#futureology

William Gibson: Technology, Science Fiction & the Apocalypse

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Abstract of Walkabout: The History of a Brief Century by Robert K. S. Hoge Walkabout: The History of a Brief Century is a first-hand account of the experiences of a young man named Gregory Greene during and after a trip around the world just at the time when the Mark of the Beast is introduced. This point of view limits the narrative to those aspects of the Bible’s prophesies that can be observed here on earth. This is intentional: there are plenty of books on the theological side of the matter for those who are interested in Bible study. This book is for the rest of us. I began drafting text for Walkabout in Australia, and put together most of the present manuscript while working for the World Bank. My narrator, Gregory, thus became an Australian, and one of his stopovers is Washington DC. I’ve traveled around the world myself, and have lived in or visited most of the places Gregory passes through. Many of the events forming the action of the book, too improbable to be invented, have happened to my family and myself. Gregory’s trip starts four years before the end, so a prologue, describing the tribulations that happen prior to that time, is useful as an introduction. The first thing reported is the famine brought by the rider on the black horse of Rev. 6:5. Of course, nobody sees a black horse, but all are aware, some painfully so, of the famine. Now, what kind of famine could bring about a dependence on money so total that later on, every person in the world can be blackmailed into accepting a payment system identifier tattooed on their hand or forehead, on pains of being unable to buy or sell? Today, half the world’s people spend less that two dollars a day, and most of those families produce all their food themselves: a change in the form of legal tender would elicit little more than a shrug from them. It must be a drought so severe that only big business and high technology can continue producing food and drinking water, rendering everyone dependent on money for their mere survival. The Prologue begins with the story of that drought, and continues with the other tribulations to come between now and the introduction of the Mark. For all we know, the Great Drought has already begun in places like Australia and the U.S. South-West. Prologue Chapter 1: Famine Lack of rainfall, increased consumption of meat and biofuels requiring large amounts of grain, and environmental degradation lead to a catastrophic shortage of food. Poor people have hardly anything to eat. Drinking water is no longer available in nature, and everybody must buy their water from public or private suppliers. Family farming becomes impossible. Marine sources of protein disappear with pollution and overfishing, leaving only capital-intensive high sea fishing relatively intact. Gregory’s parents lose their jobs and revert to subsistence farming and gardening on their small piece of land. Chapter 2: Recovery With the passing of the drought, life becomes easier, but it has changed. Agribusiness invests its growing profits into capital-intensive production of genetically engineered and chemical-dependent food and takes over the whole chain of food processing and preparation, turning the world’s population into junk food consumers with all the health problems that go with it. The drug companies expect everyone to use their products to survive the ill health induced by the junk food, and find ways of getting to the deviants who still attempt to live healthy lives. Chapter 3: Life Goes On Gregory grows up, well versed in self-sufficiency, but with the economic recovery, his family re-enters the consumer way of life. Gregory goes off to university and graduates, ending up with a good job in Sydney. As a legacy from the years of self-sufficiency, he retains a healthy lifestyle and a wariness of too much dependence on big business. Chapter 4: Natural disasters Meanwhile, Nature has more surprises in store. A violent earthquake triggers a simultaneous eruption of four Italian volcanoes, including a long dormant supervolcano. As a result of the immense release of smoke and ash into the atmosphere, a nuclear winter ensues, lasting many months. Next, two comet fragments collide with the earth, causing renewed nuclear winter and eutrophication of lakes and rivers. The drinking water of a large part of the world becomes foul-tasting and toxic, forcing the last community-owned water utilities to sell out to multinational corporations and further driving up water prices. Finally, an asteroid falls on a locust breeding ground in Africa, and mutated mongrel insects swarm and sting people for five months. Chapter 5: Power Politics Amid popular unrest and fears of crime and terrorism, people