Let the Music Play, Chapter 36

[Bondwriter]

I guess you could say both situations would end with a giant blast

But sane people get a bigger kick out of reading a sex scene. Hopefully. I mean, is there an equivalent for people who get aroused by lengthy descriptions of bombs going off?

[Benji]

But sane people get a bigger kick out of reading a sex scene. Hopefully. I mean, is there an equivalent for people who get aroused by lengthy descriptions of bombs going off?

 

 

.........Not to dispute you, but I've read a thousand sex scenes, but only one intricate detailed description of a detonation sequence of a atomic blast!

[Bondwriter]

.........Not to dispute you, but I've read a thousand sex scenes, but only one intricate detailed description of a detonation sequence of a atomic blast!

Did you derive a similar feeling from both types? I love kink, but far is the day when I jack off reading a scene lengthily describing an explosion (of explosives, I mean).

 

More seriously, I like the idea of the literary feat, but despite the parallel with Vlad (poor Vlad, by the way...), there is IMO a lack of link between the scene and the rest of the narrative. In CSI, or a movie, there'd be a clever 3D animation following the signal, as CJ does with his pen, but you need to see the thing happening, not know the ins and outs. Unless, of course, you intend to sell out to North Korea or Iran. As I'm (heavily) paid to read CJ's prose, I read the text with attention, but I doubt I've memorized much beyond "this is a complex process, in which an electrical signal travels from one part to the next, triggering various reactions leading to the nuclear device blowing out".

[Benji]

Did you derive a similar feeling from both types? I love kink, but far is the day when I jack off reading a scene lengthily describing an explosion (of explosives, I mean).

 

..............I'm not even going there, someone else might!

 

More seriously, I like the idea of the literary feat, but despite the parallel with Vlad (poor Vlad, by the way...), there is IMO a lack of link between the scene and the rest of the narrative. In CSI, or a movie, there'd be a clever 3D animation following the signal, as CJ does with his pen, but you need to see the thing happening, not know the ins and outs. Unless, of course, you intend to sell out to North Korea or Iran. As I'm (heavily) paid to read CJ's prose, I read the text with attention, but I doubt I've memorized much beyond "this is a complex process, in which an electrical signal travels from one part to the next, triggering various reactions leading to the nuclear device blowing out".

 

 

.........Poor Vlad, and his stuffed kangaroo are now gone! True about the complex process, but it was still fascinating reading each nanasecound!

[Drewbie]

But sane people get a bigger kick out of reading a sex scene. Hopefully. I mean, is there an equivalent for people who get aroused by lengthy descriptions of bombs going off?

 

LOl, I like reading the descriptions, of the bombs, other info.

 

I do like sex scenes though too

 

About Joe's mom, did the scar have her killed, you think someone killed her to get revenge on the scar?

Edited April 23, 2008 by Drewbie

[wildone]

:nuke: :nuke: I thought we could maybe give CJ a different title, so was looking into if there was any medical definitions for someone who is aroused by bombs :nuke: :nuke:

 

No such luck.

 

The closest I could come up with was Nucleomituphobia. which is the fear of Nuclear Weapons. Would it be fair to label CJ as a Anti-Nucleomituphobic?

[Benji]

LOl, I like reading the descriptions, of the bombs, other info.

 

I do like sex scenes though too

 

About Joe's mom, did the scar have her killed, you think someone killed her to get revenge on the scar?

 

 

.......NO!! Scar killed by garroting her, she probably saw what he was and what he did for a living.

[MikeL]

:nuke: :nuke: I thought we could maybe give CJ a different title, so was looking into if there was any medical definitions for someone who is aroused by bombs :nuke: :nuke:

 

No such luck.

 

The closest I could come up with was Nucleomituphobia. which is the fear of Nuclear Weapons. Would it be fair to label CJ as a Anti-Nucleomituphobic?

Needs an adjective....how about Bombastic Anti-Nucleomituphobic?

 

My big phobia is Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia

[jfalkon]

That was some chapter!

 

I liked the long description. To me it had the same effect as slow motion in a movie. It gives you a moment to cringe before the disaster while at the same time giving you more details. I think it works better in writing than in movies though because we could hear sound as well.

 

Some long description bore me but this one did not. I think part of the reason is that I find the subject interesting. The other reason is that it helped build tention as well as insight to the characters.

 

I also loved the use of "let the music play".

