A Dangerous Energy Read online

  A DANGEROUS ENERGY

  John Whitbourn

  www.sfgateway.com

  Enter the SF Gateway …

  In the last years of the twentieth century (as Wells might have put it), Gollancz, Britain’s oldest and most distinguished science fiction imprint, created the SF and Fantasy Masterworks series. Dedicated to re-publishing the English language’s finest works of SF and Fantasy, most of which were languishing out of print at the time, they were – and remain – landmark lists, consummately fulfilling the original mission statement:

  ‘SF MASTERWORKS is a library of the greatest SF ever written, chosen with the help of today’s leading SF writers and editors. These books show that genuinely innovative SF is as exciting today as when it was first written.’

  Now, as we move inexorably into the twenty-first century, we are delighted to be widening our remit even more. The realities of commercial publishing are such that vast troves of classic SF & Fantasy are almost certainly destined never again to see print. Until very recently, this meant that anyone interested in reading any of these books would have been confined to scouring second-hand bookshops. The advent of digital publishing has changed that paradigm for ever.

  The technology now exists to enable us to make available, for the first time, the entire backlists of an incredibly wide range of classic and modern SF and fantasy authors. Our plan is, at its simplest, to use this technology to build on the success of the SF and Fantasy Masterworks series and to go even further.

  Welcome to the new home of Science Fiction & Fantasy. Welcome to the most comprehensive electronic library of classic SFF titles ever assembled.

  Welcome to the SF Gateway.

  CONTENTS

  Cover

  Title Page

  Gateway Introduction

  Contents

  BOOK ONE

  August 1967 – March 1979

  1. In which our hero is introduced and receives an education.

  2. In which our hero makes practical use of his knowledge and thereby makes himself known to a wider public.

  3. In which our hero goes to London and is obliged to remain there.

  4. In which our hero’s new home, new friends and further education are described.

  5. In which our hero goes about his new occupation and on one occasion gives way to anger.

  6. In which our hero is rebuked for his energies.

  7. In which our hero listens to the wise words of his employer.

  BOOK TWO

  May 1982 – November 1985

  1. In which a day in the life of our hero is described.

  2. In which our hero provides a friend with breakfast.

  3. In which a summary of our hero’s missing years is provided, together with a description of how he fails to renew an old friendship.

  4. In which our hero dines out and is benevolent to his fellow men.

  5. In which our hero goes hunting and sees some old friends.

  6. In which our hero has a productive evening and asks some questions.

  7. In which our hero helps a friend in need.

  8. In which our hero receives help from the friend that he helped, and a problem is solved satisfactorily.

  9. In which our hero is busy about God’s work.

  10. In which our hero’s advance is checked.

  11. In which our hero is given a new home and goes for a walk.

  12. In which our hero’s progress is described.

  13. In which our hero has a dream and meets a new friend.

  14. In which our hero earns his doctorate.

  15. In which our hero is very ill and reads the ‘Book of Ecclesiastes’.

  16. In which our hero hears an interesting confession.

  17. In which our hero mixes with the nobility.

  18. In which our hero sets off on a journey.

  BOOK THREE

  August 1990

  1. In which our hero is briefly reintroduced whilst about his business.

  2. In which our hero goes to see a prince.

  3. In which our hero goes for an evening stroll and his recent history is recounted.

  4. In which our hero delivers an uplifting sermon and enters a town.

  5. In which our hero covers himself in glory and considers what to do next.

  6. In which our hero assists a damsel in distress, removes her from danger and is thereby enriched.

  7. In which our hero refreshes himself in a tavern.

  8. In which our hero ponders upon the nature of things and arrives at two great truths.

  9. In which our hero admires a view.

  BOOK FOUR

  November 2003 – November 2026

  1. In which an impressive gathering is described.

  2. In which our hero delivers a lecture.

  3. In which our hero attends a party and renews an old acquaintance.

  4. In which our hero is pondered upon by his new employer.

  5. In which our hero’s sleep is disturbed and he revisits a place from his youth.

  6. – 2011 AD. In which our hero’s new life is described and in which he comes to a decision.

