Xanadu

The Quantum Series, Book 8

Deanna - the spotted cow of the galaxy, was in trouble.

This was all beyond having a funny moon that fell down occasionally, or having jet-propelled birds that exploded if they flew too high; this was serious.

An army of fascists had seized power and started rebuilding Deanna as a eugenic utopia—without all the messy inconvenience caused by diversity and dissent. They simply excised it from Deannan society, rounding up undesirables and sending them to Xanadu, a concentration camp in the Wilds between the three largest cities of Atro City, San Fedora and Fortitude. Out of sight and out of mind.

An energy field set up by the fascists now isolated Deanna from the outside universe—and prevented Terran ships from reaching them to unseat the enemy. After having their hands tied by Terran policy for so many generations, the religious right wing had both hands free—and was working on its swing.

On the prairie, Xanadu was a hell-hole where prisoners were locked up and forgotten, without food, water or shelter—where they only way out was a rapid decline and death. And death suited the architects of Xanadu. But it didn't suit Danielle Grauffis. Caught up in the fascist's net by pure chance, she'd been sent there to die. She watched as people around her grew weaker from starvation and died from thirst and exposure. But she wasn't ready to give up yet, she'd do anything to hold out until rescue came. Anything. Meanwhile, a resistance movement had risen to unseat the fascists, and their challenge was to defeat them militarily - to free Deanna from their yoke, and most importantly, to free the prisoners incarcerated at Xanadu. Before it was too late.

©2023 Christina Engela (P)2023 Timothy Peever