 

 

:nuke: :nuke: I thought we could maybe give CJ a different title, so was looking into if there was any medical definitions for someone who is aroused by bombs :nuke: :nuke:

 

No such luck.

 

The closest I could come up with was Nucleomituphobia. which is the fear of Nuclear Weapons. Would it be fair to label CJ as a Anti-Nucleomituphobic?

 

Nucleomituphobia: fear of nuclear weapons.

Nucleomituphilia: love of nuclear weapons???

Nucleomitumania? (like piromania)

 

I think I would call CJ either a nucleomituphiliac or a nucleomitumaniac.

[Benji]

That was some chapter!

 

I liked the long description. To me it had the same effect as slow motion in a movie. It gives you a moment to cringe before the disaster while at the same time giving you more details. I think it works better in writing than in movies though because we could hear sound as well.

 

Some long description bore me but this one did not. I think part of the reason is that I find the subject interesting. The other reason is that it helped build tention as well as insight to the characters.

 

I also loved the use of "let the music play".

 

 

 

 

Nucleomituphobia: fear of nuclear weapons.

Nucleomituphilia: love of nuclear weapons???

Nucleomitumania? (like piromania)

 

I think I would call CJ either a nucleomituphiliac or a nucleomitumaniac.

 

 

......Yep, Nucleoitumaniac sounds good!

[Tiger]

......Yep, Nucleoitumaniac sounds good!

I agree. We can add this to the list of what CJ has in common with The Scar.

[C James]

VERY INTERESTING!!! I have no idea if the physics behind detonation scene is accurate (I'm only in pre-engineering!) but it was very enthralling and a good substitute for the actual physics work I should be doing right now

 

The physics, to the best of my knowledge and ability, is accurate EXCEPT in the inner core configuration; it would be a little harder than I described to achieve a cylindrical implosion from a spherical implosion; forming the shock-front is complex and requires varying densities of material. I glossed that over mainly becuase the description of the construct would have taken about a page. (To anyone who thinks the tech was long-winded as it was, bear in mind that I could have easily stretched that page to about 5 chapters, easily. ) I made similar short-cuts regarding the neutron source, and in past chapters I really cut down on the detail of the fabrication process. (Trust me, it could have been a book in an of itself, easily).

 

Oh, one other aspect; using litheum hydride as a fusion neutron source. That's highly appreviated. To do it the lithium hydride (it would be far more normal to use lithium deuteride, biut that is made in reactors and The Scar would not likly have access to any) ) requires special treatment. Used in the way I portray, I'm not positive it would work. I also freely admit I took a guess at the efficacy of the fusion-boosting; I've long forgotten how to do that kind of math so all I could do was guess. I know I'm in the ballpark, but that's it. I picked a factor of three becuase I figured 4 for the top end and 2 at a minimum. Fusion neutrons are ideal for feeding a fission reaction due to their higher energy (+11 MeV, or 11 million electron-volts). Also, i tried to keep all the math out, as that would have given lots of people headaches. It sure gave me one when i came up with the design. I had to do my own theoretical design; the Plutonium being sub-weapons-grade made it essential; I couldn't do a simple spherical implosion as the PU-240 would give it about a 50-50 chance of preignition (resulting in a subkilaton yield. This is likely what went wrong with the nuke the North Koreans tried to test). So, I have to come up with a different design. There isn't enough posted detail in mine for anyone to actually make use of it, and there are errors and ommisions.

 

Consider this a minor spoiler (The echidna is away, so the goat will play! ) or a very large hint; there is a specific reason for everything there to be there. For example, the thermocouples for an battery-charging source; they had to be there to give the bombs a ten-year shelf-life. Now we know why; they were designed for nuclear blackmail, long-term. There is also a reason for the reader to understand the way in which a nuke detonates, but that's for the future.

 

Now, if CJ doesn't admit to using evil cliffhangers, he will have lost all credibility. The destruction of a city with almost 100,000 people is definitely an evil cliffhanger. See why I say that I don't use evil cliffhangers?

 

Ahh, but there was no cliffhanger here!! The bomb detonated, we know it, so no cliffie!

 

Actually, one of the reasons this chapter is longer than normal was so the entire scene could be included. Originally, I had the chapter break halfway through the detonation (ending 36 with the fluorescent tubes flashing), which would have been a bit of a cliffie. So, I avoided one! I do the same thing with Chapter 37: It's even longer than 36, in part to avoid any cliffie.

