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Still Got The Blues: Yezdi Roadking and Hindustan Contessa
Two machines that have more in common than we'd guess
Photos Sherman Nazareth
The interconnectedness of things is as apparent as it is impossible to completely unravel. That's probably why we look away when afforded a peek at it. It's one bloody big mess, too much trouble for no perceivable gain. But it has a way of finding you, one way or another, just as this Yezdi Roadking found this Hindustan Contessa. This is the retro story from our bunch of Car Vs Bike specials this month, and as history usually does, it left me with a lot more than when I first met it. All I had to do was trip and fall on a metaphorical magnifying glass. Let's start at the beginnings, shall we?
Old names can still shine like new, if persevered with.
The Roadking's story has its beginnings in a motocross racer called the CZ 250. In 1919, ČZ (Česká zbrojovka) was established as a branch of the Škoda Works Armament, meant for producing firearms, in Strakonice, Czechoslovakia. It started making motorcycles in 1935, and was merged with Jawa in 1948. After a couple of decades of making decent grand prix motorcycles, it abandoned GP racing entirely to concentrate on motocross racing because it meant blowing less money up into smoke on racing weekends. A few years down the road, CZ was a dominant force in motocross and the International Six Day Trial, winning seven world championships in the 1960s. In 1974, it nearly won again with the CZ 250, but politics born of whiny unsportsmanlike conduct robbed it of a well-deserved victory. Eventually, Ideal Jawa made the Yezdi Roadking, based on the CZ's design, in India from 1978 to 1992.
Egg-crate grin reflects rather well on buffed motor.
The Contessa, Italian for 'countess', was made in India from 1984 to 2002. It came into being when in Hindustan Motors acquired the tooling for the Vauxhall VX Series made from 1972 to 1978 in Britain. This series included the Victor FE sedan (on which our Contessa is based), an estate version and also a lot more interesting 3.3-litre six-cylinder model called the Ventora. In 1974, a Ventora FE was used to build a one-off racer with a 5.0-litre 476-bhp V8 for the Super Saloon Championship in Britain. The legendary Gerry Marshall was recruited to drive it and, due to its generally unwieldy nature, he promptly named it Big Bertha, though it won three of the six races it competed in, before it ditched its brake pads in the race at Silverstone and left a Contessa-shaped dent on the armco barriers. That was the end of Big Bertha, though its parts went into making the utterly dominant Baby Bertha with which Marshall turned races into events to see who finished in second place.
There's enough history in the previous two paragraphs to embark on a year-long search through the internet and in books, a very tempting thought right now. But I shall limit it to pointing out that 1974 was a bad year for the racing predecessors of the Roadking and the Contessa, a fact I wasn't aware of until the moment I typed this very sentence. In India, both were high-end products for their respective manufacturers and did well enough to justify their existences, though they didn't exactly make their rivals run for the hills. Several decades later, here we have an example of each, the Contessa that belongs to Naveen Richard and brought along for the shoot by his brother Rahul Richard, and my Roadking.
In a coincidental twist of aesthetic fate, both the Contessa and Roadking are painted blue with silver accents, with the former being darker and the latter a brighter expression of the shade that shares its name with the best genre of music ever. The Roadking's original decal theme remains, though the Contessa is striped with nods to American muscle cars which is a rather pleasing sight. Yet another tribute in that direction came to light… er, sound when Richard showed me a button which when pressed honks to the tune of The General Lee's horn from the movie The Dukes Of Hazzard.
As Wikipedia later informed me, the tune is the beginning of the song Dixie, one of Abraham Lincoln's favourites and which he played at General Robert E. Lee's surrender at the end of the American Civil War in 1865. No such coolness on the Roadking sadly, though it does have two roaring pipes which act as continuously smoking horns that make people surrender their attentions in the Bombay Traffic Wars of 2019. Coming back to the machines at hand, the Contessa's long hood makes for a nice contrast to the Roadking's stubby proportions. But here's where I discovered that the Contessa is a bit of a spatial paradox.
Simple shapes turn into unforgettable ones. Always.
Despite its length and width, there's not that much space on the inside for a guy who's six feet tall. That's probably because most of the space contained within its dimensions lies unused under that bonnet. The 1.8-litre motor sourced from Isuzu isn't exactly lost in the engine bay, but you do get the impression that you're looking at a big needle in a small haystack. Opening the Contessa's hood in Mumbai, we ran the risk of real-estate developers finding that amount of unoccupied space and immediately starting construction in it, even as we were left wondering where we could find a big fat V8 to install in its rightful home. After all, that's the done thing when you have more space under the hood than in the cabin.
In keeping with my own tradition of humouring old machines, I drove the Contessa in a predetermined state of happiness. And the Contessa indulged my enthusiastic foot-stabs at the throttle pedal with a genial temperament that is so very period. Put it on a dyno and the graph will print in a tone of nostalgic sepia. That 87-bhp inline-four might look inconsequential, but it does its best and that's surprisingly enough. It's smooth and unstressed, almost in a 'why bother' way, and each upshift adds just the right amount of speed to proceedings.
Ride quality is still fantastic thanks to the soft suspension mounted on the axles that live in different pincodes. It steers well, too, as long as you mean 'steer' as 'moving in the intended direction in an overall ambiguous manner'. Roughly the same sentiment is true of the brakes which apply themselves to their assigned function with the amount of enthusiasm reserved only by government clerks. This isn't a roast of the Contessa's abilities in any way, though, just a reflection of the times it was built in. And that's also true in the way the Contessa still has the soul to engage its driver despite its obvious shortcomings. I suppose that's what they call 'character'. Especially when I could use that horn and immediately feel a lot happier.
Disco-era style mixes well with heady old-car smell.
That same happiness presented itself when I pumped the Roadking's kick a few times and it woke up loudly like a drunk uncle at a Christmas party, ready for more. In longstanding quirky tradition, the kickstarter flips forward to become the gear lever, and after an upward hook-and-pull with my left heel, we're off. As with all Jawas and Yezdis, upshifts are with the toes and downshifts are with the heel, and don't you do it any other way. This Roadking was fitted with a front fork and disc from a Bajaj Pulsar and 17-inch wheels with soft Michelin tyres, so there's a bit of a difference in the way it rides compared to a stock one. But since I intended to ride it frequently, I couldn't bring myself to rely on hopes and prayers when it came to grip and braking, and changed everything as best I could.
The Roadking, in return, rewarded me by seizing its piston four times and demanding a new one, which I duly provided for its cylinder to swallow. So far, after a lot of fettling, it's running fine, loud and clear. And I'm so glad I didn't sell it in a fit of rage. After riding all kinds of Jawas, Yezdis and most Indian two-strokes, I am of the firm opinion now that nothing quite feels like a Roadking, not even other Yezdis. At the time of its launch, the company claimed 16 bhp from that 250cc motor, though I'm sceptical of that number even after a thorough rebuild of the motor. But that doesn't take away from the fact that a properly dialled-in Roadking is a thing of joy.
The same 'why bother' approach found in the Contessa is present in the Roadking as well, and I realised it's this laidback character that makes these two so enjoyable. Get in/on one of these, and it's a Sunday morning no matter what the calendar tells you. Thoughts of CZs and Big Berthas are far from your mind as these machines become travelling paintbrushes that colour the road you're moving on. Whether it was sitting in the Contessa or on the Roadking, both turned the smartphone in my jeans pocket into a jutting nuisance. 'You don't need that thing in here, boy,' they crooned in chorus. 'Just relax and play the blues till the road runs out.' The 10 GB of RAM in my pocket didn't know what to do with itself. And how would it? It was 1974 all over again.
Honestly, I didn't know what to expect when these two met one morning in Mumbai, both with their connections to what-if motorsport stories, both salvages from foreign lands that inspired thousands of Indian enthusiasts in a time that now seems long ago. But a morning spent with two seemingly insignificant machines made me see that history is deeper than we will ever understand, and connections even more so. Think about that for a bit while I go fight the growing impulse of turning the Roadking into a Falta replica.


