top of page
Ian Forrest
images
SHADOW GUIDE
TIME IS A SHADOW OF THE FIFTH FORCE
CHAPTER 1 – THE ASSASSIN
Perhaps it was done. Perhaps she would just be left here with nothing to do; a sunny morning with time on her hands. Why did she doubt that? The others knew what to do, didn’t they? Just let the minutes tick away, one by one, and then, little by little, she would know. Cassie’s hand was clammy on the radio, her body ready and craving action, her mind dreading it.
CHAPTER 2 – CONCRETE LIVES
He had absently trodden the same route for over a year, and even in that time the change had crept in like mould across a bathroom ceiling. In the unremitting grey, weeds were growing in the pavement cracks and uncollected litter was strewn across the street, forming vile little dusty whirlwinds where the gusts caught it. Year by year, services had been cut back, until now they hardly existed. Only the unblinking S-cams, sentinel on their poles at every street corner and high on the walls of many buildings, seemed to matter; if a determined vandal managed to smash one, a Firmtech repair team would be there within 24 hours. You had to assume the S-cams were watching round the clock, though they apparently never detected the sea of petty crime lapping at their feet.
CHAPTER 4 – SPRING IN RUSHBRIDGE: I
The land was newly minted. Never gouged and ground and tortured, as it had been further north, but held solid in frozen grip for a short eternity. Scoured not by ice, but by wind; rigid in frost that squeezed life to a low ebb; low to the ground and cowering in sheltered crannies. Now, over short years, the spell was lifting, the water become liquid, the whiteness given way to brown and swaying green – and blues and reds and yellows; flowers had found their places where trees were still sparse, and bees buzzed in busy occupation.
CHAPTER 7 – A MEETING OF MINDS: I
‘Just as velocity slows time, so does gravity. This is also uncontroversial physics – and a far more attainable objective, since it doesn’t demand infinite energy. Where can we find enough gravity to slow and then reverse the flow of time? Why, in a black hole, of course – where gravity is so great that even light cannot escape – this is just what we are looking for!... On the other hand, in a black hole, our bodies – our very atoms – would be instantly ripped apart and crushed down to their constituent energy. I think you will agree that this is rather disappointing.'
CHAPTER 14 – THE TURN OF THE SCREW: I
By now the air was toxic with lingering rubber fumes. They entered a shopping street near the centre, with windows and doors burst open, the shops looted then burnt out, wisps of smoke still drifting from upstairs windows. A twisted clothes rack in the middle of the street, a looted microwave dropped and abandoned on the pavement. And here and there, sprayed on doors and walls, an arrowed GJ – the sneering calling-card of the Guardians of Justice.
Only the S-cams seemed to have survived; high on their poles, their blank eyes staring down, unmoved by what they saw. The town had been stunned into disbelieving silence, punished for harbouring an enemy of the Project.
Only the S-cams seemed to have survived; high on their poles, their blank eyes staring down, unmoved by what they saw. The town had been stunned into disbelieving silence, punished for harbouring an enemy of the Project.
CHAPTER 15 – WE'RE HERE BECAUSE WE'RE HERE
The duckboards were slippery with a sheen of slurry and as the corporal lay the ladder up the side of the trench, the big guns fell silent. That was a bad sign; attention would shift, nervous eyes and ears become sharper, and any sound could draw fire.
Silence, except the urgent door-knock of machine-guns, now far, now nearer, and the random boom of distant shells. Cold night air rasped the lungs, fear froze the muscles. The Christmas-cracker crack, crack, crack of rifles was almost homely. Lowe offered round a last cigarette. His hands were shaking too hard to strike a lucifer and he laughed.
Silence, except the urgent door-knock of machine-guns, now far, now nearer, and the random boom of distant shells. Cold night air rasped the lungs, fear froze the muscles. The Christmas-cracker crack, crack, crack of rifles was almost homely. Lowe offered round a last cigarette. His hands were shaking too hard to strike a lucifer and he laughed.
CHAPTER 19 – QUEEN OF THE NIGHT
Everything about the room was in proportion and as perfectly poised as Kali herself. The goddess’s arms cast sinuous shadows, and the faintest scent of incense suffused the air. A gateway from the concrete and glass structure of the Forbes Centre had seemingly opened onto a silent and obscure shrine. Only Max’s regular keyboard taps kept them fixed in the world they were operating in.
A distant sound, like a gently closing door and, as pressure of air shifted the curtain, the arm-shadows of Kali swayed in serpentine anticipation. The hairs on the back of Peter’s neck stood on end.
