Chapter 53

Dan had produced the Ellis immobiliser and now he was working on new inventions. Sebastien often worked as his assistant. The two men got on well with the older man acting as a mentor to the younger soldier. Nobody was going to invent the microchip soon so Dan was working on making smaller versions of cameras for surveillance purposes.

He was thinking of all the gadgets from spy films as his inspiration. He didn't think that he would have to make anything that blew up or fire rockets from a car but other items might come in useful. It was a case of picking out what was possible from the, often, improbable articles that he had seen the agents use on screen.

He delved deep into his brain and remembered such things as homing beacons, an underwater jet pack, stun gas in a cigarette and guns hidden in a number of objects. There was a mini tape recorder and this was one of the things which Dan wanted to make. He was assisting Ryan's unit in the fight against crime and this would be good for gathering evidence.

There were countless miscarriages of justice under the OWG. As well as helping to prosecute people his inventions might exonerate those who were wrongly accused. Much of Dan's and Sebastien's days were spent fiddling with tiny components which they had made to fit into tiny casings.

Miniature transmitters were another area that they were looking into. They would be able plant one onto a subject and then know where that person was. Versions of these things already existed, but they had not been used to any great effect. Dan wanted to use them to pick up conversation, too.

Ryan was constantly amazed by Dan's imagination. How could one man have so many ideas? A man who was so modest about his inventions. He was really glad he had recruited him onto his team. The Ellis immobiliser had already proved most valuable when they had wanted to subdue violent criminals.

Sebastien had visited Dan's house to help him with a DIY project. Dan was building a barbecue, or barbeboo as Alex called it, in his garden. Why would one want to cook outside like farm labourers who would build small fires for the purpose? This was a grill, Dan explained, and would make the food taste wonderful. Sebastien said that the proof would be in the pudding, or piece of meat.

"You use charcoal or wood like oak or hickory. The food then gets the nice smoky flavour. Oh, and only men cook on a barbecue never women."

"Why not women?"

"It is tradition."

Sebastien wondered how it was tradition when the whole concept was totally new.

Dan was more than a little embarrassed about taking the credit for things which had not been his ideas. It would be difficult to explain that he had travelled from a parallel universe where his Earth had progressed and these things existed. Maybe one day he would be able to tell his story to Ryan who had been, and was becoming, his best friend.

He spoke to Derek Frobisher about his inventions and where he had got them from. The doctor was fascinated by the concept of television shows and films which were fictional and made entirely for entertainment. Everything that appeared on the OWG channel was pretty dull. Even the occasional song and dance shows which they produced.

They had spent an afternoon together in which Dan had tried to explain CGI. He told Derek about films in which Dinosaurs had come to life and space aliens had been imagined. There were movies which were designed to terrify you and others which would make you cry. The world needed some escapism and these films would be very popular, Derek said.

"I still don't really understand. Surely you can only film what is there. They would have to make a monster suit and put a man in it."

"That was how it was done in the early days. They make pictures using a computer, a machine like an ESD, and put them in the films."

"How can you have a picture from a computer and real people together?"

It was getting far too complicated.

"You know the song and dance shows on the television?"

"Yes." Derek replied.

"They have whole television channels, in my world, that just play music. Each song has a little film, called a video, that goes with it. Sometimes the video shows a story, sometimes it features the singer and the band."

"All the gadgets, the better machinery, means that everyone has more spare time. With that time, they watch television and films. It sounds like a nice life."

"They go out a lot. To exercise gyms, playing sport, to the pub."

"The pub? They have those in the labour zones. Houses or barns where people gather and drink alcohol. It's not the type of thing respectable people do."

"Everyone does it in my old world."

Since the meteor event, everything which was not contributing to keeping people alive had been abandoned it seemed. There was no movie industry. Some people made art, but it had to be done in their spare time alongside their jobs. Sport was still played because this helped to keep the population fit. It had a much lower profile than in the old world though.

There was room for these things now, Dan thought. Food was being produced around the world and factories were manufacturing goods. The OWG had the world running fairly smoothly as far as supply and demand were concerned. They should be beginning to lighten up, but they could not, or Nicholas Salter could not, bear to relinquish the power that they had gained.

What a great place it could be if the inner cabinet could be overthrown. Dan wondered how much wealth the government was sitting on. Eric said that they had huge stocks of goods stashed all over the world. Allegedly these warehouses held emergency supplies, but there would have to be an awful lot of disasters to even start to empty them.

All of the people in the labour zones were getting by, but they had no luxuries. Their lives were about toil and existence. They had very little opportunity to change their circumstances and their lives would likely end in a bleak old people's home. Dan felt angry whenever he thought about it and his resolve to engender change would be strengthened.

He would look at Grace and hope that she could decide for herself what her life would be like. He wanted to be able to take her and Alex to the cinema or to a funfair. Dan wanted all children everywhere to have the chance to have fun. He also wanted people to be creative. Even cavemen painted on the walls. On this world there was a distinct lack of art.

He talked about these subjects with Serena and they had lively debates.

"Paintings, what happened to paintings?"

"People in the labour zones make picture."

"Yes, but the paintings that were done before the meteor event. They can't all have been destroyed. Are their places, galleries, where people can go and look at them."

"Er, no. Not labour zone people anyway. That type pf thing is for the leadership class. The government and the, top ranking, officials probably have them in their houses."

"Sadly, I think you are right."

His late wife Sam had not wanted to converse with him on anything that could be thought of as controversial. It was such a relief to be able to have a woman in his life who was truly a partner. Through her he learned about the folk art that thrived in the labour zones.

"You said that they make pictures in the labour zone."

"People find ways to express themselves. Wood carving is popular. Women make pictures with embroidery. Some make flutes and guitars to make music."

"Do they play popular tunes, or do they make up new ones?"

"A bit of both. The audience likes hearing the familiar ones, but the musicians slip new ones in now and then. Sometimes, if it's really catchy, the song spreads. Everyone is singing it and it, sort of, gets passed around the countryside."

That was a nice thought. Dan liked the fact that not everything stayed the same. Change was happening, despite the best efforts of the OWG.

Ladies and retired gentlemen from the leadership zone dabbled in the arts. Some of them were very good. In the labour zone, where the equipment required was scarce, people still managed to be creative. Dyes and colours were made form a variety of plants which enabled drawing and painting. Serena's friend George was very good at doing cartoons, she said.

Dan knew that someone somewhere would be making art. He wondered if the more Avant Garde styles had been adopted anywhere. Was there an Andy Warhol or a Francis Bacon living in this world? There were so many ways that people could flourish if only they could be freed from Nicholas Salter's stifling regime.