Jasmine's Knife: The Washington Widowmaker

MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD!!! ONLY READ AFTER READING ALPHA'S GHOST!!!

Let's break down the Washington Widowmaker subplot in Alpha's Ghost.

We're introduced to Jasmine knife in Chapter 2:

Jasmine holstered her sidearm, drew her knife, and used it to slice a long, thin strip from the aluminum door frame. She bent the strip to form a hook at one end and added a 90-degree bend in the middle. She slid the strip under the door, rotated it, hooked it onto the handle on the other side, and pulled the handle down to unlock the door. She resheathed her knife and drew her sidearm.

We don't know Jasmine's Knife's name, but we do know it can cut Aluminum. This is not extraordinary but does require the door frame to be primarily decorative, as it would be as it protects a laboratory that itself is behind a metal hatch that leads to the jungle. In other words, this isn't a security door, but an interior door. The only hiccup is it's locked, and Jasmine doesn't want to kick it in or shoot out the lock. She doesn't have a pick-set, so she improvises a way in.

This scene establishes that Jasmine's knife is not just sharp, but also hard, as it has to be harder than aluminum to cut it. This is to be expected, as knives are typically made of steel alloys tend to be harder than aluminum alloys.

We next see Jasmine use her knife to make a crutch for Josh:

Jasmine drew her knife and cut down a nearby branch in one clean stroke. She quickly chopped off the smaller limbs leaving a straight limb with a Y at the top.

This implies Jasmine's knife is heavy as well as being sharp, as she doesn't have to chop at the tree branch.

In Chapter 26 we find the first mention of the XAV skin is made of Aluminum:

Dutch glanced at the XAV, then at Johnny.

"You fire depleted uranium penetrators, right?"

Johnny nodded.

"That's right."

"How thick's the armor?"

Johnny shook his head.

"See, that ain't really the right way to think 'bout it. It ain't really the thickness so much as the configuration of the sub-skin structures, which are all designed to deflect high-energy rounds away from critical areas. The skin of the XAV is aluminum ta maintain a slick aerodynamic profile, but under that is composite armor--ceramic and steel and such--arranged in geometries I designed to minimize weight and maximize survivability."

We know the XAV is a large vehicle, and we know that it's design iterations started with an aircraft - an A-10 to be exact. Aluminum is a common metal used in aircraft design because it is lightweight and strong, even though it's not as hard as other metals. However, by the time the XAV arrives at it's final configuration as represented in the story, it's aircraft roots are long gone.

Johnny's made a pragmatic choice in giving the XAV an aluminum skin, as he needs it to be aerodynamic but doesn't want to add more weight than he has to. He also doesn't it to act as need armor as he already has armor - he needs smooth airflow at high speeds, where drag really becomes a problem. While the power that drives the XAV to high speeds is provided by the DPG and hub motors, without the aerodynamics provided by the smooth aluminum skin, it would not be able to reach it's maximum speeds an aerodynamic drag would stall out it's ability to accelerate further.

Note that a military assault vehicle having aluminum skin is not uncommon. Most notable is the Bradley Fighting Vehicle which has Aluminum Armor to keep weight down. Sadly, Bradley's have a top speed of 45 miles per hour, so they are much easier to hit than an XAV, and they don't have secondary internal ceramic and steel composite armor like the XAV.

Let's continue with this scene in Chapter 30.

Naomi stood staring at XAV2. She walked to the cabin door, pulled her knife from the sheath clipped to the waist of her suit, and touched the point to the side of the XAV.

Johnny shouted.

"Hey! Stop that!"

Naomi jerked her knife away.

"Oh shit! Did I hurt you??"

"No, ya dang fool! You messin' up my ride! How'd you like it if I did that to your bike?!"

Naomi grinned.

"I'm trying to figure out the hardness of the alloy. The whole skin's aluminum, right?"

Throughout the STRAND universe you'll see all STRAND agents are always carrying a side-arm as well as a fixed-blade knife. This is a direct result of Ethan's training, which is why it's so consistent from agent-to-agent - including Gabriella when she's "ready to roll" after STARDA 3 is invoked. The reason for the fixed blade is for it's strength compared to a folding blade, which can tend to break at the hinge if stabbing something solid, and stabbing is something Ethan drilling to STRAND agents, inspired by the effectiveness of prison shives. From Ethan's perspective, a fixed-blade knife is the logical progression from one of the most effective hand-held weapons from his perspective, as it is use by hardened criminals to murder other hardened criminals.

Ethan ultimately doesn't care what type of fixed-blade knife agents carry with them, and in this case, the hardness of Naomi's knife isn't sufficient to scratch the type of Aluminum Alloy (presumably aircraft-grade) Johnny uses as the skin of the XAV.

Continuing with the scene:

Johnny nodded.

"Yeah--nice shiny polished aluminum with dang near no scratches on it!"

"How thick is it?"

