Back of Beyond: Beyond, #2

By A.D.Mercer

"Back of Beyond" takes you back to the "Land Beyond".

"Back of Beyond" is the sequel to "Beyond". It is another tale about the mysterious Village and the people who live there.

It takes the Villagers to North Africa, the Middle East and America's West Coast.

Paul and Geoff continue equipping the Villagers for the 21st Century, while fending off assorted terrorists, corrupt politicians, nosy council officials and over-zealous marketing executives.

Bodyguards to the rich and famous, the Villagers discover that you can make enemies just by doing your job.

Accidental movie star, Angela Aldis, becomes world-famous as the definitive version of the Scarlette Streak. Unfortunately, paparazzi prove to be the least of her problems.

 

• Language: English
• Publisher: A.D.Mercer
• Release date: Apr 24, 2024
• ISBN: 9798224395859

Book preview

Prologue/Recap

The Village had been cut off for hundreds of years, perhaps thousands. There was just a single portal that connected it to the modern world.

Until recently, nobody who left the Village had ever returned. The Villagers had little immunity to modern diseases and usually died soon after leaving the Village.

The Villagers had lived isolated for a long time and were very inbred. Also, their gene pool was slightly different to ordinary people.

These differences let Villagers make slight changes to reality. It had to be local and superficial, but that still left many options.

Eventually, two Villager girls were faced with marriage to boys they disliked so much that they chose to brave the Outside instead. Anything was better than marriage to retards or psychopaths.

The girls slipped through the portal in the Outside world, and found an English pub. There they met two young men, who they eventually married.

The first of these girls was Angela. She was adventurous and feisty. She and Paul had 3 children: Charlie, Robbie and Kelly.

Katie was bigger than Angela and, when they were young, had been like a Big Sister for her. She cared deeply about the environment, and sometimes wished she were more eco-friendly. She and Geoff had Saffron and Rhonda (and later Jasper).

Angela’s little sister, Jackie (nicknamed brat), seduced and then dumped Sammy, another Outsider. The village Elders disapproved, and adjusted Jackie and Sammy to bring them back together. Soon, they would be parents.

Paul and Geoff, the original Outsiders, worked hard to prepare the Villagers for contact with the outside world: vaccinations, learning to read and write, and avoiding electrocution, etc.

It helped that all Villagers had been toughened, which made them car-crash proof.

Without vaccinations and toughening, the Villagers would have a very short life-span before being killed by flu or an accident.

Villager toughness was exploited to set up a company of specialist bodyguards (Bond Associates), since there was little else that the Villagers were qualified to do.

The Villagers (and their consorts) were immensely strengthened (as well as toughened). However, native Villagers had another skill  - they could fly.

Angela’s ex-fiancé (Draggosh) in the Village went rogue, when she married an Outsider. He was eventually captured in California and brought back to the Village, where he was put into stasis. There he would stay, since nobody knew what to do with him.

Angela and Jackie’s father, Roderick, had split from their mother, Martha. He had moved out of the Village to live in London and run the front-office for their bodyguarding business.

In the outside world, the Villagers pretended that their special abilities were provided by some very advanced science. In truth, it was as much a mystery to the Villagers as to the outside world.

Several intelligence services (and several governments) were spending large amounts of money to try to discover the secrets of Bond Associates.

Angela was hired as a stunt-double for the star of Hollywood’s new Scarlette Streak movie. When the star walked out, Angela took over the title role.

In California, Detective Lieutenant Jack Harris had left the police to join Bond Associates and be their West Coast representative.

Chapter 1 – Royal Guard

Part 1 – Car Crime

This Middle-Eastern king was not popular. In fact, he was deeply unpopular.

Bond Associates had won the contract to keep him safe. Their fee was considerable, but they were worth every penny of it.

There was just one slight problem. The price assumed that the King would take the advice of Bond Associates. He did not take that advice!

Once a week, religiously, the King went for prayers. He always took his family with him.

They walked from the palace to the mosque and then back afterwards.

The King was not religious, but he felt that he should show himself to the people at least once a week. (Almost nobody actually saw him, because the security team always cleared the streets before he went to prayers.)

Three BA agents, Alfred, Katie and Ethel, had been assigned to protect him, and they were not happy. After two weeks, a different trio of agents would relieve them.

