To Slip the Surly Bonds of Earth: Book Five Betrayal

By Hugh Cameron

The human race has begun to move into space, with viable colonies established on Mars and elsewhere. The situation on Earth remains volatile, but the immediate battle against the forces of collectivism has been won in Europe, spearheaded by a triumvirate of powerful women now running Spain, France, and Germany. But that is unstable as further conflict is almost inevitable as the very foundational concept of freedom, that a single individual has intrinsic worth, remains under constant threat.

The Prometheus Group, who spearheaded the thrust into space, feels increasingly under pressure from corrupt collectivist forces, who seem to be again seizing political power worldwide, especially in the US. The disastrous consequences of the twentieth century notwithstanding, by camouflaging and ignoring history, they appear destined to repeat the terrible mistakes of the past.

The situation is further complicated by A.I. as numerous jobs at the lower skill end of the market, such as driving vehicles, has been taken over by robots. The absence of meaningful work is leading increasingly to an aimless, pointless existence, so drugs, alcohol and suicide are increasing problems worldwide.

With this disaster looming on Earth, there is a division coming between Earth and the Spacers, who are increasingly not only psychologically but increasingly physically different from Earthlings. How wide that gap will become in the future remains unclear. A.I. has not yet reached the stage where a physical body can be dispensed with, but that is at least now conceivable.

The universe remains a chancy place. One of the colonies, opening up on Ganymede, is hit by a meteor, and survival became doubtful. A rescue mission, likely to be a one way trip, is launched. The world waits to see the outcome of what naysayers have been predicting for a very long time.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: May 5, 2022
• ISBN: 9781669823957

Hugh Cameron

Hugh Cameron, born in Scotland, is an internationally known orthopedic surgeon who lives, works, and teaches in Toronto. He was one of the developers of modern joint replacement surgery. Most patients with artificial hips are walking on the technology he was instrumental in developing. He was the lead designer of many artificial hip and knee implants, some of which are currently being implanted. For more than thirty years, he and a group of surgeons crisscrossed the world teaching and demonstrating modern joint replacement surgery. He is the lead author of more than two hundred scientific papers and continues to publish, now mostly on issues related to pain. He has published two technical books and several novels of which this book is the fourth in a series about the decline and fall of the West and its possible redemption.

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Copyright © 2022 by Hugh Cameron.

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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the

product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance

to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

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Rev. date: 05/05/2022

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CONTENTS

Acknowledgments

Background

Introduction

Chapter 1 Remembrance Of Times Past

Chapter 2 Attack

Chapter 3 Changed Times

Chapter 4 What Next?

Chapter 5 La Marquesa

Chapter 6 Hannah

Chapter 7 What Am I?

Chapter 8 Concerns

Chapter 9 Downfall

Chapter 10 Immediate Aftermath

Chapter 11 The Escape

Chapter 12 Across The Border

Chapter 13 Mexico

Chapter 14 Europe Again

Chapter 15 Recovery

Chapter 16 The Élysée Palace

Chapter 17 Midnight Raid

Chapter 18 The Sorbonne

Chapter 19 The New School

Chapter 20 Retrenchment

Chapter 21 Revenge

Chapter 22 Academia

Chapter 23 Storm

Chapter 24 Transition

Chapter 25 Disaster

Chapter 26 Thor’s Hammer

Chapter 27 Jerusalem

Chapter 28 Trouble On Ganymede

Chapter 29 The Landing

Chapter 30 Journey’s End

Chapter 31 Envoi

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

In this book, there are extensive quotations from Rudyard Kipling. Also frequently quoted are William Shakespeare, Kit Marlowe, Robert Service, George Bernard Shaw, Lord Byron, Oscar Wilde, T. S. Eliot, G. K. Chesterton, Neil Munro, Sir Henry Newbolt, Francis Thompson, Immanuel Kant, Schopenhauer, Thomas Jefferson, Edward Fitzgerald, William Henley, Lord Tennyson, Wilfred Owen, John Donne, Ernest Dowson, Dylan Thomas, the King James version of the Bible, the Seekers, Simon and Garfunkel, and numerous others. Any memorable phrase is probably a quotation, and efforts have been made to put all such in quotation marks. Intentionally, not all the quotations are entirely accurate, as a few have been modified to fit the narrative.

