Precious

Albino Alligators	In the Gorean month of En'Kara, an exquisite sale was made at the great market city of Corcyrus - seven rare albino alligators. Ligurious paid the counter-earth smuggers in Double-Weight Gold Tarn Disks. En route to their new owner, the Tatrix, Sheila, the alligators broke lost and escaped into the Vosk River. The current whereabouts of the alligators – and also Ligurious – is uncertain, although they are presumed to be at liberty in the southwest of Ar.
Missing

On the other side of the sun, law enforcement officers in Brazil continued to investigate the other side of the transaction - the disappearance of the mammals from a university zoo in the western state of Mato Grosso. Their theory – which was close to the truth - was that they may have been stolen to be sold abroad. The animals, said by officials to be worth around $10,000 (£5,070) each, have no skin pigment and their eyes are a distinctive pink. Most of albino alligators born in the wild do not survive because their skin colour makes them vulnerable to attack. They were last seen when they were fed on New Year's Eve, but they were missing when a zoo official went to feed them again on Wednesday morning. Police say there was no sign of a break-in at the zoo which contains more than 800 animals spread across 11 hectares (27 acres) hectares of parkland. The alligators were said to be young with an average age of around two years, and only one albino alligator is now left at the zoo. Police say the rarity of the alligator will make the investigation difficult as the people involved in the illegal trading of such rare species are very secretive. The apparent theft also highlights a wider problem. Animal rights activists say Brazil accounts for 10% of the world's illegal trade in animals, mainly parrots and other birds, which are often sold in Europe and the United States. Or further afield, shall we say. In their contentions with Priest-Kings, Kurii, savage denizens of the Steel Worlds, concealed within the asteroid belt, have frequently had recourse to human allies, and subversion. In accord with such projects, Kurii have occasionally sought to place and support congenial administrations in key cities. One such city is Corcyrus. Corcyrus is ruled by a beautiful woman, the cruel, arrogant, much-hated Sheila, an agent of Kurii.

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In 1477, Charles the Bold is the victor of the Battle of Nancy, sustaining the Duchy of Burgundy which persists to this day as a polity inside the European Union.

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In 4288, Shehzaada Khurram, venerated Indian governor for the Chinese Empire, was born in Agra. His patronage was responsible for the creation of the finest art and architecture to grace southeast Asia. The Taj Mahal, his greatest achievement, is almost as impressive a palace as the Forbidden City, itself.

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Balrog	In 1916, combat tension combined with an over-active imagination amplified by the experience of the Battle of the Somme had traumatised Second Lieutenant John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, eleventh battalion Lancashire Fusiliers. "Gandalf lifted his staff, and crying aloud, he smote the the Bridge [of Khazad-Dum] before him. The bridge cracked. Right at the Balrog's feet it broke. With a terrible cry, the Balrog fell forward, and its shadow plunged down and vanished. But even as it feel it swung its whip, and the thongs lashed and curled around the wizad's knees, dragging him to the brink. He staggered and fell, grasping vainly at the stone, and slid into the abyss".
Tolkiens Phantasm

Inside a military field hospital Tolkien fought a mental battle to defeat the phantasmagoric projections of the Somme. A battle, he would both win, and lose, and win again. Like Kurt Vonnegut fifty years later, Tolkien's need for expression sought out escapist literature, and his own fight was portrayed in this animated scene from the Mines of Moria. And also later, when he finally defeated the Balrog in the well of the Abyss.

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In 1994, former Speaker of the House Thomas ‘Tip’ O’Neill dies at his home in Boston. O’Neill had a short reign at the top of the House’s hierarchy after being elected to the position in 1977. He feuded with the newly elected President Carter, and was notoriously unhelpful in passing the Democratic president’s agenda. He was replaced in the next election cycle by Texas Representative Barbara Jordan, who was much more willing to stand up for the party’s values.