clamor for stronger government and willingly give up more of their civil rights. The European Union appoints a new President, a career politician with a hypnotic TV personality. His first major feat is brokering peace in the Middle East in the chaos following a failed Russian-Iranian-Libyan-Sudanese attack on Israel. As part of the settlement, the major Arab governments in the region agree to allow Israel to build a replica of Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem. Chapter 6: Laura And then Gregory meets the love of his life, Laura. She wraps him around her finger and they have a wonderful time together. But Gregory has been planning to go on a trip around the world for a long time, and in spite of having to leave Laura behind, he decides to go. Laura promises to fly out and spend time with him along the way, as opportunities arise. Part 1 Chapter 7: Hijacked! Gregory sets out on the first leg of his trip by supersonic plane toward Tokyo. The plane is hijacked, and lands in Seoul, Korea, where Gregory escapes together with a young lady who had been sitting next to him. A little later, the plane blows up; there are no other survivors. A little melodramatic, perhaps, but the idea is to mellow our Gregory and shake him out of his complacency. Chapter 8: Seoul, Korea Finding his wits again, Gregory meets the family of his fellow passenger and realizes that their peaceful life in relative poverty is more wholesome than his own hectic consumer lifestyle. He reequips himself for a rougher trip than he had originally foreseen, and feels that he is better off for his traumatic Korean stopover. Chapter 9: Tokyo, Japan Gregory’s first evening in Tokyo only gets him as far as watching TV in his hotel room. He wants to give feedback to his old favorite Sydney talk show, but finds that the station has no interest in him once he’s no longer there consuming anything. A friend at the TV station tells him another harsh truth: “The purpose of commercial media news is not to inform, it’s to maintain consumer confidence. “ Chapter 10: The Monk Following some sightseeing in futuristic parts of Tokyo that we haven’t seen yet, Gregory goes to the Imperial Palace gardens, where he runs into a Buddhist monk with a business career in his past. The monk provides an analysis of the role of information and communications systems in making us consume more, and explains the structure of human society by means of the parallel of sheep, wolves, owners, and shepherds. Chapter 11: Bread and Circuses The discussion continues around the subjects of values, tradition, and control over populations. In addition to direct surveillance, control over payments is an important tool of the authorities. Entertainment keeps the people content, and political corruption ensures that business interests come before social concerns. Part 2 Chapter 12: The Kapitan Fedosow Gregory now leaves Japan on a freighter bound for Murmansk in northwest Russia via the North-east Passage. Over dinner at the Captain’s table, the small group of passengers begins its own discussions on economic and social matters, furthering Gregory’s understanding of how society works behind the scenes. Chapter 13: The Northeast Passage Along the Siberian coast, Gregory gets a rundown on the intricacies of travel through pack ice, and proceeds to receive some gruesome investment advice from a fellow passenger, an investor by trade. At dinner, the group listens to a radio address by the European Leader, dealing with the abolishment of cash and the conferring of legal tender status on electronic payments. The role of control over payments as a means of surveillance is discussed on a detailed level. Chapter 14: Polar Bears Gregory spots one of the world’s last seals and two of its last polar bears. The last dinner discussion on board delves deeper into the new European payment system, and presents a view of how a sly and ruthless person like the Leader has come to be popular and admired. It becomes clear to Gregory that without accepting the identifier of the mandatory new payment system, a mark on his skin, he won’t be able to pay his way through Europe. But the dinner party also comes up with the beginnings of a plan on how to get around the system. Chapter 15: Land of the Midnight Sun From Murmansk, Gregory hitches a ride to Helsinki, Finland, where he meets up with an old friend, Andy. During a traditional Finnish sauna bath with Andy, more details of the new payment system emerge. Andy explains why the only practical identifier for a mandatory, worldwide payment system is precisely a mark on the skin, not plastic cards, chip implants or biometrics. Chapter 16: Self-sufficiency Andy now takes Gregory to visit a community supported farm where he’ll be getting most of his food when he can no longer use money. There are