The Book of Josiah - Behind the Scenes 2

The complete links for the Book of Josiah are here, organised both in the order as released and by timeline (in case you want to read them that way, no idea if that makes any sense).

2 CHRONICLES
I wrote last time about the genesis of the Book of Josiah, what the original conception of the book was, and then how I tried writing it as coordinator of a group project, which ultimately didn't work.

After I realised that this had to be my own work, I got back to writing it but the process was very slow - while my overall structure was extremely clear, the details of the plot were still vague. The next major step in my writing process was sketching out the entire novel chapter by chapter, filling in the major details of plot for each section, making sure that I coordinated all the important moments of synchronicity between the timelines.

But it wasn't until I got to university that I pushed myself to finally finish writing the novel - what was my secret? I allocated myself an hour of writing time every week day, and mostly stuck to it.

By the way, these remain my two best tips for how to get your book idea on to the page - develop a plan, and schedule your writing time.

More after the jump...

The Book of Josiah - Complete Links

Here you will find all the links to the entire Book of Josiah, as it currently stands, grouped both in chapter order and by timeline.

FULL EBOOK - Coming Soon!

Introduction

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14a
Chapter 14b
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23a
Chapter 23b
Chapter 23c
Epilogues

More links after the jump

The Book of Josiah - Epilogues

   Josiah Smith woke with a start, and looked about him in panic. Where was he? Then he saw the signs, and realised they were pulling into King’s Cross.
    Hurriedly, he gathered his belongings and moved to get off the train.
    He hated sleeping on trains - he always had such peculiar dreams, and what if he missed his stop? It was 7:35, so the train was running five minutes late. Again. It never ran on time.
    Just as he was stepping onto the platform, he realised he had left his book behind. It was too late. ‘The Time Machine’ it was. Never mind - he hadn’t been enjoying it much anyway. Altogether too fantastical.



    Josiah Smith opened his eyes and rose from his knees. Never before had the visions been as sharp as now. The chapel had grown cold and dark. All the candles had sputtered and burnt out since vespers. The night time vigil was his alone.
    The prayer had been from the heart, the true word of his soul. God had sent him this vision in answer but what did it mean? What were these sights of steel and blood, moon and darkness? It did not make sense, at least not yet. But there would be much time to consider the revelation, weigh it for meaning and truth, before he need reveal it to the Abbot.
    What did it all mean?



    He opens his eyes and is alone in the room. What is he wearing? Why can he not move his arms?
    Above his head is a single bulb, swinging to and fro, creaking like a demon.
    How long has he been here? He cannot remember.
    But he remembers the window, the faces, the men and women in their white coats, looking at him like he was crazy.
    There they are again, still noting things down on their stupid little note pads.
    One huge man with a flat round face and small dark eyes. A woman with unkempt blonde hair and a long white glove. A thin man with eyes too large for his face. And their leader is talking to them, a small middle-aged man, balding with small dark eyes and small round spectacles. What is he saying?
    He tries to read his lips, and only catches one phrase over and over again.
    ‘Patient Fifty Six’.
    He does not call for help. They will not listen.
    The voice drones on in the background.
    He barely notices it at all now.
    “And she conceived again, and bare a daughter. And God said unto Josiah, call her name Lo-Ruhamah, you are not forgiven: for I will no more have mercy upon the house of Israel; but I will utterly take them away.”
    No, he does not cry for mercy.
    Instead he closes his eyes once more and returns to the waiting arms of sleep.
    I hope I have a good dream.

The Book of Josiah - Chapter 23c

Part a is here.
Part b is here.

“The shields - the whole shielding system - it was your idea, you designed it.”

