Let's play: Buzz Aldrin's Race Into Space

[Eternal_Freedom]

The technical fair/conference sounds good.

[PeZook]

And of course, ensure that the Commissar does not hear of any deals with Murican capitalist pigdogs, or you know what will happen.

The comissar will of course attend the conference, along with those 55 out of 60 Zenobian delegates who will be working for the NKVDVDROM and/or the GRU.

[HMS Sophia]

Sam will be their, poking his head in rocket thrusters...

[OmegaChief]

And of course, ensure that the Commissar does not hear of any deals with Murican capitalist pigdogs, or you know what will happen.

The comissar will of course attend the conference, along with those 55 out of 60 Zenobian delegates who will be working for the NKVDVDROM and/or the GRU.

Of course! So it will have to be a very secret agreement! Or someone could distract him (And the other 55 agents) somehow!

[Eternal_Freedom]

I'm sure a distraction can be arranged....

Perhaps I could bring along a couple of my Murcan Muscley Manly Space Men to show off just how Manly they are to the world.

[LaCroix]

Ooc: You could send me to him for a check of my background, where he has to write down my name, and the names off all my relatives and people I know, in order to look them up. Should tie him up for hours or days.

[Simon_Jester]

Ooc: You could send me to him for a check of my background, where he has to write down my name, and the names off all my relatives and people I know, in order to look them up. Should tie him up for hours or days.

Good thinking. I'll have to remember that one.

My idea was to arrange some kind of international space agency with little or no actual authority, as a gesture of Zenobian commitment to internationalism and peace. Coincidentally, Drago winds up employed there* somehow.

Ultimately, through this it comes out that one side or the other is working on a minishuttle. The other side goes "Oh! Us too!" Sort of like this scene from The Great Dictator:

[Dictators Adenoid Hynkel and Benzino Napaloni are reviewing Hynkel's tanks]

Napaloni: "Where's the propellers? For going under the water!"
Hynkel: "Under water?"
Napaloni: "You never heard of tanks that go under the water and fly up-a stairs?"
Hynkel: "- What's that?"
Napaloni: "Under the water and in the air."
Hynkel: "Obsolete now! We're concentrating on flying dreadnoughts."
Napaloni: "What's that?"

So in short, it all winds up as a sort of elaborate mutual bluff...
___________

*(reasoning being that he's so erratic and unmotivated as a rocket scientist that we might as well not bother with him. If we're not going to murderize him outright, which Syrgy does not want to do because he dislikes murderizing people** and prefers to do rocket science, coming up with some kind of liaison post (or basically just throwing him to the Murcans and forgetting about him) wouldn't do much harm).

**Syrgy is actually kind of a hippie, in a certain buzz-cut, pocket-protector and slide-rule, engineer's sort of way.
___________

I vote for the conviluted coincidence that is highly hilarious, backed up by an OOC agreement.

As do I, and since my character would be one of the parties to the agreement if we did it any other way, I'm pretty sure that's final.

Ivanovich respectfully disagrees: one cannot trust capitalists! We need the highest ground of them all: the moon! So we can launch rockets at the most evil capitalists of them all: Thanasians!

Surely, you mean West Thanasians, as opposed to our East Thanasian subjects minions comrades, da?

My own belief is that endless war and strife favor the aggrandizement of capitalism, and also of Murcanesque degeneracy, by getting vast camps of all-male organizations together to boast about their muscles and weaponry. Whereas a world free of belligerent batrachian buttheadedness and full of calm, peaceful pacifisticuffism would favor the cause of international commienism and non-degenerate Zenobian-style brotherhood.

This is perhaps idealistic. And the demilitarizification of space is merely my personal preference, Comrade Ivanovich; it is not state policy.

In any case, we can discuss Party doctrine later. Be assured that if we must build moon fortresses to protect the Zenobian Onion, the capacity to do so will exist.

Grzegorz snaped off another salute, turned and left. Only after being out of sight, he allowed himself to sulk. How he hated it when he got mocked for his name. He would have preferred a more flamboyant family name, like Popov or Ivanovich, insted of his all too common name. At home, every second male within two towns shared it, like cousin Pjotr, cousin Vladimir, cousin Karoly,...

Comrade, I am not mocking you; I am merely noting that it would be quite a challenge to fit your name on a ten-centimeter tag in large block letters.

I cannot defy the laws of physics. Or typesetting.

[Scottish Ninja]

IVAN IVANOVICH IVANOV has a plan: he will take his young son with him to the conference, and have him get the agents to regale him with stories (all second-hand, of course) of the glorious and patriotic work that the NKVDVDROM and GRU do to protect the Motherland!

[HMS Sophia]

I like the sound of a '70's ISA I would be a big supporter of this. We could share secrets, vodka, and revere manliness (these being the two things our countries are known for respectively)

[Eternal_Freedom]

Sam, my friend, clearly you have not come across a Murcan/Zenobian scientific conference before. Drinking vodka and revering manliness are not just expected but mandatory.
Spoiler

And on that note I'm off to the pub for a last drink before moving home. Don't expect any more p[osts from me until tomorrow (saturday) evening. PeZook, as far as in-universe goes, von Braun is on vacation, with Sam Francisco acting-Director until my return.

[HMS Sophia]

Sam, my friend, clearly you have not come across a Murcan/Zenobian scientific conference before. Drinking vodka and revering manliness are not just expected but mandatory.

Apparently not, but it should be hilarious...

[Simon_Jester]

Well, at first the thing would be sort of a paper body. Very little if any real technical collaboration, but consideration of proposals such as joint missions (something like Apollo-Soyuz, though I don't think you can duplicate that in BARIS), working out some kind of treaty relationship over space rights, possibly investigating long-ranging ideas for international scientific collaboration... also offering a forum for nations not directly involved in the space race to express something.