other resources in the area, including a refurbished grain mill and a smithy, which will help the alternative movement farm and work in traditional ways. Gregory learns that dodging the new payment system and its Mark is possible, and that a large number of people are committed to do so. Chapter 17: Midsummer A tour of the Finnish lake district ends up with a visit on another farm and a traditional Midsummer night’s celebration. Next, Gregory takes the big, white passenger ship to Stockholm, Sweden. In one of the ship’s bars, he meets the project manager of the new payment system. More details emerge, including those of the new European TV standard, a holographic, three-dimensional video projection system with individual, interactive stereo sound channels for every viewer. It turns out that the Mark is used here, too: every viewer can be positively identified and his or her reactions to advertisements and official propaganda can be monitored. Gregory also finds out that all this was described by St. John 2000 years ago, and, by sheer luck, he manages to yank the project manager out of a suicidal depression over having caused this to happen to mankind. Chapter 18: Hanover, Germany After touring the old part of Stockholm, Gregory gets a ride by truck to Hanover, Germany. There he finds the new payment system in use, and, as expected, can no longer buy himself anything, not even lunch. It turns out that Gregory’s old resourcefulness hasn’t left him, and he scavenges for food and continues his journey on foot. Chapter 19: The Giant In southern Hanover, Gregory runs into a man standing 6 foot 10 inches tall, who lives in an old city morgue. (If this seems unlikely, I can vouch for its truthfulness: he’s my late cousin Polder…) Polder acts as a clearinghouse for Mark dodgers with nowhere to go, and takes Gregory in for the summer. Over dinner, Gregory learns that a supporter of the Leader has just assassinated the French Premier and placed France under direct EU rule, following the example of Italy and Germany. The Leader is thus identified as Daniel’s Little Horn, before whom three of the ten former horns were to be plucked out by the roots. Polder also runs a trade club that provides an alternative, electronic payment system for the unmarked. Gregory gets an account with the trade club and learns that he has a summer job as assistant gardener at a nearby market garden, part of the alternative movement. Chapter 20: The Raid Come morning, the house is raided by the police and the trade club computer is impounded. Polder assures Gregory that the data is safe and encrypted, and they retrieve a backup computer from the morgue’s old corpse elevator. Gregory goes to work and finds it quite enjoyable. During the summer, a war breaks out in Asia, involving 200 million troops and wiping out a third of the world’s population. Radioactive fallout complicates life in the rest of the world, and the survivors in the countries that took part in the war revert to subsistence farming and scavenging. Come fall, Gregory takes a trip to the north-east of Germany and comes to yet another alternative farm. Chapter 21: Organic Farming Some principles of organic farming are expounded, and goods are bartered. Next, Gregory continues to Frankfurt, where he meets another old friend, Dieter. Dieter is marked, but upon learning about the perils of the Mark, determines to drop out before he’s asked to do any worshipping of the Leader. They visit Dieter’s brother, who has Down’s syndrome and lives in a Camphill village north of Frankfurt, and Gregory learns about that movement and how it deals with official coercion regarding the Mark. Dieter shares some of the details of the interactive TV system and asserts that it’ll be in Australia very soon. Gregory calls Laura to make plans, and proposes to her. Part 3 Chapter 22: Brussels, Belgium Gregory hitches a ride on a barge down the river Rhine as far as Cologne, where he stays the night and does some touring. The view from the cathedral tower is magnificent, a blessing after years of smoke and volcanic ash blocking out landmarks such as mountains and islands. In the afternoon, he continues to Aachen and goes to see the cathedral there. In Charlemagne’s old court church, which forms part of the cathedral, he sees a slightly built man try out the ancient emperor’s throne, then leave the cathedral in an official EU car. The next day, Gregory goes on to Brussels in Belgium. Lucky as always, he runs into a friendly family and is invited to their home for lunch. Here he hears about the family’s experiences from mission work in Africa and learns valuable lessons about raising children. Chapter 23: Paris, France Arrangements are made for the next leg of Gregory’s trip, to Paris. The evening news focuses on Italy: The Pope has died; the Leader is moving his