Writing

Q is for Questions – Dear Reader…

humanist55

 If you have been following this blog’s A2Z Challenge then you will know that I have been trying to finish a novel and publishing a chapter below each post – at least until day 15 when I ran out of completed chapters. I always planned Q to be an opportunity to question YOU, Dear Reader, so please answer one, all or none of the questions below…

  1. Do you or have you read science fiction?

  2. Who are your favourite Science Fiction Authors?

  3. Have you read any of this author’s book “Train Wreck” here on this blog?

  4. If you have, then what stands out for you?

  5. What do you not like – don’t be shy…

  6. One of the chapters introduced the topic of childhood sexual abuse, given that the book is an examination of a utopian society, were you surprised/shocked to encounter this topic in a science fiction genre and do you think it good or bad to cross boundaries?

  7. Would you like to live on Hawaii 2 and if so why?

  8. If you have been following the book – would you like to receive the rest of the chapters when they are finished? (If so please leave an email address…)

P is for Politics, politics and the Pan Human Federation…

humanist55

 My goal in the 2021 A2Z Challenge was 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), was to 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. I had 12 chapters already written at the beginning of the month but my day job has taken too much time and I have only completed another two. So although I hope to complete some more chapters before the end of April, I will continue with these posts for sure. If you have been following the novel and would like to receive the balance of the book then please leave an email in the comments…


Political party, politician, playing politics, isn’t politic -we all use the word and its adjuncts frequently, but when I came to consider the politics of Hawaii 2 in my book “Train Wreck” – I realised that I didn’t know what the real definition or etymology of the word was. Of course, Wikipedia was there, itself a form of political example since anybody may edit a definition and this has famously led to tussles with some items being repeatedly re-edited. Here then, is the definition from their very excellent article:-

“Politics (from Greek: Πολιτικά, politiká, ‘affairs of the cities’) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations between individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status…”

The  article goes on to refine the understanding of the word “politics” usage – “limited” referring only to the process of governance whilst “extensive” meaning a total view of life as it is lived, as in a feminist view of the power relationships between the sexes as in the statement “The personal is political!”

Another dichotomy over the meaning of Politics is the Moral/Realist schism. Aristotle believed that every societal dispute could be settled by discussion and never by recourse to war – an ethical approach which is strongly exemplified in Utopian ideas. Political Realists like Machiavelli and Hobbes, thought that might is right, although Bernard Crick argues that “politics is the way in which free societies are governed. Politics is politics and other forms of rule are something else.” (My emphasis).

The way I think of politics is this, there are essentially only two positions, those who believe that everyone is born with equal rights (even if differences between people sometimes mean offering them different things to fulfil that equality) and those who believe that some people are intrinsically better than others. For example, the belief of Native Americans that the land could not be owned and the view of immigrant settlers that it could, represents a conflict which was solved by political realists – the settlers ran the Native Americans off the land, and confined their non-ownership of land to small reservations. It is hard to see what kind of alternative, politically equitable settlement could have been reached between two such different peoples with their totally different political philosophies and that would have allowed a peaceful disposition of the land – in any event, power won.

In most societies, where differences in wealth, power and equality exist, my two political positions can be called Left and Right respectively, but in a utopian society, set up to avoid just such differences, there would be no need for Left and Right and true equality should prevail – Hawaii 2 is just such a utopian society.

In Ursula le Guin’s masterpiece, “The Dispossessed” – there is a similarly utopian society but what emerges is that even within a system of political equality, there can emerge a tyranny of the majority. Convention becomes oppressive and gossip, (charitably defined as a force for social cohesion) its enforcer. We do use politics with a small p to describe the machinations and manipulations, pleas and accommodations that occur between individuals and their immediate neighbours and no amount of utopian philosophy can totally eliminate certain aspects of human nature, envy, pettiness, jealousy.

The canton system of local government that exists on Hawaii 2 is described in Chapter 10 and representatives are sent to a planetwide government body and they in turn send representatives to the Pan Human Federation that is a forum, but not a government of the three worlds which humans have colonised Hawaii 1, Arctane, and Hawaii 2. But at the canton level, every member of the locality must attend at least three out of every six meetings and so the people govern themselves rather than being governed by elected representatives – something which can give rise to a class of self-interested politicians whose motives can diverge from those who they represent…

Without giving too much of a spoiler, I may hint that the solution to the mystery of “Train Wreck”, involves politics, but whether with a capital P or a small p remains to be seen…

O is for Oil in Science Fiction…

humanist55

  My goal in the 2021 A2Z Challenge was 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), was to 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. I had 12 chapters already written at the beginning of the month but my day job has taken too much time and I have only completed another two. So although I hope to complete some more chapters before the end of April, I will continue with these posts for sure. If you have been following the novel and would  like to receive the balance of the book then please leave an email in the comments…

Oil refinery at night looking very futuristic…

This post considers the oil industry and whether it would exist in any future setting.

