Intrigue... Braindust for Earth, Moon and Mars

I Schadeberg E

Description

When he was at university, just a few years ago, Laszlo Goran had no shortage of affairs with women there. Now all he wants is to have Audrey for himself. But it is impossible. She belongs to the most powerful man on Earth, Jordan Rathbone--Jor, as the population refers to its beloved leader. Even though Laszlo is the best neurosurgeon in the world and arguably the most popular individual, his lust for Audrey and power consumes him like a cancer. He orchestrates rebellion among the population, engineers kidnapping, conducts mind-altering brain surgery and indulges in bribery to undermine Jor's authority--all to no avail. Jordan Rathbone is surrounded by his adult son, daughter and her boyfriend and half of the population practicing unarmed combat and mind power.Meanwhile, the first attempts of mankind to start small colonies on the Moon and Mars are fraught with peril as lack of oxygen causes health complications and tempestuous dust storms threaten their daily lives.It has been only about a hundred years since Neil Armstrong walked on the Moon and the world of 2067 is already vastly different to the world of 1969. After the devastating wars during the 2020s, the four most powerful nations in the world outlawed all wars, bringing the ruling that money is to be spent on education, physical fitness and interplanetary expansion, having scrapped the idea of finding humanoid life in the surrounding galaxies.A page turner, Intrigue... Braindust for Earth, Moon and Mars builds on modern technological, neurological and space developments to project a world that is intended to be perfect but isn't, because humans cannot change their basic nature.

Sujets

• Science fiction

Informations

• Publié par: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Date de parution: 31 mars 2020
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781528970167
• Langue: English