office from Brussels to Rome, there to join the EU Commissioner for propaganda; a microwave link transferring electrical power from a giant new hydroelectric plant in Uganda to Europe has been opened in the south of Italy. The next day, Gregory takes the high-speed train to Paris and installs himself at his quarters. Over dinner, he learns from his host, a minister, about how Christians are preparing for what’s coming, and gets a lesson in what happens when politicians, bureaucrats, and businessmen take over a belief system such as an emerging church. Chapter 24: The Emperor It’s becoming the rule, by now, that the touring Gregory plans always takes the backseat to dramatic events and new insights. Strolling down the Champs Élysées, he runs into the Australian ambassador, fresh out of the Élysées palace, where he’s been watching a direct 3-D TV transmission from Rome with other diplomatic and government dignitaries. In Rome, the Leader has proclaimed himself emperor, and, over lunch, Gregory gets a detailed explanation of the significance of this act. When finally the next day, Gregory gets in a whole tour of something, this time the palace and gardens at Versailles, he receives an invitation to visit Angers over the weekend. In the old castle there, Gregory sees the collection of medieval apocalyptic tapestries, and begins to realize the magnitude of the events he’s partaking in. Chapter 25: Off with His Head! Entering a shopping center with his Angers hosts, Gregory sees his first 3-D entertainment center. The emperor gives a speech, and Gregory fails to do the required obeisance. Along with a young Englishman named Henry, who has been there handing out Christian leaflets, Gregory gets thrown in jail back in Versailles, and learns that his punishment is death. All quite clear-cut, no need for lawyers or court proceedings. Nevertheless, Gregory asserts that he has the right to make a phone call, and calls Laura. Henry gives him a pocket-sized New Testament, and the next morning, Henry is taken away. Gregory is brought to the police prefect, a Christian, who has learned about his plight from the Australian ambassador, alerted by Laura. The Prefect spirits him out of Versailles. In Paris, they see a guillotine being set up for Henry. Chapter 26: Taizé Another ride on the high-speed train, and Gregory is in the Community of Taizé in central France, where the Prefect has arranged for him to stay for a while. There, Gregory settles in and makes himself useful, but feels that he still hasn’t caught on to what it is that so fills the souls of the brothers there. He learns that Henry’s execution has not only driven Britain out of the EU, but has also prompted the election of a radical young cardinal as pope. He has mounted a resolute resistance to the Emperor-cult and ordered all Catholics to refuse the TV worship, claiming papal infallibility. Come Christmas, Laura arrives, and she and Gregory get engaged. She also opens his eyes and brings him to Christ. They then go to Rome for the European Taizé meeting there. When the meeting is over, they learn that the pope is dead, presumably murdered. Chapter 27: Rome, Italy Laura and Gregory begin seeing the sights in Rome, and get a useful acquaintance, a lawyer named Lorenzo. In the afternoon, they go to a shopping center so Laura can see the 3-D entertainment center there. Like in France, the emperor is scheduled to speak, and Gregory stays at the entertainment center to listen—he’s figured out a way to catch somebody else’s sound channel, since, unmarked, he can’t have one of his own. Seated between golden Cherubim in the Holiest of Holies of the Jerusalem Temple, the emperor proclaims himself a god and mandates universal obeisance. Unable to stand the crowd any longer, Gregory elbows his way to an entrance, where he encounters the emperor, watching the recorded speech and the reactions of the audience. Gregory is treated to some inside opinions on power politics, and realizes that it was the emperor he saw trying out Charlemagne’s throne in Aachen. Chapter 28: The Cooperative The world news tells how emperor worship is replacing traditional religions all over the world. Unrest in Jerusalem has prompted the EU to impose a ban on animal Temple sacrifices on Israel, an associate EU member. By way of compensation, a super-sized 3-D entertainment center is to be installed in the Holy Place of the Temple, so Jews can worship the emperor there. Thousands of people inexplicably flee Jerusalem in the middle of winter. Two agitators dressed in sackcloth appear in Jerusalem and can’t be dislodged from the Temple grounds. A violent earthquake hits California. Laura and Gregory are trapped at the shopping center for the whole evening by a violent hailstorm. The next day, another abortive attempt at sightseeing brings Laura and