Atlantic Bridge

"...a project designed to unite them, not just politically, but geographically"

Today,  with a deep breath, and not a little trepidation, I launch the first part of my novel “Atlantic Bridge” which will be serialised here in Cafe Literati on Sundays and Wednesdays. It is a flight of fantasy, with a tenuous grip on some kind of reality, and inspired by visits to real places, and current events, and their possible paths in the future. It is very much a work in progress, and with a convoluted timeline, I fear there are many discrepancies! Don’t be afraid to point them out to me, and don’t be afraid to give me your thoughts. Enjoy…..here we go!

Atlantic Bridge

A Novel by Kevin Moore

Prologue

It is the year 2075. Islam has become the dominant world religion, sweeping across Western Europe and Asia. A once peaceful doctrine is now in the hands of fanatics, who have used it to brainwash and subjugate the masses. Country after country has fallen to the force of its will. The old powers of Eastern Europe are an Islamic stronghold from where their grip on the West is strong. North Korea has invaded and subdued the South, without reprisal, and has entered into a pact with the Islamic Fundamentalists.

Western Europe is a desperate place, Resistance groups are everywhere, but the threat of public execution hangs over them every day. Lumière de Liberté, the primary resistance force, is based in the small southern French town of Ambialet, and its model closely resembles that of the French Resistance from the last century. Only this group contains individuals from across the religious and political divide, Muslims, Jews, Non-believers and Christians alike. It is said the most passionate of these brave men are the Muslims themselves. They are distraught to have seen their religion ripped from them and bastardised into a force of evil.

Alarmed at the widespread growth of Islamic Fundamentalism, by the 2050’s, Britain eventually began expelling all known Muslim extremists, allowing only those who had been thoroughly vetted and vouched for to remain. As in the distant past, it simultaneously became a haven for all people escaping the fundamentalist tyranny, and the bitter internal feuds of the early 21st century over “failed asylum seekers” melted away, as the British people saw a real threat to these refugees, and indeed, to themselves.

By 2060, Britain had formally withdrawn from the EU, which had already become an empty, powerless collective. This move effectively signalled the death knell for the rest of Europe, and the pretence of a “civil government” was dropped, the dark cloud of shariah law descending over the European mainland. It was a sad day for democracy.

A year previously, Britain’s secret war cabinet had been convened, unbeknownst to the public, and a series of “shuttle diplomacy” missions were undertaken between the UK and the United States. The decision reached as a result of these meetings prompted the 2060 withdrawal, and within days, the World News Network had announced that Britain was formally aligning itself to the USA, as it’s “51st State and Sovereignty”

The announcement was made on July 5th, and it became known as “Unification Day”.

Thirteen years later, June 28th, 2073, and the finishing touches are being put to the worlds mightiest engineering project, a joint venture between the unified states of the USA and the UK, a project designed to unite them, not just politically, but geographically. Its inauguration set for the fifteenth anniversary of the signing of the unification treaty. The countdown begins, not only for the proud engineers and politicians of those two countries, but also for the enemies gathering against them….

© Kevin Moore 2008 All rights reserved

(Next instalment Wenesday 7th.January)