The King’s Gambit: Chapter 1 (The Immigrant)

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re: Zafar

{Saxena, I blame you. We are now both poor AND stupid. One was more than enough, but no, you had to encourage him...}

...we`ll be happy despite being poor and stupid as long as he`s not a part of our country...which, despite his claims, he is thankfully not...

{btw, is it true what he says about you - air conditioned and all? Obviously hanging out with too many Scandies.}

...nah, unfortunately am far from scandy right now...but not far from your neighborhood...singapore...

Rafique

``Ludlum took me a while to get used to. I started off with Forsyth and then moved to Ken Follet. I am now following Clancy. Clancy`s writings are not easy to follow, because they are quite dry in comparison to the other writers. But his technical details of military equipment are beyond comparison. I don`t know how he learnt all that as an insurance salesman.``

....what about clive cussler?...read any of his works?...

Reply RSaxena # 33

Rafique - thankyou for the list. I have a vague feeling I might have read the last one and watched it on TV also (Timothy Dalton and am not hallucinating either) - but I`ll know soon on my next trip to the bookstore : ) You maybe right on the terrorist scenarios - but I hope they do justice to it or else will be too puke`y to bear !!

aicha

Ref Rafique #: 27

[Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs is the HQ for the USAF Space Command. It is where the NORAD commander sits. I think he reports directly to the President of the USA, and the Prime Minister of Canada. I had the opportunity to visit Peterson, once.

Cheyenne Mountain Air Station contains the systems which monitor everything flying in space, including Santa Claus. I am assuming the mountain acts as a nuclear shelter.]

Cheyenne Mountain, the location of NORAD, IS in Colorado Springs. The local high school near NORAD is named Cheyenne Mountain High.

I tried getting into NORAD on a tour; that was when I was told that they don`t have tours anymore. It is a common mistake to think that Cheyenne Mountain is in Wyoming since the city Cheyenne is in Wyoming.

From watching History Channel, you would find out that NORAD has been carved inside the mountain; the road into the caves can accommodate huge trucks (2-way traffic!); the doors sealing the entrance can withstand a direct nuclear attack; that the entire NORAD sits inside a humongous structure on huge springs that absorb the ground shock of a nuclear attack; etc.

#: 31

RSaxena

re: 12-head

{Thats because they counted me as ``Indian ethnic Group``}

that would give indians the lowest average IQ..that`s clearly not the case...

SUX SENA

YOu are A.c.COUNT .TANT,what would you know about the mind biology ?Intelligence Quotient is not INCOME AVERAGING !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

re: 12-head

{Thats because they counted me as ``Indian ethnic Group``}

that would give indians the lowest average IQ..that`s clearly not the case...

aicha 28; Try the following by Follett: Triple and On Wings of Eagles.

The first one is a fictional thriller, and the second one is a factual thriller based on the rescue of Ross Perot`s employees from Iran. Another interesting one by Follett is Lie Down with Lions, which covers Afghanistan. It has an interesting Afghani Stinger missile expert, called Mullah Rockety as one of its characters.

I think the recent terrorist threats are going to dominate the future of Thrillers. This may turn out to be more interesting than the USSR.

Messers Raja & Rafique

Imagery is good. Judging by the size of first chapter, I guess it lies somewhere between a novellete and a medium size story-unless of course there are 125 of such chapters coming. Also judging by this introductory chapter I am sorry to say but the ``Gambit`` is clear from the very begining-that`s a downer which should have been avoided at all costs. So the reader will be left to keep guessing who the ``King`` is, I suppose, for the rest of the episodes.

I welcome you to Chowk. Please forgive my critique, I am as unqualified as anyother bob but if you wanna blame someone blame the interactive forum.

Rafique - you are right on both counts. Bourne C was ofcourse me getting ahead of myself : )

It is interesting you mention Ken Follet along with Ludlum&co. I would have thought he was into fiction - but then have read only one of his works - pillars of the earth. No conspiracy games there. The world of espionage has become quite dull after the fall of the ussr or perhaps it is still as exciting but we dont get to hear the stories.

aicha

hobbytv 24; I am not familiar with the story of India and Pakisan jointly planning an attack on the Gulf.

In the early eighties, there were rumors Israel had initiated an attack on Pakistan. It was detected by the Saudis, who informed Pakistan. I vaguely remember seeing a very large group of Pakistani military aircraft taking off, one after another, in the middle of the night.

harimau 26; Thanks for the info on Tom Clancy. I believe he hit it big with Red Storm Rising. It actually became a part of the curriculum for the US Air Force and the US Navy training institutes.

