Gunslingers of the Fourth Galaxy!

[Copperfox]

Before I recently suffered hacking which blocked me from visiting Dancing Lawn, I had established that there was a real-universe galaxy called the Southern Pinwheel Galaxy. Science-fantasy being science-fantasy, I decree that regular Earth-type humans could exist there, AND that, regardless of planetary geology, any human- inhabitable world in the Southern Pinwheel COULD HAVE nations and history similar to what we know. Thus, one such Earth- variant, called Dystopian Earth, includes a (southern!} hemisphere in which something similar to the American Civil War has occurred. And some characters in that hemisphere (without realizing it) are alternate versions of actual persons in our world.

What awaits your attention is a cowboy-type adventure, whose characters will include my versions of Calamity Jane, Kit Carson, Annie Oakley, Jim Bowie and John Wayne. There will even be a direct copy of Primary Earth's Abraham Lincoln. (I feel no need to change his name, because this Abe Lincoln has such different CIRCUMSTANCES. Not only does he NOT get assassinated, and not only does this variation of Earth have no Illinois for him to have lived part of his life in, but the Civil War he weathers has different issues at stake.)

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv


SOMEWHAT EARLIER IN TIME THAN SEVERAL SCENES WHICH HAVE OCCURRED IN "SPACEBULLIES":

"Astrosmeller, can you sense anything in that new galaxy that the Ultraviolet Griffin scouted?"

Prince Lowerkey, a morally-good version of Loki in Thor stories, was a native of the Triangulum Galaxy, whose own birthplace had been in the same galaxy. It, however, had been destroyed by an evil invasion. Some survivors of that Asgard variant had found refuge on other human-occupied worlds of the Triangulum; the rest, like Lowerkey, had been welcomed by an Asgard variant MORE VARIANT than the human-type Asgard variant. The inhabitants of this one were like friendly werewolves. Their Odin-equivalent was called Woollywoofin-- the father of Bakerstray Bill.

Astrosmeller was this kingdom's counterpart of Heimdall; only, instead of SEEING faraway places, he could SMELL AND HEAR exactly what he would have smelt and heard if he had been present there. The Ultraviolet Griffin, a friend to Woollywoofin, had more than once pitched in against evil forces here. Possessing intergalactic teleportation, he could blink to any location Astrosmeller identified. Lowerkey and Astrosmeller expected the Griffin shortly to return with corroborating data.

Not only the King and Queen of this realm attended the Griffin's debriefing; so did a couple friendly to them. Black Admiral, a good-aligned version of Black Adam, was in attendance, accompanied by his demihuman wife Shibwazushu, one of the Heart Sapphire sisters, who was early along in carrying Admiral's daughter. Black Admiral was also friends with Superdude and Superhottie, members of the Justified League in the Milky Way Galaxy. Those Tonkrypian cousins would soon be notified of Ultraviolet's report.

"Relative to the number of confirmed oxygen-atmosphere worlds in the Southern Pinwheel Galaxy, there seem to be A LOT of humans. Not only humans, but humans possessing cultures with resemblances to cultures on Primary Earth. Notably, at least one such world, which has been designated as Dystopian Earth, has maintained a remarkable resemblance to Primary Earth's history of the nineteenth through the twenty-second Christian centuries. Not at all a surprise if one understands how the True God willed the existence of worlds resembling stories.

Dystopian Earth's northern hemisphere, surviving a disastrous war, was able to send out slow colony ships to settle nearby star systems, while humans of the southern hemisphere managed adequately in their much less damaged environment."

Shibwazushu's top-rooted ponytail, which with eyelashes was the only hair on her, swayed as she nodded. "I hope that somebody, perhaps our friend Captain Rightawrong, can get out there and have a closer look. I know that things are in stable enough condition in his own Andromeda Galaxy."

When this meeting adjourned, the Ultraviolet Griffin went rocketing away to check up on other friends of the Triangulum Galaxy, including the REALLY REALLY unusual superhero Duke Diskoduck.

A bit more exposition is needed, for the story to make sense to you.




The continent conveniently known as Wild Wild South is somewhat like a geographical blend of South America with Australia. Shifting a north-to-south centerline accordingly, the western half was mostly high plains. The eastern half was divided into a lower-altitude zone somewhat like the Mississippi-to-Appalachia belt of our United States. East of that was a section resembling the Andes Mountains with a narrow piedmont of pampas.

I add hastily that landmasses most longitudinally around the southern hemisphere from Wild Wild South host ethnicities like our Africans and Central Asians. These play no part in this Gunslinger story.

