Last Man in London, page 13
Yours hopefully
Future Presidential Advisor
‘Tibha’ said George, as he scanned the words for a second time. ‘What does your archive say about David Cameron?’ She tapped away before replying, ‘the second to last Prime Minister of Albion during the old democracy.’
‘Is that all?’ George asked.
‘That’s all.’
‘What about Angela Merkel?’
‘Exactly the same thing, only she was from Germainia.’
‘President Obama?’
‘Same again, this time from America.’
George clicked on a link to another page and found a short story about a scientific experiment which read;
Scientists working at the Large Hadron Collider in Europe have announced that Nuclear Fusion has been successfully achieved. This is expected to lead to free energy for every person by eventually making it possible to separate hydrogen from water, a clean, unlimited, natural and renewable resource. It will be possible to convert everything from cars to air conditioning within five years leading to a revolution in the way energy is produced and used on the planet.
’Granddad was a scientist,’ George told the others. ‘I expect this is why he saved this copy. I will ask him about that later on and see what he remembers.’
Tibha watched as Hugo linked to yet another page which carried a story about the war in the Middle East. ‘The Seventeen Year War of Religion,’ George said as he sucked the air in through his teeth and tugged at his earlobe. The headline read;
Further Violence in Syria.
The United Nations has announced today that more troops from America, Great Britain and France will be deployed on the ground as Syrian rebels advance on the capital city. The latest disturbing reports from Damascus warn of what is being described as a lost generation after the International Red Cross released figures suggesting that at least half of the refugees of the Civil War were children under the age of fifteen. Most have lost both parents and seen other family members killed in the escalating violence. Many are turning to crime or being forced to join rebel armies in their ongoing attempt to overthrow the Government.
George scrolled through the online news feed until his attention was drawn to a headline which read;
Fifty-Five Killed in Bomb Attacks on Mosque.
At least fifty-five people have been confirmed dead and another ninety-seven were wounded after a twin bombing of a Shiite Mosque in northern Iraq. The blasts in Tuz Khurmato, an ethnic city around 200 kilometres north of Baghdad, occurred during morning prayers and many of the wounded were attending a nearby market. Authorities believe that at least one was a car bomb. It was the sixth attack on the Shiite town in the last three months.
In Baghdad rival Sunni leaders have announced the closure of their own mosques after claiming that Shiite Muslims were responsible for the bombings themselves in an attempt to incite hatred and encourage revenge attacks. The Sunni sect have recently been protesting about the ‘targeting and injustice shown towards their own clerics, followers and mosques.’
According to United Nations observers more than 3000 people have been killed in the small region, during sectarian clashes, in the last month alone.
George shook his head and clicked on a link to another story with the headline;
Thai Army Opens Fire on Government Protesters.
In Bangkok around 5000 anti government protesters, who tried to force their way into the compound of the Royal Thailand Army headquarters, have been fired upon by government troops. Leaders of the protest claimed they were making a peaceful attempt to persuade the army to help them oust the governing party. ‘We only want to find out whose side the army are on,’ one of them shouted to reporters as they attempted to force open the gates.
Moment’s later machine gun fire scattered the growing crowd in all directions, which answered that particular question in emphatic fashion. Protesters have gathered at five locations around the city in what appears to be a well organised and co-ordinated demonstration. Government sources have suggested that a rebellion may be gathering pace and only last week the state owned Thai Airlines threatened a general workers strike, that would ground the entire fleet, if any of the protesters were harmed.
At the foot of the page another headline read;
Israel steps up its air strikes against Iranian nuclear targets.
Israel have once again defied international opinion and ordered further air strikes on what they have identified as nuclear bomb making facilities throughout Iran. Israeli Foreign Minister Benjamin Nejab announced, ‘we cannot allow Muslim countries, who are committed to wiping the State of Israel off the face of the map, to develop nuclear weapons. No Jew will ever be safe in their homeland if we do. America and the European Community must do more to protect the Israeli people and eliminate this threat from its Muslim neighbours.’
The American Foreign Office has issued a statement calling for ‘calm and restraint’ to be exercised by both sides. Iran, meanwhile, has condemned the attacks and shown footage on national television of hundreds of casualties from a nearby school. They have described the attacks as ‘monstrous crimes committed by monsters.’
On the second page George was dismayed to read;
Escalation of the tension between China and Japan is unavoidable.
The war involving China and Japan over the disputed territories of the Islands of Senkaku has intensified after China attacked a Japanese airbase in the south of the country. It is thought to be where fighter jets, who had been patrolling the airspace, were stationed. The ownership of the group of nondescript islands in the East China Sea has long been in dispute and the latest development has led the Japanese Government to issue a statement confirming that they have no option other than to retaliate.
The American Ambassadors to both Beijing and Tokyo have called for further peace talks although it seems Japan are committed to striking back against what they are describing as an ‘unprecedented act of violence and a declaration of war by China.’ The United Nations have condemned the attacks and called for a common sense approach and a peaceful solution.
