None of Our Yesterdays

By Vaughan Stanger

This ebook collects two of Vaughan Stanger's war-themed alternative history stories: The Peace Criminal and The Eye Patch Protocol. Both stories explore the great "what ifs" of Twentieth Century history, and will appeal to lovers of thought-provoking, character-based fiction.

The Peace Criminal recounts the tale of an exceptionally old and embittered soldier whose memories of the Great War and its aftermath differ radically from the events recorded in our history books. Surely he can't be believed? But if we do choose to believe him, what does that tell us about our longing for a better, or at least different, world?

If you've ever wondered what would have happened if the Cold War had turned hot, or perhaps simply love the gleaming jet aircraft of the 1960s, then The Eye Patch Protocol is a story not to miss. Simply cover one eye, fire up the engines and hope for the best, while delivering the worst.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Vaughan Stanger
• Release date: Jan 1, 2020
• ISBN: 9780463517550

Vaughan Stanger

Until recently, Vaughan Stanger worked as a research manager at a British engineering company. From 1997 to 2011, he wrote science fiction and fantasy stories in his spare time, effectively setting himself homework. The results of this head-scratching were published in Nature Futures, Interzone, Postscripts, Daily Science Fiction and Music for Another World, to name but a few. Translations of his stories have appeared in nine languages.In January 2012 Vaughan became a full-time writer. Currently he's busy writing an SF novel. The head-scratching has got worse if anything. There are also some new stories in the works, plus further e-book compilations of his previously published stories to come.

Book preview

Introduction

I love reading alternate histories. Pavane by Keith Roberts and The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick remain high up on my list of all-time favourite books, even though I first read them many years ago. So you won't be surprised to learn that I've written several examples of my own. You can read three of my space-themed counterfactuals in Alternate Apollos, whereas in this ebook you'll find a pair of stories focussing on war — specifically the aftermath of The First World War, and what might have happened had The Cold War turned hot.

My particular thanks go to Peter Crowther, editor of Postscripts, and Bridget and Marti McKenna, editors of End of An Aeon, who originally published The Peace Criminal and The Eye Patch Protocol respectively.

Finally, if any of my readers don't know the poem referenced at the end of The Eye Patch Protocol, please google Slough poem.

I hope you enjoy reading these stories.

The Peace Criminal

Philip Healy permitted himself a wry smile as he listened to the rain beat against the windscreen of his BMW. For the first time in several months he had parked the vehicle himself, reversing into the tight space without the benefit of warning beeps from the radar. He liked to think that this insurance-unfriendly whim was a reaction to the air of conformity that clung to the neighbourhood. Protected by high walls and security cameras, each foursquare redbrick building evoked the essence of suburbia.

But suburbia was where the action was, more often than not, its genteel anonymity providing the perfect cover for the maverick characters that Philip sought. Here, in leafy Stanmore, he hoped to record the raw material for another edition of Myths and Mysteries of the Twentieth Century, a show that had become something of a fixture in The History Channel's late-night schedules.

Philip leaned over the passenger seat and peered at the house he had parked opposite. According to the sign on the wrought-iron gate, Wimbourne Grange was a private nursing home owned by the Belhaven Trust. For sixty years the building had provided a safe haven for the elderly and the infirm. Now, after years of