Eighth Circle

The guardians said the Western Continent was a charred wasteland where nothing could survive. A lot of people believed that nonsense but the geese didn't. They spent the summer there and returned healthy and well fed.

Allain was prepared to believe that much of the world was devastated. But it couldn't possibly be as bad as the guardians claimed. They lied to scare people and keep them under control. They lied about what was happening overseas and they lied about what was happening at home.

The guardians were experts at thought control. They ran the radio and TV stations and people depended on them for news. Some was true and some was false. It was difficult to tell the difference. Images could be faked just as easily as facts. Computers could create scenes that were impossible to tell from reality. But, true or false, everything had the guardians' slant to it.

Their aim was to control everything you thought, did and said. You couldn't move house and live in a different place without their permission. You couldn't change your job unless they said so. You couldn't travel just because it took your fancy. You needed a permit to leave your designated area and you had to stick to the roads.

The official maps showed towns and villages surrounded by wasteland. Big signs warned travellers to keep to the roads or suffer a swift and agonising death from radiation sickness. That was no vain threat. People died when they left the roads but not from radiation sickness. They died when a troll zapped them with a ray gun and they burnt to death.

'Allain are you there?'

A familiar voice roused him from his thoughts. He went to the door and found his sister-in-law, Martha, outside. She looked flustered.

'Those green-nosed dolphins ...'

'Yes.'

'You said they were royal dolphins ...'

'What about them?'

'Is that their name like grey dolphin is a name. Or, do you call them that because they belong to the royals?'

'They belong to the royal family. The younger royals are marine scientists. I've seen Princess Liala swimming with the dolphins when I've been out in the boat with Bryn.'

'Is she the one who has been going up close to him when he's been diving? You said there was this girl with green hair who swam with the dolphins. You thought she had taken a fancy to him.'

'That's the one.'

'You mean Princess Liala has taken a fancy to my Bryn?'

'I told him to ignore her, Martha.'

'I don't think he has.'