Gregory to the Forum Romanum, where they run into Emy, an old friend of Laura’s, who has been studying archeology in Rome for the past few years. Emy reveals that on the side, she’s been helping people seeking an alternative lifestyle lease land from Italian emigrants in Australia. Now she needs a lawyer to finalize her last land deal. Our friends offer her Lorenzo, and they all drive out to see the farm near the Adriatic shore. The day after, Laura flies home, and Emy and Gregory have a long discussion on homosexuality and the discrimination that goes with it. Chapter 29: Vesuvius Emy now wants to go to Sicily to see some relatives there, and Gregory goes along as her map reader. They drive through the ash-covered region around Vesuvius and continue to the south of the Italian peninsula. There they lose their way and end up at the microwave receiving station of the Ugandan power link, where the Commissioner for propaganda is demonstrating his powers on worldwide TV by calling down fire from heaven. In truth, it’s swarms of insects flying into the microwave beam and flaring up in the dark; the whole area has been blacked out. A stealth helicopter flies through the beam, too, while the lights are out, and crashes near our travelers. They recover a cache of secret documents from a passenger; everyone on board has been cooked to death. The documents turn out to form an as yet unsigned agreement between the EU and Algeria to deploy the EU Rapid Action Force, Eurofor, against Islamic fundamentalist guerillas there. Chapter 30: Palermo, Sicily Arrived in Palermo, Gregory and Emy are subjected to the local hospitality and manage to see some sights on the side. For the weekend, they go to the clan’s ancestral home village in central Sicily, where they help the clan members and their priest understand what’s happened to the Catholic Church—the Propaganda Commissioner has taken over the pope’s job, and has turned the church into a commercialized distribution channel for emperor worship and associated merchandize. The priest rises to the occasion and follows up with Biblical advice for living under persecution while refusing the Mark. Emy and Gregory then help set up a trade club for the clan and prepare to return to the mainland. But the news of tightened controls and strict implementation of the requirement to be marked induces the clan to devise another plan. Chapter 31: Seas of Lights Some days later, our travelers quietly board a Tunisian tramp bound for Algiers. On board, they learn that the Emperor, for Muslim consumption, has declared himself the Mahdi, whose latter-day appearance is to herald the return of Jesus and the end of days. They arrive in Algiers and get on the train towards Oran; their travel plan involves continuing to Morocco and taking a ship to Britain from there. The train is boarded by Islamic terrorists, whose routine, apart from robbing the passengers, includes assassinating anybody working for the military or the police, and abducting Army draftees to serve in their own troops—or to die. Foreigners, as well as unveiled women, are also shot. On Emy’s advice, Gregory gets the attention of “their” terrorist and persuades him to take them to his commander, to show him the documents captured in Italy. At the guerilla base in the mountains, they are received by the emir and give him their documents. They advise the emir to seek a truce rather than to organize resistance, and tell him about all the people in Europe who would give anything for the distance the guerillas have between themselves and the state. An alternative lifestyle far from government enforcers is better than trying to reform the whole country. Emy offers to prove from Islamic tradition that the End Times are near and worth their attention, and the emir, joined by the local imam, accepts her views. Chapter 32: Oran, Algeria The murderous guerilla fighter from the train attempts to rape Emy during the night, but Gregory overpowers him and calls in guards to bring him to justice. Emy, a Karate black belt, administers it herself, and the attacker disappears into the night, never to be heard from again. The next morning the emir lends them two camels and sends them back to civilization, and they eventually arrive in Oran. Here everything is peaceful and our travelers abandon the idea of going to Morocco. Instead, they board an Iranian ship bound for Southampton, and have many an interesting discussion at the captain’s table. The captain, a Muslim who also knows the Christian faith from his Christian father, sets Gregory right about Islam and provides interesting insights. Part 4 Chapter 33: Dorset Emy flies home to Sydney from London Heathrow, and Gregory sets out for a community farm in Dorset, where Laura has friends. She’s planning to join him there a week later. In Britain, the Mark is