1624: THE BALTIC WAR – snippet 11:
After the concert was over, John Simpson waited while his wife did her usual gadding about, congratulating the performers, chatting—or chatting up, rather—various key members of the nobility and wealthy merchants present, comparing notes quickly with Amelie Elisabeth and the Abbess of Quedlinburg. The usual conspiratorial business of the Dame of Magdeburg, in her drive to turn the brand new USE’s brand new capital city into one of Europe’s cultural powerhouses.
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1634: THE BALTIC WAR – snippet 10:
Chapter 4
Admiral John Simpson quietly slid himself back into his seat in the chamber of the new royal palace that was being used for public musical performances until the still-newer music center was completed. [NOTE: Folks, this first sentence is not canon, it’s purely a filler so I can get into the chapter. If we’ve developed different ideas about how Magdeburg is shaping up, I’ll substitute whatever you want.] The gesture was smooth and practiced, as was his wife Mary’s sang-froid at the abrupt departure and return of her husband in the middle of a performance. She was accustomed to the problem, and had been for decades.
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1634: THE BALTIC WAR – snippet 9:
One of the Marines pointed to the burning coals scattered across the yard. “We can use that coal.”
“Do it,” Mike said. He directed some of the newly arrived troops to use their shovels to fill the firebox of the crane. Others, he directed to help the fire brigade put out the nearby fires.
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1634: THE BALTIC WAR – snippet 8:
Mike looked again at the shed. The flames had moved down from the roof to the walls, and the whole thing was being consumed. “Everybody down!” he yelled. Then, repeated the yell for the benefit of the firemen, accompanying it with frantic arm waving.
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1634: THE BALTIC WAR – snippet 7:
Chapter 3
Within a few seconds, two thick streams of water began arching into the air and falling into the smokestacks. A thick cloud of steam flashed instantly into the air, as the water contacted the hot brick. Fortunately, the smokestacks were ten feet high, and the steam flashed above them, so the firemen weren’t cooked where they stood. Courageously, they continued pumping water into the smokestacks.
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1634: THE BALTIC WAR – snippet 6:
Chief Kruz had toured the coal gas plant, several times, since a fire here was one of his biggest fears. Still, he really didn’t know much more about it than most people did—including, unfortunately, most of the people working in the plant itself. The drive to expand industry in Magdeburg in response to the war with the League of Ostend was forcing people to take shortcuts and use makeshifts everywhere. His fire crew was actually quite exceptional in having had the time to be trained properly. Most of the factories in the city were being run by half-trained people, with foremen who often had little more training than the men they supervised.
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1634: THE BALTIC WAR – snippet 5:
Stumbling over something, he looked down. There was a grate lying on the floor, which he hadn’t spotted before because it was half-covered in the coal dust that was spread over much of room. Frowning, Thorsten looked over at the furnace again and noticed for the first time that the grate that should have been located on the coal chute was missing. Instead, the opening for the grate seemed to be covered with something solid, from what little of it Thorsten could see because of the coal dust.
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1634: THE BALTIC WAR – snippet 4:
Chapter 2
Magdeburg, on the Elbe River
Capital of the United States of Europe
“Short handed again,” Thorsten Engler muttered to himself, as he counted those still out sick. Fortunately, all they had to do at night was keep the furnace running until morning. The day shift loaded the retorts once in the morning, and once again just before the night shift started. Things were usually pretty quiet, although one time the gas had started to run out, and he’d had to scramble to unload the coke and load new coal in several retorts. That could be the case tonight, with the cold and the snow increasing demand for heat.
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1634: THE BALTIC WAR – snippet 3:
Not that everything’s gone my way, Jesse grumbled. The frigging Kellys, for instance. What do those stupid politicians think we are, anyway? Boeing vs. Lockheed?
The object of his ire came into view as he walked towards the flightline. On the opposite side of the field, a sizable building, smoke curling from one of its chimneys, stood in the midst of squalor, despite its newness. Junked cars, piles of lumber, cans of waste, and piles of trash unidentifiable at this distance stood in front of the building’s wide, closed doors. It was the Kellys’ touted “Skunkworks,” and Jesse’s irritation surged as he thought of the waste involved.
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1634: THE BALTIC WAR – snippet 2:
Jesse rubbed his eyes, pulled his leather jacket over his own brown flying suit, and grabbed the two often-used envelopes. Sweeping up his beret with its eagle insignia off his desk, he stretched his sore back and stepped out of his office into that of his adjutant. Lieutenant Cynthia Miller was seated behind her desk, sharpening a goose feather quill, her own computer showing a floral screen saver pattern.
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