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Grrl Power #1062 - Jalapeño, Jalapeño, Jalapeño
🕑 Added 2022-06-30 10:01:04 +0000 UTCThank you for the support! You guys are awesome!
No, Leon didn't just summon tech support.
I really wanted to title this page "Zulu Zulu Zulu" because I am almost positive there is some scene in some movie or TV show somewhere in which someone sends that message, and the message means "Invasion imminent." Only, I can't recall where I saw that, and I just don't remember if the message was actually Zulu Zulu Zulu or Zebra Zebra Zebra or November x 3 or X-ray or Oscar or what. My brain is whispering that it was someone like Spock or Data, but I don't even recall if it was Star Trek or even Sci-Fi. It's very frustrating and you can imagine that googling "zulu zulu zulu invasion" produces results about, you know, the actual British attempts to conquer the Zulu, and "zebra zebra zebra invasion" give results about invasive zebra mussels. Like, the mollusk things, not buff furry zebra dudes. Though honestly those probably show up on page 2 of the results.
Anyway, since my brain wasn't cooperating to recall the exact reference and I couldn't think of anything else, I went with "word that should definitely not be on a Military Phonetic Alphabet list" just to make sure no one has any idea what I'm doing.
Edit: Ah hah! Kizik Ucalegon cracked it. "Zulu Zulu Zulu" is from On Basilisk Station, the first Honor Harrington book. And my fucking brain went from hearing an audiobook of the scene to trying to tell me it was Data from an episode of Star Trek. No wonder I can't remember if an anime I've watched was subtitled or dubbed half the time.
Snippet: ---------------------
"'Mr. Venizelos, you will commandeer the first available Junction carrier to relay the following message to Fleet HQ. Message begins: Authentication code Lima-Mike-Echo-Niner-Seven-One. Case Zulu. I say again, Zulu, Zulu, Zulu. Message ends.'" She heard McKeon suck air between his teeth at her shoulder. "That is all, Mr. Webster," she said softly. "You may transmit at will." Webster said absolutely nothing for an instant, but when he replied, his voice was unnaturally steady.
"Aye, aye, Captain. Transmitting Case Zulu." There was another brief pause, then, "Case Zulu transmitted, Ma'am."
"Thank you." Honor wanted to lean back and draw a deep breath, but there was no time. The message she'd just ordered Webster to send and Venizelos to relay to Manticore was never sent in drills, not even in the most intense or realistic Fleet maneuvers. Case Zulu had one meaning, and one only: "Invasion Imminent."
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Edit 2: Ironically, or... serendipitously? Anyway, I upgraded to fiber internet about three weeks ago, meaning there's a 50 foot fiber cable running from the curb to the side of my house because they haven't gotten around to burying it yet - and my neighbor just clipped it with his weed whacker. So I'm on "tethered-through-my-phone" internet for the next week. :/
Comments
Smart Leon. Ok, your SIX trunk fiber lines went down. That's pretty suspicious, but I guess it could happen. But then you notice that WiFi signal is dead, which lack of internet doesn't cause. It just means the WiFi has no throughput, but it would still be up and broadcasting itself. Couple that with 4G and 5G signals being dead, you know for sure somebody is jamming you. Cue the alarm.
Connor Hines
Woo! Honorverse reference!
