Melissa Our God

By Leonard G Mann

Set in the near future, Melissa has brought peace and harmony on Earth. No one starves and everyone can enjoy life. Melissa is revered throughout the world and she is the first god to deserve it. Everyone worships Melissa; well almost everyone. Daniel, a chief executive and Harry, more like a 1960s Hell’s Angel, are unlikely friends, yet united in their pursuit to find the true nature of Melissa.

The priesthood runs world affairs and acts more like a corporation than a religious order. The Priest Police, or PPs, take direction from Melissa’s intelligence network and seem to be aware of the little remaining crime before it’s committed. Offenders are helped to rehabilitate and only in extreme cases are they sent for genetic correction. There are no prisons in C-five.

Harry’s world revolves around his motorbike, beer and the Sceptics, the small obscure group he founded, questioning the true nature of Melissa. Harry lives in a state owned apartment on a retirement pension from his Mars freighter days. His brain had been drilled by cosmic rays and it shows. His girlfriend Waz is equally odd with her strange accent and elfish looks. She tries to keep Harry in order but prefers to talk to animals, not humans. And, she knows things!

On the Moon, human colonists have adapted to the weak gravity and living indoors. After just a few generations Lunars couldn’t see the point of going to Earth with its debilitating gravity and all that water! Peter, a descendant of the seventeen, enjoys privileged status. A young playboy, falling in love with Hannah, he flaunts the rules which inevitably leads to trouble.

Daniel so wants to understand Melissa, yet he is intrigued by her beauty and feels that he’s fallen in love with her! He has made his fortune and could enjoy life to the full, but decides instead to risk all, even his life, in order to find the true nature of Melissa.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Leonard G Mann
• Release date: Mar 15, 2017
• ISBN: 9781370094790

Leonard G Mann

Leonard G Mann is an engineer, scientist and dreamer. Top of his bucket list is his desire to talk to an ETI. While unlikely, it doesn’t stop him from imagining the numerous ways in which one could meet or communicate with aliens.Born in North London, UK, he now lives a life lost in the wilds of Dorset with his wife and their two dogs. Looking out across the countryside at the wildlife and the distant ocean makes a good backdrop from which to develop new stories. Leonard’s other interests include the study of cosmology and science in general, including the effect humankind has on our planet. He also enjoys walking the Jurassic coastline and Purbeck Hills with his wife and extended family.

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Melissa Our God

by Leonard G Mann

Published by Leonard G Mann

Copyright 2017 Leonard G Mann

License Notes

Thank you for buying this eBook or paperback. This book remains the copyrighted property of the author and may not be redistributed to others. If you enjoyed this book, please encourage your friends to download their own copy from their favourite authorised retailer. Thank you for recognising the hard work of the author.

Issue 1e. August 2023

This book is dedicated to Steven Spielberg for his unequalled contribution to film

Contents

Chapter 1: Melissa is our God

Chapter 2: Everyone Talks to God

Chapter 3: Daniel Meets God

Chapter 4: A Game of Chess

Chapter 5: Brutality and Betrayal

Chapter 6: A World Apart

Chapter 7: Two Lovers Explore

Chapter 8: Daniel’s Big Day

Chapter 9: One Last Meeting

Chapter 10: The Escape

Chapter 11: The Beach House

Chapter 12: Trouble on the Far Side

Chapter 13: The Prodigal’s Return

Chapter 14: The New Order

Acknowledgements

Message from the Author

About the Author

1: Melissa is our God

It was one hour before the start of Melissa Day, the biggest religious festival of the year: the celebration of the birth of our God Melissa. Daniel and Harry, two unlikely friends and two unlikely attendees of the Melissa Day procession, were standing close to where Melissa would walk onto the plinth.

‘Is this it? It must be bigger than a football pitch and at least three storeys high.’

Harry didn’t answer. He walked down the steps to the edge of the plinth, beckoning to Daniel to come close and shield him from view. Harry looked around nervously and took out the instruments from his bag. He looked ridiculous in his long trench coat with a large holdall by his side, more likely to attract attention than avoid it. At least his coat hid his greasy leather clothes below. He pushed his long unruly hair out of his eyes and swept his multi-scanner back and forth, looking for some structure beneath the surface.