NOW, I can set up my Western scenario with a proper "Show, don't tell" method. I add only that I slipped in another Actual- Earth element. There are Comanches and Apaches just as in the real world; and for THIS America-variant, a tribal conflict between them, not any form of slavery, was the cause of war. In reality, Comanches were the Western Hemisphere's greatest horsemen, and this gave them a deadly advantage over Apaches. Setting aside questions of who had more firearms than whom, only in terrain where the Comanches couldn't use their horses would Apaches be able to turn the tables by close- range combat. Since Apaches wanted to dwell ON THE PLAINS, their only viable recourse was to make common cause with white soldiers.

My Western-movie-style story begins at a stage of events resembling Actual Earth history about three months before Robert E. Lee's capitulation at Appomattox Courthouse. Only, imagine Lee and Grant respectively being a diehard Comanche rebel and a merciful Apache victor. /// Oh, in case I failed to mention it, there is an Abraham Lincoln, and he didn't get assassinated.

All right, finally I can roll the cameras on "GUNSLINGERS OF THE FOURTH GALAXY."

The next characters you see will be some ambiguous westerners and a despicable traitor.
Not long after that, my DON Wayne, a hero in his forties, will come on stage.

 

[EveningStar]

That's the first time I gave a second look to your third post in the fourth galaxy. I need a fifth. ;-)

Welcome back!

 

[Copperfox]

{TO JOHN BURKITT: You don't need to get a like from Gamma Sateri, because it was you who SELECTED that galaxy for a scenario.}

CHAPTER ONE: WE'VE BEEN SNEAKING ON THE RAILROAD

"Are you sure that those freight clerks will stay bribed?" asked Gray Bison of the Comanche, who was in the East incognito, not in Comanche regalia. ''They would be rewarded more for denouncing me than what we've been able to pay you."

Steps-on-Iron of the Apache had been a signalman for military and civilian trains ever since the prewar railway network had established itself. That Comanches had been murdering Apaches at every opportunity for much longer, didn't much trouble him. In his mind, he was his own tribe. Anyone he met-- male or female, young or old, and any color including infrequent black or brown merchants from the far side of the globe, was merely a resource to exploit or an obstacle to bypass. At least he found Gray Bison tolerable company.

"They're complacent, with Jefferson Davis already close to capitulating. And your leaders aren't worried about retribution for the war, not with Mister Lincoln still in the Tan House and offering lenient peace terms. And the gold we're smuggling out will ensure our own Reconstruction."

Gray Bison gave a nod. "Let's have a few beers. I'll identify the new agents for you as they filter in."

==================

==== Note to self:

GRAY BISON, BECAUSE _NOT_ A TRAITOR TO THE EAST, IS FORGIVEN AND INCLUDED IN THE POSSE. MARIA SAGUARO IS HIS LOVE --AND IS FIRST TO BIND AMALITA'S NOSE-GOUGE. Liam does curative blink-in AFTER Don loves Amalita anyway. "Fateful Doctor" tipped Liam to hasty need, can't stay. because duty elsewhere. Turns out Abe Lincoln with War Secretary Grant Sampson covertly knew of space-beings==== "NEED TO KNOW"

Steve's parents were killed by white rebels before the war even officially began. Ben and Steve will be wounded. Steps-on-Iron, by prior agreed plan, detours with some gold to stash as backup. Mark Henry is the crooked sheriff in Lobo Creek; it's he that will disfigure Amalita Lansing. Navaho shoemaker Tom Lizard-Catcher helps out in town. Jock Elam is expendable.

===========================

"You all know your steps for when the train jumps the rails? The movement signals? Who moves first?"

"Yes, Mister Iron." "Of course." "I felt out where the tricky stones are." "Mitch Tully is sure the mules won't bolt." "We appreciate the work."

The traitor Steps-on-Iron had invested plenty of time and thought into selecting his men for the heist. These men had all been excluded from combat service due to poor eyesight, but could see just well enough to walk around without stumbling. Thus they had been hired for support labor at the freight yard four yards behind them. Very little guidance would be needed for them to move the gold ingots to the waiting wagons.



Seven miles to the west, bound for the freightyard, Sergeant Colin O'Reilly wavered between watching the rails and re-inspecting the chains which kept the gold ingots from spilling. But when the engineer saw the barricade just around a turn, it was too late for the brakes to manage a full stop.

O'Reilly suffered a broken leg-- with a torn femoral artery unnoticed in the crucial moments-- as cars overturned, and four of the onboard soldiers died outright in the chaotic smash. Then a swarm of Comanches and white Western Rebels, all clad in civilian clothes, rushed in from the side, shooting anyone who resisted while taking only two losses themselves. O'Reilly was among the Federal dead. Major Wayne's friend Ben Jackson was hurt seriously, and young Steve Yakima received injuries which fortunately were treatable.

