A Woman In The Vice-Presidency

The state of TIAH

July 12th, 2006

in 1947, reporters from around the country arrive in Roswell, New Mexico, and begin trampling around the Brazel ranch, spooking the cattle. Mac and his sons corral most of them and act as tour guides, just to keep them from disturbing their herd any more. The Brazels show off the spot where they found the debris and bodies, and hole where they buried all of the wreckage at first. The boys off-handedly mention that the stuff didn't look like a flying saucer to them, which piques the interest of a reporter from Dallas. This man, John Wilhite, leaves the ranch and drives into town to speak with Dr. Powell about little Bessie Brazel's condition. After a long talk with the good doctor, Wilhite then approaches the Air Force base and requests a meeting with Major Marcel.

in 1984, Democratic presidential candidate and former Vice-President Walter Mondale makes history by naming a woman – and a black woman, at that - as his own vice-presidential running mate. Barbara Jordan, one of the most eloquent members of Congress during the Watergate hearings, although bound to a wheelchair by her multiple sclerosis, gave a fiery speech on justice and core Democratic values that ignited the Mondale campaign and launched them into the White House, where she served with honor and distinction as one of the finest vice-presidents in the nation's history. Although party activists begged her to run in the top spot herself in 1992, her failing health made her decline the offer, and she retired from politics to teach, briefly, at the University of Texas in Austin, until her death in 1996.

in 1990, Comrade Governor Winston Payne of the Idaho Soviet announces that he is resigning from the Communist Party, and joining the fledgling People's Party of the Northwest. Both the national Communist and Socialist parties denounce his move, with Comrade President Ann Richards saying, “If this so-called 'People's Party' actually represented the people, they would be able to elect officials, not steal them from the national parties that actually do represent the will of the people.” Comrade Richards' hostile attitude towards the People's Party is sometimes listed as one of the root causes that led to their uprising at the end of the century and the formation of the People's Republic of the Northwest, a dark chapter in the history of the Soviet States of America.

in 2017, the Quarai, human and Pr't'(whistle)ian passengers of the Pokor find themselves back in the Amandara system, causing the Quarai to burst into celebration. The humans are also quite happy, until the Pr't'(whistle)ian scientists tell them the bad news - “Unfortunately, we are only able to recover the last origination point in the machine's memory. We have not been able to decipher how it works beyond that.” Captain Mawrao of the Pokor tells Commander Patterson, “Hey, no worries. We got you back home – we figure out the rest, later.” Mawrao invites the Pr't'(whistle)ian scientists to Amandara 14 for what promises to be a very large party. Since the machine has to recharge a few days before it can be activated again, the scientists agree, and the Pokor heads back home, transmitting a joyous message ahead that they have the alien device partially figured out. The humans withdraw back to the Eagle to warm up and discuss their own feelings. Commander Patterson tells her crew, “This at least gives us hope that the machine keeps some memory of where it's been. I think we're a step closer to home.” Most of the crew is similarly hopeful, except for their computer specialist, Najib Kasem. “A lot of different activities can purge memory,” he says. “Who knows if the Starwalkers even cared about anything more than the last place they'd been? Maybe they never thought you'd make more than one jump before going home.” Kasem's pessimism doesn't spread to the rest of the crew, though, and most of them filter out to celebrate in the homecoming party that the Pokor's crew is having. Kasem goes down to the cargo bay to work on the device some more.

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