By Amy Stubbs, trainee project manager, Isle of Wight Council.
Born at St. Mary's Hospital in 2000, I have lived on the Isle of Wight all my life. I went to Godshill Primary School and then Christ the King College, where I stayed for both my GCSEs and A-Levels. Throughout my education, I struggled and stressed a lot about what my future looked like. I was surrounded by friends who knew exactly what they wanted to do, and I had no idea. To add to this, living at home with two older sisters who also had their futures planned out, only increased the pressure I was feeling.
I was born and raised on this island twenty-one years ago, having attended Somerton Middle and Cowes High School in a bygone era of education. I continued at Cowes as it transitioned into the current Cowes Enterprise College where I studied my A-Levels and became particularly interested in dystopian literature. Eventually, as a result of this growing interest in politics, I chose to study International Relations at the University of Southampton. I graduated with a Bachelor of Science three years later and it came time to pursue a career in the busy (and incredibly competitive) graduate market. I never saw my future on the island – throughout my childhood, it never struck me as an environment for opportunity. However, here I am, as the tide of opportunity turns for the island.
I have just turned 27 and have always been an Islander, I attended Northwood Primary, Somerton Middle and Cowes High School. After my education on the Island, which focussed on a technical and logical curriculum including ICT and business studies, I went to the University of Southampton to further my interest and skills with a degree in Management (BSc).


It's true! Every day homes sell for WAY less than they should. It makes me cringe to see how many mistakes people make when selling. Don't get me wrong, it's great if you're a buyer. However, if you're a seller every mistake can cost thousands of dollars.
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Have you ever heard of an "unsellable home"? There's no such thing… when a home doesn't sell it can normally be tracked back to a simple mistake (or two) that could have been easily avoided.
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I meet homeowners every day who have had someone give them bad advice and try to convince them that "you just need to drop the price and your home will sell"... I'm tired of people thinking that dropping the price is the only way to sell a hard to sell home. This is such a common issue that I wrote a book about how to solve it!
In my book about the Formula to Selling ANY Home, I reveal how to get hard to sell homes sold for top dollar fast. My goal with this book is to give you the information you need to look at the problems first and the price last.
Of course, at times, when all of the problems that have caused a home not to sell have been fixed, a price adjustment may be needed, if the home is still not moving. But the price is NOT what I start with, unless everything else is perfect (which rarely happens).
In my book, I talk a lot about the best pricing strategies because so many people blame the price for a home not selling. I have an entire section that breaks down the best pricing strategies so that you can check it against what you have been doing to get your home sold.
To see why your home hasn't sold and to learn how to fix it please claim a copy of my free book. I guarantee that you will find it full of valuable strategies for getting your home sold for more money faster.
I get it! You want to sell your home yourself and avoid paying a commission. I don't blame you. That's why I wrote a book that explains the best home selling strategies for selling your home without an agent.
I see a lot of homeowners make really costly mistakes when selling their home without an agent. Most of the mistakes are very easy to avoid when you have the right information.
My goal with this "By Owner Guide" (as I like to call it) is to give you all of the information, tips, tricks, and tools you need to sell your home yourself. I eat, breathe, and sleep real estate and love to see homeowners successfully sell their home for top dollar.
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I wrote this guide so you will have everything you need in order to make the right purchase on your home, and for the right price. I hear so many stories of people moving into a house that had thousands of dollars in damages they were unaware about.
Things like this happen too often. Negotiating mistakes where the buyer or their agent let it slip how big their budget is, and it ends up costing them. In the book I'll go through the best ways to weigh out your wants against your needs. There's also everything else from inspections, shopping for a loan, the closing process and much more.
It even starts with extensive guide to real estate agents and realtors, detailing everything they do (or should do). Claim your free book now and start getting prepared to start your home search.


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Prev Nutritional Supplements: What Happens You are Doing?


The Crimean Human Rights Group has studied more than 50 administrative cases against residents of the Russian-annexed peninsula, according to a material published on the organization's website.
Nearly half of the judgments studied show signs of politically motivated prosecution. According to human rights activists, in violation of the right to freedom of expression, not only the criminal code, but also the administrative code of the Russian Federation is actively used.
For example, under Art. 20.3 for the demonstration of the symbolism of Hizb ut-Tahrir, which is not prohibited in Ukraine, 12 decisions were adopted. All these cases are connected with the persecution of the Crimean Muslims. Some of them are engaged in social activities on the peninsula.
The lawyer of the Crimean political prisoners Emil Kurbedinov, the Crimean Tatar activists Seytumer Seytumerov, Marlen Mustafayev, the Kulametovs family, were punished with fines of 1 thousand rubles to 12 days of arrest. Of the 12 decisions in these cases – 8 arrests and only 4 fines.
"At the same time, publications with the symbolism of Hizb ut-Tahrir were mainly made before the occupation of the Crimea. Some of them did not have a large number of views and reposts, some were deleted even before the decision was passed. However, in most cases the situation ended with arrest for 5, 10 and 12 days," reads the article.
Since the beginning of the occupation, at least 22 court decisions have been adopted to punish the storage of literature, which is not prohibited in Ukraine. These are various Islamic books, Jehovah's Witnesses literature, and anarchist books. People were fined for religious books in amounts from 1 thousand to 2 thousand rubles. But for the anarchist books Crimean residents Shestakovich and Markov were punished with 10 days of arrest.
Also, anarchist Vasilchenko received 10 days of arrest for publishing the songs of the La Vida Cuesta Libertades group entitled "Black Terror" and "Goodbye Capitalism!".
Moreover, 4 fines were imposed in the Crimea under Article 20.3 for amulets of Russian Old Believers, like "Star of Inglia", "Perunitsya" and "Sword", which were designated as extremist symbols in the Russian Federation, but also not prohibited in Ukraine.
Crimeans were also fined for black and red flags in a cafe, for publishing videos with the symbols of the Azov regiment or the Right Sector flags.
Earlier, QHA media reported that "investigators" in the annexed Crimea opened administrative proceedings against the activist of the public association Crimean Solidarity Nuri Abdureshytov. The reason for the prosecution was filming in the corridor of the "Kiev district court" of Simferopol before the trial of the lawyer Emil Kurbedinov.


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Voice And SMS Facility Restored For Prepaid Mobile Connections In J-K: Report - Read More »»
Cyclone Fani to hit Odisha tomorrow: Flights, trains cancelled, schools closed | Latest Updates
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday chaired high-level meeting to review preparedness for the cyclone.
New Delhi, News Nation Bureau | Updated : 02 May 2019, 08:01 PM
Cyclone Fani is expected to hit the coast of Odisha on Friday. Defence forces have been kept on high alert, educational institutions ordered shut and over 8 lakh people are being evacuated from low-lying areas of the state as a precautionary measure.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday chaired high-level meeting to review preparedness for the cyclone. He was briefed on the likely path of the cyclone, and the ongoing precautionary and preparatory measures being undertaken.
These include provision of adequate resources; deployment of teams from NDRF and the armed forces; arrangements to provide drinking water; and standby systems to restore power and telecom services.
After reviewing the emerging situation, the prime minister instructed senior officers "to maintain close coordination with officers of affected states, to ensure preventive measures, and also to take effective steps for relief and rescue operations, as required."
The meeting was attended by the Cabinet Secretary, the Principal Secretary to the PM, the Additional Principal Secretary to the PM, the Home Secretary, and other senior officials from the IMD, NDRF, NDMA and PMO.
According to Sangram Mohapatra, Spokesperson, Odisha State Disaster Management Authority, the cyclone, which was expected to make landfall at around 5 pm, is now expected to hit the coastal areas between 12 noon and 2 pm on Friday.
