Message from a Time Traveler

Dan Simmons - Official Web Site ^ | April 1, 2006 | Dan Simmons

[broken_clock]

Thinking about the three words all day and after reading through the story and these posts once again, I see the initial inaction of the writer as a typical reaction to overwhelmingly bad news. Thus his recoiling to the obvious:

It was not the horrors of his revelations about my grandchildren that had shaken me the most deeply, shaken me to the core of my core, but rather the the Time Traveler’s last three words.

Three words that any Replayer or time traveler visiting here from a century or more from now would react to first and most emotionally –

DUTY

three words I will not share here in this piece nor ever plan to share, at least until everyone on Earth knows them –

HONOR

three words that will keep me awake nights for months and years to come.

COUNTRY

[null and void]

You can get your own Mr Flibble glove puppet here...

[Junior_G]

Not bad. That would be horrifying.

[Actually_in_Tokyo]

I'm afraid it might be a direct threat from the grandson.

[Experiment 6-2-6]

Make Iran Glow

But doesn't quite have the force of

"Use the Nukes"...

Or, even better:

Drink your Ovaltine..

[schu]

That was a thought I had, maybe:

"I killed you"

The grandson is coming back to explain his actions to his grandfather as he believes his grandfather betrayed his grandchildren.

Just a wild guess.

schu

[Babu]

Candidates for Three Words:

Talk to Hand

Return to Sender

Void where Prohibited

Limited Time Offer

Beware of Dog

Edited for Television

No Money Down

No Preservatives Added

Batteries Not Included

Slippery When Wet

Finish My Novel

Call My Agent

Cash Only Please

[Actually_in_Tokyo]

The title of the piece is "Message from a Time Traveler." I think the message is the final three words (not the narrative itself). Maybe it's a continuation of "Your wake-up call is coming soon."

[schu]

Toward the end the grandson makes this statement:

"The Time Traveler laughed a final time. “All of your grandsons’ names were on lists. You wrote something . . . will soon write something . . . that will put your name, and all your descendents’ names, on their list. Including your only surviving grandson.” "

So the grandfather is somehow implicated in the grandsons death as earlier it is pointed out that they were "setup".

I'll admit I am stumped. ;-)

sschu

[RandallFlagg]

Bookmarking

[null and void]

Null and void?

[RichInOC]

Yep. It's a major strategic and symbolic target. You'd better believe that if that got taken out, people would remember it down the years. Incidentally, if the nutters are making enemies lists, which I find not at all far-fetched, nasty, vindictive little turds that they are, you have to figure Dubya and his family (Laura and the girls at the very minimum) are high up.

[Actually_in_Tokyo]

I bet the three words are the name of what the guy wrote.

[investigateworld]

... And Thomas was married. I know he thought he was having a business dinner with a client.”.....

My vote is for the three words being "I'm your grandson".
The above clue is the most telling.
(And he had the decency not to put ice in a single malt)

[Mr. Silverback]

The one flaw with "the White House" is that it wouldn't shock the narrator of the story that much, or be horrific next to the stuff he's already heard. But yeah, it's got to be very high on their lists.

[TigersEye]

#76 Excellent post. Distilling the essence of what is.

[RabidBartender]

Git R Done!

[tonycavanagh]

Gentlemen thatnkyou for all the replies.

I guess we could debate this for ever, any argument I put forward will be discounted by the theyAreGoingToWinUnlessWeWakeUpandGetToughCrowd. As they are not like us, Islam is different and all the other types of argument.

I have read your replies, I love the Asymmetric warfare replies so scientific so analytical you would think it has nothing to do with blood guts and sh*t.

I have a number of questions

1)Are we winning losing or breaking even in Iraq. After all I have read a number of threads from guys on the ground who seem to think we are. I was chatting with a US Marine on the tactics they are using and how they are defeating the insurgents, and how more local people are coming foreword with information on terrorist locations

2) What is a win scenario.

3)What is the weakness in our COIN ops.

4)More ruthless and repressive measures how comes they failed in Afghanistan the Soviet Union had no qualms in using reprisals, hostage taking, wiping out whole villages, use of chemical weapons, torture.

Chechnya again the Russians don't suffer from our liberal weakness.

On the Eastern Front again such measures did not work and again in Yugoslavia under Nazi occupation.

5)For those who are talking about eradication If the most ruthless blood thirsty dictator Stalin using the most evil repressive police force the NKVD and OGBU and the most repressive measures could not eradicate religion from the Soviet Union, Christian as well as Islamic, how can we.

[MNJohnnie]

Brilliant response. Thank you.

[houeto]

Thanks for the link. Easily confirmed stuff too.