‘I can’t see any internal structure – it’s just solid!’

‘Are you sure this thing moves, Harry? It’s not just a platform that Melissa walks onto?’

‘I saw the rehearsal film, man. It was shot from twenty kilometres away, but something rises up in the air and this is the only thing that’s big enough.’

Harry put down the scanner in favour of a spectral analyser. Then he decided to take a sample and made a loud crack as he hit the plinth with his rock hammer. He started to cough loudly to muffle the noise.

‘Melissa!’ he cursed in a shouted whisper. ‘This is hard stuff. I only just scratched it. Must be granite or something.’

The plinth was shaped as a perfect rectangular prism, 150 by 50 by 15 metres with precisely chamfered edges. Its dark grey colour and absence of features gave it a look of permanence.

‘There must be more people here than last year. I’m sure the stands are higher.’

‘They reckon four million here in the flesh, man, and everyone else will be watching from home.’

‘Should be a good day to go shopping. Do you want a drink, Harry?’

Daniel waved to a priest to bring her basket over and sell him a drink. Daniel was in his smart casual clothes, more appropriate for Melissa Day than Harry’s outfit. The female priest handed him a Coke and gave him a broad smile, noticing Daniel’s good looks. Her face dropped when Harry turned to look at her. After serving Daniel she quickly walked away.

‘Daniel, don’t attract attention; leave the food and drink to later.’

‘It’s hardly me that’s attracting attention! Anyway, it’s the only day of the year when I can get a priest to serve me a drink; I couldn’t resist it.’

‘There’s thousands, no hundreds of thousands of them here on duty, man; they must have spent months organising all this.’

‘I think it’s getting bigger each year. Look how they’ve placed the stands with that irregular pattern and viewscreens everywhere. You have to admit, it’s cleverly done.’

In many ways, Melissa Day was a cross between a religious festival and a visit to Disneyland in C-zero. However, in C-five the ceremony was not considered sacrilegious. The existence of God was not in question and didn’t need to be reinforced with fear and reverence. No one questioned the existence of the one true God existing on Earth in the form of Melissa. Well – almost no one.

The priest ushers moved along the edge of the plinth to send people towards their seats. Harry was caught by surprise and quickly tried to stash his instruments in his holdall. Just as the priest approached, smiling and waving them back, the scanner dropped from Harry’s bag. He froze and the priest walked straight towards him, bent down and picked up the scanner. He placed it in Harry’s hand.

‘I think you dropped this, sir. Please move back now as our God, Melissa, will soon be with us.’

Harry gave up his look of ‘where did that come from?’ He took the scanner from the priest and quickly walked away.

‘Relax, Harry, they’re not interested in what we’re doing, they’re too preoccupied with Melissa’s arrival.’

Daniel and Harry didn’t climb up to the seating area; they kept as close to the plinth as they were allowed. They could just see one of the viewscreens close by.

At last Melissa entered the stage and the sound of four million spontaneous voices filled the air. Daniel could see Melissa clearly on the viewscreen. A tingling sensation started deep in his torso and moved upwards until he flexed his muscles and quenched the feeling in his chest. He was always affected by the sight of Melissa, but he guessed that such a sudden spasm must have been brought out in him by the occasion. He looked at Harry, who wasn’t affected at all, more interested in the instruments that he was starting to set up again. Daniel could watch Melissa for hours. It wasn’t just her static beauty but the beauty of her movement and her expression. He hid these feelings from others – after all, Melissa wasn’t just a woman; she was God!

Melissa slowly walked forward, looking left, then right, raising her palms to the crowd and exuding a look of pure love. With her ladies in waiting around her, she moved forward to a small group selected from the crowd. She touched the adults in turn, caressing the cheeks of the children. She was truly among her people for all to see. The buzz of the crowd subsided as Melissa moved forward to the edge of the stage. When she spoke, her voice reached every ear, as if she were just a few yards away.

‘My people, I am your God and your servant. I stand before you on this day of my birth and I join in with your celebrations of the existence of God, my Father. I come amongst you on this our most special day….’