The idea, in terms of how it's pitched to the Kremlin and Shroomanski, is that:

By extending such a proposal at a time when the Zenobian space program is at a height of its prestige relative to the Murcans, they emphasize their successes and appear magnaminous towards the Murcans. This increases Zenobian prestige, while emphasizing the (historically very strong) theme in their portrayal of the program that these are not merely Zenobian triumphs, but triumphs for all mankind.

"We come in peace, for all mankind" was a sentiment shared by both sides in the space race, at least the civilian side.

[HMS Sophia]

While you cant simulate it, it is certainly a very cool idea. I would be up for proposing it to the pres, or at least helping with the proposal.

[FaxModem1]

Spoiler

What y'all forget to realize is that Drago is already back in the hands of the Murcans, so the Zenobians assigning him a job would be like assigning the Premier a job. It would just be silly, but then again, maybe the Zenobian bureaucracy doesn't realize that.

It had been a long week for Drago, from escaping the base, to convoys, to being hit by shoes, to prison ships, to riding in a Merican submarine, to being detained by the CIA, and then being sent back to the Cape. It was all worth it though, if not for the anger the Zenobian government was showing in the news, but also that he could see Fax again.

When he arrived, it was nearly nightfall. Drago left the bus and saw that Fax was waiting for him. They embraced.



It was heartwarming for even the manliest Murcan in the area. They both rushed to Fax's cot, and noises were heard throughout the night.



In the morning, Fax left to go to his training, while Drago slept through it all. Fax was glad Drago was back, he had looked tired and worn out after the long journey, but the rest was restoring him. And now that Fax had what he wanted, he was going to ensure that Von Braun got what he wanted. He filled out some papers and delivered them to Von Braun's office, but the room was empty, on the desk was a note saying



Fax respected that the Thanasian was now getting into true Murican habits, and left the report on his desk. He left the room and went back to his training.

[LaCroix]

@simon I'm so looking forward to that intetview, I already have something im mind...

And I know you aren't mocking him, but to him, his name and all polish names are bland and ordinary, while the zenobian ones are strange and complicated... So when zenobians stare at him for his name, he thinks they are mocking him for having such an ordinary name...

[PeZook]

Dude, even a Pole would gawk in horror at that form.

[Simon_Jester]

Spoiler

What y'all forget to realize is that Drago is already back in the hands of the Murcans, so the Zenobians assigning him a job would be like assigning the Premier a job. It would just be silly, but then again, maybe the Zenobian bureaucracy doesn't realize that.

We captured him once, we can capture him again.

Then again, you could assign him a job.

[PeZook]

Do not fret ; The premier is on the case.

You'd be surprised how little one man is worth when threats of nuclear weapons are involved.

[HMS Sophia]

Sam steps into Fax's room(?) before leaping back at the sight of a naked commie.
"You!" He calls from outside "commie! Get dressed and get out here. Now you're back, I'm putting you to work. You're going to help me redesign the mercury so the heat shield doesn't fall off again"
Spoiler

I gave him a job!

[FaxModem1]

Drago nodded and after he was dressed, followed the man to his lab.

[Simon_Jester]

Do not fret ; The premier is on the case.

You'd be surprised how little one man is worth when threats of nuclear weapons are involved.

I would? You mean the answer is...



..."More than zero?"

Bozhemoi.

[HMS Sophia]

Drago nodded and after he was dressed, followed the man to his lab.

"Your name is Drago, yes? We've had a problem with the shielding on the entry hatch and its seal cracking during tests and on re-entry. That and the rocket feeds to the retro's in the nose cone have been splitting when they get too cold. Any Idea's in that foreign brain of yours?" Sam says, scanning the plans he was so used too...

[FaxModem1]

Drago muttered off several words in Russian, then began scavenging the room for drawing materials. Once he found both a sheet of paper and something to write with, he started making basic outlines of possible improvements and even new designs for the Retro rockets. Including something called a Mini-shuttle.

[HMS Sophia]

Drago muttered off several words in Russian, then began scavenging the room for drawing materials. Once he found both a sheet of paper and something to write with, he started making basic outlines of possible improvements and even new designs for the Retro rockets. Including something called a Mini-shuttle.

Sam watches the man draw, his eyes widening
"A reusable re-entry vehicle! of course! And it glides down, so you don't have to worry about hatch seals on re-entry! You magnificent man, you might just have saved us a very large quantity of money."
He immediately begins scrawling plans using Drago's as a reference. He thinks about calling the director, then remembers that he is charge.
"I think we might just have found the solution to our problem... I see why they went to all that trouble to get you back... Are you getting paid? Well, either way you're getting a raise"

[LaCroix]

Grzegorz Brzęczyszczykiewicz was a happy man. He hat met his idol, and various other people he knew from the Only Pravda, even if only in passing. He had even exchanged some words with them.

And they needed him! They really wanted him to do something for them. Everybody was working towards some international conference, so every hand was needed. For now, his duty was to dust the various signs prohibiting entry for any unauthorized personal - cluttering the area outside of the fences for miles and miles - daily, and keep them free from shrubbery. This was as much as he was authorized to do, but he finally WAS working for the Zenobian space program! Technically, as he would be shot if he set a foot inside the fences, but it was enough. For now...

They have told him that once his background were checked by the Comrade Comissar, they will give him a bigger job, inside the fence. For now, they gave him a small trailer an hour's walk away from the gates to live in, so that he was at hand to do his work.

He was fine with that, as the trailer was bigger than the hut he had grown up in, and also, it spared him the hassle to deal with navigating their cities. All of their street names lacked the essential letters to figure out how to pronounce them correctly. Seriously, they even wrote the name of their spaceport without any 'y', 'c' or 'z'!