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Nelson Mandela	“Believe”, Nelson once said to me, “you must always believe.” ”I believe the time has come.” ~ Samson Zola. In Laura Resnick's dystopia, years of civil war had torn apart the dream of a Rainbow nation. Samson Zola prepared to assassinate the President of South Africa, Nelson Mandela. Even though he loved him like a father, he saw the need to return South Africa to its people.
Alternate Tyrant

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Stephen R. Donaldson	In 1968, Stephen Reeder Donaldson languished in Vietnam. By inclination a conscientious objector, he had been compelled to serve in the armed forces. Much later, and after dropping out of his Ph.D. program and moving to New Jersey in order to write fiction, Donaldson made his publishing debut with the first "Covenant" trilogy in 1977. That enabled him to move to a healthier climate. He now lives in New Mexico. Donaldson's two year compulsory military duty would be the deep undercurrent of his escapist fantasy writing. In “The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever”, the protagonist was a leper struggled with disempowerment in a Land he did not really believe in.
Unbeliever

Mud?" His leper's caution quivered. "I need soap, not more dirt." "This is hurtloam," repeated Lena. "It is for healing." She stepped closer and thrust the mud toward him. He thought he could see tiny gleams of gold in it. He stared at it blankly, shocked by the idea of putting mud in his cuts. ~“Golden Boy”

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In 1986, the Asimov Plan came close to failure because of the arrival of an agent of the random, Mikhal Gorbachev. Asimov had not forseen that an individual could arise who would be both committed to the interregnum's political philosophy, yet a gambler who was prepared to risk all to save the future. The agent of the random was eventually lured to his south russian dachi in August 1991 to destroy the Second Foundation. However, in so doing, he left his main fleet, which was turned against him by Second Foundation agents in his absence, thus ending his rule.

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In 1781, American rebel Benedict Arnold sacks the city of Richmond, in one last act of defiance before fleeing to Canada. With the American revolution largely at an end, Arnold and his revolutionary comrades felt that a statement had to be made against those who capitulated so quickly to the British. General Arnold, of course, was an instrumental figure in the fight for Canadian independence.

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In 1953, the side-splitting slapstick comedy En Attendant Godot by the playwright Samuel Beckett, made its debut in Paris. Widely regarded as Beckett’s masterpiece, it has been translated and filmed in several languages, delighting audiences around the world.

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In 1781, Thomas Gainsborough completed his masterpiece The Two Georges, depicting King George III and General George Washington's historic agreement which established the British North American Union. The Sons of Liberty considered Washington a turncoat. Two hundred and fifteen years later they would succeeed in snatching this symbol of national unity just before the arrival of King Charles III's visit to the State capital of Victoria.

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After - conclusion

The state of TIAH

January 31st, 2007

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Alternate Historian's Note: Today we're going to conclude the presentation of After, our NaNoWriMo novel. We will then begin work on a side-project – a collection of several timelines with more-or-less complete stories inside them – The Fall, the Tolman timeline, the Mormon War, the Lascaux Cave story, and more – that will have After included with it. Once they're edited together, we'll put the lot up for sale on Lulu. If you would be interested in this, or would like to suggest something for inclusion in the collection, please email me and let me know. And, speaking of side projects, Guest Historian Stephen Payne has one, Crimson Kiss, available for free on Lulu. Check it out.

Harry S Truman	In 1950 President Harry S. Truman announced a program to develop the hydrogen bomb. Agonisingly, the perverse result of the 1952 presidential race resulted in his passage of the technology to President-elect Douglas MacArthur, a megalomaniac who he had dismissed for requesting thirty to ..
.. fifty nuclear strikes in Manchuria to reach a decision in the Korean War.
~ entry by Steve Payne from counter history in context - you're the judge!

In 1995 Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de León authorizes a $20 billion loan to enable the United States to stabilize its economy as President Bill Clinton makes fresh attempts to lift the broken nation from the ashes of defeat in the Cold War.	Ernesto Zedillo
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

Charles the Bol..	In 1951 the Duchy of Burgundy joins neighbour state France in the European Economic Community. The two French nations had previously remained independent ever since Charles the Bold's victory at the Battle of Nancy in 1477.
~ entry by Steve Payne from counter history in context - you're the judge!

In 1876 The United States orders all Native Americans to move into reservations. These would finally empty in 2059 as the indigenes quit the Turtle Island known to the European Tourist as America.	Native American..
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

in 2007, as Heavenly forces break down the walls of New Babylon, now-former European Union President and current Anti-Christ Morris Appleby kneels before the last Christian priest in his domain and confesses his sins. Just after he asks for forgiveness and takes Jesus into his heart, the Host bursts in on him. “My brethren,” he announces to them, “I am now one of you.”

