M.J. Dees's Blog, page 2

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Amazon has suspended my author account because my licensed cover image of the Hermit of Chaldene is available for free as part of a 7 day trial on another image library.

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#156 The First Chapter of The Hermit of Chaldene

The ebook of The Hermit of Chaldene have gone out for review. If you haven’t got your free sample, here is the first chapter:

CHAPTER 1: SENT TO KALE

Sevan opened his eyes. He didn’t know how long he had slept for. At first, he wasn’t really sure where he was, but he soon realised he was in the crew quarters of the Republic scout vessel that Ay-ttho had stolen on the Doomed Planet.

He wondered how far they had travelled and how much further they had to go before they arrived on Kale. According to the experts on the citadel, Kale was the nearest system to wherever the president’s great space folding experiment had deposited them.

At least they had some idea of where they were in space, even if they weren’t sure where they were in time. Although, of course, even Sevan knew that if they were at a different point in time, then Kale probably wouldn’t be where they expected it to be.

He felt he should probably see how everyone was, especially his aunt, who would have a complaint or two. When he emerged from his room, he found Ay-ttho, Tori, and his aunt laughing and joking in the common room. The joviality ceased as soon as they saw Sevan.

“Are you okay?” asked Tori. “You’ve been asleep for a long time.”

“What about Kale?” Sevan asked.

“What about it?”

“Are we getting closer?”

“Oh, we’re definitely getting closer,” said Ay-ttho.

“Any idea when we will arrive?”

“Your guess is as good as ours. We’ve turned on the proximity sensor alarms, so we should get a warning when we are approaching the system.”

“What are we going to do on Kale?”

Ay-ttho considered the question beneath her, so Tori answered.

“We are going to confirm exactly when and where we are and see whether there is any way to get back to our own place and time.”

As if on cue, the proximity alarm sounded.

“There you are,” said Ay-ttho. “We are approaching Kale now. According to these charts, the only habitable planet in the Kale system is Chaldene.”

“I thought they always named systems after their habitable planets,” said Sevan.

“Usually, but not always,” said Tori. “In this case, Kale is the star and Chaldene is the planet.”

“How long will it take us to get to Chaldene?”

“Not long.”

“Are you in a hurry?” asked Ay-ttho. “Is there somewhere you need to be?”

“No but…”

Sevan bit his tongues but couldn’t suppress his curiosity for long.

“What is on Chaldene?”

“We are about to find out,” said Ay-ttho.

“I already have it within scanner range,” said Tori. “There doesn’t appear to be any sign of life. We may have had a wasted journey.”

Sevan’s hearts sank. He was going to be trapped in deep space with his aunt forever.

“No, wait. There is something there. Very feint. Must be a tiny community, perhaps even just one individual.”

“What can one individual do?” Sevan complained

“You never know,” said Ay-ttho. “It might be God.”

“I thought you said the giant cup doesn’t exist?”

“It doesn’t. I never said God doesn’t exist though.”

“Does it?”

“I don’t know. Let’s find out.”

Ay-ttho steered the vessel towards the signal on Chaldene and they waited with expectation.

What they found was a relatively large complex, with hangars and buildings which had all manner of technology attached to the roofs.

They landed at the entrance to one of the hangars and waited for Tori to finish scanning the site for signs of life.

“The signal is coming from that building over there,” he said, pointing to the largest block. “Looks like it’s only one individual.”

“Let’s go out and have a look,” said Ay-ttho, double checking the atmosphere was not harmful.

They descended from the vessel and began walking towards the building. They were about halfway between the two when a shot ricocheted off the ground beside them.

“Don’t come any further,” someone shouted from one of the windows. “The Republic has no business here. Get back on your ship and leave.”

“We are not Republic troops,” Ay-ttho shouted back.

“You look like you are Republic troops.”

“He used to be a Republic security clone, I’ll give you that. But we are corporation clones, I stole this ship on The Doomed Planet.”

“Uxclod! A Republic scouting vessel does not have the range to travel that far. You must have a battle cruiser nearby.”

“We came from the citadel.”

“More uxclod! The citadel is in orbit around Future, again much too far for a Republic scouting vessel.”

“The Republic has discovered how to fold space. They deposited the citadel relatively close to here.”

There was a long silence.

“What do you think he’s doing?” Sevan asked after a while.

“I think he’s thinking,” said Tori

“What are you doing?” Ay-ttho shouted.

“I’m thinking.”

“What are you thinking about?”

“The Republic does not have the technology to fold space.”

“It does now.”

There followed another long silence.

“What do you want?” the individual asked at last.

“We want to find out how to get back to the Republic. We are not even sure what time this is.”

“So you are from the Republic.”

“Yes, we are from the Republic, but we are not from the Republic, if you know what I mean.”

Another long pause.

“You may proceed, but leave any weapons you have on the ground beside you first.”

Tori and Ay-ttho removed their hand held weapons and placed them on the ground. Sevan did not carry a weapon. He was always worried it might go off accidentally.

“What about your weapon?”

“I don’t carry one,” Sevan explained. “I’m always worried it might go off accidentally.”

“Very well. You may proceed.”

They trudged towards the building and when they reached the entrance, they saw a figure in the entrance, pointing a weapon at them. He had a bulbous head, a long beard, and wore a long cloak.

“What do you want?” he asked.

“We already told you,” said Ay-ttho. “We are here because the Republic folded the space around us against our will. We want to get back to our own place and time. What time is this?”

“It’s now.”

“But it is always now.”

“Exactly.”

Ay-ttho sighed. This wasn’t how she had hoped the exchange would develop.

“You had better come in.”

They climbed the steps to a large reception hall.

“Who are you?” Tori asked.

Some call me the Hermit of Chaldene, others that knew me a long time ago called me Witt. You may call me what you wish. It doesn’t really matter. Follow me.”

Witt led them through the vast entrance hall to a side room littered with equipment in various states of disrepair. In the middle sat an assortment of chairs. Witt invited them to sit down.

“What is this place?” Ay-ttho asked.

“It’s an old corporation research station. I and my team were researching the multiverse but after the incident they closed the station.”

“The incident?”

“I lost the rest of my team while conducting an experiment at the edge of the universe.”

“So, the universe has an edge?”

“Of course it does.”

“So we could have fallen off the edge of the universe?” asked Sevan.

“Don’t be silly. The universe is expanding at speeds way faster than the potential of that little scouting vessel of yours. You would need an anti-matter drive in something the size of a freighter to catch the edge of the universe.”

Tori, Ay-ttho and Sevan all glanced at each other.

“Doesn’t the Mastery of the Stars have an anti-matter drive?” said Sevan.

Tori and Ay-ttho gave him a hard stare.

“You have an anti-matter drive?” asked Witt with sudden excitement.

“We had,” Ay-ttho corrected. “That is why we are trying to get back to the Republic. To find it.”

“Well, why didn’t you say that in the first place?”

“You can help us get back?”

“Of course I can. Folding space is easy. All you need is an enormous source of energy and we have an enormous source of energy right there.”

He pointed outside, at the star of Kale, which was sending beams of dusty light through the dirty windows.

“We’ll need to make some modifications to that vessel of yours, but it shouldn’t be too difficult.”

Witt rested back in his chair.

“I will do it on one condition.”

“What’s that?” asked Ay-ttho.

“That after you find your ship, we use it to recover my colleagues.”

“Where are your colleagues?”

“That’s not important.”

“It might be.”

“It’s not.”

Ay-ttho thought about it for a moment. She looked at Tori, who shrugged. Then she looked at Sevan, who was looking at her in expectation.

“Okay, we’ll do it,” she said.

“Excellent,” said Witt, who leapt to his feet. “We must start straight away. Come with me I’ll…”

Witt could not finish his sentence because of an ear-splitting shrieking noise which was being emitted from a control panel in the room’s corner. Witt took a small device from his pocket and pressed a button. The shrieking stopped with a beep.

