Science Fiction

L is for Language (in SciFi)…

humanist55

 My goal in the 2021 A2Z Challenge is to complete a novel I started a few years ago but which has languished for lack of love (writing!). Each Post, daily in April (Sundays excepted), will consist of some aspect of the novel plus a chapter from it. I hope that the Alphabetical items will give a bit of extra background, muse on the writing process, but most of all, help me develop certain ideas to improve the novel. Some 12 chapters are already written so I have a bit of a head start…

Please comment with any opinions good or bad – you have no idea how much I need feedback at this stage…


When I planned these posts as adjuncts to publishing chapters of my book “Train Wreck”, language seemed an obvious choice for the letter “L”. I thought of those books that make up alien languages or at the very least, give the protagonists and the objects in their world, made-up names. I knew this would be a rich source of thought and when I started researching, I had to go no further than the redoubtable Wikipedia to see the truth of it. This excellent article takes you through the influence of linguists and semantic philosophers on science fiction including Jr Tolkien (not sure I would call him SciFi but he certainly invented whole languages) or George Orwell and his Newspeak. I realised that this is far too big a subject to tackle here so I will consider it mainly in relation to the choice s involved in writing “Train Wreck”

A central argument around the use of language in SciFi, is this quote from Walter Meyers – “The central question of linguistic relativity is this: does our perception of reality constrain our language or does our language constrain our perception of reality?” Clearly Tolkien and Orwell believed that language maketh the man but much science fiction simply bypasses the issue by providing some form of Douglas Adam’s Babelfish. Dr Who also has the Tardis handle all issues of translation.

At the other end of the spectrum, the novella “Story of Your Life” by Ted Chiang (made into a film from which the above image is taken) is entirely about a linguist endeavouring to make sense of alien communications (language) written in ink-in-water-like circles with their fingertips from within a cloud of gas.

My novel has no aliens in it, only an alien world but all the protagonists are human. I recently re-read Ursula le Guin‘s masterful utopian novel “The Dispossessed” where the action alternate between a fertile planet and its large, barren moon where a revolutionary breakaway group have been encouraged to settle and work out their new lifestyle. This book is really an exploration of political themes and the tyranny of the majority and it need not have been set on an alien world at all. But le Guin chooses to set her novels in SciFi settings in order to free herself from the bounds of actual Earth history – even if her work causes us to reflect strongly on our earthbound life and times. So le Guin gives her two peoples in “The Dispossessed”  their own languages but without going into much detail, except – and this relates to the quote about linguistic relativity, when she wants to illustrate incompatible ideas from the two peoples – literally, ideas that they don’t both have a word for. The language of the revolutionary people is in fact, made up by the founders as a new language for a new society, rather as Esperanto was intended to be.

So I don’t feel the need to give my ex-Earthlings a new language and they only need new words for new things that are unique to their new planets. But, I think that the SciFi writers who make up new languages, remind us that language does have a deeper meaning than the words themselves and today, with the rise of right-wing politics, maybe a re-reading of George Orwell might be in order…

The following chapter of “Train Wreck” moves the action on from a dead end towards another possible lead. There is no great drama, but for there to be great heights in a narrative, there must also be plains…

Chapter 12
Back to Square One

“I know that he probably meant ‘when I wake up from being drugged’ -again!” Jack said to Stig, as they sat in the stern seats of a motorboat travelling back at top speed. They were going fast, by the standards of Hawaii 2 where there was seldom any need to hurry, and motorboats were an extravagant item in terms of manufacturing resources. True, anyone could build or even commission the building of such a boat, but unless they clubbed together with others, it is unlikely that they could amass the credits to do it. There was no elite of high-earners with a need to display their wealth conspicuously as there were on the other planets of the Pan-Human Federation. Besides, although engines were not the gas guzzling, high polluting objects that had helped destroy Earth, nevertheless, people who enjoyed messing about in boats were more likely to be into sailcraft on Hawaii 2.

It had been the next morning that Stig walked into the house to find Jack asleep on the couch in the living room. After ascertaining that Jack was okay, he had made a cursory exploration of the house and island. “We know about this place, Jack – it’s a resource that can be hired for special occasions, although its usually the government hiring it for entertaining off-worlders for diplomatic type events. Robert – President Widnes, has often sat where you were sleeping just now!” “I am living the high life indeed!” said Jack with a wry laugh “Though I am mixing with low-life as well…” Jack had already described the events that had befallen him since his kidnap at the mosque but now he was thinking about his interrogators last remark.“The one who did all the talking, well, he did threaten Douglas but he admitted that was a bluff once he believed that I had no access to Anna’s files and that if I had, they were indecipherable and he seemed at pains to make sure I didn’t think too badly of them for kidnapping me. But he said something interesting ‘If you want to know who did, follow the money – or in this case, not money but something else… Ask yourself in whose interests it is, not to have wider access to Hawaii 2 – I can guarantee it is no off-worlder!’ What do you think he meant by that Stig?”If Jack noticed the momentary shadow that clouded Stig’s face, then it didn’t register or he assumed it was to do with Stig also puzzling over the remark, but later, when Jack went up to stand beside the helmsman and watch their progress up the Euphrates, back towards New Orleans, Stig frowned as he became more thoughtful about Jack’s account. There was no doubt that the men represented commercial interests, probably from Hawaii 1 and Stig had already taken a moment to phone colleagues in both the Police and the Rangers – but as he explained to Jack, he knew form past experience such operators were well funded and well organised and he didn’t expect to have much luck tracking them down. Most likely they worked in some cover role at the Hawaii 1 Embassy. Stig’s phone rang and he listened for a moment then replied “well I didn’t think that would lead anywhere – anybody who knows the island knows there is no permanent staff or residents come to that and no security – its not considered necessary. What about the boat they used – anything on that?” After a moment listening, he added “Okay let me know if it leads anywhere. You would think that in almost crime free society, criminal activity would stand out like a sore thumb – does it heck as like – we’re back to square one! Speak to you soon – we’re not far out from New Orleans now. I think it’s best if I keep Jack with me for now and if he’s agreeable and we’ll go and check out that report on Gervald’s camper van…” 

¤ ¤ ¤ ¤

 Jack was sitting in the passenger seat as Stig drove them way out along the East coast New Orleans far behind them, they had been on the road four hours now and the roads were getting rougher by the mile. Luckily the Land cruiser they were in could handle most terrains. It was truly a hybrid vehicle, solar panels all over the exterior gathered as much power as they could, storing it in the batteries incorporating the rare metals that were one of Hawaii 2’s main exports. The metal had made electrical storage more efficient than ever before. The stored electricity split water down into hydrogen and oxygen and the hydrogen powered fuel cells. Momentum was also conserved as electrical power when braking but if electrical/ hydrogen power failed, there was a combustion engine as back up. The car looked bulky but was incredibly light-weight. When it was re-fuelled, it took petrol in one tank, water in another and could be charged up with electricity too. Most cars on Hawaii 2 were electric only, so there were plenty of charging points in towns and cities – but that was where cars were used most. Stig’s Land Cruiser was a rarity and was custom built since Hawaii 2 was not populous enough to support a car industry beyond the little urban run-arounds and cars too expensive to import via the space lift.
Before leaving New Orleans, Stig and Jack had gone for a good meal and Stig had arranged for another call with Jack’s mother and young Douglas whilst he loaded various supplies for the trip ahead. The video call was not an unqualified success since Douglas suddenly grew upset at the screen facsimile of his father and the lack of his tangible presence. It left Jack equally upset too, overwhelmed by his paternal missing of Douglas, but comforted strangely by the fact that Jack did still miss him – he had already experienced how swiftly babies move swiftly and relentlessly forward in their development and was glad not to be forgotten by his son.
“So where exactly are we going?” Jack asked Stig as they bumped along the narrowing road.
“Erehwon! It’s nowhere spelt backward! And if you think you know the underside of Hawaii 2 society, then Erehwon is the real dirty little secret. I know our libertarian society is so full of freedom – as long as you don’t hurt anyone else – so everybody should be happy someplace here. But no! Erehwon is where the rebels of the rebels go – the ultimate misfits – the ones the most tolerant society in the universe can’t tolerate. Or that’s only what the residents feel to be the case. Like Lowtown, some people go there and after a while, some personal process is complete and they return to the rest of society…”
“I see!” said Jack, although in truth he was struggling to imagine a place more outré than Lowtown.
A few minutes later, Stig pulled off the road near a group of trees. Trees had been getting sparser as they headed west and Jack knew that eventually, their route led to the Great Western Desert and trees would disappear completely. Stig got out and stretched himself after the drive and Jack followed suit.
“Over there!” said Stig and started around the group of trees. There, partially concealed by piles of branches pinning down balls of Hawaii 2’s very own tumbleweed – stood a camper van. Actually, more of a camper trailer being towed by what passed for top of the range in Hawaii 2’s pantheon of electrical vehicles – that is a more powerful, longer range car than the average urban run-around.
“Is this Gervald’s camper?” asked Jack. “So we believe…” said Stig as he opened the drivers door and bent down to examine a plate bearing serial numbers. “As you may have noticed, the number plates have been removed but – and this definitely is Gervald’s van” Stig said straightening up “- he didn’t remove the serial number!”
“Do you think he’s alive then?”
“Maybe… there was no body found after the fire at his place although it was so fierce that we couldn’t be one hundred percent sure. Given that we are so close to Erehwon, I’m thinking that both the fire and coming here, are ways to drop off the radar. I had a long talk with your friend Clem while you were on the island – firstly to see if he had any clues as to where you might be, but also to learn more about Gervald and his possible off-world connections. Clem couldn’t help much with either. Actually, it was while I was with Clem that I had the call from a ranger saying that he had found this van though with no sign of Gervald. So then we speculated as to why Gervald might want to disappear from view…”
“I see, so you think we’ll find him at Erehwon?” said Jack.
“I hope so! If off-world interests are playing a more active part in even fringe activities like drugs, then it’s concerning – especially when you put it alongside the attempt to get full access to Hawaii 2 through Anna’s research. That sounds more like mining companies whilst the people Gervald may or may not have been dealing with are more likely to be criminals. Having said that, mining companies control their employees access to everything – including drugs.”
“So they are not smuggled onto Arctane then?”
“No. They might not be shipped there by official channels but the company knows and allows the trade because they can then keep it under control. What type of drugs are available and how good they are at keeping the workers ‘happy’ but not so much that it affects their work.”
“Drugs are so self-regulating here, I mean hardly anybody lets their drug use get out of control here or ends up ill, and if they do, then they get treatment. It’s difficult to imagine such an abusive system as you have just described on Arctane!”
“Well and on Hawaii 1 too – drugs are part of the capitalist system – the shadow side if you like. The rest of the Federation’s governments can’t seem to accept the libertarian solution that we on Hawaii 2 have proved works.” Stig opened the camper trailer and started searching through all the compartments. “I have a suspicion that what you just said about out of control drug use might not apply in Erehwon.”
“How do you mean?” replied Jack, stood at the doorway watching Stig.
“Well it’s true that most people like you, or Clem, come through the rebel, drug taking stage unscathed or with, at worst, a little medical help, but a few people don’t want to pass through the other side. Whether it’s the drugs that have affected their mental state or the other way round, but as long as they are not a danger to anyone else, we won’t force anyone to have medical or psychiatric interventions. Erehwon is where those people eventually gravitate to. I have an undercover ranger who keeps an eye on things – Roger, you’ll be meeting him later – but we try not to interfere if possible.”
“Do you think Gervald came here to sell drugs as well as to hide away?”
“Possible, I guess. It’s not like he needs – except…”
“Except what?”
“Well, everybody who lives here still collects their stipend – there’s a shop just down the road between here and Erehwon where the residents come to collect their stipends and get supplies. You know yourself, everyone gets the stipend whether they work or not, but whilst most take the occasional break from productive work, the residents of Erehwon may never work again and maybe it’s shame that keeps them where the rest of society can’t see them.”
“Maybe!” said Jack thoughtfully “I’m getting intrigued to see this place now.”
“Okay, well I don’t think there’s much more to be gleaned here, so let’s get along to the shop. We’ll leave the car there. Oscar – the shop owner, he’s not one of my guys but he knows who I and Alex are, knows he can turn to us in case of trouble, and so he lets me use his garage on the rare occasions I come here – best not to be too obvious…”
Oscar not only allowed Stig to stow the Land Cruiser in his garage but offered them a shower and a meal before setting off into Erehwon on foot. Stig brought in a trunk from the boot and after showering he opened it up to offer Jack a “disguise” from a selection of either somewhat well-worn or very eccentric clothes. Jack settled for well-worn and having cleaned up in the shower, Stig encouraged Jack to make at least the parts of him that showed, a little dirty! Stig himself, donned faded denim-dungarees over a once-white t-shirt and a dark wig that covered his distinctive blonde hair.
“When I went to see Clem,” Stig said “I asked him for something that would make a person seem strung out without doing any harm to them. What I would like for you to do, is pose as someone in withdrawal so that we have a chance to score something maybe a little unusual that might smoke out a connection to Gervald – assuming he did come here to deal. Maybe he has plenty of money and he is just hiding out – we don’t know – I have checked and he hasn’t drawn his Stipend since the fire. Jack! Are you prepared to play that part with the help of Clem’s pill?”
“If it came from Clem, I trust it. Let’s do it!”

K is for Knowledge…

humanist55

 My goal in the 2021 A2Z Challenge is to complete a novel I started a few years ago but which has languished for lack of love (writing!). Each Post, daily in April (Sundays excepted), will consist of some aspect of the novel plus a chapter from it. I hope that the Alphabetical items will give a bit of extra background, muse on the writing process, but most of all, help me develop certain ideas to improve the novel. Some 12 chapters are already written so I have a bit of a head start…

Please comment with any opinions good or bad – you have no idea how much I need feedback at this stage…


We looked the other day, at Information and how Data Lakes exist full of unprocessed information – this is not Knowledge! Knowledge implies the interaction or mediation of a human mind – “facts, information, and skills acquired through experience or education; the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject.” This definition suggests that an AI or Artificial Intelligence might be a little erratic in compiling “knowledge” since searching for, selecting, and curating knowledge are very human activities. For example, my spell-checker does an excellent job of checking not only my spelling but my grammar too. Yet in the chapter below, I spotted that it had allowed a reference to Jack lying in a comma for months rather than as it should be, a coma! The spell-checker (which is not quite AI) has the knowledge of both words, but is not able to spot that one was wrong. (Please correct my assertion about AI’s if you know better…).

So then there is wisdom…

Wisdom is to knowledge what Knowledge is to data – a higher order altogether and once more, something uniquely human in its transformation through human experience and mentality. I love knowledge and I love to share it and I have, in my time, been accused, both in a good and a bad way, of being a know-it-all! The people who love my knowledge are those who still come to me for answers, such as my grand-children – though less and less as they grow into their own knowledge and wisdom. People who think it bad, are those who feel lesser and mistake my enthusiasm for knowledge as superiority. For me, it is something to be shared generously and then to see how people transmute it, like alchemists of old, into their own body of knowledge and more valuable, into their own wisdom. I think the worst thing I do is misjudge the level of interest in another and get carried away as they glaze over…

When we read a book, it is not to have knowledge of the story, it is hopefully, to have a psychic interaction, to have our mental being stimulated, our emotions stirred and if the story is a good one, we may have extra knowledge, but the experience has hopefully left us wiser.

When we read history books, it is not for the knowledge they contain – but so that we can learn how to avoid the mistakes of the past or achieve the successes – that is developing wisdom.

There is another meaning of knowledge as in “having (carnal” knowledge of another… This always strikes me as a curious expression since, if we are creatures of mind, body, and spirit, how can an activity of the body, however spiritedly it is carried out, give insight into the mind? Little glimpses perhaps, and vastly more knowledge in total, than before the intimate act, but possibly, for those who really want to know someone else,  the raising of more questions than answers. Which is perhaps why, in the early days of a relationship, we repeat the knowledge gathering on all levels, as often as we can, lots of sex but lots of talking too which I suspect yields far more “knowledge” than the carnal component…

In “Train Wreck”, Anna goes off to Hawaii 1 in search of knowledge about an “improved” means of accessing Hawaii 2 from space, but she does not have the “wisdom” to evaluate whether this would be a good thing for the planet and its people – she just wants to collect the knowledge – to put the last pieces in a jigsaw puzzle for its own sake. The mystery/detective format is a kind of knowledge acquisition process for both the detective and for the reader and I think a good author is one who gives little hints as he unfolds the evidence through his detective, so that the author may put facts together and puzzle it out before the ‘tec. Nothing is worse “in my book” than for the denouement to be deus ex machina – something introduced by the author completely out of the blue and which neither ‘tec nor reader saw coming. An author like that is no “god” “in my book!” If you are following the story, keep looking for clues…

Chapter 11
In the Belly of the Beast

Jack came to slowly aware of strong light shining through his eyelids – sunlight from the warmth of it. He remembered vaguely getting into a car and then nothing. He decided to keep his eyes closed and tr to work out where he might be and what was going on. He could hear seagulls – not Earth seagulls but a bird species native to Hawaii 2 so similar to those of Earth, that the original settlers had felt no need to invent a new name for them. He could hear men talking quietly enough that he wasn’t able to hear what they were saying. He seemed to be lying on something with enough give to be comfortable though not a bed. He lay still for a while before cautiously opening first one eye and then the other. The sun was the full brightness of Hawaii 2’s tropics and involuntarily, Jack tried to raise an arm to shade his eyes only to discover that his arms and then his feet too, he realised, were tied to whatever he was lying on.

“He’s awake!” Jack heard one of the men say and a shadow loomed over him. Whilst Jack could now open his eyes without being blinded, he could not make out the face of the man peering down at him because he was silhouetted against the bright blue of the sky and also, he was wearing dark glasses and a scarf tied across his face. Looking down the length of his body, Jack realised he was tied onto a beach lounger and was on some kind of balcony and as well as the sound of seagulls, he could now make out the soft swish of waves on a sandy shore.

“Don’t worry, we’re not going to hurt you – we just want to ask you some questions” said the man above him “– and maybe make you an offer!” said another voice from somewhere behind Jack’s head.
“Who are you? And where am I?” Jack asked, or rather croaked.
“Get him some water will you!” Jack heard the other man walk away and return with a glass of water which the first man, who seemed to be in charge, held up to Jack’s lips and allowed him to drink his fill. “How’s that Jack, better?”
“You know my name then!” Jack immediately felt foolish for asking something so obvious.
“Hard not to! You’re the most famous man on the planet at the moment Jack!” “Yet you managed to kidnap me and bring me where?” Jack said angrily at the same time straining to sit upright and see over the balcony to whatever lay beyond but his bonds did not give him the scope to.
“Easy Jack! We’ve no wish to harm you but you do have something we need and we are prepared to pay handsomely for it!”