  7. In which our hero’s new home and its pleasing environs are fully described.

  8. In which demonology is discussed and our hero is frustrated by conversation.

  9. In which our hero asks some very important questions.

  10. Postscript. In which our hero is canonised.

  11. In which our hero meets Rosemary Archer.

  12. In which an evening at our hero’s home is depicted.

  13. In which our hero’s dotage is described with a note on his unusual assistant.

  14. In which our hero goes on a day’s holiday.

  15. In which our hero undertakes a much longer journey.

  Website

  Also by John Whitbourn

  Dedication

  About the Author

  Copyright

  ‘Harden not your hearts.’

  The Book of Common Prayer 1662:

  Psalm 95.

  BOOK ONE

  AUGUST 1967 – MARCH 1979

  LOYOLA COLLEGE, OXFORD

  BACHELOR OF ARTS DEGREE

  1993

  HONOURS

  PAPER FOUR:

  HISTORY – EUROPEAN SECULAR 1500-1950

  TIME ALLOWED – THREE HOURS

  ANSWER FOUR QUESTIONS, TAKING AT LEAST ONE FROM

  EACH SECTION

  ALL QUESTIONS CARRY EQUAL MARKS

  SECTION A – ENGLISH HISTORY

  1 Account for England’s survival as the sole ‘Protestant’ state in Europe 1601-1649.

  2 Outline the main events of the English Civil War 1642-1649. Give THREE reasons for the ‘Protestant’ Parliament’s defeat.

  3 ‘Charles I’s conversion to Catholicism in 1635 made a Civil War inevitable.’ Discuss.

  4 To what extent did Charles III’s policy in the late 19th century prevent the formation of a United Kingdom in the British Isles? Did the Anglo-Scottish wars of 1819-1821 and 1899-1901 destroy all prospects for unification?

  5 Write brief notes on TWO of the following:

  OLIVER CROMWELL – either birth to 1649 OR 1650-1666 (exile and conversion).

  THE EARL OF ESSEX – with particular reference to the revolt of 1601.

  CARDINAL ARCHBISHOP CRANMER.

  The accession of MARY II and ‘HENRY IX’ in 1563.

  The ‘SPANISH ARMADA’.

  SECTION B – CONTINENTAL EUROPEAN HISTORY

  6 Describe the main events of the Great European War of 1708-1820 and account for the Holy Roman Empire’s eventual success.

  7 What were the main reasons for the Polish-Imperial War of 1896-1901? In what sense was the outcome to neither side’s
advantage?

  8 ‘France is no longer a major power; indeed the forces ranged against it bring into question its long term survival as a nation.’ Discuss Professor Griffiths’ comments with particular reference to Burgundy’s expansionist policies.

  9 Describe the major Polish/Imperial Crusades against the Tartars, Magyars and Ukrainians in the period 1900-1950. To what extent did HETMAN PILSUDSKI’S campaigns ensure European security during this period?

  10 Describe and account for the rapid collapse of ‘Protestantism’ after the destruction of Hamburg in 1600. [Restrict your arguments to the purely historical field. Theological considerations are dealt with in a separate examination paper.]

  SECTION C – GENERAL HISTORY

  11 Trace, by the citation of Church Council decisions and papal Bulls, the Church’s developing attitude towards magic and magicians in the 9th – 15th centuries.

  12 Describe the process of conversion of the IROQUOIS peoples and account for their present domination of the New World Provinces. To what extent did this vindicate the papal/imperial ‘Nativisation’ policy? Why is this policy considered to have failed in Australasia?

  13 Examine the political relationship of the Arch-Magician RONCEVAT and the Emperor CHARLEMAGNE. To what extent is RONCEVAT responsible for the political structure of modern Europe?

  14 Describe the three major historical schools of thought on the initial discovery of the magical arts. To which one (if any) do you subscribe and why?

  15 Describe the major Crusades to the Holy Land from the 11th – 17th centuries. Why was the ‘ENTERPRISE of RICHLIEU’ a lasting success when all previous attempts were not?