    “You designed it, is it going to work?”
    “What do you want me to tell you?”
    “I want you to tell me that we’ll do it, that we’ll save Luna-city, and ourselves. Ammi will have our child and we will all live happily ever after.”
    Jonah looked down sadly.
    “I wish I could tell you that, but deep down in my heart I know that is not how this story ends.”
    “Yeah, I know. The whole ‘IN THREE HOURS’ business. What was that about?”
    “It’s called prophecy, Josiah.”
    “You’ll excuse me if I don’t immediately accept that as an answer.”
    “I will,” said Jonah, smiling devilishly, “but for the purpose of this conversation let’s just take it as read.”
    “Okay, fine. So how do you get into this whole prophecy gig?”
    “You are chosen, and believe me, it is as much a curse as a blessing. I have been walking the earth for many lifetimes now, but soon it will be time to rest.”
    “If you can’t be more cheerful I might become more sceptical.”
    Jonah laughed again. Somehow, despite the growing patch of red and orange, that signalled the approach of Security, despite the growing image of Luna-city projected at the front of the bridge, somehow they had found calmness. But Josiah knew it was just the eye of the storm.
    “I shall endeavour to be optimistic, at least in conversation.”
    “That’s all I ask.”
    “So Josiah, what do you dream about?”
    “Haven’t we had this discussion before? I have the strangest feeling of déjà vu.”
    “Yes we have but times change and so do dreams.”
    “And is there nothing else to talk about?”
    “Nothing else worth saying - the world is run by dreams, the world is changed by dreamers. One should never cheapen the power of dreams.”
    The power of dreams. Yes, the phrase itself struck a chord within his soul but he could not say why. Power…
    He flicked the third switch. It was a delicate balance - too much plasma all at once and the whole engine could blow, ruining any chance they had of saving the city. Too little and they would not change course in time.
    The first rumblings pulsed through the ship as the starboard thrusters filled with plasma. Everything shook, first gently and then with increasing ferocity until Josiah had to cling to his chair, and was half afraid his teeth would fall out.
    Then the shaking subsided.
    “Well that was exciting,” Jonah said, sitting up and brushing dust from his clothes.
    “Yes but it wasn’t enough, we’ll need more to push us off course.”
    He looked up at the display - Luna-city seemed so close now, he could make out all the different buildings, the roofs, the domes, the towers. Was that Ammi’s hospital? It was hard to say. But this was what he was fighting for, and he would not let it go.

The Book of Josiah - Chapter 23b

Part a is here.

And then he knew what he had to do. He did not know how but he had no doubts, no doubts at all...

    If he had had any doubts, he should never have begun. Now there was no choice, no choice at all. Lovecraft sank to the floor, a gaping hole in his chest. Blood splattered across the corridor, spraying all over Duke’s clean clothes and Thee’s white glove. And everything seemed to happen so slowly.
    Was he doing the right thing? He knew he was right, and Amber agreed but now he had to deal with it. There was no choice - he would not let Amber die.
    A ghastly smile on his face, Lovecraft crashed to the ground. And already Duke was turning, his mammoth body turning so slowly. The gun in his hands would never fire. He could not think, he had to shoot, if not for himself then for Amber.
    He aimed the gun, closed his eyes and squeezed the trigger. What else could he do? He had been left with no options, no options at all.
    Duke’s right hand dropped the gun. His left hand moved up to his chest instinctively as Josiah’s bullet passed clean through it, and exploded out the other side in a fountain of vivid red. Duke’s lifeblood boiled away. He had no last words but his face was a picture of stunned shock.
    A flash and something hot burned across Josiah’s back. Another flash.
    He looked up at saw Theano fall to the floor, her brains scattered against the walls. Amber held a gun in her shaking hands.
    “She…” Amber forced herself to swallow. “She was going to shoot you.”
    “We’re safe. You can drop the gun.”
    “We killed them,” she gasped, her eyes were wide open, staring into the middle distance, her knuckles were white from clenching the grip.
    “We did what we had to do,” he answered, as gently as he could. They had not had any other choice. If only they had listened to reason.
    Amber nodded somewhat doubtfully, and managed to release her hold on the gun. It clattered to the floor.
    Josiah put his hand to his back. It came back red with blood. Theano’s bullet must have literally scraped across his skin.
    “Come on,” Josiah said, “we have to get out of here.”
    She nodded again, gulped down a breath of air and together they headed down the corridor towards the skyway.
    It was unbelievable, really. How had he managed to do those things? Not long ago he hadn’t even been able to fire a gun. How was he able to keep walking, as blood trickled down his back? The human mind was truly a powerful thing. Such power…
    “Lean on me,” Josiah said, seeing that Amber was still limping.
    She put an arm round his shoulders and they hobbled down the corridor, the skyway just ahead of them, past the pools of blood on the concrete floor.