It was an unpleasant posting, and...

...the king was not a nice man.

Before taking the contract, Dr. Geoff Jones and Paul Aldis had studied the king’s lifestyle quite carefully. They needed to assess how risky it was, and to decide how many agents would be needed.

Villagers couldn’t read minds, but they could sense moods (via a suitable twiddle). Since most assassins are hyped up, Villagers could normally spot and prevent most attacks.

The Villagers would ‘sense’ a disturbed mind and divert their client away from it.

For normal jobs, a single Villager would be sufficient.

This job was not normal. The client refused to take the BA advice on security, and that increased the risks. That was why BA took the unusual step of assigning three Villagers for close protection.

Geoff and Paul assessed the weekly prayers as being very high-risk and decided that it would be the one time when all three BA agents would need to accompany the king. They would scan around the king, checking for minds in a high state of tension.

The king’s own security team had identified the same risks and routinely put a ring of elite troops along the route to and from the palace.

The Bond Associates agents were still not happy, and insisted on a second ring of troops slightly further out. Two rings of troops, with BA agents as close protection, should have been sufficient.

Unfortunately, the BA strategy depended upon reliable, loyal Royal troops. It turned out that such troops were in short supply.

The very first time that Bond Associates guarded the King as he went to prayers, it all fell apart.

The King and his family walked along the empty street to the mosque. Afterwards, they walked back towards the palace.

On the way back, the street was still empty – until it wasn’t.

A car appeared at the far end of the empty street and accelerated towards the King and his family.

The driver was racing towards his target and the rings of troops were doing nothing to stop his progress.

Until now, the only sound had been that of the melodic call to prayers.

Katie heard the roar of the engine and took control. Shield the clients!

She stepped into the middle of the street, and ran towards the oncoming car.

The driver planned to hit the royal party and then detonate his car-bomb.

Hitting a bodyguard first would be a bonus.

Ethel and Alfred pushed the royals tightly together, and then stood between them and the threat.

The car hit Katie.

The front of the car was caved in as it rolled over her.

To the amazement of the King, Katie rose up behind the car and chased after it!

Villagers have inhuman strength, but almost normal weight for a human. It gave them a power-to-weight ratio that is absurd. That in turn gave them incredible speed and acceleration.

Katie threw off her niqab and sprinted after the car – and caught it!

She grabbed the tow-bar, and dug in her heels, The car ground to a halt.

Katie pulled and leant back, lifting the car off the ground.

She spun it round and round, like an Olympic shot-putter.

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Part 2 – Witcher Watches

Two miles away, Pierre Witcher, master bomb-maker, watched through binoculars, as his car bomb hurtled along the streets into the town centre.

The bribed soldiers all stood back without intervening.

Witcher grinned with glee. This was so easy.

The streets had been cleared before the King’s party left the palace.

The streets were kept clear until the King was back in the palace after prayers.

The empty streets were perfect for delivering a car bomb.

No traffic jams.

Nobody was crossing the street.

No obstinate donkeys standing in the middle of the road and braying.

Just a clear run, straight down the town’s main street.

Witcher couldn’t have planned it better himself.

He was perched on a rooftop, from where he could watch the car careering towards the hated king and his bitch wives.

Witcher held in his hand an ordinary mobile phone, with a number already typed in. The car bomb racing towards the King would detonate when that number was rung, triggered by a mobile-phone-based fuse.

Witcher did not intend to let the car driver detonate the car bomb himself. In the past, some bombers had panicked and chickened out.

Witcher saw the car hit a figure, possibly a bodyguard. Even better!

He dropped his binoculars, then, smiling, pressed Enter and rang the number of the mobile phone wired to the car bomb.

Four seconds later, he heard the explosion and immediately afterwards, felt the shock wave. Success!

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Part 3 – Family Affairs

The king was not a popular figure. His father had been, but the son was not.

The king had contempt for his father, the old king.

His father had been one of those awful dictators who bought popularity.

A king shouldn’t have to bribe the people with low taxes, free health care, free speech, cheap goods, free schooling, cheap housing, honest police, independent judiciary and a booming economy.

