PicoWriMo

I haven't written very much today, but here is Arthur musing on the implications of Hardy's "I can get my hands on an SS uniform with no questions asked" confession:

Exotic. That was one of those words that people used to hide what they really meant. Hardy was a show-off, and he wore clothes that were always slightly more noticeable, somehow, than what other people wore, and he enjoyed saying things that shocked people, but that wasn't what they meant when they called him exotic. Exotic had to do with where he spent his nights, with those mysterious little periods of "Leave of Absence", when he vanished without warning for three or four days, and came back hollow-eyed and lethargic. Exotic had to do with that uncomfortable feeling he could create that everything you did or said had a sexual sub-text.

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kalinda001.livejournal.com

Some very interesting musings.

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kalinda001.livejournal.com

More of the Adrian and Kali story.

"I don't have time for this, Lieutenant but I will take the time if you insist on being difficult." He waved the remote unit in Adrian's face. "The Tech Commander would love to do this himself. I understand the two of you have history together."

"The Tech Commander is a fool, sir."

The Admiral threw his head back and guffawed. "You're right. The man is a little toad. Totally unsuited for his position." The laugh disappeared as quickly as it came.

His face was motionless as he brought the remote unit up and there was a gleam of something in his eyes. It was only a split second, a wince, a brief look of regret, but one noticed by the sharp eyes of his First Officer. Then Verel's eyes hardened and his lips thinned in resolution. The only people who would have enjoyed this, he had already sent out of the room. No one else needed to witness this. It was the only thing he could do for this stubborn man.

He slid one of the controls to the first position and pressed the remote unit. There was no reaction of pain or clenching of teeth, it was only a mild warning.

Verel's voice was one of irresistible command."He is your superior officer. You will address him with respect."

"A rank bought by political connections requires no respect." A sneer curled Adrian's lips.

Verel circled him like a tiger ready to swipe a gash of red across his victim's body. "So you're not entirely ignorant of political realities."

"They’re irrelevant." Adrian twisted his wrists in the tight cuffs, trying to ease the pain and the spreading numbness. His chest was tight.

The Admiral shook his head. "You're deliberately being a fool, Lieutenant."

"I'm a prisoner in an officer's uniform."

The illusions fell away, leaving the ugly truth.

"You don't mince words."

"I deal in facts."

"Are you trying to say I don't?" The edge of warning in the Admiral's voice was clear.

"You deal in political expediencies."

"I ensure the Safety and Security of the Empire."

Adrian finally lifted his eyes to look at him. "Rhetoric."

"You don't believe in the Empire?"

After a few challenging seconds, as they took each other's measure, Adrian looked away. "I believe in myself."

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Oh, I like that scene. I can picture it exactly.

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Very interesting indeed.

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Just over 980 words written this lunchtime. Two scenes, leaving me close to the end of Chapter 3. Zack and Zoe don't yet know that Rob's missing.

Extract:

Zack left his bedroom window open a couple of centimetres, and didn't latch it. If Rob did get away, he could climb up that way without disturbing Zoe. He'd done it before, and he'd done the same thing to get into Zack's old room, before Dad went away. It wasn't ideal, him wandering round town completely on his own at night, but he knew how to look after himself, and there was a lot less trouble here than somewhere like Leeds or Sheffield.

Curling up on the far side of the bed from the window, Zack pulled the duvet around himself and thought about all the escapades they had planned for the summer. If they stuck to the back roads, they could get all the way to Carlisle on the bike in a day, and if they left early enough they could have a good mooch around and get back before anyone noticed they'd gone. They could even try going South: see if they could get somewhere like Northampton without being stopped. Rob was as keen as he was to find out if the ghost towns really did look like the pictures in their textbooks.

Zack thought about messaging Rob with this new idea, but it could wait till morning. He'd have plenty of time for messages during European History, and Rob might be less thoroughly grounded by then.

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These snippets are making Hardy a really intriguing character. (And how true to life that he does not in fact have supernatural stamina...)

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I'm finding the Admiral an interesting figure here - he comes across as absolutely in control.

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That's a really impressive wordcount for lunchtime! The mention of ghost towns piques my imagination - what's going on?

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I determined that this weekend I would not leave writing until after everything else, and a solid session this afternoon has given me 618 words. A bit tough, because I wasn't quite sure what I was doing with the section, but they've turned out OK. I feel the story's definitely heading home now.

*

[Harriet] felt oddly lacklustre, in a way that she vaguely remembered feeling after she had won her Oxford scholarship, as if with so much new life in prospect one didn’t quite know what to do with it. The clock struck the quarter hour. The dons would be assembling for dinner, and though the prospect was rather daunting, no doubt over the initial shock it would not be too bad. They ought at least to be relied upon, after the shocks of recent days, to keep curiosity tolerably restrained, and even Miss Hillyard would be practice for facing Peter’s family. She put her book in her bag and marched boldly into the quad.

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Thanks.

There was a terrorist attack (dirty bombs with bio-warfare elements) some decades before, which pretty much wiped out everything living south of the A14. Hence Harrogate being the centre of goverment for England, and various yet-to-be-mentioned interesting border issues with Scotland and Wales

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Great Harriet there. Bravo on the word count.

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This is an interesting battle of wits between these two. I wonder how far the Admiral believes his own rhetoric, given that he's quite capable of seeing through the Tech Commander.

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Ha! The Revenge of the North!

980 words in a lunchtime is - wow!

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No wonder Helen was a pushover after practising on Miss Hillyard. Helen may be nasty, but she's not borderline potty.

I like the description of the lacklustre feeling after a big achievement - I've felt exactly that way myself.

Well done on the word count!

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Thank you.

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Thank you :-)

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I will eventually get round to writing about some of the other characters, I swear... It's just that at the moment Hardy seems to insinuate himself into every scene. However, there is the big break-up looming, so he will have to leave the stage then, whether he wants to or not.

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Thanks. I've been to a 'secret nuclear bunker' in the South of England, and it always struck me that they'd be better getting further from London in the event of a threat (assuming the idea is for the government to survive, of course).

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assuming the idea is for the government to survive, of course

The idea is always for the government to survive! It's like that episode of Yes, Minister where the MPs and the local councils all have bunkers so "essential services" can continue in the event of a nuclear attack, but none of the citizens have access...

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Joking aside, I've always wondered exactly what they think they'll have left to govern once they emerge from their bunkers. But there's definitely material for another story in which the civil servants direct the government to a closer bunker than the one they're going to, because no one's really that bothered whether the elected officials survive.

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And only a letter away... I wonder if Hardy encountered Peter at that alien Viennese night club? ;-)

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His grasp on authority must be weak if he has to torture his officers and keep them prisoners.

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Perhaps you could have one of those civil servants in your novel. :-)

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