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Pegasus (Part 66)

There were people of all various shapes, sizes, and colours. It was my first time to ever see purple people and angloids. Angloids were taller and had larger brains than normal people. I had read that humanity was diversifying and may in the future even evolve into different species. Many of the space habitats were now operating at below standard earth gravity. Their inhabitants were evolving to become longer as a result. It was suspected that the greater complexity of life in space habitats was also causing humans to evolve bigger brains in places.

I thought it was utterly ridiculous when I read it. The thought that humans could still be going under biological evolution at our high technological level seemed ridiculous but now I wasn’t too sure.

Tabitha was far less fascinated by our surroundings. She held my hand as we drove through the bustling crowds.

“Nearly there,” she said looking back at me.

We turned left, then right through what seemed like a maze of small streets. Each becomes narrower and quieter.

“This is it!” she exclaimed as she pointed at a terraced house in front of us.

It was the first time that I’d seen her smile in some time.

The street had three-story red brick terraced housing on both sides. The one she pointed at looked like all the rest.

Pegasus (Part 65)

Yves was unlike anything I had ever seen before. A large rotating city made up of many different cylindrical levels. It was home to an estimated twenty million people and was a central trading hub in low Earth orbit. We had docked into the central and main thoroughfare.

A mass of people were walking up and down the narrow, paved street that was enclosed by uniform five-story red brick buildings with ornate windows. The clanging of so many feet and people chattering led to a great cacophony of sound that was almost painful to my senses. There was a smell of fish emanating from some of the restaurants that were at street level. Overhead, to their right, was the polluted, exploited planet Earth with hues of blue, white, amber, and black. Still, I couldn’t but stare at it in wonder. After all, that is where everything started, a relic of the past.

We were safe there. Yves treasured its independence which it saw as vital to its economy and the Emperor had decided that it was more valuable functioning, rather than obliterated.

Tabitha tugged at his shirt.

“You have surely seen Earth before?” she said incredulously;

“Of course, but not so close up. I guess you want my head back on mission.”

“Right,” she replied, “come on.”

With that, we joined the great morass of people

Pegasus (Part 64)

I decided to speak first. The language remained in English so that all could understand.

“Congratulations. I believe you have made a fine choice of leader. But I recommend that you hold him to account with elections every certain number of years. Democratic systems have proven superior over the years.

You should also think about having a constitution and a set of laws that you all agree with. That way, you can be clear with one another about what is and what is not allowed.

We have checked Barabus’ accounts. The ship is generating enough economic to sustain everybody and much more on board. If you all work together and care for one another, great good can still come out of this.

We, however, must leave you. We are on an important mission that we must complete at all costs. But we do have some time to show your new leader how things are to be managed. We have examined your flight path. Your next stop is the metropolis of Yves and that is where we will leave you.”

I stopped talking but felt that something was missing.

Then Tabitha spoke.

“But we’ll never forget you. And we’ll be back. It might be a long time, but we will.”

Pegasus (Part 63)

Gradually they came around. Some wanted more drink, but we had bolted it away. It was time to decide what to do next so we went back out to the large meeting hall.

I decided it was my time to speak. For a few moments, I could feel myself grow hot but I persisted.

“Your time with Barabos is over. We saw how you were treated. It was wrong. But you can now become the master of your destiny.”

A voice spoke from behind the crowd, you could sense the fear in the crackling voice. It was from one of the younger ones.

“Will you stay with us?”

I continued.

“No, I’m afraid we can’t. Tabitha’s people need our help and there is something that we must do. But I’m sure that you can manage on your own. The first thing you should do is write up the rules you will live by and select a leader.”

I took Tabitha’s hand and we left them for some time. We had to decide what our next move was too.

The mood was more upbeat on our return. We asked had they selected a leader and it proved to be a familiar face – Padraig.

Review of “The Colony” by Audrey Magee

The author paints a vivid, rich description of life on a fictional wild island off the West Coast of Ireland in the late 1970s set against the backdrop of the Troubles in the North. It begins with an English artist taking a rocky trip on a currach over to it for the summer. We quickly learn that Irish is still the predominant language on it and that only some of the people mostly the younger ones will be able to understand him.

The next chapter gives us the first update on what is happening in the North.

There is another foreigner on the island for the summer, Masson. A French man with some Algerian heritage. He is there to study the Irish language before its expected decline. This turns out to be one of the major themes, the unstoppable decline of the Irish language along with the difficulties and isolation of island life. They do not get along and he resents the Englishman’s presence as it increases the amount of English being used on the island. For those familiar with the language, many of the old arguments raged between them with Masson stressing the language’s cultural importance whereas the Englishman, Lloyd thinks that it is unimportant and shouldn’t stop progress.

The central relationship in the novel is between Lloyd and James (Irish name Seamus). James, who to the horror of Masson doesn’t want to use his Irish name. James gets interested in what Lloyd is doing and becomes his quasi-apprentice for the summer. When he sees what improvement James is making he offers to bring him to London to exhibit his works alongside his own and to send him to art college.

There is an array of other central characters. James’ mother is a widow, his father having drowned with others while fishing, Michael (the money maker), and Francis, Mairead’s brother-in-law.

Mairead enjoys Masson’s bed while he visits the island in secret. This being the 1970s. She also agrees to let Lloyd do some artistic nude paintings of her. It was never her intention but she has become somewhat stuck on the island.

Francis wants her to be his woman but is not interested which is awkward.

Two-thirds of the novel is very good but the ending is disappointing.