The Book of Josiah - Chapter 23a

The Five of Cups reversed, gold on black.
    He is in a car with her, and they are driving down the road. The top is down, the wind is in her hair - God, she looks beautiful today, eyes like black on gold. And they are laughing so hard, though he can’t say why. They laugh and laugh, as though this could never end. And then he looks at his hand, and sees a trickle of blood - why does it not hurt? He stops laughing, and so does she. They stare at the trickle of blood, confused, as it traces a red path down his arm. And then the car is out of control, and they go off the bridge. For a moment they are suspended in empty space but then they fall. And somewhere distant, a girl is crying.
    The Six of Wands reversed, silver on black.
    On an ocean, rocking back and forth with the gentle waves. It is night, and the moon is full, silver on black. It is so peaceful here, with the gentle rocking of the sea. But the sky grows darker, and one of the crew is not who he seems, he is an outsider, a traitor, but which one? Perhaps they should draw lots. But the lots are not fair and he draws the short straw - no! I am not the traitor! - but no one will listen to his cries, and they prepare to throw him from the boat before all is lost. “Pray to your God,” they say, “perhaps he will hear and save your life”. But he does not believe in God and so all hope is lost. For a moment he is suspended in empty space but then he falls forever.
    The Fool.
    How should this dream go? I shall toss a coin to decide, I cannot control a dream. Heads, we shall all go home and live beautiful lives, and the dream shall end happily ever after. Tails, we shall never go home, and the dream shall end in fear and pain. He tosses the coin, watches it spin, round and round. For a moment, it hangs there, forever revolving, but then it falls. He reaches out a bloodstained hand and catches it. Tails. Best of three, he thinks, and tosses the coin again and again - and every time it comes up tails.

    The World reversed. Failure.

The Book of Josiah - Final Chapter Week

The moment has finally arrived. All this week I will be running the final chapter of the Book of Josiah, followed by its epilogues.

As this is a mammoth chapter (7000 words), I've split it into 3 sections, to be posted one per night, followed by the epilogues on Thursday.

If you've been following along, thanks for joining the ride. Please let me know what you think! I would really appreciate any and all feedback.

Next week, time permitting, I hope to have some more Behind the Scenes material, as well as a post with the complete links, and, perhaps, a version for e-readers.

Hope you enjoy the conclusion of the Book of Josiah.

The Book of Josiah - Chapter 22

   The elevators reached the inner sanctum with a satisfied ping.
    The doors slid open gently, revealing rows of silent black guns. Like a machine, the Security forces marched into the room and took up commanding positions, crouching behind steel pews, pointing their guns at their designated targets. Elijah’s guards had scattered too - they were outnumbered two to one but had had time to prepare their barricades. Elijah, however, had not moved an inch. He simply stood behind the altar, silver robes unmoving, an icon of steel - even his eyes were still. He watched and waited.
    Then she made her entrance, her robes the colour of bronze and blood, sweeping behind her like the trail of a comet.
    “Where is he?” Elisha demanded imperiously.
    Josiah hardly dared to breathe. The smallest sound could give him away. Amber too was perfectly still, looking pale and anxious. A thin wooden wall was all that stood between them and a violent death.
    “Where is who, Arch-Lector?” Elijah replied, a quiet smile on his lips.
    Their lives were in Elijah’s hands. Elijah, who had been about to cut off Amber’s ear, who thought he was the messiah! But there had been no other option. At least Elijah wanted him to live. Even so he would probably never leave here alive, he knew that now. But Amber… If it came down to it, he would choose her. ‘And if you have no choice?’ he asked himself, unbidden.
    Josiah put his eye back to the narrow slit in the wall and watched.
    “I am in no mood for games, Lector. Where is Josiah?”
    “I have not seen him.”
    Elisha laughed coldly.
    “You would not wish me to spill blood in the inner sanctum, would you?”
    “Everything with you is about blood,” Elijah retorted harshly, “did you learn nothing from me? All those years I was your master, did you never listen?”
    “I did listen, and I learnt that you are at best misguided, at worst a heretic - ‘For this shall be my blood of the new testament, shed for the remission of sins’.”
    “You quote the book but have not yet discerned its meaning - ‘neither shalt thou stand by the blood of thy neighbour’.”
    “You think you are wise, and yet it is not you that is Arch-Lector. ‘On this day, atonement shall be made for us, to cleanse us of our sins. And Aaron shall bring the bullock of the sin offering, which is for himself’.”
    “‘Choose life, so that you and your people may live.’”
    “‘An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth’!”
    “‘Thou shalt not kill’!”
    “Not kill?” asked Elisha, and Josiah could picture her lips twitching, “I think it’s a little late for that.”