“What in the worst place was that?” Ay-ttho asked.

“It was the perimeter alarm. Is there someone else on your ship?”

“Aunty!” Sevan exclaimed.

Witt was already halfway to the door with his weapon in hand.

“She’s harmless,” Sevan shouted after him.

By the time Sevan, Tori and Ay-ttho reached the hallway, Witt was already coming back inside.

“I thought you said she was harmless,” he complained.

Not far behind him was the diminutive figure of Sevan’s aunt, who was marching towards them. She was clearly annoyed and Sevan braced himself for the impending onslaught.

“What are you doing abandoning me?” she launched into a tirade. “What if I had been eaten by tronqaks? You have no sense of responsibility. That’s your trouble.”

“I don’t think there are troqaks here,” Sevan tried to defend himself. “There aren’t, are there?”

“There are actually,” said Witt. “They brought them here to hunt the cukids which were out of control. They brought the cukids here as a food source for the staff on the base but, with no natural predator, they ran amok.”

“Good to see you, Sevan’s aunt,” said Ay-ttho, who still hadn’t bothered to learn her name. “You were resting, so we thought it best not to wake you from your beauty sleep.”

“Is that meant to be funny?” she snapped. “What are we doing here, anyway?”

“This is Witt. He is going to help us get back to the Republic.”

“Why would we want to do that? You should see the mess they made on The Doomed Planet.”

“I did. I was there, remember? Witt is going to help us get our ship back, the Mastery of the Stars. You will like it, it’s much more comfortable than the scouting vessel.”

“That’s not difficult.”

“So, what do we have to do?” Ay-ttho asked Witt.

“First, we have to equip your ship with extra heat shields.”

“Heat shields? Why? We didn’t detect much heat on any of the occasions we’ve witnessed folding space.”

“How many have you witnessed?”

“There was the time that Barnes destroyed Atlas, then the Republic experimented on us and then the citadel was transported here, so, three. But on none of those occasions, did we need extra heat shields?”

“You will now.”

“Why?”

“You see that star?”

“Yes?”

“You’re going to fly into it.”If you are not ready to leave The Hermit of Chaldene, you can get the full book here. 

#155 The first chapter of The Citadel in Space

CHAPTER 1: THE REAL TREASURE 

“Explain to us again,” Sevan asked Ay-ttho, as they walked in front of the Presidential palace. “What is our job? What are we supposed to do?”

“This is the last time, Sevan,” Ay-ttho sighed with impatience. “We are representatives. You represent the mining colonies. I represent the corporation security clones and Tori is the representative for Republic security clones.”

“But who chose us, and what are we supposed to do?”

“Xocliw chose us.”

“Shouldn’t those we represent choose us?” 

“You are so naïve, Sevan. If you allowed clones to choose their own representatives, those wishing to be chosen would resort to popularist measures in order to get elected, rather than representing the best interests of the clones. It is much better to select individuals best suited for the task.”

“How are we best suited?”

“Don’t question things, Sevan. At the moment, we each inhabit luxurious apartments and have all we could need.”

“As representative of the concession mining clones, does that mean I can visit the Doomed Planet?”

“I’m sure it does,” said Ay-ttho. “We should organise such a trip right away.”

“I heard Xocliw has made Nadio speaker of the Senate.”

“That is true.”

“And Scotmax a senator?”

“Also true.”

“Oi, you lot!” Tori shouted at a group resting on a wall outside the front of the palace. “Don’t you have homes to go to? Be off with you, loitering around here.”

“He’s taking his job seriously, isn’t he?” Sevan whispered to Ay-ttho.

“I know. He’s not even responsible for palace security.”

“Are you on holiday?” Tori continued. “What are you doing hanging around here? You there? What is your job?”

“I construct the interiors for apartments,” the shocked individual replied without questioning Tori’s authority. 

“Then where are your tools? What are you doing walking around here in your best clothes? You? What do you do?”

“I mend shoes,” said the second individual.

“You mend shoes? Does that still happen here on Future?”

“It does.”

“Then why aren’t you doing it today? Why are you leading this lot around the streets?”

“To wear out their shoes and make more business for myself. No, seriously, we have come to the palace today to share in Xocliw’s triumph.”

“Xocliw’s triumph?” Ay-ttho blurted out. “The population of Future turn out to celebrate Xocliw’s triumph over Chuba and yet you were here celebrating Chuba’s presidency following the death of President Man, weren’t you? Any excuse for a holiday, Chuba’s triumph, Xocliw’s triumph, go back to your homes.”

“Away with you!” shouted Tori.

The group went away without protest. 

“You know it is Lupercalia,” Ay-ttho warned Tori.

“Oh yes, any excuse to get drunk and fornicate.”

“What’s Lupercalia?” asked Sevan.

“It’s a festival. They call it the festival of the real treasure, a bit like Binge on The Doomed Planet. It’s an excuse for the population to get off their marbles on fushy and pish.”

“Tell me more about this festival.”

“No one knows the true origins, but they have celebrated it for 2,500 solar cycles, at least. According to legend, there was a President of another galaxy who ordered his co-begotton’s offspring to be ejected into deep space.”

“Why?”

“His co-begotton had promised not to reproduce.”

“Why?”

“Do you want to hear the story or not?”

“Of course, sorry, go on.”

“The guard charged with ejecting them into deep space felt sorry for them and placed them in a long-term hibernation unit. The unit travelled across space until it landed here on Future. The offspring were the first founders of the Republic.”

“You mean they reproduced with each other?”

“They must have.”

“But that’s…”

“Exactly. Anyway, legend has it that the offspring developed the technology to return to the galaxy of their origins and kill the President that had ordered their deaths. They celebrate Lupercalia every year to mark the founding of the Republic.”

“But wouldn’t the President have already been dead by the time they made it back to the old galaxy?”

“I don’t know. Maybe they discovered a wormhole or something. The population of Future are partnered at random and attempt to reproduce.”

“Random?”

“Yes.”

“I’m so glad I’m asexual.”

“Me too.”

“I don’t care whether it is Lupercalia,” said Tori. “If I find any of them on the palace grounds, I’ll drive them away. They use Xocliw’s victory as an excuse to celebrate while we are all her prisoners.”

“Shh, someone might hear you,” said Sevan, looking around.

*

Xocliw was walking with her latest partner, Calpurnio. Allecram, her adviser, was trailing behind them with Scotmax and her partner Nadio, Scotmax’s begetter, Yor, Xocliw’s offspring Oiluj, his partner, Enyaw, and High Priest Callahan.

“Calpurnio!” Xocliw shouted.

“She speaks,” Calpurnio mumbled to himself.

“Calpurnio!”

“Yes, Xocliw.”

“Get out of the way, can’t you see Allecram is trying to get through?”

“Yes, President?” asked Allecram, not aware that he was trying to get through.

“Touch Calpurnio as you pass, will you?” said Xocliw. “They say it will cure the sterile if they touch the fertile during Lupercalia.”

“Your wish is my command,” said Allecram.

“President?” called High Priest Callahan.

“Who is calling me? What is it?”

“President Xocliw, I must urge caution. Our intelligence suggests this is not a time to take risks.”

“You and your superstitious mumbo jumbo, Callahan. Come on, let us go.”

“Do you support her presidency?” Enyaw spoke quietly to Scotmax.

“Not particularly, but the population seems satisfied. Listen to the cheering in the streets.”

“I’m not asking about them. I’m asking about you.”

“I don’t expect you to support his presidency. Xocliw killed your begetter, after all.”

“She may have killed my begetter but my partner is Xocliw’s offspring and my loyalty is to him “

“Is it? Listen to those cries. It had better be with your partner because his co-begetter is very popular.”

“Why her, Scotmax? Why not you or I? She is no more special than we are.”