“And what might that be? I suppose that it has something to do with my wife’s research. Does that mean you set the bomb on the train, you bastards!” Jack threw himself upward but whoever had tied him down had known what they were doing and he collapsed back again.
“Whoah there Jack! If we were after information, we would hardly blow up the very person we wanted to talk to, now would we? Come on Jack – think about it!”
“Well I suppose not…” Jack slumped into a defeated silence before exclaiming loudly “But then who did? It doesn’t make any sense!”
“Aw well Jack – that is a very good question and one we can’t help you with – I promise you. But we could help you in other ways – if you help us…”
“Why don’t we start by untying you – you’re not going to try running away are you?” said the man behind him. “Not that you can get far anyway, we are on an island – a private island, and the three of us are the only ones here…” He came around to the other side of Jack from his companion and the two of them undid Jack’s restraints and helped him to stand up. Jack was an average size man but these two both had six inches on him and were well-muscled. Jack might have stood a chance if he had been as he was after completing the building work on the tree-house, but he had lost a lot of muscle-tone lying in a coma for weeks and he was only just starting to feel normal and not wobbly. Right now, whatever these two had used to knock him out, was making him wobbly in a different way and he leaned on the balcony-rail as soon as they released their grip on him. They were right, there was no point in trying to run. He decided to take a few moments to gather his thoughts if not his strength. It didn’t feel like the sun was much hotter than at home so not much further south. He was facing a brilliant azure sea beyond a blindingly white beach with a few groups of trees dotted along the top of it. He could see no boat, no car or even a road on this seaward side of the house, for that was what it seemed to be – a large private house, luxurious in its use of concrete, the builder in Jack noted. Where on Hawaii 2 were they? He knew there were many islands in the Delta of the Euphrates, but they were muddy and not ringed with sparkling white sand – no, they must be further away, further south.

“How do you feel now Jack? I’m sorry we had to grab you the way we did but there was no other way. You’re right of course, we are interested in your wife’s research and we are very sorry for your loss Jack – but I assure you, again, that the bomb on the train had nothing to do with us. What I can tell you, is that it was very hard to get to talk to your wife whilst she was on Hawaii 1 – impossible in fact! And the work she was doing – well – it was equally well shaded. We tried to follow her trail but someone did a great job covering her tracks. Ironically, that is how we are sure she must have been onto something – but who wanted it to stay hidden we don’t know…”

“And just who are ‘we’?” asked Jack. “Representatives of big business on Hawaii 2 I suppose.”
“You don’t need to know who we are right now Jack, though you might come to know – if you consider the offer we want to make you…”
“You want me to sell you access to Hawaii 2 so that you can come and rape the planet for it’s resources – is that what you mean?” Jack said angrily, fists clenched.
“Now Jack, don’t be like that, your wife believed in it and there are plenty of people who…”
“Don’t you dare talk about Anna! She was fascinated by ideas but she didn’t understand what the consequences might be for Hawaii 2.”
“And you do, Jack?”
“It has been explained to me!”
“by whom, the President? He doesn’t want any change of any kind, for Hawaii 2. I mean look at your situation Jack. You face raising a child on your own – wouldn’t you like extra security for Douglas? To give him the best in life?” The man put his hand on Jack’s shoulders in a show of sincerity but Jack shrugged it off furiously.
“What makes you think he won’t have the best, the very best, right here on Hawaii 2 – as it is! You think your money will help him – hell, we can’t even leave this planet to go spend money and we don’t need any more here!”
“You forget, Jack, if this thing came to pass, everything would be different, you could get to Hawaii 1…”
“Yes and hordes more people would come here and our way of life would be changed forever and then I suppose we would need your money because we’d all be wage slaves too! Well no thanks! I am not interested in selling out my people and my planet!” Jack stood with fists clenched in fury and the men tensed but did not step back.   
“I’m sorry you feel like that Jack. You’re right of course, you all have a beautiful life here on the most beautiful planet imaginable – you have no idea how envious people on the other federation planets are, how resentful, I mean it’s hardly fair is it? So much for so few? And I’m sorry you feel like that for your sake too, because it makes things really awkward for you and I. We’ve asked you nicely and you have confirmed to us that there is a secret worth having we need to point out that you are somewhat at a disadvantage here. Nobody knows where you are and even you don’t know where you are…”
“You don’t think there are people looking for me – important people! It will only be a matter of time before they find us…”
“That’s as may be Jack – so all the more reason to sort things out quickly. You think young Douglas is safe because he was whisked away after you saw us at your mother’s place and maybe he is but maybe he isn’t. Maybe we are well enough resourced to know exactly where he is, just as we are well enough resourced to get here without any chance of being detected. So! The question is, Jack, are you going to risk Douglas’s well-being as well as your own or are you going to tell us what we need to know?”

Jack looked stunned at the mention of Douglas and as he thought through the possibility that these men were not bluffing, his shoulders slumped in defeat. “Okay, what do you want to know?”
“Good thinking Jack! We want to know whether Anna found what she was looking for on Hawaii 1 and where is that information now?”
“You’re out of luck!” Jack said wearily “The President and his men have it under lock and key. You’ve got no chance of getting it, and even if you somehow got your hands on it, it’s encoded and you won’t crack it, no matter how much computing power you throw at it – it’s a Beale Cypher and without the key text, it’s impossible to decrypt. And the only person who knows what that text is dead – so yes, I think she found something because she was excited when I met her at the Space Lift, but we had better things to talk about than her work and she didn’t share the work or the key to her code with me. That work is as good as alphabet soup! It’s no good to you or anyone else so you’re wasting your time.”

The two men glanced at each other and then the one who had done all the speaking turned back to Jack and said “Okay Jack, I believe you, it fits what we suspected. We are going to leave now, but just so you know, we are not bad men – we certainly didn’t set the bomb! If you want to know who did, follow the money – or in this case, not money but something else… Ask yourself in whose interests it is, not to have wider access to Hawaii 2 – I can guarantee it is no off-worlder! When we get back to the mainland, we will tell the authorities, if that’s the right word here, where you are and you will be picked up and oh, by the way, Douglas is safe, we were just bluffing, good luck Jack, when you wake up…”
“Wake up! What do you…”

Once again, a cloth with a strange smell was held over Jack’s face and after a moment’s struggle, he was lowered gently onto the sun lounger. When he awoke, the two men were nowhere to be seen.

Jack found food in the house and a quick walk revealed that he was on an exceedingly small island, a couple of acres with a few groups of trees sheltering the house and a path that led down to a small jetty. Jack returned to the house and helped himself to something to eat and pondered what this latest development might reveal about the bomb on the train. The last phrase from his abductors kept going round in his head, and although it might have been referring only to his imminent “sleep”, the tone of voice suggested something more cryptic – “When you wake up…”

J is for Jack Gulliver…

humanist55

My goal in the 2021 A2Z Challenge is to complete a novel I started a few years ago but which has languished for lack of love (writing!). Each Post, daily in April (Sundays excepted), will consist of some aspect of the novel plus a chapter from it. I hope that the Alphabetical items will give a bit of extra background, muse on the writing process, but most of all, help me develop certain ideas to improve the novel. Some 12 chapters are already written so I have a bit of a head start…

Please comment with any opinions good or bad – you have no idea how much I need feedback at this stage… 

https://www.bl.uk/restoration-18th-century-literature/articles/an-introduction-to-gullivers-travels#


A nod to “Gulliver’s Travels” ( Jonathan Swift, 1726), the character Jack Gulliver in my novel “Train Wreck”, is certainly on a journey as he travels through various aspects of life on Hawaii 2 which he had not encountered before.

I thought there might be a “Novel form” to describe novels like “Gulliver’s Travels”, “Candide”, “Don Quixote” (there must be more modern examples but they just don’t come to mind at this moment of writing) but if there is, I can’t find it – what’s in a name anyway? All of those three involves the central character being on a journey, although it is not their journey that matters so much, as the intellectual journey the author is trying to take the reader on. For they are all satire, books that get you to see your world in a “novel” light (pun intended!). I suppose all novels take you and the characters on some sort of journey which is perhaps why there isn’t a category of novel form that fits.

“Train Wreck” is not a satire and unlike the other three novels mentioned, is a futuristic (science fiction) book framed as, or driven by, a mystery – a detective novel if you will. But “Gulliver’s Travels”, whilst clearly a satire – takes us on a most fantastical journey where we encounter giants, minuscule people, flying cities and if it were not for the fact that these are all supposedly over the horizon of our very own Earth – they must surely be counted as Science Fiction. A journey to the ends of the earth in 1726 might as well have been a journey into Outer Space in terms of the length and difficulty of the voyage and the odds of making it back home. But it is not the actual journey that matters so much as the spiritual one and its effects on the protagonist(s) and of course on us.

Jack Gulliver visits emotional loss, fatherhood, friendship, the world of drugs, personal threat, religion, abuse and (teaser rather than spoiler) hubris…

Chapter 10
Jihad?

 Jack found himself headed back to Government House sooner than expected and sooner than he was really ready for, truth be told. An unmarked car had arrived outside Clem’s place early next morning, early that is for Lowtown. An official, surly, by the standards of Hawaii 2, knocked on the door and informed a bleary-eyed Jack that his presence was required by the President asap. Fortunately, he declined to come inside which gave Clem the chance to assess Jack’s state of mind. As he had promised there were no side effects or come down from whatever it was he had prescribed for Jack the previous evening but Jack, whilst feeling immensely rested, was a little dreamy for a meeting with the President so Clem dipped into his stash again and proffered a pick-me-up which Jack washed down with some coffee before flying out the front door, still adjusting his clothes. His dishevelled appearance did nothing to thaw the demeanour of the official who clearly thought that a venture into Lowtown was beneath him and who would say no more than that there had been a development. Stig was already in the President’s office when Jack was ushered in and there was an air of tension. Although Jack felt wonderfully alert thanks to Clem’s ministrations, he felt embarrassed to appear in the same clothes which had been a little the worse for wear even yesterday and he apologised for looking a mess. In the hasty departure from his mother’s house, Jack had not thought to pick up the luggage he had brought from home.

“Oh Jenkins,” called Stig to the departing surly official, “can you organise some fresh clothes for Jack here please – thank you.”
If Jenkins had seemed surly before, he now looked as if he had a mouthful of lemon whilst desperately trying to look polite and accommodating. Jack could not help but grin and caught Stig arching an eyebrow which showed that he shared the same feelings about the hapless official even if he wasn’t going to go as far as to crack a smile. As soon as the door closed behind Jenkins the mood returned to serious.
“There has been a claim of responsibility for the bombing!” said Stig.
“What! By whom? And why now?” exclaimed Jack.
“Two-million-dollar question young Jack!” replied Stig.
“We think they are false claims and we are trying to confirm that right now as a matter of some urgency.” said the President. “The claim purported to be from a Moslem sect but we don’t believe it was and the manner of its delivery which was direct to the media and not through official channels, has stirred up a hornet’s nest so we need to deal with things before they get out of hand. There are riots in the offing if not bloodshed.”
“Why am I here Sir, I will help in any way I can though I can’t see what I can really do?”
“I’ll come to that in a minute Jack. First, tell me, are you a believer Jack, do you belong to any religion?”
“No Sir, my family were always Rationalists.”
“You and most of the population of Hawaii 2. For whatever reasons, the powers that were in charge of the exodus to Hawaii 2 selected people that way although paradoxically they also included a number of groups of religious people too but they were in a definite minority and records show that they are in decline.” Mused the President.
“Strange, but my friend Clem and I were talking about that very thing last night!” said Jack.”
“Well, it might be regarded as one of the proofs of the success of our Utopian experiment. Well – it’s no longer an experiment – we are clearly an established and stable society and long may that last. Which is why this incident is so worrying. It is in the nature of Rational people to make allowances for and leave in peace, those of faith – as long as they do the same and to date, we have never had any trouble here before. But there was a lot of feeling about the train wreck, it cut off, however temporarily, our access to the only means of leaving the planet and whilst that means is as small as a keyhole, it has huge symbolic value. Then there was you and Anna, the whole planet was holding its breath over the pair of you. Things had died down a bit but with the birth of young Douglas, and then Anna’s death, there was an enormous surge of public emotion, you were still in a coma of course but there has been nothing like it in the entire history of Hawaii 2. We never made public that it was a bomb so this is a double shock for the people and they are angry for being deceived, afraid that what had seemed like a mere accident was a man-made threat and they are furious at the apparent perpetrators.” The President slapped the desk in front of him for emphasis.
 “They certainly are,” said Stig, “and they are talking up a riot. So we, are desperately trying to work out where the message came from, the tech boys are following a trail of proxies all over the planet. The very fact that the precautions taken by the sender are evidence that it is unlikely to be the Moslems, but we have to make sure before we move to quell the situation. I know this sect. They are Salafists, they adhere to the way of the Prophet in the first three generations after his death. Although they accept living in the modern world, they don’t go out of their way to embrace modern technology and moreover, the moment the claim was made they were denying it. Unfortunately, it didn’t make sense to the newsrooms that something that had just been claimed by email should immediately be denied, so they have somewhat underplayed the denials. In fact, they have chosen to focus on why the government lied about the bomb in the first place which is also not helpful.”
“But if it wasn’t them, then why would anybody claim that it was?” asked Jack. “We think it’s a diversionary tactic – maybe our friends from yesterday. Whilst we are fire-fighting we can’t be concentrating on tracking them down. And the reason we need you Jack, is that with the government’s image for truth tarnished, we feel that you might be the only person the mob might listen to if it comes to that and as things stand it looks like it might.” Stig said gravely. “You think so? I mean about me…” Jack suddenly felt very much out of his depth, “It’s not as if I am a statesman or have ever spoken in public…” “Exactly!” said the President “You are an ordinary citizen caught up in something but still with the best ideals of our society and you don’t want to see innocent people attacked for something they didn’t do. I can’t think of anyone better suited to the task – if you will do it, Jack, please?”
“You’re right Sir, I don’t want to see anyone hurt. But first, before anything else, would it be possible to talk to my mother and check on how she and Douglas are doing? As instructed, I haven’t tried to contact them on my ordinary phone.”
“Of course!” said Stig and he made a phone call. “The agents guarding her will set up a video link and we can go through to the communications room shortly.”
“Thank you Stig. Meantime I have something new to add to the possibilities.” And Jack conveyed Clem’s tale of Gervald and his theories about the fire and whether the proximity of that event to the train wreck could be connected. Jack apologised for revealing the truth about the bomb to another person even though that was now an irrelevant point. “That’s okay Jack – it sounds like we will need to bring Clem in to assist us – I assume that won’t be a problem?” “No, I am sure he will do anything he can to help solve the mystery well – mysteries…” Stig made another phone call to dispatch someone to fetch Clem. A moment later he took a call and announced that the video link to Jack’s mother was ready and they headed off to the Communications Room.

 ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤

“There’s your Daddy, Douglas, wave hello!” Young Douglas not being used to video did not know what he was looking at until he heard Jack’s voice and then, after looking round so suddenly that he nearly fell off his grandmother’s lap, he managed to put sound and vision together and made a gratifying lunge towards the screen for which his grandmother was this time prepared. Thus frustrated, and the electronic representation of his father being less than satisfactory, Douglas proceeded to howl and had to be comforted for some minutes before conversation could be resumed. A small audience comprised of government staff of both sexes had slid in behind Jack to catch a glimpse of Hawaii 2’s most famous baby not to mention his equally famous father and a number of appreciative oohs and aahs were expressed before Stig chased them all out of earshot. Whether they had all been for Douglas or for his father’s reactions was not altogether clear, not that Jack noticed, having eyes only for his son. Once Douglas had calmed down, Jack and his mother exchanged questions and answers about Douglas’s welfare, micro-management details of baby-care that Jack, in any previous carnation would never have imagined might grip his attention not to mention his heart, with such fervour. Jack then made sure his mother was alright although she was much more concerned about his safety having heard the news that morning. Jack reassured her and even called Stig over – he had been maintaining a discrete distance – to add weight to his protestations.

The moment Jack came off his call, Stig reported that the origin of the responsibility claim had been a hotel room on the other side of the city from the canton where the Moslem group who had allegedly made the claim lived. “Right Jack! If you are ready for it, I think we need to get down on the ground to try and quell the riot which appears to be building!” and he led Jack down to the waiting car.
“I have had a statement drafted for you if you want to read it out.” Stig handed a sheet to Jack as they sat side by side in the back seat of the government car speeding through the city. There are only two hundred and fifty Moslems left from the five hundred and eighty that originally shipped. They used to fill two cantons but are now more or less evenly spread between Eastfield and West View. Jack grunted in acknowledgement as he was trying to read through the announcement.

 ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤

The population of Hawaii 2 was divided into Cantons which were the base level groups of self-government. Based on the idea that the maximum number of people that one person could have meaningful relationships with is somewhere between one hundred and fifty and two hundred and fifty and that above that, some kind of policing of the community is needed. The theory said that this was all dependent on effort and communication being put in by the members of the group and so, in what was otherwise considered to be the most liberal of human societies, the one golden rule which was rigidly enforced was that everybody should attend at least three meetings out of six of their canton each year. Having said that, the meetings were very sociable affairs where the business was despatched as quickly as possible, grandstanding was frowned on, and food and drink followed on, turning the gatherings into a party which did as much if not more to create social cohesion than the good-natured governance that had preceded it. Of course, the nature of canton meetings varied according to the nature and location of the canton – rural cantons could be spread over a large area, but in such communities, social intercourse was even more vital to isolated farmers and their families. In Eastfield and West View, the cantons were much denser, urban communities and if the Moslem element had halved across two cantons. then those who had dropped their beliefs had probably moved away and made way for a more mixed canton population, Jack wondered how that was working out in terms of the governmental element and he imagined there wouldn’t be much alcohol at the after-party. It was with this thought that they arrived in a square bounded on one side by a mosque in front of which a few bearded men wearing long skirt like clothes were unhappily huddling behind the rare sight of a line of unarmed police who were managing to keep a restless crowd, some carrying placards, from reaching the Moslems. The policeman in charge opened the car door and stepped inside. Stig introduced Jack and asked for a report on the situation which the officer gave concisely before turning to Jack. “Pleased to have you here Jack! We’re hoping you might be able to speak to the crowd and get them to calm down a bit. If it’s alright with you, we won’t waste any time!”
“Okay, I’ll do what I can but this is all a bit new to me Sir.”
“You go ahead Jack, I will watch from the back of the crowd.” said Stig as Jack followed the police officer out of the car. The car slid away and out of the square. The crowd, who had been watching developments, parted for the two of them and a murmur spread as they recognised Jack. Someone shouted, “Where’s Douglas?” which produced a small ripple of laughter albeit somewhat nervous laughter. Jack was struggling with his own nerves – Anna had always been socially at ease whilst Jack had always hung back but now he found himself something of a celebrity with complete strangers having intimate knowledge of his family and circumstances – completely beyond his control. Now behind the protective police line, the police officer led Jack over to the group of Moslems and introduced the tallest of them as Mullah Yasin Omar, the religious leader of the mosque. He grasped Jack’s hand in a firm handshake and putting his other hand around Jack’s said. “As Salaam Alaikum, I am sorry for your loss Jack. Please believe me, this explosion had nothing to do with us, we are as horrified as anyone that such a thing should happen on our peaceful planet. Violence is not our way and this claim of jihad is an abomination to us!”
“I believe you Mullah Yasin and I will do what I can to defuse the situation.” Jack found in himself, a statesmanship he had not known was there, a depth brought out by the circumstances he found himself in, even though it felt as if he was acting out a part. A policeman handed him a loud hailer and led him to the top of the steps leading up to the mosque. He took the piece of paper out of his pocket and started to read. “Fellow citizens of Hawaii 2…” He paused and looked out at the crowd. They had quietened down when he started speaking but there was a surly demeanour, nevertheless. “No, I will use my own words!” said Jack.
He stepped down a step and asked the police line to move aside a little so there was nothing between him and the crowd. As he thrust the paper back in his pocket, he realized it had been the right move because the shoulders were going down as the crowd relaxed a little. He began again.
“I am sure you can believe me when I say that nobody wants to know more than I, who did this terrible thing on the train. I lost my wife…” Jack had to fight against welling up, the moment stretched on and still he couldn’t speak for fear of losing control and bursting into tears. Eventually, in a voice so tremulous that even with the megaphone, the crowd had to strain to hear him, he said “I lost my wife… and my son, lost his mother.” There was absolute silence in the square. “The government have no idea who the perpetrators are. We were approached by some strange men only yesterday and we think that they issued the claim of responsibility from a computer on the other side of town, as a diversion from the hunt for them. We are sure though, that it was not the Moslems who sent the message.” A murmur passed through the crowd as people conferred. After a minute Jack raised his hands high and the crowd focussed on him again, “Let me ask you, how many of you live in this canton or in Eastfield?” Perhaps a third of the hands went up. “What are they like, these Moslems, are they friendly?”
Out of a muttering, someone called out “They are!”
“And hand on heart, do you really believe they did this thing and then waited all this time to claim responsibility – it doesn’t make sense, does it?” More muttering before a chorus of “No!” from across the crowd.
Jack continued. “The authorities may have been wrong to keep the fact that it was a bomb from all of you but they felt it was best not to alarm everyone. It was a tough call. But now, they need your help, they need vigilance, they need information. If anybody sees anything unusual, out of place, anywhere on the planet, tell them! Now there was an affirmative murmur from the crowd. “I would like to thank everybody for the good wishes we received during the time we were in hospital and afterwards…” Jack had to swallow his emotions back again “they helped me, my family, to move forwards… So please help now by watching out for the requests from the police for information, they will be broadcasting them later today.” Jack turned his back on the crowd as a single clap became a great wave of applause. He turned back and mouthed the word “Thank you!” without the megaphone. He noticed the tv cameras this time and realised that his thanks had gone out to the whole planet which felt good.

