“Captain,” he began to the EA, “We’ve got to recast this piece completely.” Aenid sat nearly catatonic in the background. “I’m glad you realize that. A wise decision, Lt. But at this late date, let’s go with what you’ve got and append a single line at the end that reveals this breaking news. To make […]

Marlow slowly read the second bilateral ROK Navy to US Navy analyst exchange message in two days, alternately choking and gasping at each word. The underlying info was several months old, but was very relevant: 1. The following orders are issued to the Commanding Officer of the Kimpo shipyard. 2. Construction is to begin construction […]

Marlow couldn’t believe how quickly he had been swept along by the currents of events. Just twenty four hours ago he had been begging to write a single sentence — now he was drafting with someone very senior to him a one page high level brief to be given to the top brass of Naval […]

It wasn’t difficult to construct a single slide brief and script. Aenid and he used the language they originally had in their separate pieces. After several electronic exchanges of edits. Aenid and Marlow agreed on the final-final and sent it off to the CO with emailed carbon copies to the intervening layers of bosses. While […]

As minutes ticked by, coworkers dropped by his screen to congratulate him on his rise to the top of the day’s VTC briefing schedule. Normally those slots were occupied by senior uniformed and civilian analysts, not mere JOs. He managed to avoid making too much eye contact with his two bosses but was gratified when […]

Marlow was searching his files for the finishing touch graphics for his Brazilian destroyer piece, when the Commanding Officer’s secretary appeared on his screen. She told him that the boss wanted to go over the piece. He alerted Aenid and they headed for CO’s office. When they entered, they found the CO slumped over their […]

Ding dong the screen went and up popped the senior experts from the Navy’s Technical Intelligence Center of Excellence. “Oh crap” Marlow muttered. Actually only one expert, who was known as The Iceberg. Marlow felt like the Titanic. “I’m afraid I don’t understand why operational intelligence authored this piece. This falls within our bailiwick,” she […]

Marlow headed off to face “Cluster Twin” Aenid. Of course, no one in Naval Intelligence ever called her that to her face. No one dared. Still, the name fit, and no one ever thought of her as anything else. Marlow had run afoul of Aenid before as an Ensign watch stander in Hawaii over the […]

Author’s note: With the ever spiraling out of control war of words between the Americans and the NORKs and the upoming NORK commie party founding day and America’s discovery celebration of Columbus Day this week, I plodded a few more steps down the dark rabbit hole. The jokers graffiti doing their Dr Strangelove thing With […]

With my attention consumed by the aftermath of the events in Las Vegas, I came to understand slowly how close our beautiful Victorian era neighborhood in the Coastal Empire is to chaos only in dribs and drabs. It was like retrospectively watching water dripping upwards up from the sink back into the faucet this week. […]