BACKGROUND

The human race has begun to move into space, with viable colonies established on Mars and elsewhere. The situation on Earth remains volatile, but the immediate battle against the forces of collectivism has been won in Europe, spearheaded by a triumvirate of powerful women now running Spain, France, and Germany. But that is unstable as further conflict is almost inevitable as the very foundational concept of freedom, that a single individual has intrinsic worth, remains under constant threat.

The Prometheus Group, who spearheaded the thrust into space, feels increasingly under pressure from corrupt collectivist forces, who seem to be again seizing political power worldwide, especially in the US. The disastrous consequences of the twentieth century notwithstanding, by camouflaging and ignoring history, they appear destined to repeat the terrible mistakes of the past.

The situation is further complicated by AI as numerous jobs at the lower-skill end of the market, such as driving vehicles, have been taken over by robots. The absence of meaningful work is leading increasingly to an aimless, pointless existence, so drugs, alcohol, and suicide are increasing problems worldwide.

With this disaster looming on Earth, there is a division coming between Earth and the Spacers, who are increasingly not only psychologically but increasingly physically different from Earthlings. How wide that gap will become in the future remains unclear. AI has not yet reached the stage where a physical body can be dispensed with, but that is at least now conceivable.

The universe remains a chancy place. One of the colonies, opening up on Ganymede, is hit by a meteor, and survival becomes doubtful. A rescue mission, likely to be a one-way trip, is launched. The world waits to see the outcome of what naysayers have been predicting for a very long time.

INTRODUCTION

In the departure lounge, Hannah turned to Munro and took him in her arms.

Goodbye, Munro, she said. Have a good life and look after my baby. When he is older, maybe send him to me.

He hugged her, kissed her, and said, Vaya con Dios, Hannah. Go with God. Help the Wolf, and when your time comes, take over and protect the High Frontier.

She laughed. The Wolf will be running things for a bit yet. She turned to the woman at his side. Look after him, Silk One, or rather, get Sheila MacDonald and some of the other girls.

She turned, waved goodbye, and without looking back, walked steadily into the tunnel leading to the vehicle, which would take them to the loading dock of the space shuttle. The shuttle would leave in half an hour to orbit and dock with the ship that would then take the colonists and the cargo onward to Mars.

We can go up to the private viewing deck if you want to stay, Munro, said the woman, dressed as usual in a silk qipao, with her hair done in her favorite waist-long black pigtail.

I would like that, Silk One, as I will never see her in person ever again.

They took the elevator up to the public deck and from there a second elevator to the much smaller private one high above. The Silk One showed her pass to the girl at the desk, and they were ushered in.

You have half an hour, said the Silk One. A snack, coffee, or a drink?

I suppose, since she is doing what I wanted, what I have been asking her to do, we should celebrate. A glass of champagne, perhaps?

Not for me, she said. You don’t look like you are celebrating, Munro. I sense a certain triste. It is not often that the mother of your newest child goes off forever.

You are right as always, Silk One. Let me get a real drink to drown my sorrow.

I’ll get it for you, Munro. A scotch and soda. This window seat should be high enough for your bad hip. Sit here so you can see the shuttle. She went off to the bar and returned with a drink for him. So tell me your sorrows, Munro. I have nothing to do this afternoon, so I have time and I owe you as you listened often enough to my tales of woe.

Munro toasted her with the drink and took a long swallow. Silk One, you were so tough, I don’t ever remember you having any fears. Hannah, I guess I loved her. But I made a pact with her that she could have a baby with me, but she must not stay here on Earth. Ryoko, the Wolf running Mars, is getting on in years, and I wanted Hannah to be groomed to take over after her. She is brilliant, levelheaded, and tough as nails, and so young she can run Mars for decades.

So another woman walks out of your life.

That is the story of my life, Silk One. All these women I have loved, now gone to Valhalla, or over the river, or into nirvana or dark matter.

The last ones I knew but not the first. So while we wait for the shuttle to lift off, tell me the story, Munro. Weep on my shoulder.

