Jack of Harts

Absolutely NOTHING important happened in 1952. Nothing at all.

Well… there were some disagreements going on in Korea. And there was a nuclear test in the Marshal Islands. And there was a tsunami that hit Soviet Kamchatka after an earthquake that had nothing at all to do with the nuclear test over a thousand miles a way.

But nothing about any of that was important… right?

Well… here’s the thing. When I write Captain William Carter stories, I like to bring real life stuff that doesn’t connect and try to connect it. And I found the connection for another story. And this one has the full story already in place. I know what is going to happen. All I have to do is write it.

I’ve had this idea for a while that the American military did NOT sink the I-400 boats after they captured them from the Japanese at the end of World War II. That they were in fact taken over by the monster hunting organization Captain William Carter works for and were repurposed to fight America’s supernatural threats. An open call gives me the perfect opportunity to play with her in a way that complements both the open call and the story I’ve wanted to tell for a while.

I-401 charging west out of Alaska in 1952, making for Soviet Kamchatka with storm warning flags flying from her conning tower. Flags that warn everyone to stop and stay away because she is sailing into danger. A flag combination that Old Sailors recognize as a warning against the kind of dire supernatural threats that even international enmities must bow to. All flying off a Japanese boat crewed by Americans sailing into the Soviet Far East in the middle of the Cold War.