The Book of Josiah - Chapter 21

    At the next meeting, Josiah could barely keep still. At last he would be able to make a contribution to the project. The safety of thousands, maybe even millions, of people who would come to live on the moon would be thanks to his insight. And to find the problem in the design process before construction had even begun, would save thousands of dollars as well. The youngsters would know that he still had some life in him, that he could still hack it in the fast-paced world of technology. Yes, he would show them all.
    He longed just to get up and say everything - to prove his genius then and there. His legs kept almost standing, beyond his control. But he had too much respect for Eliphaz to show him up in front of his colleagues. He had to wait until the end of the meeting, then he could have a word with him in private. It would help Eli save face when he realised his mistake.
    But the agony of waiting, the words burning a hole inside his head. ‘I was going through the notes,’ he would say, calmly and measuredly, ‘when I came across some anomalies. I was wondering if you could explain them to me.’ But there was no explanation that could be given. The entire structure of the protective shield was dangerously unstable. There might be no problems for years - it was possible that the shield could last for decades without having any problems at all - but then again, under the wrong circumstances, the shield would suffer a catastrophic failure, followed by the collapse of all backup systems. The result would be the annihilation of Luna-city. But he had seen the flaw, it would be put right, and it would all be thanks to him.
    With these thoughts running through his mind again and again, Josiah found it nigh on impossible to listen to the meeting. Something about gardening. His fingers twitched, his legs jerked up and down, a nervous tension grew in his stomach.
    “Josiah,” said Eli, breaking off whatever conversation they had been having, “you look agitated. Do you have something to add?”
    All eyes turned his way, youthful and mocking.
    “Uh, maybe I could have a word with you after the meeting,” Josiah stuttered, totally thrown by this sudden turn of events.
    “Sure, if you want,” said Eli in his calm way. “Is it about the project?”
    “Uh, yeah, it’s about the project.”
    “Well why don’t you just tell us all now, while we’re all here.”
    “No, I’d really rather just speak to you later.”
    “We have no secrets here, what’s on your mind?”
    This wasn’t how it was supposed to go. The eyes were filled with disinterest and derision. What had he planned to say?
    “There’s a flaw in the shield system,” he blurted out, “a really serious flaw, I mean, really deep-rooted, and if we don’t do something about it, we could have a really serious problem later on down the line, I mean, when we come to build it, because then we’ll have to replace all the inducers.”
    He thought he heard the Wicked Witch cackle quietly to herself. They won’t listen, he thought, and his heart plummeted. But Eli was listening and would hear what he was trying to say.
    “Why don’t you just pause a second and then start from the beginning,” Eli said sympathetically.
    Josiah took a deep breath, tried to gather his thoughts, and began at the beginning. He pulled out the now ragged bits of paper, criss-crossed in red scribbles and black arrows, referencing first one part and then another of the design specifications, gathering momentum all the time. Why was he nervous? After all, he knew he was right, and Eli would listen, even if the others were too blinded by prejudice to see the truth. He didn’t care what they thought, only Eli mattered. His mind grew wings and soared, each sentence he spoke was perfect, his argument faultless - they would all recognise the truth of what he said. This was the perfect flash of inspiration, everything came together and he understood it on a new level - this was the feeling he lived for, the sheer energy, the power of the mind.
    He was reaching his conclusion and knew it to be irresistible.
    “And so, in conclusion, you can see that the structure of the defensive shield has an inherent weakness. It can be struck by a meteor and not sustain a scratch, but if subjected to vibrations of a certain frequency, a frequency not uncommon, the plasma flow will be interrupted, causing a catastrophic failure of all systems, primary and secondary, resulting in depressurisation and total annihilation of the city.”
    There was a moment of silence that seemed to stretch into an eternity. All eyes looked at him but he could not tell what they thought. He found, to his great surprise, that he was standing up, and perhaps had been for some time. They stared at him forever, pens held limply in their hands. In this moment of silence, Josiah felt Ammi’s loss more profoundly than he had for years, though he could not explain why. And then the silence ended.

