This story can be read online at:
http://www.infinityplus.co.uk/stories/colderwar.htm
This novelette is an
interesting weaving of Reagan-era history and the Cthulhu Mythos. It's
not set in Lovecraft's kinds of places - it takes place in Washington DC, in the
political hot-spots of the 1980's and secret government installations. So,
it may be more accessible to those who don't care for Lovecraft; however, those
unfamiliar with the Mythos may have trouble following some of the
elements. Younger readers / those less familiar with the Reagan period
will also miss aspects - and it is the weaving of the two that makes the story
so entertaining.
The premise is that shoggoths
and other beings of Lovecraft's pantheon exist and have the potential to act in
powerful ways. This fact has come to the attention of the military.
This is such a fearful possibility that a 1931 international treaty, the
Dresden Agreement, forbids their use as weapons - so fearful even Hitler abided
by the treaty.
Enter the Reagan era.
Intelligence reports present a case that the Soviet Union has military units
organized to use shoggoths. The story starts weaving together 1980's
Afghanistan, Iran, Col. Ollie North, drug trafficking, Congressional hearings,
Reagan's joke "The bombing starts in 15 minutes", and such with the
Mythos.
Stephen Gould explains what
we know of these alien beings and evidence they're still around. There
are references to things found in Antarctica, suggestive of At The Mountains Of
Madness.
There are interstellar gates
to strange and deadly places - which we're told are the real reason Nixon
stopped the US manned space program. And there's a hefty seasoning of
military / intelligence jargon that contributes to the mix.
It's a stimulating re-writing of history from this strange perspective.