If we had the chance to start over on some pristine planet (such as Hawaii 2 in my book “Train Wreck”) would we have an oil industry.

Firstly – this begs the question, would there be oil on other planets?
There is, in geology, a Principle of Uniformitarianism which says, in a nutshell, that processes that can occur in one place and time, can occur anywhere. So that means that all planets can evolve according to the same rules and whilst they might be different due to their size, composition, and distance from their star, all things being equal, a planet like Earth could very well exist and support carbon-based life forms including those that lead to the formation of oil deposits. If there are tree-like forms, there will be coal, if there are plants, algae and bacteria equivalents (and there almost certainly will be – at least bacteria) in seas, then there will be oil. In the course of Earth’s geological history, there have been many different ages – long periods of stability then sudden changes to quite different climate and conditions. Certain ages favoured the creation of coal (the Carboniferous period) and others that of oil as that organic material sank to the bottom of the oceans and was eventually buried and transformed into oil.

Secondly and more importantly, would we want or need to use that oil if we found it?
Crude oil is a thick, sticky substance – it can be seen at the surface at the La Brea tar-pits where it has trapped and preserved many hapless animals over time. When refined, broken down into it’s constituent parts (fractionated), crude oil yields a plethora of chemicals, from the lightest, most liquid such as petroleum and kerosene, it yields lubricants (oils), through the substances used to make plastics, to the bitumen we use to make tarmac roads. Which was handy for the evolution of the age of the motor vehicle – crude oil gave us the fuel, plastic for components as well as the material that binds the roads vehicles run on.

When I was a boy, oil reserves were synonymous with “energy” reserves, but now that we understand the consequences (unintended), of burning all those fossil fuels, we are having to regard oil as “stores of locked up carbon” – the burning of which, release carbon, as carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, back into the atmosphere. This is not new – humans have been contributing to climate change for millennia by cutting down trees either to burn for fuel, or to clear land for agriculture since trees remove CO2 from the atmosphere and lock it up.


In “Train Wreck”, the Earth, original home to the human race, now scattered across three planets, was destroyed as a habitat by a combination of climate change and other forms of pollution. The colonists are painfully aware of what human activities are capable of doing to something as large as a planetary ecosystem and ecological sciences are some of the most advanced that they carry with them to their new homes. Hence the greening of the deserts on Hawaii 2 by using tree planting and irrigation to produce a self-sustaining climate change of a positive kind!

So back to the question – if they found oil deposits on a new planet, would the use them? Well the plethora of chemicals found in oils have so many applications beyond simply using them as fuel that it is hard to resist the idea of using them. Other things besides internal combustion engines need lubricating and plant oils do not always meet the specifications. Burning fossil fuels to a limited, could be off-set by planting trees. Plastics are not he devil, but some of the uses of plastic are! The phrase “Unnecessary Plastic Objects” has never had greater resonance as we start to see micro-plastics turning up in the oceanic food chain (of which we partake) and even in the deep oceans.

If motor vehicles had not been invented at the beginning of the 20th Century, then our cities would not have sprawled such that, for those living in the suburbs, life without a car is difficult. on a new planet, planning could obviate the need for cars which besides their polluting fuels, are a huge waste of resources and more energy just to produce. But we have always had vehicles and I hardly think the new ecology of future planets would involve a return to donkeys and horse-drawn carts! What are the alternatives? Motor cars began around the same time as universal electrification, but electric cars were not a missed turning on the road to the present. In fact even in the present, electric cars are still at the expensive new tech stage and the pressure to create better batteries is intensifying – eventually they will become better and cheaper through greater mass production. But just as control of, or access to, the best oil resources has led to wars and defined the political geography of Earth in the 20th Century, so access or control of the Rare Earths needed for the new tech may occupy a similar place in the 21st Century. China recognised the possibilities of the deposits within its territories and developed the industry so that it now supplies 55% of the world’s current demand. It turns out that these “rare” earths are actually quite common at the bottom of the deep oceans but you can imagine the environmentalist alarm at the suggestion that mining those would obviate dependence on China…

So there you go, the skinny on oil in science fiction because I cannot remember any science fiction book which referred to oil production (please correct me if I am wrong) – generally speaking, science fiction writers prefer futuristic magical thinking – flying cars, for example, that defy the laws of physics as we currently understand them. It has given me peculiar pleasure to use “Principle of Uniformitarianism” as a tag…