According to the latest forecast by the Joint Typhoon Warning Centre (JWTC) releasd on Wednesday, Fani, the most severe cyclonic storm since the super cyclone of 1999 that claimed close to 10,000 lives and devastated large parts of Odisha, is expected to cross the holy town of Jagannath Puri May 3 afternoon, packing winds up to 175 KMPH before the landfall.
The storm over the Bay of Bengal that lay centred about 610 KM south-south west of Puri was now ominously rolling towards the Odisha coast at a speed of 6 KM per hour, India Meteorological Department (IMD) said in a fresh bulletin.
Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard have been put on high alert to meet any eventuality. Personnel of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) and fire service have been deployed in vulnerable areas to assist the administration, an official said.
Over 4,000 specialised personnel as part of 81 NDRF teams have been deployed to deal with the 'extremely severe' cyclone.
Twenty-eight fully equipped teams have been deployed in and around Puri in Odisha as the cyclonic storm is expected to make a landfall there Friday noon, the NDRF Director General (DG) said.
Similarly, 12 teams have been deployed in Andhra Pradesh and six in West Bengal. The rest of the teams, that comprise about 50 personnel each, have been kept on standby in these states.
The Railways on Thursday said around 89 trains have been cancelled in the last two days in view of the 'extremely severe' cyclonic storm, which is likely to affect Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal, while three special trains have been put into service to ferry stranded passengers from affected areas.
The trains which have been cancelled include Howrah-Chennai Central Coromandal Express, Patna-Eranakulam Express, New Delhi-Bhubaneswar Rajdhani Express, Howrah-Hyderabad East Coast Express, Bhubaneswar-Rameswaram Express.
The New Delhi-Bhubaneswar Rajdhani Express, New Delhi-Puri Nandan Kanan Express, Puri-New Delhi Purushottam Express and the New Delhi-Puri Purushottam Express which had to begin their journeys Thursday have been cancelled.
Meanwhile, all flights to and from Bhubaneswar Airport have been cancelled for May 3. Kolkata airport will remain closed from 9:30 pm tomorrow till 6 pm on May 4.
Torrential rains are likely in Ganjam, Puri, Khurda, Cuttack and Jagatsinghpur districts with winds blasting at speeds ranging from 175 to 200 KM an hour.
Leave of all doctors and health service officials have been cancelled till May 15, the state's chief secretary A P Padhi said.
State police chief R P Sharma said leave of all police personnel have also been cancelled and those on leave have been asked to immediately report for duty.
IAS officers have been put in charge of relief, rescue and restoration operations in vulnerable districts.
Sharma said Superintendents of Police have been asked to constantly monitor the situation and reach relief to stricken people.
The 880 cyclone shelters in coastal and southern districts have been kept ready to accomodate the evacuees, Sethi said, adding that in districts like Gajapati and Rayagada, where such facilities do not exist, they will be housed in schools and anganwadi centres.
The Election Commission has, meanwhile, relaxed the provisions of the model code of conduct in 11 coastal districts to facilitate relief and rescue operations, state's chief electoral officer Surendra Kumar said.
These districts--Puri, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, Bhadrak, Balasore, Mayurbhanj, Gajapati, Ganjam, Khordha, Cuttack and Jajpur--are likely to bear the brunt of the cyclone, which is also likely to impact Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had on Tuesday urged the Election Commission to withdraw the model code from all coastal districts to help the state government handle the situation in the aftermath of storm.
First Published: Thursday, May 02, 2019 05:32 PM
Fani Cyclone
Fani Cyclone Latest Updates
Odisha Schools
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Trains Cancelled
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Members Of SDPI Stage Protest Against CAA On Chennai Road
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Vodafone in talks with Verizon to sell its stake
LONDON - Reuters
Vodafone is in talks with Verizon to sell its 45 percent stake in their US joint venture Verizon Wireless, worth reportedly $130 billion. REUTERS photo
Vodafone Group said Aug.29 that it was in talks with Verizon Communications Inc to sell its 45 percent stake in their U.S. joint venture Verizon Wireless for what a Bloomberg report said would be about $130 billion.
Verizon is working with several banks to raise $10 billion from each to finance about $60 billion of the deal and an announcement could come as soon as Sept. 2, two sources told Bloomberg.
In April, Verizon had hired advisers for a possible $100 billion bid and was contemplating a roughly 50:50 cash and stock offer for the 45 percent stake in Verizon Wireless it does not already own. At the time, most analysts said the roughly $100 billion figure contemplated by Verizon was too low and that the value of the Vodafone holding was nearer $120 billion.
The Wall Street Journal said significant shifts in financial markets, such as rising interest rates as well as changes in the U.S cell phone business had brought the two sides closer together. A Verizon spokesman declined to comment on the Bloomberg and Wall Street Journal reports.
Vodafone Chairman Kleisterlee said last month they would seriously consider any offer for its stake in Verizon Wireless if it offered more value to investors than the current status quo.


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Homesick From The Grave
by The Histrioniks
© Copyright - Larry Levy / CatErratic Records (801260102424)
Adult Alternative. An eclectic mix of acoustic styles and poetic lyrics with female vocals.
Genre: Folk: Folk Pop
Buy 2 or more of this title's physical copies and get 10% off
1. Swizzle Stick
2. Ghosts
3. Mood Swinger
4. I Can't Remember When I Died
6. Constantly
7. Shadow (Cat's Song)
8. You
9. Girl In A Cube
10. Can't Sleep
11. Homesick From The Grave
The Histrioniks are Cat Levy and Larry Levy. A blend of the dramatic and the philosophical, the duo began working together in the summer of 2004. In his previous life, Larry was Helmet Walker, drummer for the instro-surf band , The Swiv-o-matics from Baltimore, Maryland. Cat, formally Cat Bikini, sang their infamous version of The Who's, "Boris the Spider" and danced with the band at their live shows.
"Homesick From The Grave", their debut CD on CatErratic Records, features 11 original compositions written by Larry over the course of the past year. The songs are deeply personal, brooding, and introspective and come to life through Cat's sensitive interpretation. The music can best be described as adult alternative; an eclectic mix of acoustic styles and poetry. The personal touch is made complete with all original artwork by Cat.
The CD was recorded, mixed and mastered at Invisible Sound Studios in Baltimore by Dave 'Dutch' Nachodsky.
Tabitha Ormiston-Smith
When I first put this record into the player and heard the first few seconds I got that excited feeling that you get when you realise you've discovered something totally new that you are going to love. It's a very special sound and totally unique. Nothing derivative here at all. The stunning songs are set off by a really fine singer. Ms Levy's precise diction gives the lyrics a crispness that is both appealing and rare in this type of music. I discover something new every time I listen to this record.
still in my car!
HOMESICK FROM THE GRAVE is one of my favorite CDs and it stays in my car with me always! I listen to it frequently; it's in my MP3 player and on my computer. I love the song "Girl in a Cube" and have dedicated it to my kitty Pamuk on many occasions. Larry and Cat have something very special: a stripped down sound that is mystical, rich, full and conveys a magic that will carry the listener on a journey from beginning to end. You'll want to keep the CD with you always!
Mature Acoustic Emo-Folk
Despite the album title, Homesick From the Grave, Mr. Levy has composed an album which, if at times lyrically dolorous, is not overly melancholy. This can be attributed to wonderfully the crisp, light, and airy vocals of Mrs. Levy. Together, this husband and wife duo have created a beautiful, subtle, and poetic gem of an album. Filled with rich harmonies, layered guitars, Greek and Jungian imagery, and spoken word, this album is highly recommended.
clarinda harriss
Fell in love. Have just ordered another batch of 3.