“Be careful, Enyaw. That talk is treasonous.”

“Discuss the matter with Nadio, that’s all I ask.”

“Allecram? I want you to find me a new guard,” Xocliw asked her adviser. “I don’t trust Enyaw. She is young and full of ideas. I don’t like anyone who thinks too much. They are dangerous.”

“You don’t need to fear her. She is loyal to Oiluj.”

“I don’t fear her, but she has taken to spending too much time with Scotmax and Scotmax reads too much. She observes everything and sees through our deeds. She never smiles, she’s too restless. She is dangerous. Come away with me and tell me what you think of her.”

Xocliw led Allecram away from the group.

“Nadio, can I have a word?” asked Scotmax.

“Yes, what is it?”

“Have you noticed anything strange about Xocliw?”

“You’ve been with her as much as I have.”

“You don’t think she has some illness?”

“If anyone is ill, it is us.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Did you know that when they inaugurated Xocliw as President, she first pretended to refuse it?”

“No?”

“She play acted as if she was not worthy and begged the crowds’ forgiveness. They lapped it up. Allecram it was who was offering the presidency in a piece of theatre you would never believe.”

“But the crowd did?”

“Oh yes, they loved it.”

“Scotmax!” said Enyaw, approaching. “We must get to know each other better, come to our apartments to eat.”

“Yes, or you to ours.”

“Let me know when you are free.”

“I will.”

Nadio had already begun to walk back to the palace. Yor joined her.

“Is everything okay, Nadio?” he asked.

“We have suffered many trials, Yor. But I was never so worried as I am now.”

“Why?”

“I have been having terrible dreams. I think something bad is about to happen.”

“We certainly live in strange times and nothing is certain. Ah, here is the entrance to my apartment. Take care, Nadio, don’t worry too much.”

Yor entered his apartment, leaving Nadio to wait for Scotmax. 

“What’s wrong Nadio?” she asked as she approached. “What were you talking to my begetter about?”

“Only the strange dreams I’ve been having.”

“You worry too much, Nadio. We have a good life here. We should enjoy it while we can. You look pale, as pale as a thug can look. What will be will be, Nadio “

“You know that on the next rotation, the Republic senate is going to ratify Xocliw’s presidency?”

“Why should that worry me?”

“Why do you were that weapon at your side, Scotmax?”

“Why shouldn’t I? I’m not afraid of Xocliw’s tyranny.”

“You should be.”

“Why should Xocliw be a tyrant? She may think herself a tronqak and the population of the Republic mere cukids, but that makes her no different from any other president.”

“You plan and scheme. I know you, Scotmax.”

“That’s as maybe but…”

“Shhh, someone is coming.”

“It’s Effeek’o, Nadio, look. Effeek’o, how are you? I haven’t seen you since Herse. How are your patients?”

“Well, I hope. And how are you both? Are you well?”

“As well as expected. What brings you to Future?”

“They have invited me as a special adviser to the senate, but between you and me, I had an ulterior motive.”

“Oh, yes? And what might that be?”

“The cause for which we all fought on Angetanar. Now is our opportunity. Have you spoken to Enyaw? We must make an alliance.”

“I doubt that should be too difficult, but perhaps you should speak with her yourself.”

“I will do that.”

“Good. Let’s catch up later. If you’ll excuse me, I need to find Sevan.”

Effeek’o, Nadio and Scotmax said their goodbyes and Scotmax went off to find Sevan 

“Ah! There you are,” she said when she eventually found him. “Can I confide in you?”

“Of course you can.”

“I’m worried about Xocliw and what might happen when the senate finally ratifies her presidency.”

“What do you mean?”

“I worry it may tempt her to abuse her power, like her co-begotton and her begetter and her co-begetter.”

“I see what you mean, quite a lot of family history there. Be careful what you say, though. Look, Enyaw is coming this way and there are others with her.”

“I can’t see. Do you recognise them?”

“No, can’t say as I do. No, wait, I can see now that Nadio is with them, and Effeek’o from Angetanar. Plus some others I don’t recognise.”

“Hello Scotmax, I hope we are not disturbing you.”

“Not at all. I was just visiting my friend, Sevan. You know Sevan?”

“Of course, we have seen each other around the palace.”

“Do I know all your friends here?” asked Scotmax.

“Yes, Nadio and Effeek’o, obviously. Do you know Di’Shon and Bernard? They are both senators sympathetic to our cause.”

“I am familiar with your work, very pleased to meet you. Are you sure it is safe, meeting like this?”

“Yes, do not worry. Lupercalia preoccupies everyone.”

“Ah, yes, the real treasure. That should keep everyone busy for a while. What about my begetter, Yor? Should we include him in our plans?”

“Yes we should,” said Nadio.

“Of course,” said Effeek’o. “I know he was a staunch supporter of Kirkland, but Matthews’ betrayal has turned him against the dynasty. He will be with us, for sure “

“His reputation would lend our cause a great deal of credibility,” said Di’Shon. 

“I doubt he will join a cause started by others,” said Enyaw. 

“Especially not if he knows you’re involved,” agreed Scotmax. “You were our captor, ”

“Not I, but my begetter,” said Enyaw.

“Nobody is to be touched except Xocliw, is that correct?” asked Nadio.

“Good point,” said Scotmax. “Allecram is very loyal and may become an obstacle. We should consider including him in our plans.”

“Let us be assassins but not butchers,” urged Enyaw. “If only we could kill Xocliw’s nature rather than Xocliw herself. Our operation must be clinical. This is not time for hacks. We need to be considered purgers, not murderers, and as for Allecram, don’t worry about him. Without Xocliw he is completely impotent.”

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#154 Reading Rachel’s Holiday by Marian Keyes

Cover of Rachel’s Holiday by Marian Keyes

Marian Keyes has just released Again, Rachel, which is the sequel to Rachel’s Holiday so it seemed timely to post my review of the first book now.

Meet Rachel Walsh. She has a pair of size 8 feet and such a fondness for recreational drugs that her family has forked out the cash for a spell in Cloisters – Dublin’s answer to the Betty Ford Clinic. She’s only agreed to her incarceration because she’s heard that rehab is wall-to-wall jacuzzis, gymnasiums and rock stars going tepid turkey – and it’s about time she had a holiday.But what Rachel doesn’t count on are the toe-curling embarrassments heaped on her by family and group therapy, the lack of sex, drugs and rock’n’roll – and missing Luke, her ex. What kind of a new start in life is this?

Keyes has the ability to approach serious topics with both insight and a humour which enables them to be digested with ease. The passages are so believable they seem autobiographical and so it is no surprise to discover that Keyes suffered from alcoholism and was affected by clinical depression, culminating in a suicide attempt and subsequent rehabilitation in 1995 at the Rutland Centre in Dublin. As part of her therapy, she began writing short stories and was encouraged to write a full length novel, which she did. Watermelon was published the same year. She spoke very candidly about her addiction in an Imagine documentary for the BBC.

More than 35 million copies of her novels have been sold, and her works have been translated into 33 languages. Although many of her novels are known as comedies, they revolve around dark themes often drawn from Keyes’s own experiences, including domestic violence, drug abuse, mental illness, divorce and alcoholism. Keyes considers herself a feminist, and has chosen to reflect feminist issues in many of her books.

Rachel’s Holiday, deals with its serious subject matter in a lighthearted way and it is really a romantic comedy at heart. In between the wit and the plot, Keyes reveals important details about addiction which are also educational such as the fact that addicts often enter their addiction because they are avoiding conflict and indulge in other substances or activities instead.

I would highly recommend reading this book, it is entertaining, educational and informative and she does well to tease out what might otherwise be a more predictable ending. If you love romantic comedies you will love Rachel’s Holiday

#153 Reading the Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle

Cover of The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle

It was my sister who first suggested I listen to the podcast I Can’t Believe it’s not Buddha by Lee Mack and Niel Webster. I’d always liked Lee Mack from his appearances on Not Going Out and Would I Lie to You.