To his oldest son, the Crown Prince, it was an affront that the Royal Family had to stoop to such gimmicks.

The old king had died when an assassin somehow penetrated the royal palace. He reached the royal bedroom unchallenged and ended the old king’s reign.

The old king’s oldest son, the Crown Prince, succeeded to the throne and ordered the immediate execution of the assassin, without trial or interrogation.

Nobody ever discovered how the assassin got past the guards and security systems. (It was pure coincidence that the Crown Prince had been in charge of security that night. An utter fluke...)

The assassin’s motive was never discovered. Why would anybody want to kill the old king?

Surely, nobody had anything to gain from the old king’s death. The Crown Prince pointed this out, as he ascended to the Throne...

Less than a week after the old king’s death, the new king’s younger brothers disappeared. Their wives and children disappeared the same day.

The new king was not a nice man.

Within weeks of taking the throne, the new king reversed many of the old king’s policies.

Religious freedom was obviously blasphemous and was rapidly replaced by a compulsory state religion. Religious courts were set up, with the power to imprison or execute (by stoning) apostates and disbelievers.

A force of religious police was recruited and empowered to arrest any non-believers.

Tax rates were doubled to pay for the new courts, the religious police, several new palaces, and a fleet of private jets. The new taxes also funded several groups of freedom-fighters in neighbouring states.

The old king had often toured the poorer areas of the capital. He liked to hear what the people had to say about their country and their king.

The new king saw this as a weakness. (Who cares what the people think?)

("We’ll tell them what to think!")

Within two years, the monarchy went from wildly popular to deeply unpopular.

To the new king, his unpopularity was a mystery. He had restored the aura and mystique of the monarchy. How could it not be popular?

(I’ve restored the majesty of the Crown. How can the people not like that?)

(It must be outside saboteurs and terrorists.) This had not been true when he became King, but within two years, it was true.

There were several attempts to assassinate him, one of which almost succeeded.

And that was why Bond Associates were asked to provide close protection for the new king.

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Part 4 – It’s a Blast!

Katie spun round like a world-class shot-putter.

With one final spin, she released the car.

It flew just 70 feet before exploding. Debris and shrapnel flew in all directions. It was far enough from Katie that she was peppered, but unhurt.

Alfred and Ethel had rushed the royals into the nearest doorway, as they’d been trained.

The only casualty Katie could see (apart from the driver) was a soldier who’d been near ground zero when the car bomb went off.

Katie scanned the road and buildings for other threats, but could detect none.

This wasn’t Katie’s first taste of action, but it was the closest she’d been to injury.

She shivered with shock.

If she’d been any nearer to the bomb, the heat, blast and shrapnel could have done her serious harm. Even with Villager toughening, there were limits!

High-speed shrapnel would overcome the energy dissipation of Villager skin, while the heat-flash would have given her severe burns.

She went to the injured soldier, but he was past help. His helmet had been scant protection against the high-speed bomb fragments.

The police later found a roll of new bank notes, well beyond his salary, in his pocket. The serial numbers of the notes indicated that they’d been issued by a bank several hundred miles away.

It didn’t need Sherlock Holmes to conclude that the dead soldier had been bribed to let the car bomb through.

It was ironic that the bribed soldier had been the only casualty (apart from the suicide bomber).

When it became known that the king had survived, several other soldiers deserted their barracks and were later seen crossing the border.

It took less than two weeks for Bond Associates to learn the truth about the new King.

Three weeks after the car-bomb, they terminated their contract to protect the king.

Some money is so dirty that nothing will wash it clean.

Chapter 2 – A Bad Contract

Part 1 – A Nice Little Earner

The Middle-Eastern contract had started when Private Actions were asked to provide close protection for a minor Middle-Eastern potentate.

The manager in charge of the Middle-East-and-North-Africa Desk at Private Actions discussed the request with his directors. They routinely sub-contracted high-end work to Bond Associates, and the manager called the London office of Bond Associates.

Roderick took the call and forwarded the message to Paul, his son-in-law.

The main business of Bond Associates was to provide close protection for people who feared assassination.

The contract seemed routine and fairly straightforward. The King was a nasty piece of work, but then many of BA’s clients were rather unpleasant.  Without knowing the recent history of the kingdom, BA tried to avoid being judgmental.