I haven't loved an album this much since Snake Farm's compilation of old songs/with twist. But unlike Snake Farm's work, all the songs on HOMESICK FROM THE GRAVE are originals-- in all senses of the word. Every time I listen I have a new favorite; today it's the last track, all vocal and finger-snaps. A brilliant album, lyrically and musically. Perhaps the fact that I just ordered my sixth copy--it's a great gift for somebody special-- testifies best to how crazy about this album I am. (BTW: I read the liner notes half a dozen times to try to get my mind around the fact that there are only two performers. It sounds like multitudes. Rich.)


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Books, reading and anything else that comes to mind…with an Australian focus
Index: Authors
Literary Awards & Prizes
Monday Musings on Australian literature: the Boundless Festival
tags: Boundless, CALD Writers, Diversity, Indigenous Australian literature
Last Saturday, the NSW Writers' Centre and Bankstown Arts Centre presented Boundless: A Festival of Diverse Writers, which they describe as the "first-ever festival focused on Indigenous and culturally diverse Australian writers and writing". My first reaction was, Really? Surely not. There was Blak and Bright held last year in Melbourne. But, hmm, that was specifically Indigenous. I couldn't, quickly anyhow (and that's relevant in itself), think of anything else. So, Boundless does appear to be the first to combine all of Australia's culturally diverse writers under one umbrella. This is a worry. However, the good thing is, as the post-festival tweets suggest, that it was a stimulating event.
It was also free, and comprised "performances, readings, panel discussions, audiovisual experiences, and workshops for children and adults." And, if you haven't guessed, the Festival's name references the line "boundless plains to share" from Dorothea Mackellar's poem "My country". It's a great title, having both ironic and aspirational connotations.
So, who was there? And what was the program? According to the website, over 40 artists were involved. I have to admit that I've only heard of a few, including:
Ivor Indyk, an Australian-born editor and publisher of Polish immigrant parents. He founded Giramondo Publishing.
Mirielle Juchau, an Australian Jewish writer, whose novel The world without us was shortlisted for the Stella Prize and NSW Premier's Literary Award.
Julie Koh, an Australian-born writer of Chinese-Malaysian parents, whose short story collection, Portable Curiosities, was shortlisted several awards including a NSW Premier's Literary Award. Koh was also named as a 2017 Sydney Morning Herald Best Young Australian Novelist.
Benjamin Law, an Australian-born writer and journalist of Hong Kong Chinese parents. His memoir The family Law was adapted for a television series.
Hoa Pham, a Vietnamese-Australian writer whose novel, Lady of the realm, I'll be reviewing soon.
Ellen van Neerven, an indigenous Australian writer whom I've reviewed here a few times.
Markus Zusak, an Australian born writer of German and Austrian parents. I've reviewed his young adult-adult crossover novel, The book thief, here.
I need to say that the listing of artists in the Festival Program did not provide their origin, which is, I guess, about not labelling. However, I felt that readers here might want to know something about their backgrounds because that, presumably, explains their role as presenters at a festival specialising in diversity. I really hope this hasn't been insensitive of me.
It was a pretty packed program, with some concurrent streams. The sessions included:
GetSmART: An insider's look into the world of book publishing. It was convened by Jennifer Wong, host of Bookish on ABC iView, and involved publishers Chren Byng (HarperCollins), Ivor Indyk (Giramondo), and Robert Watkins (Hachette).
Shaping the horizon: Exploring how new writers are "reshaping the landscape and literature of Australia" and its effect on "how we see ourselves as a community". Convened by Benjamin Law, and involving Michael Mohammed Ahmad, Julie Koh, Peter Polites, and Ellen van Neerven.
All in the family: About how to "write about families without offending your own". It involved Cathy Craigie, Mireille Juchau, Benjamin Law, Omar Sakr, and was convened by Jennifer Wong.
Other events and activities included a pop-up bookstore with book signings (which you'd expect at literary festivals), panels and workshops for children and young adults, film screenings, and a poetry slam.
Just prior to the festival, The Au Review interviewed Benjamin Law who said about the importance of festivals like Boundless:
By some measures, Australia's one of the most diverse nations on the planet. We're home to the oldest living, surviving and thriving human cultures and communities bar none, with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island storytelling spanning back millennia and continuing to present day. About half of us have parents born overseas and a quarter of us are migrants. One in five speak languages other than English at home. And yet that's rarely the image of Australia we export or tell ourselves. Showcasing Australian writing in all of its diversity is a vital start.
And answering a question about how he'd define "Australianness" he said:
We're a happily mongrel nation and one of the most diverse on the planet. And we're a happy group of contradictions that must be acknowledged: the home to the oldest living human cultures and communities bar none, as well as one of the youngest modern immigrant nations on earth. If you disagree with me, die angry about it.
Nothing fancy here, just plain description. I like it – though perhaps not everyone would use the terms "happily" and "happy", not yet anyhow.
Also just before the Festival, SBS.com.au wrote about Lebanese-Australian author Sarah Ayoub, who has written two YA novels, Hate is such a strong word and The Yearbook Committee. She speaks about growing up in a mono-cultural part of Sydney where she never experienced racism but, she says, as she grew up:
I started to think about how ethnic enclaves don't really do much for cultural cohesion. I found that there were so many stereotypes that white people had about my community and there were so many stereotypes that my community had about white people.
Ayoub believes that Australia is now at the forefront of diverse publishing, and names Alice Pung, Randa Abdel-Fattah, Tamar Chnorhokian, Melinda Marchetta, and Michael Mohammed Ahmad as her favourite authors writing about multi-cultural Australia.
So, there's positivity about how we are going, but to make sure we don't become complacent, I'll conclude with a tweet (hashtag #boundless17) from Djed Press:
White facilitation and white programming at festivals is really problematic and not often discussed.
Festivals like Blak and Bright and Boundless are important initiatives on our journey to being a true (and happy) multicultural nation, but as this tweet makes clear we certainly have a way to go yet.
Do you actively seek "diversity" (however YOU define it) in in your reading?
from → Aboriginal Australians, Australian literature, Monday musings
← Gabrielle Carey, Moving among strangers (#BookReview)
Six degrees of separation, FROM Less than zero TO … →
Deepika Ramesh permalink
Thank you for this post, Sue. Chennai gets to see just a few literary events every year. So I virtually attend events through your posts.
I am a free-range reader. Despite that, I have a penchant for Middle-East literature and WoC.
whisperinggums permalink*
Thanks Deepika. I love reading about events on people's blogs too. I suspect all of us have some reading penchant even though we also like to try to read widely.
Jeannette permalink
Follow your first link to the program, then hit each writer's highlighted name, and you'll go through to a short biography giving each one's cultural background.
Looks like an interesting event, pity I live a thousand km away!
Ah thanks Jeanette, I was looking at the 4-page program which doesn't provide that info. It would have been nice to see it there.
Guy Savage permalink
Dunno about diversity. I am trying to read more foreign books in translation. You are so lucky to be able to go to these events.
That's a form of diversity, I'd say, Guy, but just not the diversity this is about. But, I should have made it clear that I didn't get to this one. If I had it wouldn't have been a Monday Musings but a more detailed post in which I would have written more on the content.
buriedinprint permalink
That certainly sounds like an interesting event. I'd be pleased to attend, to add more diverse authors and books to my lists and stacks and plans. If I don't pay attention, things sink into "more and more of the same" in my corner of the reading world. It's not difficult to find diverse voices when looking out for them, but all too easy to look over or past or through them, when relying on mainstream media and consumers for recommendations, so I'm glad to hear about events and venues like the one you're describing!
Yes, you've nailed it on the head Buried. It's too easy to not "see" diverse writing if you don't actively look for it. I'm trying to encourage more diversity in my reading group. Have suggested, for a start, at least one indigenous writer a year and are slowly achieving that I think.
Sara Dowse permalink
I feel I've been overlooked on this one, WG.
Sorry Sara. Do you mean you attended or presented at it? I can't see you on the list because if I had I woukd certainly have mentioned you.
