This book is now available on Kindle for £2.05 (Free on Kindle Unlimited). https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sorting-Future-Opher-Goodwin-ebook/dp/B01F666MYA/ref=sr_1_18?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1462522704&sr=1-18&keywords=opher+goodwin
I am waiting for the paperback version to be released.
Chapter 17 – The imperative
It did not take long for the hierarchy to collect themselves. They had been knocked for six and did not know how to handle what had happened to them. They could not grasp what had occurred. One minute they had been sitting in their normal meetings, going through the motions like always, and the next moment they were blown asunder by some idiot, appearing out of nowhere, declaring himself future President of the planet and haranguing them about a whole slew of insane ideas.
How was this possible? This imbecile had somehow been beamed in proclaiming himself the self-appointed President of the planet and nobody seemed to have a clue as to how. Was it some kind of stunt? They could not even understand their own reactions; it was as if they had been held in some thrall while the imbecile had spouted at them with some utopian crap. And they had been unable to move, security had been powerless. It had been unbelievable. They eventually put it down to the sheer shock of the unexpected. What else could it have been?
The worst thing of all was that the whole business had gone out on all TV channels live. How the hell had that happened? There had to be some colossal collusion. Heads would fall. All that drivel about doing away with nations and religions, demilitarising, global government and protecting the environment. It was all idealistic claptrap but it could unsettle the people. He had spoken so well. It did not matter how eloquent this Opher Goodwin was, what he was spouting was rubbish. That kind of thing was plain dangerous.
The security branch did a thorough investigation but they came up with a blank. They could not understand how it could possibly have happened. They had no doubt that it was some conspiracy. The Opher Goodwin appearing in the midst of two of the world’s most secure committees. There was simply no way he could have done that in person. It had to have been some holographic projection. He had to have a system to take over the networks like that. They would need rooting out. But how he had held them all like that was a mystery. They had been unable to as much as blink. How had he managed that? It was not merely unsettling; it was positively scary. What if the guy had brought a bomb into the place? Nowhere was safe.
For a while the place was in uproar. Delegates were scurrying back to the safety of their embassies. Security staff were turning over every already turned stone. There was pandemonium. The United Nations was immobilised.
Then they started getting organised. Agencies were given their orders. They had to find all they could on this Opher Goodwin; the fools who had put that show out on the networks needed castrating; what hypnotic methodology had been deployed to turn them into motionless mannequins; why security had been so powerless needed investigating. The machine set into motion. But priority one was to deal with the public. That transmission had gone into homes around the world. That Opher Goodwin had spoken with eloquence and authority. It might have been idealistic hot-air but to many it might have seemed to make sense. They could not be having that. He had to be undermined and his claptrap ridiculed before it could begin to take hold. That was the imperative.
Meanwhile life went on as normal. The missiles and bullets thudded into buildings and bodies, bombs blew human tissue into mincemeat, chainsaws sawed through majestic giants which had stood for hundreds of years, wild animals were butchered, habitats destroyed, mines ripped holes in the land, smog hung over cities, millions of new babies were born to maintain the machine, poverty dragged people into the sewage and some people made an absolute killing on the stock market and on all those clandestine deals.
The whole mess continued on its relentless journey into an ever growing nightmare.
Sorting the Future is now available on Kindle for £2.05 (Free on Kindle Unlimited):
Other of my Science Fiction books:
Ebola in the Garden of Eden – paperback £6.95 Kindle £2.56 (or free on unlimited)
Green – paperback £9.98 Kindle £2.56 (or free on unlimited)
Rock Music books
In Search of Captain Beefheart – paperback £6.91 Kindle £1.99 (or free on unlimited)
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Other selected books and novels:
Anecdotes-Weird-Science-Writing-Ramblings – a book of anecdotes mainly from the sixties and other writing.
More Anecdotes – following the immense popularity of the first volume I produced a second
Goofin’ with the cosmic freaks – a kind of On the Road for the sixties
The book of Ginny – a novel
In Britain :
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Opher-Goodwin/e/B00MSHUX6Y/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1461306850&sr=1-2-ent
In America:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=opher+goodwin
In all other countries around the world check out your regional Amazon site and Opher Goodwin books.