The podcast, according to Amazon, finds Lee and his friend Neil taking their first (often clumsy) steps on the road to Nirvana. From picking which type of Buddhism to follow, to contemplating what a woodland creature would say to you if you asked it the time; Lee and Neil explore the principles and practices of Buddhism in a way that spiritual practice has never been explored before… Possibly for very good reason.

It came about because they had both read The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle and because the pandemic had brought to a halt all their work. The pandemic brought about an explosion of podcasts and this was one of my favourites, a light-hearted look at Buddhism by two friends just starting out on their spiritual journey.

The Power of Now has sold over 2 million copies worldwide and has been translated into over 30 foreign languages.

The basic idea behind the book is that you are not your mind and to find the real truth of existence, you have to free yourself from your mind. We consider ourselves as separate from the world around us and enlightenment is simply being at one with existence. Buddha said that life is suffering and that enlightenment is an end to this suffering because we free ourselves from the illusion that we are separate from the universe which surrounds us. Tolle says that enlightenment, or the truth, is already within us, we simply need to open the box.

The book is essentially a series of questions and answers from the many lectures and workshops that Tolle has given over the years and does not subscribe specifically to Buddhism or any other religion but quotes the Bible and the Quoran revealing the true meaning behind misunderstood texts.

I would highly recommend The Power of Now, even if you are not actively seeking spiritual enlightenment. I believe that it is beneficial for anyone to read this book and am confident that anyone who opens their mind to what Tolle is saying will find themselves living a calmer happier life.

#151 Reading Blake’s 7 – Lucifer by Paul Darrow

Front cover of Blake’s 7 – Lucifer by Paul Darrow

Regular readers of this blog will be aware that I am a big fan of Blake’s 7 which was one of my science fiction influences when growing up.

The final episode in which *spoiler alert* Avon apparently kills Blake and then, due to a fade to black, meets an uncertain fate, always left an opening for a sequel which never seemed to arrive.

Paul Darrow was best known for his portrayal of Avon clearly felt there was scope for a new series and went ahead and wrote one in this book which was published in 2013 when Darrow was already 72 years of age. Unsurprisingly, the story features an older Avon and no doubt Darrow would have been ready to step in for any TV adaptation but, sadly, no adaptation arrived and Darrow died in 2019, aged 78, but not before writing two more books to create a trilogy.

The events of the book occur 20 years after Blake’s death. Here is how the publisher describes it:-

Many legends surround the aftermath of the collapse of The Federation, including the fate of Kerr Avon…. What happened to Avon after the death of Blake and the crew of the Scorpio?

Paul Darrow’s vivid reimagining picks up Avon’s story at the final moments of the final episode of Blake’s 7 and follows him on his fight for survival, this time with no crew and no ship to help him.

The adventure continues years later as Avon, now an old man, finds himself a key player in the game of power politics being played out on a grand scale by The Quartet – four ruthless leaders in an uneasy alliance who govern the world in place of the Federation.

Old enemies resurface and dangerous new ones appear as the time comes for old scores to finally be settled….

As the blurb alludes, characters from the original series appear and the result is an enjoyable space adventure bordering on military sci-fi.

For Blake’s 7 aficionados, Darrow’s first novel, written in 1989, explores the back story of Kerr Avon a delight with which I still have to treat myself.

so, if you’ve always wondered what happened next, this is your chance to find out. Go for it.

#150 Top ten posts of 2021

10. Reading Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

Adapted into a successful film, the tenth most popular post of the year was my review of Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen. The book examines memories and old age as well as the tough life of those working in the circus during the depression, well worth a read

9. Living with the headless mule

Ninth on the list is a post explaining the story behind my fifth novel, Living with the Headless Mule from 2019. The novel is the prequel/sequel to my first novel Living with Saci, however, at the moment, I have withdrawn both novels from sale as I intend to relaunch them both in 2022 with new covers and new titles.

8. Extract of Collapse

My most recent post made it to number eight with chapter one of my latest dystopian release, Collapse. Second in the series of the same name, Collapse, tells the story of what happens when the lights go out for good.

7. Arguments against black lives matter

I wrote this post almost exactly a year ago following an argument with someone who claimed that black people were spoilt. I was so furious that I had to write the article to exorcise the rage I fwas feeling.

6. Reading Pinball 1973 Haruki Murakami

Sixth on the list is another review, this time Pinball 1973 by Haruki Murakami. I had already read a couple of books by Murakami and picked this one up as a two for one deal with audible.

5. Reading Utopia Avenue by David Mitchell

Another review, this time of a book by one of my favourite authors, David Mitchell. He is possibly the only author whose work I will read as soon as I am aware it is released.

4. Having an endoscopy

At number four, the description of my endoscopy seems remarkably popular, especially considering it was posted back in October 2019.

3. Reading The Angel by Mark Dawson

Yet another review at number three, this time by fellow self published author, Mark Dawson. Mark is incredibly successful and I wanted to find out what all the fuss was about.

2 Interviewing J J Toner

The second most popular post of 2021 was an interview with fellow independent author, JJ Toner.

1.Trying to get a Brazilian driving license

The most popular post for the second year running, and by quite a large margin was my account of trying to get a Brazilian driving license. I suspect the post must be registering well on search engines but who am I to complain, at least it drives traffic to the site.

Hope you enjoyed this year’s posts, I’ll be back in 2022 with plenty more

#150 Live Q&A

There will be a Facebook and Instagram live Q&A on Saturday 6th November at 4pm in London, 12 noon in New York, 9am Los Angeles and 11pm in Melbourne, Australia. You can join the live Q&A here and send me any questions you would like me to answer simply by replying to this post.

#149 Extract of Collapse

Part One – Lancashire

7 years and 5 months before the collapse

It had not been easy, but Annabel and Jim celebrated the fact that the local education authority was going to allow Olivia to take her General Certificate of Education, even though Jim and Annabel had homeschooled her for so long.

Jim mused that thousands of children with foreign heritage must have been in the same position and wondered why the central government had not passed a universal decree making education a priority for those who had been excluded.

Olivia herself was struggling with the transition to what Jim considered a ‘normal’ life, and the school referred her to a psychologist who asked Olivia to write down her dreams.

She was already scribbling in the notebook by her bed when Jim went to wake her.

“I don’t believe it,” Annabel suddenly exclaimed during breakfast. “They’ve taken our savings.”

“Who has?”

“The Government. I was just reading on the stretch that they’ve frozen bank accounts, then I checked our account and it’s true, the money is gone.”

“At least we didn’t have much saved.”

“That’s not the point. Some people have lost thousands.”

Annabel was in a foul mood until she returned from taking Olivia to the school bus.

“I have good news,” she said as she came through the door, waving her stretch at Jim

“So do I,” said Jim, waving his.

“The Old Hall has offered me a gig.” she smiled.

“That’s good. The bookshop has offered me a lecture.”

“Nice.”

“And more good news,” said Jim. “They are going to come and fetch all the shop fixtures. We’ll get rid of them at last.”

Jim walked down to village, to the bakers to see if they had any bread. When he got there, he found a queue of people trying to buy as much as their food cards would allow. Jim was about to join the queue when he realised that his food app wouldn’t recharge until the next day.

However, when he returned, Annabel saw he was wearing a big smile, carrying a full plastic bag.

“Did they have more than bread then?” asked Annabel.

“No, the food app isn’t charged yet.”

“What’s that then?”

“Mark was getting rid of all of his old DVDs, and he’s going to give me the machine. I’ll go back for it later.”

“I didn’t realise anyone still had DVDs.”

“What’s a DVD?” asked Olivia when she arrived home from school.

“It’s a disk,” said Jim, taking one out of the bag. “Each one has a film or some music.”

