Nightshade: A Genre-Bender Sci Fi, Satire, Romance, Horror, Crime, Fantasy, Melodrama Mash-Up from Everywhere & Nowhere

By Anthony North

The ultimate flash fantasy, join Capt Van Daken, Black Kat, Babbage & Retoks Marb on the Star Ship Nightshade. But nothing is as it seems. A totally crazy mash up of a roller coaster ride.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Anthony North
• Release date: Apr 17, 2021
• ISBN: 9781005150884

Anthony North

Thinker & Storyteller****7,453 Words to Save the UK and I,Writer are now FREE. Scroll down to find them.*****1955 (Yorkshire, England) – I am born (Damn! Already been done). ‘Twas the best of times ... (Oh well).I was actually born in the year of Einstein's death, close to Scrooge's Counting House. It doesn't mean anything but it sounds good. As for my education, I left school at 15 and have had no formal education since. Hence, I'm self-taught.****From a family of newsagents, at 18 I did a Dick Whittington and went off to London, only to return to pretend to be Charlie and work in a chocolate factory.When I was ten I was asked what I wanted to be. I said soldier, writer and Dad. I never thought of it for years – having too much fun, such as a time as lead guitarist in a local rock band – but I served nine years in the RAF, got married and had seven kids. I realized my words had been precognitive when, at age 27, I came down with M.E. – a condition I’ve suffered ever since – and turned my attention to writing.Indeed, as I realized that no expert could tell me what was wrong with me, I began my quest to find out why. Little did I realize it would last decades and take me through the entire history of knowledge, leaving me with the certainty that our knowledge systems are inadequate.****My non-fiction is based on P-ology, a thought process I devised to work with patterns of knowledge, and designed to be a bedfellow to specialization. A form of Rational Holism, it seeks out areas the specialist may have missed. I work from encyclopaedias and introductory volumes in order to gain a grasp of many subjects and am not an expert in anything, but those patterns keep forming. Hence, I do not deal in truth, but ideas, and cover everything from politics to the paranormal.When reading my work I ask only: do I make sense? Of course, an expert would say: a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. I agree. And an expert has so little knowledge of everything.I also write novels and Flash Fiction in all genres.

Book preview

Nightshade:

A Flash Fantasy

By Anthony North

Copyright: Anthony North 2021

Cover image copyright: Yvonne North, 2021

Smashwords Edition

No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission

Other books by Anthony North

In 2019 I began publishing 14 volumes of my fiction, inc 7 novels in most genres, & 21 works of non-fiction covering cults, politics, conspiracies, religion, disasters, science, philosophy, warfare, crime, psychology, new age, green issues & all areas of the unexplained, inc ufology, lost worlds and the paranormal. Hopefully appearing at the rate of one a month, check out the latest launch at my bookstore at http://anthonynorth.com or buy direct from Smashwords for all devices at: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/anthonynorth

In addition to the above, you may like my ‘I’ Series – 8 volumes of flash fiction (horror, sci fi, romance, adventure, crime), 4 volumes of poetry & 5 volumes of short essays from politics to the unexplained. Available from same links as above. Also check out my bookstore for news of my books out in paperback.

CONTENTS

In the Beginning

The Archaeologist

Fragments & Dialogues

The Psychologist

Renaissance

A Tale of Midsummer

MacTwist

Hamming Expectations

Carol for Two Lovers

About the Author

Connect With Anthony

In the Beginning there was the word; and it was the Title

Fragment One – Once Upon a Time

‘Curse you!’ said Capt Van Daken, ‘do you hear me, Nightshade? Curse you!!!’

The Zombs stopped in unison. They were programmed to register sudden changes, and the skipper’s sudden mood was classified as such.

Retoks Marb just looked, his sardonic smile echoing his feelings. He was of the Literary Sect and trained to notice the twists and turns of experience.

Alternatively, Babbage chuckled as he manipulated the console. Only the aberrant behaviour of circuits could faze him.

But it was Black Kat who defused the situation. A shapeshifter, she purred once, then transformed into the skipper’s favourite brunette.

Van Daken looked her up and down, ending with the huge smile upon her face, and his mood flowed away.

‘Thank you, Katrina,’ he said.

Satisfied with her achievement, she became Black Kat once more and prowled away.

Yet, the problem remained. Nightshade was becalmed, and all the stars had gone out.

What had happened, none of them knew – except Nightshade. Nightshade had had enough. Which presented a problem. Star ships were not supposed to have minds of their own.

Who would have thought that when that cow danced on TV we were dancing our way to the stars? But soon the cow had jumped over the moon, in a metaphorical kind of way, and the universe was in our grasp …

Initial Statement

So this is the beginning. The story has begun, but …

Let us introduce ourselves. We are aspects of human knowledge. We represent the intellectual human traits, such as the scientist, the religionist, the politician; and we write to inform you of the discovery of the fragments.

What are the fragments?

They appear to be an anthology of stories – at least, we assume them to be stories; surely they cannot be real?

Many elements are missing, so we have to attempt to put the story-arc together.

(It isn’t a story-arc; it is reality?)

Excuse the religionist. He claims knowledge not grasped through reason. How can they be truth?

(Look at the facts. The fragments were found buried in ancient sites. We know not what kind of parchment was used – all analysis has failed to identify it. We speak in many languages, but we all can read the script …)

Just because science has not yet caught up doesn’t mean that we have to rely on exotic explanation …

(… and when were they buried; when were they written? The indication is they are very, very old, yet they speak of technology and star travel. And who was the stranger who always seemed to be there …)

Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. We are telling a story – everything must not yet be revealed.

(Pah!)

Infact, the only thing we can say for certain at this point is that there is a star ship with a crew, a cat and android workers … and, of course, as it began with a cow, we can assume the technology – the ship itself – is biological in nature.

Shortly we will turn you over to The Archaeologist, who will narrate how he came by these wondrous discoveries, but first, I think it is time for the next fragment:

Fragment Two – How Nightshade Became…

Black Kat watched as Capt van Daken stormed into his cabin. Purring, she followed him – saw his mood. He was not in charge of the situation, and he knew he should be.

They had been becalmed for an age, but now the star ship was moving again – but to where? Certainly not where he thought they ought to be going.

Black Kat knew something had to be done. Hence, she stood before him, Katrina fully formed and naked.

The skipper looked at her. An urge formed in his mind. Roughly, he grabbed her, threw her across his bunk and entered her …

It was not pleasant, she knew, but afterwards, back in the corridor once more, Black Kat remembered why she was here. They simply had to learn. It was her task.

She entered the crew room then. Retoks Marb was hunched in the corner, blood dripping from his mouth and the remains of raw meat around him. She admonished him. She had told him how to cook, but he clearly ignored her.

At the other end of the room Babbage was trying to program the ship to return to its course, but he couldn’t figure out what to do. Black Kat went up to him; licked him. He stroked her and suddenly he knew.

Retoks Marb was satiated now. Hence, she approached him once more, with a sheet of paper caught in her teeth. Dropping it, Retoks Marb picked it up.

He seemed to know what this meant. He smiled, took out the pen, and began to write. After all, he was of the Literary Sect, whatever that meant; and the words flowed.

Suddenly a thought came to him. He wrote:

‘But how do I know how to write these words?’

Black Kat was Katrina once