voluntary, mainly for foreign travel, and the Pound Sterling has been reintroduced. Gregory arrives at the farm and settles in. His discussions with the elders there center on the Christian faith. For a beginning, the contrast between faith and religion is explored. The rationale for different denominations comes next, and as a practical example of religion replacing faith, Santa Claus completes the chapter. Chapter 34: Creation Based on a lecture at the local church hall, Gregory and his hosts explore the creation story of Genesis, comparing it with science and evolutionism. This chapter was written long before Intelligent Design became a fad, and I see no reason to align my line of thought with that of ID, although they have much in common. Chapter 35: Unidentified Flying Object The discussion on Creation is wrapped up. Six-day creationism comes out the loser, while atheist evolutionism fares little better. Then the purpose of life is explored to some depth. The nature of time and space comes next. St. Paul is quoted as talking about four dimensions, which would seem to invite us to think out of the box to some extent. This done, Gregory is off to bed in an outlying shed, but on the way, he and his host encounter a UFO. I got the story of this incident from somebody who claimed to have experienced it themselves, and I’ve written it down as I heard it told. I can’t verify it, but it goes with the preceding discussion, so I’d like to leave it as it is. Chapter 36: Wales Laura flies in again, and the two of them begin a leisurely holiday, mainly in Wales and Scotland. During a brief stop in Wales, Laura and Gregory witness the angels’ messages from Rev. 14:6-13, an incident that’s quickly dismissed as a piece of worldwide terrorist trickery by the EU Propaganda Commissioner. Next, they stay for a few days with some old friends of Laura’s who have a sheep ranch in North Wales, complete with old mine shafts and dangerous bogs. Gregory falls into a bog and nearly drowns. He notices that a prayer at the critical moment doesn’t seem to hurt at all. After visiting Laura’s favorite haunts in Scotland, they return to Southampton, where she finds Gregory a yacht owner who needs someone to crew for him on an imminent crossing to the States. Here they part again, and the transatlantic voyage begins. Chapter 27: Washington DC, USA The crossing is tough going, but probably pretty normal fare for those who do that sort of thing. I haven’t, but I got lots of help with this account from two experienced sailors. Early in the morning of April 19, Gregory and Chuck, his skipper, turn into the Potomac River, headed for Washington. Then, at 9:02, a nuclear blast goes off straight ahead, and the delay before the sound is heard confirms that Washington has been bombed. Docked at Alexandria, VA, Gregory offers to help out with the recovery effort, something he is qualified to do. He’s whisked off to the Defense Intelligence Analysis Center and gets the task of finding out what happened, and who could be behind it. Working well into the night, he directs the FBI to arrest two suspects, but feels that it was altogether too easy. Chapter 28: Who Dunnit? Gregory’s new boss, Colonel Adams, agrees with this assessment and sends Gregory to Minnesota to talk to the militia where one of the suspects is a member. On the flight, his attempt to catch up on his sleep is thwarted by a couple of unruly kids, and Gregory gets a lecture on narcissism from a fellow passenger who happens to be a child psychologist. He determines to make the best use of all the advice he’s received during the trip when, one day, he becomes a father. Chapter 29: Minneapolis MN, USA Gregory heads for militia headquarters and soon finds that the girlfriend of the suspect is missing. She’s a Scandinavian, and using some sophisticated technology from the FBI, she’s soon found in the SAS departure area at Newark, NJ. Colonel Adams has her arrested, and releases Gregory from service. He finally catches up on his sleep; the next day he goes to the Mall of America to see the biggest mall of them all. Once again, the 3-D entertainment center features the emperor, but this time, he’s doing a commercial for the US credit card industry. Gregory leaves in disgust and goes to have lunch. At the table next to his sits a minister, and Gregory gets some of his questions answered. The discussion eventually covers religion, payment systems, and American society. Part 5 Chapter 40: Home Laura meets Gregory in Hawaii, and after a brief holiday there, they head for Sydney. Laura has put down earnest money on a farm in Tasmania, and the deal is finalized. They celebrate their wedding in Sydney with their closest friends and family, and then it’s off to Tasmania. The farm turns out to be hilly and overgrown with weeds, not workable with modern