The words were beautiful, but it didn’t matter what she actually said. It was both the sound of her voice, and the fact that she was actually there among the people, that made everyone so excited. The people just adored her. Her speech ended with:

‘Let the celebrations begin.’

She walked off the edge of the stage down the ramp onto the plinth. Her ladies gathered around her and the ramp majestically retracted.

The crowd hushed and an air of expectation accompanied the silence. Melissa slowly lifted her right hand and in one steady movement the whole of the solid rock plinth started to rise into the air. Daniel and Harry heard the groans of the ground as the strain of this huge weight was lifted. They felt a breeze as the air started to rush into the new space created under the plinth. Further back in the stands, the amazed sighs of the people drowned out all else. Even though Daniel and Harry knew the plinth would rise, it still took their breath away. A truly real, surreal, event.

The plinth rose to a height of about ten metres and then slowly moved forward, carrying its precious cargo along Nazareth Way.

‘Perhaps it’s some kind of illusion,’ suggested Harry.

As if on cue, a child ran out, under the plinth. He ignored the calls of the priests and didn’t stop running. Daniel could see him fielded by the priests on the opposite side and after a mild reprimand he was ushered into the crowd.

People loved Melissa, but not generally because of religious belief or the miracle of levitation. A child will look to its mother for food, warmth, protection, understanding and more. Melissa had given all this to her people, plus she personally entered their lives on a regular basis.

Melissa Day was a fitting time for the people to thank and give praise to God, and she was the first god to actually deserve it. However, just like Christmas, still the second biggest celebration of the year, the significance of Melissa Day was mostly ignored. It was a day of fun, family and food.

The two friends watched the plinth reach the end of Nazareth Way, where it returned to earth and Melissa descended. Immediately, a huge number of dancers took to the street with a synchronised costume display. The food stalls came to life and the viewscreens entertained all, mixed in with the occasional advert.

Daniel and Harry didn’t stay for the rest of the festivities. They had data to analyse.

Human satisfaction is a journey, not a resting place.

J.W. Tidd, 2033

The priesthood was run more like an efficient company than a religious order. The top two positions were held by John and Jacob. John, the Archbishop of Nazcorp, was responsible for all the Nazcamp industry and special events. Jacob had the title Protector of Nazcorp and ran the Priest Police.

John entered Jacob’s office. Both men wore the regulation brown cassocks despite their high station. John was average height, middle-aged and slightly rotund, whereas Jacob was a huge man, towering over John. He had a stern, intimidating face that few could resist.

‘All seems to be in order for your trip, Jacob. You must be looking forward to it.’

‘You are joking, of course. The last thing I want to do is suffer a journey to Mars.’

‘But surely it will be exciting for you; you’ve never been into space before.’

John would be very pleased to see the back of Jacob for a few months.

‘I’ve been in simulators, and that’s as close as I ever wanted to get to space. If it wasn’t for our Mars-side cousins resisting the Interviews I wouldn’t need to go at all.’

‘How will you persuade them?’ John replied, already knowing the answer from the list of priests Jacob was taking with him to Mars.

Jacob smiled. ‘Oh, once I’ve kicked out the top priest positions and put in my own men, it shouldn’t take too long for things to improve.’

John was repulsed by the fact that Jacob didn’t even hide his pleasure at the task ahead of him.

John looked around Jacob’s office as he sat through this required meeting. Unlike his own office, which wouldn’t have looked out of place in the British civil service back in C-zero, Jacob’s office was adorned with photographs and memorabilia. The X27 computer took pride of place – the machine Jacob’s father had used to develop the Interviews. John had seen most of the pictures before. He knew that Jacob would soon have to leave for the spaceport. He felt he should hang on a while rather than make his excuses, considering that Jacob would be away for some months.

‘Jacob, what is that picture of the man standing next to a machine?’

John moved closer to read the label on the machine. ‘Dark Matter Converter 1. That’s a distant ancestor of mine taking delivery of one of the very first DCs. It came out of God’s prototype workshops, in Nazcamp, before general production had even started. Who’d have thought that now there’s one powering every home and every vehicle?’

The picture reminded John that nepotism still reigned in some parts of the priesthood, including Jacob’s line. John, on the other hand, had been chosen by committee and was proud of it.