Major Don Wayne, whose cavalry had been stopping a diversionary raid many miles north, came back south too late to intervene. By the time he made it back to the freightyard, O'Reilly was dead and some hostiles had escaped. But many culprits, including Gray Bison, were taken alive.

Two days later, a wide-ranging scout named Kit Parson returned from circling through southwest regions. By habit, he still carried single-shot flintlock pistols, maintaining that one rightly-aimed bullet was far better than six wildly-fired rounds. Kit had gathered encouraging intel on the faltering morale of the western confederacy's Comanche, Paiute, Navaho and Pueblo contingents. But news of the secessionist diehards hitting the depot behind him dampened his cheerfulness.

"I'm truly sorry for your loss, Major. The more bitter for this to happen just when they say Robert Lee's close to signing a surrender document at Applebox Courthouse. I can't recall any Shakelance play with sad irony to match it."

"Thank you for the thought, Kristoffer. At least now, after I'm released from duty and I've wrapped things up hereabouts, I'll be able at last to ride west and see the land I inherited from my uncle, just outside Lobo Creek."

"Your uncle was Mike Marner, wasn't he?"

"The same. And Steve Yakima, that's the Cheyenne orphan I took under my wing, will come along."

Kit nodded. "Should work out all right. The Cheyenne don't have any particular quarrel with the Comanche."

"And you, Kit? You got a gal to settle down with?"

"Next thing to engaged. Jane Cassowary."

The Major's eyebrows rose. "What, the gal they call Catastrophe Jane?"

"Yes, but everybody who doesn't know her gets that all wrong. She isn't called 'Catastrophe' because she causes catastrophes; the point is that when catastrophes happen, Jane comes running to help anyone that was harmed."

"My apologies."

"No worries, Don. Happy trails, and keep in touch."

"I plan to. But I admit I'm just old enough that I'll do much of my gossiping by telegram."

 

[Copperfox]

The surrender of Jefferson Davis, with Lincoln's clemency to his beaten rival blunting Western resentment, was quickly followed by the organized release of common prisoners. Don Wayne went with Steve Yakima and Ben Jackson to search among the liberated former enemies. Recognizing Gray Bison and his henchman Mitch Tully, Don strode right up to them.

"Yo, Bison, I remember you from the train raid, and that man with you. I've got an offer of well-paid work for you, out Lobo Creek way. War's finished, so let me treat you at the saloon. Beer to start with; you should take your time working back up to whiskey."

Mitch turned toward his Comanche friend. "The Major there doesn't know me and Black Daniel got a history."

Gray Bison wagged a finger. "I don't want you to be history. Take it gradually." They followed their former enemies to the eats-and-drinks establishment, where biscuits and gravy made their stomachs better able to manage whatever alcohol was served. Mitch ate and drank without joining the conversation. It was left to the Comanche officer to acknowledge the elephant in the saloon.

"Major, we're much obliged. But I don't understand how you can bear the sight of us, when we caused the death of your friend."

Don took a swallow of his whiskey (not a prestigious whiskey like Black Daniel, but good enough). "Here's how it is. What you did was your duty for your own side; if Colin could join us, he'd agree. But Steps-on-Iron committed filthy treason for money; he deserves no mercy. Unless you two have relatives who need you."

Mitch spoke for himself and his comrade: "We do. But where they live isn't awfully far from Lobo Creek; and when we finish our job with you, our families will benefit by the Union money we'll be bringing."

They shook hands on it, and soon enjoyed the first apple pie any of them had eaten in a long while.

=====================================================

Purposely avoiding the railroads (even though these were now all in Union hands), the adventurers rode west by inconspicuous trails. Five days beyond the north-south line which naturally divided the victorious East from the not- plundered-but -clearly-defeated West, Mitch veered south. Once he reassured his kinfolk that he was alive, and provided them with still-valid money, he would head back for Lobo Creek, not hurrying, and not volunteering to anyone the fact that he was now a friend of Major Wayne.

Jock Elam had another useful fact to offer his saddle-pals: "By my last knowledge, there's a shoemaker in Lobo Creek, a Navaho called Tom Lizard- Catcher. He sees and hears a lot more than he tells, and he knows right from wrong. He will have heard of you, Major, and he'll understand when to talk and when to shut up. You can easily justify visiting him, just have him resole or side-stitch your boots."

The party left Jock at a ranch still short of the town. Before parting, the old fellow remembered another friend.