  CHAPTER 1

  In which our hero is introduced and receives an education.

  The slender pale woman raised her eyebrows in surprise and peered closer at the shiny metal in her hand. Curse the gloom for deceiving an old, old soul so, she thought, but there was no mistake – the fine needle-like arrow emanating from the centre of the silver circle was swinging wildly to and fro. She hissed violently, and the young males crouching tiredly about her tensed their long limbs and gave ear.

  ‘Prepare, the mistress calls – be watching and report the approaches to me.’

  Two of them, hefting light spears, vanished into the surrounding dusk, and the old woman dropped the still-active silver circle to paw and search in the bag which hung about her neck. At length she brought out a tiny pack of cards, and in an intent manner laid three on the mossy ground before her. While she studied the portents thus revealed, the two spearmen returned and one bent low to whisper into her ear.

  ‘There is a newcomer-breed, a brat, late for one such to be — ’

  She silenced him peremptorily with a wave of a white, gnarled hand, ‘Take him, no blood; I will watch and later talk.’ As an afterthought she added, ‘The cards have promised much.’

  The one to whom she spoke slid elegantly backwards and led the small band out of the shallow grassy depression in which they had been sitting.

  The boy, enjoying the minor thrill of an unauthorised and post ‘bed-time’ walk, had no warning at all of their approach. All at once he found himself in the middle of a ring of wicked-looking spears which were held by dimly glimpsed figures, seemingly sprung out of the earth itself. The lad was no more than six or seven years old, slight for his age with black, bright eyes and long straight hair. Surrounded by his tall, slim assailants he felt as though he were standing at the bottom of a well. So far as he could see in the dim light, they wore long, dun-coloured cloaks and wide hats. But it was their faces that caught and held his attention, to the exclusion, even, of the spears they held. In his very limited experience the boy had never been looked at with such an utter lack of sympathy before and an icy feeling took possession of his stomach. Then he noticed their almond-eyes which contained no pupils and which glowed faintly yellow.

  With no avenue of escape, his hand flew to a skinning knife hung about his leather belt. This drawn, he tripped and stumbled through the ‘warding words’ the village priest had taught the children. And all the while he was gamely brandishing the knife (which suddenly seemed so small) before him.

  ‘In the f-face of iron, by Christ, I tell you b-begone.’

  The spearmen did not even stir in acknowledgement and tears began to spring into his eyes. But he did not give up the ghost; studying the knife before him, he considered it with reference to his own throat and then that of his nearest tormentor. He did not want to fight in such a hopeless mismatch, but knew, even in his growing panic, this was what he had to do.

  The old woman had been watching this little scene throughout and concluded, with grim satisfaction, that her instincts and tools had yet again been vindicated. The newcomer-boy had seen his own death in the humourless eyes about him, but had not abandoned himself to despair. He had had the presence of mind to remember the laughable iron superstition, and then when all else had failed had considered suicide, but then decided on selling his life in preference to giving it away. All this was very good, doubly so in one so young; a precocious brat, even for the newcomers, she thought with a smile.

  His first (and potentially last) test was over. The woman made herself visible to the boy, who immediately seized upon her appearance with relief and gratitude, because it postponed his fatal course.

  The old lady, drawing herself up to her full six feet, made a dramatic sweep with her shawl and studied the boy with her ancient deep-set eyes, from the prominence on which she had chosen to make her entrance. Nevertheless it was he who first broke the silence. (Such promising impudence, she thought.)

  ‘Are you elves?’

  His voice was high but steady, and tears had ceased with the arrival of hope. She ignored the question and fixed him with a glare so penetrating that this time he flinched.

  ‘Look boy,’ she said, ‘and observe closely; you are safe.’ (It seemed unnecessary to add now.) ‘But even so you must answer everything I ask as truthfully as you can, if you wish to return home, and,’ – she spat ferociously – ‘I will know if you lie to me. Now watch.’