A distant sound, like a gently closing door and, as pressure of air shifted the curtain, the arm-shadows of Kali swayed in serpentine anticipation. The hairs on the back of Peter’s neck stood on end.
CHAPTER 23 – BROADLEAF COTTAGE
In a nanosecond, the full, accumulated power of the Shadow Guide’s batteries slammed into the Moscovium. The craft jolted, the exterior flashed white-hot, and negative gravity hurled black-clad figures and other loose debris, crashing against walls and floor and ceiling. Then, with a crack of contracting air, objects fell back into place, leaving a void at the centre. All that remained of the Shadow Guide was silence and a violet glare on the retinas.
CHAPTER 25 – SPRING IN RUSHBRIDGE: II
Peter’s eyes squinted to take it all in. It was a fine spring morning, but the night had been chill and from the chimneys of every house rose a column of smoke; a forest of dirty plumes dissolving into a light grey-brown haze in the still air over the town. No metal stream of traffic hogged the roads, no rumble and roar of movement along an unbuilt A30, no concrete spans across the river, but, if you looked hard enough, slow-moving, horse-drawn vehicles went about their business in the streets. On the river, a lazy steamer added its smoke to the atmosphere as it paddled upstream on a sunny Sunday excursion trip. The scene was silent and settled until, from the east, a wafting trail of steam edged its way towards the town, and then a shrill, distant whistle gave warning that a London train was approaching the outskirts. It slowed in swirling billows of cloud and with an audible hiss drew to a halt at Rushbridge Junction.
CHAPTER 30 – ENTANGLEMENT
‘I might have an explanation of sorts, but it’s not one I like very much. I’m talking about the observer effect.’
‘Meaning?’
‘It’s a principle of quantum mechanics. I’ll try to explain. When we deal with sub-atomic particles, it isn’t clear whether they’re particles – that’s to say quanta, little packages of mass – or waves, energy passing through every possible point. They seem to be neither and both – it’s called the wave-particle duality.
‘The problem is that they only behave like particles – with a defined position – when they’re observed. Before you look, they remain undefined – just the statistical possibility of a particle being there – a wave in other words. But then, when an observer is watching, they “collapse” into a piece of matter – the stuff that we see all around us every day. It’s as if reality only appears when we observe it.'
‘Meaning?’
‘It’s a principle of quantum mechanics. I’ll try to explain. When we deal with sub-atomic particles, it isn’t clear whether they’re particles – that’s to say quanta, little packages of mass – or waves, energy passing through every possible point. They seem to be neither and both – it’s called the wave-particle duality.
‘The problem is that they only behave like particles – with a defined position – when they’re observed. Before you look, they remain undefined – just the statistical possibility of a particle being there – a wave in other words. But then, when an observer is watching, they “collapse” into a piece of matter – the stuff that we see all around us every day. It’s as if reality only appears when we observe it.'
CHAPTER 34 – JASMINE
‘I hope there’s more to it than that.’
‘I’m afraid not, I’m the shallowest fellow you ever met! But my horse seems to like you, so perhaps that’s a point in my favour. Rheingold is an excellent judge of character – one of the many things we have in common… don’t we old fellow?’ He scratched the horse between the ears. ‘May I ask what it is you’re reading so seriously on a fine day like this?’
‘Dostoevsky, The Devils.’
‘Ah yes, I might have guessed – the tortured Russian soul! So much suffering, so grimly born… and so appropriate for a delightful spring morning in Berkshire! What is it with these Slavs? Tchaikovsky, Rimsky-Korsakov and now we have Igor Stravinsky astounding us at every turn – where does that magic come from?’
‘Where does anything come from?’
‘I’m afraid not, I’m the shallowest fellow you ever met! But my horse seems to like you, so perhaps that’s a point in my favour. Rheingold is an excellent judge of character – one of the many things we have in common… don’t we old fellow?’ He scratched the horse between the ears. ‘May I ask what it is you’re reading so seriously on a fine day like this?’
‘Dostoevsky, The Devils.’
‘Ah yes, I might have guessed – the tortured Russian soul! So much suffering, so grimly born… and so appropriate for a delightful spring morning in Berkshire! What is it with these Slavs? Tchaikovsky, Rimsky-Korsakov and now we have Igor Stravinsky astounding us at every turn – where does that magic come from?’
‘Where does anything come from?’
