Long time no see…



Sorry for the absence. I was away on vacation and after I got back general laziness set in. Sorry for the inconvenience. Anyway, on with the show.



David Brin’s novel The Postman never dealt much with how exactly the end occurred (references here and there to a fight with the Soviets). It was only concerned with what the world had become in the aftermath of it all. Why is this detail important? Its import because a couple of people pointed to flaws in my scenario and I have to agree that the scenario was just to complicated.



Lets fast forward past the war itself to the beginning of the Three Year Winter. Nathan Holn has been waiting for this day to come and has the supplies and man power to pull it off. What exactly would he do now?



Nathan Holn thought that human nature must be change largely though economic means. Most human conflicts centered around money (church splits, government turmoil, law suits, marriage breakups, etc.) or some type of property. Economic systems determined the failure or success of governments, nations, and civilizations. True freedom and unlimited human progress would only come through a system that favored the strongest. The way he would do that was using an idea from feudalism. A measure of political power would be connected to a land parsel. Despite being in an information age economy land was still the fundemental assest of business (besides human labor). The birth of civilization had come about by agricultural surplus, which required land. The Indusrial Revolution had resulted from an agricultural surplus and the needed resource of coal (both of which had required land). It had also required Britain’s stable economic system. Nathan Holn put it best when he said, “If you want to know about human nature, find out where a man’s hard earned money goes.”



Once the survivors had caught on to what Holn was doing they wouldn’t like it to much (especially what was left of the U.S. armed forces). The Ace in Nathan Holn’s hole in dealing with domestic forces (National Guard and the armed American public) was the in house development of a neutron bomb.



“Also called Enhanced Radiation Warhead, specialized type of small thermonuclear weapon that produces minimal blast and heat but which releases large amounts of lethal radiation. The neutron bomb delivers blast and heat effects that are confined to an area of only a few hundred yards in radius. But within a somewhat larger area it throws off a massive wave of neutron and gamma radiation, which can penetrate armour or several feet of earth. This radiation is extremely destructive to living tissue. Because of its short-range destructiveness and the absence of long-range effect, the neutron bomb would be highly effective against tank and infantry formations on the battlefield but would not endanger cities or other population centres only a few miles away. It can be carried in a Lance missile or delivered by an 8-inch (200-millimetre) howitzer, or possibly by attack aircraft.

In strategic terms, the neutron bomb has a theoretical deterrent effect: discouraging an armoured ground assault by arousing the fear of neutron bomb counterattack. The bomb would disable enemy tank crews in minutes, and those exposed would die within days. U.S. production of the bomb was postponed in 1978 and resumed in 1981 (Encyclopedia Britannica).” In order to find out more about neutron bombs I suggest you go here, http://web2.iadfw.net/myself/secular/writing/n_bomb.htm .



The radiation effects of a neutron fade with in weeks, allowing for permanent re-settlement of an area effected by a neutron warhead. Holnist forces lacked numbers and resources to face the National Guard head-on or even in sustained guerrilla warfare. Neutron bombs allowed for quick and relatively discreet disptach of regional governments and their defenses.



The Three Year Winter struck fast and hard. Alternations in the North Atlantic Conveyor current tend to bring about dramatic drops in temperature and their associated shifts in weather. If the power lines weren’t brought down by the overbearing weight of freezing rain then houses were probably packed under several feet of snow.



The other key to Holnist survival was the old survivalist militia concept of the compound. Holn had his own twist though. He erected them legally and out in the open (they had no weapons stored in them). They were moderately sized warehouse districts with equipment like food packing and processing plants, grain silos, power stations, seweage and water treatment systems, apartment complexes, deep water wells, etc. They had the legitimate purpose of serving surrounding farms in isolated areas as a business district. The weapons and apporiate security measures were stored offsite for the time they would be needed. They served as an anchor of Holn’s revolution during the Three Year Winter.



The cities/population centers could be equated to large fallen animals. They were the rich sources of “meat” being fought over by various factions in the waning days of civilization. Refugees fled from the dying husks to farm land, small towns, and of course Holn’s compounds. The staff manning these facilities treated all the families with the utmost courtesy. Each facility even had a temporary cache a supplies for people who came. While the people stayed for the first few weeks the staff profiled all the families and sorted the children into undesirables and desirables (healthy, intelligent, white children age 6 and under). The adults and undesirable children were gathered into a common area by some excuse (usually a medical check or town meeting) and gassed them. The desirable children left over were told a disease hit and were then raised by special teams assigned to train the children for the new society. He now had a future generation that would accpet and carry on his techings. Traing was a process of psychological and physical conditioning. The children were heavily indoctorinated with the Holnist dogma.



