Flash of the Last Dream: A Rucksack Universe Story: Rucksack Universe

By Anthony St. Clair

One little package. So much trouble.

 

Turn over the dream, or die. Rebecca's job, her life, have all been a lie. But if the price for knowing the truth is death, what can she do against the very people she used to work for?

 

The Rucksack Universe series combines alternate history, speculative fiction, myth, adventure, globetrotting, and intrigue—all with well-poured pints of beer. Library Journal says Anthony St. Clair's storytelling has "universe building reminiscent of Terry Pratchett," and readers say they love the Rucksack Universe's unique combination of "quirk, wit, travel, and magic."

• Language: English
• Publisher: Rucksack Press
• Release date: May 19, 2020
• ISBN: 9781940119397

Anthony St. Clair

Anthony St. Clair creates compelling fiction and non-fiction for a curious world full of everyday discoveries, endeavors, and surprises. He is the author of the ongoing Rucksack Universe series; covers craft beer, food, business, and more for various publications; and is a copywriter and content manager for select clients. When not at his desk or in his kitchen in Oregon, Anthony is on an adventure with his wife, son, and daughter.

Book preview

Flash of the Last Dream

Flash of the Last Dream

A Rucksack Universe Story

Anthony St. Clair

Rucksack Press

Contents

1. File Excerpt: OPERATION LAST DREAM

2. Time for Something Fast

3. Fecking Envelope and Damn Assistant

4. Into the Dark Waters

5. File Excerpt: OPERATION LAST DREAM

Thank You for Reading

Become a Wanderer

Also by Anthony St. Clair

Acknowledgments

Special Features

Sneak Peek

About the Author

Documents bound in orange are to remain unopened and unread, and must be turned over to Guru Deep personally and immediately. Otherwise, employees may be immediately terminated.

—Guru Deep, Deep Inc. Employee Policies & Procedures

1

File Excerpt: OPERATION LAST DREAM

The end of the world had been typed flawlessly in bold black letters, in an angular, stately, serifed font, on crisp paper as orange as sunsets and flames.

"Upon the removal, neutralization, and/or termination of the Enemy, all unfulfilled and/or unbegun phases of operation last dream are to commence without cessation.

One simple indicator will make it clear that you have succeeded and are free: You will wake up. Only at first it will seem like you have died.

2

Time for Something Fast

The bare white fridge should have been covered with photos, postcards, little poems, reminders of things to do. Flash. Rebecca remembered it anyway. Same with the empty brown cupboards, and the little steel sink, even if she didn’t have so much as a dirty teacup in it. Flash. She’d remember it all. Diligent. Down to every last detail. Even the ones she wasn’t supposed to have known about.

Black night was falling, but the orange package envelope on the map-covered table might as well have been a fire that was only just getting started. Outside the fourth-floor window of the little London flat, the bright reds, purples, greens, and blues of the ever-rebuilding city muted themselves, like chatty children quieting into sleep.

Children. That was a thought Rebecca hadn’t expected. Kids were one of those far-off things. One of those maybe she would, maybe she wouldn’t sort of things. She figured she would have time before she knew whether kids were a possibility, but the option had been out there, a fork in the road just visible on the horizon. Now it was