After(conclusion)
It took a few days, but Senator Kerry and President Bush unraveled the coup as they advanced across the country and entered Washington, D.C. The generals and CIA men who were at the top of the conspiracy were thrown into jail, and Senator Kerry promised that when he took office as president the next month, they would be stuck in a jail cell for the rest of their lives. The nation's pundits found the coup the perfect example of the perfidy of the other side, no matter which side of the political spectrum they fell on.
Ordinary people tried to pull their lives back together. Jake and Mike moved into the Johnson's house across the street from Steph. Mike found the presence of a former sergeant oddly comforting, and Jake – well, Jake spent a lot of time with Janice. Janice published a book about the coup which became a major bestseller, and made her small group of friends heroes. She spent a lot of time traveling around the country, with Jake by her side, giving lectures on how the paranoid atmosphere of 2004 contributed to the near-success of the governmental overthrow.
Steph became the most popular real estate agent at her office; everyone wanted to be sold their new home or office by the agent who had saved the president. Even when she self-deprecatingly told them that she had only been part of the group, they still asked to hear about it. She didn't like to talk about it too much, because it made her think of Kevin; but she usually indulged them a bit. It really helped her sales figures.
Joan and George became the most popular kids at their schools, regaling the student body with their tales of life on the run, agents busting into their house, and dead bodies everywhere. George, in particular, embellished a few of the stories to make himself more central, but no one really took him to task about it.
Kevin's sister Rene sold his house, but took his dog. She used the money that she inherited from him to fund a scholarship for promising students of computer science. She felt that he would have wanted something for people to remember him by, if he couldn't enjoy the money himself.

On the anniversary of the coup, the 6 Austinites got together at Steph's place for dinner. After the fine meal, Janice raised a glass of wine. “To Kevin and Eli,” she said. The others toasted, the adults with wine and the kids with soda. After a moment of silence for their departed friends, the kids cleared off the table and went to bed while the adults gathered in the living room.
“There are days when it almost seems like it didn't happen,” Mike said, looking out Steph's window. “Everything's just the same as it always was.”
“No, it's different.” Janice plopped herself down on the couch by Jake. “A lot more people are reading conspiracy web sites.”
Steph smiled as she took a seat in her big recliner. “Who could blame them?”
“I'm getting, like, half a million hits a day,” Mike said, proudly. “You wouldn't believe the ad revenues.”
Jake shook his head. He was not entirely comfortable with how they made their money these days. “It's a little hard for me to accept that we're all making a nice livin' off of something that almost destroyed our country.”
“Almost,” Janice reminded him. “But, it didn't. We're stronger than that. That's what all these little petty wannabe dictators forget about us. We're way too attached to freedom to just let it go cuz of a fake nuke.”
“Let's not talk about it anymore,” Steph said. “I have to talk about it with clients all the time.”
“OK,” Janice said, “but you're really cutting down on my conversational repertoire.”
“Hey,” Mike said, turning back to the group, “what do you think they would've done if Kerry hadn't won the election?” He wilted a bit as Steph glared at him. “What? That's an entirely different subject.”
“I don't want to talk about alternate reality again,” Steph said. She looked over at Janice and Jake. “He talks about that all the time when y'all are off on your book tours. He comes over here for dinner, and talks to kids about this new site he found about alternate history. Now, it's finally gotten Joanie interested in history, so it's not all bad, but you should hear some of the crazy things they talk about.”
“Well, there are changes I'd make in this one,” Jake said, putting his arm around Janice's shoulders, “but this reality seems to have worked out all right.”
“There's a change I'd make,” Steph said, looking with just a slight twinge of envy at the happy couple.
“Me, too,” Mike said, looking back outside. “Of course, we wouldn't have met each other without the coup. Except for Janice and me; and you two, I guess, because of the whole married to each other thing.” He shut his mouth to contain the tumble of words.
“Life is strange,” Janice said. “You never know where it's going to take you.”
“Good places, sometimes,” Jake said, holding her hand.
“And bad,” Mike said, looking out the window again.
“Like you said last year,” Steph told them. “Interesting times.”

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