 

It actually took very little research to plan the chapter; I'm familiar with nuclear weapons design. I did need to confirm a few things, but interestingly (and scarily) all the info is freely available.

 

............CJ, the best chapter yet!, very "Illuminating" we now know that Jerry had a soft spot for Joe afterall, including him with Helen in with the bands final act. As Mario is zeroing in

I suspect he will be foiled by an unlikely ally of the band, the paparrazzi, WTF is with the goose? :wacko:

Now our hero Eric will add everything up when the world hears the location of the explosion, the GPS + mystery Sub-woofers + new knowledge from Joe. I found the detonation sequence to be fascinating in detail as I imaged the thrown wrench being inches away from the engineers hand. BTW, CJ, I have never called you evil have I?? No, I sure I said that you were a lurker, yeah that's right, ......ah, please destroy my PM e-mail address as it is of little use, cause ah... ah...ah...... I being transferred!! yeah thats it!!

 

 

Yes, Jerry, I'm afraid, may have sullied his image as a father by including his son in the target list for the hit. I'm not certain, but I think taking out a hit on your kid is a potential disqualifier for the father of the year award??

 

But sane people get a bigger kick out of reading a sex scene. Hopefully. I mean, is there an equivalent for people who get aroused by lengthy descriptions of bombs going off?

 

Lol, who said anything about aroused?

 

.........Not to dispute you, but I've read a thousand sex scenes, but only one intricate detailed description of a detonation sequence of a atomic blast!

 

To give you an idea on how I view repeated sex scenes, think what LTMP would have been like if I had, say, a dozen nukes, all with very similar but slightly different designs, and then had a technical description of one in every chapter. LoL.

 

I once saw a story where the author had, quite literally, written two sex scenes, and then pasted them into his story, alternating them, page after page, dozens of times each. No variation, identical right down to the typos.

 

More seriously, I like the idea of the literary feat, but despite the parallel with Vlad (poor Vlad, by the way...), there is IMO a lack of link between the scene and the rest of the narrative. In CSI, or a movie, there'd be a clever 3D animation following the signal, as CJ does with his pen, but you need to see the thing happening, not know the ins and outs. Unless, of course, you intend to sell out to North Korea or Iran. As I'm (heavily) paid to read CJ's prose, I read the text with attention, but I doubt I've memorized much beyond "this is a complex process, in which an electrical signal travels from one part to the next, triggering various reactions leading to the nuclear device blowing out".

 

Good point. I do include the "animation" as I describe the actual effects of the bomb once its energy starts to release.

 

 

LOl, I like reading the descriptions, of the bombs, other info.

 

I do like sex scenes though too

 

About Joe's mom, did the scar have her killed, you think someone killed her to get revenge on the scar?

 

I blew it in describing the scene between Joe and Phil. I meant to have the resolution to that come in later but it didn't work out. I should have added a sentence. I meant to make it obvious that The Scar killer her (via garroting, which seems to be one of his favored methods.).

 

That was some chapter!

 

I liked the long description. To me it had the same effect as slow motion in a movie. It gives you a moment to cringe before the disaster while at the same time giving you more details. I think it works better in writing than in movies though because we could hear sound as well.

 

Some long description bore me but this one did not. I think part of the reason is that I find the subject interesting. The other reason is that it helped build tension as well as insight to the characters.

 

I also loved the use of "let the music play".

 

Nucleomituphobia: fear of nuclear weapons.

Nucleomituphilia: love of nuclear weapons???

Nucleomitumania? (like piromania)

 

I think I would call CJ either a nucleomituphiliac or a nucleomitumaniac.

 

The Scar's "Let The Music Play" is the reason for the title of the story. I did say in the last chapter thread that we'd learn the reason for the title, and it wouldn't be what anyone thinks.

 

Did anyone ever guess that the title was The Scar's?

The Scar sure likes his theatrics.

 

And me? a nucleomituphiliac? Awww, sweet, innocent me?

 

 

 

 

OK, in Prometheus, I tried to bring it all together; Jerry's mysterious letter (the details of his plan). Also, Vladimer's fate, along with the rest of the crew. I've been forshadowing and hinting at that all along; Vladimer did ask to see the detonation, and both Dimitri and The Scar adore Irony. That's also why Dimitri made a few remarks such as Vladimer having a bright future (very bright, due to being as hot as the surface of the sun). Mario now has his final go ahead for the hit, so no more waiting for that.