James perhaps foolishly accuses his master of copying him, which is laughed off. But Lloyd recognizes then that James is better than him and leaves him on the island. Francis and Mairead’s mother finds out about her naked pictures and admonishes her. And yet the painting still leaves the island. It feels like the start of a story rather than the very end.

Like, are we to believe James will now live out the rest of his life on the island?

And what of his mother?

Therefore, it receives a score of three out of five.

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Sighted Twins’ Self-Discovery & Survival Amid Blind World | Series 1 of See Review

If you like sex, torture, and violence, then this is a must-see. See what I did there. Okay, the sex is more implied than graphic but thankfully the violence and torture are right up there. And my dear readers, I just felt I had to let you know.

Oh, and nearly everybody is blind. Five hundred years previously a virus decimated the human population to a paltry two million. Those who did not die were left blind along with any future descendants.

That was until now. Series 1 is the story of sighted twins and their voyage of self-discovery about their place in the world and about their biological father. They are hunted along the way but have their adopted blind father Baba Voss to guide them both physically and spiritually.

There are many things I enjoyed about this first series, one of which is the medieval battle in the first episode between two armies of the blind. I found it fascinating, Personally, I think they should have left the appearance of people having sight for a bit longer and delved into the new culture.

I give this series five stars out of five. It’s available on Apple.

Remember to subscribe if you enjoy my content.

Till next time.

Pegasus (Part 62)

We could see on the monitors that some of the kids were already pouring into the room.

“We have to tell them.”

Damn, I knew she was going to say that.

I nodded in agreement and replied, “Yes, I guess so.”

We opened and walked in. Their eyes and some of their mouths were wide open in astonishment. Tabitha did the talking.

“Barabus is gone. You are now free.”

There was a stony silence and some of the children looked at each other for guidance.

“And there is lots of food,” I interjected.

Somehow, I knew that would make a difference. And it did.

Suddenly there was a smile here and there.

Tabitha looked at me, her face looked all contorted. Oh yeah, I’d forgotten about the blood and the dead body.

“Just give us a few minutes to get it sorted,” I continued.

Fortunately, they appeared to believe us. We hastily put the body in a side room and washed the blood from the floor and furniture before calling them in.

Their eyes were aghast at the opulence that they saw and the fine food to be eaten. Telling them to partake in the wine was a mistake though. Little over an hour later the room was full of sleeping bodies and vomit.

Wheelchair Wars Part 3 (29)

Those faces would be etched into his mind with all the others that fell with him during battle. Some tears rolled down his eyes as he continued his lonely journey. There was a deathly silence apart from the intermittent sound of gunfire.

Thankfully, the lift that would bring him to the depths of the city was still functional albeit covered in blood.

“Floor 122”, he commanded.

The lift descended for several minutes.

The lift door opened revealing a Tyranid right in front of him.

It lunged at him. The wheelchair’s automatic defences kicked in leading to immediate machine gunfire that pushed the monster back. Shaken, he nevertheless drove forward. Horrible shrieking came from it before it slumped lifeless to the floor.

Timothy could see his ship now and his wheelchair raced to its destination. The loading bay automatically opened creating a ramp and then closed once he was inside.

His care-bot automatically activated.

“Do you need a wash, sir? There’s much dust and other detritus on you?”

“Not till we’re off this world.”

He immediately went to the control panel. The care-bot strapped down his wheelchair and then itself. A few moments later they were leaving the atmosphere. Timothy looked back at a planet ablaze but there were still pockets of green and blue here and there. All that destruction but there was still hope, especially without the Emperor.

Then he had a moment of clarity about what he should do next. He would bring Wheelchair Wars and the fight against the Emperor to the Imperium. Now, to find a planet in a different quadrant so that he can start again.

Wheelchair Wars Part 3 (28)

Timothy looked down at his hands. He expected them to look different. He had just annihilated the Emperor’s representative and all of his troops that were on the ship. He expected a physical change but maybe that was just more nonsense to keep people under control.

He stayed at the helm for a few more hours. The remaining Tyranid forces were now the hunted and being cut down without difficulty. It was time to activate his escape plan. The President would never forgive his large-scale use of nuclear weapons and he expected arrest once the civil authorities were back in full control.

Hence, he had developed the escape when he had been given full control. A spaceship was waiting with his trusted care-bots in one of the lower decks of the city. Instinctively, he knew now was the time.

He commanded that the large door be opened. Then saying nothing he simply drove out. They could figure out the rest themselves.

Once outside, the smell and scenes of death were everywhere. Partial human bodies and Tranid corpses were littered everywhere. Fortunately, his wheelchair had a setting for tracks and he was easily able to drive over it all. It was tough though when he recognized some of the faces.

Pegasus (Part 61)

It was a majestic feast. Eventually, I felt fully satiated. I looked over knowingly at Tabitha who was slouched back on her chair with her arms wrapped around her stomach.

“That was good, wasn’t it,” I said sheepishly.

She smiled.

“Yes it was, I’m stuffed.”

For a few minutes, we rested.

“So, what next?” I asked.

“We have to do something for those kids,” she replied shaking her head from side to side.

“Come, we’ll see what other treasures we can find.”

And there were. The next room was the surveillance center where Barabus would have ensured that his little minions were constantly at work. There were screens all over each of its walls showing black and white video images.

They were struggling to lift weights and other tasks that were too difficult for them.

There was a large red circular button in the center of one of the walls. We both looked at each other. Then I pressed it. It set off a familiar siren. It was the calling siren that Barabus had used to summon his workers. It was time to update them about recent developments but I was unsure what way they would take it. Would we be heroes or murderers?