TERRA INCOGNITA: NOVEL
Click to read the first
chapter of TERRA INCOGNITA.
Synopsis
Dateline: 1968
Location: Northern USA
Damon Carter-Brown is an English scientist employed by an American
scientific foundation. He is working on the development of a time
travel machine. An associate, Tibor Varkas, has been jailed for
misappropriation of Foundation funds. This man, a dangerous psychopath,
kills a prison guard and escapes. His intention is to gain revenge
on Damon who reported his crime.
Varkas makes his way back to the Foundation. Damon
is away in Washington having discussions on funding. The escapee
gains entry and rapes and murders Damon's wife, Valentina. He then
enters the lab area intent on arson. He discovers from records that
the project is nearing completion and that rats have been transferred
(one way). Taking a chance on the not fully tested machine, he activates
the equipment with a view to projecting himself forward to the year
2050.
Damon and Valentina's brother, Quintino, discover
that Varkas has used the machine and decide to follow. They emerge
into a world devastated by nuclear war. Society has degenerated
towards the primitive. Ruined cities are either abandoned or fought
over by gangs. Electricity supplies are beginning to be reconnected
via a network of Power Towers (windmills). These towers are under
the control of a Chief Electrician.
They befriend the people of a small generating
village and learn that Varkas had been there and murdered a Houri
(prostitute) before fleeing. D&Q are stunned to learn that this
took place more than 12 months before their arrival.
The trail is now cold. D&Q need to acquire
money in order to give chase. In a bar, they meet Robin C Throbbin,
a roving balladeer with a penchant for Shakespeare. He plays a few
sad songs and is rewarded with payment from the clientele. Quintino
- an ex rock band member - borrows Robin's acoustic guitar and launches
into a rock medley. He brings the house down - and, because the
audience had never heard anything like it, he collects a fair amount
of cash.
Quintino suggests that they now have the perfect
way to get cash to fund the chase - he and Robin will re-introduce
Rock. To do this properly they need electric guitars and a sound
amplifier system. Apparently such items no longer exist. They decide
to journey to a nearby ruined city, Old Salty (Salt Lake City) to
scavenge for parts.
There, they are captured by a gang of Rastafarians
(The Buffalo Soldiers) who worship Bob Marley as Mighty Jah. Quintino
stuns their capturers by singing Marley numbers to the accompaniment
of an old acoustic guitar. This feat allows them a limited freedom.
They discover one of the Soldier's children playing with an electric
guitar. This is considered to be a toy due to its lack of sound
re-production. The boy directs them to where he found the instrument.
They discover more electric guitars - and a sound system. When they
try to escape with these items, they are re-captured and used as
bait in a trap for mutated rats (a delicacy to the Soldiers). They
survive and make good their escape.
Before they can get back to the Power Towers they
are overtaken by a black land yacht, powered by silver solar sails.
This yacht is crewed by Sunsail Pirates, under the leadership of
Bane, a vicious killer. D&Q trick the pirates and steal their
craft.
Back at the Power Towers they polish up their act
and give a couple of performances. These net enough cash to get
the quest underway. Accompanied by Robin and Liana (the Houri sister
of the murdered prostitute) they set off on the journey to New Denver.
After escaping from a trap sprung by a gang of
mutants (the leader of whom demands sex with Liana - and dies in
the process) they pass by the ruins of Denver and reach New Denver.
The inhabitants of the emerging city are ruled
by a black Chief Electrician (Obeah) who is rumoured to be the son
of an African magician. The newcomers' impact upon the populace
brings them into conflict with the Chief Electrician.
Running concurrent with D&Q's story, are Varkas’
own experiences in the shattered world. He 'arrived' expecting fame
and is devastated by actuality. After murdering an old prospector
and a prostitute he discovers that his original destination, Denver,
is a wasteland. On the advice of a power employee he decides to
make for Santa Fe, which escaped total ruin. The power employee
is killed by Sunsail Pirates (the same crew from whom D&Q later
steal the yacht). Varkas takes the murdered man's horse and cart
and sets out on his own journey – which will eventually bring
him to God.
The story also chronicles the rise of Bane, the
Sunsail Pirate. After taking over the leadership of the Pirates,
he forms an alliance with other city gangs to produce and market
a narcotic weed, which grows near their own ruined city. He travels
to New Denver on a test sales run and meets up again with Damon.
Damon becomes increasingly divorced from Quintino
and Robin's musical renaissance. They are only interested in fame
and fortune. He wants revenge. He forms an alliance with Bane, who
he convinces to market the weed in Santa Fe (Damon has deduced that
this is where Varkas is likely to have headed).
Beneath the surface theme there is another. The
transfer through time has instigated subtle, but snowballing changes
in personal character. Cool, calm, law abiding Damon becomes progressively
more aggressive and violent. Originally his motive in following
Varkas was to bring the killer to justice; soon he is being destroyed
by the desire for retribution. Happy go lucky Quintino begins to
be drawn to power via the creation of a new musical empire. Varkas,
the cold psychopathic killer/rapist, suffers increasingly from remorse,
until finally, after undergoing voluntary physical emasculation,
he is able to dedicate himself to the 'bringing of holy light'.
Although the story does contain an initial SF theme,
it is primarily concerned with human emotions and the forces that
drive and shape the nature of men.
© Peter Clayfield, September 2005
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