Where to start? said Munro, shrugging his shoulders. Manon was my first. Every boy’s dream, a hooker with a heart of gold. I had just become the heavyweight world champion. Big chance to screw up like so many others. Then I met her. I paid for that first night, and I loved her until the day she took a pill and died in my arms.

But you never married her?

It was not for want of asking. She said she was much older than I was, barely in my twenties and she was in her late thirties, and she had been a hooker for a long time so there were bound to be photos of her out there. If we were married, some slimy little loser would have used these photos against me. So instead we went into business, and she ended up owning almost half the world. Teresa now runs her empire.

Yes, we Foundation girls all knew of her and some had interned with her. I was too young.

And then I met and fell in love with Kodama, the most fragile beauty in the whole world. We had two sons, Tall Bear, who runs Munro mines, and John, who runs the Tokyo-based keiretsu. But Kodama never liked the West and was so homesick for Japan, she eventually had to leave. It broke me to pieces to let her go, but I had no choice as she was dying inside, a bird in a golden cage. I had to free her. I never really recovered emotionally from that. The others you know—Elizabeth, loud, proud, bold, and brassy. She loved life and found marriage smothering. And Tomiko— He threw up his hands in despair. Oh Jesus, Tomiko. I thought with her it would last forever.

"Yes, but a bullet ended that one. Ah well, Munro, you had a pretty good kick at the can. As your favorite Rubaiyat says,

One moment in annihilation’s waste.

One moment of the well of life to taste.

The caravan to nowhere soon sets out.

Oh, make haste."

As usual, you are right, Silk One. Looking back, Nietzsche’s amor Fati is a reasonable way of describing it. And now I have pretty well passed the torch to the next generation. That’s you, Silk One, and the others. Just get as many up into space as soon as possible before things turn really bad on Earth.

I think we have a few years yet, Munro. She looked out of the window. Look, the shuttle has fired its rockets. Another of your loves leaving you.

Ave atque vale, said Munro. Hail and farewell, Hannah. And he lifted his glass to toast the shuttle now accelerating upward on a column of fire.

CHAPTER 1

Remembrance Of Times Past

The private jet plane came in to land at the small airstrip in the mountains. It turned at the end of the runway and taxied back to the few sheds and the fuel tanks, which were the only buildings. There were a few vehicles waiting. The door of the plane opened and the steps were lowered. Two tall blond young men in dark suits came out, carrying rifles. Looking around and seeing no threat, they came down the steps.

The door of one of the SUVs was open, and a couple of casually dressed young oriental women were leaning against it. The door of the other large shiny black SUV opened, and a tall older man got out and walked to the plane. Incongruously, he appeared to be carrying a furled golf umbrella.

Welcome to Mexico, he said to the two guards.

Governor, said one with a half salute.

At that moment, a small Oriental woman of a certain age, dressed in a traditional Japanese kimono, came to the door of the plane and began to descend. The man opened the umbrella to shade her.

Reichsmarschall, he said as she came down the stairs into his open arms. All quiet on the Western front?

It was when I left Germany, she said, and I heard nothing on the plane. Thank you for the umbrella. The sun is so hot up here.

Tomiko, you look absolutely stunning in that kimono, he said.

I put it on in the plane, especially for you.

Muchas gracias, he said. Come and wait in the truck, in the air con until we unload the luggage. I have some of my own guys, and your guys can help.

It only took a few minutes to unload the baggage and place it in the vehicles. The pilots, who did not think refueling was necessary, pulled up the steps and closed the doors. The plane taxied up to the end of the runway, turned, and took off.

They are going to pick up Teresa, who is in Dallas for a meeting, said Tomiko. I did not want to bring an official German military plane into Mexican airspace, even if La Contessa says it is OK. It might not look good diplomatically.

After they helped load the luggage into the vehicles, Tomiko gestured to her two guards to board the second SUV with the young women, and the convoy set off. The young women introduced themselves. We are Governor Munro’s guards. We are called Praetorians.

Yes, said one of the young men. I thought so. I am Fritz and this is Helmut. We have met some of the members of your organization in Germany. Some of the European leaders like Sheila MacDonald of France use the Praetorians as protection. We have seen when Herr Munro comes to Germany he always brings some of your group. But we understood he was a professional boxer himself, so why does he use women as his guards?