Also, someone (I forgot who, sorry.) thought is incongruous that Adam Weston's body would be stashed inside a spare steel case and just stuck in the back of a storage shed at the towoomba facility. I couldn't say why, then, but now we know; Jerry and Dimitri knew the place would cease to exist in a few weeks.

 

Prometheus also begins the final sequence of the story. It's closing in on the end. The next chapter, 37, is called "Fire in the Sky."

[YaP]

Wow, what a chapter :-) .

 

It might lead for CJames being on the NSA watch list though, as much as he knows about nuclear bomb design.. watch out ;-) (good thing you didn't go into all the details you know... and yea, its really scary this information is freely available...).

 

No, no cliffhanger at all.. we just know that the "order to kill" has been given for Instinct .

 

Poor Vlad.. and even poorer innocent Aussies getting killed (not mentioning the kangaroos and other wildlife).

[Drewbie]

Shouldn't have been surprised he had her killed, ugh, Poor Joe, wonder if he will realize it.

[Benji]

Shouldn't have been surprised he had her killed, ugh, Poor Joe, wonder if he will realize it.

 

 

..........I wonder if Joe will survive to realize it!

[TalonRider]

Yes, Jerry, I'm afraid, may have sullied his image as a father by including his son in the target list for the hit. I'm not certain, but I think taking out a hit on your kid is a potential disqualifier for the father of the year award??

 

Unless, he's going for Deadbeat Father of the Year.

[C James]

Wow, what a chapter :-) .

 

It might lead for CJames being on the NSA watch list though, as much as he knows about nuclear bomb design.. watch out ;-) (good thing you didn't go into all the details you know... and yea, its really scary this information is freely available...).

 

No, no cliffhanger at all.. we just know that the "order to kill" has been given for Instinct .

 

Poor Vlad.. and even poorer innocent Aussies getting killed (not mentioning the kangaroos and other wildlife).

 

Thanks!

I very much (largely through necessity... I don't have the mathematical skills) avoided actual engineering specs for the bombs; no numbers, no diagrams, no actual designs. All I portrayed was a concept, not a detailed design. Also, when books like Rhode's "Dark Sun" (an excelent book on the early hydrogen bomb project) are about, it makes what I did look quite trivial. For anyone who shares my interest in nuclear engineering, I most highly recommend that book. It makes the math understandable, as well as the design concepts, as it recounts the history of the nuclear program (including some interesting failures). So, if they NSA is interested in my for this, LoL, they need to go take a peek in the bookstore or on the internet sometime.

 

Shouldn't have been surprised he had her killed, ugh, Poor Joe, wonder if he will realize it.

 

She found out what he did for a living. Joe discovered the body before The Scar could get rid of it. Is it any wonder that Joe was one messed-up kid?

 

Unless, he's going for Deadbeat Father of the Year.

 

That could be!

 

BTW, what did y'all think of Jerry's fax? It showed that those who predicted an auction were partially right, and also so were those who predicted blackmail.

 

Incidentally, his demands might sound outlandish but they're not. He literally could cause more in economic damage than he's asking for by merely informing the press of nukes in the cities.

 

Anyone figured out by what he intends by

We have proven that we have the capability. Over the following twenty-four hours, we shall do so again at a time and place of our choosing.

?

 

[Benji]

She found out what he did for a living. Joe discovered the body before The Scar could get rid of it. Is it any wonder that Joe was one messed-up kid?

 

.........I can see that Joe is a decent guy now, too bad he will probably be killed anyway?

 

Anyone figured out by what he intends buy

?

 

 

A Kangaroo farm?

[Tiger]

I'm surprised that the "tricks" to making nuclear weapons isn't a closely guarded secret. I mean it's scary to think that just about anyone could design a nuclear weapon and detonate it on a whim. :wacko:

[C James]

I'm surprised that the "tricks" to making nuclear weapons isn't a closely guarded secret. I mean it's scary to think that just about anyone could design a nuclear weapon and detonate it on a whim. :wacko:

 

The problem is that the info is out there. It's part of nature (physics) and after that, it's all engineering. It's far from complicated to build a 15 kiloton nuke; the Hiroshima design, for example, was so sure-fire (gun-assembly of U-238) that it was never tested. (the Trinity test was an implosion device, not gun-assembly). And this was before they had the knowledge that we have today.