‘Have you decided who will handle the key judgements passed up from the PPs while you’re away? I can always help out if you need me to?’

‘I’ll have a SWEB connection on Mars so I’ll handle it myself. The delay of 20 minutes or so shouldn’t be an issue.’

‘Well, don’t hesitate if you need my help.’

‘It’s so much easier now we have genetic correction at our disposal. If there’s any doubt, I just send them off for GC and everyone is happy.’

‘Everyone? What about the defendant, if he’s not actually guilty?’

‘Well, I might get one wrong now and then, but at least we’ve got rid of all prisons, and no one dies.’

‘Is genetic correction that much better than death?’

Jacob didn’t answer. John didn’t want to part on bad terms, so he suppressed his anger and tried to change the subject.

‘What do you think about this latest craze for C-zero products? I can’t help but be amused at the people on the streets looking like characters out of old C-zero films.’

‘I guess the clothes are just as durable as modern clothes, even though they look like authentic C-zero. It’s the C-zero replica cars that get me – a complete waste of money, in my opinion.’

John felt that he’d at last found a subject they agreed on.

‘Yes, I don’t see…’

The office communicator interrupted: ‘Excuse me, sir, your car is ready.’

Jacob switched to his purposeful style again.

‘John, I don’t like leaving you on your own like this. I hate to be away from Earth when there is always so much to do.’

‘Don’t worry, Jacob – Melissa Day has passed and everything else is running smoothly.’

‘You will send me reports, won’t you John? I’m relying on you back here, you know.’

John bit his tongue and said, ‘I’ll send you a report daily. Your ship has a SWEB connection, so it will be just the same as sitting in your office viewing my vidclips.’

Jacob nodded and left, speaking the universal parting: ‘Melissa be with you.’

Mrs Simmons stood in front of her class and started to tell the story of Melissa. Most of the children knew the story, but they were quite happy to hear it again. She used the two viewscreens on the wall behind her. The class management system listened to the teacher’s voice and changed the visuals automatically.

‘This is a picture of the original leather-bound bible opened at the start of the third testament. It’s almost the same as this modern version.’

Mrs Simmons held up her e-pad, showing the front cover of the bible. She clicked forward to the passage she had marked.

‘Melissa, born to Mark and Ruth, in the year 2272. As with Mary, mother of Jesus, Ruth had not laid with Mark prior to the birth of Melissa.’

Little William eagerly put up his hand and Mrs Simmons braced herself to explain what laid with meant.

‘Miss, what does it mean by year 2272? Why didn’t they say C-…, you know, like when they say C-five and things like that?’

Relieved, she answered: ‘That’s a good question, William. We say C-five or C-zero now to define the century, but in olden times they used a number that started from the day Jesus was born. Instead of 2272 we would now say C-two-72, or just 2,72’

Sophia, a studious girl, asked: ‘Why does the C notation start at century 1900 and not the year Jesus was born?’

‘Another good question, Sophia. C-zero was a very special century. It started with the age of the horse and ended up with the first space travellers landing men on the Moon. There will never be another century like it, and it was really the start of modern times.’

William interrupted, ‘Yes, but Miss, what does it mean when you said Ruth had not laid with Mark?’

Several of the class sniggered and Mrs Simmons said, ‘That’s enough questions for now. We must continue with the lesson. When our God Melissa was born on Earth, it was a time when people had largely lost their faith in God. When she declared herself to be the daughter of God, she, and her followers, were persecuted. Later I’ll be telling you some of the best third testament parables that related to this period. To escape the conflict, Melissa and her followers relocated to a remote country area in the Midwest and set up a retreat, which they named Nazareth Town.’

The viewscreens showed beautiful images from the Bible, mixed with early pictures of Nazareth Town.

‘Melissa’s following grew and the town grew with it to become the world’s largest city, Nazareth City.’

‘Miss, where is Nazareth City?’

The class laughed. ‘Why, William, we are in Nazareth City. Everyone knows it as Nazcity or just Naz.’

‘Oh, Naz. Miss, now I know what you mean.’