No, not overlooked by you! And I'm not really fussed. But I raise the point, somewhat mischievously I admit, because the way the conference seems to have been organised. The impression given is that diversity is a) something newly discovered and b) doesn't include someone like me, who not only is Jewish but has been writing about people with diverse backgrounds (e.g. Sapphires or Silver City) for decades and only recently has published another book on such themes.
Years ago, when I submitted a piece on the subject the editor was surprised to learn that I wasn't, as she put it, WASP. Through all this I've come to have an inkling of how light-skinned Indigenous people feel when someone of the likes of Andrew Bolt doesn't count them as 'true' Aborigines. In my case I suppose if I had kept the name of Rosenthal there might not have been any confusion. But I kept my first husband's Cornish name for the sake of my children – they had had enough difficulty, I thought at the time, navigating their own very complicated heritage. Now my thinking on the matter would be different, and I suspect theirs would be too.
Oh good, Sara. I wondered if you were referring to your background/subject matter and not being included, but I just wanted to make sure. There were a couple of Jewish writers there, I saw, including Markus Zusak. There could also be something else at play here – age. Ivor Indyk was an "artist" but the faces overall seemed 20s-40s to me. What do you think?
That's a good point about names, too, though. We do use that as signposts – wrongly really because they can so mislead. I suspect we all have name stories. I have some good ones in my extended family.
In my own case, I retained my name, and our children have hyphenated ones. I don't think they love that, but my daughter in particular appreciates where it comes from. I didn't like the idea myself, but on the other hand I was darned if I was not going to be recognised in their name!
Jim KABLE permalink
Quite a number of old friends mentioned here. WG: it takes me back to my study and "action research" days from the early 1980s including after my commencement/focus on Japanese took me to Japan – during which time Ivor Indyk was basically a constant – either studying a unit of OZ LIT with him (among others) at UoS – and then being comforted in my "exile years" in Japan by the constant arrival of his brilliant literary/journal/anthologies – HEAT. Thank-you.
And thanks Jim for sharing that. Indyk is a well-known name to me but I've never really come across him, if that makes sense.
daveyone1 permalink
Reblogged this on World4Justice : NOW! Lobby Forum..
wadholloway permalink
I've been trying to get clear in my own head what upsets me about guys writing about the bush, and of course it's all so mono-cultural. Which reminds me, Peter Carey has written a really inadequate apology for his failure to include Indigenous characters in any of his (previous) novels. In the Age over the weekend.
Oh thanks, Bill, I'll try to suss that out. Of course, there are some who would say it's better that he didn't include indigenous characters, so perhaps his apology isn't completely inadequate?
That's his excuse – that Gary Foley told him not to. But in fact Foley said Carey shouldn't presume to speak for Indigenous people, which I agree with. What makes me angry is Carey's pretence, particularly in Ned Kely, that there are no Indigenous people in Australia.
Lisa Hill permalink
Oh, I do like Deepika's expression, I think I'm a free-range reader too:)
I started a diversity page at my blog and was surprised to find just how diverse my Australian reading had been. As has been said, we tend to use surnames as a marker and we don't always get it right. And we do need to be careful about not labelling people as well.
Of course, if there's one thing the citizenship debacle in parliament has taught us, it's that we may all be more diverse than we think: I checked out mine just recently and discovered that I have three citizenships and not just the one that I knew about – Australian (my favourite), British, and yay! Irish which means I can still have EU citizenship after Brexit!!
Thanks Lisa – I've edited your response to hyperlink your page to the text. Hope that's OK.
Just as well you don't want to be our second female PM eh?
Funny you should say that. I was once asked to stand for our seat by our local Labor Party (to which I have never belonged). There was no admiration in their request, it was then thought to be a safe Liberal seat and they couldn't get anyone to do the footslogging required to put up a decent show.
Fascinating. So you were head-hunted by the ALP?! Love it.
Hardly – they were just desperate!
Hmmm … I don't recollect True history in that much detail to recollect that aspect. Does the historical record provide information about Kelly's experience of or relationship with indigenous people? That's an interesting question, actually.
There has been a continuing presence of Indigenous peoples along the Murray and the Goulburn. It is inconceivable both that Kelly would not have mixed with them, and that a writer fictionalising Kelly's life would not have had him mixing with them. And yet the only Indigenous people in True History are from the fearsome Qld Native Police.
Thanks Bill. Ok, next question, given it's a long time since I read this, as I recollect it was based on Kelly's Jerilderie letter? If Kelly didn't mention indigenous people there, perhaps Carey's decision is meant to reflect that? If he'd written it third person he could have interrogated attitudes to indigenous people more easily perhaps? Anyhow, your question is a good one.
sharkell permalink
Yes – I'm tending to read more books by people from diverse backgrounds because I am interested in what they have to say and the stories they tell.
Thanks, Sharkell. It helps too that they are easier to find now doesn't it? Not as easy as "majority" culture books, but with independent publishers being active in this area and blogs and social media playing a role things must be at least improving.
And you find out about them (the books) more often through the wonderful blogging world.
Yes, I certainly do sharkell!
Angela Savage permalink
Thanks for this summary, Sue. I'm looking forward to a briefing on the Boundless festival when one of our NSW Writers' Centre colleagues visits Melbourne later this month. To Sarah Ayoub's fine list of favourite authors writing about multicultural Australia, I'd add Melanie Cheng, Tony Birch, Roanna Gonsalves and of course Christos Tsiolkas.
Thanks Angela. I think Cheng was, and I know Gonsalves was, involved in the festival, but not Birch or Tsiolkas. There were only a couple of indigenous writers, and not many of the "top" recognisable names, which may be because this was a free event so they didn't have much money to throw around. I'd love to hear what you hear about it if you can remember to come back and say.
travellinpenguin permalink
This sounds like it was really interesting. Thanks for sharing.
It does, doesn't it, Pam. (PS I fixed the typo).
Arti permalink
Excellent and informative post WG! Very timely too. Diversity is strength, we like to toot it here in Canada (hopefully not just as a slogan), for we do see lots of writers coming from very different backgrounds. Even just today I was asked to recommend a list of Asian American writers for someone wanting to find her roots. And yes, there are quite a few excellent ones here in N.A.
Thanks Arti. I was only saying the other day how many sub-continent background writers there seemed to be in Canada – like Michael Ondaatje, Rohinton Mistry and more recently to me Anosh Irani. Well, that's three but I felt that where there were three well known to us there must be many more!
And the numerous talents from SE Asia, and those of the second generation, Chinese, Korean, Japanese…
It's great to see so many different stories being told isn't it?
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Remaining covert, Avon looked on as the stranger entered through the other doorway. Like his comrades, he stared intensely at the figure that stood defiantly before them, draped in a long black robe. They could not see the face, concealed as it was by the darkness of a large hood. Slowly, bare hands and arms emerged to remove the hood, revealing a woman with fiery red hair and bright green eyes.
Blake's jaw dropped. "Keera!" Unwittingly, his expression betrayed the history between them and was met with surprise from Dayna and Tarrant. Moving closer, she kissed Blake passionately, but he pushed her away. "Audacious as ever," he frowned.
"Is that all you can say?" Keera replied, placing her hands on her hips.
"I thought you were dead. How did you escape when Jenna…?" he paused. The memory was still sharp enough to cut.
Suggestively, Keera took off the robe. "I almost didn't."
Dayna and Tarrant regarded her with unease and curiously noted the odd looking sidearm on the stranger's belt. Deadly and efficient no doubt, Dayna surmised. How else had she escaped Federation subjugation?
"I went back to my home planet," Keera continued.
She responded with a cold stare; clearly the subject was not open for discussion.
"Our other friends," Dayna said brusquely.
"Why did you come back at all?" Blake asked.
Keera replied only with a dark look.