N is for Naming of Parts…

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…


Names are important! Names mean something or several things and when a person or object has several names, meanings multiply and that’s before you take metaphorical meanings into account…

The poem Naming of Parts sticks in the mind because of that several times repeated line but also because whilst ostensibly a lecture by a sergeant, one of a series preparing soldiers to go to war, the soldier whose thoughts we are privy to, allows his attention to wander to neighbouring gardens and to the bees (and birds) – “ Japonica – Glistens like coral in all of the neighbouring gardens,” and in verse four, the symbolism is quite sexual – 

“And this you can see is the bolt. The purpose of this
Is to open the breech, as you see. We can slide it
Rapidly backwards and forwards: we call this
Easing the spring. And rapidly backwards and forwards
The early bees are assaulting and fumbling the flowers:
They call it easing the Spring.”

I considered the use of made-up languages in Science Fiction the other day, and came down – at least in my book “Train Wreck” – against the idea. But names are a different matter. They evoke things, they indicate certain things – whether consciously or unconsciously.

In “Train Wreck” our hapless hero is called Jack – an everyman sort of name – but his surname – Gulliver – is a nod to Gulliver’s Travels. Stig Johannson is a Scandinavian name – the surname indicating his father’s name which he can trace back to the bold explorer who first took a chance by landing on Hawaii 2 without the possibility of taking off again. I hope that Stig’s name reflects his pioneering ancestor. Robert Widnes – though President, has a rather bland name – appropriate to a politician, I hope.

But there are not just names for people, but places too and they also have significance. The capital – New Orleans – we are told in Chapter 4, is so called because of its similar location to the original New Orleans back on Earth, at the mouth of a vast continental river. On the long journey to the stars, the planners of Hawaii 2 had plenty of time to choose names and locations for the network of towns and cities that would make up the colonised planet. Bringing old names from “home” gives people some sense of continuity, but also says something about the new world, you wouldn’t,t call a rainforest New Sahara…

Erehwon is also a nod to the 1872 novel “Erewhon” by Samuel Butler, but in that older book, the name, though thought to be a reference to Nowhere, spelt backwards – has the h and w transposed. The people of Hawaii 2 who gave this town its more direct reversal of Nowhere, were not referencing a – to them – obscure 19th-century book, no – they made up that “joke” all by themselves! It is only you, as the reader, who may get the allusion. The Erehwon of Hawaii 2 really is the back of beyond, the place you go to disappear – Nowhere spelt backwards…

Here’s a thought though, when we name something or someone, with a name loaded with meaning, is that thing, or person ( in real life as well as in fiction), likely to be moulded by and gradually live up to the name they have been given? Take New Orleans for example. Those planners not only referenced the location of the city on its river, but they had a lot of pictures and words about the original city, a city which had long ago drowned, one of the early casualties of rising sea levels and extreme weather events – hurricanes and the sea eventually obliterated the levees and the city itself. But the fragments of the internet taken by man to the stars, had a lot of references to old New Orleans, because it was a holiday destination! Like porn and cat videos, the internet was riddled with holiday ads and promotions – so much so, that the photographs and text were almost guaranteed to survive. It’s like those 2D barcodes, they look too complex for us to spot the patterns and repetitions, but they carry their message several times, so that if the barcode is smudged or torn, the degree of redundancy means they can still be read. The pictures of Earth’s New Orleans were so pretty, the verandahed houses so appropriate to the climate of Hawaii 2 at that location, that these styles crept into the architecture of the new world as well as the name.

The tourist destinations play another important part in developing Hawaii 2. Pictures of Iceland showed the eponymous Geysir which gave its name to all other geysers and having spotted these volcanic features on Hawaii 2, another tourist image – “The Blue Lagoon” and its origin as a cooling pond for a geothermal power station, gave the planners the idea of developing such “green” facilities on Hawaii 2. Unfortunately, the parts of the internet that gave the method for constructing these power stations, was lost – only the tourist literature remained. However, the engineers figured it out – you drill two holes down to a volcanic hot spot, pump water down one and steam emerges from the other to generate power – no carbon footprint and no ongoing cost!

Thank you for your patience as I work out these little details which may make it into the book! The chapter today, is as far as I have got with the book so far and mainly due to pressure of work from my day job, I know I will not get the book finished in the month. There may be some more chapters to come though, however, what I would like to do, if you have read along so far, is to gather email addresses of anyone who would like to receive the rest of the book as and when I finish it. Please let me know in the comments along with what you think of the story so far… 
I shall continue to do these A2Z posts as well as any new chapters I do complete so don’t go away – watch this space please…

Chapter 14

Gervald’s Story.