Paul did his initial checks on the King, via that fount of all Knowledge, Wikipedia. The entry for the little Kingdom hadn’t been changed since the death of the old king. (That should have rung alarm bells!)

Looking back six weeks, Bond Associates should not have taken the contract to protect the King. However, at the time, the Dark Side of the King wasn’t apparent.

The Kingdom seemed stable, prosperous and its people content or even happy. (Shortly after Paul did his due diligence, the Wikipedia entry was updated. The revised entry was alternately censored and revised every few hours for weeks.)

Hindsight doesn’t let you fix what you did wrong, but at least it teaches you not to do it again.

Angela and Paul made a site visit to the little country, travelling on tourist visas. In reality, they were checking the security and fire zones.

They hadn’t been checking the King’s ethics, merely his security. That was another lesson for the future.

A month before, an assassin had got past the bodyguards of the new King and had nearly killed him. (The bodyguards who had been on duty that night were now awaiting trial. They were likely to be found guilty of blasphemy and sentenced to stoning.)

The new King no longer trusted his own team of bodyguards. The recent nearly successful assassination attempt had him worried. He now felt the need for something better. He needed a Praetorian Guard.

Bond Associates had been contracted to be his Praetorian Guard.

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Part 2 – Dribbles’ Dinner

During Paul and Angela’s initial site visit in North Africa, Nanny Martha looked after their children. She had been doing it for several years, and enjoyed it.

The two older Aldis kids both had chores to do every day. As they grew older, more chores were added. None was particularly onerous, but they were annoying.

Angela was about to leave for the airport for her flight to Africa. She was lecturing her oldest son, Charlie.

From now on, you’re doing Dribbles’ dinner.

Charlie fought back. But, Mum, I’ve got to go to school.

That argument was a certain loser.

Angela’s finger waggled as she spoke, You always come home for lunch from the Village school, and you won’t start at the Outside school for some months.

So, you’ll be at home when Dribbles needs his lunch.

Charlie didn’t give in. He’s Kelly’s dog. She should feed him.

Angela was determined to get her oldest son doing his ‘share’. Don’t be silly, Charlie. She is much too young.

The food that Dribbles likes best are the tins on that shelf. Angela pointed to a shelf in a cupboard on the kitchen wall.

There’s enough on the shelf for the next week.

Charlie peered into the cupboard. One shelf was completely full of tins of dog food. They were dull green, which summed up Charlie’s feelings about them.

Angela added, Nanny Martha will cook your lunch. All you’ve got to do is open the tins of dog food each day, and empty them into Dribbles’ dish every lunchtime and again in the evening.

He gets four tins for lunch and two for supper. Don’t let him have any more or he’ll get overweight.

Charlie screwed up his face. ("How could Dribbles get more overweight?")

With that, Angela left for her flight.

And so, later that day, after Charlie had eaten his lunch, he sloped into the kitchen.

Dribbles was already lying next to his bowl, with his tongue hanging out and dribbling onto the floor.

Dribbles was an enormous dog. He was the size of a small pony, and Kelly routinely rode him. His appetite was also enormous, and he would eat anything organic that was left unattended.

Kelly followed her big brother into the kitchen and climbed onto a stool to watch.

Kelly had been taught to clear her plate, and she did – bones and all. Lunch had been pork chops, chips and peas. Now, Kelly was crunching up the bones as an after-dinner snack.

Charlie got the tin-opener and then took down two tins of dog food. Dribbles smacked his lips in anticipation.

Kelly paused from her crunching of the pork chop bones. Dribbles has four tins for lunch.

Charlie gave her a filthy look and added two more tins to his collection.

Charlie then tried to open the first tin.

The tin-opener was supposed to lock onto the ridge around the top of the tin. There wasn’t a ridge. It was a smooth curve, and the tin-opener refused to lock on.

Kelly watched with interest, as Charlie struggled to attach the tin-opener to the tin. There was a loud crack as Kelly bit the end off her second bone and crunched it up.

Charlie stared at the tin in frustration.

Dribbles was getting visibly excited and kept glancing at his owner in jealousy, as she consumed her crunchy snack.

Kelly bit off another piece of bone, and Charlie realised what he had to do.