‘The Earth was in a lot of trouble with overpopulation and global warming when Melissa arrived. Many countries were at war with one another and half the people on Earth were starving. As belief in Melissa grew, she was slowly able to get things back under control. It wasn’t until the end of C-three that most wars had subsided and the population reduced to pre-C-zero numbers. Melissa was able to get the different countries to co-operate, but it still took to the end of C-four before the atmosphere was restored and the Earth’s temperature and sea levels stabilised.’

‘Miss, how did Melissa reduce the population? Did she have to kill people?’

‘William, please don’t call out without raising your hand first. No, Melissa wouldn’t kill anyone. Once enough people believed in her, she was able to educate people to have fewer children.’

Sophia added, ‘And contraception was freely available, Miss.’

‘Yes, that’s right, Sophia.’

William had his hand up again, but Mrs Simmons ignored him.

‘Really, you children have a lot to thank Melissa for. You are fortunate enough to have been born in C-five, where there are no wars, no poverty and everyone is happy.’

Daniel arrived early at Harry’s apartment, well in time for the meeting. The Sceptics were Harry’s creation and the main purpose to his life. The members were yet to arrive, so Daniel took a seat in the only living room, along with Harry and his girlfriend, Waz.

‘I hear you’ve got some new stuff to talk about tonight, Harry?’

‘Sure have, man.’

‘You going to tell me what it is?’

‘They’ll all be here soon, then you’ll find out.’

Daniel smiled. ‘OK, I can wait.’

‘You were never that patient when I first met you, man. You would have had your legal guys nail my arse to the wall if I’d got in your way.’

‘Times were different then. Anyway, you saved my arse, don’t forget.’

‘How Harry save your arse, Daniel? He not tell me?’

Daniel looked at Waz. He’d hardly noticed her before. She spoke in such a weird way, with that broken English and an old East European accent. She was quite small and her body was clothed in an oversize pair of denim dungarees; C-zero replicas, thought Daniel. Despite the thick covering, it couldn’t hide her shapely, attractive body, contrasted by her elfish face. A shock of straight yellow hair gave her a bit of a scarecrow look. She wasn’t ugly, but she had a vacant look about her. Daniel wondered what Harry saw in her.

‘Oh, it was back in the days when I was running Atomicro. I’d only just met Harry through the Sceptics, and I was impatient for information about Melissa. Harry had let slip about a guy with some archive footage, and rather than wait for Harry to get it, I thought I’d go and buy it from him myself.’

‘That’s right. You took a real risk there.’

Daniel continued, ‘I thought it was just a case of asking the guy what he had and then making a deal to buy it. I sought him out in the backstreets of Naz Spaceport and followed him into a bar.’

‘Daniel talking about Jed, Harry?’

‘Jed! No, Jed’s a pussycat compared to this guy.’

‘What his name, Harry?’

‘What was his name, babe, what used to be his name! It was Reaper, that’s what they called him, anyway.’

Daniel continued. ‘I went in there and asked him if he was the guy with the archive footage of Melissa. He said who’s asking, so I told him I didn’t want to say who I was, but I had plenty of money. I think he’d been drinking heavily and he didn’t take kindly to my approach.’

Harry laughed. ‘That’s one way of putting it. When I came in he had you stretched across the table and was about to cut bits off you with his knife, man.’

‘I never asked you, Harry – was it just coincidence that you came in that bar that night?’

‘Nah. I had a couple of friends there. One of them recognised you and gave me a call. Lucky I was nearby, or you’d have been turned into fish bait.’

‘So how Harry save you, Daniel?’

‘Well, he told this guy, Reaper, to let me go, but he wouldn’t listen to Harry, so Harry threatened him.’

‘No, I didn’t threaten him, I called him out.’

Daniel and Waz looked confused.

‘Things are different around the spaceports; people have different ways. It ain’t all genteel and polite like most places on Earth. I could see he’d decided to cut you, so I said he’d have to cut me first before I’d let him hurt you, man.’

‘So that’s why he let go of me?’

‘It would have been easy if it was just me and him. He was pretty drunk and I could have taken him down even without a knife. Trouble was, his friends were with him and they were all fighters. The friends I had there weren’t the fighting type and none of us were armed.’

