Dust: (Part I: Sandstorms) by Bloom Lochlan

Author:Bloom, Lochlan [Bloom, Lochlan]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Radial Books
Published: 2014-07-06T07:00:00+00:00

I left her on the bed. I was out in the corridors again. I met them, waiting, a respectful distance from her room. I looked down at my hands, they were trembling.

‘You got the information?’ His kind face was earnest, sympathetic.

‘I know the way.’ I could barely speak, could barely suck in a breath. I felt an urgent need to leave that place, get back in the vehicles and travel far, far away.

He put his arm around me and guided me down the corridor. I saw the deputies exchanging worried glances as they looked over their shoulders. Their glaze flicking to the fresh spots of blood on my clothes. Our pace quickened as we turned corner after corner, leaving behind the fresh oxygenated air, the solid walls and glass.

‘What else did she say?’ he asked.

I couldn’t answer him. I didn’t want to talk. The world was a silent place for those moments. She had not said anything new. I had heard of the cults before. I did not believe that Abel could be leading one.

The cults had arrived as soon as the dust had. In fact many of them had been there before, they simply incorporated the dust into their vision. A sign, a signal from their chosen deity. A punishment sent down to test the faithful.

There had been endless debates between the believers and the more scientifically minded. Neither were able to explain anything that happened but both remained adamant in their belief that they understood the causes.

At the time I watched the debates with interest, laughing at the arguments of the fundamentalists. Now I am simply amazed at the speed with which any phenomena is taken on, subsumed by humans into their everyday understanding of the world. An inexplicable smothering of dust, circling the globe was so entirely new, so alien to everyone that it is little surprise that everyone claimed they understood it - every theory was just as plausible and just as ridiculous as the next.

To the establishment it was only an aberration, something that would be understood, broken down and tackled given systematic investment in research and infrastructure. The primary causes were not fully quantified they agreed but it was nevertheless a natural progression. The dust followed blue skies as naturally as night followed day. The seeds of this ingress undoubtedly lay in the previous state of affairs. Once the experts had discovered the causes, the seeds that created this disorder, the solution would readily be found. The entire process could be explained through rational enquiry and method. Calls to increase funding for laboratories and research units were met only too gladly by politicians.

Huge facilities were built and great precedence was given to the acquisition of any data related to the dust. Even as ordinary people were crushed by its encroachment the gleaming follies of the world’s governments remained polished and clean.

On the other side of the argument the voices were equally strong, equally clear in their assertions that the answer was at hand. At the time I did not listen.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.