He brought the tin up to his mouth and bit the corner. His Villager teeth went through the metal without problems. A small hole emerged which he tore to enlarge it.

A trickle of juice dripped onto Charlie’s chin. He wrinkled his nose, because the stench was awful.

Kelly flinched in sympathy. She knew how bad Dribbles’ dinners smelt.

When Charlie had the top off the tin, he poured it into Dribbles’ bowl. The slurping and scoffing noises were fascinating, as Dribbles swallowed the entire contents in less time than it had taken Charlie to open the tin.

He licked the bowl and even underneath it, in case he’d missed a few drips.

Charlie wiped his chin, then picked up the second tin and repeated his nibbling trick to get it open.

Once again, Dribbles gobbled it all down, then looked up with pleading eyes for Charlie to hurry up with the rest of lunch.

Charlie dabbed his eyes. They were watering because of the putrid smell of the juice on his chin and chest.

Things got worse as he opened the third and fourth tins.

Kelly had nearly finished her bones. She was humming to herself. She had a curiosity about the entire world, and was always eager to learn.

Charlie, thank you for feeding Dribbles. She took another bite of her last bone.

What is the ring on the bottom of the cans for?

Charlie turned the empty, fourth tin can upside down. There was a ring-pull on the other end.

Err, it’s to open the can.

Kelly munched the final chunk of bone. Then why did you use your teeth?

She didn’t get an answer, because Charlie stomped out and went to gargle and brush his teeth (twice!)

That wasn’t enough.

He changed his clothes and had a shower. Even then, the stink lingered.

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Part 3 – BA Accept the Contract

After five days in Africa, Paul and Angela returned home. They had decided to accept the contract. It seemed fairly straightforward and it would be a chance to blood some newly trained agents.

When they got home, it was just after lunch. They were looking forward to seeing their children and eating some of Martha’s home cooking.

When Angela came through the front door, she found Kelly in the hallway, putting Dribbles’ lead on him.

At one time, Dribbles’ lead had been clipped to a ring through his nose. However, his breath was so bad that Kelly couldn’t stand to squat in front of him to use it.

So, now, Dribbles had a conventional collar for his lead. This let Kelly attach his lead without sampling his breath.

Dribbles also had a full harness for when Kelly rode him.

At one point, Dribbles had had lights, front and rear. Unfortunately, the battery kept running down, and recharging it was too much bother, so Kelly reluctantly gave up on it. She was then banned from riding him after dark.

Angela bent down to give Kelly a hug. Please, Mummy! I’m trying to attach Dribbles’ lead and you’re getting in the way. Dribbles needs a gallop after lunch or he’ll get fat.

It was a surprisingly mature comment from such a young girl - and probably about a year too late.

Dribbles was, by a considerable margin, the heaviest (and biggest) dog that Angela had ever seen.

Angela stood up. Of course, Kelly. Where are your brothers?

Kelly finished attaching the lead and pulled Dribbles towards the door. I don’t know where Robbie is, but Charlie is in the kitchen. She skipped out, dragging Dribbles after her.

Dribbles’ lead was very thick – and it needed to be.

Dribbles didn’t want after-dinner exercise. He just wanted to lie down and snooze, so Kelly was actually dragging a large dead weight.

Dribbles’ claws scraped across the floor, but his opposition to Kelly’s countryside stroll was pointless. It was like trying to resist the pull of a heavy tow truck. Kelly barely noticed the drag of the canine’s bodyweight.

Angela watched her daughter skipping across the garden, with her huge hound bumping along behind her.

When they exited the gate, Kelly climbed on top of Dribbles, and urged him into a canter. (There was no way that he was going to gallop after such a heavy meal.)

Angela shook her head, and walked into the kitchen. Charlie had his back to her. Hello, Charlie. I’m back.

The reply was a strange muffled. Mmfff ahh mmmffn ffmmff.

What dear?

Charlie repeated his original comment, then turned around. He was wearing a gas mask.

Angela asked, What on earth are you wearing?

Charlie removed his mask. It’s called a gas mask. I wear it when I’m feeding Dribbles or cleaning up afterwards.

Have you smelt his breath?

Angela nodded with distaste. She did her best to avoid getting too close to the pungent pooch.