 

I wouldn't say anyone could do it. Actually, yes, with Uranium, a decent machinist could. I probably could, given a decent metalworking shop and a gunsmith's shop. It wouldn't need kryton switches of advanced electronics, or even an exacting design tolerance.

 

Plutonium? Nope, i couldn't. I don't have the math skills to calculate, say, the shape and congiguration of the explosive lenses, or a plethora of other things. You would need, at a minimum, millions of dollars worth of specilaized equipment. Could it be done as The Scar did it? In my opinion, yes (otherwise I wouldn't have used that method). But it took his special access to components and equipment (he's an arms dealer, which helped). But, yes, *IF* someone has weapons-grade fissionable materiel, making a nuke is not hard to do. It's also why the fissionable material itself is such an issue. Once someone has that, they can make nukes.

 

Also, the cobalt salting I portray, which vastly increases the fallout (by a factor in excess of 100) is very real. Leo Silzard one calculated that 60 such bombs coudl render the surface of the earth uninhabitable for in excess of twenty years. That's true, sort of; they would have to be aerial detonations, and would have to take place at numerous locations on both sides of the equator due to varying wind patterns. But, given a rudumentray delivery system (no accuracy required) and a string of them fired in a line streaching a thousand miles each side of the equator, and that oughta do it. And you can do this with small, crude nuclear weapons. It's insanely easy; for a simple fission warhead you use cobalt metal (Anyone can buy it) as the tamper. For a multi-stage weapon (thermonculear; an H-bomb) you sinply encase the bomb in it. Also, due to the massive neuton cascade from the third stage of a thermonuclear, you don;t need as many bombs; I'd guess 15 would do it, but 20 surely would.

 

The information is freely out there. The hard part is obtaining the uranium or plutonium. The rest is just engineering.

Very scary.

CJ

[rknapp]

:nuke: :nuke: I thought we could maybe give CJ a different title, so was looking into if there was any medical definitions for someone who is aroused by bombs :nuke: :nuke:

 

No such luck.

 

The closest I could come up with was Nucleomituphobia. which is the fear of Nuclear Weapons. Would it be fair to label CJ as a Anti-Nucleomituphobic?

Pyromaniac of the highest order.

[GaryK]

The geek in me very much appreciated the long and technical build-up to what I knew was coming; the explosion. You did an amazing job with all the details. It's obvious you put a lot of work into this chapter. Thanks.

[Lurker241]

C James,

 

You have obviously done a lot of research here. And so far as I can tell, everything has been quite accurate. But I see the potential for a huge technical error in forthcoming chapters.

 

Have you considered EMP: Electromagnetic Pulse?

 

A nuclear blast sets off an EMP. An EMP, among other things, destroys any electronic device within range that is not properly shielded to a military level, which includes pretty much any civilian electronic device. An EMP is sort of like the inverse of a Neutron bomb. It disables anything electronic, but has no direct effect on people or animals. Things like cellular phones, computers, radios, TVs, would all stop working, instantly. And an EMP has a range much farther than the initial damaging blast.

 

Airplanes would fall out of the sky (except for shielded military aircraft, or older entirely mechanical aircraft that don't rely on electronics of any kind). The Scar's cell phone, laptop, and Range Rover would all cease to function. No way would he be flying out of Australia any time soon.

 

I'm no expert on EMP, so I could be off a bit here. What I vaguely remember was from papers describing the effects of a hypothetical airburst nuclear device detonated at a higher altitude. At a high altitude, an EMP wave would cover the entire continent of Australia. I know the effects would be considerably less from a ground-level detonation.

 

Nevertheless, I believe the Scar will be walking to Brisbane, not driving his now-dead Land Rover. (If he had an older, pre-electronic Rover, say earlier than 1970, he'd be fine.)

 

If you have already taken this into consideration in future chapters, or if my understanding of EMP is completely wrong, please forgive my intrusion.

[Tiger]

Lurker, welcome to GA! I'm sure CJ will be pleased to know that you chose to post in his forum first. Anyway, You have an interesting scenario there. I don't know much about EMP's either except that they cause electrical stuff to not work properly. I'm sure more will be explained in the next chapter, but we will have to wait and see.

[GaryK]

Welcome to GA Lurker.

 

You're right about a high altitude blast. But the greater air density of a ground level nuclear explosion limits EMP to the circumference of the blast. The resultant nuclear fallout might affect a larger area but EMP would not be a factor.

Edited April 26, 2008 by GaryInMiami