¤ ¤ ¤ ¤

Mullah Yasin took Jack’s shoulder and steered him inside the mosque. “Thank you Jack my friend, may I call you friend?”
“Of course, I was only glad I could help.”
“Can I offer you a cup of coffee Jack?”
“Thank you, that would be good.”
The Mullah signalled to someone and led them to some seats and a low table. “Do you know anything about Islam Jack?”
“Not really, though I always heard that you guys were serious, peaceful and well…”
“Go on Jack.”
“Well I heard your numbers were falling off.”
“Yes its true!” said the Mullah with a deep sigh.
“We have the perfect set of rules to live by, the prospect of Paradise to come Insha’Allah and still our numbers are – dropping off – as you say. Perhaps it’s because life here on Hawaii 2 is so much better, peaceful, happy, and when this life is half-way to Paradise… My father told me that in the old days, on Earth, there were always reverts attracted to the faith, driven to escape a life of crime or drugs or poverty and Islam offered rules, consistency, moral certainties, brotherhood, and true support, one for another. Brothers might lapse, but there were those new reverts to boost the numbers. Not here.”
“What are reverts?” asked Jack.
At that moment a woman with a headscarf covering her hair brought a tray with fragrant coffee and some little cakes. She set it down and then turning to Jack, said “Thank you! We were all very worried.” and walked away before Jack could reply.
“I am sure Fatima speaks for all the people who took shelter here in the mosque. Here let me pour you some coffee. So, ‘reverts’. In Islam, we believe that everybody is already a Moslem, they just don’t know it. Sounds a bit hollow when we can’t even hold on to our existing brothers doesn’t it?”
“I am sorry Mullah Yasin, you are being very frank with me, I should never have mentioned it, it’s clearly very upsetting for you.”
“Jack, everything is written down already, if it is the will of Allah that our numbers decline, so be it, it’s not for us to question. Besides, it is your honesty with the crowd that saved our people from an ugly situation and the least I can do is be honest with you in return. I don’t often speak of these things.”
“Well if you don’t mind my asking, what is this Jihad mentioned in the claim – the false claim?”
“Okay Jack, Jihad is an Arabic word and it means the duty of a Moslem to further or preserve the religion. At times on Earth, there was a justified war against those who waged war on Islam but it could equally apply to my very personal battle to stop the haemorrhage of brothers here on Hawaii 2 or even the most personal battle to preserve one’s own faith. But there have in the past been young hotheads who believed in a violent struggle to promote Islam and this is a wrong interpretation of Jihad. Fortunately, nobody of such a persuasion was selected to come to Hawaii 2.”
“I see. So whoever posted the claim was just trying to stir up old fears?”
“Yes Jack, that’s about the strength of it.” At that moment someone came and whispered something in the Mullah’s ear. “It seems the government car is waiting for you at the back door Jack. Please promise me you will come back soon and let us thank you with a proper meal.”
“I will definitely do that and I would like to see the mosque properly if I may.” “Of course, Jack, it would be an honour.” The Mullah ushered Jack into a corridor that led to the back of the building and shook hands firmly with him as he let him out through the back door. A figure in a suit opened the darkened glass doors of the car and Jack climbed in expecting to see Stig but instead, the man in the back seat reached over and put a cloth over his face and after a moments struggle, everything went black…


I is for Information…

humanist55

 My goal in the 2021 A2Z Challenge is to complete a novel I started a few years ago but which has languished for lack of love (writing!). Each Post, daily in April (Sundays excepted), will consist of some aspect of the novel plus a chapter from it. I hope that the Alphabetical items will give a bit of extra background, muse on the writing process, but most of all, help me develop certain ideas to improve the novel. Some 12 chapters are already written so I have a bit of a head start…

Please comment with any opinions good or bad – you have no idea how much I need feedback at this stage…



We are living in an age of Data – the fruit of the 20th Century’s revolution in Information Technology. Computers can do things undreamed of even in my childhood and the proliferation of information, or data proceeds at an exponential way. In addition to commercial “in-house” server farms proliferate to store all this data “in the cloud”. Huge unprocessed collections of data are known as “Data Lakes” and whilst lakes and clouds evoke lovely images of the natural world – the truth is that data storage is a growing threat to the environment. A friend who worked for the storage division of a famous computer firm explained it thus, at a party. “You have just taken a video of the party on your smartphone and will later post it to the group and various members will decide to download it to their computers or perhaps they will store a copy in their piece of the cloud. So what started off as 1% of a gigabyte on your phone might have grown 20 fold in a couple of hours…” 

By 2025, the amount of data generated each day is expected to reach 463 exabytes globally. If you are a real nerd or a serious environmentalist, you will go and check out that link and find out what an exabyte is – but my point is it’s a shit load of trouble for the environment. Just to give one more example, Bitcoin – the much touted new form of currency, is created by solving complex mathematical puzzles which make each coin something impossible to forge. To do these calculations takes so much computing power that the amount of electricity being consumed by the process, is equivalent to the consumption of a not insignificant nation-state! You couldn’t make it up! 

My book is a work of Science or Speculative, Fiction, but the premise in it, that our original Earth was destroyed by environmental catastrophe, caused not least by the exponential growth of data, is not a complete fiction. Cat videos, porn, unnecessary social media – Just Say No! That is a nod to one of the slogans of the so-called War on Drugs. And is it not worth considering our addiction to data as being dangerous to our health in the same way that criminally sourced drugs are? The war on drugs will never succeed and we should instead substitute a medical treatment approach – but that’s a post for another time. However, the following chapter does touch on the use of drugs on Hawaii 2 and beyond…


Chapter 9
Underbelly 

Jack stood outside a front door in the least salubrious part of New Orleans. It being Hawaii 2 that was not saying a great deal – denizens of the least salubrious parts of the other human colonies would have thought they had died and gone to heaven to find themselves in this particular suburb. Nevertheless, by the standards of Hawaii 2, Lowtown, situated along the river banks downstream of the port of New Orleans lived up to its name. Originally named for a marshy area, one of the last to be reclaimed and built, the soubriquet described the nature of the suburb well and it was a favourite argument of intellectuals as to whether the name created the character of Lowtown or whether it was the geography. Either way, Lowtown was the focus of what passed for rebellious youth, home to the alternative lifestyle of the alternative planet. Jack recalled his first conversation with Stig at the treehouse when Stig was posing as the Investigator and, presumably to add verisimilitude to his role, was talking about how people on the other colonies imagined life on Hawaii 2 to consist of lying around doing nothing, because nobody was forced to work. Lowtown, thought Jack, was the only place on Hawaii 2 where life in any way resembled that imagining, and even then, it differed in so many ways.

Residents of Lowtown were not enthused by civic duty so the periodic communal clean-ups ubiquitous to other communities, when people would get together to pick up litter and repaint the playground equipment in the parks, did not happen in Lowtown. Not that there was much litter except of the natural variety such as leaves – even in Lowtown, the civic duty not to litter, inculcated from an early age still held sway over Hawaii 2’s rebels.

Since everybody got paid their stipend regardless of whether they worked or not, there was little crime of the variety that usually funds the lifestyle of societies’ underclasses. Drugs were not illegal so another reason for crime was missing but since drug users like to group together for a shared experience, at least on the outward surface of things, Lowtown was the focus of young people experimenting with the doors of perception and many artists also made Lowtown their base. The legality of drugs made them cheap with no dealers ramping up the price and pushing their customers into crime or prostitution to fund their habits. In fact, serious long-term addiction was rare on Hawaii 2, even in Lowtown and mostly young people drifted into the area, sowed wild oats, dabbled in drugs and eventually moved away again when they were ready to take a more productive part in society again. Despite the many different aspects of society on Hawaii 2, teenage rebellion remained a fact of life, parents blamed hormones and waited for the phase to pass. It’s hard to sustain rebellion when there is nobody to kick against… 

The house Jack stood outside of, was an old friend of his from school who had accompanied Jack on his rite of passage trips to Lowtown in search of adventure and experience but unlike Jack, who had grown beyond that excitement, Clem had actually moved there and still remained, doing what? Well – Jack couldn’t really imagine. Stig had suggested a hotel for Jack to rest up in after their eventful day, it not being considered wise for him to return to the treehouse, but Jack had said he would rather stay with a friend, Stig suggested someone he wasn’t in regular contact with and Jack had come up with Clem in Lowtown which Stig had agreed to and an unmarked government car had spirited Jack away from the underground car park beneath the Parliament building.

Now, finally, the front door opened after a long wait, considering that Jack had rung Clem first to ask if he could come and stay for a few days and Clem was thus expecting Jack. Jack had not relished standing in the open for so long even though the car driver had assured him they were not being followed, the recent events had induced a healthy degree of paranoia in Jack. “Jack! How the Devil are you?” Jack, no slouch himself, was enveloped in a bear hug by a six-foot six-inch giant of a man dressed in a kaftan and with twelve inches of bushy untrimmed beard resting on his ample chest. “I’m good Clem, thanks for this.” “No problem mate, I’ve missed you!” Clem pulled Jack through the door and closed it behind him – series of dead-bolts clicking into place automatically. “Come through and make yourself at home.” Clem led the way through to a large living room furnished with large comfortable settees that begged Jack to sink down and relax. “I heard about the train wreck Jack, I am so sorry for Anna, I only met her at the wedding but she seemed perfect for you…” An awkward silence followed. Jack had been so wrapped up in Douglas since he got back from hospital that he had not seen many friends and had to experience the double-edged sword of condolences – the bitter-sweet of shared memory. “I hear you have a son though! Miracle eh?” Jack could have gone down the route of telling Clem about Douglas but he had realised that everyone on Hawaii 2, almost everyone, believed the story that the train wreck had been a gas explosion in the galley and he suddenly felt the need to tell the truth to another soul. “About the crash – it wasn’t an accident!” he blurted out. “What! What do you mean Jack, it was in all of the papers? You were the top subject of conversation for weeks after the explosion and again when you came round.”

“I mean it was a bomb, not a gas explosion.” “What the hell! Who would do such a thing?” “We don’t know, and this is just between you and me, right?”

“Sure Jack! Who is we?”

“People from the government”.

Jack had been warned by Stig not to discuss events with anyone but he and Clem went way back and besides, just by staying here he might be putting Clem in danger. It was only fair he knew what was going on although Jack stopped short of telling him about Stig and his background as a protector of Hawaii 2, for that was how Jack now thought of him. Clem fetched a couple of drinks and Jack unfolded the story of the last few days referring to Stig simply as an official investigator. Clem whistled when Jack described the intruders at his mother’s house and again, when Jack described the meeting with the President. Not that the President was so elevated from the ordinary citizen of Hawaii 2, nor hidden behind a wall of security, there was no need, but nevertheless, it was unusual for someone you knew to be having official meetings with him.

“So that’s it and here I am, a fugitive from – I don’t know what…”

“Well mate you’re safe here! But I can’t get over it – what possible motive could anyone have to do such a thing?” “The government think it could be something to do with Anna’s research. She went to Hawaii 1 to follow up some earlier stuff she saw which might mean an alternative way of accessing space from Hawaii 2 other than the space-lift and they think if the Trans-Planet Corporations got wind of it they would use it to open up the planet whether we liked it or not and our whole society would change.” “That could be true, I certainly know…” Clem suddenly shut up as if he had said too much. “You know what? Jack sat up as Clem twisted his hands looking uncomfortable. After a moment, Clem began. “Look, Jack, I don’t make a secret of what I do here although if I did it on any of the other colonies I would probably be locked up, albeit it might be in a research facility. You remember our first trips here to Lowtown?” “I do, though I am not sure I remember all the details!” said Jack with a laugh.

“Exactly, sex, drugs and rock and roll! And for me, it was the drugs that were foremost which is why I ended up moving here although by that time my interest in them was slightly different.”

“How do you mean?”

“Well, I got interested in the manufacture, the pharmacology, even the history of drugs. Lots of recreational drugs started out as medicinal back on Earth, cocaine – anaesthetic, ecstasy – couple counselling dis-inhibitor, poppers – muscle relaxant and so on. By the 21st century, the molecular chemistry was so well understood that things moved to synthetics – drugs with great purity, before they hit the street anyway, and with predictable effects, in the majority of users anyway. Now things went the other way – occasionally one of the synthetics was found to have application in the world of medicine, and that is what interests me, Jack. These days, the recreational side of things is secondary to me although I am always concerned with finding safer highs… Come and look at this.” Clem got up and led Jack through to the back of the house and then downstairs to a basement. To his amazement, Jack stepped into a gleaming white-tiled laboratory in contrast to the scruffy but comfortable décor upstairs.

“Yup this is me now – Doctor Clem!”

“Seriously Clem you are a Doctor?”

“Well, not a medical doctor though I do have a doctorate in Pharmacology” grinned Clem. They spent the next half hour looking around the lab with Clem explaining the function of various pieces of equipment and how he was directing his research more and more towards medical drugs and searching less for new, recreational highs. He even had a separate room housing animals for initial toxicity testing.

“Of course, anything I discover in this microscopic lab has to go on to be tested rigorously by the big boys off-world, we don’t have much of a pharmaceutical industry here on Hawaii 2 – probably because we are so much happier than the other colonies so we don’t need many of the drugs that are given out to treat depression, anxiety and stress. Many other physical illnesses that follow on from those conditions are also reduced and require shorter treatment when they do occur. Mental illnesses are also less frequent, which we put down to a happier social environment, and again, when they do occur, we treat them a lot more with talking therapies which means all-in-all, we use so few drugs it’s easier to buy in what we need, even though drugs come into the low-weight high-value export that we can send up the space lift.”

They were back upstairs in the living room now. “I’m glad you have found your niche Clem, I was starting to worry about you, especially when you moved to Lowtown – I thought you were becoming a professional addict!”

“No, I was almost through that phase when I moved here and starting to take a more useful interest in pharmacology. Actually, I am quite a rich man now albeit off world!”

“Really Clem – and you the man least likely to…!”

“I know, it’s mad isn’t it! Not that it makes much difference to me, I mean I still get my stipend like everybody else, and there’s not much I can or need to spend money on here. This house was paid for initially from the recreational drugs I developed but then I came up with a pain killer with fewer side effects than lots of existing ones and sold it to TransPharm. The upfront deal was derisory looking back, I was naïve but then the percentage on sales whilst small, has paid me a fortune because it took off like a rocket! Then TransPharm tried to make it up to me by offering me a position at their R. & D. on Hawaii 1, but I didn’t want to go there and be a wage slave. Then they offered to send in masses of equipment at great cost and pay for staff but again I turned them down and bought what I needed out of my own money and God knows I could afford it and so kept my independence. Whilst nothing I have developed since, has had the success of that first drug, I have made some significant discoveries and – I am my own man and I work on whatever I want, whatever interests me.”

“Wow! That’s fantastic Clem, good for you. It even proves that the ethos of Hawaii 2 works better in R. & D., small scale, intellectual freedom, personal motivation other than money, incredible!”

“Exactly! But TransPharm still doesn’t get it – they keep on asking me when I am going to come and enjoy all the money I’ve earned and can’t understand that I have everything I need and want here – chiefly my work.” 

The two of them sat sipping the drinks Clem had poured them in the companionable silence only possible between the kind of old friends who can pick up where they left off after a long time apart. Eventually Jack broke the silence. “Do you believe in God?”

“You’re kidding me, Jack, no I might have found my profession since I saw you last but I haven’t found God! Why do you ask?”

“It’s just an expression you used ‘God knows I could afford it’. I mean you and I and probably most of the population of Hawaii are Atheist apart from the small groups who came to achieve religious freedom and they don’t make much headway gaining followers and yet we still use expressions like ‘God knows’ all the time!”

“Ha! True enough. I suppose we could say ‘goodness knows’ but that posits goodness as a thing and I am as sure there is no more such a thing than there is God. Goodness is what we do, by choice, the very idea of goodness, or God come to that, only exist in the minds of human beings because we are able to make that choice.”

“My thoughts too. Even after learning that the train wreck was really caused by a bomb, and not knowing who or why someone did such an awful thing, I still don’t think that evil exists any more than good or God, not as concrete things. And if anything were going to make one change one’s mind it might be something like that. I mean we don’t have much crime here, bad things done by people don’t happen and the bad things that are natural, well we seem to cope well enough with them without turning to religion for comfort.”

“Yeah, well, even those religious groups that did come here with the initial colonisation are withering away, young people drifting away. Maybe it’s because society isn’t so bad that religious leaders have to contain their flocks against a world of sin. Sin! What even is sin?”

“I think you’re right Clem.” And they lapsed into silence again. This time it was Clem that broke it.

“Talking of bad people, I’ve just been thinking about something, I don’t know if it’s connected to the train wreck but it happened about the same time.”

“Really Clem, what was it?”

“Well about two years ago there was a guy, a drug user, one of the ones who used to test out my new highs and distribute them to other selected users and get them to report back on any side-effects. I am lucky, or good at what I do, don’t know which, but so far there have never been any serious side effects to anything I have produced. Anyway, this guy, Gervald, he hung around a lot and was interested in what I was doing, so much so I was urging him to study too which eventually he did. Then he was able to be useful doing some of the routine work and it was good for his course work. During that time, I came up with a recreational drug that whilst not the greatest high in the world, was exceedingly cheap and easy to produce. I don’t tell TransPharm about my recreational drugs, there are enough drugs on the other worlds and because politicians are not brave enough to deal properly with the issue, there is still a separation between legal and illegal drugs. The criminals lobby politicians not to change the status quo otherwise they would stop making money and so the users have to pay prices that are well above legal drugs like alcohol. So how do they pay for their hit – they steal, so more criminality. The freedoms we have here on Hawaii 2 do away with all that criminality and as you know, most users drift away from drugs in the end. It’s an experiment that was tried on Earth in a country called Holland and whilst it had some success, it was skewed because all the other countries around didn’t join in, so Holland became a destination for addicts from everywhere else. At least that can’t happen here with our restricted access but I wonder about what Gervald might have been up to, something always nagged away about him at the back of my mind.”

“How do you mean Clem?”

