Chapter 43

Dan woke up as he felt arms enfold him.

"It's okay, go back to sleep."

He recognised that voice. It was Serena. The thumping in his chest grew quieter. His eyes were open and he was beginning to adjust to the gloom. He had heard her speak and felt her touch, but he turned over to look at her. Serena was there and everything was alright.

"You were talking in your sleep."

What had he said? Had he mentioned his previous wife Samantha? Had he mentioned his previous life? There was only one way to find out.

"What did I say?"

"I don't know, something about a phone and not going back. It didn't make much sense."

Serena moved her pillow and exhaled as she prepared to go back to sleep. Dan told his body to relax, but he could not settle. He remembered the dream that had disturbed him and tried to analyse what it meant.

He had been standing by a door. His hand hovered close to the handle but he could neither grasp it nor move away. He had reached into his pocket and produced his mobile phone. Then he was standing in a field inspecting a steam engine. Yes, that was a fair summary of his life right now. The modern and the old. Confusion about his place in this world. Worry about what was happening elsewhere.

He thought about his children Grace and Alex and looked at Serena again. Things would never be easy when you were living in the wrong place. He had woken up one day in a parallel universe. This Earth was not his Earth. Many things were different and he was still finding his feet after initially thinking that he had lost his mind.

Daniel Ellis woke up to the sound of his children's laughter. He took a moment to take stock of his life and all that had happened over the last six months. He had been through some drastic changes the biggest of which was finding that he had slipped into a parallel universe. He was now on an Earth which was ruled by the One World Government.

How or why he had been delivered to another version of Earth was a mystery. Would he be dragged back at some point in the future? Since his arrival he had found it hard to say where he preferred to be. The, fast paced world full of technology where his son had been stillborn or the pollution free, old fashioned, society where his son Alex was alive.

He got out of bed anxious to get downstairs and join his family for breakfast. His family and Serena who had come to visit. She was his girlfriend and he grinned as he got dressed thinking about her. The fact that she was there and the revelations of the previous day had put him in a very good mood.

Since he had arrived in this world he had not had a lot to be happy about. There was little technology here due to a series of meteor strikes about a hundred years before. The scientific advancements that had occurred on Dan's earth had not happened here. Everything had stalled as the dramatically reduced population fought to survive.

The entire world was now run by the One World Government known as the OWG. One government which oversaw the production and distribution of all that was required for everyone's needs. They were in charge of law and order, medicine, housing and food. They managed resources, dispensed justice and moved people and goods. They also divided the world into the haves and have nots.

He had recently had some time to catch his breath since his frantic and traumatic entrance to this other Earth. Dan had settled into his job with the MOD and he was finding that he liked the other version of Ryan as much as he had liked the old one. His children were a constant source of delight and now he had the beautiful red headed Serena as his girlfriend.

The other thing that Dan now had was a group of friends who were desperate to reform the way the world was run. The day before they had met and revealed their opposition to the present form of rule. They were determined to find a way to usurp the de facto head of the OWG, Nicholas Salter and his inner cabinet. The desire to do something was there, but they had not, so far, come up with a plan to accomplish their goal.

What sort of government were the OWG? Dan considered the communism and fascism that had seen some of the worst atrocities on his earth. Given the chance to start again after the meteor event members of the British government, aided by what was left of the civil service, had set about bringing order to the world and forming some sort of rule.

The British Empire was still huge when the meteors had struck over a hundred years before. Australia, New Zealand, India, Canada, South Africa, Hong Kong, various Caribbean Islands and areas on the African coast were already run from London. The principles for ruling overseas territories were already in place, so the OWG just expanded its reach.

They had declared their intention to be a democracy, but, almost inevitably, they had ended up as something else. Descendants from the original members of the OWG became ministers and there were no elections. A small group had gained control of the government and were thwarting any attempts to modernise society. They had the power and they were not going to let go.

The OWG was a strange hybrid of the best and worst elements of government. If one worked then one would get food and accommodation as well as medical care. The labour class got less than the leadership class, but they were not exploited or deprived. The theory was that if they were kept, just about, content there would be less chance of them rising up against their leaders.

Those in the labour class, like Dan's servant Phyllis and her husband Peter, were however never really in control of their own lives. They had little choice about what work they did or where they lived. They were banned from any sort of religious worship and free enterprise was a crime. The luxuries and lifestyle of those in the leadership class were not for the likes of them.

Women of any class were oppressed. The Victorian attitudes that had been prevalent before the meteor strike, still existed. Women did not work, except in minor roles, and were expected to run the home and do little else. It was unthinkable that there would be a female member of the government. Management and professional jobs were also off limits.

The law and order systems were corrupt and punitive. The OWG could have someone locked up, or worse, for dissent or because it was expedient for them. The police would clamp down on those that tried to worship or who showed any anti OWG sentiments. Any attempt to make extra money or gain power was also stamped out. A prison sentence doing hard labour would be a good outcome for those that were caught.

Dan had learned that the government was guilty of other terrible crimes. They were prepared to use euthanasia to remove people who were not able to contribute to society. There were doubtless others who disappeared simply at the whim of one of leaders. Nicholas Salter's inner cabinet had even removed ministers who did not follow their party line as well.

The OWG produced everything. The farms were owned by them as were all the factories and resources. This meant that there were no shareholders to pay and nothing was subjected to overpricing. Gas and oil were rationed and this had led to the environment being mostly free from pollution.

These extremes of well intentioned governance and abuse of power had made Dan confused about the OWG. They had set out to make the world a fairer place, but had fallen into the trap of allowing a small group to gain power and then cling onto it at all costs. Things needed to change, but it was going to be difficult to wrest control from the inner cabinet who had the backing of the armed forces.

As he sat eating his breakfast, Dan was thinking about these problems. He had the benefit of knowing how dictators had been overthrown in his world, both real and fictitious. Surely, he could help devise some way to get rid of the oily Nicholas Salter. He looked around the large kitchen where he was eating and saw a scene which could have, apart from the clothes, come from his own version of earth.

His children were besmeared with food and Serena and Phyllis were washing up together. Dan's wife Sam would never have participated in domestic chores because she was of the leadership class. This was like normal family life in his 21st century. Others in society, including his father-in-law Eric McBride, would find everyone mucking in together far too modern.

The clothes that people wore were one of the first clues that Dan had spotted that he was not in the right place. The leadership class, of course, had a different look to the labour class. The, white collar workers of the upper class wore three-piece suits and ties. There was no such thing as casual wear. Women in the labour zone who worked on farms would wear trousers, but they were the only ones. Skirts and dresses which hovered halfway down the shins were required on all other females.

Phyllis was wearing a black skirt and a white blouse which signified that she was a servant. Serena worked in a clothes shop and her skirt and blouse were similar in style but more colourful. Ladies' hair was normally long but worn up. This morning Serena's red hair was loose and falling in soft waves around her face.

His girlfriend was from the labour zone, so it made their relationship unusual. It wasn't forbidden, but it was frowned upon. Men from the leadership class married women of a similar status and then had affairs with those they considered inferior. Dan wanted a world where he could marry Serena without it being a scandal.

Alex had fallen over the day before and he was being kept indoors following his bump to the head. Dr Derek Frobisher was calling around later to check up on his 2 years old patient. He was the doctor who had treated Dan in hospital and he had become a friend. He was one of the group which would, hopefully, find a way to defeat the OWG.