Very simple. If he has to hit someone, it does not look good. The law in America is so peculiar that he may be charged himself if some prosecutor does not like him, said one. But beautiful young women like us, she said smiling. If we kick a man’s ass, everyone thinks it is funny. And if we have to really hurt someone, nobody cares. Everyone knows that we Praetorians are competitive shooters and we shoot people, so no one comes close.

You are a competitive shooter? We knew the Reichsmarschall was an Olympic champion. But you also shoot.

Yes, said one of the girls, I am Tomoko, and I got the bronze in the 25m competition in the last Olympics.

Maybe you could coach us while we are here, said the other young German. We are the Reichsmarschall’s security and would all like to be better shots.

I think we can manage that, said the other girl, with a smile. My name is Mineko. If we can get Tomiko-san out of her husband’s bed for a few minutes this weekend, perhaps we can get her to coach us too.

That won’t be anytime soon, said the other. Munro, which is what he likes us to call him, told us he had not seen her for months, so he had brought a large supply of Viagra with him.

He may need it, said one of Tomiko’s guards. The general likes men. Not that we know anything about this officially, of course.

Of course not, said one of the girls. I think they have what they call an open marriage. But Munro was telling us he has been in love with her for more than thirty years. Their child is less than ten years old. They will fly the child in, in a couple of days. But we think the lovebirds want to spend a little time on their own.

As the lead SUV took them up the mountain road, Munro and Tomiko held each other and talked softly. At the top of one ridge, they took a winding side road.

It’s been a long time since I was last here, said Tomiko, looking around.

Yes, about two or three years. It is such a gorgeous place I wish we could come more often.

Me too. But affairs of state. Now things are quieter in Europe, maybe.

Just to see you again, Tomiko, he said, embracing and kissing her. You look wonderful, and your scent is as wonderful as always.

I should. I took a shower on the plane a short time ago and dressed like this as I know you like me in traditional dress.

I do. I always have. ‘A neater, sweeter maiden in a cleaner, greener land.’

I know that one. She laughed, kissing him. ‘On the road to Mandalay.’ She was Burmese.

Whatever, ‘somewhere East of Suez.’ God it’s good to see you again.

The SUV approached the gates of the estate, where there were armed guards who identified them and waved them through.

Are they always here? she asked, indicating the uniformed guards.

No, usually just a few retainers. But when La Contessa heard you were coming, she sent over some extra men of Hinchcliffe’s Legion. It would not look good if the Reichsmarschall of Germany was kidnapped by some drug gang in Mexico.

Really! Are they back? I thought Hinchcliffe had eliminated all of them years ago.

I’ll tell you later what has happened, but for now, we are here, he said as the vehicle drew up in front of the hacienda.

Last time I was here, you carried me up the steps, she said, looking up at him.

As Julius Caesar said, ‘a year older, and no wiser, and the crowds along the Appian Way remain the same.’ I think I could manage to carry you into the building, but it would not look good if I dropped the Reichsmarschall of Germany on her bottom.

Maybe you need more exercise. We should practice now.

I thought you would never ask, he said, kissing her. The bedroom is in the same place.

Come then, husband. I have missed you.

Gra mo chroi, love of my heart, I have been waiting for you most of my life.

They held hands as they entered the building and climbed the steps to the first floor, entering a room with a glorious view down the valley. Neither had any interest in the view, only in each other. In spite of the passage of time, he was still the strong boy and she was the slim girl of their youth. He picked her up and stood her on the bed.

Tomiko, l’amour de ma vie, he said as she bent and kissed him. He began to strip off her clothes until she stood naked before him.

Slim, strong, and ageless as ever, he said, kissing and stroking her. As beautiful as the first day I met you.

I remember a large gaijin, who killed men with his bare hands.

Only one, and I loved him. I remember a small, beautiful, determined woman who brought her children to me to foster. I wanted you the moment I saw you.

I knew you did, and I you, and I knew you knew. But it took us time.

I had no choice. I was still married to Elizabeth, who was still the US president. And there were other problems.

A long road, husband, but we made it and we have a child. Take me now, love of my life.

He laid her down on the bed and began to stroke and kiss her. Oh, husband, she said. I have missed your touch.