The Book of Josiah - Chapter 20

    And there it was: a mountain in the heart of London, a snow-capped needle of glass and steel piercing the night sky. The Cathedral of the Steel God watched the world the way an earthly lord might survey his domain. Soaring amongst the clouds, it claimed a place in heaven. The icons of the Steel God were crusted in ice and snow, white on grey metal. The everlasting torch flicked from the top of the glass pyramid, a beacon for the lost.
    But the sight brought no cheer to Josiah as he trudged along the twenty-eighth skyway. He did not feel that stirring of heart that true believers felt on approaching the cathedral, nor did he feel the thrill he had once felt on nearing his place of work, looking forward to seeing Elijah. It was bitterly cold up here. He could have taken a lower skyway but this was the most direct route - Josiah begrudged any waste of time.
    Visions of Amber filled his mind. Tortured, caged, beaten. What were they doing to her? Anxiety gnawed at his gut and ate away at his stomach. If only the skycars had been running. This damn snow. The skyways were covered in a layer of black ice, slippery and treacherous. If he had had a car, Josiah might have taken the risk, but like everything else in his life, the Circle had taken it from him. He had known nothing else, and they had thrown him to the dogs. And now they had Amber. What more did they want from him? The machine - his last act of heresy, the last corner of himself. All he had left was his life, and what was that worth?
    When he had last rode the skyways he had been with Amber, driving till dawn. Now it was 3am Central Europe Time, and dawn was out of reach. Shivering violently, Josiah gritted his teeth, pulled his cloak around him, and marched on. Not far to go now, it was almost over.
    Josiah had not thought he would look upon this place again - he had thought that he had escaped the past but he was finding that he could not. He had spent fifteen years of his life in this place, his first memories were of steel fists and full moons. The Circle had been his family, Elijah his father and teacher.
    The Cathedral loomed ever larger as he approached, filling his vision, making him feel small and insignificant - as it was intended. For the last five years he had made this journey every day, and it seemed that each day his excitement had dwindled. Now there was simply a hole inside him.
    What would he find? And more importantly, who? If he got his hands on Lovecraft... She would be alright, they would both be alright.

The Book of Josiah - Chapter 19

 

The end is nearly upon us - just five more chapters until the end of the Book of Josiah! Enjoy.

    “I thought they would have found us by now,” Jos said as he and Jonah hurried down the twisting passageways, “it’s not exactly like we’re hiding from them.”
    “I told you,” replied Jonah, smiling enigmatically, “they won’t find us until the time is right.”
    “Jonah, I’m not sure about this, I’m frightened.”
    “I know. Look at it this way. The ship is going to crash into the city unless something happens. Even if I am completely insane and having paranoid delusions about some conspiracy, nothing we can possibly do now could make the situation any worse.”
    Jos had to admit that Jonah had a point. He felt a new resolve fill him. Despite the impossible odds, he and Jonah would manage to save the city. Together, there was nothing they could not do. They would get to the bridge and somehow they would turn the ship around. There wasn’t long to go now.
    But Jonah suddenly toppled over like a tree blown down in a hurricane. It was all Jos could do to avoid being knocked to the floor.
    Violent tremors began to course through Jonah’s body - he began to shake uncontrollably. Jos started to panic - was he having a fit? what should he do? Jonah’s arms and legs jerked spasmodically but without force, like a mad puppet. He had to do something!