The Hunt for Red October was one of my favorite movies. I heard Alec Baldwin wasn`t interested in playing Jack Ryan after that, and the role ended up with Harrison Ford.

Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs is the HQ for the USAF Space Command. It is where the NORAD commander sits. I think he reports directly to the President of the USA, and the Prime Minister of Canada. I had the opportunity to visit Peterson, once.

Cheyenne Mountain Air Station contains the systems which monitor everything flying in space, including Santa Claus. I am assuming the mountain acts as a nuclear shelter.

Ref Rafique #: 23

[Clancy`s writings are not easy to follow, because they are quite dry in comparison to the other writers. But his technical details of military equipment are beyond comparison. I don`t know how he learnt all that as an insurance salesman.]

Clancy used to read commercially available trade magazines on naval/electronic warfare equipment. The US Navy was quite surprised that he got the scenarios so right in his book ``The Hunt for Red October``. After the book became a best-seller, Clancy got an invite to tour a US Navy submarine.

[NORAD is jointly manned (and wommaned) by USA and Canada. It is actually in Wyoming. Deep deep inside the Cheyenne mountains. It is the second target, after downtown Washington DC, for Russian nuclear missiles. So not a very good place to work.]

NORAD is in Colorado Springs, Colorado. At least 200 miles south of the Colorado-Wyoming border. Would have been a simultaneous target along with Washington, DC, if not the very first because it tracks all missile launches from anywhere in the world.

During the Cold War, there were tours of the facility so that people could see what their money got them. They stopped all public tours by 1998. So, you have to watch the History Channel to find out more about NORAD.

Guys dont let such dubious news let you fool.

http://www.dailypioneer.com/secon2.asp?cat= edit1&d=Edits

India considers Arafat who, according to Israel is doing little to control terrorism, to be a friend. Equally, Israel`s stand on talks with Pakistan is slightly softer than India`s.

RSaxsena

The Indian`s is bigger and better than the Pakistani`s. Yours is the biggest and bestest of all. Happy? - Why do persons such as you, who happen to be Indian, feel such insecurity about themselves? Don`t feel insecure or threatened - just stay away from mirrors.

Rafique

My apology for the earlier post, it was meant for Godot`s board. Correct me if I am wrong, was there not a similar story in a book published some 20 years - where Pakistan military intelligence convince India to support them in a plan to plan nuclear weapons in Dhows in the Gulf in an attempt to black mail the Arabs for the payment of tribute that they would shar with India, and Pakistan would also take care of Bangladesh? And with Isreal launching missile on Kahuta from a cargo vessel in the Arabian sea? complete with a wealthy Pakistani Jew (are there no ordinary Jews) and dissident Balouchi nuclear scientist?

aicha 19; ``that sharp Pakistani financier cum political analyst cum whatever``

You might be refering to Manzur Ejaz (not sure whether I have the spellings correct). He was (is) President Clinton`s unofficial representative for Track II diplomacy between India and Pakistan.

Are you refering to the Bourne Identity or the Bourne Ultimatum or the Bourne Supremacy by Robert Ludlum? I am not familiar with the Bourne Conspiracy. Was that another in this series?

Ludlum took me a while to get used to. I started off with Forsyth and then moved to Ken Follet. I am now following Clancy. Clancy`s writings are not easy to follow, because they are quite dry in comparison to the other writers. But his technical details of military equipment are beyond comparison. I don`t know how he learnt all that as an insurance salesman.

Rdesikan 20; Thanks for the encouragement. Pakistani and Indian authors (mostly Indian) have hit it big in fiction and literature. Rushdie, Roy, and Sidwa come to mind. Did you know Arundhati Roy was actually an architect`s artist, and sold empty beer bottles for a living? Another writer I am starting to follow is Mohsin Hamid. He is going to be big.

But for some reason, South Asia hasn`t produced any, ``Thriller`` writers. At least none I can think of.

soysauce 21; I will leave an analysis of the border situation to Umair. He is usually up on these things. Maybe he should write an article.

My story did not have planes flying into the WTC. That would have required an extraordinary imagination. NORAD is jointly manned (and wommaned) by USA and Canada. It is actually in Wyoming. Deep deep inside the Cheyenne mountains. It is the second target, after downtown Washington DC, for Russian nuclear missiles. So not a very good place to work.

The Central Intelligence Agency, in my opinion, is very overrated. But a job with Mossad would be interesting.