 

When Stig and Alex returned a while later, they found Jack assisting Katie to prepare a meal by peeling potatoes whilst she made a sauce. There was a comfortable atmosphere between them. Katie moved the saucepan off the heat and took Alex off into another room for a moment saying she had something she really needed to tell him. They were gone a while and Stig and Jack stayed in the kitchen watching over the potatoes which Jack had set to boil.
“Did you find Gervald?” Jack asked.
“We did! And it proved useful, not just about him and his story, but it may have some implications for your story too…”
“Do tell!” said Jack – they were sitting at the kitchen table sipping cans of beer.
“Alex took us to the place he thought the stranger who might be Gervald was and he was right. We snuck up on it – not easy in near desert country, but it was the right approach – Gervald was on the back veranda and he took off inside and locked the doors as soon as we showed. If we hadn’t seen him first we wouldn’t have known he was inside. He wouldn’t answer so Alex went round the front and I picked the lock.”
“Really Stig? I’ve always wanted to know how to do that! Not that many people lock their doors here but still – maybe you could give me a lesson!”
“Easy Tiger! We’ll find time one day! Anyway, I go inside but no sign of Gervald so I let Alex in and he says that Gervald hasn’t come out so we start looking round for him. I call out to him – tell him who we are and that we mean him no harm. I tell him about you and your connection to Clem and everything I know about his story as Clem told it. I ask him if he is hiding out because he is afraid of someone and I tell him we can help – that if we could find him, then someone else could do so just as easily…”
Stig goes to the fridge and fetches another bottle of beer but Jack declines the offer of one.
“Finally, at this, Gervald emerges from behind a panel in the wall – a hiding place he has constructed. He is very scared, looks out of all the windows to see if we are alone before sitting down and talking to us.”

¤ ¤ ¤ ¤


“What Clem said about me is true. I was more interested in the recreational drugs to begin with. I liked hanging out with him in his lab – which he allowed me to do once I knew him well enough. He told me his story and he encouraged me also, to go to college and study pharmacology. Gradually, I became more able to be of help to him and although I was still into getting high, I started to develop an interest in the more medical research Clem was doing.”
Gervald had calmed down a bit since he realised he wasn’t in any immediate danger and had started to tell his tale, but only after going over who Stig was – Stig had just said – “a member of the Rangers…”
“Then one day, I was in a bar one evening, Clem was away for a couple of weeks – I think he may actually have been on a trip to Hawaii 1. He didn’t share everything with me and he certainly didn’t allow me to be at his place and his lab when he wasn’t there.
These guys started talking to me, asking what I did and when I said I worked for this genius chemist, they said ‘Clem? We know all about Clem!’
I was surprised and alarm bells started ringing but they went on affably enough to say they had some business connections with Clem – were disappointed to find he was away as they had hoped to see him whilst they were passing through.
I asked them where they were from and they said Hawaii 1 and I was impressed but also surprised since I had this inkling that was where Clem had gone anyway. They asked what I was working on and said I must be busy with Clem away. I said no to the latter I explained that Clem didn’t allow me to work whilst he was away and we were never really what you’d call busy – not since Clem works at his own pace on his own projects. They seemed quite envious of that – ‘Must be nice! Where we come from, you work as hard and fast as you can because unless you’re one of the very rich, everybody is on the clock…’ Then they changed the subject for a bit.”
Clem jumped up and had another look out through all the windows as if he still wasn’t convinced that his visitors were kosher then he came and sat down and continued his story.
“It wasn’t long before they asked what I did, exactly, for Clem. I told them I was a student now and so I was more useful to Clem – to be honest, I was boasting a bit at that stage, I had downed a few drinks before these guys showed up and they kept buying… They didn’t propose anything that night , but a few weeks later, just before Clem came home, they ‘happened to be passing by’ and we had another evening drinking, I asked them about life on Hawaii 1. They said I should come and see for myself – of course – I told them there was no way I could afford a trip like that. They said I shouldn’t rule it out – they might have some work for a bright guy like me, perhaps I could set up a lab on my own and make something for them. Like a fool I asked what? They told me that they knew Clem had a new drug with no come down but that he wasn’t interested in making it for them – if I could do it, then they would buy and import the equipment needed. Of course, I knew they were talking about Sunset. I said I didn’t have the complete formula but I had done some of the testing on it. ‘But you could get the details if you wanted to…’ I told them I could and asked how much they needed, they asked how much I thought I could make. – I told them I would have to work out some figures and what equipment I would need. They gave me a mail contact to reach them – and that’s how it began.

