Terrorist in the Palace of the Snow Queen

By Django Mathijsen

Gerard lands on Spitsbergen to visit the Global seed vault. He poses as Doctor Hamid Büchler of the Leibniz-institute, delivering frozen seeds. But in reality the contents of his cabin trunk are highly explosive. What’s his secret mission? Can he stay out of the UN’s clutches long enough to complete it, or will he fall for the charm of the white blonde Doctor Kaia Hansen?
This exciting and poetic techno thriller was nominated for the Paul Harland Prize 2008. The judges commented: “A beautifully formulated indictment, wrapped in science fiction, against political abuse of power”.

• Language: English
• Publisher: enpublikant
• Release date: Dec 10, 2011
• ISBN: 9781465911773

Django Mathijsen

Django Mathijsen is een prijswinnend schrijver, wetenschapsjournalist, jazzorganist, componist, ingenieur en Robot Wars adviseur. Hij heeft voor zijn verhalen onder meer gewonnen de Brugse Boekhandel Fantasy Award, tweemaal de NCSF-prijs, driemaal de Unleash Award, driemaal op rij een nominatie bij de Piet Paaltjens wedstrijd en vier eervolle vermeldingen bij de Amerikaanse Writers of the Future. Zijn fictie en non-fictie is verschenen in talloze tijdschriften, verhalenbundels en websites (zoals de Kijk, Panorama, ANWB AutoKampioen, Zo zit dat, Luister, Jazzism, Pure Fantasy, Wonderwaan, SF Terra, De Nachtvlinders, Parelz, Fantastisch Strijdtoneel, De Twintig Beste 2009, De Twintig Beste 2010, enzovoort). Hij is de zoon van beroepsmusici en zat al als tiener als jazzorganist op het podium. Maar hij was ook bezeten van techniek en wetenschap. Dus ging hij naar de TU Eindhoven waar hij afstudeerde als werktuigkundig ingenieur. Vervolgens werkte hij behalve als wetenschapsjournalist onder andere als robotdeskundige achter de schermen bij de prijswinnende teeveeprogramma’s Robot Wars (de robotvechtsport die het BBC2 kijkcijferrecord van 6,9 miljoen kijkers haalde) en TechnoGames (de Olympische Spelen voor robots). Hij startte en leidde de Nederlandse en Duitse Robot Wars, adviseerde honderden robotbouwers en keurde, bouwde en repareerde talloze machines. De laatste jaren legt hij zich vooral toe op het schrijven van romans, verhalen en muziek, vaak in samenwerking met Anaïd Haen. Hun nieuwste boek, Hersenhack (10+), is verkrijgbaar bij Uitgeverij EigenZinnig": 351 nagelbijtend spannende pagina's.

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Terrorist in the Palace of the Snow Queen

By Django Mathijsen

Cover photo and cover design: Anaïd Haen

Published by en-Publikant at Smashwords

Copyright 2008 Django Mathijsen

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

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Terrorist in the Palace of the Snow Queen

Chapter 1: Thank goodness for ultrasonic washing machines

I was struggling to suppress the twitching of my upper lip. Confident and casual, I repeated to myself as I stepped through the identity gate. My legs were moving as if they were made of silicon rubber.

That’s odd. The customs official’s multiple chins joggled in harmony when his deep voice muttered his clumsy English. His accent was brusque but melodious, like a polar bear would sound if he could sing La Traviata. An icy chill ran through me.

The official swiveled up the spectacles on which he had read out the gate data. Suddenly his gray eyes looked at me as if he were searching for something. He scratched the bald spot in the middle of his graying hair. He squinted as if he could read like a flashing neon sign the thoughts that were chaotically bouncing around in my skull.

Slowly his penetrating stare slid down, past my silk necktie, my thermo-coat and –trousers, right to the tips of my heated snow boots. I tried to camouflage my fear with a surprised smile. I avoided his eyes and kept looking at the dent in the flab below his chin, which was caused by the upper titanium fastener of his dyna uniform.

It’s ironic that pretentious officials and militia were still wearing those antiballistic suits. The last terrorist attack on air traffic dated from long before I was born.

In fact, all terrorist attacks had become very rare, half a century after Allah’s Alliance lost the battle against the United Nations. One by one, all the countries around the Persian Gulf had been accused of supporting terrorists, developing weapons of mass destruction or hatching invasion plans. One by one, they’d been taken by a rapid peacekeeping force. All had received a UN-controlled democracy.

Iraq and Iran had been the first to fall. When Saudi Arabia fell in 2041, the war had been decided. The UN now controlled more than half of OPEC’s oil reserves. Although oil had become virtually redundant as a source of fuel, it was still an irreplaceable raw material for various plastics. Only a few, small enclaves, such as the holiday paradise Dubai and the conservative Sharjah, had managed to retain their independence.

But the Arab nations were too large and diverse. The democratic governments put in place by the UN could never fully control them. Islamic terror cells were still capable of embezzling oil proceeds for many years. The Saudi deserts and Pakistani mountains were filled with hidden training camps.

In 2058, the year I was born, Muslim terrorism scored its greatest, but also its last triumph. It was the centennial anniversary of the Daytona 500, a spectacular race with old-fashioned, internal combustion engine cars. With over two million spectators, it was America’s best-attended sporting event. In the week before the race, Farshid Khatami and just four accomplices commandeered the Goodyear blimp that was to fly over the racetrack. Within two hours, they replaced the non-flammable helium in the airship with highly combustible hydrogen.

In the 153rd lap, just when Enos McClusky left Big Buck Burdette’s slipstream to take the lead, Khatami steered the airship into a dive. Two billion TV viewers witnessed firsthand how the hydrogen-filled cigar burrowed into the fuel depot in the paddock.

Along with Khatami, fourteen thousand people perished in the blaze: mechanics, racecar drivers, journalists and spectators. Tibor Mackintosch, the first-ever president-general of the United Nations and presumably Khatami’s main target, was among the victims in the celebrity gallery.

But by that time, ocean floor robots, plasma drills,