Out in the corridor, Avon felt his anger towards Servalan boiling inside and clenched his fists. He was absolutely certain of her responsibility for sending the troop squad to Gauda Prime. It also seemed likely that the intelligence officer masquerading as Arlen had somehow been able to send a signal that confirmed Blake's presence and had been the cue to spring the trap. Avon considered the possibility that catching himself and the others was merely a lucky bonus from the Federation's point of view.
Returning to the present moment, Avon had a myriad of questions. Who was Keera, he wondered? And why had she bothered to rescue them? He felt a small amount of gratitude, though instinctively he decided that she was not to be trusted and felt surprised that Blake had apparently done so.
"Why should it concern you?" Blake chuckled incredulously. "You're the most crooked smuggler Jenna had the misfortune to meet. However, you did at least support our cause, in a manner of speaking."
"Flattery, Blake?" she retorted. "That's not your style. Running arms for you proved to be far less profitable than small time contraband, although there were a few more pleasurable benefits. I fully intended that journey to be my last." Blake frowned slightly as she crossed the room and downed a glass of wine in one go. For a brief moment she relaxed her intensity and offered some wine to the others, but was rebuffed.
The bigger picture between Blake and Keera was beginning to be revealed, but despite this, the more Avon thought about it, the less he understood why she may have had reason to rescue them.
Despite his own reservations, Tarrant felt compelled to ask what she intended to do next.
The momentary waver in her concentration vanished as she faced him. "Well, handsome, I've already got a full dance card… but there's always room for improvement."
Dayna frowned in disgust, while Tarrant folded his arms indignantly and glared icily.
"The name's Tarrant," he scolded. "And that doesn't answer my question".
Keera grinned and gulped a second glass of wine. "We're on course for a planet called Requia. It's a remote outpost beyond Federation space. A smuggler's got to make a living."
The name was familiar to Tarrant from his own past of running contraband, but he wisely kept quiet, unwilling to give up any possible advantage.
Avon frowned. He hadn't heard of it, but suspected it would be the sort of place that an unscrupulous pirate would frequent.
With each exchange, Keera carefully tested the responses of the strangers. After all, she was outnumbered, despite their being unarmed. However, it was time to move on. Giving a hearty laugh, she left via the other door, with a lingering glance towards Tarrant.
After she'd gone, Blake remembered that first day when Jenna had brought Keera to Gauda Prime. She soon proved eminently capable of running the blockades and had clearly survived when Jenna made the ultimate sacrifice. However, her capricious nature had also been a source of disharmony in the group, not least her bold flirtatiousness.
He knew that Jenna had found her blatant invitations towards the men, and him in particular, very irritating. He had shown no interest in Keera and understood that she knew it, despite her best efforts. Since leaving the Liberator, a few tragedies too many had led him to become jaded and deeply immersed in the battle for freedom.
Lost in memories, Blake almost didn't register the fact that Dayna had spoken. In frustration, she asked what on earth had possessed him to trust Keera.
"Jenna met her during a scuffle with a Federation patrol. She's a good fighter and has a lot of useful contacts," he replied.
Even with this in mind, Avon still felt that Blake had taken a great risk. However, in the face of adversity every possible ally was needed, as was proven by his own consorting with Zukan.
"It seems she's got her hands on some interesting technology, to say the least," Tarrant observed.
"And a powerful ship, no doubt," Blake added.
Dayna swallowed hard and looked at them in turn; somehow that notion seemed the most concerning of all.
Their conversation halted when Keera returned with Orac. "Here, you can have this morose box back," she said and placed it on the table.
Again the atmosphere became tense as Avon felt the odds had just been returned to more even terms. At least the Federation didn't have possession of Orac, and Keera's willingness to return it suggested that this stranger may have a shred of decency after all. Or was it that she simply didn't fully appreciate its true worth?
"Come on in, Avon!" Keera said loudly.
Avon stood from leaning against the doorway, unaware that he had given himself away. Slowly, he entered the room and fixed Keera with a dark look. Turning to Blake, the two engaged intensely. Neither spoke; emotions were still running too high.
Blake regarded Avon cautiously. Both knew they'd made mistakes on Gauda Prime, but openly admitting it wasn't on the agenda. Having been given a second chance, there was now the opportunity to put some of that aside. At least that's what Blake intended. After all, it was his subterfuge that had lead to the tragedy in the first place.
Eventually Avon spoke and addressed Keera. "It is customary to ask before borrowing other people's property." His voice was cold and serious as he picked up Orac.
"Would you have agreed?" she replied.
"Well, then." She grinned cheekily.
"Did you use Orac to revive us?" Blake enquired.
"In a manner of speaking," she replied and gestured for them to follow her.
Hesitantly they did so and Tarrant tried to keep track of their route as they walked through a labyrinth of corridors until eventually they came upon a large, dark room. Keera waved her hand across a panel just inside the doorway and the room was illuminated. It appeared to be a kind of laboratory and spaced at intervals along either side were a dozen capsules. Each of these was just large enough for a human being to lie down inside. Keera walked up to the nearest, pressed a control panel and slowly the transparent cover opened.
"Orac gave me a very boring technical description, but basically these chambers are designed to perform a number of functions; chiefly cellular regeneration, but also genetic alteration. That computer of yours was actually quite impressed." She paused, realising that apart from Avon, the group's attention was wandering.
However, they weren't staring at her or the capsule, they were looking at a large symbol on the far wall of the room. Dayna had recognised the emblem the moment she saw it and the others soon reached the same conclusion. One of Cally's few possessions from her home planet of Auron had been a circular pendant, the centre of which bore an identical glyph.
"Cally told us that was the symbol associated with the gods of Auron legend, the aliens who supposedly created their civilisation and promised them telepathy," Dayna said.
"There is a similar story among my people, but who is Cally?" Keera enquired.
"She was one of us," Dayna replied. "Sadly, she was killed".
Blake looked at her through widened eyes. So it was true. He wondered how his good friend had met her fate and wanted to pursue the question, but now was not the time.
Avon, however, had completely ignored the entire conversation and was still fixated on the apparently remarkable chambers.
Turning her attention to him, Keera could see his mind was at work. She could not be certain, but suspected he was already assessing the value of her ship and that he was capable of attempting to possess it for his own purposes.
"These things certainly look alien." Tarrant caught on. He walked up to the device and looked inside.
Keera closed the capsule and faced him. "This ship is equipped with a detector screen," she replied and walked away.
Avon raised a curious eyebrow, as did Tarrant.
"Come on." Keera's voice faded from the corridor.
Still nervous, but faced with little alternative, Avon took the lead, followed by the others.
The flight deck was much smaller than expected and equipped with only two seats. There were four other control panels around the perimeter for an operative to use while standing, however these were currently inactive.
Seeing this, Tarrant wondered about the level of automation and struggled to place the ship into any kind of recognisable category. Was it a cruiser or battleship? But those laboratories suggested more a vessel used for exploration and research.
Pragmatic as ever, Avon placed Orac in one seat and stood behind while Keera took the other. He observed the controls, but could not ascertain their meaning. Each button had a different glyph, presumably, he surmised, the language of the aliens who had built the vessel. To some extent, the basic operations of most space vehicles were universal, but evidently not here.
From the ease with which Keera manipulated the buttons, it was clear to Avon that she was unhindered by this obstacle. When he and the others had boarded the Liberator for the first time, they had fumbled with the controls until Zen spoke out.
Looking around, Avon searched for a similar aid, but came up short. Perhaps these aliens had devised a more efficient means of automatic ship control. Whatever it was, he had no understanding of it and his unease increased considerably.
"What language is that?" Dayna asked curiously.
"It's an obscure dialect of my ancestors," Keera replied.
"Yes." Keera pressed a button that displayed a holographic representation of their current location, just beyond Federation controlled space.
Avon recognised some of the star systems; they weren't far off their usual route to pick up supplies on Onus Two.