Once they had my lab set up, they came round regularly and gradually they started to press me for odd bits of information from Clem’s computers – some of it probably wasn’t important – it just got me used to doing stuff for them. They paid generously – mostly into an account they said was ‘waiting for me on Hawaii 1’. They started to push for more information about stuff I knew Clem was more circumspect about – medical stuff – and I started to get cold feet. They didn’t get nasty, not then, in fact, they said they were going to take me to a party! I would get to meet some important people from both Hawaii 1 and 2.”

Stig had been taking notes as Gervald told his story and asking the odd question – could Gervald describe the men, what was the contact number they had given him, could he remember any specific dates he had seen them… Gervald cooperated fully, he seemed relieved to let it all out finally. He went on.
“The party was on an island, we went on the biggest private boat I had ever seen and as well as the guy’s I knew, there were some women – very smartly dressed but I thought later, that they were – you know – professional… We all went ashore and into a side room off the main living space I was introduced to someone from Hawaii 1- a Mr Jensen – who seemed to be quite important – the guys were very deferential to him. He said that ‘they were very pleased with my work, that Sunset was the way forward, a good, clean drug with less side effects – just what they needed to keep the workers happy!’ Then the guys and I went out into the main room where we joined the girls. They pointed out the President – you know Widnes! He was talking to the guy that I had the meeting with – they seemed to be friendly, but there was some sort of struggle going on – like Jensen was pushing for something – it reminded me of how it was when the guys came to talk to me! But then one of the women started coming on to me and it wasn’t long before we were headed back to the boat because she said we would have it to ourselves. She poured me a drink and we sat on a couch and she kissed me, I know that much, but after that I remember nothing. Next time I woke, I was in bed in one of the cabins – naked, but what else had happened I couldn’t tell you.
I’ve had a lot of time here to think about what happened and I realised I was well played at that party – I saw some luxury, got complimented by someone who could have been anyone, saw the President but never got to talk to him – or anyone else come to that. I got kissed but that was literally the only taste of the high life I had before being whisked back to normality. Smoke and mirrors! After that, the guys started to get really pushy and downright nasty and I started to realise more and more that I was out of my depth – I owed them more for the equipment than I could possibly afford and they could tell Clem what I had done too, not that I thought that likely. I was on the hook so I decided to just disappear and hope they wouldn’t come after me – tell me! Do you think they will, Stig?”
“I really can’t say Gervald, but I think we will get you moved somewhere safer, just in case. After all, you didn’t really take much finding did you? Said Stig.
“I guess not!” Gervald looked very uncomfortable again.
“Look! I’ll make a call straight away and get someone to pick you up tonight. We’ll get your camper taken in the opposite direction as a decoy, okay?”
“Okay!”
“I will arrange for someone to take a more formal statement too before you disappear into what we might call a ‘witness protection program’ although that is a bit grand for Hawaii 2 – we certainly don’t have a program as such – you would be the first and only member of it if we did!”
“Thank you Stig, I have been terrified, I won’t lie to you…”
“That’s okay Gervald – you have been foolish not to mention disloyal – but we on Hawaii 2 look after our own.”



M is for Music in Science Fiction…

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 compiled a list of topics for these posts to accompany the chapters of my novel “TrainWreck”, Music sprang to mind  for M because – well, I love music and I imagined that in the course of writing the novel I would (will?), consider the question of whether all the music was saved from Earth and taken on the exodus to the stars. I cannot believe that it would not be…
But as usual, I like to hit Google before writing these pieces – just to see what is already out there and it turns out that there is plenty about music in science fiction – though it is mainly about music in science fiction films. So immediately we see the problem of writing about music – you can’t literally hear it. (Pun intended!)
There are books that write about music – Nick Hornby’s “High Fidelity” springs to mind, in which an obsessive record collector constantly annotated his life by compiling lists of music suitable for…

But that is not the same as hearing the music so in films, a story which has no music references can be enhanced by “futuristic” music, or the music may actually be integral to the story. From this research, I came across a word for this particular device – Diegesis! I came across it in an article on 15 Best Sci-Fi Movie Soundtracks which cited “The Fifth Element” and in particular the infamous “Diva Dance” Infamous because the composer wrote something that jumps up and down the notes with such fiendish rapidity that he imagined it would be impossible for a human singer to achieve. There are various stories about how the soundtrack was actually achieved, but in the film we see an apparent alien with beautiful blue skin and inexplicable head tubes, perform on a space liner with views of the outside behind her. The Wikipedia definition of Diegesis says this:- “In diegesis, the narrator tells the story. The narrator presents the actions (and sometimes thoughts) of the characters to the readers or audience. Diegetic elements are part of the fictional world (“part of the story”), as opposed to non-diegetic elements which are stylistic elements of how the narrator tells the story (“part of the storytelling”).” 