“Well, you’ve seen my setup here, I mean I have locks on my front door which I keep locked and that’s more than most people do here, and even then it’s not against theft, but in case some idiot comes in here stoned and causes mayhem. If this was any other planet there would be cameras and security and all sorts of regulations which would mean I probably wouldn’t even be allowed to operate in the suburbs like this. But with Gervald it reminded me of what I’ve read of those other places, a bit paranoid, edgy, as if we were doing something illegal which of course we were not, in fact as I moved into medical drugs more and more, it was even less questionable – were it on any planet! Yet he had this clandestine feel to him.” “You think he had something to hide?”

“Maybe but I could never figure it out. And then he disappeared under what you might call suspicious circumstances. In fact, it was about two days after your accident, well or not, as the case may be.”

“Oh, it was definitely a bomb and no accident, the authorities are sure of that, it’s just that they don’t have a clue who or why!”

“Well two days after the train wreck, Gervald’s house went up in flames, a really bad fire although not so bad that they couldn’t rule out the fact that no body turned up in the ruin and they couldn’t figure out how the fire started either. The door was locked which you know, is unusual but they couldn’t say whether accelerants were used to start it because it turned out he had been storing quite a lot of chemicals there. In fact, it looked as if he had his own lab there. And Gervald had disappeared. Completely!”

“How did you find out the details – I mean aren’t the police quite cagey about giving out information?” asked Jack.

“Well yes, usually they are, but firstly they were all busy with the train wreck and this didn’t rate high on their priorities, although at any other time it would probably have been their top case. But secondly, they questioned me as a known associate of Gervald and then asked for my help as a sort of expert witness.” “Expert on what?” “On drug-making – on the equipment in particular. After the fire, they found a lot of machines in the ruins but so badly burnt they didn’t know what to make of them – so they brought me in.”

“And could you tell what they were?”

“Oh yes, easily. I had expected to find equipment related to Gervald’s studies although I had no idea how he would be able to afford such things, so expensive to import we all used the university labs even though it meant working at silly o’clock sometimes to get your slot. But here’s the thing, it wasn’t a student setup at all, no, it was a manufacturing plant, small but capable of turning out quantities of a single line of drugs. So how the hell did he manage to import that lot? And what was he producing and who for? There are a couple of guys who make the drugs used here on Hawaii 2, medical and recreational and the latter are closely monitored by the authorities both as to quantities, usage trends and price. As even the recreational drugs are available over the counter in pharmacies, there is no clandestine world of dealers and no new producer would have a way to sell his product.”

“So, what do you think happened to Gervald, where did he disappear to?”

“Still more questions than answers, Jack. Bit like your case! I wasn’t officially on the investigation but you know how it goes here, things are a bit more relaxed than they are on other colonies and a bit more pragmatic. Hey! Have you ever thought about the fact that we get plenty of ideas about how it is on all the other worlds through the vids, all those crime dramas but they have no idea how things are here ‘cos we don’t really have a film industry and if we did, we’re so boring there’s no crime to film anyway!” Both men laughed at this old chestnut about life on Hawaii 2.

“Well that was the case anyway…” said Jack more soberly.

“True!” replied Clem and they lapsed into silence for a minute. “So, you’re a father now Jack!”

“Yes indeed!” A wave of longing for little Douglas overwhelmed Jack and he spent a few minutes telling Clem all about the strangeness and wonder of coming round from the coma to find himself a father and how great it was looking after this new little person except that the person who he had always imagined sharing the experience with was not there. With that Jack welled up and Clem went off to make a cup of tea for them both giving him space to let flow the tears. Putting the cup in his hand, Clem put a firm hand on Jack’s shoulder and Jack pulled himself together again. “If there’s anything I can do Jack… In any case I can’t wait to meet Douglas…”

“Thanks Clem and so you shall when all this mystery is settled…”

“I’ve been thinking about that and the more I think about it, the more I wonder if it was just coincidence that this thing with Gervald happened so close to the train wreck.”

“How do you mean? You didn’t finish saying what happened in the investigation?” “Yes, well, as they didn’t find a body, they tried to find him but it was then that I realised that he never really talked about where he came from, I mean he obviously wasn’t from around here. But you know a lot of people who wind up in Lowtown don’t really want to talk much about their past and you get used to not prying – when they want to talk, they will. So I couldn’t be much help to the police there, hell I didn’t even know the guy’s second name and that’s par for the course around here too. He had a camper van and that was missing too so the police put out an alert for that but by the time that happened, it was four or five days after the fire so if he took off in that he was long gone – assuming that’s what he did. It’s a mystery, who he was, where he got the equipment and what he was doing with it and if he disappeared voluntarily, then why he gave up a promising career, his college reports were good, or whether, as the police seemed to think, there was foul play.”

“It’s certainly strange. And you really don’t have any idea why he had a drug manufacturing set up – couldn’t you tell from the equipment? And why do you think it might be connected to the train wreck.” asked Jack.

“I don’t have any concrete thoughts, it’s just a hunch brought on by your describing your mystery and maybe I am just connecting them because they have superficial similarities, you know explosions and an absence of motive or hint of a perpetrator. But in answer to your first question, my best idea of what he might have been making was that drug I mentioned, I called it Sunset because of the way the high faded. I told you it was simple to make and cheap too and that’s because there were certain stages of manufacture that were unnecessary in making Sunset compared to other recreational drugs and the machines he had seemed to match the process. I told the police that, but it didn’t make any sense – there are much better drugs available here and indeed when Gervald was trialling it with the users, they didn’t dislike it, but there wasn’t a demand for it either, so I didn’t pursue it directly, only kept it in mind for ways of incorporating it into future medical applications. So why would Gervald set up to manufacture it with no market? Talking to you, I suddenly thought, what if he was sending it off world? Not only is it cheap and easy to make but Sunset is tiny in volume, like the original LSD which could be impregnated into a dot of paper – ideal for smuggling, especially given our unique access to space and its weight limitations. We were just thinking about it wrong looking for a local market.”

“So Gervald knew how to make Sunset?” “Well, I never specifically gave him the formula or the method but he was around enough, and he did have access to my computer files for the bits of work he did for me. I don’t have very elaborate security on the system, I never felt I needed it, and although the files were password-protected I suppose it wouldn’t have been difficult for him to hack them. That’s what I told the police anyway and they suggested I beef up security, which I have since done – even though it goes against the grain.”

“Well, if he was smuggling Sunset off-world, what would the advantage be, to the people at the other end that is?” asked Jack “And why destroy the lab and the train that takes you to the means of getting the product off-world – it doesn’t make sense!”

“Let’s face it none of this makes sense but thinking about your first question what would the advantage be?” Clem sat thinking for a minute head in hands. “Okay, so it’s a new source of product which the authorities wouldn’t be looking for, especially with that source being Hawaii 2 with its noticeable absence of exports. Secondly, if it is being smuggled, then the transport is not being paid for in the regular way, it could be impregnating the packaging of one of the other small, high-value exports we do send so it’s cheap that way as well as cheap to buy from the originator, let’s presume that’s Gervald. But then what’s the point for Gervald, he can’t spend the money here on Hawaii 2 because you don’t need lots of money, and conspicuous consumption is frowned on and, well, conspicuous!”

“But let’s say he wasn’t from here, or he was from here, but could get off-world eventually to spend his money?”

“I suppose that’s possible,” Clem said, “I mean people do come and go, hideously expensive as it is. I have been myself to meet with TransPharm and spend a bit of my own ‘drug money’ though to be honest, I couldn’t wait to get back!”

“Really. Why’s that, I’d love to go?”

“Oh I enjoyed the trip, especially going up in the space lift, it’s so slow – but it gives you time to enjoy the view of this beautiful planet of ours. Although apparently, some people can’t deal with it, it gives them vertigo and they have to travel in a windowless lift capsule – mad eh?”

“Too right, I want to see it all when I go, – if I ever go! You know in the early days of space-flight, when they used rockets, you got into orbit in ten minutes or so but you couldn’t see anything because you were crushed into your seat looking at the inside of your capsule. Anna told me that…”

“I can’t imagine what you’ve gone through losing her Jack and though it can’t bring her back, I hope the bastards who did it get caught!”

“So! What didn’t you like about going off world?” said Jack to change the subject and move away from the subject that was still too raw to cope with in daylight and with company.

“It’s the people mainly, at least the one’s I had to deal with at TransPharm. They were so up themselves with their limousines and salaries and expense accounts. I think they were trying to show me a good time and boy did they pull out all the stops to impress me, but although I tried not to show it, they did just the opposite. When we were driving around in the city, you could catch glimpses of how the majority of people live and if you really looked hard you could see the really poor people in the alleyways, going through trash looking for food. But I never got to meet anyone outside of business – they said they were protecting me but I felt like an asset being guarded. I told them I wanted to spend some money going somewhere exotic so they arranged for me to go to this hotel somewhere in the tropics but it was just like being in the city except for the scenery – which was beautiful I grant you. But everyone was rich and you couldn’t even talk to the staff privately, they were all terrified of being seen fraternising with the guests. I actually ordered a prostitute, not for sex you understand, but because I thought at least it would be somebody I could talk to but she was so drugged up she couldn’t understand I only wanted to talk. Her one thought was that if I wasn’t satisfied by her then she would get into trouble. When I insisted I didn’t want sex and asked her to go, she burst into tears saying it was too quick and they would know she hadn’t pleased me so I let her sleep in the bed beside me till morning and then promised I would give good feedback if anyone asked – which they did in a thinly veiled way next morning. After that, I just wanted to get back here to normality. So I’m not likely to spend the money I earn, and I’m looking into some charities – medical aid for those who can’t afford it – it’s all charged for there you know!”

“So, going back to Gervald, let’s suppose he doesn’t have the same scruples about spending the money he’s earned and hopes to leave Hawaii 2 sometime, or maybe it’s a case of returning to wherever he’s from, what happened, why destroy the lab that’s making you money and why disappear?”

“Maybe he didn’t do the destroying, maybe it was the people he worked for.”

“But why? It doesn’t make sense.”

“Maybe they had got all they needed from him.” Said Clem thoughtfully.

“You mean enough product? Surely drug dealers never have enough…”

“No! I mean maybe they got the formula out of Gervald. After that they wouldn’t need him anymore, they could make it wherever, and without all the complication of smuggling. They are very hot on what you take up the space lift you know. It’s not that they are looking for contraband, I don’t think there is anything here worth smuggling, well until now perhaps, but it’s the weight, everything has to be calculated exactly for the lift system to work properly, worst case it could damage the cable if the loads were unbalanced. Sometimes you can’t go up immediately if there isn’t a balancing load coming down or sometimes the cargo sits in space waiting for upcoming traffic. It’s weird you know, when you get to the middle of the cable which is the geostationary point, there are all these freight containers just sitting in space not moving, I mean they do tether them but they are so still, while you are all over the place experiencing weightlessness for the first time. Eventually you manage to stop bouncing around and then there you are stock-still too – weird!”

“Well, there’s a whole lot of speculation around Gervald, including the idea of some connection to the train wreck but I suppose it’s worth putting it to Stig, he might get things moving, I mean it sounds like the investigation got a bit side-lined or de-prioritised or something.” said Jack.

“I think you’re right Jack, the train wreck took all the energies of the authorities and if Gervald took off in his camper van, well, it’s a big planet to search, plenty of wilderness to hide out in…”

“Well let’s hope he did take off and get away and that if he can be found he might shed some light on his mystery at least. I’ll talk to Stig tomorrow. Now, have you got anything to help a man sleep?”

“Is the Pope a Catholic?” laughed Clem as he took the lid off a massive carved wooden bowl to reveal a cornucopia of brightly coloured tablets. “Just like old times!” said Jack with a smile.

C is for Cryptography

humanist55

 

For the sake of pairing some of these adjuncts to the novel alongside their respective chapters, I am taking liberties with the Alphabet for the next couple of days and so we come to C and not G…


My goal in the 2021 A2Z Challenge is to complete a novel I started a few years ago but which has languished for lack of love (writing!). Each Post, daily in April (Sundays excepted), will consist of some aspect of the novel plus a chapter from it. I hope that the Alphabetical items will give a bit of extra background, muse on the writing process, but most of all, help me develop certain ideas to improve the novel. Some 12 chapters are already written so I have a bit of a head start…
Please comment with any opinions good or bad – you have no idea how much I need feedback at this stage…

I once became fascinated by Cryptography – the use of a code or a cipher to disguise messages. The process consists of taking “plain text” message and encrypting it according to code. How that code works is known as the key. In the picture above, the key is to move all the lower alphabet to the right by four character and then read the plain text from the top alphabet and substitute the encrypted letter from the lower alphabet. Most codes involve some form of substitution but they have one big weakness – letter frequency! Some letters are more frequent than others in any given language and so by analysing the frequency of letters in an encrypted message, it is quite easy to figure out the plain text – especially with computers to do the counting. In the chapter below, we encounter The Beale Cipher – one which is almost impossible to crack because it depends for a key, on a piece of writing which is only known to the protagonists.

There is quite a bit of technical explanation in this chapter and my question to you, Dear Reader, is do you find this too much? Of course, it would help if you could tell me too, whether you are a nerdy type who would probably love this stuff or a creature of spiritual interests with no such interest!

Chapter 8
Endorsement 

Jack and Stig were on their way back to New Orleans. Everyone had been shaken by the arrival of the two strangers. The train wreck, traumatic as it was, or rather, the consequences of it, as neither Jack nor his mother had truly experienced it, had begun to recede. Now, like one of those nightmares where an implacable force pursues you relentlessly, there was present threat and danger. Stig had taken control sending Jack’s mother to a neighbour with young Douglas. Jack accompanied her on a path through the woods and they slipped into the back door without seeing anyone. The neighbour agreed to convey the baby and grandmother to another friend of hers after dark and for the sake of safety, agreed to ask for no explanations in the knowledge that eventually they would get the whole low-down from their dear friend and neighbour.

Jack returned to his mother’s house without incident and after setting a timer for lights and drawing the curtains, they were collected by Lars and departed carrying rifles and dressed as if for a hunting trip. This time the rifles were loaded unlike the bluff they had perpetrated earlier in the day. Stig was of the opinion it wouldn’t have mattered if the “visitors” had known the rifles weren’t loaded, they were simply unprepared for the presence of three large, armed men and had withdrawn to rethink their approach. Which was pretty much the same position as Jack and Stig found themselves in. Whilst Jack had been away, Stig had contacted his inside man in the Rangers and given the vehicle number plate which had turned out to be a hire car. The customer was registered to a false address and driving licence. This told Stig that whoever was behind the men, they had local help, although the level of crime was so low on Hawaii 2 that it was not difficult to set up such scams and organisations were not on the lookout for criminal activity either. Next Stig had organised a small protective force to camp out near the tree-house. They had decided not to alarm Chloe by telling her anything but to place some surveillance cameras on the paths approaching the house, monitored by the protective force who were ready to respond accordingly. If Jack had ever had any doubts as to the veracity of Stig’s explanation of his position in the scheme of things, they were gone now. Stig clearly had access to the highest levels of government including covert forces the existence of which would have surprised most citizens of the planet. Jack himself was beginning to be inured to surprises of all kinds from sudden fatherhood to hostile powers but he was glad that people like Stig were there to look out for the planet and right now, for him. Having apparently issued instructions to cover all bases, Stig lapsed into silence for a while and then turned to Jack.
“With all the ‘excitement’ I had quite forgotten something!”
“What’s that?”
“Well, I have the pendant with me and we have identified the folder which is almost certainly Anna’s research but it seems my talk to her had an impact on her because she has password protected it. If necessary, we could recreate the work from her search history which we copied but destroyed in the public record as I told you before. At this stage it doesn’t matter about the detail of the work itself especially as we can recreate it eventually which is why I hadn’t mentioned it to you yet. However, it occurs to me that it might contain clues as to who might be so anxious to get their hands on it or to destroy it, whichever it is…”
“But you don’t have the password – is that what you are saying?”
“You’re very quick Jack! Maybe you should consider Investigator amongst your future career directions!”
“I wouldn’t be thinking about any of this if it wasn’t for wanting to know what happened to Anna and if I had any choice, for that matter.”
“True enough, I am sure you would rather just be spending time with your son and thinking about new building projects but as you say, we have no choice. Let me tell you about this password. We think that it’s encrypted using a book or substitution cipher based on a unique text. If it was to be sent between two people and they both knew the exact piece of text to be used then they would be able to encode and decode at will.”
“As it happens, cryptography was one of Anna’s hobbies that I shared an interest in. As you know, I wasn’t so smitten with all the technical stuff but cryptography is like a brain training device and we used to set each other tests. The only thing that sometimes spoiled it was that once we started to crack the messages, which were usually love letters, the content wasn’t too hard to guess.”
“Fantastic Jack, we were really hoping you might be able to help suggest the unique text but it sounds like you might even be able to crack it altogether!”
Jack sat thinking for a few moments before replying.
“You know a while back, listening to you make all sorts of arrangements, I was convinced that you must be who you say you were but now it comes back to accessing the work again. To be honest I had forgotten that you still had the pendant and forgive me if I am being paranoid but I suddenly don’t feel very trusting again. If this is all about getting Anna’s work and you still need access to it…” Jack shrugged his shoulders as if trying to rid himself of something.
“I don’t blame you Jack, but I think I can introduce you to someone who can convince you of my bona fides.” Stig took his phone out and dialled a number. “Good Afternoon Sir. I need to brief you as to developments in that matter we were talking about.” Stig paused, listening. “There have indeed been developments plus I have someone here who needs to meet you.” Stig listened for a moment more and then replied, “Yes Sir, about two hours then.” Stig put the phone away and speaking to Lars said, “We will need to get changed on the way,” and turning to Jack, “after all we can’t go to see the President looking like country hicks now can we Jack!”
Jack discovered he was not as inured to surprises as he had thought. 

¤ ¤ ¤ ¤

The President of Hawaii 2 was in theory, an elected role of largely symbolic significance but in practice, the same man had held the office for so long that it had almost acquired the nature of a benign hereditary position. In fact, for those bothered by such things, it might be remembered that previous Presidents had indeed come from the same family as President Robert Widness. However, the inhabitants of Hawaii 2 were not bothered – the President had no apparent political power, that resided with parliament where Members took election more by community rotation than from any great political ambition. The issues faced by the Parliament were simply an extension of those faced on a more local level, where the rotation through the administration was for most, an irksome reality that had to be faced from time to time. So, although the planetary Parliament was an elected body, it brought no great kudos and neither, as far as most people could see, did being President. The fact that Robert Widness was content to stay in the “job” indefinitely rather than moving through life’s varied opportunities with the freedom which most ordinary citizens enjoyed, was his lookout. He lived as modestly as the rest, did not seek to impose his will over that of Parliament and there was something reassuringly Patrician about his manner that most people secretly enjoyed. If any issues arose in regard to the Pan Human Federation or any of its member planets – you felt that President Robert Widness would have Hawaii 2’s back.

Jack was as familiar with the President’s appearance as any citizen of Hawaii 2 but meeting him in the flesh was still a matter of gravitas – the President was six foot four and solidly built, august grey locks that extended down into sideburns framing piercing blue eyes and a clean-shaven, square jaw. He also proffered a very firm handshake to Jack.