  She looked up to the sky and gazed all about, even though darkness had come. Having settled her eyes towards one direction, she spoke a word, barely audible and quite meaningless to the boy, but a strikingly profound one. For it brought a small bird, a robin, which flew straight as a die at the old woman and settled on her arm, singing wildly. She smiled amid wrinkles, and with grandmotherly charm asked him, ‘Would you like to be able to do this, boy?’

  As she spoke, the bird increased its noise to an almost frantic level and the boy forgot his recent fears. He considered it advisable to be truthful, and at length said, ‘Yes, madam, I would.’ (For it was a clever trick, and moreover this seemed to be the answer required of him – with a little bit of flattery masquerading as respect.)

  ‘That is good,’ she noted. ‘Now, would you like to be able to do this?’

  She spoke another outlandish word and the robin, still cheeping furiously, flew away at high speed, only to hurtle with a tiny thud straight into a nearby sapling, falling lifeless at its base.

  The watching spear-bearers flashed a quick, mirthless grin with perfect white teeth, and the boy, horrified and once more fearful for his safety at this new manifestation of violence, shouted. ‘No, NO!’

  It was noticeable however, that his last negative, although louder and more vehement, contained obvious hesitation and doubt. Instead of the little bird (for which he felt genuine pity), he saw a hated schoolmaster, the village bully and a number of other nightmare figures hurtling impotently towards destruction, in response to one mere gesture. A sudden flame of ambition and a wish for power sprang up within him.

  ‘Untruth, untruth, UNTRUTH!’ the old woman screamed at him. ‘Tell me the truth.’

  This outburst, combined with a sense of guilt at his own unworthy thoughts, proved to be the final straw for the lad’s over-tried nerves and he descended into a deep slurry of tears.

  Patien
ce, patience, Joan, the old woman thought, the boy is yet unversed in the world; it is all different with the newcomers. Still he is entirely as foretold, and worthy of cultivation.

  ‘Where are you from?’ she asked. It had some minor relevance and an easy question would serve to settle him.

  He looked up, found his verbal feet and answered: ‘Clarkenhurst.’

  She knew it well – in an elfish way and from a distance – but well. Clarkenhurst: a hamlet become sizeable in a thousand years of incremental growth. One church, one inn, one school, one smithy, one street; all that was needed for an uneventful, isolated newcomer-life. The proximity of Reading had helped it no end, although few villagers would care to admit it: the city being ‘Little Babylon’ to the great ‘Babylon’ of London itself. Of late, mild prosperity had touched some of the village houses, turning wattle into brick and thatch into tile. Not too rich, not too poor; nothing of real note, for good or ill, had ever disturbed its happy history. We’ll change that … thought Joan.

  ‘Listen to me just one more time, little boy,’ she went on, ‘and then you can flee to your family. Should you wish to learn these tricks and manymore besides, should you desire to know more of us and should you want to become greater than normal men, return here, to this very spot, on the evening of the new moon. Be unafraid little one, for we intend you only kindness.’

  The boy raised his tearful head, but in the little time it took him to do so, they were gone, vanished silently, and only the grassy hummock, silhouetted in the moonlight, remained. Wary, and still with knife in hand, he took one more wide-eyed look at his surroundings, and then fled home.

  Safely away from prying eyes, some distance away, Joan rested once more with her silent spearmen. He would return, she felt sure of that. His moment of hesitation had given him away and she was infallible when it came to detecting someone with qualities adaptable to her people’s needs. Should the child be so unwise as to prattle to his family or village neighbours he would soon have such ‘nonsense’ and ‘fairy tales’ knocked out of him; what humans did not want to believe, they most assuredly would not. No, he would return, more was the pity for his poor little soul. Not that that was any of her concern, of course; she merely served another with higher purposes. She was therefore graciously allowed many powers and much knowledge. (She acknowledged the debt with a reverential nod.) It was not her part, or her nature to make judgements. In any case, she remembered long ago (so long ago) another wise woman saying that no one, not even the black eminence, can take a soul: it must be freely given. And that, if justification were really needed (which she did not think it was) was good enough for Joan.