"Varies dependin' on the location."

"Where's it the thinnest?"

Johnny stepped forward and pointed above the cabin door.

"Right around there. Needed ta make room for the extra steel around the hinge."

As we saw in chapter 11 when Naomi is arguing with Captain Mitchell about the real-world effectiveness of the XAV, Naomi is always looking for ways to take out the opposition. This is a classic example of her trying to figure out weaknesses, and though she doesn't have her full plan yet, she's figuring out what vulnerabilities might exist. Knowing that the aluminum is thinnest by the door hinges start the wheels turning in her head.

Naomi grinned.

"Hey Johnny, do you mind if I go ahead and test the hardness of your aluminum real quick?"

Johnny rolled his eyes.

"If I ever get my hands on a robot body, first thing I'm doin' is keyin' your bike!"

"Hey man--I'm only doing this in the name of science."

Naomi scratched the aluminum with the tip of her knife, leaving barely a mark.

Naomi would have a knife that is very sharp, but being sharp doesn't mean it's hard enough to scratch aircraft grade aluminum. Now she's confirmed that to take advantage of the thinness of the aluminum around the hinge, she needs a harder knife.

She spun the knife in the palm of her hand as she slid it back in its sheath, then looked at Jasmine.

Yes, Naomi is a showoff, but this is testament to just how much knife-work Ethan drills into STRAND agents, starting with their training in primitive hunting skills where they make their own flint blades for hunting a skinning wild animals.

"Can I borrow Widowmaker?"

Jasmine removed her KA-BAR from its sheath, flipped the knife in her hand, and passed it to Naomi handle-first while holding the back of the blade.

Now we have our first mention that this is a KA-BAR, which is a brand of knife you can buy today. While KA-BAR mades a wide range of knifes, there is one design that is immediately recognizable as a "KA-BAR Knife" which is the knife made famous by it's usage in the Vietnam War, which is a nearly 12-inch knife with a 7-inch blade with a clip-point tip - perfect for piercing.

Dutch raised an eyebrow.

"Is that the actual Widowmaker?"

Jasmine shook her head.

"No, that's buried with Grandad. This is a replica KA-BAR makes for my family."

Now we get into some STRAND universe lore hinted at in Chapter 1 as Jasmine talks about her family:

Jasmine is the granddaughter of General Ulysses Washington. Ulysses Washington enlisted in the Marine Corps to fight in the Vietnam War as soon as he was old enough, and his exploits became a thing of legend. While in Vietnam, he engraved a Black Widow Spider on his KA-BAR, and dubbed his knife "The Washington Widowmaker." Ulysses' use of the Widowmaker in combat to protect his squad of wounded marines with only his knife earned him the Medal of Honor.

An Ulyssess worked his way up to General in the Marine corps, he had a very large family, and made sore that they all joined his beloved Corps. One of his many sons is Jasmine's father.

In the STRAND universe, the actual KA-BAR company wanted to tell a commemorative version of a replica Washington Widowmaker, and sought permission from the General Washington. General Washington, however, did not grant KA-BAR permission. However, KA-BAR did indeed manufacture the replica's, and presented the set to General Washington on his 80^th birthday as a gift to be given to his family in commemoration of the Washington's exploits. As a result, the Washington Family has in position many of these replica knives, and issues them to family members when they are old enough to hold them safely.

As a result of these Washington Widowmaker replicas being exclusive to the Washington family but also relatively plentiful as KA-BAR did a large run of this one-time commemorative knife, they are both special yet not unique. In other words, Jasmine can have a replica Washington Widowmaker because she's a Washington, but if she damages her, she can just get another one from the family.

Back to the story:

Naomi took Jasmine's knife by the handle and flipped it so that she held it blade-down. She reached up and scratched the tip of the blade along the aluminum, leaving a deep gouge.

Johnny held his head with both hands.

"Please darlin'...please stop."

Jasmine's Washington Widowmaker replica is most similar to the KA-BAR D2 Extreme, which retails for around $240 and is something you could buy right now if you wanted to.

Naomi looked at the blade of Jasmine's knife, admiring the engraving of a black widow spider.

Note to cosplayers: Engraving a black widow on a D2 Extreme is as legit as you can get. It's up to you as to the design and location, but remember that General Washington did his engraving with what he had during the Vietnam war, and KA-BAR did it's best to recreate his iconic design. In other words, don't go crazy - it's a simple and relative crude design.

"Do you mind switching with me?"

Jasmine unclipped her sheath from her belt and handed it to Naomi. Naomi unclipped her knife in its sheath and handed it to Jasmine.

Johnny looked at the exchange curiously.

"So...Naomi, what's your knife called?"

"It's called 'On sale at Walmart.'"