“What do you want those for? You can watch anything you want on the cloud.”

“And when you can no longer access the cloud, what will you do?”

“We’ll always be able to access the cloud.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure.”

There was a knock at the door.

“And that’s my other surprise,” said Jim. “Come and have a look.”

Olivia and Annabel followed him to the front door, which he opened to reveal a farmer leading two goats on ropes.

“Oh, Jim, you haven’t finished the pen,” Annabel complained.

“I’ll finish it tonight.”

“They better not eat my flowers, and you’re milking them.”

“Do they have names?” asked Olivia.

“Mr Benn and Mary Poppins,” said the farmer.

“Mister Benn?” asked Jim. “You promised me two girls.”

“Nannys.”

“What?”

“They call female goats nannys.”

“Okay, well, you promised me two nannys and you’ve brought me a nanny and a…”

“Buck.”

“I thought they called male goats billys.”

“They can be unless they’re castrated, in which case they’re a wether.”

“So why do I have a nanny and a buck?”

“If you don’t, you can’t have any kids.”

“I see.”

“What are we going to do with the babies?” asked Annabel.

“Kids,” Jim corrected. “After the final collapse, you’ll be glad of goats.”

“What are you talking about? Collapse?”

“You watch, we are on a path that we cannot sustain.”

“You don’t think things will get better?”

“I don’t. We are running out of resources, raw materials.”

“They’ll come up with something, Jim. They always do.”

“There is no silver bullet for this, Annabel.”

Jim spent the evening finishing the pen for the goats.

7 years and 4 months before the collapse

Jim went back to the village with his recharged food app at the ready, only to discover that the shop had run out of bread. He returned to tell Annabel the news, and they both sat in silence wondering what they would do.

Lucas Davis had done some planting in the garden and there were still Brussels sprouts, kale, leeks, parsnips, broccoli, rhubarb, spring cabbage, spring cauliflower and winter salad. Jim was getting fed up with vegetable soup, roast vegetables, and stewed rhubarb.

While Annabel cooked, Jim chopped wood for the fire. After lunch, Jim caught a bus into Manchester to deliver his lecture about post-Unity Britain at the bookshop. Annabel stayed at home to rehearse for her upcoming concert.

Before he got up to speak, Jim asked the organisers to play No One is Free by Solomon Burke.

“What I am about to tell you is not new. It is not even my idea. The secretary-general of the European Realistic Disobedience Front proposed it decades ago.” Jim began. “Political and economic power were inseparable. The princes were rich and only the rich were princes. Political power delivered the ability to extract wealth from others through coercion or conquest. The power to coerce translated into titles and castles. Capitalism changed all this with merchants emerging as a new class with economic clout if little political or social power. Economic power was distinct from political authority. Merchants evolved into shareholders and financiers. The richer you were, the more shares you could buy and the more votes you had. The few with the most shares could vote for their own interests and accumulate more shares. They essentially got to tell everyone else what to do.”

Jim paused to see whether his words were sinking in. The blank faces of his audience gave him no idea.

“Imagine a system in which no-one tells anyone what to do and you could freely choose the people or teams you want to work with and how much time you want to devote to different projects,” he continued. “When hierarchies allocate resources, the results are clumsy, inefficient and oppressive. The desire to please superiors makes full transparency impossible. They keep people in the dark about the benefits or drawbacks of working with particular managers or colleagues, how happy or dysfunctional teams are, how rewarding or boring different projects are. Under a flat management model, there are frequent gaps, but the fact these gaps exist is positive. When people discover that someone has moved from one project to another, it says a lot about both the old and the new projects and teams. When people may vote with their feet, they make a collective assessment of each project’s relative value. Unpredictability is a small price to pay for quality and efficiency.”

A hand went up in the audience and Jim acknowledged he would take the question.

“Surely there are menial tasks that no one wants to do?”

“New staff would be taken on informally,” Jim answered. “There would be no need for a personnel department. Any team can start a search to fill a vacancy either internally or externally, even if it is just to clean the bathrooms on their floor. People recruited for these roles may branch out into other roles in a way that no hierarchy would allow.”

Another hand went up and Jim deferred.

“Who decides how many people get paid?”

“A company’s income would be divided into five pots, corporation tax, fixed costs, research and development, staff salaries and bonuses. Collectively, the company would decide the relative proportions of the latter four pots on a one person one vote basis. Anyone who wanted to change the proportion going to each pot would need to propose a new formula. Having decided the amount in each pot, they then divided equally the staff salaries pot among all staff.”

Several hands shot up. Jim selected one of them.

“What about the bonus pot?”

“Every year, each member of staff is given one hundred merit points which they may distribute to other members of staff in whatever proportion they wish, they can give all one hundred to one member of staff or one each to a hundred people, but they can’t allocate any to themselves. Whatever proportion of the total merit points you receive correlates with the proportion of the budget pot you receive.”

“But the system is open to abuse,” the questioner shouted out.

“The voting system is transparent,” said Jim. “So if two people agree to allocate all one hundred merit points to each other, it will be obvious for all to see. This system eliminates one of the biggest injustices of capitalism, that the owners of a company control its profits while those who work within it receive only a wage.”

“That was Roberts’ idea,” someone shouted.

“You are proposing totalitarianism?” someone else shouted.

“In theory, Roberts’ idea was that employees should share the net revenues. However, the Unity hierarchies were just as ruthless in their imposition of power management. The formal ownership of a company is less important than how power is constructed within it.”

“Who owns the company capital?” was the next interjection

“If every citizen has a bank account at the central bank. I propose dividing this account into three funds, the first to accumulate money from salary and bonuses, the second would be a trust fund that is deposited in every citizens’ account at birth. When they come of age, they have some capital to deploy to join or start a business. Rules would protect the trust fund to stop it being used injudiciously. The third is a dividend fund into which the central bank deposits a certain amount depending on the citizen’s age and which is funded through a tax on company revenues. This fund would liberate everyone from both destitution and the cruel means testing of the welfare state. It would also allow some individuals to provide priceless contributions to society without having to run a business, for example caring, environmental conservation or non-commercial art.”

“And to be lazy,” someone shouted.

“It liberates the individual from the current safety net, which simply entangles them in poverty. Dividend gives the poor and unfortunate a platform. It allows young people to experiment with different careers and to study. There would be no income or sales taxes, only tax on company revenues and property. Anyone could lend to companies, they can loan to a company from their own trust fund or accumulation.”

“What happens when people fall out or want to leave?” Jim was asked.

“Then they just leave. They can dismiss underperforming or misbehaving employees with a board of inquiry. There is no golden handshake, although members can vote for a gift if they wish. With small partnerships of two members who wish to part company, each submits a sealed bid for what they feel the company is worth.”

“What about social responsibility?” came the next question.

“Their flat management structure will keep them relatively small, probably only a few hundred staff. A social responsibility act would ensure that we grade each company according to a social worthiness index by regional panels of randomly selected local citizens from a digital stakeholder community formed whenever a company is registered. These panels who grade the companies using a standard social ratings system monitor conduct, activities and effects on communities. We would publish these ratings online, available to anyone. If a rating falls below a certain threshold, we would order a public inquiry, which could cause the company’s deregistration, in which case we would shut it down or put it out to tender. This would curb exploitative practices.”

“How did it go?” Annabel asked when he returned.

“I think it went okay. Some of the audience came up to me at the end and criticised me for not talking about China, but I think they received it well.”

“Many people there?”

“Yes, it was packed, and look what they gave me,” he brandished a bag full of print books.

“What do you want those for?” asked Olivia, who had come downstairs when she heard her father arrive. “You can get all the books in the world on your stretch. They are all on the cloud.”

“And what will you do when you can no longer access the cloud?”

“Don’t be silly, we’ll always be able to access the cloud.”

“What did you get?” asked Annabel.

Jim pulled a book from the bag.