CHAPTER 35 – DAISY DANCES
'…it has pictures in it and all, ‘specially of a cat what disappears. I read it over and over and I understand everything, nearly. She said to tell her when I finished and she give me another – but I din’t dare.'
CHAPTER 40 – PROMISE
Dawn in London and the eastern sky was ablaze with glorious shades of pink and orange and stripes of delicate grey. Summer sunlight had struck noxious, smoke-laden air and the day promised to be fine.
The night-sleeper from the continent pulled into Victoria station, doors opened and porters pushed luggage trolleys heavily up the platform. The station was far from full at this time of the morning, but whistles, slamming doors and the eternal hiss of steam echoed around the travellers, and sleepy pigeons glided and fluttered through the grime.
The night-sleeper from the continent pulled into Victoria station, doors opened and porters pushed luggage trolleys heavily up the platform. The station was far from full at this time of the morning, but whistles, slamming doors and the eternal hiss of steam echoed around the travellers, and sleepy pigeons glided and fluttered through the grime.
CHAPTER 41 – PERSUASION
‘I sincerely apologise, but I couldn’t get hold of anything lighter at short notice. It does carry something of a recoil, I’m afraid.’
‘What am I meant to do with it?’
‘Nothing at present. I am a man who detests violence, but the sight of a gun can be a very effective means of persuasion. You’ll find fifty rounds of ammunition in the bag.’
She carefully gauged the weight of the gun, then he held his hand out and she passed it back to him.
‘I’ll put it back in the bag, away from prying eyes. I’m sure you have somewhere safe to keep it.’
She nodded and he slid the bag across the floor towards her.
‘What am I meant to do with it?’
‘Nothing at present. I am a man who detests violence, but the sight of a gun can be a very effective means of persuasion. You’ll find fifty rounds of ammunition in the bag.’
She carefully gauged the weight of the gun, then he held his hand out and she passed it back to him.
‘I’ll put it back in the bag, away from prying eyes. I’m sure you have somewhere safe to keep it.’
She nodded and he slid the bag across the floor towards her.
CHAPTER 42 – POOR WANDERING ONE
In this way they headed onto the narrow lanes which ran out of Rushbridge and into the rolling countryside. The sun was high and the breeze welcome, but the heavy spring rain had sent a riot of green tangling along the roadside and sometimes whipping into the back seat. The summer fields, as they rushed past them, were luscious with life and the scent of fresh hay and wildflowers.
Jack drove mainly on the left, but delighted in liberal use of the horn to clear farm-carts and the occasional bicycling party from the way ahead, sending riders wobbling into the nettle-strewn sides. At one point, they came across a motor-car heading in the opposite direction and there was much waving and friendly hullo-ing as the vehicles inched past each other.
Jack drove mainly on the left, but delighted in liberal use of the horn to clear farm-carts and the occasional bicycling party from the way ahead, sending riders wobbling into the nettle-strewn sides. At one point, they came across a motor-car heading in the opposite direction and there was much waving and friendly hullo-ing as the vehicles inched past each other.
CHAPTER 44 – LOST SUMMER
Below them the Earth moved silently, above them only the insubstantial canopy of sky; a pure, giddy blueness with nothing to hold on to; nothing to stop them falling up and up forever; nothing to hold on to except for each other; happy to fall up and up forever, together.
CHAPTER 46 – WINTER
The days passed like that, one after another. Autumn settled into an early winter, which rattled the windows with gusts of driven rain. The rain didn’t stop. They said it was the wettest autumn in decades.
CHAPTER 48 – THE FIFTH FORCE
‘The oceans would probably interest you more. Multi-cellular life is just taking off – quite an explosion, in a slow sort of way. Yes, the dance begins to quicken. Your ancestors are doing pretty well – worms basically, but quite wiggly and inquisitive, bless them!'
CHAPTER 49 – DELIVERANCE: V
Somehow his cloven feet had found a resting place above her crackling fire, at least for now, stepping forward with jaunty magic, going… who knew where? And on the right stood the serpentine figure of Kali, goddess of creation and destruction, dancing there for all of time.
In the cold beyond the window, the snow came down in silence. Great mystical flakes, dancing from invisible clouds; down and down they came, into the light from the house, then whispering softly into the carpet of their sisters.
In the cold beyond the window, the snow came down in silence. Great mystical flakes, dancing from invisible clouds; down and down they came, into the light from the house, then whispering softly into the carpet of their sisters.
Shadow Guide is available in paperback, hard cover and eBook versions
bottom of page