’Was it just war, everywhere back then?’ Hugo wondered.
‘It gets worse,’ George replied as he clicked on the link entitled;
Tensions Flare in Belfast as the Orange Order Parade Turns Ugly.
The American Consulate General in Belfast has warned its citizens to avoid the Protestant protest march as it was likely to turn violent. A statement read ‘During 2014 a number of religious protest marches have been characterised by violence between Catholic and Protestant supporters. In the wake of last week’s car bombing in Belfast City Centre, which killed thirty-five Catholics who were attending Mass, a warning has been issued reminding everybody that innocent bystanders are often caught up in sectarian violence and become victims themselves.
Extremist elements of the Protestant Orange Order are thought to have been behind the attack and the authorities have warned of reprisals. Military personnel and facilities, law enforcement agencies and Catholic gatherings have all been warned to increase their awareness of suspicious vehicles or packages. Last week Northern Island’s Deputy First Minister warned of more protests and violence as the city returns to the general, sectarian lawlessness of the 1970’s and 1980’s.
Tibha sipped at her wine as George read out the report. ‘And this is all in one week?’ Asked Hugo.
‘There is still more,’ George told them as he clicked on the link entitled;
Muslim protests in co-ordinated events at Government buildings in Sydney, Paris, Berlin and Madrid.
Unarmed mobs of Islamic protesters tried to force their way into government buildings throughout the West in what appeared to be co-ordinated events last night. They were met by organised Christian activists who waved provocative banners reading ‘Muhammad is a Liar’ and ‘Jesus is the Truth.’ Muslim leaders appealed for the security services to remove the Christians and when they were reminded that peaceful protests were permitted in Washington DC they decided to take the law into their own hands.
The protesters were demanding that schools only serve halal meat to their children to avoid ‘offending their faith.’ They also demanded that any non-halal meat provided for other children must be prepared in separate kitchens by different cooks.
Within minutes mobs around the world were out onto the streets and in many cases violence erupted and had to be met by strong resistance. It is estimated that nearly 50,000 arrests were made in twenty-seven cities throughout the West. The authorities are examining social network sites to try and find out who organised the protests.
Wearily George then selected the link that read;
Coco, the People’s Choice, Wins the Final Round of Pop Tarts.
Last night 1.5 billion people worldwide tuned in to watch the conclusion of the world’s first international talent competition. In the final round the duo of ‘No Limits’ proved that there were no limits to the depths they would sink to by murdering the Madonna song ‘Papa Don’t Preach.’ There were few in the audience who thought that the original could ever be made any worse but No Limits duly obliged.
Samitar, the sixteen year old hopeful from Birmingham sang an emotional version of Led Zeppelin’s ‘Stairway to Heaven’ and Boys Aloud capped their performance, without irony, with a cover of the Girls Aloud classic ‘I Think We’re Alone Now,’ which itself was a copy of a 1967 hit for Tommy James and The Shondells.
Mixi Blixie completed her set with a cover of the All Saints’ hit ‘Under the Bridge,’ and later told the live audience that she had always been a fan of the Red Hot Chilli Peppers but had gone off them when she had heard their copy of the All Saints’ classic. And that was why she chose to do her own version.
But in the end it was a rousing cover of Adele’s ‘Rolling in the Deep’ by Coco that received the most phone votes in what must have been the world’s largest ever Karaoke Competition. Reporters for this newspaper have discovered that over five billion votes were cast at $2 for each call which has earned the television channel nearly eleven billion dollars in the process.
Edgar, George realised, had been right. By the year of the Old Calendar 2015 the world was popularised by three identifiable, central characteristics. On the one hand there were billions of people who were prepared to go to war and to die in the name of their two thousand year old, juvenile, superstitions and beliefs. On the other hand there were billions of people who looked no further than the daily, televised, talentless freak shows combining vacuous celebrity with an underclass of people who had nothing to contribute to society. And running through all of this was the increasing loss of control and influence by then elected democratic governments of any nation.
Very few people below the age of thirty-five years old had any interest in politics or democracy and yet still expected to benefit from the Welfare State without making any real contribution to it. It certainly was a society in desperate need of reform and it was becoming increasingly clear to George that religion was the most serious of the issues.
Eventually George clicked on the link that read;
Suicide Bombers Target Diners in a Packed Restaurant.
Terrorist bombers murdered at least 65 people in an attack on a crowded restaurant in the Somali capital of Mogadishu yesterday lunchtime.
A car bomb was detonated at the entrance to the Mary Magdalene Diner and as survivors carried the injured inside a suicide bomber self detonated in the middle of the packed room. The busy restaurant is in the centre of the town close to the Somali Parliament buildings. Witnesses reported seeing smashed glass, twisted tables, blood and large pieces of human flesh. A spokesman for the Mogadishu authorities Yusuf Belene confirmed that ‘first a car bomb exploded at the entrance to the restaurant and when people took cover inside a suicide bomber blew himself up’.