However, even the best laid plans go wrong. Some Holnist compounds were lost to the weather. Others were caught off guard by surprise attacks. The survivors tended to migrate to the central facility located in Atlanta. The director of the facility was named Nathaniel Jonathan Bethlehem. He was the son of a retired judge from the deep South and came from a long aristocratic line dating back before the Revolutionary War. Bethlehem himself was a fairly success IT specialist and copy machine salesman with his own business. Like Holn he was part of the new type of bigots who were more intellectual than outwardly passionate.



He fit well into Holn’s organization, climbing of the ranks of his cell group quickly. He eventually was transferred and then became head of the primary facility near Atlanta, Georgia. He achieved a balanced management style. He trusted people to do their job but even a hint of neglegence would get you in hot water. By the time the Winter came his facility was well prepared.



The first operation to eliminate hostile regional forces went without a hitch. Any counter attacks ending in bloody failure for those who besieged the compound. As other facilities fell their men reported ot the Atlanta facility. Instead of being over-burdened he simply used them to expand his operations, having the whole cycle feed itself.



This burgeoning hope for the Holnist cause went on for a period of months. Even Bethlehem had thought that any substantial enemy forces had been dealt with. What he didn’t expect is that a cadre of National Guard, armed civilians, and police had been gathering on the outskirts of Atlanta to get rid of the Holnists.



The battle itself lasted two days and was won narrowly by Bethlehem’s forces. The cost of victory was the leveling of most of the compound by enemy fire and the heavy toll he took to his man power. The weather was getting worse and the food supply had gone up in a fireball. If they stayed they would die.



Luckily Holn had bought a supply of Army surplus 10-ton trucks to carry what was left of the facility, along with enough gas to get them across the country. Communications from their western branch had indicated that their area of operation had gotten far to large and they were severely undermaned. They traveled west, pillaging towns that would not submit to their “authority.” By the time they had gotten to their destination they had more supplies and manpower than when they had left.



The condition of the facility was worse than he had believed. They had used whatever materials they could to reinforce the perimeter wall (cars, road asfalt, etc.). Their director had been killed and they were operating on a skeleton crew They had teams out in the field trying to distract superior enemy forces in the area. Bethlehem’s eyes showed a fire in them and he took command at once. He payed informants in the surrounding towns to keep an eye on what was going on. He had false communications snet between enemy forces. He had their leaders assasinated and teroist acts engaged in order to prevent towns from supporting enemy forces.



With in four months he had quelled resistance and his compound held the largest area of operation of any Holnist facility. It extended in width from the eastern border of California to the edge of Colorado and in length from the bottom corner of Colorado to Southern Oregon. Jubilation over their victory didn’t last long. Reports came out of Omaha, Nebraska that Nathan Holn had been killed in battle. A rather detailed account of his death by firing squad and being drawn and quartered with is head displayed on a pole came later by courier.



Bethlehem lead a force to the town where Holn’s executioners were camped at. They were all killed in a rather grisly and slow manner. Bethlehem had their organs and body parts put on display as a warning for anyone who would face him.



As time progressed Holnist forces dwindled in other areas of the country. Once the Three Year Winter ended Bethlehem emerged as commander the largest military force in North America. Any substaional groups of bandits and thugs had long since been eliminated. The towns under his control had accepted him as the lesser of two evils and had surrendered themsleves to his control. He took the title of General and and named his forces the United Army of Nathan Holn.

He initiated a “formal” implementation of Holn’s system and is now establishing formal borders.



Up to this point we have read about Bethlehem and his cadre. But what about the towns under his subjugation? What are they like? Most are walled towns that have swelled populations from the original influx of refugees. Others are ad-hoc settlements that grew from the refugee camps that sprouted up in the wake of the collapse. Some have formal systems of government while others are little more than large communes. No town has more than a small deputized posse to deal with internal issues.



Some have meager amounts of industry while most are agricultural settlements that engage in commercial farming and trade with the rest of the region. None have highly organzed infastructure beyong pre-war buildings. This is to make sure that they do not become to independent from Bethlehem’s government.



For now that is all we have. Next time I hope to go more in depth about the region and a few of its landmarks.