“The complete book of butchering, smoking, curing and sausage making.”

“What did you get that for?” Olivia squealed in horror. “You are vegetarian.”

“Practically vegan,” Annabel added.

7 years and 3 months before the collapse

Jim went back to the council offices, inquiring whether the university would re-open and if he could resume his old position. He was told that they were aiming to open the schools first and the university afterwards. The self-appointed regional assembly had assumed responsibility for education, and it was not yet clear how funding would be distributed, which complicated matters.

Jim left the council building and went straight to a jeweller and used whatever money he could spare to buy silver coins.

When he arrived home, Annabel was just heading out to go to a concert rehearsal.

“What’s that you’ve got?” She asked, seeing the small bag of coins.

“Silver.”

“Jim? What is going on? I don’t have time to talk about it now, but we need to talk. We don’t have money to buy silver.”

“But…”

“Wait until I get back. We’ll talk then.”

However, when Annabel returned, Olivia and Jim were already sleeping.

7 years and two months before the collapse

When Jim left, Annabel was still sleeping. The Assembly had invited him to an Antifa meeting..

The purpose appeared to be to discover the crimes of the Unity campaign by holding question-and-answer sessions with the victims.

They were particularly interested in those who had been interned in camps

“I was not in a camp,” Jim pointed out. “I wouldn’t want people to think I was boasting about my everyday problems.”

“Nonsense,” said the chair. “Your experiences are also very important.”

She gave them suggested dates for the sessions.

Jim went straight to the Old Hall, which was the venue for Annabel’s concert where she and Olivia were waiting for him.

There were about sixty or seventy in the audience, and Jim thought Annabel played very well.

“We have double cause for celebration,” Annabel told him after the concert.

“I’ve been dying to tell you all night,” Olivia squealed with joy. “But mummy made me promise to wait until now.”

“What is it?”

“You tell him, Olivia.”

“I got my GCE results.”

“And?”

“I passed all of them, and I have a place at sixth form college.”

“That’s fantastic, well done.”

“I saw you put the goats together,” said Annabel.

“Well, we need to if we are going to have kids.”

“Are we going to have baby goats?” asked Olivia.

“I hope so,” said Jim.

Annabel rolled her eyes.

7 years and 1 month before the collapse

“Look at this,” said Jim, showing the message he’d just received on his stretch. “They have offered me a course of five one-hour lectures to expound on the ideas I shared in my speech at the bookshop.”

“That’s good.”

“But that’s not all. The Northern Assembly is contemplating not re-opening the university in favour of more vocational higher education. Can you believe it?”

“Jim, after the last ten years I can believe anything.”

“And that’s not the last of it. There’s another proposal here, more lectures on the effect of the Unity campaign on scholarship. I had better go into the city today.”

When he arrived at the office building where he had been told to go, Jim found a crowd outside. Jim announced himself to the doorman, who was as coarse with Jim as he was being with the rest of the crowd.

“You’ll be in trouble if you don’t let me in,” Jim snapped.

“I was in a camp,” replied the doorman. “And now I take orders from no-one.”

“Me too,” Jim lied.

“Which camp?” asked the doorman.

Jim realised this was an argument he could not win and slipped away. He read that out of the 5 million immigrants that had been in the UK pre-unity, only 250,000 remained. Could they have replicated these statistics in other developed nations around the world? Could this have been another genocide? Another holocaust?

Will Atkinson saw Jim staring at his stretch and, wondering what he was doing, went over to him.

“Oh, don’t worry about him,” said Atkinson after Jim had explained the run in with the doorman. “We’re always having problems with him. He actually was in a camp but he’s completely unsuitable for his job, but they insist on keeping him, there’s nothing else for him to do. We have to do whatever the assembly tells us to.”

Jim wondered whether the country had just stumbled from one autocracy into another.

“I just came to confirm that you actually want me to lecture on Unity and scholarship,” he said.

“Yes, that’s right. One hour.”

Jim wondered how he would fill an hour on the subject because in his opinion you could address the whole subject in a sentence; either one is objective or one is fanatical.

On his way home, he saw that the cinema had reopened and asked Annabel and Olivia if they wanted to go. They did and invited Mark and Sofia so they could get a lift.

They watched a remake of Chaplin’s The Great Dictator, which Jim thought was not as good as the original. He wondered why filmmakers seemed to have an obsession to ruin excellent films by making them again.

The village had no electricity when they pulled up at Mark and Sophia’s, and the house was cold when they had walked up the lane. The wood stove didn’t seem to be efficient enough to heat the house in the cold spell they were experiencing.

7 years before the collapse

There was a ceremony in the city for the victims of Unity in Piccadilly gardens. Hundreds of people had gathered

As victims of Unity, they are told that they may be eligible for compensation. They went to investigate but were turned away from the Unity victims’ office.

“Only those who were interred in the camps were victims,” said the snooty receptionist. “You need to go to the council and apply for benefits.”

Jim was on his way to the council when he learned, via his stretch, that Quinn, the man who was trustee for their house and had tried to help them, had died.

“He was in his forties,” Jim told Annabel. “Apparently he hadn’t seen his youngest child. The child was born after they had transferred Quinn to a camp. They moved him straight from the camp to the hospital where he died.”

“That’s so sad,” said Annabel.

At the council, Jim received the same treatment as at the victims’ office and was told to apply online. He went home and found Aiden Clark waiting for him.

“How are you Jim?” said Aiden. “Glad to see you are settling in. You don’t look happy though.”

“I’m sorry. I just learned today that someone who had tried to help us has died. There was a doctor as well, who was very kind to us. I recently heard he is very ill. Are you coming to Annabel’s concert?”

“Yes, I’ll drive us all there.”

“It’s the second gig she’s got.”

“So I heard.”

“Have you been to the Old Hall before?”

“No, I heard they did a fantastic job on the restoration.”

“At least one good thing came from Unity.”

Aiden drove them to the Old Hall, and the concert went well until there was a power cut. Annabel played the rest of her set acoustically to a room full of candles and then they went home.

*

Jim received a message from the university announcing that they hoped to restart at the beginning of November and they would like him to be a professor again.

“Annabel, listen to this,” he said, going into the bedroom to give her the good news. “What’s wrong with your face?”

“I don’t know. It’s itchy. What does it look like?”

“You have shiny red… or purple.. bumps.”

“Yes, I can feel them.”

“Let’s take you to the doctor.”

“You need to make sure Olivia gets the school bus.”

“Yes, yes, I will. Get yourself ready.”

“And Mr Benn smells.”

“Yes, I’ll move him further away, just get yourself ready.”

It was rainy as they got the bus into town. On the way, they realised a smaller amount had recharged onto their food app than they had expected and, on investigation, discovered that the reorganisation of the system had left them in a worse position than before.

On the way, they noticed that posters of the Assembly First Minister Alex, had appeared all over the place.

When they arrived, Dr Armstrong gave Jim and Annabel a warm welcome.

“How do you like my new surgery?” he asked. “I have a medical assistant and three receptionists.”

“Very nice,” said Annabel.

“Yes, I’m advising the Assembly, they’ll probably give me a position and a big title in the ministry.”

Jim thought about how pale and unwell Dr Armstrong looked, but he was obviously happy.

“Oh, by the way,” the doctor continued. “You remember that Unity police officer, the one who you told me, slapped Annabel? Committed suicide. Anyway, let’s have a look at you both.”

They followed him into the examination room.

“Well, I’m afraid you both have eczema. Probably gave it to each other. Better keep an eye on Olivia, too. I’ll give you a prescription for corticosteroid cream but good luck in finding some. If not, you could try green tea if you can get hold of any.”

At the chemist, there was a queue. The chemist did not have the cream Dr Armstrong had recommended, but could supply an alternative.

While they were in the city, Jim tried to settle matters with the university. They confirmed he would need to deliver a lecture on 18th November and approved an advance on his salary.