The Book of Josiah - Chapter 18

    It wasn’t his fault. Not really. He was afraid of his dreams and so he fought the darkness. What had happened to his beautiful dreams? Once he had dreamt of other worlds and other times, when a man could be a hero, where he was free to live out his fantasies. But he had squandered his infinite dreams and now was left with only two.
    In one, he watched a cup of tea fall to the floor, so elegant, so graceful, and shatter into a thousand pieces like a drop of rain as it hits the ground; and an inhuman screech filled his ears as brakes burned, tires slid and a car, all too close, collided with a brick wall. It was inevitable and he was bound to watch, over and over again.
    But relatively speaking that was the good dream. In the other, he woke up in his bed to find Ammi lying beside him, worn by the passing of years but as beautiful as ever. And he would wake her up and tell her about the strange dream he had had, and how he had imagined the crash, and her funeral, and his sorrow, and she laughed and said “what a funny dream” and they both laughed together until Dinah came to find out what was going on; and she was so beautiful it ached his heart, and he told her about his strange dream, and how she had died and he had gone to her funeral and been unable to say a word, and he laughed because she was so full of life - they all laughed.
    Joe felt himself falling asleep again and drove his nails harder into his leg - he had to stay awake. it wasn’t his fault that he kept falling asleep in this meeting. How could he go to sleep at night knowing what waited for him in the shadows?
    His head jerked backwards and he knew that he couldn’t help himself. In a few minutes he would be asleep, and there was nothing he could do about it. No, he wouldn’t accept that.
    Eli was still talking but it was just a senseless drone, like an itch at the base of Joe’s mind. He did not understand a word that was being said but couldn’t ignore it. He had to seem interested but to do that he had to stay awake. Rising from his seat in what he hoped was a surreptitious manner, Joe went over to the water machine and poured himself a large cup of water.
    ‘I need something stronger than water,’ Joe thought but then was immediately angry at himself for thinking it. He did not drink any more.

The Book of Josiah - Chapter 17

    Darkness dissolved into light.
    From nothingness all he could see was fire, fire burning hot and bright. And yet he was cold. And could not move.
    The light was fleeting, the warmth fading - the darkness more than real.
    Steel chains bound his arms and legs, rusted links wore at his wrists and ankles. The constant sound of dripping water played out a never-ending riff. Water swirled and danced around the stone cobbles and pooled around his feet, covered with the filth of eternity. And yet his mouth was dry beyond enduring. And the water was out of reach.
    If he felt anything, it was abject terror.
    He knew he was alone despite the darkness. No, it wasn’t dark. Fire burned in braziers, fixed at equal intervals along the wall, flickering like ghosts, more dead than alive. And the walls stretched beyond the end of the world, beyond the brink of forever.
    And then he was in the jungle, running, running. The unbearable green burnt his eyes, the cascading water plunged his hair to rivers, the undergrowth tore at his tattered clothes. But he was running, and nothing else mattered.
    He was a jaguar, fleet of foot, king of the jungle, deadly hunter. His claws were like steel vices, his teeth like industrial diamonds. And his prey was close. The infuriating stench of its sweat filled his mind with visions of death and blood, of red and green.
    The water did not matter, the thickness of the air he fought was irrelevant - the only thing in the world was his prey. He had to run.
    And then he was the prey and was still running, running, fighting the pain of a broken arm - he knew that a piece of metal was stuck in his flesh. Cold sweat mingled with the gushing water but there was no oblivion.
    His antlers caught a branch and he was slowed for an instant - the pause was deadly - the hunter was upon him.
    This is a dream, he thought, and smiled to himself. There is no pain and no water. With a leap he sailed high into the air and left the hunter far behind. This is a dream, and here I can fly.
    But he could not fly, and so he fell down with the rain, faster than teardrops, plummeting to the green earth and the dark ribbon of silver. The ribbon rushed to meet him, its waters closed over his head.
    This is a dream, he thought, and I can swim. And so he did. But he saw that fish too can swim, and they gathered around him, sunlight flashed off bared fangs. Then all around him, the water turned from green to red.
    He was the hunter, laughing at his folly.
    He was the hunted, crying into blood.
    He was the fish, extracting his pound of flesh.
    He is you, and you are me, and I am everyone.
    “You are not My people. And you are not forgiven.”

*  *  *

    “Well Mr Smith, this is a pleasant surprise.”