‘Harry was amazing, Waz. I’ve never seen anything like it. As fast as guys leapt on him he was throwing them off. I tried to help him, but his friends held me back.’

‘I was lucky, man. I reached out for a bottle and smashed it over Reaper’s head, knocked him clean out. Then as they came at me with their knives I stabbed them with the broken bottle, scratched a few up real good.’

‘Not talk that way, Harry. Know I not like it!’

Waz was visibly shaken at the description of the violence.

‘Sorry, babe.’

Waz reached out for Harry’s hand. ‘Did they hurt you, Harry?’

‘Oh, sure they did.’

Harry parted his hair, revealing a long scar on his scalp, then another on his arm and one on his side. Waz looked pale and motioned for him to stop showing her.

‘It was wild. I just managed to get Daniel out of there before more scum turned up. Left a pile of them bleeding on the floor. I couldn’t go back to that place for weeks.’

‘Harry, why did you go all out to defend me? We didn’t know each other that well. You could have been killed.’

‘You were stupid to go there, but I felt it was down to me. If you’d died it was my fault for telling you about Reaper. Once I was fighting, I didn’t think about it. It was simple: I’d made my call, I had to follow it through.’

‘I’ll never forget how you saved my life, Harry.’

‘Hey, man, you done more for me than I done for you.’

‘What you do for Harry, Daniel?’

‘Oh, nothing much. He had a few felonies hanging over him and I managed to sort them out.’

‘He used his connections, babe. I reckon I was going down for GC, but he got me off everything. Saved my life three or four times over. We’re blood now.’

Harry held up his open hand and Daniel struck it with his own hand in the way Harry had shown him. They were the most unlikely-looking brothers – Daniel, straight from the office, still in his C-zero business suit, and Harry towering over him in his motorbike leathers.

‘I often wondered, Harry, did Reaper die that night? The information he had was lost, I guess?’

‘You seen it all, man; I’ve shown it to you! I met him two weeks later when he was sober and we cut a deal. It was just when he got drunk, he couldn’t handle it. I heard he died Mars side. Had to happen, sooner or later.’

The members of the Sceptics started to arrive. Harry was fed up with a small group of people sitting at one end of a large hall, so these days they met in Harry’s apartment. Ten of the eighteen members turned up and Harry’s living space was packed. Two new members had arrived, which gave Harry the excuse to do his standard background presentation. Daniel had seen it before and he stood back, passing the C-zero beers to Waz, who was passing them out to the members. Most people didn’t drink alcohol these days, but Harry considered it compulsory for everyone to drink beer at his meetings.

Harry went to each window in turn, peaking out. Then he used his illegal priest radio to scan for traffic.

Daniel looked at Waz and whispered. ‘Is he OK now?’

‘He OK, but on edge. Last week he threatened local shop guy, saying he was spying on him. You have word with him, Daniel.’

Harry snapped open his can and said, ‘OK, let’s start. The official Melissa story begins with Melissa declaring herself the daughter of God back in 2294. All the current history archives record this, but I’ve got a copy of Granger’s dated at 2329, thirty years later, and the name Melissa isn’t even mentioned!’

Granger’s History was still a primary history publication today. It was a conservative record, keeping to the facts, avoiding speculation.

‘It does mention a religious sect called The New Christian Science Order, located in a small town on the site of Nazcity today!’

Harry looked around his tiny audience for signs of surprise, but was met with blank faces. He liked to involve the audience partly to keep their attention.

‘Why should a one-hundred-and-fifty-year-old certified copy of Granger’s differ from Granger’s today?’

Most of the members started looking down, not meeting Harry’s eyes. Harry pointed at the nearest person and they shrugged their shoulders. A new young member enthusiastically raised his hand as if back in junior school waiting for permission to speak. Harry nodded at him.

‘Melissa used her powers to go back in time and change history.’

Harry felt like saying, ‘We’re the Sceptics, you idiot – we don’t believe in Melissa’s powers!’ but he just nodded to another member.

‘Granger must have made a mistake. You never can rely on these history dudes; the history books are full of shit.’

The meetings all seemed to go the same way. Harry would ask some simple questions and the answers he got angered him so much that he blew his cool and let fly at the class. This time,