Commander-1
Encyclopedia
Commander-1 is a 1965 novel by Welsh
author Peter Bryan George and deals with the aftermath of a nuclear war between the United States
, the Soviet Union
and the People's Republic of China
. It was George's last published work, with the author committing suicide in 1966.
general to produce a nuclear weapon
, which they will plant outside US bases of strategic importance and detonate so that it appears that the USSR has committed to the first strike of a nuclear war. The United States
and the Soviet Union
both deploy their nuclear arsenals, wiping each other out and destroying the Pentagon
and killing the US President.
Meanwhile the only submarine left in the US fleet which has been on an expedition conducting an experiment on social isolation under the Polar Icecap comes back to port after receiving news of the nuclear holocaust. The commander drops the survivors off at a deserted Pacific island that will be passed over by the fallout
. The survivors soon discover that the island is really a massive bunker for just such an eventuality. Two of the survivors kill themselves after they conceive a child which they believe to be mutated due to the presence of the mutated baby produced by one of the island's local apes.
The submarine then heads to a surviving US naval base where they find the military holding out against civilian survivors led by an ex-congressman. The submarine commander, James Geragty, turns the civilians into mindless drones using drugs from the medical supplies at the base, and takes them on board his submarine to the Pacific island, the only place in the world not affected by fallout. There Geragty sets himself up as the new President of the USA - Commander One - and sets his slaves to work building his new paradise, which the original experiment subjects reject as totalitarian.
After he declares that he will attempt to destroy any Soviet survivors that he may eventually find, he sets the original experiment candidates loose on a rubber dinghy, claiming that he will let them go to another island. As they float away on the ocean Geragty has them machine-gunned in the water, destroying all dissent in his new society.
Welsh people
The Welsh people are an ethnic group and nation associated with Wales and the Welsh language.John Davies argues that the origin of the "Welsh nation" can be traced to the late 4th and early 5th centuries, following the Roman departure from Britain, although Brythonic Celtic languages seem to have...
author Peter Bryan George and deals with the aftermath of a nuclear war between the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
and the People's Republic of China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
. It was George's last published work, with the author committing suicide in 1966.
Plot
An up and coming Chinese Communist apparatchik named Li devises a plan with the aid of a prominent nuclear scientist and a PLAPeople's Liberation Army
The People's Liberation Army is the unified military organization of all land, sea, strategic missile and air forces of the People's Republic of China. The PLA was established on August 1, 1927 — celebrated annually as "PLA Day" — as the military arm of the Communist Party of China...
general to produce a nuclear weapon
Nuclear weapon
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission or a combination of fission and fusion. Both reactions release vast quantities of energy from relatively small amounts of matter. The first fission bomb test released the same amount...
, which they will plant outside US bases of strategic importance and detonate so that it appears that the USSR has committed to the first strike of a nuclear war. The United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
both deploy their nuclear arsenals, wiping each other out and destroying the Pentagon
The Pentagon
The Pentagon is the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, located in Arlington County, Virginia. As a symbol of the U.S. military, "the Pentagon" is often used metonymically to refer to the Department of Defense rather than the building itself.Designed by the American architect...
and killing the US President.
Meanwhile the only submarine left in the US fleet which has been on an expedition conducting an experiment on social isolation under the Polar Icecap comes back to port after receiving news of the nuclear holocaust. The commander drops the survivors off at a deserted Pacific island that will be passed over by the fallout
Fallout
Fallout or nuclear fallout is the residual radiation hazard from a nuclear explosion.Fallout may also refer to:*Fallout , a 1997 post-apocalyptic computer role-playing game released by Interplay Entertainment...
. The survivors soon discover that the island is really a massive bunker for just such an eventuality. Two of the survivors kill themselves after they conceive a child which they believe to be mutated due to the presence of the mutated baby produced by one of the island's local apes.
The submarine then heads to a surviving US naval base where they find the military holding out against civilian survivors led by an ex-congressman. The submarine commander, James Geragty, turns the civilians into mindless drones using drugs from the medical supplies at the base, and takes them on board his submarine to the Pacific island, the only place in the world not affected by fallout. There Geragty sets himself up as the new President of the USA - Commander One - and sets his slaves to work building his new paradise, which the original experiment subjects reject as totalitarian.
After he declares that he will attempt to destroy any Soviet survivors that he may eventually find, he sets the original experiment candidates loose on a rubber dinghy, claiming that he will let them go to another island. As they float away on the ocean Geragty has them machine-gunned in the water, destroying all dissent in his new society.