SIROCCO

(Posted 05-18-01)

Previously published in a zine still available from

Sirocco--a hot, strong wind of cyclonic origin

Hmm. What should you know about Sirocco before you read? One, that it is set after the final episode; two, Blair has a haircut; and three, Blair is a cop--Jim's partner. Some readers are bothered by these things so I thought I'd be up-front about it. And, oh, yes, Carolyn's in the story. And a character dies (no, not one of the guys--NEVER one of the guys). Seems like the only warning I seemed to have missed is song lyrics. Oh, well, there's always the next story. :-)

I knew there was something else (fingers snapping)! The character of Colonel Lynne Reese is from the short-lived show, Strange World, which aired twice on ABC before cancellation.

What happens in the story is purely fictitious, but I wanted to make it at least sound plausible, so I did a little research. Heck, I did a lot of research. Here are the links I can find after a year. For those of you who aren't aware, I'm terribly unorganized. I remember putting the pages I used in a safe place--just can't find the place now. Anyway, you might find these sites useful:

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention--The CDC has a great, information-packed site for whatever ails you, or what you want to ail your characters. I've spent many hours there going, "Hmm...."

Jim Placke's NBC Warfare Links- Before all this research, I thought NBC was just a network. Now, I know it stands for Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical warfare, terrorism, hazard, etc. Scary stuff can be found here. (url updated 10-27-01)

Terrorism--This page was done by a class at California Polytechnical Institute. This is not stuff I learned in school.

You can read the entire story (~400K) here. Or you can read it in parts:

Part I (Prologue-Chapter 5)

Part II (Chapters 6-10)

Part III (Chapters 11-15)

Part IV (Chapter 16-20/Epilogue)