Charlie wrinkled his nose. Well, imagine what his food smells like!

Angela didn’t need to.

Until this week, it had been her job to feed the furry fume factory. She had got very good at holding her breath.

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Part 4 – Blooding Ethel

Several weeks later, BA had started their contract to protect the King.

The contract had seemed completely routine.

Angela, Ethel and Alfred had been chosen to take on the job. They had flown out a few days before, for what should have been a routine assignment.

So routine, in fact, that it was seen as a chance to give Ethel some real-life experience.

Ethel was somewhere in her mid 30s. As a native Villager, she wasn’t quite sure about her age, and to be frank, thought the whole concept pointless. Why should you count the summers (or winters) since your birth?

Like most women in the Village, she was childless, and made up for it by being an auntie to the new children that were now arriving.

When the Villagers discovered the modern world, Ethel learnt that there were other women like her. She felt an immediate affinity with every 30-something woman who still had faint hopes of marriage.

Ethel wanted to see the world Outside, and volunteered to join one of Bond Associates’ teams. She’d had been through the BA training programme, and, as a native Villager, was already toughened and strengthened.

She still needed a lot of mentoring, but the contract was supposed to be routine, so it was a good start for her.

Unfortunately, the site visit that Angela and Paul had made to the little country had not been as incognito as they had thought.

They had spent most of their visit scouting out possible ambush sites, to prevent ambushes.

Unfortunately, someone else had been scouting (and videoing) those same sites for the exact opposite reason.

Angela and Paul had shown only superficial interest in the main tourist sites, which made it obvious that their visit had nothing to do with tourism.

Their visit had been noted by the King’s enemies and, even worse, the faces of the two BA agents had been filmed.

For a trained observer, it was obvious that Angela and Paul were visiting either to plan an assassination or to prevent one.

It took very little effort to determine which it was.

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Part 5 – Cover-up

The day after the contract started, the UK Ambassador was summoned to the palace by the King’s personal secretary. After a severe dressing down, the furious Ambassador phoned London.

A few hours later, a harassed Foreign Office official phoned the London office of Private Actions. They told the official to phone the London office of Bond Associates!

At that time, Roderick was the sole member of staff at BA’s London office. He was somewhere in his late middle age, and his hair was turning grey, but in a distinguished manner, as if mimicking the City gents.

He was off-duty, when the call came through, so it auto-transferred to the office in the Aldis home. Paul was tied up, so Angela took the call. Angela was a mother of three, but remarkably lithe and untarnished by labour or lost sleep.

Bond Associates, how may I help you.

The voice at the end of the line replied. I’m phoning from the North Africa desk in the Foreign Office. Can I speak to your duty manager.

Angela bristled. I am a director of Bond Associates. You can speak to me.

And your name is?

I am Angela Aldis. Who are you?

Dominic Walker. I need to talk to you about one of your contracts.

Angela was unconvinced. If you are the Foreign Office, prove it.

Walker had not expected this. What? How?

Angela responded: Give me the code-word. If you are who you say are, it’ll be in your office safe.

Walker looked round and then conceded. Ok. I’ll check and call you back. He sought out the duty manager, and they jointly opened the safe allocated to the Middle East desk.

Five minutes later, he phoned Angela, and provided the correct code-word.

Ok, said Angela. What’s the problem?

Walker delivered his complaint. It seems that you have not been very tactful with your latest contract.

How do you mean? Angela was very protective about Bond Associates.

Walker’s tone was quite aggressive. You sent a team of bodyguards to North Africa without consulting the Foreign Office.

Angela growled back. What we do abroad is none of your business!

Walker persisted. Maybe, but you sent a team including two female bodyguards to a country where women aren’t even allowed to drive, and should never appear in public.

We’ve had a formal complaint from the King’s office.

Hold on a moment. Angela clicked to put the Foreign Office on hold, and called Paul into the office.

Paul was an Outsider, and therefore unable to twiddle. He made up for it with a sharp mind, and wide range of modern skills. The Villagers regarded with awe anyone who could type at more than 20 words per minute.

When Paul got there, Angela briefed him on the problem.

Let me think. Paul tapped his chin as he pondered. "I’ve got it. Tell this Walker guy that our