Later, in dressing gowns, they lounged on the deck, under an awning, looking down the long sweep of the valley below them. Munro was drinking a bottle of Corona beer with a lemon slice stuck in it. Tomiko simply had a glass of sparkling mineral water. They were chatting quietly.

So tell me about the drug gangs. I thought that Hinchcliffe and her legion had killed them all a long time ago.

She had. But the Democrats won the last election in the US. It was bound to happen. Any party too long in power becomes corrupt. And Archie Moore had two terms and so did Ash. No matter how hard you try to reduce government corruption, it creeps in.

She nodded. Yes, I know.

I was married to Elizabeth when she was president. She, a tough woman who never wept in her life, used to shed tears of rage and despair. These corrupt incompetent Houses would attempt to block anything she did. The deep state would misinterpret any order she gave or take it to an obviously absurd degree. The obfuscation and obstruction. But you know this yourself having been prime minister of Japan, and chancellor of Germany.

Yes. I know. No matter how hard you try, these slimy bureaucrats sneak in and corrupt everything. They are like cancer. The eternal question, do scum become bureaucrats or does becoming a bureaucrat turn them into scum?

Yes, Fermat’s last theorem. It is too difficult to clean them out of a federal government. At the state level, I think I have been able to manage, at least so far, by having unexpected audits run by graduate forensic accounting students and law clerks, and I get in the time-and-motion engineers at least annually. I pay the kids bonuses for money saved and criminals convicted. We charge the guilty with everything, including RICO. That frightens them, as if they lose, they lose everything and go to jail for years. So they plead guilty, which means they can be fired with cause, so no pensions and they never work in government again.

But you could not do that at the federal level, or I never could. Imagine in the US trying to audit the CIA or the FBI or the DOJ. In Germany I tried and Kurt, the current chancellor, tries to follow your example and audit departments, but we have to use military law to do it, and for how long we can keep doing that I don’t know. Even then, I use young men, no one above the level of captain as the seniors are usually too compromised. She looked up at him, sighed, and shrugged. Imagine me saying that, and I promoted most of these men. So what happened in the US?

"Half of Congress and the Senate were in the pay of China. So whenever they could, they recriminalized drugs. You know that when they were presidents, Archie Moore and Ash tried to legalize, or at least decriminalize most recreational drugs. As soon as recreational drugs became criminalized again, China started to smuggle them in. The Democrats also encouraged unlimited immigration of low-education-level immigrants, who will never be able to get a reasonable job, as America is essentially a largely automated society. So bringing the drugs in across the southern border became easy. So the drug gangs began again. The president of Mexico, La Contessa, has declared martial law in the two northern states and the drug gangs are being sought and eliminated, but the lure of drug money is very strong. And of course, drugs are also being smuggled in along the northern border with Canada.

So they changed the legislation purely for money?

Hard to believe. Sounds awful, but so many of these people are in bed with China, or in bed with companies who are themselves in bed with China. I am surprised they have not come after the Prometheus Project.

You think they will?

I am very afraid. But with you today, I do not want to think these dark thoughts. I want to think of the future, ‘the years that never end and know no sorrow.’ Did I ever tell you I love you?

I think you did, she said, rolling over to look down at him, but tell me again.

Let me count the ways, said Munro.

"‘I love thee with the love I thought I lost with my lost saints.

I love thee with the breath, smiles, tears of all my life.’"

I know the rest of that poem, said Tomiko. You don’t have to finish it.

Later, she said, I am getting a little hungry. What shall we have for dinner? I thought you might like me to dress. It gets pleasantly cool in the evenings in the mountains, so I can dress properly, in a European ball gown or a kimono?

A European gown, a kimono, I love you in both. Fortunately, I brought a black tie in case you wanted to go to Mexico City to see La Contessa. Dinner on the veranda?

Last time I remember the excellent ceviche and the roast goat. I would like the same again.

Sounds good. I’ll go tell the chef.

Later that evening, they sat at a table, looking at the sunset. Linens were crisp the way Munro liked it, and the silverware and glasses elegant.

For just the two of us? asked Tomiko. A little elaborate?