Naomi's knife is a Schrade Delta Class Wolverine that you can buy on Walmart. On sale, it might be as low as $25. The Schrade has AUS-10 steel - not a bad steel, but not as hard as the D2 steel used in the KA-BAR D2. In the context of the story, Naomi's AUS-10 steel is not hard enough to scratch the presumably aircraft-grade aluminium Johnny used for the skin of the XAVs, but the D2 steel of Jasmine's knife is. Also note that the Schrade has a drop-point knife, where the KA-BAR has a clip-point, making the KA-BAR better at stabbing.

Now we fast-forward to Chapter 32 when Naomi is talking to Ethan:

Naomi walked around XAV2 until she found the place with the deep scratch from Jasmine's knife. She ran her fingers along the scratch.

"So you're cool with my legend being greater than yours?"

"That's the whole point. Then, you make whoever you mentor into an even greater legend. After we die, we'll live on through the people we taught."

Naomi walked to the front of XAV2. She looked at it head-on.

"You ever think we were born in the wrong century?"

"I know we were."

Naomi took a step back and looked up at the XAVs gun.

"Looks like I'm gonna have to slay a dragon."

"I'm jealous."

"Can you be jealous?"

"Depends on the dragon. We'll find out."

Symbolically, Jasmine's knife is the sword that will end up killing the dragon that is the XAV be exploiting the thin aluminium near the door hing, as she does in Chapter 42 during the climax of the story:

Just above him, Naomi crouched on a thick tree branch. Water dripped from the full water bladder now securely duct-taped to the block of C4. More duct tape secured the improvised hydrostatic breaching charge to Jasmine's knife. 

Naomi dropped straight down onto XAV1 below, using the force of her fall and full bodyweight to drive Widowmaker deep into the thin aluminum just behind the cabin door hinge, sandwiching the C4 between the XAV and the water bladder. She pulled the ring on the 30 second fuse as she dropped to the ground.

Would it be possible to drive a KA-BAR D2 Extreme through aircraft-grade aluminum with the force provided by Naomi dropping down onto the XAV? It depends on the height she drops from and the thinness of the aluminum. Suffice to say, in the story, it is. However, it's very likely Naomi broke the tip of Jasmine's knife as it hit the armor beneath the Aluminum skin. Regardless, the knife is embedded deep enough in the XAV skin to hold the hydrostatic breaching charge in place.

Continuing into Chapter 44:

Naomi walked over to Captain Mitchell, then climbed on top of XAV1 and looked down into the destroyed cabin.

Naomi gasped.

"What the hell?"

Naomi reached down and grabbed a piece of metal sticking out of XAV1 just behind the door hinge. She struggled to work it loose until it came free.

Naomi smiled.

"Holy shit! Widowmaker made it! It just needs some hammering, welding, tempering, sharpening, a new guard, handle, and pommel and it'll be good as new!" 

So Naomi's holding a twisted piece of D2 Steel and nothing else: she is effectively describing her needing to rebuild the knife. Her surprise is finding is still intact, which is testimony to how controlled the blast of the breaching charge was, as all of the force of the detonating C4 went into blowing a hole into the cabin of the XAV and not also into the knife.

And now in the last chapter of the book:

Naomi grinned and slapped Jasmine on the shoulder.

"I'm kidding Jazz! You've been leading me 'n' Gabby since we were 18. You're a Washington, don't forget. Hopefully, from now on you'll remember. That reminds me...I'm gonna need to hang onto Widowmaker a bit longer. It took some battle damage."

Jasmine frowned.

"How bad?"

Naomi pulled the remains of Widowmaker out of its sheath on her waist. She held it in front of Jasmine in the palms of her hands.

Jasmine inspected the knife blade and tang.

"Wow. It survived the breaching charge and the ONC?"

"Yep! Let me fix it before I give it back to you."

"If you want to--I can just ask my family for another one."

Now this scene should make a lot more sense.

"Hell no! This is the Widowmaker that took down XAV1--it's special!"

Jasmine grinned.

"Yeah...I guess it is. How about once you fix it, you keep it."

Naomi's eyes went wide.

"Me...keep a Washington Widowmaker? Is that allowed?"

"I'll ask dad when I see him again, but I know he'll be fine once he knows it's you. Plus, the tip's been broken off...you're gonna need to grind that into a tanto."

There is a symbolism here, such that when Naomi corrects the missing tip from Jasmine's now-destroyed knife make making it into a tanto tip from a clip-tip, she not only will be preserving the maximum amount of the original steel, but will also be converting it into a style of blade associated with Japanese swords such as the Katana, which has a tanto-tip. Note that KA-BAR also sells Tanto-tipped knives.

Naomi looked down at her Widowmaker.

"Oh my God...A tanto Washington Widowmaker?! Really??"

Jasmine held up a finger.

"Well, it would be a tanto Tanaka Widowmaker--something you could pass down to your grandkids."

Naomi grinned.

"More like something I'd be buried with. Thank you. I swear I'll take care of it." 

And so now you know the full backstory of the Washington Widowmaker subplot in Alpha's Ghost.