“First let me say how sorry I am for your loss, Mr Gulliver. May I call you Jack?”
“Yessir. Jack is fine!”
“Well Jack, your late wife was brought to my attention when she applied to go off on her trip. It put us in a dilemma. We knew if she didn’t go but settled down to have a family with your good self, then that might be the end of it, but it was clear from her application that Anna was very passionate about the possible beneficial outcome for Hawaii 2 that could spring from the work and we worried that she might pass the baton to somebody else who might spread the word further afield. We pulled the strings of the selection board and dispatched Mr Johannson here to have a word with Anna on her way to
Hawaii 1 as I believe he has told you. I can understand why you might be in something of a spin with everything that has happened to you but believe me you are in safe hands with Mr Johannson – Stig. You know it’s not that we don’t want to see the development of easier access to the planet but we want it to be on our terms, we want to be in control of the development and of the pace of change should it happen. I think we can all see the dangers inherent in the opposite situation now and the question is how to proceed. I come from a family long involved in politics but my background knowledge of Hawaii 2 is nothing compared to Stig’s which is why he is one of my most trusted advisers.”
“Well Sir, Mr President, then I guess that’s good enough for me! And I am sorry I doubted you Stig.”
“That’s okay Jack. I appreciate your caution and sadly it looks as though that is exactly what is required at the present time. Wherever and whoever this malignancy is coming from, for the sake of Hawaii 2 we have to root it out. You have lost so much already but can we ask for your support in trying to solve the mystery…”
“It’s not what I want but it feels like I have to do it, for Anna’s sake and for the sake of Douglas’ future, well and my own and Hawaii 2’s.”
“Well said Jack!” Said the President. “And thank you. So Stig how do we proceed now?”
                                                            ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ 

Half an hour later and Jack and Stig were seated in a conference room in Government House. They had been joined by two professors from the University of Hawaii 2, Walter from the Department of Mathematics with an interest in cryptography and Rex from the Department of Engineering who Jack knew to be one of Anna’s supervising colleagues.
“Okay Jack, this is what the password text is on the file. As you can see its very long so we think it might be doubling as a message or some kind of warning so we have been loath to try and open it with any attempts at decryption that we are not sure about. We don’t want it to self-destruct…”
Walter passed a piece of paper

 to Jack on which were written a string of numbers.

11126,968,628,68,9622,28114,24,821,15,16,39,17,23,2*14,28,48,24,16,1621,215,68,22,

A smile spread across Jack’s face. “This is easy!” He said. ”The three ones at the beginning are a private code to tell me which cipher she was using – its a Beale Cipher, its Homophonic and the text we always used is the United States Declaration of Independence as in the original Beale Cipher. The three ones are because it was the first piece of Cryptography Anna taught me. Tears welled up in Jack’s eyes and he bent over the text to hide his face from the assembled company. “I could probably decode this from memory but to be on the safe side we had better get a copy of the text – if that’s possible?”
Walter quickly accessed a computer and brought up the Declaration for Jack.
“Okay, so…” Jack started writing beneath the encrypted line. “First off, the commas always follow a number in double figures so when we space out the numbers accordingly, we get this.”


26 9 68 6 28 68,9 6 22 2 8 1 14 24 8 21 15 16 39 17 23 2* 14 28 48 24 16 1 6 21 2 15 68 22

“Each number represents the first letter of a word in the Declaration and we have to go all the way to the twenty-sixth word before we find a word beginning in ‘F’ whereas only as far as the ninth word for one beginning in ‘O’. We have all the way to word 68 for an ‘R’ so the first word of the plain text is ‘For’!” Jack beamed, caught up in this old, shared passion which his late wife had introduced him to.
“The next letter is followed by a full stop which means an abbreviation and as the letter decrypts as ‘T’ that makes it the word ‘the’.” Jack started counting off words on the Declaration and writing down letters in the plain text line. “Ah! Here is a homophone!” he exclaimed. “You see this next word is ‘protection’ which contains two letters ‘O’ and in the first occurrence Anna used the first word in the Declaration to begin with an ‘O’ but the second occurrence uses the second time it occurs in the Declaration so we have word 9 and word 14. This is what makes the Beale Cipher strong – the two different numbers for what is a common letter helps to disguise it when frequency analysis is applied. Okay let’s see, the next word is of, ‘O’ followed by a full stop and this time it has reverted to the first occurrence of the letter in the Declaration – word 9! So now we have ‘For the protection of…’”
Meanwhile, Walter had accessed the Declaration brought over a printed copy of that text on which he had numbered each word which he handed to Jack and with this it took him only another minute to decode the rest of the encrypted text.
“It reads’ For the protection of Hawaii 2. Open with care.’ – what does she mean by that?” said Jack.
Everyone looked thoughtful as they tried to digest the strongly worded message from Anna. Walter was first to speak. “Firstly, may I say that yours and Anna’s personal variant on the Beale Cipher is very effective, my only criticism from a Cryptographic viewpoint is that using the original text of the Declaration might make it possible to crack although it would have taken me a long time I confess! But there is still one problem before we can use the password – what do we do with the spaces between words – you can’t have spaces! What do you think Rex?”
“ Anna was famous or is it infamous for her lengthy passwords – I asked her about them once and she said she liked to use phrases – different for each circumstance but contextual so she could remember them easily and she told me she used underlined spaces between the words but Jack, I am sure you knew Anna best in this respect – what do you think?”
“You’re right Rex! Go with the underlined spaces.”
Nobody seemed eager to enter the decrypted password in case some unforeseen consequence might follow but eventually, Rex stepped forward and input the plain text and uttered a sigh of relief when a set of files appeared on the screen. Mostly they were pdf’s and opening them they proved to be prints of documents Anna had accessed on her last trip. One file had a very long name that began ‘For Jack’ followed by a string of gobbledygook. Rex tried to open it but it was password protected. “Looks like an encrypted password in the tile Jack.”
Jack moved closer to the screen and scrutinised the file name. “That’s odd!” he said. “It begins with 113. That means the Beale Cipher and Homophonic but although we had a second text alternative to the Declaration, we never had a number 3 text… I’ll have to think about this…”
“Presumably that is a personal message,” said Stig “we seem to have all the technical aspects of Anna’s work. Rex can you make an assessment of the work please and report back directly to me. Walter thank you for your assistance.”
“The pleasure was all mine Stig! Most interesting Jack, perhaps we could have a chat about cryptography sometime at your convenience – perhaps over a meal in the University?”
“Certainly Walter, once all this has settled down, though it was Anna who was the real code buff…”
“Thanks, Jack, I’ll be in touch then,” said Walter as he gathered his things and left the room.”
“So Stig can I have the pendant back now, perhaps with the Personal message put back onto it so I can puzzle over it?”
“Certainly Jack! Can you do that please Rex. But now we need to decide what to do next. We still have persons unknown running around for reasons we know not who or what! If you are amenable to staying with me on this, I can keep an eye out for you and use your help at the same time?”

“Anything that helps to make sense of all this is fine by me and I feel safer with you than on my own out there…” Said Jack with a shrug of his shoulders and a look of relief.

“Fine!” Said Stig “Consider yourself recruited  – Special Deputy in the Rangers – well not officially maybe but…”

H is for Hawaii – Owhyhee

humanist55

 For the sake of pairing some of these adjuncts to the novel alongside their respective chapters, I am taking liberties with the Alphabet for the next couple of days and so we come to H and not G…

My goal in the 2021 A2Z Challenge is to complete a novel I started a few years ago but which has languished for lack of love (writing!). Each Post, daily in April (Sundays excepted), will consist of some aspect of the novel plus a chapter from it. I hope that the Alphabetical items will give a bit of extra background, muse on the writing process, but most of all, help me develop certain ideas to improve the novel. Some 12 chapters are already written so I have a bit of a head start…
Please comment with any opinions good or bad – you have no idea how much I need feedback at this stage…

.

In 1968, age 14, travelling back from Australia by ship (cheaper than flying for a family, in those days), we called into Wellington, New Zealand. I spent some pocket money on a book of Maori Hakas as well as the Pan book of Myths and Legends of the South Seas. One of the facts I gleaned and which has stayed with me ever since, is the story of the great Polynesian migration – eastwards out across the Pacific from the Far-East – hopping from island until, reaching the empty reaches of the eastern Pacific, the Polynesians turned south and westwards until they landed in New Zealand and became the Maori people. This is what it describes on the Frontispiece of “Train Wreck” and the reason why the planets settled by mankind following the destruction of old Earth, were called Hawaii 1 and later Hawaii 2.

Hawaii:- from the Polynesian word Owhyhee meaning homeland. As the Polynesian peoples spread out across the Pacific Ocean, each new island colonised was initially called Owhyhee, Once the numbers of settlers rose to a suitable capacity for the island, a new group would set out in search of the next Owhyhee.

In the following chapter, the “Doppelgänger” explains more of the history of Hawaii 2

 and the treat that now faces it – he also
recruits Jack to it’s defence

Chapter 7
Recruitment.

“I owe you an explanation Jack.”
“At least you need to tell me your real name because you’re obviously not Inspector James so who are you!”
“My name is Stig Johannson and I am a descendant of Captain Johannson of the first settler party of Hawaii 2!” Jack knew that those who could claim descent from the first settler party on Hawaii 2 had a certain cachet that went against the otherwise egalitarian nature of society although nobody objected nor did the claimants seek to gain from the fact – it was just a matter of pride. With Stig it was clearly the case, Jack could hear it in his voice.“I am surprised!” Said Jack. “I was sure you were an off-worlder, your lack of suntan, the questions you asked…”
“I had to act the part I am afraid and I am sorry to have deceived you, As for the sun-tan, well I do spend quite a bit of time off-world and when I am here, well, home is on the Jarrisburg Peninsula. I prefer the cool north to this tropical heat. Though having experienced your airy home I could be tempted…But now, we must be quick, I can’t keep the dentist at bay for long. I am in a way a kind of Inspector, or rather a special kind of observer. I certainly command the security access of an Inspector of Police both off-world and as a Captain of the Rangers here on Hawaii 2. But my access to the systems on and off-world are by the back door, so to speak. I have been able to follow all the investigation into the bomb on the train to the highest level and I am privy to the communications of Inspector James although he is quite unaware of it or me. He has been in quite a state since last week as you might imagine. When I need to have physical sight of something, I have my contacts within organisations. Your phone for example. I had to get a clone made of it and used my contact in the Rangers to do that. Other contacts off-world gave me information about our Inspector James that meant I had to act quickly to see you first which I will explain in a minute.”
“So you are a kind of policeman?”“Not exactly, Jack. I do sometimes get involved with police investigations, pulling a few strings, giving a few pointers but always behind the scenes. Safer to say I use the police rather than they use me. No. My role is as an observer who looks out for the interests of Hawaii 2 as a society. As you know we have little crime and little chance for criminals to come in from outside and I probably spend more time away, taking care of the latter aspect than I do here. With barely a police force we certainly barely merit an intelligence service – but such as we do, well, I am it!”
“I see.” said Jack “What exactly does ‘the interests of Hawaii 2 as a society” mean Mr Johannson?”
“Because Hawaii 2 is so isolated, it was decided by the Pan Human Federation to conduct an experiment here to see if certain utopian ideals could be achieved and sustained. Of course, half the trick with experiments involving humans is not to let them know they are being experimented on so nothing was said in advance but a lot of careful selection of settlers and equally careful social construction was done alongside the physical structuring of the settlement. My role is to keep an eye on that society and if necessary, to act to protect it. Though invisible to most, I do report to the highest authorities both here and off-world and the bomb on the train is the biggest threat I and the authorities have ever had to deal with. We really don’t know who is behind it and why – that much is absolutely true. I would like to explain more to you but not here – there is not enough time. Also, I believe you might be able to help. Would you consider taking a trip to your mother’s home for a few days? Your mother and Chloe could come too and we can get the chance to meet properly without detection…”
“I guess that would be possible. I know my mother needs to collect more things but she can’t bear to leave us alone yet. Yes, I am sure that would work. When?”
“As soon as possible! Don’t contact me, I will know when you get there and I will text you on the clone phone. I am glad you agreed Jack, this is more important than you can imagine!” With that Stig shook Jack’s hand and departed through the side door as quickly as he had come. 
Jack lay back, his head reeling from this unexpected turn of events – though in truth he had had no expectations, but within a few minutes, the dentist returned and after inspecting Jack’s mouth pronounced that the hospital had done a good job of looking after Jack’s teeth as well as the rest of him.

¤ ¤ ¤ ¤

A few days later, Jack sat with Douglas on his knee with his mother beside him silently watching as Stig swept his mother’s house for bugs. Jack had warned his mother about Stig’s visit once they were on their way, and although she expressed astonishment, she was prepared to wait and see what the explanation was, she trusted Jack’s judgement. Chloe had stayed behind to look after the tree-house and was taking the opportunity to invite some friends over for a few days. Jack had not told Chloe the real reason for the trip – he could see that she was glad to have a break from baby, hospitals, the funeral and living with in-laws even though she did not find most of these things onerous per se, it would be good to catch up with friends of her own age. Jack was certainly not going to burden her with mysterious goings-on. 
Stig was dressed like a country man, as Jack’s mother said later, he could easily have passed for one of her neighbours. He seemed to have the ability to blend in to wherever he was. It didn’t take long for Stig to complete the bug sweep. “To be honest I didn’t really expect them to be one step ahead of us” he said “and I certainly hoped not because we need time to talk candidly. In the event we do have any visitors, I am an old friend of the family come to pay my condolences, agreed?”Jack and his mother both nodded. “It’s okay for you both to speak now!” Stig beamed. “Let me start by introducing myself properly Mrs. Gulliver – Stig Johannson.” and he proffered his hand to Jack’s mother. “Jack good to see you again! You know my family have had some sort of “role” – call us guardians if you like, of the society of Hawaii 2 since the very start of the colony. Every child is taught how my ancestor, Captain Johannson, founded the settlement here without waiting for authorisation. He justified it on the grounds that without someone taking a chance, none of the data collected from space could be confirmed without the acid test of an actual landing. In fact, when the proposals for the settlement finally came through, he couldn’t have been more pleased. We don’t consciously think of ourselves as a ‘Utopian society’ here on Hawaii 2 but there was a plan to make it just that! The Federation wanted to see if it would be possible to have a self-sustaining society with no war and no growth beyond a certain size. Hawaii 2 was going to be effectively cut off and so with no Trans-Planet Corporations to mess things up it was the perfect opportunity for a social experiment. And by and large it has worked very well and been pretty easy to manage. My family have been privileged to be part of the oversight of Hawaii 2 behind the scenes and reported and been consulted by the government here, and by the Federation President and a few of his advisers on Hawaii 1. As I say, it has been a remarkably happy planet – until now… I am sure you can understand why I ask you to keep what I just told you between yourselves – as I said at our last meeting Jack, it is better not to be aware of being the subject of an experiment. I felt I had to tell you because of the dangerous situation you seem to be caught up in…”“You mean the bomb?” Asked Jack.“Exactly!”
“You said in New Orleans that I might be able to help with the investigation but once again, I can’t imagine how!”
“We’ll come to that all in good time Jack.” Stig smiled at Jack.
“What I don’t understand” said Jack’s mother “is how and why anyone would want to put a bomb on that train. I know it sounds pathetic, but nothing like that has ever happened here on Hawaii 2, it doesn’t make sense!”
“You’re right Mrs Gulliver, it doesn’t and because nothing like it has ever happened here that is why we are so concerned to get to the bottom of it. This will I am sure, be a painful suggestion, but there is a possibility it has something to do with Anna’s work.”
“Really? Anna? But that would mean…”
“Yes Jack, that someone wanted to kill her. When the initial investigation failed to turn up a computer, we thought maybe someone had stolen it and the explosion might have been to cover their tracks or even to allow them to go through your things. I don’t normally get hands on in investigations but this was a matter of such importance that I went to the university and talked casually to some of Anna’s colleagues. When one of them mentioned memory sticks, I had to act quickly. Inspector James had made his appointment to see you and to be frank, I didn’t want him getting his hands on it if indeed it was something you had found – because it had been looked for whilst you were both in a coma. It is only because it was disguised as a pendant that it was not discovered, as you know.”
“You don’t trust Inspector James?” asked Jack.
“I am not certain but let’s say that there are forces off-world who would love to see access to Hawaii 2 opened up in a commercially viable way and they have little chance to get their own hands on Anna’s work directly. A policeman sent to investigate has at least got opportunity and the fee on offer could certainly be construed as motive…”
“But surely he didn’t set the bomb?” said Jack.
“No! He didn’t arrive here till after the event. I’m not even sure that the bomb has anything to do with Anna at all but no other line of investigation has yielded anything at all.” Stig sighed.
“Why did you tell me her work had been classified? Inspector James said that most of what you told me about the investigation was true but that bit was not?”
“I was surprised that you did not grasp the importance of Anna’s work and I was trying to get you to take it more seriously. I thought it might make you a little more circumspect in your dealings with Inspector James.”
“What would be so terrible about Hawaii 2 getting better access to space and to the rest of the federation, anyway?”
Stig sat quietly thinking for a few moments before answering.
“How much did Anna tell you about her first research trip to Hawaii 1, Jack?”
It was Jack’s turn to think.
“Well she spent most of her time in the university studying the database. She talked about shops, a trip to New Niagara Falls, oh and about how stressed everybody seemed. She talked a lot about that!”
“Oh yes I remember that too!” Said Jack’s mother. “Wage slaves she called them. Working long hours but not enjoying their work. Obsessing about promotion to posts that they didn’t really want except for the increased salary. Surrounding themselves with status symbols and competing all the time!”
“Well put Mrs Gulliver!” Stig smiled at her. I have been many times to Hawaii 1 and I don’t think I could put it better. And then there are the other planets. Go to their capital cities and they look cultured enough but Arctane is only a few steps away from being a company planet – the Federation constantly fight to keep control in the hands of a legitimate government.”
“What does that mean? Asked Jack.
”Simply put, corruption!” replied Stig. The sense of common ownership that we take for granted here, the shared purposes – just look at the friends who came round to help you build your house – that would never happen on Arctane – everyone is too tired and too broke to spare the time. Not that they don’t earn well but they are persuaded to buy big vid screens and numb their brains in front of them when they finally get home from work. Everyone has a “healthy” level of debt that keeps them nose to the grindstone. If the Trans-Planet corporations gained access here of their own accord, they would rape this planet not just for its resources, but its society too. This is not a model they can work with and they would soon corrupt it!”
“I see what you mean… How come Anna didn’t see that I wonder.”
I haven’t had the chance to tell you yet but I was lucky enough to meet Anna – on her last trip in fact.”
“But how…I mean when?”
“Actually I was shadowing her – watching over her if you like. When she made the application to look into ram jets again, we were concerned both for the implications and for Anna herself whilst she might be the possessor of the information.”
“You keep saying ‘we’ but just who are ‘we’?” Said jack’s Mother.
“That would be the Council, we don’t have any more detailed name than that. We don’t officially exist, and if that makes us sound sinister, I can assure you we are not! It’s just that we didn’t want the people of Hawaii 2 to feel that they were being overseen in any way, either in the sense of government or as an object of study. When people are aware of being studied then they behave differently so we are merely discrete in our observations and in our extremely rare interventions. Even when we do intervene it is very slight, a word in an ear here, a suggestion there. The biggest protection for the planet’s social system has been its isolation, and unfortunately Anna’s work threatened that. Because this was a follow-up trip, we didn’t know if she had inadvertently let the cat out of the bag on her previous trip. We didn’t believe so because if the possibility of ram-jets and their commercial possibilities had made their way to the ears of interested parties, there was nothing to stop them applying to do research in the databases directly. Records are kept of all access to them and no records suggest that any such investigations have been made. Of course, that does not mean that covert investigations might not have happened – sadly, corruption in the form of bribes could possibly have been brought to bear, but no whispers of any kind have reached us as yet. We ourselves erased the records of Anna’s searches as soon as we could and I can tell, she was successful. We have secured the references she accessed but we assume she took a copy of all the work with her, that was the aim of her trip after all.”
“So when did you meet her?” Asked Jack.
“I approached her on the flight to Hawaii 1. It can be a dull journey with nothing to see so friendships can be struck up. Anna was a lovely young woman and having had the privilege of getting to know her a little, I feel greatly for your loss. She told me as much about you as she did herself so I already felt I knew you Jack, when I first saw you.” Stig paused for a moment to let everybody handle their grief privately. Then he continued. “Anna told me quite freely about her work, after all nobody had suggested she should not speak openly about it. She told me what she had previously found out and what she believed could be the implications for Hawaii 2. I became very grave and warned her that there could be unintended consequences and I spelt out what these could be. Anna was so shocked that she was tempted to give up the work but I told her she could hardly turn round and come back empty handed and that in any case, I was sure the authorities on Hawaii 2 would want to know the truth about the possibilities of ram-jets. I suggested she completed her mission but was just very circumspect about discussing it with anyone till she got home. I told her I was a kind of ambassador for Hawaii 2, that I would speak to the right people and that she would be contacted by the government once she returned from Hawaii 1. I didn’t see her again but I arranged to have operatives keep an eye on Anna, for her own safety and to make sure nobody else was taking undue interest in her. I had returned here before Anna however I did go out to the space lift and saw her greeted by you, Jack. I then sat in the front part of the train, luckily for me, I received nothing worse than a sprained wrist and a lot of bruises as a result of the explosion.”
“Okay,” said Jack thoughtfully, “so say that the bomb had something to do with Anna’s work, what was the point of it? Nobody knew we were going to go to the Buffet Car, and when we did, how did they know when to detonate it. If they were after the information then, as it happens, they could have destroyed it since it was round Anna’s neck. And as a way of getting to search her luggage it seems far too complicated not to mention dangerous for the thief too!”
“These are the things that I have been asking myself ever since the train wreck and I can see no more sense in it than you, Jack!”
“Why kill Anna at all?”
“Ah that would be money… Let’s say one of the Trans-Planet Corporations got wind of it, they wouldn’t want to have to share it with anyone else, not even Anna as its ‘re-discoverer’ and certainly they wouldn’t want it to be developed by any company on Hawaii 2. The ability to offer it to the planet from outside would give them huge leverage in negotiating trade treaties.”
“But wouldn’t it be obvious that they were implicated in the bomb once it came out that Anna was researching the same thing?” said Jack’s Mother.
“True Mrs Gulliver but hard to prove. The thing is, we think we had word of Anna’s work locked down pretty well both before she went and for the duration, plus we have heard no rumours about secret development work since, although that doesn’t necessarily mean anything… It could still turn out to be some random nut-case!”
“So where can the investigation go now and how can I be of any help?” said Jack.
“Okay Jack, so if Inspector James is compromised, and I’m not saying he is, then he believes you have given the memory stick to me but he doesn’t know for sure – you could have been lying. Now you are under no obligation to do what I am about to suggest but I can’t think of any other way to flush out the perpetrators of your wife’s murder.  If we let it be known that you still have the research, covertly, and we wait to see if anything crawls out of the woodwork. We would have you protected at all times – it goes without saying…”
“Of course I will!” said Jack immediately.
“Well you should think about it a little, Jack, it could still be dangerous despite our best efforts. Take a little time, won’t you?”
“Well I don’t know about you men but I am ready for lunch!” and Jack’s mother headed to the kitchen.
Later, as they drank coffee after a most excellent lunch from a woman clearly pleased to be back in her own kitchen, a silence settled over them as the earlier conversation returned to each of their thoughts. All except Douglas who having been the life and soul of the party during lunch had now fallen asleep in his high-chair.
The silence was broken by a Stig’s phone ringing, a quiet but insistent ringtone. “Yes Lars?” He listened briefly and then asked, “Are you expecting anyone to call?”
“No!” said Jack’s mother “We haven’t told anyone we are here. Why?”
“My brother has been keeping watch at the bottom of the road and a car has just turned up here with two men in it.” He spoke into the phone again. “Lars follow them up – don’t worry about being seen.”
“Have you got any hunting rifles here Mrs Gulliver?” Stig asked Jack’s mother.
“Yes! My late husband’s.” She was already on her way to fetch them.
Jack you watch from the window – make sure there are two men in the car.”
Jack’s mother returned with two rifles and handed them to Stig.
“A black car has just driven past slowly, two men in it and your brother is right behind them. He has stopped outside, they have gone on up the road.”
“It’s a dead end right?”
“Yes, there’s a clearing in the woods for logging lorries to turn round.”“Okay Jack, you and I will go out to my brother. Mrs Gulliver can you stay with Douglas please.” Stig handed Jack a rifle and went out the front door.Lars had climbed out of his pickup, a typical, battered, country car and was reaching out a rifle from a gun rack behind the back seat.“Stig! How in thunder are you?” Lars made a great show of bear hugging Stig in front of the car just as the black car came back down the track and seeing three men with rifles hesitated slightly and then accelerated past Lars’ pickup and disappeared down the road.“Still two on board.” said Lars.“Good!” Said Stig. “Jack, it looks like we don’t need to advertise the goods after all. Lars, will you make sure our visitors are well on their way, please. Let’s go inside Jack.”