They returned home in a brighter mood than when they had left and Jim set to work moving Mr Benn’s pen.

6 years and 11 months before the collapse

“Up to the end of the 16th century, even global trading companies were guilds or partnerships, whose members pooled their resources to achieve that which none of them could achieve in isolation. Then, the East India Company became the first joint stock company. It created the possibility for companies with powers so immense that it would dwarf their countries of origin and could be deployed in faraway places to exploit people and resources. The East India Company grew more powerful than the British state, answerable only to its shareholders. In Britain it controlled the Government, abroad its private army oversaw the destruction of well-functioning economies in Asia and ensured the systematic exploitation of their peoples. It was the template for companies that were to follow, overthrowing governments. Freedom means as much under the thumb of global conglomerates as it does under totalitarian regimes like Unity – nothing. While we celebrated the local businesses, we turned a blind eye to the global behemoths that stop at nothing to destroy their competitors.”

Jim took a deep breath. He was delivering a similar lecture to the one he had at the bookshop and had barely paused for breath in his excitement..

“Even in this current climate of great hardship,” he continued. “There are millions working in the voluntary sector. They have managers who have no rights to fire them, force them to do things or even discipline them. The fire, lifeboat and ambulance services where these individuals work are incredibly efficient. Could the entire economy emulate the voluntary sector? I envisage an employment marketplace where individuals are free to move from organisation to organisation.”

“If this model was the most efficient, it would have happened already,” said a member of the audience when Jim took her question.

“When a system evolves, it just means it is the best to survive in that environment. It does not mean it is the best system in the long run,” said Jim. “Capitalism channels the efforts of all the greatest minds to the destruction of the planet, despite the warnings for more than half a century.”

“You are justifying a Unity policy. If I own a business and then employ someone, why should I give them an equal share in my business?” came the next question.

“The real question is, do we want the net revenues of an enterprise to be distributed by a workplace dictatorship? This is inevitable if shares are traded, or do we want the division of the company’s profits to be decided by a workplace democracy? This is only possible if there are equally distributable and non-tradable shares. It is the only system that does not make a mockery out of liberal democracy and a wasteland out of our planet. Next question?”

“I can’t imagine any greater tyranny than some random group passing judgment over us,” said the next member of the audience.

“I would rather a group of random citizens deciding whether my company is serving society than a totalitarian government like Unity,” said Jim. “I can think of no better check on power than someone who has been selected who probably doesn’t want the power. By the way, if you want to improve our public schools and hospitals? Pass a law which demands that all elected officials, whether international, regional or local government, must send their children to state schools and use public hospitals. I think you would find that the quality of our schools and hospitals would suddenly improve.”

The crowd cheered.

After the lecture, Jim received two offers to repeat it, one to the teachers’ union and the other to the members of the majority party in the assembly. The second invite came with a promise to email membership forms to the party.

*

Jim woke up with a terrible head cold. He made coffee and sat down to write, but the party membership forms were sitting there in his email inbox, looking back at him. He felt like he would be a coward if he joined, but also a coward if he didn’t. On the one hand, he worried that joining a party that was courting him was egotistical, but he considered the party the lesser of all evils. It was the only one pressing for the exclusion of the Unity extremists while on the negative side, replacing restrictions on freedoms with other restrictions on freedoms.

A confirmation message from the university, asking him to attend to finalise matters, distracted him. He resolved to fill in the form and join the party.

He told Annabel his intention.

“Good,” she said. “What made up your mind?”

“I think that not being in a party these days is a luxury which is tantamount to cowardice, or at least extreme apathy. It’s the only way to get us out of our current problems.”

“I agree.”

“I’ve had more invites to lecture as well.”

“Things are looking up.”

*

Jim went to the university to see what Unity had left of the place and to prepare his new post-Unity course.

He saw Henry Harris, they both ignored each other. Jim felt awkward because others were trying to introduce them. King saved Jim.

“Jim! How are you? How are Annabel and Olivia?”

“Good thanks, and how are you?”

“Very good, thanks. You must have heard that I am to be the head of the section.”

“No, I hadn’t heard that.”

There was an awkward pause.

“I have joined the party,” Jim broke the silence.

“Really? Are you sure?”

“I have a confession to make,” said Jim. “I really fear the future of people of foreign heritage. Tens of thousands of immigrants used to arrive in Manchester every year. Now there must be less than ten thousand in total and yet, those with foreign heritage hold many of the top positions in local government.”

6 years and 10 months before the collapse

Jim arrived late to a meeting at the assembly building where he had been asked to give a lecture at a cross party meeting.

“I hear that they have elected you to the cabinet,” said Dr Armstrong, who was there trying to improve his chances of being asked to be health minister.

“What?”

“Yes, unanimously proposed by all four parties.”

After Jim had delivered his standard lecture, he added more about concepts for central banking, all taken from ideas over 25 years old.

“To get the public to stay with their central bank accounts, we will give them a 5% tax relief as long as they pay their tax in advance while giving them the right to change their minds and spend it in the meantime. Because private banks cannot offer this amount of interest, or offer tax relief, money will migrate from private banks back to the central bank. Every newborn will continue to receive a trust fund which cannot be used until the baby is an adult. Income and sales tax will be abolished and instead of 5% tax relief, the central bank will offer 5% interest on all balances. The amount in the central bank will be transparent so that no-one can create additional money without everyone knowing. The US, UK and Europe created trillions of dollars, pounds and euros for the ultra-rich 0.1% while the masses drove themselves into the ground, working for a pittance. We will encourage community cooperative money brokers to pool the savings of individuals to fund worthwhile enterprises. I’ll answer your question.”

Jim indicated a member of the audience.

“How do you intend to control the overall supply of money in the economy?”

Jim recognised the assembly’s finance minister.

“The central bank’s charter will be clear. They will adjust the quantity of money to regulate prices and enable the production of socially valued goods and services for society. When average prices rise above a threshold, the central bank would increase the interest it offers to savers, encouraging people to reduce spending, at other times, when economic activity is too sluggish, the interest rate would be reduced and/or the dividend increased.”

“But will the central bank become independent of the government?” asked the finance minister.

“The central bank will become independent of the government, but not of society. Monetary committees will decide the supply of money, comprising a rotating panel, chosen by lot, using an algorithm that ensures fair representation of all members of society. Multiple local currencies will run alongside that of the central bank’s. The point of these local currencies is to keep value produced locally in the local community. In this way, transfer of wealth from one region to another can be regulated by increasing or decreasing the amount charged for exchanging local for national currency in proportion to the imbalance in wealth and trade flow between the two regions.”

At the end of the lecture, a young woman approached Jim and introduced herself as Luna Adams from the Manchester Evening News. She asked whether she could have a transcript of the lecture.

“I’m afraid I don’t have one,” said Jim. “But I would be happy to discuss the ideas with you at another time if you like.”

Luna thanked him and took his number.

*

After an exchange of messages, Jim invited Luna to the house for an interview.

“You have been an outspoken critic of the IMP,” she began.

“The IMP still lends money to bankrupt countries on terms that are the equivalent of debt bondage,” said Jim. “When a developing country can no longer raise the money it owes to foreign bankers, the IMP steps in to lend the money on the condition that the country transfers public property to the international oligarchy. It is not different from the IMF and results in school and hospital closures, cuts in pensions and wages below the poverty line.”

“But what should it be doing?”

“Its role should stabilise the world economy and to invest directly in the regions of the world that need investment to develop, without putting them into debt.”

“Isn’t that just the old socialist dream of a magic money tree?”

“No, there are levies on net exporters of goods and money that would help to stabilise world trade and global money flow. They should channel the proceeds of these levies into free development funds for the world’s least developed regions. At the moment, the net exporters and importers still end up with trade surpluses or deficits.”

