[GZG] {GZG Fiction] On This Day

On This Day...

I've always enjoyed the "This Day In History" columns. It was always the
best part of each morning with my Granddad. He'd download the dailies,
and then with tea in hand he'd go through the headlines, Dad would grab
the financial section and I'd head straight for "This Day In History".
Maybe that's why I chose to do a BA in history. Not that I graduated.
Xenowar saw to that. I joined up, along with most of my class, back in
'86 after we saw what was left of the miners caught up in the Lagos IV
raid.

Now looking at my "This Day In History" file has become the morning
ritual I peg my sanity on. It is so easy for one day to flow into the
next, for time to blend and dissolve without markers to hold your
reference firm.

Each morning we are shaken awake by the man returning from the dawn
watch. We drag ourselves from the cots in our silver lined tents and
wander to the fire to look for coffee. We shave in shared metal balls or
chipped mugs using slivers of polished metal or the odd precious mirror.
The luckiest even have ones that are unbroken. After that there is a
breakfast of sorts, typically some form of cereal, usually dry or with
white water that the ration board think passes for milk. Then last thing
before the day's work begins we disperse to carry out our morning
rituals. Some bring out prayer mats and bow to their Lords; some record
journal entries, either to ease their consciences or so no detail is
missed when they publish their memoirs; others add yet another post
script to the message they are sending home; and I pick up the tea that
has been carefully steeping, take the first sweet sip and then pull out
my trusty field sheet and call up "This Day In History". It is like a
moment of sweet delight, like good, cleansing meditation.

Today is December 17. 

First I test myself. Sitting very still I close my eyes and ears to the
torrent of activity around me. I try to remember for myself what things
of importance happened this day. I have a shocking memory however and
inevitably I get only a handful of the most memorable. 

So let's see what today's greatest hits were...

0283 - St Gaius begins his reign as Catholic Pope 
1187 - Gregory VIII the Italian Pope dies 

Seems you only got remembered in the far past if you were a Pope. Well
you have to admit they had connections in high places.

1526 - Pope Clemens VII publishes degree Cum ad zero and forms the
Inquisition

Nice. Now that was a party to be remembered. I've got a shiver down my
spine just thinking about it.

1538 - Pope Paul III excommunicated England's King Henry VIII 

If sex and religion are two tinderboxes of human society, then when
they're combined you can only get a blazing inferno right?

1572  - Spanish army begins fires in Haarlem Netherlands 
1718 - England declares war on Spain 

And now we hit humanities big sticker item number three. War.

1770 - Johann Friedrich Schubert composer 

Finally a hint of class.

1777 - France recognizes independence of English colonies in America 

Anglo-French relations, boy have they bounced around over the centuries.
Talk about a love-hate relationship.

1832 - HMS Beagle with Charles Darwin aboard sails through Strait Le
Maire 

Now there was a man of the moment. I wonder if he would have been
astounded to know his ideas were a topic of hot debate for over two
hundred years. Talk about dominate a conversation. 

1843 - Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" was first published.

And all those how weren't caught up arguing evolution seemed to have
been making their own interpretations of this little gem. What was the
last one I saw? Oh that's right that horrendous attempt by the Respect
Alien Intelligence to redo it based around human treatment of
extraterrestrials. Wonder how many of those stupid buggers are still
alive.
 
1874 - Lord William Lyon Mackenzie King, 10th Canadian PM, was born 

Little national governments. Now that is a blast from the past. I can
still remember the beautiful honey blonde who tutored En-Solar political
history. God was she good looking. I would have happily flunked that
class just to get more time with her. Speaking of which, record personal
note: "Post a reply to LatRS195 on the democracy debate. His arguments
about it being a marvel we survived the nationalistic phase are bogus.
We're still in it. The sizes have just expanded as technology has
increased societies' critical length scale." Record over. 

1881 - Aubrey Faulkner, great South Africa all-round cricketer of the
early 20th century, was born. 

In fact this scroll bar shows quite a few famous cricketers were born
December 17th. Mmm, cricket. Now that is a sport I sadly miss! Boy I
wish I had signed up with a UK dominated unit, these American
continentals have no taste. Tea is fine now and the bean burritos are
great, but no sense of the love of cricket! I can't wait until this is
all over and I can take a good book to another test.

1900 - A prize of 100,000 francs is offered for communications with
extraterrestrials; with the exception of Martians because they were
considered too easy 

That is so funny! Too easy alright. Barring their accents and pidgins
they are human after all, well all jokes to the contrary aside. Pity
these Krav lunatics have shut down the comms, we're hard pressed to even
win the prize now! Its such crap for heavens sake. Can fly to the end of
the galaxy and back but can't get a message to the planet next door.

1903 - Orville Wright flies a motorized aircraft.

We've come a wee bit of a way since then me thinks. I wonder if his
heart pounded the same way mine does when I go up. Not that I've had a
chance in a while. Something else to do once this is all over.

1908 - Willard Frank Libby, inventor of the carbon-14 "atomic clock",
was born. He went on to win a Nobel Prize in 1960.

Well that's one smart cookie then. 
 
1962 - Beatles 1st British TV appearance

Grandmother's favourite musicians. I still prefer early 22nd century
classical revivalists, but after hearing so many Beatles songs over the
years I still can't help thinking Yellow every time someone says
submarine. So much for growing out of it Mr Old Man Thirty.

1963 - Clean Air Act passes US Congress

Pity the Krav don't have one. This smoke and dust is getting old fast.
Freezing the planet to then point it could freeze balls off a brass
monkey, poor monkey, and makes the blasted Krav bloody hard to see.
They're sneaky enough as it is without this wonderful cover to screw us
up even further.

1969 - USAF closes Project Blue Book, concluding no evidence of
extraterrestrial spaceships behind thousands of UFO sightings 

Busy decade. Pity this latest round of ETs also didn't turn out to be
one giant illusion. I think even the great granddaddy of all hangovers
would be better than all this.

2053 - The first bacteria gardens are created on the surface of Mars....

Well at least food sources have got beaten than that! Though based on
last night's efforts only marginally.

... and after months of clashes over access to ore seams the Tunnel Wars
break out.

And where would be without tunnels?! A millennia from now they'll be
telling stories of how men spent so long underground in this war with
Krav bastards that they got mole genes grafted in on principle.

2105 - First meeting of the Palamas Philosophers Tea Club in the Hakan
Café.

Now they were a group of people I can look up to! Intelligent, well
read, revolutionary and with great taste in tea. Record personal note:
"Check that the manuscripts from the Ariza treasury reached Uncle
Brent." Record over. I can't believe we nearly lost the original draft
of the Stapledon Manifesto. 

2144 - Theoretical physicist Yachne Kriwaczek dies aged 124

Boy was that lady smart! Without her take on FTL physics we'd still be
in the STL Dark Age, stuck in this one solar system. No access to the
seven wonders of the galactic age; the falls of Fortezza Gap; the span
of the bridge over the Tiksi River on Zeta Doradus. I am so
exceptionally unbelievably glad that lady's parents got together.

"Excuse me Sir?"

"Yes McKenzie?"

"New orders Sir from Divison"

"Thank you McKenzie"

"New orders boys we're packing up and moving out. Be ready in 15.
Necessities only." 

Record personal note: "2196, The United human forces began their assault
on Orduna. It was the beginning of the end for the Kra'Vak on Mars and
from there throughout the human sphere of influence." Record over.  

"From your lips to God's ears Sir"

"Yes McKenzie. Now let's pack up and get rolling."

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