Unlike the Liberator and Scorpio, this ship had a transparent portal in place of a viewing screen, although the course and sensor readouts were projected in such a way that vision was not obscured.
Avon wondered what material it was made of, that could withstand the velocity at which they were apparently travelling. The view was mesmerising as stars flew past in blurred streaks.
Tarrant couldn't help but be impressed. "Are we travelling beyond light speed?" he asked.
"Yes, much in excess of it," Keera replied. "I don't fully understand, but Orac says the drive creates a sub-space funnel through which the ship can travel".
Avon looked around at Dayna and Blake, who were equally astonished.
Tarrant's interest in the technology was increasing with each new demonstration of its capability. Under different circumstances he would have fought for possession of this vessel himself, but with Avon and quite probably Blake in his way as well, the chances of success were slim. For now, he would have to be content to bide his time and hope that Keera did not have a change of heart.
He was right, for by now Blake and Avon both had a firm agenda on their minds. Each were thinking that if this ship possessed defensive capabilities like the Liberator, then it could adequately serve as a means of keeping one step ahead of their enemies. However Avon's focus began to drift onto eliminating Servalan, rather than the Federation as a whole.
Facing away from them, Keera continued to explain some of the other controls to Dayna, who hadn't noticed the silent scheming.
Meanwhile, Tarrant strained to keep pace with both Keera's explanation and note Blake and Avon's intentions. It was obvious to him that Avon would want to use the ship for his own purposes and have no qualm in destroying Keera if needs be. Tarrant was less certain about Blake, although he speculated that he would want to continue his war against the Federation. Evidently Keera had helped Blake in the past, though he couldn't imagine why. Whatever the reason, that loyalty was bound to surface and opinion on the matter would inevitably be divided.
He breathed deeply, realising that both he and Dayna would also have to make a choice. Should they stay with Avon, who appeared to be showing increasing signs of a bomb waiting to go off, or follow Blake and try to change things for the greater good?
"Can we see the rest of the ship?" Blake asked.
Avon suspected it was a test and would have most likely done it himself.
The answer seemed to appease them, and a small smile formed on Keera's face as they left.
Several levels were dedicated to study and one was comprised entirely of laboratories and living quarters for technicians. Nothing diminished their interest as they reached the propulsion area. It consisted of a large globe structure that glowed brightly with a form of energy they had not encountered before. Keera didn't fully understand how it worked, and they asked more questions than she could answer.
"How many crew members could this ship hold?" Blake asked.
"Based on the number of cabins, approximately 100," Keera replied.
"What weapons does it have?" Dayna enquired, drawing a jaunty laugh from their host.
"Down to business, I like that. Although this ship isn't strictly a battle cruiser, the builders clearly expected to encounter hostile races. Let's just say that the weapons are more than a match for the Federation's plasma bolts".
"Where did you find it?" Tarrant asked.
"Not that it's any of your concern, but on my home planet," Keera replied rather harshly.
Intrigued Avon decided to investigate later, but alone. He fully intended to discover the potential power of this new ship for his own purposes.
Sleer's ship entered standard orbit around Sondar III, an outpost planet approximately halfway on their journey to Earth. It had been a long space stretch and the sight of its purple glow in an otherwise featureless darkness was welcoming to everyone on board, except her. She had hardened her emotions against such simple pleasures long ago.
Setting the automatics, the Commander leaned back in his seat. "I hope this means I can see my family for a while," he said.
"I shouldn't count on it if I were you," the co-pilot replied.
Through a raised eyebrow the superior officer agreed.
"Commander!" Sleer's voice came over the intercom, causing the crew to jump to attention.
"Doctor Reater's ship will be docking in an hour. Please ensure that he is escorted to my chamber as soon as he arrives."
"Of course, Commissioner," the pilot replied. "What's that all about?" he asked after the communicator deactivated.
"This is your first duty for Sleer?" his companion enquired.
"Then let me give you some advice: don't question her too much."
From her cabin, Sleer monitored the progress of the small passenger vessel approaching. "Soon…very soon," she muttered.
Clunking sounds were heard as the docking mechanism engaged and the two ships were secured together.
"Please come this way, Doctor," the Commander said, as the grey-haired man walked through the hatchway.
"Doctor Reater. Please do come in," Sleer drawled as they entered her private chamber.
"Commander, you may give the crew leave for 48 hours. My personal staff and two engineers are to remain on board, and yourself."
The Commander was confused, but obeyed. "Very well Commissioner," he replied and closed the door behind him.
Back on the flight deck, he carried out the instruction, much to the bemused delight of his crew. Some luck, he thought.
"Madam Commissioner, may I ask why have I been summoned here?" Reater asked. "I retired five years ago."
Sleer motioned for him to sit down. "I require the use of your particular talents," she replied and handed him a tablet on which were detailed surgical instructions.
Reater studied them carefully and looked directly at her. "Madam, please forgive my impertinence, but I fail to see how this will improve on such…" he wisely elected to think before going further.
However, Sleer revelled in his unspoken compliment. "Beauty?" she grinned broadly. "Thank you Doctor, but vanity is furthest from my mind. The reasons are not important; I simply require that you carry out my instructions precisely." There were still a few people on Earth who might recognise her and she could not afford to let that happen.
She wore a serious expression and Reater understood the consequences if he did not comply.
As the passenger shuttle departed with the crew, Sleer's personal staff worked under Reater's instruction to prepare for the surgery. Being in charge of the Adaptation Program had given her access to top-level medical personnel and a number of them had been reassigned to her team.
The procedure took several hours as Reater worked with delicate precision to alter Sleer's appearance. Afterwards when she had regained consciousness, she winced slightly from the discomfort caused by the regeneration mask.
Seeing this, one of her aides approached. "May I bring you some refreshment, Madam?" she asked.
"Yes, thank you." As she slowly sat up, her mind was already back at work. "Is Doctor Reater still aboard?"
"No, Madam," the aide replied. "He departed a short while ago. Your instructions have been carried out."
Slightly relieved to be heading back, Reater relaxed in the lounge of the passenger shuttle. He was still baffled by Sleer's unusual request; however he'd had little option but to go along with it.
The ship was about halfway on its return journey when alarms started to sound.
"What's going on?" he asked a crew member.
"Please secure yourself in your seat, Doctor," the man replied. "Everything will be alright".
Despite this reassurance, Reater felt a nagging sense of doubt. Something about Sleer's manner caused an uneasy suspicion; it was too coincidental.
The Commander on Sleer's ship was monitoring their progress and noticed immediately when the shuttle started to veer off course. He tried to raise them, but was met with static. Hitting the intercom, he spoke with one of Sleer's aides.
"Please relate the situation to the Commissioner at once," he said.
Aboard the shuttle, the pilot was doing everything he could to avert disaster. "I can't hold this course!"
"We've got to, we'll break up!" the co-pilot replied.
His words trailed off as the burning streaks of the ship catching Sondar's atmosphere glowed brighter and brighter. Their angle of descent deteriorated further and with increasing speed. It was only a matter of time.
Down on the surface, the Federation Central Control team was also monitoring the situation and tried to contact the shuttle.
"Sondar Control to Shuttlecraft 5, respond please!" the officer called out for the third time.
"It's no use sir, I can't raise them."
By now his superior's eyes were glued to the screen, and he watched as the small vessel broke up into hundreds of tiny pieces.
"I want that wreckage investigated immediately. Ships don't do that without good reason," he said.
"Yes, sir." The officer dutifully relayed the instruction and a recovery team was sent to locate the debris.
"I'm afraid I cannot offer an explanation," Sleer said in response to the Control Officer's enquiry. "We tried several times to raise the shuttlecraft, but with no success," she added. "It would seem that their landing systems developed a fault."
"Indeed, Madam Commissioner, but I assure you that a full investigation is underway".
"Very well, I will leave the matter in your capable hands." This small diversion was of no significance and she was keen to continue on their journey.