 In diegesis, the music itself is seen to form part of the narrative and not just background noise! In “The Fifth Element”, the baddies believe that something they want, is hidden in the Diva’s changing room and so the Diva’s absence because she is performing on stage, allows them to rob her dressing room. We see the Diva’s amazing performance intercut with the violent destruction of her dressing room and eventually the Diva herself is shot on stage. 
How does this work in writing where music cannot be heard. Diegesis refers to the times when the author, in the form of a Narrator, addresses the Reader directly, telling them what is happening, including what is happening in the character’s heads as opposed to setting out the action and leaving it to the reader to infer the protagonist’s thoughts. This goes against the writing maxim “Show don’t Tell!” and goes to show that rules are meant to be broken! On stage, this is known as the Fourth Wall, when a character directly addresses the audience without other actors seeming to hear. And then there is Charlotte Bronte’s “Dear Reader – I married him…”

Have any of you employed Diegesis in your writing or can you think of favourite examples of it?

Warning. The following chapter includes references to sexual abuse.

Chapter 13
Erehwhon

 

Jack and Stig were sitting in a bar that could best be described as a shack. The walls and roof were made from AlgRoc a speciality of Hawaii 2 – a corrugated material composed of a seaweed that grew prolifically combined with volcanic rock dust and a few other cheap ingredients under heat and pressure. AlgRock had the special property of growing stronger with age as subtle chemical changes continued to occur in the material over time. Easy to cut when fresh, AlgRoc was cheap and easy to use, you could cut holes for windows, it took paint readily and the corrugation made it strong for it’s weight.
Furniture in the bar was a motley assortment in varying stages of ageing and disrepair. The choice of drinks was limited and Stig, sitting opposite Jack, was nursing a beer and kept leaning across the table to a sickly-looking Jack who had not felt able to drink anything, suffering as he was from the effects of Clem’s pill which he had downed as they walked into town from the store.
”Jack! Buck up mate! I’ll find something to fix you up – try and stay awake…” Stig played the part of concerned friend to a tee. Jack, on the other hand, did not need to play the part of a queasy drug addict in withdrawal – Clem’s pill had done exactly what it said on the tin as he had all the symptoms, dilated pupils, pallor, nervous twitching, paranoia and a need to scratch at his arms. Apart from the paranoia though, Jack felt quite compos mentis and even found himself wondering why on Hawaii 2 Clem would have developed such a drug – maybe just a fortuitous discovery, but fortuitous of what, Jack couldn’t imagine.
Stig went over to the bar where a couple of men were sitting drinking and conversing in a desultory way. After ordering another beer, Stig turned to the two men and after a few icebreaker remarks, Stig leant in and confidentially said “My friend over there he’s really strung out and I’m looking for someone who knows their way around well -drugs. I thought Erehwon might be the  place to find them – any ideas, friends?”
“We don’t like newcomers here!” said the one nearest to Stig and turned his back to Stig but his friend leaned forward and addressed Stig in a more conciliatory tone. “Look mate, I can get you pretty much anything you want. I know selling drugs is not illegal but my friend here is right, you can’t just come in here and expect doors to open – we are all here ‘cos we like our privacy and we want it to stay that way…”
“Sorry guys” said Stig “its just I’m really worried about my friend. He’s been living in Lowtown but he’s not a happy camper and he rubs people up the wrong way. I don’t know anybody there but it seemed to me he had burned his bridges and someone suggested I brought him here.”
“Well like I said I can get you anything you want but if you need advice…” said the more helpful man. At that moment the door opened and another man walked in “Now this man might be the one you need! Here Alex! This man needs some help!”
Unseen by the men at the bar who were looking at the newcomer, Stig winked at Alex who took his cue and said “How can I help stranger?”
“It’s my friend over here er, Alex.” Stig made his way back towards Jack who was lying his head on his arms and mumbling incoherently. “Can I get you a drink Alex?” “Thanks – your name is…?” “Oh, Stig friend, and this sad bastard is my best friend Jack!”
Sure I’ll have a beer and then you can tell me about  Jack.”
After fetching another beer from the bar, Stig and Alex sat down opposite Jack backs to the wall so they could keep an eye on the rest of the clientele. Quietly Stig spieled Alex much along the lines that he had to the men at the bar. Alex  listened and eventually said “Okay Stig, well I might be able to help but I think Jack here needs to chill, have you got somewhere to crash?”
“No Alex, we just landed – can you suggest somewhere?”
“Tell you what, Stig, I’ve plenty of space at mine we could take him there and you and I can chat some more.” “Cheers mate – that’s over and above – appreciate it!”