farm machinery, but certainly with horses and lots of people. While wondering how to get started, their money runs low, and Gregory goes to work. The first two people they get to join them are nice, but not very productive. But the farm is a wonderful place, and they never lose hope for it. Chapter 41: Campus Life Laura gives birth to their first child, a boy they name Dorn. Some of their friends come down from Sydney to join them, and the farm slowly comes to life. Colonel Adams calls and announces that an award for catching the terrorists has been paid out to Gregory, and their money troubles are over. Then they think of a way to make their vision of the farm legitimate: they turn it into a university distance-learning center. This allows them to build housing for many people without the restrictions on regular farms, and their guests start arriving to be taught sustainable agriculture. Nobody on the farm is marked, and life outside the official economy is just great. Chapter 42: Advanced Study The farm works out wonderfully, and the people there want for nothing. Meanwhile, the outside world is not a pretty place. The ozone layer over the northern hemisphere is gone, and ultraviolet light turns the air into a noxious smog. Exposure to sunlight results in blistering of the skin and damaged eyesight; when the smog takes over, breathing troubles ensue. Big business is happy, as the demand for protective equipment soars. Even large rivers dry out; one of them is the Euphrates, whose bottom is now dry land. One morning, an earthquake so violent that it can be felt in Tasmania hits the Andes; whole mountains are flattened and cities are obliterated. A huge tsunami follows, and wipes out all life on many South Sea islands. Thunderstorms with hailstones up to a hundred pounds in weight rage in the stricken area, and the emperor voices a popular sentiment when he blames it all on God. Chuck, the sailor, arrives in Tasmania with his wife—he’s gotten married since he and Gregory parted. They join Laura and Gregory on the farm. Meanwhile, the emperor has abandoned his church and thrown in his lot with the old money controlling the world’s established big business. The true world government is now a secret council of the ten most influential billionaires, the emperor chairing the body. The emperor and the propaganda commissioner return to Brussels, and soon after, Rome is wiped out by a large hydrogen bomb. Israel gets the blame, but Colonel Adams tells Gregory that the emperor sent the missile from France. The reason seems to be that Rome had drawn too much revenue away from traditional big business. With the help of a friend, Gregory finds the plan for the attack in a computer belonging to the Council of Ten, and sends it to Colonel Adams. Chapter 43: Graduation In Jerusalem, the staying power of the two preachers is finally broken by a truck bomb. But as the world celebrates and pronounces peace and security, the two come to life again, and, live on worldwide TV, they ascend to heaven. An earthquake levels a good part of Jerusalem, and Israeli TV broadcasts forbidden footage of people acknowledging the power of God behind the events. Furious, the emperor launches a massive European attack on Israel, vandalizing the country. Israeli troops, now joined by Palestinian forces, drive the attackers back to the Mount of Megiddo, where they stop to await their reserves. A month later, boosted by Asian and European reinforcements, the emperor’s troops are ready for another attack, but America enters the war on Israel’s side. Europe launches a nuclear attack on the US, and general nuclear war breaks out. Australian cities are bombed, too, and radioactive fallout threatens the farm. On Chuck’s advice, everybody goes home and shuts their doors and windows, and come morning, the world up on their hills is clear and beautiful. From a neighbor, the only survivor in the village, our people find out that 45 days have passed while they slept through a regular night. They contact some friends via radio and drive there through toxic smog to bring supplies. Gregory has a miraculous escape from an attack by scavengers, and realizes that great things are afoot. Back home, he finds a broadcast satellite and learns that the emperor is still preparing his attack on Jerusalem with what forces he has left. Next, they are all translated and brought to a heavenly domain, from where they are allowed to watch the attack. A host of riders on white horses from that domain place themselves between the attackers and the city. The emperor orders nuclear cruise missiles launched against the defenders, but a solar storm triggers them over the attacking forces instead. Only the emperor and his propaganda commissioner are left to face the riders, and a solar flare, following the electromagnetic storm, envelops