Doppelgänger

humanist55

For the sake of pairing some of these adjuncts to the novel alongside their respective chapters, I am taking liberties with the Alphabet but we are back to D now…

My goal in the 2021 A2Z Challenge is to complete a novel I started a few years ago but which has languished for lack of love (writing!). Each Post, daily in April (Sundays excepted), will consist of some aspect of the novel plus a chapter from it. I hope that the Alphabetical items will give a bit of extra background, muse on the writing process, but most of all, help me develop certain ideas to improve the novel. Some 12 chapters are already written so I have a bit of a head start…


 Doppelgänger is a word that refers to a person who looks “the spit” (spitting image) of another – it’s from the German (they love portmanteau words) but literally means “Double Walker”!

In myths and legends, doppelgangers have been harbingers of doom or evil twins and more recently the meaning is more neutral – merely someone who resembles another. An article in BBC Future, explores research into the chances of finding your real-life Doppelgänger and, reassuringly “Even with 7.4 billion people on the planet, that’s only a one in 135 chance that there’s a single pair of doppelgangers.”

So strictly speaking – ( and Spoiler Alert) the person who appears in this next chapter is not so much a Doppelgänger by appearance, as by profession. Criticise if you will, but on this, I choose to exercise the godlike authority of the author – I like this chapter title!

Chapter 6
Doppelgänger

The real Inspector James looked decidedly put out and agitated. He was sat on the same chair as his namesake of the previous day, drinking a cup of tea which Jack’s mother had made for him. Douglas was off with Chloe.
“But why didn’t you ask to see some ID yesterday?” the Inspector said tetchily.
“It never occurred to me,” replied Jack. “The name was correct and I was expecting him – albeit the next day. Oh, and he looked like an off-worlder – more so than you in fact!”
“in what way?” The Inspector asked suspiciously.
“Well, he was pale, not sunburnt like everyone around here. Granted he could have come from nearer the poles but then there was the way he dressed, it was very plain, grey, non-descript. You seem to have acquired some of our local colourful clothes – you could blend in here!”
“Yes well, the weight restrictions on the space lift meant it was easier to buy new clothes here. They are not what I would normally choose.” The Inspector looked down at his flowery shirt styled according to research into the original Hawaii island on Earth and actually known as a Hawaiian shirt. He shrugged as if to disavow himself from his outfit. “As for the suntan, I have been here for seven months now!”
“There was something else about him though,” said Jack “he asked a lot of questions about life here on Hawaii 2 that a native would know the answer to, as if he had only been here a short while and was still discovering the place.”
“What sort of questions?”
“Well, he asked how Anna and I had afforded to build this house. He said on Hawaii 1 this would be a luxury hotel or house and only very rich people could afford it.”
“And what did you tell him?”
Jack repeated the explanation he had given to the other man the previous day.
“What else did the imposter ask you?
Jack went through the questions about the train, why he and Anna had gone to the Buffet Car and how they had ended up together in the toilet.
“The other inspector…”
“If that’s what he is, and it seems doubtful!” said Inspector James
“Well whoever he was, he seemed to know a lot about the investigation. I mean he spoke like he owned it – like he really wanted to solve it.”
“Why, what gave you that impression?”
“He told me straight away that it was a bomb and not a gas explosion.”
Inspector James frowned and tutted and said “Go on, what else?”
“He said that the President and the Rangers decided to put out the gas explosion story to ease public fear and to try to draw out a claim of responsibility He said that every legitimate user of Gentex had been contacted to audit the stocks but nothing has been found out of order.”
The Inspector thumped the arm of the chair and said “I can tell you, Mr Gulliver, that I, would never have revealed so much detail to a sus… a person of interest!”
“You were going to say suspect! Am I a suspect, Inspector James?”
“Well no, you’re not, not since you explained those last few details about why you and Anna were where you were. We had more or less ruled you out anyway.”
“That is exactly what he said yesterday!” Jack’s tone was slightly challenging for as much as he had felt at ease with the doppelganger, he did not like the real Inspector James’s manner.
“Yes, well he does seem to have a good knowledge of the investigation I grant you. We kept the whole bomb thing under wraps very carefully, but I suppose a ranger might’ve let something slip to a family member or worse still spoken directly to whoever this man is.”
“What about your staff?” said Jack, who did not like the Inspector casting aspersions on the Hawaii 2 Ranger service. They were the nearest thing that the planet had to a police force and since there was virtually no crime, the Rangers’ duties extended to many other areas such as highway administration, rescue and wilderness guiding. They were highly respected and one of the few jobs on Hawaii 2 where entrance was by competition and that was only to reduce the numbers of applicants to manageable numbers.
“I don’t have any staff.” Said Inspector James. “The cost of travel and the in tractable nature of the case meant that my partner went back to Hawaii 1 after six weeks. Talking of travel, your late wife was highly respected in her field, did she tell you how her research had gone, we couldn’t find any computer of hers on the train.”
“That is exactly what he said too.”
Jack noticed the inspector stiffen slightly. I told him she wouldn’t have taken one because of the weight on the space lift and that all her data was on a memory chip.”
“Okay, that makes sense, but we didn’t find one of them either.”
“You wouldn’t have it was disguised as a pendant and, oh, I just remembered, he took the pendant with him yesterday. He said he would return it to me today without any classified work left on it.”
“Well I think we both know that isn’t going to happen now.” The Inspector said bitterly. Jack thought of the personal things that might have been on Anna’s pendant and once again felt the difference between the two inspectors. Despite the fact that the first one appeared to be an imposter who had also stolen the pendant device, Jack still somehow preferred him than this man who showed very little sympatico for Jack and his loss.
“And what do you mean by classified work?”
“Well, he asked me if I knew that Anna’s work had been classified as secret. I hadn’t thought much about it I knew she felt it could change everything for Hawaii 2 but she hadn’t told me it was classified before she went.”
“Curious!” said the Inspector thoughtfully. “Everything else he told you is true as it happens, though it goes against all protocols of investigation to reveal so much, yet on this one thing, he lied to you! Very curious!”
“So have you got any idea who he might have been and why he impersonated you?”
“No I don’t! He might have been an off-worlder but he might not, he could be connected to the investigation but he could have just stolen the details in order to appear credible. As for motive, well he has your wife’s research! As if this case wasn’t baffling enough before – and now this!”
“So what are you going to do now Inspector James?”
“Well, first of all, I will send a sketch artist to see if you can come up with an image of the imposter and then we will search the databases for him. In the meantime, please let me know if you do hear from him but to be honest I expect he has long gone by now. Here is my number.”
Jack took the card “Okay I will do that, Inspector.”

¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ 

The real Inspector James had wasted no time and the sketch artist arrived that afternoon – a likeable man whose passion for his calling whilst by no means untypical of Hawaii 2 was infectious.
“You might expect that there would be an app for doing this job or that it could be done remotely he expounded but studies have shown that it works best face to face, if you will excuse the pun! I myself have been doing this for twenty-five years and I never want to do anything else! Not that I often get called upon to do it in anger, so to speak – no crime or none that merits my skills. I am mainly a portrait artist. Shall we get started?”
The process took a good hour to complete for despite an initial reluctance to help identify the doppelgänger, lurking at the back of Jack’s mind, the portrait artist’s enthusiasm and dedication for what turned out to be a particularly tricky identification gradually won Jack over and in the end, he found himself wanting to succeed in dredging up details of the false Inspector James in order to please the artist. However, it was difficult Jack discovered because it was not just the man’s clothes that had been nondescript but his face too proved elusive. Jack could picture the expressions that had played across his features, sympathy, smiles, quizzicality, but to produce a static image of the face at rest – well it was as if a fog descended on his memory. There were no scars, no facial hair, not even distinctive wrinkles to remember – it was as if the man had a plastic face that returned to its factory condition in between expressions. Jack explained this to the artist who told him there were certain people who had the ability to express many looks and none and these were the hardest individuals for people to remember. He had only once come across such a person before and they had never been caught so he had not had the chance to evaluate his efforts with several witnesses to identify the man.
“Let’s hope this time might be different!” said Jack encouragingly. Eventually A sketch was produced with which Jack was as satisfied as he could be and it was immediately scanned and sent off to Rangers headquarters for comparison with the databases. The real Inspector James had accompanied the sketch artist so that he could get a first look at the image and had spent the hour looking around the tree-house with Jack’s permission. Having been all over the house, Inspector James asserted that he found it “Interesting!” but with such lack of conviction compared to the reactions of his doppelgänger, Jack felt he was merely being polite.

That evening when his mother Chloe and Douglas had all gone to bed, Jack was sitting in the living room mulling over the events of the last two days when his phone made a text delivery chime. He hadn’t felt the vibration, which he had set up for when he was doing some noisy building task, because Jack was essentially a social being and liked to react straight away to messages from friends and family, His late father had never been able to understand it, preferring to wait till he stopped for a cup of tea in order to catch up with his correspondence – but as Jack pointed out, the text might be from Anna in the first place telling him she had made them tea since she didn’t work to any set time table when it came to tea breaks. Another small shadow of pain crossed Jack’s face with this domestic memory as he reached into his pocket for the phone. When Jack clicked the screen on, there was no message waiting as indicated on the message icon and he was wondering if he had imagined it when the chime rang again but still with no vibration and once again, no notification appeared. Moreover, Jack realised, the sound was not coming from his phone at all but from the armchair opposite, the one where his visitors had sat. He went over to investigate and stuffing his hand down the side of the seat cushion soon found and retrieved a phone which proved to be the very same model as his. This was not surprising in itself – the range of phones models available on Hawaii 2 was not great. In the early days of the colony phones necessarily been imported and the emphasis has been on reliability and lightness because of the cost of importation. Now Hawaii 2 was a mature enough world to support its own manufacturing plants for such goods however the range of products was still small partly because the total market population was relatively small and there was no possibility of export but also because the culture of Hawaii 2 did not embrace wasteful fashions. The phones were made to last not to be updated every year or at least not the hardware, decorative cases, software and ring-tones, however, were seemingly endless in variety allowing the people of Hawaii 2 to express their individuality through customisation which they did with a passion. In any case, mobile phones had been around since the original Earth and in the centuries years since they had long ago evolved to the point where there was little new that could be invented. This did not stop the manufacturers on other home-worlds trying to repackage the phones as frequently as they could – conning the market with apparent novelty. No what surprised Jack was that the message notification chime was exactly the same as his own phone and frankly he could not believe that possible, as he and Anna had recorded the tone together using a particular spoon and a large glass bowl that rang beautifully when struck with the spoon. They made a single ring for his phone and a double-tap for hers so they could distinguish between the phones and the idea that anyone else could have that very ring tone on their phone seemed impossible to Jack. Yet when he flipped on the screen, there was the number two on the message icon! Returning to his seat Jack opened the messages the first one read:
“YOUR HOUSE IS ALMOST CERTAINLY BUGGED NOW PRETEND THIS IS YOUR PHONE AND DON’T SAY A WORD!”
The second message read: “I HAVE THE PENDANT READY TO RETURN AS PROMISED BUT AS YOU MIGHT IMAGINE THAT IS NOT SO SIMPLY DONE IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO MEET ME AND LET ME EXPLAIN MY ACTIONS THEN REPLY TO THIS MESSAGE WITH JUST A.FULL STOP ONLY”
It was obvious to Jack who the message was from and he realised that this phone must have been secreted by the doppelgänger yesterday in the knowledge that by now, Jack would have been interviewed by the real Inspector James. The idea that the house might be bugged was as shocking as the relief to be in contact with the man whom he instinctively liked and seemingly trusted, because with no hesitation, Jack replied to the message with a single full stop.
A few minutes later another chime rang out.
“LAST MESSAGE. DON’T REPLY. MAKE AN APPOINTMENT TO SEE YOUR DENTIST – BRING THE PHONE WITH YOU ON THE DAY, I WILL KNOW WHEN IT IS. THE PHONE HAS A SCRATCH ON THE SCREEN TO DISTINGUISH IT FROM YOUR OWN – DON’T USE IT EVEN THOUGH YOUR CONTACTS ARE IN IT AS YOUR FRIENDS WON’T RECOGNISE THE NUMBER. SEE YOU SOON JACK. DON’T TELL ANYONE ELSE”
Jack sat back stunned!

                                                            ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ 

One week later Jack alighted from the overhead travelator system at a tower in New Orleans. The towers that had supported the irrigation system for the Garden of Eden Project had been re-purposed to form the transport infrastructure that linked the settlers in the forest with the capital. Once the burgeoning forest had performed it’s climate changing wonder and started to generate its own rainfall water supply, the water pipes were replaced with cables that carried lightweight cars in a one-way system. Jack ascended the tower on the nearest town bound track by means of a light-weight lift and on returning home would descend a tower on the outbound loop, one grid-line away on the system of recycled towers, Paths led from the tree-house to the respective towers. the lifts on the city towers were more substantial in respect of the much heavier usage they got as compared with the Towers in the forest which served at most two or three houses.
No sooner had Jack alighted than he received a text on the phone with the scratch on it. He kept both phones in the same pocket, they were slim enough not to notice a difference but he had to pull one out and then the other a minute or two later so as not to look suspicious having picked the wrong phone to begin with.
“JUST GO INTO THE DENTIST’S SURGERY AND I WILL SEE YOU THERE”
So Jack made his way to his dentist, waited to be called in and took his place in the chair but before he had got any further than small talk, condolences on the part of the dentist and an explanation of how he felt he needed a check-up after six months in a coma, the dentist’s assistant popped in from reception and called the dentist out to deal with some problem.
Moments later a side door opened and in came the doppelgänger.

If you have enjoyed the book so far – please leave a comment, good or bad
feedback is so valuable at this stage…

G is for Gravity Well and Greening the desert

humanist55

 

Apologies to any Early Birds yesterday, I posted Chapter 3 again but spotted the error later in the day…

For the sake of pairing some of these adjuncts to the novel alongside their respective chapters, I am taking liberties with the Alphabet for the next couple of days and so we come to G and not E…

My goal in the 2021 A2Z Challenge is to complete a novel I started a few years ago but which has languished for lack of love (writing!). Each Post, daily in April (Sundays excepted), will consist of some aspect of the novel plus a chapter from it. I hope that the Alphabetical items will give a bit of extra background, muse on the writing process, but most of all, help me develop certain ideas to improve the novel. Some 12 chapters are already written so I have a bit of a head start…


I looked up the origin of the word “Well” when paired with the word “Gravity” and found no better explanation than the idea that wells are holes that things can fall into. There is a demonstration of the idea of the Gravity Well here. In “Train Wreck” – there is considerable reference to why gravity wells make space travel very awkward and likely to remain so unless somebody handily invents an “anti-gravity” engine…

On Hawaii 2, the problem of getting into space without using rockets or jet plane mother ships to carry small capsules aloft, is solved by building a space lift or as Americans call it – a space elevator. The book will come to describe the workings of a space lift eventually since it plays a pivotal role in the final act – suffice to say at this point, that here on earth, the materials necessary to build a space lift, do not yet exist but a competition exists to encourage their development. Development that is much more feasible than that of an anti-gravity engine…

P.S. the Space Lift was first posited as long ago as 1895 – boy did those Victorians have imagination!