"Billy Harris is another pal who knows what to reveal and when. Before The Late Unpleasantness, Billy Harris got into something as reminds us that there still is a world north of the Equator. Him and some Choctaw braves headed off a trespassin' push from the Northern Hemisphere. Learned them their manners. But it's a pity them border jumpers wasn't friendly, we get so few people of any sort ever comin' south. Now that our war's won, I sure would like to know if it's true that folks can ride barges into the sky. His wife Maureen's got sharp wits under that red hair; maybe she knows something by now."

***************************************************************************

COPPERFOX IS TRYING TO MAKE TOPICS FAN OUT. IN THE MERE MONTHS THAT I'VE BEEN USING THE SOUTHERN PINWHEEL GALAXY, STORY MATERIAL SUCH AS "GUNSLINGERS" HAS GROWN AS RAPIDLY AS NARRATION EVER GREW IN THE MILKY WAY, ANDROMEDA OR TRIANGULUM GALAXIES. IN KEEPING WITH MY AUTHORIAL JUGGLING ACT, SOME CHARACTERS VISITING DYSTOPIAN EARTH RIGHT NOW ORIGINATED IN STORYLINES BEGUN DURING THE EARLIEST MONTHS OF WRITING "SPACEBULLIES TWO." CHARACTERS PRESENTLY NORTH OF DYSTOPIAN EARTH'S EQUATOR WILL DO STUFF NOT ONLY ON DYSTOPIAN EARTH, BUT IN SETTINGS BASED ON DAVID WEBER'S "HONOR HARRINGTON" STORIES.

WE NOW REJOIN THE "GUNSLINGERS" CHARACTERS ON THE CONTINENT KNOWN AS "WILD WILD SOUTH." FOR THEM, SCARCELY A DAY HAS PASSED SINCE JOCK ELAM SPOKE ABOUT TOM LIZARD-CATCHER THE SHOEMAKER.

****************************************************************************


At a temporary campsite west by northwest from Lobo Creek, a Paiute sub-tribe waited for any other Natives to ride in with news of the war's aftermath. As the current group leader, Emilia Muddy-Knees, widow of a prominent Paiute chief, was expecting general news of the new Reconstruction. Above all, news of missing Paiutes.

The first unfamiliar persons to draw near were a white man and woman on foot, leading old geldings whom they were clearly sparing. The man, in fact, appeared to be carrying most of their luggage on his own back.

One of Emilia's grandsons pointed out, "I don't see any guns on him."

"He might have a low-caliber Stepper Colt back-holstered."

A granddaughter chimed in from the other side: "The white woman has a rifle, maybe a bolt-action Milano-Henry."

Another grandson said, "The man has a clip-pointed knife. I bet it's his favorite weapon."

A minute later, tribesmen were politely watering the travelers' horses. One man directed the white couple's attention to Emilia. The knife-carrying gentleman offered a courteous greeting. "Elder sister Muddy-Knees, I am Jim Trulie. I was a scout for James Longtrail, in the war up northeast against the Seminoles." The version of Seminoles in Wild Wild South inhabited a tract of marshy terrain, which could not have existed in the Comanche highlands; thus were natural allies to the Apache.


Emilia shook his hand. "You must be glad to know that General Longtrail was chosen by War Secretary Grant to be a mediator between the Federal administration and the Comanche alliance."

"Thank you, elder sister. Secretary Grant knows Longtrail's integrity: and his openly giving Longtrail a free hand in mediation will do much to heal Western grudges. Now, is there a place where Annie can bathe, while I trade news with your sub-tribe?" (




(I need to review for myself how I'm going to set up the romance of Don Wayne with Amalita Lansing. Also decide who, besides Seminoles, will fight off the seagoing Tongans and Pehekans. )

 

[Copperfox]

During this continent's Civil War, the white-red coalition had chosen a banner distinguished by an unusual star. It had seven points; the seventh point went straight down. This detail symbolized the fact that, from Wild Wild South, it was easier to travel directly to Dystopian Earth's antarctic latitudes than to travel straight north into the northern hemisphere.

In the following scene, we find a rebel-holdout contingent, around three white Rebels to every Comanche, winding through rural valleys, singing a marching song whose melody is the Actual-Earth tune "Bonnie Blue Flag." (If you're not familiar with "Bonnie Blue Flag," you can hear it in the John Wayne's excellent film "The Horse Soldiers.")

We are a band of robbers, grabbing up the soil,
Fighting to possess the fruits of other people's toil.
And when we spot a victim, we loose the dogs of war,
To kill for the flag that bears a seven-pointed star.

Hurrah, hurrah, for selfishness hurrah,
hurrah for the flag that bears a seven-pointed star! (REPEAT)

ududududududud