The Enclave

Copyright

Copyright © Terry Tumbler 2019

The right of Terry Tumbler to be identified as the Author of the Work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

No resemblance is intended to any real person, living or dead.

This book is sold subject to the condition it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be circulated in any form or by any means, electronic or otherwise without the author’s prior consent.

ISBN 9781005107550

https://terrytumbler.blogspot.com.es/

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Author’s Note

For a Sci-Fi book like this; what date would you elect as representative of the ‘distant future’? Would it be: 150 years, 1,000 years, or 2,000 years?

In comparison with the geological timescale, from the Pleistocene to the Archean eras, spanning millions to billions of years, this measure of the future is trivial.

In fact, the author views a future date of 2170 AD as the near future. The speed at which developments have taken place, at an escalating rate since the early 19th century, leads me to believe that humanity will lead a life in 2170 similar to that depicted in this book.

It could be the kick-off point for us to progress to the next step in the evolutionary chain. Perhaps it could be the ultimate step we ever take.

I now wish to address a second point of relevance to this specific book. You, may detect certain phrases being used that remind you of something you’ve read elsewhere. If I’m fortunate, you may also appreciate that it is no coincidence.

It is because I have chosen, in my story-telling, to take nostalgic extracts from songs crooned in the early days of Rock n’ Roll music.

In a sense, what I have written is a nascent Sci-Fi rock musical with sprinkles of humor in its soul. This to me is what a true Space Opera should be all about.

Be my guest and if the mood takes you, hum along with me. If your curiosity is aroused, look up the clues on the web and listen to the tunes.

Author’s Foreword

Have you ever heard of Frank Whittle? If not, bear with me while I tell you. He was the genius who invented the turbojet, which was the forerunner of the modern jet engine. However, when the young RAF officer took his idea to the Air Ministry later in 1929, they were not sure what to make of it. They ran it past a senior scientist called A.A. Griffith who had already done some work on the subject.

Griffith rejected the idea as impractical. Taking his lead, so did the Air Ministry and carried on with its ordering of traditional planes using propellers.

Consequently, Whittle took out a patent to protect his turbojet plans, which were duly published by the Patent Office in 1930.

Others saw its merits, and German diplomats in London wasted no time ordering copies of the patent. When the patent expired in 1935, Whittle could not even afford the renewal fee.

Meanwhile, Whittle's copyrights were subject to wide scrutiny and evaluation in Germany. Thus, the secret of an invention, which might have prevented or shortened this terrible War, had been made available to the enemies of Britain and its allies.

One morning, in the channel-facing coastal resort of Ramsgate, my maternal grandparents were laying in bed when a V1 rocket droned past their window. With an almighty blast, it hit a house at the end of the street, killing the occupants.

Such were the perilous life and death experiences of those randomly confronting the Nazi peril.

At the end of the war, Britain was heavily in debt and its population faced years of austerity measures, including food rationing.

In contrast, the fledgling German republic was the recipient of generous help in the rebuilding of a new, peaceful economy. In exchange, its top aeronautic scientists became bargaining chips. They were soon redeployed abroad, mainly to Russia and the U.S.A.

Thus, those who had once been responsible for the salvos of V1 and V2 rockets unleashed on Britain, were thereafter lucratively employed in the Space Race between superpowers.

You may wonder, where is this Foreword going? The answer lies in the equal preoccupation of the Nazi scientists with developing ‘Wonder Weapons’ or Wunderwaffen, which they hoped would lead their nation to eventual supremacy late in the war.

Ignoring the most obvious Wunderwaffe, the Atomic bomb, which was nearing completion on both sides of the Atlantic, they had a gem in their arsenal, called Die Glocke, or ‘The Bell’.

This Wunderwaffe is subject to scrutiny in the first part of this book. In common with many of the topics covered hereafter, the fundamental facts of its existence are only mildly fictionalized.

Conversations in the story are mainly translated into English.

My aim is to write alternative truth couched under the genre Science Fiction, which you may not find to be to your taste. If so, please resist the temptation to shoot the messenger!

Only continue if you are prepared to be jolted out of the complacency most of us suffer from.

Contents

Copyright

Author’s Note

Author’s Foreword

Setting The Scene Afresh

§  1: For Whom The Bell Tolls

§  2: Accentuate The Positive

§  3: Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick

§  4: As Tears Go By

§  5: There's Something in the Woodshed

§  6: You Were Meant For me

§  7: Something In The Air

§  8: Black Is Black

§  9: The Great Pretender

Setting The Scene Afresh

The human race is fast nearing its target population of 1.5 billion. The timeframe is 150 years in the near future, which can be regarded as almost imminent, if one compares it with the geological timescale and the arrival of man on earth.

Broadly speaking, nations have retained their geographical boundaries for many centuries, although the groupings tend to be larger. For ease of world administration, many of the smaller nations have now merged.

State organized manufacturing, agriculture and fish farming in a stable, global society have become the norm. Ages ago, we dispensed with free trade and random enterprise because of their instability as economic models.

At worldwide and national levels, a minimal ‘civil’ service tends biologically enhanced computers, which determine the necessary products and services for the populace to maintain a good, healthy lifestyle.

Individual nations retain their historic, regional identities, although there is much debate at a global level on how long population disparities can last.

Already, nations are divided into equally constituencies, each of which elects a single consul to represent them at the national consulate on a first-past-the-post basis.

Proportional representation has been discarded, it being regarded as too complicated and irrelevant. The concept of inducing strife between politicians with opposing ideologies was agreed to be unhelpful.

A good education, logical thought, intelligence, life experience and mental stability are the core criteria by which candidates are elected to be representatives of the people.

It is regarded as an honor to be nominated and approved, and consultation between each consul and his or her constituents is regular, with majority decisions endorsed by electronic referendum. The consul must abide by their voters’ decision.

From their estimable ranks, consuls elect peers to serve on a supreme, worldwide council.

Those voters who can’t be bothered with any of the formalities are excluded from voting, provided they do not exceed a small percentage of the constituency, else anarchy could develop. Those who want to vote have to prove they think rationally, to avert the twin risks of malice and stupidity in their choice of candidates.

Adult workers within the community are awarded credits according to the graded values of their work and relevant talents, and these form the basis of a worldwide pay grade. This starts at level 1 and goes as high as 15, the latter being the top permitted grade. No one can earn more than fifteen times the minimum grade.

Oh yes, it must also be mentioned that only one currency is used worldwide, called the Pulse, which is referred to as the MOP, or Monetary Pulse. It’s health system equivalent is the HOP, or in full, the Health Organization Pulse or shorter Hospital Pulse, which is where more serious disorders are treated.

To focus on prolonged life for a moment, the ages that citizens can expect to reach considerably exceed those in the year in which this book was written. It rivals that of Valant Thor, an alien who lived on Earth for 3 years from 1957, but stated that his lifespan was expected to be 600 years, measured by our standard.

Energy costs are minimal, with power generated by a few key transformers sited strategically around the globe, and conveyed freely by wireless waves resonating in the atmosphere. Tesla’s discovery at the end of the 19th century has belatedly become reality.

Transport is cheap, using the same, free power source. Driverless flying crafts are hired from national agencies. Collectively, they are called Personal Official Transport, which is abbreviated to POTS, but they are affectionately known as potties. Mass-transit systems no longer exist in any volume, except for school runs, the mass