How often do I get the chance to dine with you, the woman of my dreams? I like it to be memorable, something I can treasure in my heart. Don Miguel, who bought this place years ago, keeps a good cellar. Here is a bottle of excellent fino, or would you prefer champagne or sake?

A dry sherry sounds good. I think I can let myself go a little tonight as I have no commitments tomorrow.

They nibbled on some ceviche and sipped some sherry and watched the sun set in the west. They then moved around the veranda to a table set on the other side to watch the moon rise. Munro thought Tomiko looked spectacular in a light-blue ball gown, wearing some of the aquamarine jewelry he had given her years ago.

She teased him gently about that. Aquamarines. That is what you gave to Carmenlita when she was a girl. She wears it every time she has to dress up. She told me that when you gave it to her, you told her that she was the queen of the Inca race.

With that spear-shaped AmerInd face of hers, that is exactly what she looks like.

Now Hinchcliffe is dead, and Carmenlita has replaced her as head of the Legion. She probably still wants revenge on the Brits for allowing the mullahs there to send someone to kill her baby.

Don’t forget that was my son Pedro’s child also, so my grandchild. So yes, I would like to see them cleaned out. But I don’t see any obvious way. No one in Europe wants to be involved in a war with Britain. With the US now run by Democrats, I am afraid of a huge influx of unassimilated, unassimilable migrants into the US from all over the world. La Contessa tries to keep the border as closed as she can, but the drug smugglers and coyotes are encouraged by the Democrats who have tried to defund the border patrol. Years ago Manon thought that there were so many traitors in Washington that that would happen eventually. I don’t like to think about it. Anyway, here is the piece de resistance, Mexican roast goat, with a nice bottle of Rioja.

He poured her a glass, and they toasted each other under the rising moon.

There be none of beauty’s daughters with a magic like to thee, he said, and she smiled at him.

Meanwhile, below in the courtyard the two young men and women were also sharing a meal. Fritz had explained to the Japanese girls that they were Teutonic Knights, an elite police force founded by Tomiko when she had first gone to Germany. Leda, the new chancellor, on taking over Germany, was appalled by the incompetence and inaction of the police after the infamous Rape of Cologne, that night when hundreds of young German women were sexually assaulted by North African migrants. The police had been nowhere in sight, and only a few of the men were ever charged with assault.

Fritz and Helmut explained to the fascinated girls the tangled story of the recent events in Europe, of which they were only vaguely aware, as it had not impinged upon Japan in the slightest.

They explained that years of mismanagement, the concept of multiculturalism, and socialist infiltration, had effectively rendered the police completely dysfunctional. Tomiko, with her history of running the Japanese police force for years and being a former prime minister of Japan, had been asked by Leda, the new chancellor of Germany, to take over and revitalize the Cologne police.

Tomiko had crushed the violence, and in reward, was offered gradually increasing control of all the German federal police forces. As the situation in that country, and indeed the whole of Europe deteriorated, with increasing numbers of increasingly violent unassimilated migrants, eventually martial law had been declared in one country after another. Leda, who did not trust the head of her armed forces, had promoted Tomiko to control of the German military, a position she had held for years.

When Leda became ill, she had designated Tomiko as her successor. Tomiko had succeeded in winning the next election but had subsequently stepped down from her position of chancellor in favor of Kurt, her deputy. He in turn had asked Tomiko to remain on as head of the German military forces.

The girls were fascinated to hear of Tomiko’s story, from the inside, from people who actually knew what had happened, as from the outside, they were only vaguely aware of the details. In turn, they told the story of the formation of the Praetorians. The original group was all Olympic shooters: Tall Bear (who was Munro’s son), Tomiko, and three Americans. They had been formed to protect Elizabeth, Munro’s wife, when she was running for the presidency of the US.

The group had found their services in such demand that they had expanded. After her success in winning the Olympic 25m pistol shoot, Tomiko had been given authority to form a firearms division in the Japanese police, and from that, many Olympic-caliber shooters had emerged. They had been recruited to act part-time as Praetorians while continuing to be full-time police women in Japan.

For both groups of young people, this was their first time in Mexico, and they were mightily impressed. Munro had spent some time speaking to the Praetorians on the flight down from Arizona, where he lived, as he liked to keep up his