Extrait

Intrigue… Braindust for Earth, Moon and Mars
E I Schadeberg.
Austin Macauley Publishers
2020-03-31
Intrigue… Braindust for Earth, Moon and Mars About the Author Copyright Information © Acknowledgment Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten Chapter Eleven Chapter Twelve Chapter Thirteen Chapter Fourteen Chapter Fifteen Chapter Sixteen Chapter Seventeen Chapter Eighteen Chapter Nineteen Chapter Twenty Chapter Twenty-One Chapter Twenty-Two Chapter Twenty-Three Chapter Twenty-Four Chapter Twenty-Five Chapter Twenty-Six Chapter Twenty-Seven Chapter Twenty-Eight Chapter Twenty-Nine Chapter Thirty Chapter Thirty-One Chapter Thirty-Two Chapter T h irty-Three Chapter Thirty-Four Chapter Thirty-Five Chapter Thirty-Six Chapter Thirty-Seven Chapter Thirty-Eight Chapter Thirty-Nine Chapter Forty Chapter Forty-One Chapter Forty-Two Chapter Forty-Three Chapter Forty-Four Chapter Forty-Five Chapter Forty-Six Chapter Forty-Seven Chapter Forty-Eight Chapter Forty-Nine Chapter Fifty Chapter Fifty-One Chapter Fifty-Two Chapter Fifty-Three Chapter Fifty-Four Chapter Fifty-Five Chapter Fifty-Six Chapter Fifty-Seven Chapter Fifty-Eight Chapter Fifty-Nine Chapter Sixty Chapter Sixty-One Chapter Sixty-Two Chapter Sixty-Three
About the Author
E I Schadeberg’s writing career started late in life. An excellent education equipped her to raise four children on her own and hold down research, marketing, advertising and merchandising jobs in commerce and industry until her family was adequately educated and settled in careers. There was never the time to sit down and write books, but she published two slim children’s books and poetry in the UK, and a volume of poems on the internet in Australia.
Intrigue… Braindust for Earth, Moon and Mars is her first adult book to be published.
Copyright Information ©
E I Schadeberg (2020)
The right of E I Schadeberg to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with section 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.
Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.
ISBN 9781528939980 (Paperback)
ISBN 9781528970167 (ePub e-book)
www.austinmacauley.com
First Published (2020)
Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd
25 Canada Square
Canary Wharf
London
E14 5LQ
Acknowledgment
Acknowledgements to Austin Macauley; the editors and staff of this experienced publishing house guided me through the necessary processes of turning a manuscript into this book.
The Perth Reference Library’s librarians, those working at the Melville Hub Libraries and at Peppermint Grove Library who were always determined to help me find the reference sources that I needed for this book.
Simon, Wilma and Kathleen for their faith in me and devoted support.
My four children, respectively helping with finances, the use of electronics, the management of finances, the meticulous reading of rough scripts with suggested improvements, their enthusiasm for sports such as marathon running, swimming, karate and golf, the endless recommended books to read, and gifts of inspiring poetry and classical DVD recordings.
Mr John Harman, ghostwriter, author, lecturer who gave me encouragement and useful information on presentation of a manuscript.
Robert McKee’s book, Story , that became my handbook where I learnt about film script writing, taught me to write in beats, and how to progressively build up to the climax of the story.
Jonas Johansson, Stephen King, R R Martin, J K Rowling, J R Tolkien, Shakespeare, Robert Harris, Lee Child, Milton, Emily and Charlotte Bronte, Dostoevsky, Flaubert, Guy de Maupassant, Charles Dickens, Omar Khayyam, Keats, Shelley, Wordsworth, the author of the King James Version of the Holy Bible, and as many of the inspired authors’ books on which I could lay my hands.
Chapter One
It was just an ordinary party, as parties go. My life, as official recorder attached to the Chief Custodian and his family, can be arduous at times, shadowing them at official functions, or merely going about the affairs of state. Not this evening; everything changed for me at half-past nine when Peter arrived with the first-generation Martian.
Everyone had stopped talking, as goggle-eyed, they took stock of the Martian. Even Audrey Palmer, wife of Jordan Rathbone, Custodian of Planet Earth, stared openly. In the dim light, his red hair seemed to glow, short red tail twitching and pointy ears wriggling. He was exceptionally tall, topping the host, Peter Whitford, by almost two heads.
‘My friends,’ Peter, a mischievous sparkle in his eyes, almost unable to contain his excitement, spoke to the guests. ‘I would like to thank each and every one of you for coming to join us on the eve of the enormous brain procedure that my wife, Valerie, will have in the next few days. Most of you know everyone here, but I would like to mention a few guests.’ He beckoned to me, and as I stepped forward, he said, ‘this is Mr R E Redroc, Red to his friends. He is our chief recorder, at present spending time with our First Family, Jordan Rathbone and – present here tonight someone who needs no introduction – the gorgeous Audrey Palmer, Valerie’s half-sister. Would you please join Mr Redroc, Audrey?’
She smiled graciously, tossed the lustrous blonde curls off her face, her velvet-blue eyes earnestly seeking my face and shook my hand. ‘I know Red well; he has been with us for a few months now, absorbing our way of life to record for posterity of how the Top Four Nations’ vision of a Utopian society is working in practice.’
‘Next,’ Peter continued, ‘I’d like to introduce our brilliant neurosurgeon – though I think everyone has heard of him – Dr Laszlo Goran, who will be holding my wife’s fate in his hands shortly. He is well-known all over the world. Please join Red and Audrey, Laszlo?’
Laszlo stepped forward. I had occasion to meet him in the Assembly Hall previously, and once again, as then, I was completely struck by the man for whom only one word is suitable “suave”. Although not really tall, he had such a commanding presence about him which seemed to proclaim “I am brilliant and good looking, a genius who is competent and good” – which paved the way for interaction without stress. ‘I am honoured, Peter Whitford, that you have chosen me to keep your wife on her feet. Glad to meet all of you.’ He greeted me and Audrey like old friends, shaking my hand but embracing Audrey with a little too much enthusiasm.
‘I’m not going to introduce all our good friends since, as I’ve said, most of them know one another. But I will introduce our Martian visitor. Mr Arthur Bradford Chapman, welcome to Planet Earth and our humble home. Will you say a few words, Brad?’
The Martian growled while the rest of the gathering looked on in consternation. Then Peter exploded. He couldn’t stop laughing. ‘Val,’ he guffawed, ‘please turn those dim lights off.’
A blood-curdling yell – which could only have come from the Martian – had some ladies screaming. Then Valerie turned the lights on. Smiles of relief washed over the gathering for there, before them, stood a handsome young man in his early twenties, waving the artificial tail through the air, pointy ears in the other hand, his fiery-red hair almost crowning him with a seemingly burning halo, a huge smile lighting up the room and lightening the hearts of all present. The party kicked off to a wonderful start.
I joined Valerie. ‘I hope you do not mind me asking. Why are you having brain surgery?’
‘Not at all!’ she smiled. ‘I picked up a virus which damaged my brain, resulting in a strong possibility that I could lose my mobility unless I received a brain implant.’ She paused for a second, then added, ‘I’m not scared, but rather looking forward to it.’
‘Indeed! You’re in good hands! I’m familiar with the neurosurgeon’s work, absolutely phenomenal!’ I added. ‘I see a family resemblance between you and Audrey.’
‘Not surprising!’ she smiled. ‘We have the same father.’
‘She leads a very busy life.’
‘Yes, Red, I invited her here because, lately, things have not gone too well for her at home,’ she sighed. ‘Besides, Audrey’s mother was a businesswoman who never had much time, and I was in my late-teens when Audrey was born, so I spent a lot of time looking after her.’
‘How did that happen?’
‘My mother died when I went to university. Of course, I missed her, but my life was full. But then Dad re-married a much younger woman, a businesswoman, and they had Audrey – I think against her will – and I ended up being Audrey’s surrogate mother. We are very close.’
I could sense that Valerie needed to confide in me, so I said, ‘I’ve only been with the family a short while, and I have noticed that she seems to be a little short on enthusiasm at present.’
‘Yes. She’s never fully recovered from the birth of her daughter, Alexandra – we call her Lexi. Jordan is extremely busy, and Audrey is finding it hard to cope with all the demands made on her time.’
‘I’ve noticed that.’ At that, I saw the appraising look Audrey Palmer, First Lady of the Planet, gave the Martian and noticed his response: Peter was still trying to introduce him to someone else when, with two strides, he was at Audrey’s side, gripping her hand in his,