Getting up, she went to her ablutions room and looked in the mirror. Her face was a patchwork of small cuts and bruises, however the operation had proved more than successful and she no longer resembled the woman she had once been.
In spite of the expansion of the empire, Earth was where the real power lay. With Star One's destruction, all orders had reverted to being issued directly from Space Command Headquarters and relayed to the various sectors through the communications network. It was the only means the Federation had of keeping in contact with its furthest outposts, and not without its problems.
Like Blake before them, rebel groups frequently caused damage and temporary losses. These incidents continued to be a thorn in President Tollen's side and with every failure to curtail the problem, the doubts within his own ranks increased.
Thumping his desk as he read the latest report, he began to question the effectiveness of Pylene 50. His reaction was decisive and he immediately requested the presence of Commissioner Sleer.
"A fortuitous opportunity," Sleer reacted when she received the message.
Arrival day finally dawned and after completing the formalities, Sleer was escorted directly to the President's office.
He greeted her with surprising warmth. "Madam Commissioner, what a pleasure it is to finally meet you."
"Thank you, it was indeed an honour to receive your invitation," Sleer replied.
He gestured for her to sit down and his aide poured them both a drink.
"I must congratulate you for the excellent progress you have made with the pacification programme. The war with the Andromedans dealt us a severe setback, however I'm pleased to see that thanks to you the colonised worlds are once again being properly administered."
"Tell me, how exactly does the programme work?"
"Have you heard of Pylene 50?" Sleer asked.
"Yes. It's a muscle relaxant, if I'm not mistaken," Tollen replied.
"In low doses, yes, but my research team found a way to use it in such a way that blocks adrenalin production. It has been used extremely successfully on whole populations, enabling the rapid expansion of Federation control."
"That's remarkable!" Tollen exclaimed. "And it has no side effects?"
Tollen paused for a moment. "Commissioner, I summoned you here because of the growing problem with the rebels in the Gamma Quadrant. I am reassigning your duties to deal with this matter personally, and you are hereby authorised to use whatever resources you deem necessary. I am due to report to the High Council in three weeks time and will require a full assessment."
Sleer had prepared herself for the serious element to the meeting and barely gave it a second thought. "You shall have it."
Her reply was in a slightly over-confident tone that for a moment unnerved Tollen. He might have to maintain a keen eye on Sleer.
Taking the shuttle down to Earth, she noted that the city had undergone a series of major alterations since her last visit and the place almost seemed unfamiliar. In addition to the single dome, a further two had been built on either side and were connected by numerous shuttle tubes. Gone were the remnants of the old city where Blake and his fellow rebels had once met. In their place stood brand new launching pads, communications terminals and a vast complex of workshops and hangars, with the new fleet of battle cruisers in the early stages of construction. Even Space Command Headquarters had been completely refitted and additional orbiting cruiser repair facilities created.
The Federation meant to re-establish its presence in the galaxy with an iron fist.
Sleer observed the frenzy of industrious activity around the construction zones and smiled, knowing that the day would come when she, and she alone, would have total control.
The tour over, Keera led Blake and the others back to their respective cabins to get some much-needed rest. They were still feeling the effects of being revived and Dayna especially felt her stomach turning handsprings.
Blake lay awake for hours pondering over the many challenges they now faced, including dealing with the past. Added to this, thoughts of Cally remained in the background. They had been good friends and she was too important to him to simply overlook. Alas, he feared that he may never know the truth of the matter.
In his cabin, Tarrant tugged awkwardly at his new jacket. It was rather ill-fitting and eventually in frustration he took it off and sat on the edge of his bunk. Like Blake, his mind was filled with memories of friends they'd left behind, in particular Vila and Soolin. Try as he might to accept it, the image of their fate was burned into his mind. Unable to sleep, he paced the room before tentatively approaching the door and staring into the dim light of the corridor.
Avon was less hesitant and merely waited until he felt certain of being unobserved. Silently slipping from his quarters, he took Orac and returned to the propulsion room. It proved as fascinating a study as the Liberator had been when they first boarded. Of course back then he'd had to conduct the exploratory work himself; now Orac could provide the information he required simply by scanning the various systems.
"Can you interface with the…" he began.
"No," replied the computer in a surly tone.
"I should have thought that was perfectly obvious," Orac snapped.
"No Tarial Cells or any equivalent?" Avon speculated.
Avon frowned and let the conversation go. It seemed that the skill of piloting the craft was going to remain in Keera's hands a while longer. However, he resolved to put that right at the first opportunity.
Wandering around the sizeable room, he paused alongside the glowing mass inside the globe. He was about to enquire on the detail of such a powerful energy source, when a voice pierced through its low toned humming.
"Find out what you wanted to know?" Keera said and leaned nonchalantly against the doorway.
Avon turned around. "For the moment," he replied.
Smiling and without fear, she walked towards him.
"I don't know who is the greater fool - you, or Blake for considering you an ally," he added.
"Curious to know what I did to win his trust?" she asked and raised her eyebrows cheekily.
Undeterred by his domineering manner, she ran a hand over his chest.
Avon's eyes narrowed, partly in pleasure, partly in controlled anger. "I have my own priorities and I intend to use this ship to fulfil them, whether you like it or not."
"I'd have been disappointed otherwise," she replied.
Her green eyes flashed in fiery excitement, but slowly her hand lowered to reach for the sidearm.
Just in time, Avon realised what she was doing. Snatching it from her grasp, he held it to her face. He had no idea how to use it, a fact that he suspected she already knew, but he could at least reinforce the point.
She smiled indulgently and lowered her voice. "I like a man with fire in his heart."
Avon released her and lowered the gun. "For someone who's evidently intelligent, that's not a particularly well planned strategy," he snapped.
Keera laughed softly. "Risk is what makes life worth living."
For a moment the two were locked in an intense gaze. Despite her irritating manner, she possessed a quality that Avon found oddly appealing and he noted that she found him interesting, too.
She lifted her head and kissed him, deeper than she had Blake earlier. He was different to Blake, colder and yet exhilarating. To her delight, Avon responded and squeezed her tightly. Keera moaned softly and wrapped her arms around his neck, revelling in the passion she was drawing from him.
Avon was reminded of Servalan's kiss on Sarran, but now that had been replaced with bitter darkness and he broke away at the thought of it.
"Seems that neither of us listens to good advice," Blake said, interrupting the moment. He knew Avon far better than Keera.
Avon stepped back and placed the sidearm into his belt, while Keera flashed him a look that left no doubt of her desires.
A less jaded person might have embarked in a debate on the matter; however neither Avon nor Blake fell into that category. Both ignored her, and again their thoughts drifted on to more important matters, namely Servalan and the Federation.
With loud footsteps, Tarrant ran up towards them. Curiosity had drawn him to the flight deck where he tried to make some sense of the controls, but to no avail. Like Avon, he resented being a prisoner of Keera's ability to fly the ship. However, he had observed the internal sensor display, which told him where to find his comrades.
"What's going on?" he puffed.
Keera turned and left without a word, sending another admiring glance in his direction as she did so.
"Does she have to keep doing that?" Tarrant said, exasperated.
Blake chuckled, "She's useful, but takes some getting used to."
Tarrant shifted uncomfortably. "Somehow I get the feeling that this is going to be an uneasy alliance."
Blake raised an eyebrow at Avon, who said nothing.
"It's also worth noting that there is a negative aspect. I've seen what she does to people who get in her way, and it's not pretty," Blake concluded. Despite the tenuous coalition with Keera, he too had the notion of using her ship for his own purposes.
Unknown to him, Avon was already well advanced in his plot of revenge against Servalan. Up until Gauda Prime, it had just been something of a game, albeit a highly frustrating one. Now war had been declared and he was resolved to see it through.
Again Tarrant sensed their scheming and thought it only a matter of time before all this reached a flash point.