“Okay – let’s walk him out then – it’s not too far.”

¤ ¤ ¤ ¤

 

Sitting on the couch in Alex’s house a rambling one storey assemblage of AlgRoc rooms and with Jack, who was genuinely asleep, tucked up in bed, Stig and Alex let out a big sigh.
“Good to see you Stig – it’s been a while!”
“You’re right – I suppose that’s a good thing – it means things are reasonably settled here…”
“Reasonably I suppose – at least there’s not been anything I needed to call outside help in for.”
And you’re still happy enough with the undercover work?”
“Oh yeah, happy enough -I’ve got a girlfriend – she doesn’t know what I do for you, and, well – she’s a bit off the wall, but I like her and I’m not sure she would transplant anywhere else – in fact, I’m not sure I would now, I’ve got used to Erehwon’s ways – the libertarian sump of the most libertarian society in the galaxy!”
“Ain’t that the truth!” said Stig and they lapsed into reflective silence for a moment.
“Now how about you tell me what you’re really here for ‘cos I take it, it’s not yer man there…”
“No its not, as I said, he’s taken a special pill, courtesy of a friend of his in Lowtown – he’ll be fine when he wakes up. Come to think of it, I didn’t tell you who he is did I. He’s not just Jack – he’s The Jack of Jack and Douglas fame!”
“No! You’re kidding Stig! A ruddy celebrity in me bed!”
“He’s been the subject of unwanted attentions – probably offworlders – they kidnapped him trying to get information about his late wife’s work – best you don’t know about it. I think they’re convinced he doesn’t have what they want – which in truth he doesn’t so I’m just keeping him under my wing till I’m sure they’ve lost interest. No we’re here on another matter.” Stig explained the Gervald situation, his connection to Jack’s friend Clem and the ditched camper van. “If he is here – which seems likely – then we don’t know if he is hiding out because he also received unwanted attention or he’s just a loose cannon… Any thoughts – seen anyone fitting the description Alex?”
Alex rubbed his stubbly chin “Can’t say I have Stig. I did hear there was someone new out at the old Jones place but you know yourself, people come and go here all the time. If he was new, then I expected to see him in town sooner or later, the fact that I hadn’t made me think, in as much as I thought about it at all, that it was someone passing through – we could go and check it out I suppose.”
At that moment, a young woman came into the house, slight of figure and dressed in a faded but once vibrant coloured print skirt and tank top, bead strings fixed in her hair. “Sorry Alex I didn’t know you had visitors – I’ll come back later.” As she turned to go nervously.
“No Katie – stay! We were just going out for a bit. This is my friend Stig who drops by from time to time and the sleeping beauty over there is Jack. Keep an eye on him and look after him will you please.”
“Sure Alex.” The girl looked relieved and sat down in an armchair with a glass of water. She did not observe Alex slipping a handgun under his jacket and into the back of his belt.

¤ ¤ ¤ ¤

 