“Yes, Professor Smith, I know how the balance of trade works.”

“Then you know that we have had a trade deficit with Germany for the last century and deficit countries have to borrow more and more to afford to buy the goods from the surplus countries. This continued reliance on international bankers is very dangerous and the situation becomes worse when the country has to borrow in a currency other than its own, for example, having to borrow in euros to pay Germany, or in rubles to buy gas from Russia. As soon as banks stop lending the UK euros and rubles, it cannot finance its debt. Germany and Russia are happy to lend us euros and rubles as long as we keep buying their products and resources. As soon as they stop lending us the money, the complete house of cards collapses. The IMP agrees to lend the UK the missing euros or rubles as long as the UK agrees to impoverish their people and sell the family silver to the global oligarchs. Of course, when you get a populist government like Unity who were happy to blame the Chinese and Germans and Russians for their surpluses, then the people blamed these countries rather than their own government or the IMP for their own poverty. It poisons the deficit country’s democracy as it has done in the UK and the US. Trade imbalances never end well, which is why they must be managed.”

“How would you prevent this?”

“Joining the global digital currency and pressing for IMP reform so that it sticks to its founding principles. They should penalise countries for running a large surplus or deficit by charging a trade imbalance levy. This should fund sustainable investments in public health, education, renewable energy, transport and organic agriculture, mostly in the less developed regions in the world. It would also fund migration flows of a human movement project. These are not loans but transfers. To avoid the levy, a country should import roughly the same value of goods and services as it exports. We could fix the levy at 5% of deficits and surpluses and then rise to 10% later.”

“It won’t balance trade.”

“Even if it cannot balance trade, it will generate funds to be invested in underdeveloped regions. The point is to curtail global imbalances, especially the flow of money from one economic block to another. There should also be a surge funding levy to prevent investments in underdeveloped regions from causing a boom/bust.”

“What is a surge funding levy?”

“It’s a fee on international transactions that kicks in above a certain threshold and increases in proportion to the speed and volume of the transfers. They also use the fees for international development. These funds should also help developing countries adhere to the stricter emission limits required to reduce greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.”

“How are exchange rates determined?”

“There would be daily auctions to work out exchange rates. What I am talking about is an almost fully automated system of global discipline that balances out trade and money flows and funds the transition of developing regions to low carbon energy, sustainable transport, organic agriculture and decent public education and health systems. We just need international agreements to reform the IMP and conduct international trade in the global digital currency.”

“I am impressed,” said Luna. “Could that agreement be achieved?”

“It is the US, the UK and Brazil who don’t see the benefits, the rest of the world is already striving towards this system.”

“Thank you very much for your time, Professor Smith. I must go, I have to pick up my daughter, I left her in daycare.”

“How old is she?”

“Four.”

“Can’t her father collect her?”

“We are divorced.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

“No need to be. It was an amicable split.”

“So have you always been a journalist?”

“I studied political economy, but I always wanted to be a journalist, but when Unity was in power, I was deemed ‘politically unreliable’. So I worked as a film extra for a while, got married, had my daughter, got divorced and now I’m here.”

“What do you think the future will bring?”

“I don’t know. I have no faith in the current coalition.”

*

Another lecture, building on the others, this time focusing on land.

“From the 13th century, common land has been enclosed. Between 1604 and 1914, over 5,200 individual enclosure acts were passed, affecting 6.8 million acres and kick-starting capitalism. We should transfer all land titles to regional authorities.”

There was a murmur of disquiet among the gathering. Unity had already nationalised all freeholds, and some had only just got their deeds back, many others were still waiting.

“We need a great ground reform act to establish a grounds common authority for each county which will hold the freehold titles. We would grant existing landlords free lifetime leases. We would divide the land between social zones and commercial zones. Rent from commercial zones would fund social housing and other social projects in the social zones. I disagree with much that Unity put in place but the common ownership of property was a move in the right direction.”

A collective gasp showed how astonished the crowd was to hear anyone agree with a Unity policy. Polarisation in society still existed, just the balance of power had changed.

“We should not throw the baby out with the bathwater,” Jim pleaded with the disgruntled crowd. “There would be two types of commercial zones, one for houses occupied by those willing and able to pay market rates and one for commercial businesses. A permanent subletting auctions scheme would manage the zones. At the beginning of each year, anyone who occupies a building in a commercial zone as a business or a resident will bid for how much rent they are willing to pay for the coming year. If they bid more than the current occupier, then they may take it over after a transition period. Set the value of the property you occupy too high and you pay too much rent, set it too low and you risk eviction. Questions?”

“How are land and houses distributed in the social zones?”

“A county wide people’s assembly will oversee the division of land between commercial and social zones, the division of commercial zones between business and residential use and the distribution of properties within social zones. We will randomly select its members using an algorithm that guarantees fair representation of various groups and communities living in the county.”

“Yes, but who qualifies for social housing and, out of those, who gets the more desirable properties?” the questioner interjected.

“Once we have allocated you a property within a social zone, we would guarantee tenure. When a property is vacated or we build a new property, we would allocate the property using a randomised digital raffle. Everyone seeking a property is included but we increase their odds of winning according to an assessment of their needs and decreased according to the value of their savings, in other words, their ability to bid for a commercial property.”

At the end of the lecture, the warm applause he received heartened Jim, but he suspected the gathering was being polite. He observed many sceptical faces.

*

“Alex is turning down all claims for compensation,” Jim complained to Annabel. “I’ve been told I would have to sue. The university said they can increase my salary, but only if I drop my claim for compensation.”

“You’re not going to?”

“Of course not. I’ve received a receipt for my application to register as a victim of Unity.”

“Have you read the article in the Evening News?”

“No, why?”

“I’ve just had a message from someone complaining about it. They think you wrote it.”

“Oh shit, let me have a look. Oh no, it looks like I am making myself out to be the victim. There is very little of the content of the lecture. It is as if I am trying to portray myself as a martyr.”

Jim began sending messages, telling people he was not responsible for the article. He even emailed the editor and copied the individuals he wanted to witness his protest. He didn’t want to be associated with the waves of arrests which were purging the country. He worried that the continued divisiveness would eventually lead to civil war. The regional assemblies were clamouring for power from Westminster and Westminster, seeking to quieten the unrest was conceding to regional demands, leaving itself impotent.

The Northern Assembly was riding on the back of the working class popularity of Jim’s suggestion for land reforms, but there was no sign they were attempting to implement the measures that he had cribbed from the economists of decades before. There was no sense of fairness, the Assembly was just confiscating land it wanted and this made Jim the villain, as the person who had the temerity to suggest keeping a Unity policy.

Not ready to leave Jim and Olivia?

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#148 Interviewing J J Toner

My fellow independent author, JJ Toner has recently released a new volume in the Adroid Wars series, Escape from Luciflex, which I was fortunate to be a beta reader for.

Carla Scott, an Android engineer, has been banished to the molten mines of Luciflex, a penal colony at the far end of the galaxy. She must escape, with the help of some pirates, in order to prevent a war.

The first in the series is called The Shape of Fear. Working in secret, Carla develops a software module to give her androids Pain – and Fear. What could possibly go wrong!

J J lives in Ireland, and works in a small study overlooking a magnificent copper beech tree, writing science and historical fiction, editing (including the work of other authors), and reading and is currently writing Bubble One, the third book in the series.

Égalité, the only goldilocks planet in the E-System, has an elliptical orbit, with a climate that ranges from blistering heat to extreme cold. The colonists live inside huge geodesic Bubbles. Tensions arise when the indigenous amphibious ‘animals’ go to war against the invaders. Book four is next on the writing list.

I enjoyed reading Escape from Luciflex, there was lots going on, story wise and J J has created a fascinating future in which humans have expanded to a number of other systems. The story keeps twisting right until the end and is well worth a read

You can get your copy of Escape from Luciflex here.