’t remember which, and he spent WAY too much to do it. These fans are almost as bad as Trekkies… They obviously have no lives.
But still worth repeating. Thanks to Alex at Ammo.com for the info.
Oliver Winchester was born in Boston, on November 30, 1810. He started his career with a clothing company based out of New York City and New Haven, Connecticut. After successfully running this aspect of his business, Winchester began to look for new opportunities. Horace Smith and Daniel Wesson (yes, that “Smith & Wesson” who later formed the Smith & Wesson Revolver Company) acquired and improved a rifle design with the help of shop foreman, Benjamin Tyler Henry. Talk about a genius cluster! In 1855, they began to manufacture what would be known as the “Volcanic” lever-action rifle. The company would become incorporated as the Volcanic Repeating Arms Company; its largest stockholder was Oliver Winchester.
After limited success with this new rifle, Winchester seized the opportunity to take control over the failing company and renamed it the New Haven Arms Company. Although initial returns were slow, Benjamin Henry, the company’s leading engineer, improved the Volcanic repeating rifle’s design by enlarging the frame and magazine to accommodate the all-new brass cased .44 caliber cartridge. This ingenuity put the company on the map, and in 1860, the patent for the infamous Henry rifle was issued. The next six years of production produced over 12,000 Henry, many of which were used in the Civil War. In the following months, Benjamin Henry, angered over what he believed was inadequate compensation, filed a lawsuit for ownership of the company. Oliver Winchester hastenly reorganized the company as the Winchester Repeating Arms Company to circumvent this issue.
The Model 1866 soon rolled out as the first Winchester rifle. Based on the Henry rifle, it came with an improved magazine and a wooden forend. In the following years, larger caliber rifles such as the infamous Model 1873, “The Gun That Won The West”, brought more notoriety and foundation to the company. Although Mr. Winchester would miss the opportunity to see his company’s greatest achievements; he passed away in December of 1880.
Winchester Repeating Arms Company’s collaboration with John Browning brought about much success with a host of shotguns, including the still produced Model 1885. The turn of the 20th century hosted a series of new arms developments, many from the top engineer at the time, T.C. Johnson. But it was the start of the First World War that set development and production requirements into full force. The company became a major producer of the .30-06 M1917 Enfield rifle for the United States military, and worked once more with Browning to develop the .50 caliber BMG.
During the war, the company borrowed heavily to finance the expansion. In an attempt to pay down its debt following the war’s end, they used their surplus production capacity to manufacture consumer goods such as kitchen knives, roller skates, and refrigerators. The strategy was a failure, and the Great Depression sent the company into bankruptcy. John M. Olin’s Western Cartridge Company purchased the Winchester Repeating Arms Company at auction in 1931, with plans to restore the brand to its former glory. The Second World War helped this cause tremendously as Winchester produced the U.S. M1 Carbine and the M1 Garand rifle during this time period.
Over the following decades, the Olin Winchester-Western division struggled with rising labor costs and other companies’ cast-and-stamped production methods. By 1980, Olin decided to sell the company back to its employees, which re-incorporated as the U.S. Repeating Arms Company. Olin retained the Winchester ammunition business. U.S. Repeating Arms went bankrupt in 1989, and after a number of sellouts to forgien holdings companies, the New Haven plant closed its doors on January 16, 2006, after 140 years of producing rifles and shotguns.
In August of 2006, Olin Corporation, owner of Winchester trademarks, entered a new license deal with Browning to make Winchester brand rifles and shotguns once again. The Model 1885, Model 1892, and Model 1886 are all produced by Miroku Corporation of Japan, then imported to the U.S. by Browning. Currently, Fabrique Nationale d’Herstal (FN) makes the remainder of Winchester’s rifle and shotgun lineup in various locations around Europe, having moved the lineup from Columbia, SC, where they were made until 2013 at the FN plant there.
Winchester-branded ammunition continues to be produced by the Olin Corporation. Some of the most successful cartridges ever invented have been under the Winchester name: the .44-40 WCF, the .30-30 WCF, the .32 Winchester Special, the .50 BMG, the .270 Winchester, the .308 Winchester (the commercial version of the 7.62x51mm NATO), the .243 Winchester, the .22 WMR (aka the .22 Magnum), and the .300 Winchester Magnum. In North America, the .30-30 and .308 Winchester are some of the best selling cartridges in firearm history.
Through its history, the Winchester name has experienced great successes and significant failures; but it’s truly an important story to know in the realm of firearms. Here’s to the man that started it all, happy birthday to Mr. Oliver Winchester.
I have two Model 70s in the safe, one is a 1940 in 30-GOVT-06, the other is a Columbia, SC mfgr. 30-06 with the pre-62 design, but built on FN’s CNC machines. Both are well under 2 MOA, which is more than acceptable for stock rifles. I also have my 1962 Model 94 that was my 12th birthday present. It’s taken a few deer over the years too!
Spammers and an attack against my little blog are ongoing. Thankfully, my blog host has GOOD security. Something over 1000 SQL attacks, and all of a sudden I’m averaging 100-150 random spams a day. My ‘normal’ count is 15-25.
I can’t help but wonder how much of this is because I don’t ‘toe the line’ well enough for the POS out there…
In other news, PP is recovering fairly well from her surgery. No complications so far (knock on wood), and I take her back to the doctor on Monday for her follow up. Problem is, both kids are running a low grade fever and GRUMPY…
And the dogs have gotten wise to me trying to wear them out. They’ll chase the chew toy five or six times, then it’s dropped and they sit and look at me. Alternatives are now being attempted, but I don’t hold out much hope.
In other GOOD news, I got to see my great grandson. Pictured with my grandson and his significant other. Sucker’s got a grip! He got hold of my beard, and I though he was going to pull half of it out… LOL
Puppers are brother and sister, neutered and homed with PP and family.
This is my lame attempt to tire them out…
Koda usually beats him to the chew toy, but she ‘waits’ for him to grab an end (they do this with pretty much anything thrown that is big enough for both of them to get their mouths on it). Then it’s a race back, followed by a tug of war. And if either drops their end, the other one pauses long enough for a regrab.
She’s stronger on the pull, but Karl will usually try to overpower her, throwing his paw over her and bearing her down. I ran them 10 laps of this yesterday, so they wouldn’t play fight in the house (which gets interesting on slick wooden floors). When they play fight, they will both go for the off hind leg hamstring, growling and snapping… LOL
I can’t get a good video, because as soon as I get up, they stop and want me to pet them. PP is recovering slowly, trying to do too much, and I have to send her to bed sometimes…
The grands are basically doing pretty well, although they both tend to run to momma or daddy when they know they’ve done something that I’m displeased with.
Sigh… And the little one is 3 going on 30.