Jack awoke from a dream of Anna. She was lying behind him spooned, arms wrapped tight around him. Jack had been crying out to her “Anna, don’t leave me!” As he surfaced into consciousness and eventually managed to bliknk an eye open, he didn’t recognise where he was and he became aware that soft arms were still around him and a voice was shushing him in a soothing way. For a moment, a great hope leaped in Jacks breast that Anna was alive and that all the events of the last few weeks were some terrible dream. But something was wrong, he smelt patchouli – a perfume he had liked as a student but which Anna hated and the voice wasn’t Anna’s. Jack spun and sat up with such a suddenness that the girl who had been clinging to his back fell away from him and out of bed with a little shriek and lay looking up at him grabbing a print dress to cover her bare legs. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry! Please don’t hurt me!” Katie started to whimper so piteously that Jack’s own distress started to subside as concern for this strange girl grew in him.
“It’s okay, it’s okay – I’m not going to hurt you! I just woke up and I didn’t know where I was and I thought you were someone else…” Jack had an upwelling of emotion at the memory of the dream and the awakening. He began to sob quietly and now it was the girl’s turn to be concerned. She stood up and wrapped her skirt round her and fastened it then she sat on the edge of the bed and put her hand gently on Jack’s. “I’m sorry I scared you, I didn’t mean to, I got it all wrong – I’m always getting things wrong Jack. Alex told me to look after you – I thought he meant that way.”
“Alex – that’s Stig’s friend, right? Is this his place?”
“Yes Jack! They’ve gone off somewhere and Alex told me to watch you and take care of you. I’ve got it so wrong – please don’t tell him – you won’t will you?”
“No I won’t – sorry – what’s your name?” “Katie, it’s Katie!”
“Look Katie, there’s no harm done, it’s just I lost my wife recently and I thought you were her as I woke up – I didn’t mean to scare you. Tell me, is that something Alex asks you to do – to take care of men?”
“No never” said Katie, “it’s just those words…” A shiver went through Katie’s slight frame and she tensed up looking miles away.
“Is there any chance of a cup of tea Katie – I feel parched.”
“Sure! What kind of host must you think me? I guess that’s what Alex meant by looking after you – not – well you know – the other thing…” Katie hurried through to the kitchen area and Jack could hear the clink of cups and rumble of a kettle boiling. He got out of bed, discovered he was fully dressed and went over to a settee and made himself comfortable. Clem’s drug seemed to have worn off and as promised, there was no hangover. In fact, Jack felt quite refreshed by his little sleep and started to look around at his surroundings.
Katie came back with two cups of tea on a tray and some small angel cakes whose prettiness seemed out of place in this frontier shack.
“I am so embarrassed at what happened” she said “I don’t know how it happened…”
“Don’t worry about it” said Jack “though you said something about it being those particular words – ‘Take care of him’ -didn’t you?” Jack said gently.
After a long pause, Katie answered him, eyes downcast. “When I was little, I had a step-father who – well he did things to me – I think he used those words – I try to blank it out…”
“I’m so sorry Katie! I didn’t think things like that happened here. Didn’t anybody notice, didn’t you tell anybody?”
“The only time I tried to tell my mother, she slapped me so hard and called me a liar – said he was a good man and that it was him who took care of us, not the other way round…After that I never tried to tell anyone else – I mean if your own mother won’t believe you…”
“Katie, I’m so sorry, that must have been awful. And when you grew up? I mean did you tell then?”
“You are the first person I have ever told, I don’t know why. I think it’s the way you were crying about your wife. Oh my God, are you him? Are you that Jack – from the train wreck?”
“Yes – yes, I am.” Jack said quietly, his eyes tearing up again with emotion both for himself and his loss and for this waif like girl and her sad story.
“Oh Jack! Alex didn’t say. I am so sorry for your loss. Oh! Where’s Douglas?” Katie looked around as if she had somehow missed seeing the baby and with an agitated look on her face once again and Jack saw that Katie was used to feeling that she had messed up.
“Don’t worry Katie, he’s safe with my mother. Someone tried to – well – they did kidnap me to try and find out about Anna – my wife – about her work. I think I am safe now but Stig thought he should take care of me for a bit longer. Shit – those words again – I’m sorry!”
“It’s okay Jack – it’s not the same – it was Alex saying them to me – well it sort of triggered something. As soon as he had gone, I got into bed with you. I don’t know what I thought I was doing – what I was going to do. I thought I was meant to – you know – like with him but then you were dreaming, and whimpering, twitching – calling out someone’s name but I couldn’t make it out. I didn’t know what to do, so I put my arm round you and held you – stroked your back. But then you woke up – it gave me such a fright – and I fell out of bed!” Katie gave Jack a reproachful look but when Jack’s face filled with remorse, she suddenly laughed at the memory of being suddenly deposited on the floor – and then they both laughed.
“And Alex – he does treat you well, does he? Asked Jack.
“Oh! Alex is lovely – so patient with me. You see, when we first got together, we – well – you know, we did it all the time, like you do. But then something happened – in me – I didn’t understand why but I just didn’t feel like it and Alex – well I know some men would have kicked off. Well, some men I’ve known have kicked off whenever they couldn’t have their way…”
Jack reached out and gave Katie’s hand a squeeze. “That’s terrible Katie – I’m so sorry!”
“Thanks, Jack – not your fault though – I can tell you’re a nice man. I just can’t understand why my step-father did what he did and why I haven’t remembered it till now. Well not properly, I suppose it’s always been like something was at the back of my mind – but how can you not remember something like that?”
“I guess that when something I so terrible, you can just zone out and maybe – eventually, especially when it’s over, then maybe it stays zoned out – well until something cuts through…” They both fell silent for a bit. Then Jack said “You probably need to talk to somebody – get some help, but I don’t know much about that sort of thing…”
“I suppose I do – I’m sure Alex will help – he’s like that you know, he’ll do anything for good people although if somebody is behaving bad – well he knows how to deal with them too!”
“ I guess they might be back soon…” said Jack.
“Tell me about Douglas, Jack – I want to hear all about him before the boys do get back!”

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…”