One thing which is mentioned in today’s chapter, is some major environmental modification that was done in the early years of the settlement of Hawaii 2 and just today, I came across an article describing just such a project to “green” the Sinai Desert right here on Earth – what are the chances! Well the only question it raised for me (my having written this bit some time ago) was why there was desert on Hawaii 2 without the destructive input of man. Because in the Sinai and the Sahara, we know that they were once green and it is possible, if not probable, that the activities of man (to wit – cutting down trees), either caused or exacerbated the climate change leading to desertification. I will not go into what is covered in the article but suffice to say that it is very exciting and hopeful for not only the Sinai desert, but it seems, for the climate and weather of a much wider region if the scheme can be implemented and it suceeds!

The Loess plateau, in China, in 2007,
The Loess plateau, in China, in 2007, left, and transformed into green valleys and 
productive farmland in 2019. Composite: Rex/Shutterstock/Xinhua/Ala


The following chapter deepens the mystery of the train wreck and also tells us more about life on Hawaii 2. Please comment with any opinions good or bad – you have no idea how much I value feedback at this stage…

Chapter 5
Investigations

The investigator was conspicuous by the plainness of his outfit. He wore a grey, casual suit with a crew cut T-shirt beneath which was in such contrast to the exuberant fashions typical on Hawaii 2 for virtually everyone outside of specific work-wear, that it alone marked the man as almost certainly an off-worlder. Furthermore, he was pale of complexion and while he could have been from the far north or south of the Continent he was certainly not from the capital or anywhere near it’s latitude, and yet was clearly an urban creature.

“Thank you for seeing me Mr Gulliver and I am very sorry for your loss, although I understand you are to be congratulated on becoming a father!”
“Thank you, Mr…?”
“Inspector James, External Affairs for Hawaii 1.!
Jack responded curtly but within the bounds of politeness.
“What can I do for you Inspector James.  Actually, I wasn’t expecting you till tomorrow.”
“Yes indeed, that was the original plan, but I hope this is not inconvenient to you?”

“It might as well be now as tomorrow.” said Jack. Come in and sit down but we will have to keep our voices down as my son is asleep just there.” Jack indicated the cot where Douglas had just gone to sleep.

“I am sure it must be very painful to contemplate the events of seven months ago, although for you, it can only seem like what – five weeks, for you.”
“From when I regained consciousness you mean.”
“Indeed Mr Gulliver it must have not just a terrible shock but well, a whole series of shocks!”
Despite his reluctance to poke around in his feelings of loss, which were allowing him a little more space each day, for, if not exactly happiness, then at least some degree of calmness, Jack started to warm to the inspector his appearance was softly open and his demeanour evidenced by the tone of his questions, seemed genuinely sympathetic
“You’re right, a series of shocks.”
“I don’t want to stir up memories more than I have to, but we are really stuck over the bomb on the train, I mean as to who might have planted it and why.”
“A bomb!” exclaimed Jack “But I thought it was a gas explosion in the kitchen of the Buffet Car!” Jack lent back in his armchair, his hands and arms rigid and outstretched gripping the armrests until his knuckles were white.

Despite the softness of his approach the investigator was shrewdly appraising Jack’s reactions. It was a subject of much debate amongst his colleagues as to whether it was possible to judge reliably, whether a person was lying or not. The investigator believed that it was not. He did believe however, that many unconscious elements of body language did not lie and he had deliberately dropped this bombshell on Jack to see how he would react. He was able to observe Jack freely as in his rigid pose he was looking straight ahead but gazing internally rather than at the view beyond the window where is unfocused eyes appeared to be looking. The investigator judged that this was a complete surprise to Jack which confirmed what his background research had indicated – there was no motive or means for Jack to have been the bomber. Quite the opposite in fact. Going to the space lift to meet his lovely young wife after a separation of some months, their whole lives in front of them – very long odds! Besides it was more or less a miracle that the two of them had survived at all let alone in a coma, so close to the blast had they been that if one of them were the bomber, it would have been a suicide mission and would a suicide bomber not have self-detonated a bomb to be sure of instant, painless oblivion? No, he had early in the investigation ruled out Jack and Anna as suspects as well as dismissing as unlikely, the possibility of suicide bombers, although it was possible the bomber might still have been on the train. There was nobody in the Buffet Car since it had closed except for Jack and Anna who were in the toilet. This was a tricky case in no mistake – a bombing with no apparent motive and responsibility for which had not been claimed by any organisation or individual, nevertheless if one could eliminate any possibilities then it brought one closer to the truth or, as they might be forced to accept in the end, the probability of some other solution. As the investigator reached this point in his thoughts for what seemed like the umpteenth time in the last seven months Jack turned to him and asked

“Why did the newscasts say it was a gas explosion if it was a bomb and how do youknow it was?”

“Two good questions Mr Gulliver. I’ll answer the second one first as it’s easy. Forensics! A gas explosion would have been a slower explosion a rolling wave with a different pattern of destruction and burning not to mention different chemical residues. The residues are consistent with the Gelnex, a common enough explosive in mining, quarrying and civil engineering projects – but also simple enough to make from innocuous, easy to obtain ingredients, so it could have been a terrorist home-made device or could have been stolen from a legitimate user such as a quarry. Forensics are good but in this case not good enough to tell the difference between home-made and manufactured so we have had to resort to old-fashioned legwork. The thing is, no thefts of Gelnex have been reported anywhere on Hawaii 2 and the Rangers have gone over the inventory of every registered user with a fine-tooth comb. Nada! Actually, it very nearly could have been a gas explosion as the bomb was planted right next to the gas bottle If that had gone up I’m afraid that you and your son over there,” he gestured at Douglas asleep in his cot, “would certainly not be here today. Luckily those gas bottles are very tough, and it blew away from the bomb but didn’t rupture.”

As always with technical explanations. Jack glazed over slightly and in any case he was more interested in the human aspects of the story.

“So why did the newscasts get it wrong then?”
“Because that’s what we told them,” said Inspector James quietly. ”Firstly, when the preliminary investigation by the Rangers here on Hawaii 2 gave no clues as to why or who, and as no person or group had claimed responsibility, your President and the Rangers decided to call for external help – that’s me – and to put out the gas explosion story partly to alleviate public fears but also in the hope that by putting out a falsehood, it might tip the perpetrators into claiming responsibility after all.”
“But if someone set a bomb, then it was presumably for a purpose, like – like blackmail or extortion or to make a political point. Why wouldn’t they announce it?” send Jack who it appeared, was becoming gripped by the whole mystery. Not surprisingly, thought the investigator – who wouldn’t want to know how and why you lost your wife and six months out of your life!
“That is the million credit question Mr Gulliver.”
“Jack! Call me Jack!”
“Okay Jack. You’re right, you would imagine that if the motive was political, religious or ideological, that the terrorists would have claimed responsibility. In fact, in the very few instances of terrorism on the homeworlds, typically more than one group claim to have done it. Like your late wife, I also study the Earth Data Matrix for the information on my own field and it is very rare for a group to commit an act of terrorism and then chicken out or decide that for some reason they won’t take the credit for the act. By the time they commit the act they have too much invested in the whole plan including the follow-up.”
“Okay so it’s not terrorists – what about criminals?”
“Well Jack we still can’t completely rule out terrorism but we are looking at other lines of enquiry more strongly. Now if someone wanted to blackmail the rail company to extort money from them then this would have been pretty effective, a ‘Look what we can do!’ statement. We have thoroughly questioned the rail company and in fact they not only deny being approached with any demands, but they are in dire straits with regards to insurance. The insurance company will not pay out on a terrorist incident although strangely an act of God, whatever that might be and which this definitely is not, would qualify. We had to let them know on the promise of keeping it secret, that it was a bomb but unless a blackmailer comes forward which again, they will cover well – they, let’s just say they prefer the idea of a terrorist as it let’s them off the hook.” The investigator paused for a moment as if gathering his thoughts.
“Jack the reason I am telling you all of this, especially the truth about the bomb, it’s because we are desperately hoping you might be able to help us move this investigation along.”
“Me, Inspector – how can I help you?”
“Well firstly, we were hoping there might be some details you remember from before the explosion.”
“I’m sorry but I don’t remember much at all.”
“Why did you go to the Buffet Car Jack?”
“Well Anna was thirsty so although I said we would soon be arriving back at Grand Central she wanted a bottle of water, and we were only in the next but one carriage so we went to try, but when we got there, there was nobody behind the counter. I would have climbed over to get a bottle for her but then Anna said to wait till we arrived.”
“I see, and you didn’t see anyone in or leaving the Buffet Car?
Jack thought hard.
“Actually someone did leave as we went in. In fact, I think it might have been the attendant because I remember he had a white jacket like a chef.”
“Well that ties in with what another passenger said. He asked the attendant how long it would be till Grand Central. Unfortunately, as he was still walking towards the rear of the train when the explosion happened he was among the dead. We don’t know why he left his post. So then what happened, how did you end up in the toilet together?”
Jack blushed slightly.
“Okay, so after we found the buffet car closed Anna suddenly said she needed the toilet – it was only two or three steps away and I pushed in behind her and slapped the door lock. She was cross and asked why I haven’t waited outside?”
“Lucky for both of you that you didn’t!”
“It doesn’t feel lucky when she died anyway.” Jack suddenly collapsed inwards under a wave of remorse.
“Well they say that your body was between Anna and the blast and although she hit her head badly you cushioned her body from the explosion and probably saved the life of your son.”
“Yes, they did tell me that in the hospital.”
“So why did you go in with Anna if you don’t mind my asking?”
“Oh it was silliness really. We had just been apart for three months and I didn’t want to be apart even for a moment and besides I wanted to kiss her – and not the way you can do in front of a carriage full of people. I knew she didn’t mind having a pee in front of me but she then said she felt sick and that is something she didn’t like doing in front of me or anyone else, so I turned to go out again and that’s the last thing I remember!”
“Thank you Jack, that has cleared up a few blanks in my timeline of what happened on the train.”
The investigator sat quietly for a few minutes looking out at the view from the treehouse. Eventually he said “You know one hears a lot of imaginings on the other home-worlds about life on Hawaii 2 – mostly wrong! Like the idea that nobody has to work, so people imagine you all sit around doing nothing. That’s because they do have to work otherwise they don’t get paid, no pay – no food or rent or heating. They dream of retirement or winning the lottery so they won’t have to work anymore. It’s only when you come here that you see the truth, which is actually so much better than those fantasies. In fact, my first impression was of even greater industriousness – people working longer hours than the standard week because they enjoy their work so much and if someone finds they don’t enjoy the path they have chosen, then nobody criticizes them for wanting to change jobs. Nobody considers the training and work time wasted – the chances are that when the person enters a new occupation, they will bring transferable skills even new insights that they might not have had if they hadn’t worked in the other job first. Sorry – you know all of that anyway, but you may not realise what it’s like elsewhere. On Hawaii 1 you get your college course paid for upfront, but you have to pay it back when you are working and woe betide you if you don’t enjoy the job that it leads to, because you won’t be given a second chance with a different course. They know that people will take years to pay back one set of fees let alone two.”
“That sounds terrible!” said Jack.
“It’s not just the work choice or all the extra productivity because you enjoy your work that’s let you build such a beautiful world. Take the treehouse that you’ve built – the only thing remotely like this on Hawaii 1 are luxury hotels where the very rich can go for holidays and even fewer homes for the super-rich. How do you finance something like this anyway, at your age? If it’s not too nosey, I am curious as to how things work here.”

“You’re welcome Inspector James, I’m glad you like it. Well as you probably know we each get paid a basic stipend whether we work or not. Once Anna and I started living together there were some economies of scale and we were able to save a little. Then friends would come and do a bit of work and the “professional” help we needed was minimal, and in any case, you don’t pay for their labour because they to get their stipend too which goes up with age and skill levels. We get grants for the materials – everybody has to live somewhere after all and they are age-related – you can’t get enough to build a palace when you’re only 20 years old but you go on getting increasing grants so we, I mean I, will be able to add more to the house over time if I need to.”
“And you don’t have to pay those grants back at all?”
“No and we don’t even pay it back through taxation, we get paid what we need and we work as hard as we like!”
“What if there is a job nobody wants to do say cleaning up the sewers?”

“That doesn’t seem to happen very often, I suppose people know those jobs have to be done and someone just seems to come forward. Sometimes there is a shortage of a particular skill in one area and a surfeit in another so people are made aware on bulletin boards and somebody decides to move and fill the gap. It all seems to work out.”
“Fascinating!” said the investigator. “You know there is just one aspect of the train wreck that I still need to ask you about. How much do you know about your wife’s research?”
“Anna’s research! What could that possibly have to do with the bomb?”
Jack had been lulled by the conversation about life on Hawaii 2, into thinking that the investigator had finished his questioning, but this idea shocked him like a bucket of cold water. The investigator noted how raw Jack’s reaction was and proceeded carefully.
“I am not saying it has any connection to the bomb, it’s just that we are seven months on and none of the avenues of investigation I have told you about have yielded anything. We are no closer to understanding the who orthe why of it and believe me – we have been thorough. This is an atrocity that would have been serious on any of the home-worlds but here on Hawaii 2, especially once one has been here and experienced the life, well it’s even more unexpected and incomprehensible and that’s why we can leave no stone unturned in the investigation. Your wife’s research may not have anything to do with the event, but we have to ask I’m afraid, and I am deeply sorry to trouble you so with it, Jack!”
Jack who had tensed up again, relaxed slightly and thought about what the Inspector had said. Eventually he replied.”
“I knew she was very excited about the idea of ramjets – you’ve heard of them?”
“I have read her application for the research grant to travel to Hawaii 1. Did you know that’s her work had been classified as secret?”
“Secret!” Jack parroted, shaking his head in bemusement. “Secret from whom?”
“Secret from everyone, even you, but I’m guessing she must have told you something about it even if she didn’t mention it had been classified.”
“No, no, not at all! I do know she was excited by it and that she thought it could change everything for Hawaii 2”
“She told you that, but she didn’t say that you should not mention it to anyone else?”
“No she didn’t and, well, yes, she did tell me how it could change things, but I didn’t think much about, it, I had a lot of things on my mind. I wanted to finish the house completely whilst she was away so that we could start a family and she wouldn’t ever go away again for so long. Then too I was thinking about what work I might want to do when the house was finished. You can get a house ninety-eight percent finished in a year but that last two percent can take you years to get done – I am quite a perfectionist I find, and Anna being away was a good chance to get everything completed. You know how it is, you can leave your tools out overnight if a job is not finished and please yourself what hours you keep!”
“I am afraid I am not much of a DIY person Jack and I am very impressed that you have achieved this incredible house as your first major project – I wouldn’t know where to begin!”
“Thank you Inspector, I did find I had an aptitude for the work and the design aspects and it was the direction I was thinking of taking when Anna got back and we start a family. Now I am responsible for Douglas, I don’t know what is going to happen…”
“You have not had much time to come to terms with things, but whilst I am no builder, I do have a family. The children are nearly grown up now but I can tell you that these early months are ones that men often miss out on especially on the other home worlds where the demands of work are more rigid you have had a terrible loss but at least Douglas has his father to look after him and you will treasure this time I promise you,”
Tears were running down Jack’s face and he said nothing for a bit before apologizing as a host and taking himself off to the kitchen area around the other side of the great tree trunk that was central to the living area to make tea for himself and his guest. His mother and Anna’s Sister Chloe were keeping out of the way whilst the investigator talked to Jack although keeping an ear out in case Douglas awoke and they needed to relieve Jack of dealing with his son. When Jack returned with the tea and a plate of small cakes that his mother had made, he found the investigator standing at the bounding balcony wall looking out into the canopy and down to the forest floor. He thanked Jack for the proffered mug of tea but made no move to return to his seat and the two of them stood looking out in silence for a few minutes. It was the investigator who spoke first.
“You know I still can’t shake the feeling that I am dealing with a rich man – the owner of a luxury house instead of a young man who didn’t attend much college and built his own home with grants and help from friends!” he said shaking his head in gentle disbelief.
“Rich and poor don’t mean much here on Hawaii 2 – at least in money terms. I suppose in terms of experiences friendship and opportunity then we are all rich here.” Jack said thoughtfully and when you lose someone like Anna you realise just how rich you were.” His voice had choked up a little but he held back the tears this time.
The investigator returned to his chair and Jack followed offering him one of the little cakes which he sampled and pronounced delicious before returning to the investigation.
“So you were very busy whilst Anna was away?”
“Yes I was. I didn’t go out much except to do some shopping and Anna had stocked up the cupboards before she went. I can cook for myself but I hate shopping!”
“So you didn’t talk to anyone about the work Anna was researching?”
“No I didn’t share her enthusiasm for the history of technology and neither did any of our friends – they are more into the Arts.”
“Maybe that’s why she didn’t mention that’s it was classified or tell you not to discuss it with anyone.”
“I guess you’re right, I mean if she had said that I might have taken it more seriously. I heard her say it could change everything, but I didn’t think that much about it, I suppose I was waiting to hear more about it when she got back, after all the was no guarantee she would find any more details about it at all.”
“That’s true. So did she say anything to you when you were on the train?”
“She said she had a lot to tell me but she wanted to wait till we got home. I assumed that was about the work at the time and that didn’t interest me much. I wanted to get her home for other reasons!” Jack blushed again although this older man was somebody who made it easy to talk to about even the most intimate aspects of life.
“Since I woke up again I thought it was probably the pregnancy she was talking about and when I remember those last minutes I imagined that was why she was feeling sick and I haven’t even thought of her work until now, I suppose we will never know now whether she succeeded.
“Well. there was no sign of a computer amongst other belongings on the train. Could someone have taken it when you went to the buffet car?”
“Oh no she didn’t take a computer with her it would have been far too much weight for her allowance on the space lift.”
“Of course silly of me but then what about her work, how did she carry it with her?”
“Oh, she had a memory chip. I bought it especially for her it was concealed in a pendant. Anna hated carrying a computer around, even here. So when she went to the university, I bought the pendant and she brought her work home on that.”
“Really Jack, and have you got the pendant?”
“Well yes, although I very nearly left it around her neck when we buried her last week. I took it off her at the last minute because I thought there might be some pictures of her on Hawaii 1 and although I couldn’t face looking for them at the time, I thought I might get round to it eventually. Besides although she was touched by my gift as a way of saving carrying her computer around and it was perfect for the trip into space, it wasn’t her favourite pendant, so we swapped it for the one she liked best,”
The investigator could see that emotion was clearly threatening to overwhelm Jack again but he himself was struggling to suppress his excitement at the news of the pendant. Eventually he asked, “Could I see the pendant please?”
“Of course!” Jack said, “I will go and fetch it.” It only took a minute or two for Jack to go up to his bedroom and retrieve the pendant, but by the time he returned Douglas was waking up and handing the disguised memory chip to the investigator, Jack went to pick Douglas up before he entered full crying mode. Thus distracted, he barely registered the investigator’s remarks.
“Do you mind if I take this away to be analysed Jack, I will return it to you tomorrow, albeit with any classified material removed.”
Douglas had had an unusually long sleep whilst his father and the investigator had talked, and he was now both hungry and the wearer of a soiled nappy. In short, he was not a happy baby and he let Jack know in time-honoured fashion at the top of his powerful lungs. Jack’s mother appeared and relieved Jack of Douglas but in the confusion, the investigator made excuses and left without ever getting an affirmative answer to his last question of permission and Jack did not really register the fact till the next day.

 ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤

 “My name is Inspector James you must be Jack! Thank you for seeing me,” Said the man at the entrance the next morning.

“What!” Said Jack. “You can’t be! Inspector James was here yesterday! Show me that ID!” Jack gestured at the photo ID card hanging from a ribbon around the visitor’s neck. He proffered it to Jack who compared the picture to the stranger and looked at the computer complex security holograms on the card.
“I think there’s been some sort of mistake…” Jack said.

F is for Fiction (Science amongst others)

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 For the sake of pairing some of these adjuncts to the novel alongside their respective chapters, I am taking liberties with the Alphabet for the next couple of days and so we come to F and not D…


My goal in the 2021 A2Z Challenge is to complete a novel I started a few years ago but which has languished for lack of love (writing!). Each Post, daily in April (Sundays excepted), will consist of some aspect of the novel plus a chapter from it. I hope that the Alphabetical items will give a bit of extra background, muse on the writing process, but most of all, help me develop certain ideas to improve the novel. Some 12 chapters are already written so I have a bit of a head start…
Please comment with any opinions good or bad – you have no idea how much I need feedback at this stage…

I have no time for people who say that they don’t read fiction – a slight sneer implicit in their assertion, as if they regard fiction as pointless and only non-fiction as worthwhile because it is true – factual. Such a limited understanding get’s my goat. The philosophy of Science as posited by Karl Popper tells us that there is no such thing as truth, absolute and unassailable for there is always the possibility that in some place in the universe, that “truth” will not hold and the best we can hope for, is to eliminate what is untrue and thus move towards the truth – whilst never actually arriving…

Fiction makes no such claim to truth and it’s raison d’etre is entirely other. Human beings are arguably defined by their story-telling – even if it is a by-product of our big brains – an unintended consequence of other evolved characteristics – if you can remember experiences and describe them to others – who is to say that what you say is true and not a complete fiction…

Science Fiction, or Speculative Fiction, is given licence to spin fantasies that are literally out of this world and they are, in consequence, allowed to be longer than other novels to allow for all the descriptions of new worlds. An ordinary novel (and of course there can be exceptions) is usually expected to be around 90,000 words whilst a science fiction novel may be allowed 120,000 or even more.

But the real reason why fiction, of any kind, is important, is that it takes us to new places and especially – it takes us inside another person’s head and shows us the world through their eyes, gives us a hint as to what it might be like to experience the world as that person. That said, the experience is filtered, mediated, shaped by the author of the fiction and who is to say that a man can or cannot imagine what it is like to be a woman or vice versa, what it’s like to have mental health issues, be rich or poor, what the other side of the world is like let alone what other worlds might be like.

So we embark on reading fiction trusting ourselves to our author/guide not to play tricks on us (unless they be enjoyable ones), to be coherent, to entertain us and most of all, to make us want to carry on to the end in order to find out what happens…

No time for fiction – merde!

Today’s chapter deals with a man continuing to deal with his world having changed utterly as well as telling us more about Hawaii 2 and Jack and Anna’s home there. What do you think, is it plausible? Please comment whether on this chapter or the whole story so far…

PinkStock Photos, D. Sharon Pruitt, CC BY 2.0   

<https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Chapter 4
New Directions.

Jack and Douglas were back home together with Jack’s mother and a sister of Anna’s. It had been a painful return for Jack with all the reminders of his life with Anna and in particular, the return he had been anticipating following her trip to Hawaii 1. His mother had been staying at the house whilst Jack was in hospital as her own home was halfway across the continent in the cooler north and she had long ago taken down the more poignant reminders like the “Welcome Home” banner Jack had hung across the living room.
Jack and Anna had spent much of the first two years of married life building their home as many chose to do on Hawaii 2 and had built for a future in which they anticipated raising a family so there were several spare bedrooms as well as the little nursery space just off the main bedroom.
In a parallel to Earth there were coasts that were home to vast numbers of seabirds who fed on fish that boomed in the mineral rich currants that flowed up from the polar regions. The guano from these birds was mined early on in the colony’s development as it had been on Earth and used as a fertilizer, Brought in through the port of New Orleans it was combined with water from the mighty river to “green” the desert along the northern fringes of the New Sahara with forest species from native rainforest.
This project which had begun in the early years of the economy settlement had begun with a higher gantry of sprinklers to water the nascent forest but as time went on the forest began to change the very climate of the planet and rain was generated throughout the latitude and water abstraction from the great river reduced. Now the process of forest spreading into the New Sahara fringes was proceeding of its own accord.
Where Hawaii 2 differed significantly from Earth was that all the continental land mass was one in one piece bar a scattering of islands where volcanic mounts reached up through the vastness of the deep ocean that covered forty-five percent of the planet. Earth’s ancient Gondwanaland had been similar but this piece of data was one that had been lost to mankind, or at least, if it still existed in the fragmented data rescues from the dying Earth, it had not yet been found again. The mighty river which drained more than half the area of the Continent was not named the Mississippi after the river on which the original New Orleans was located but rather the Euphrates whose status as the possible location of the mythical Garden of Eden was a story that hadsurvived in multiple locations within the data matrix. This was because of the myth being the first story in the Bible the major document of one of the Earth’s great trees of religion the Judeo/ Christian/ Islamic tree and these religions had been carried out to the home worlds where they had evolved only slightly over the thousand years that man had been making his home among the stars.
So it was fitting that the rainforest project that surrounded New Orleans and had been so successful as a venture in climate change should be entitled the Garden of Eden. Interspersed with blocks of forest were plantations growing a mixture of tropical fruits both native to Hawaii 2 and from Earth but also crops such as rubber and palm oil which were used in various manufacturing processes. Many plastics on the home-world were made from renewable, carbon-neutral crops rather than the fossil fuels of Earth’s murky past that had led to The Destruction. It was not that fossil fuels did not exist on Hawaii 2 but their use was much more circumspect given the lesson of history and the new technologies that had been developed to avoid the use of hydro-carbons. If the original intent in colonising Hawaii 2 had been as a social experiment, it had turned out to be as much a model exercise in environmental practice too, geo-forming the world to reclaim the desert, making sure that the imported plants fit well defined niches and did not become weeds – genetically engineering them if necessary, to make sure they did not flourish like weeds. There were no high functioning sentient beings to take into account and most of the plants and animals were analogous to Earth species and their eco-systems, so it was decided that any amount of change to the planet was permissible as long as the choices made were sustainable…
By the time Jack and Anna built the tree-house, some 80 clicks from New Orleans, the trees were some 80 years old and it was amongst the buttress roots of the tree that supported the house that Anna’s body was laid to rest. She and Jack had talked about this idea for their final resting places but with the blindness of youth never imagining that the occasion might come so soon for either of them. Everybody on Hawaii 2 was buried in the soil except for members of a few religious sects who adhered to the ritual of cremation, or those who donated their bodies for Medical Research. The idea of nature recycling the mortal remains was mostly accepted as the best way and in Anna and Jack’s case, the idea that they would literally be incorporated into the fabric of the tree that they hoped the Descendants would continue to live in lent a special poignancy to the idea of supporting your family. If only it hadn’t come so soon thought Jack as they ascended to the house again following the burial ceremony. The house was thronged with friends and relations for the day, though most of them left before nightfall there being limited accommodation for such numbers nevertheless the coming together of so many people to offer their support and their memories of Anna was enormously sustaining for Jack, In particular he found that he was connected more strongly again to his life with Anna and before that even, a life from which he had felt curiously detached by the hiatus of his six month absence from the world lost in a coma. Being more connected to his memories of Anna allowed him to integrate young Douglas into the shared plans he and Anna had made. He had done more work on the house partly because he was physically more able but also because it interested him more than it did Anna whilst she was desirous to return to her studies of the history of technology. Towards the end of the house construction when it was mostly a snagging work, Anna had done just that and rapidly won the award of the research trip back to Hawaii 1 to search for data on the RAM jets that she believed she could make so much difference to Hawaii 2. The plan was that she would try and wrap up this research in the one trip and that on her return, house complete, she and Jack would start a family. Some of that Jack reflected ruefully, had come to pass and some most definitely had not. Another part of the plan had been that he would look for a job once Anna was pregnant, although there was no compulsion to work at all on Hawaii 2, everybody got given an allowance sufficient to keep body and soul together – most people did work, except for brief periods between jobs or when they were young and uncertain which direction to take. Jack had really enjoyed building the house and had been starting to think of a career in construction, engineering, or design, however, his science and maths skills probably precluded the last two and he would have ended up in construction. Now he had to think about Douglas. He couldn’t count on his mother or Anna’s sister continuing to live with him or offer the level of support that they had been whilst his strength was mending although neither of them had hinted at any time limits to their help. For a few weeks then, things drifted on as a routine evolved around Douglas and Jack, the two women sensitively deferring to the needs of father and son bonding as much as possible, nevertheless, they were as doting as any female relatives could be to both males and were clearly in no hurry to leave. And so it might have gone on indefinitely, or so it felt to Jack if it had not been for the visit one day, of an investigator.
Like many cities and features on the planet such as New London or the New Sahara, the capital of Hawaii 2, New Orleans celebrated the name of a city on Earth except that in the case of New Orleans, the “new” had been part of the original’s epithet. Picked because like Earth’s New Orleans, the city was built near the Delta of a mighty river and so like its namesake, the capital was an ideal staging post between ocean and river traffic. Without jet engines it was not only passenger planes but air freight that was not possible or at least jet powered, high speed freight. There was a redevelopment of airships which could carry freight wherever there were no navigable rivers that could be used as freight ways, but both airship and barge transport were slow and the settlers of Hawaii 2 adjusted their expectations accordingly. Many felt that the slower pace of transport had a beneficial effect on life generally and that other Home Worlds were frenetic by comparison and the people correspondingly stressed.
The house that Jack had built was in fact a tree-house, built around the still spreading trunk of one of the first trees to be planted in the Garden of Eden. The main living areas were on one contiguous level just below the point at which the branches forked away from the trunk and headed up into the canopy. The bedrooms above were built separately on different branches, but their floors extended and overlapped giving complete cover to the main floor below. An intricate system of gutters carried water into cisterns which the regular daily rains kept more than sufficiently topped up to supply the household’s needs. The climate was sufficiently equatorial to give a constancy of temperature further cushioned against extremes by the enveloping forest canopy so that only rolling screens were necessary to close the gap between ceiling and half-height walls around the edges of each platform. The judicious removal of a couple of branches not only allowed direct sunlight in early and late on in the day but opened some views out over the forest, the supporting tree being located on slightly higher ground within the forest. Most of the rain-forest ecology had been introduced into the newly formed forest, fortunately there were no dangerous predators and, in any case, the house was protected by motion-activated ultra-sonic animal repellents that kept those monkey-like creature that might become a nuisance from getting too close. The sounds of wildlife surrounded the house and gave it a truly enchanting atmosphere.

E is for Eden and the Euphrates

humanist55

 

For the sake of pairing some of these adjuncts to the novel alongside their respective chapters, I am taking liberties with the Alphabet for the next couple of days and so we come to E and not C…

My goal in the 2021 A2Z Challenge is to complete a novel I started a few years ago but which has languished for lack of love (writing!). Each Post, daily in April (Sundays excepted), will consist of some aspect of the novel plus a chapter from it. I hope that the Alphabetical items will give a bit of extra background, muse on the writing process, but most of all, help me develop certain ideas to improve the novel. Some 12 chapters are already written so I have a bit of a head start…
Please comment with any opinions good or bad – you have no idea how much I need feedback at this stage…

 

We learn in Chapter 4 of “Train Wreck”, that the capital of Hawaii 2 is called New Orleans because of its location on the delta of a great river but that “The mighty river which drained more than half the area of the continent was not named the Mississippi after the river on which the original New Orleans was located but rather the Euphrates whose status as the possible location of the mythical Garden of Eden was a story that had survived”.

Arguably, Hawaii 2, might well rather have been named Eden instead – but more of that in a later post – Hawaii 2 it was and it is only in naming its great river Euphrates, that tribute is paid to the Eden story. Naturally, one book that did survive the journey to the stars – in the last days of old Earth – was the Bible, as did the sacred works of all the great religions, even if they were carried forth by individuals, as digital editions, as we saw in the previous post.

To understand why Hawaii 2 might have been considered a veritable Garden of Eden, before and most certainly after the climate-altering activities of the settlers (changes for the best) – we may consider this quote from the seventeenth century poet, Andrew Marvel, from his poem, appropriately called “The Garden”.

“What wond’rous life in this I lead!

Ripe apples drop about my head;

The luscious clusters of the vine

Upon my mouth do crush their wine;

The nectarine and curious peach

Into my hands themselves do reach;

Stumbling on melons as I pass,

Ensnar’d with flow’rs, I fall on grass.”

For this is almost the nature of the planet blessed with a perfect climate for agriculture, fertilised with a planetwide, gentle fertilising rain of volcanic dust – the early settlers could hardly believe their luck. Not only that, but no apex predators that would seriously threaten them and no highly sentient rivals either. Just as in the first transition of humans from hunter-gatherer to agriculturalist and pastoralist, in the original, postulated Garden of Eden, thought to have been between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in ancient Mesopotamia, the blessing of abundance liberated mankind to develop more culture and art and  assured surpluses.

There is a theory, to which I heartily subscribe, that the Garden of Eden story, is an ancient race memory of that transition. Not that hunter-gatherer society and life was lacking in culture, art and pleasant times of surplus and not that agricultural life was all plain sailing – and of course, the flaws, were all the women’s fault! It’s easy to see how, whilst the men went off hunting for a few days, came back, cock-of-the-roost and feasted, and lay about for a few days before swanning off with their mates for another hunt – the women, left babysitting and child-minding, had to go off into the bush and gather food for all they were worth, both to feed themselves, and garnish the next feast.

What this lifestyle did give the women, was the time to develop a profound understanding of the workings of plants and natural phenomena like weather and seasons. When did it click that instead of searching an area for the edible grains, it was possible to keep the seeds and plant them in one place and produce a crop. Just one snag… Other creatures could take advantage of this unnatural abundance and so it was necessary to guard the putative crop. So now, instead of the life of Reilly, hunting with your besties, man was forced to “work by the sweat of his brow” – ploughing, planting, guarding, weeding and de-pesting before finally harvesting. A similar story can be told about animal husbandry. Some, might not have found this a good trade and they might have accused the women of “eating from the Tree of Knowledge” and characterized this as a sin against God’s word…

Still, by and large, farming caught on, though a terrible rash of grumblers than farmers it’s hard to find, women kept quiet about their part in the innovation and eventually, after some thousands of years of stability under agriculture, the Urban revolution followed as night follows day. The development of human activity seems to have been long plateaux of stability followed by brief revolutions that change the face of human existence and the mystery, in hindsight, is what took them so long.

What does seem to be the case is that, with the benefit of hindsight for the terrible demise of Earth, and with the carefully balanced introduction of Earth species both of plants and their concomitant pollinators, plus the judicious use of native plants and fruits, and the very careful planning of settlements and transport links, a veritable Garden of Eden was established with remarkable ease and the promise of great stability.

Of course, that is – if nobody upsets the apple cart…

The previous chapter laid out the premise of what is unique about Hawaii 2 and why it is so suitable for a Utopian experiment. Throughout the novel there is a mixture of technical stuff, history and in the last chapter, even a bit of sex thrown in – by no means gratuitously I hasten to add. The next chapter is purely  the human story – so my question to you, Dear Reader, is this – does it work? Is there a balance between exposition and conversation – human narrative and science fiction? Please comment…

Chapter 3
Loss and Gain.

The nurses and Doctor made themselves scarce as quickly as they could leaving Jack alone with his mother and the baby who with no further ado, she tucked into the crook of Jack’s arm. The baby lay calmly and looked up at him whilst he, feeling anything but calm inside was mesmerized by its gaze. Eventually, he looked up at his mother and asked “Where’s Anna? I don’t understand!”
His mother sat down on the edge of the bed.
“You have been in hospital in a coma for a long time, six months in fact! What’s the last thing you remember?”
Jack thought for a moment. “I was on the train. I went to meet Anna at the space lift. Where is she mum? How can this be my baby – Anna wasn’t pregnant!”
Jack’s agitation conveys itself to the baby even though his body has scarcely moved so weak was it after 6 months of immobility. His mother gently removes the baby and soothes it – the necessary pause while she does this soothes her son also.
“Anna must have got pregnant just before she left for her trip. She hadn’t told you?”
“No, though she said she had something special to tell me but she wanted to wait till we got home. She did look a bit different come to think of it.”
“Jack I have some bad news.” She paused to let it sink in. “There was an explosion on the train. You and Anna were nearest to the seat of it and were lucky to survive. You were both in the toilet and it’s what saved you. They brought you both here and mended all the bones and gashes but you both remained in a coma. They found out Anna was pregnant and that the baby was okay, growing in fact and they put you in a room together. I, your brothers and sister, Anna’s family and friends of the two of you came to talk to both of you, play music and hold your hands hoping you would wake up. The doctors are so good these days with physical things but when it comes to the brain sometimes you just have to wait – old school.”
She stood with the baby leaning into her shoulder, twisting from side to side and rubbing its back gently – willing it to sleep.
“The doctor’s hoped that when the baby was full-term that Anna might wake up going into labour but allowing a few days before she left Hawaii once she reached nine months and nothing happened, they had to perform a C-section Jack I am so sorry – but she never recovered after the operation it was as if the body had kept the baby alive and growing but once it was born she had nothing left.”
Jack had realised what was coming before she said it but the shock of hearing the words brought a strangled cry from him and then tears coursed down his face. His mother laid the baby down in a cot at the other side of Jack’s bed and then sat on his bed and gathered him into her arms.

¤ ¤ ¤ ¤

It was a few days later when the doctors having made their rounds and, declaring themselves “very happy” with Jack’s progress, Jack and his mother sat talking. The last few days had been busy with nurses fussing and feeding him and eventually freeing him of catheters drips and monitors.
“You know Mum I know it sounds funny, but if it had been a girl, I think I would have felt quite differently. It would have been as if I lost Anna but got a part of her back – a new little Anna. But being a boy, it feels like we have both lost everything – a wife and a mother.”
“But you do have each other don’t you.”
“Yes Mum, it feels like we’re in it together.”
“You are going to be a wonderful dad, Jack. Anna would have been so proud of you!” She saw the tears well up and could have bitten off her tongue! Oh! I’m sorry love, I didn’t mean to …!
“It’s alright Mum I know you didn’t…
They sat in silence for a minute.
“You know Jack, there is one very important task that can’t wait any longer! The baby needs a name – we can’t go on calling it “It” now can we?”
Jack was silent for a moment and reaching for his mother’s hand he said
“Would you mind if we called him after Anna’s Dad Douglas? I always liked the name, but I want her family to feel they have a real stake in his life – you know what I mean…”
“I think that’s a lovely idea Jack and of course I don’t mind. Maybe you could call him Jack for a middle name for you and for your father.”
“Of course Mum! That’s a brilliant idea and it sounds well -Douglas Jack Gulliver!”
“Well that’s sorted then! No-one wanted to name the baby, Douglas that is, until you woke up, so the poor little chat has been nameless for 3 weeks!”
“Good job I woke up then, eh?” Jack managed a smile.
“I always knew you would dear, I was certain of it!”
Jack looked down at young Douglas who was sleeping contentedly in his arms blissfully unaware of his new status as a named citizen of Hawaii 2.
“Okay Douglas, it’s you and me against the world kid!”