Terrorists from the Al-Shebuub group have claimed responsibility for the attack and say their target was Somali government ministers who regularly ate there. In fact no members of the government were in the building at the time of the attack and the victims were mainly Christian women and children. Al-Shebuub have been at war with government forces in the north of Somalia for three years.
‘We were behind today’s attack,’ a spokesman for the terror group announced on their facebook page. ‘Government officials, military forces and security services regularly meet there and so the Mary Magdalene was a legitimate military target for us.’
Somali President Mohamed Hussein later spoke to the world’s media and said ‘We strongly condemn the deliberate and brutal attack and encourage our neighbours and the rest of the world to join us in fighting terrorism across Africa. The second blast was a cowardly attack on teenage civilians from a nearby school who were only trying to help the victims of the first blast.’
President Hussein’s elected government have been in power for about three years and is committed to rebuilding the country after decades of civil and religious war.
‘This was all in the years leading up to Incorporation,’ said Hugo. ‘I wonder what Dr Abrahams remembers of all this. His father, don’t forget, was a member of the final democratic government.’
‘Do you think he would want to talk about it?’ Tibha asked him.
George studied his old classmate as Hugo stared into the twitching flames in the old iron fireplace.
‘There is only one way to find out,’ he said as he reached for his hy-dev and started tapping onto the screen. Tibha was looking over George’s shoulder and pointed to the link that read;
Kidnapped Pakistani Men Murdered for Refusing to Convert their Faith to Islam.
Reports have been confirmed that three of the five Sikh men who were kidnapped six weeks ago have been beheaded by the Pakistani Taliban in the country’s volatile tribal belt, as a brutal warning by militants to other Sikhs living in the area.
Provincial authorities have revealed that the terrorist group had left the heads of the three victims at a Groupware, a holy Sikh place of worship, in the town of Peshawar at the eastern end of the Khyber Pass.
The remaining two are thought to be still in the hands of the rebel fighters and their fates are, as yet, unknown. There has been confusion over the total number of Sikhs who have been kidnapped and held for ransom although sources say that one man, who escaped, claimed they were being forced to renounce their faith and to swear allegiance to Islam.
The abductions occurred in an area where the government security forces have no control at all and the extremist militants are enforcing Sharia Law upon its occupants. A large number of Sikhs lived in the tribal belt until the Taliban arrived last year and tried to impose their religious tax upon them. Most members of the community then fled to larger and safer cities across Pakistan.
Elsewhere in the city two teenage Muslim boys were pulled from their school classrooms and hanged in the courtyard after being found guilty of apostasy by a council of local Mullahs.
’I feel ill,’ Tibha admitted. George scrolled to the lower half of the page and selected the link marked;
Anti Government Protesters take to the Streets in the Ukraine.
Hugo read the story out loud.
‘Over 300,000 people defied a protest ban in Kiev on Friday night and there were fierce clashes with government security personnel after the crowd began chanting for ‘revolution.’ Anger has been growing about the government’s decision to freeze the country’s integration with the European Union and the West.
A group of demonstrators surrounded the President’s office and were driven back by police using tear gas, water cannon and flash grenades. The police later issued a statement which said that over 100 protesters had been hurt, some seriously. Government opposition leaders, who have occupied a trade union building and set up a temporary headquarters, called for their supporters to remain calm although they have denounced police action as ‘provocative and unnecessary’ whilst calling for the government to resign.
A spokesman announced, ‘the President should show some leadership. The people clearly want to become an integral part of the West and membership of the European Union will secure this. We want to be part of the West; that is vital for the future security of our country.’
Tibha sat back down and said, ‘I don’t want to hear any more of this. What sort of world were they living in back in those days? Was it madness, everywhere?’
It appeared that by 2015 the entire world was experiencing conflict in one form or another. There were people in the streets protesting about their governments, the Middle East was in turmoil with civil unrest and there was talk of revolution in more than half of the countries. Dictators in Libya, Egypt, Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq had been overthrown by militant rebels who were supported by secret services and armies from the West. The apparent democratic elections that followed were dominated by extreme and violent followers of the Islamic faith, who immediately brought in laws that would effectively mean that voting would again be banned. The newly liberated people then fought, once more, for control of their countries.
Protests that spread to western regions often turned violent and ugly. Governments called for calm and restraint. Youngsters who were native to their own countries, and who followed no particular faith, armed themselves and patrolled city streets in an attempt to protect their neighbours from religious fanatics. They would be met by chanting, racist groups whilst the police struggled to keep any sort of order. By the end of 2016 violent street attacks on people of any particular religious faith were a common feature and would rarely even make the pages of anything other than a local newspaper, if at all.
New wars between religious sects had broken out all over the world. In Australia some members of the minority Muslim community were carrying out random attacks on unarmed people in the cities, on the beaches, in schools, stations and airports. Authorities found it impossible to monitor and control small groups of individuals who co-ordinated their murderous plans by using coded messages in unregulated internet forums. Just a handful of people, heavily armed and with no regard for their own lives, could commit atrocious acts, against unarmed people at their own leisure, until security services finally caught up with them.