the earth. At that point, time stops for the two as well as for all other survivors left on Earth, and they remain forever in the flare. Part 6 The remaining chapters deal with the new life in Paradise, aka the millennium. Enough is said about this realm in Isaiah and Revelation that we can form a reasonably good picture of what it will be like. While life there is a lot more tranquil than in the old world, even at that slower pace, this part of the story serves to convey some basic elements of faith like the existence of angels, the role of prayer, reconciliation between former enemies, resurrection, and trust in God’s omnipotence. These chapters also serve to lead up to the conclusion of the book, containing its strongest statement. Chapter 44: The New Farm The earth has been remade, and our friends are placed in a beautiful valley, similar to their old place, but superior in every respect. A mild climate combined with ample resources and the absence of everything annoying like weeds, pests, and bureaucrats allow them to build homes and prepare for winter at a placid pace. When everything runs smoothly, Laura and Gregory leave their two babies—Lynn was born just before they were taken up—with reliable babysitters and go for a trip on horseback. They learn to know their neighbors and discover new parts. They come across three settlements separated by rivers and help building bridges, discovering that there are challenges in Paradise, too. Chapter 45: “I’ll Be Seeing You” Gregory gets a job in a project charged with building a number of vehicles for time travel and using them to remake the earth following the cooling-off period after the solar flare has dissipated. He finds himself helping build the very kind of UFO he encountered back in Wales, and is chosen to crew on the first one to be completed. His skipper is none other than good old Colonel Adams. Their task will include transferring plants and animals from the old world to the new, but first they have to equip their craft with things they can’t make for lack of tools. So they go back in time and buy the stuff they need from familiar suppliers; on Gregory’s suggestion, one such destination is his and Laura’s old farm in Tasmania, where he meets Laura while the old version of him is off to work. Chapter 46: Operation Noah The repopulation project gets an official name, Operation Noah. It gets started with an easy task: bringing over the pets of families who have been translated and are now waiting for their animals in Paradise. Later, wild animals as well as plant life is brought over and placed in the appropriate time period of the regeneration of the earth. While Gregory is back home for a break, a young lady named Ellen, whom he and Laura met in Hawaii, comes riding to their place, and is welcomed there. Her all-consuming hobby in Hawaii was flying a glider, and an expedition is mounted to find balsa wood so one can be built for her. At the end of the chapter, Ellen takes her newfound boyfriend Kevin up for a spin, and they marry and live happily ever after. Chapter 47: Music of the Spheres This chapter builds on an experience I once had, and thought to share. Late at night, back in the Islamist village in Algeria, Gregory drifts into a near-sleep, and listens to many minutes’ worth of the finest classical music, without any apparent source. He knows that he can’t have composed it himself, and can’t see that he could have recalled it from memory, as he’s sure he’s never heard it before. Now, in paradise, Laura one day requests a grand piano, and Gregory arranges for it to be built. The piano is inaugurated, and that sets things rolling. With willing help from musicians and instrument builders, translated as well as resurrected, a whole symphony orchestra is formed and its instruments are built. Ludwig van Beethoven provides his 11th symphony as the final piece for the inaugural concert, and here Gregory recognizes the music he once heard. Chapter 48: The Historian Operation Noah is over, and Gregory once more feels that he needs something to do. He decides to return to the old world to write a book about his experiences. He goes to Washington DC, much enjoying its pre-nuclear beauty, and, indeed, produces a whole book. Towards the end, he needs a conclusion, and at that time, Laura turns up and helps him focus on his task. A discussion arises with a local about America’s racial and ethnic problems, and then they stroll over towards the Lincoln Memorial, where Gregory catches the last words of a preacher’s address. I heard and wrote down those words in that spot back in 1996 or so, and I owe that unknown preacher a lot for them. Here they are: “Soon, there will come a point in time when only life forms based on unconditional love will continue. All other life forms will cease.”

George Orwell, 1984