The Book of Josiah - Chapter 16

 

Chapter 16 of the Book of Josiah is probably the one that has caused me the most difficulties over the years, and this week is no exception. This version has been censored to make it more suitable for all audiences - the original is rather more explicit and I decided not to post it on my blog. If you want to see it, to get the full story of the Book of Josiah, contact me privately. I may also put it up in a final ebook.

    “What the hell did you think you were doing?”
    “I’m sorry? I thought I was saving your life!”
    “What the hell were you doing?”
    “I saved your life - what are you talking about?”
    Amber shook her head in frustration, which just left Josiah even more confused and angry. He had risked his own life to help her reach safety and he had expected relief and maybe even some gratitude. She had just been shot in the leg - Josiah winced - but what was she so angry about?
    But what about Duke? He had been acting strangely as well - giving him the cold shoulder, if such a thing should be said of a man that had just taken a bullet in the shoulder. The pun amused him and his anger cooled. If only Amber would be more reasonable.
    “You really don’t know, do you?” Amber said, fiddling with her hands, then pushing back her hair; if she could have paced up and down the room she would have.
    Josiah kept his tone level and measured, determined to bring the conversation to a reasonable debate. “No, I don’t know. Could you tell me?”
    “Fine. Let me remind you, even if it was only a couple of hours ago,” she muttered something under her breath about short memories but Josiah decided to let the remark slide.
    “We were in the station,” she continued, speaking slowly, as one would when telling off an infant, too young to realise that what they have done is wrong, “they had shot at us, we had shot at them, and we were nearly in the clear. I was in trouble, you helped me get out. Don’t think I’m not grateful. The way out was ahead of us. There was no one in the way. Our path was clear. With me so far?”
    Josiah nodded, still no less confused - he knew what had happened next, that was when he had finally found the Plasma Inducer. He glanced down to the floor to check it was still there.
    “That’s when you decided, in your infinite wisdom, to go back into the middle of the shooting and pick up some dumb piece of metal! Duke was shot through the shoulder because of your stupidity. He could have died! Didn’t you think about what you were doing? Do you still not understand? I almost lost you.”

The Book of Josiah - Chapter 15

    “Are you afraid?”
    “Yes, a little. Why do you ask?”
    “You’re shivering.”
    Pausing for a moment to consider this, Jos found it was true and wondered why - this place was probably the warmest on the ship. Still, he pulled his cloak tighter and gritted his teeth.
    They walked on long-bladed grass that crunched delightfully at every step. Jos could barely remember the last time he had walked on grass - the smell was magical.
    A sudden stampede of memory threatened to overwhelm him - everything came back so clearly. He could see the swings he had played on as a child - they were red, with black seats, high enough off the ground that he had felt really grown-up to sit on them and swing into the air. He had swung and dreamt of flying, of reaching to the heavens, of becoming a pilot of a ship to the stars. He played on the slide and the roundabout, on the see-saw and the climbing frame that was shaped like an elephant’s head. He played and he smelled the grass beneath his feet, fresh with frost or dew. Ghosts of children played across his eyes, walking the paths beside him, laughing and shrieking with equal glee, climbing the tall oak trees to his left, the beech trees to the right, sitting beneath a gnarled, old willow. For a moment he could see everything. Then he was back.
    “It’s okay to be frightened,” Jonah said, in what Jos could only assume was supposed to be a comforting tone of voice - Jonah did not comfort well.
    “Thank you but I don’t really need your permission. Some deranged terrorists are trying to destroy the ship and I’m trying to stop them. Every security guard on the ship is looking for us - and will probably shoot us on sight given that their boss seems to be behind it all. And here we are, strolling through a park…”
    “An arboretum,” Jonah corrected him, almost sheepishly, “it’s an arboretum.”
    “… strolling through an arboretum as if it were a Sunday afternoon and we hadn’t a care in the world. I think I have earned the right to be a little scared.”

The Book of Josiah - Chapter 14b

Cont. from part 1 here.

    Theano and Amber were ahead of him, Lovecraft to his side and Duke followed close behind. These narrow tunnels made him nervous - anyone could be lurking just around the next bend. The rounded walls seemed to be funnelling them towards their destination, nudging them onwards. It was as if they had been swallowed by a great beast and were being pushed towards the gut. Covered with once-glossy tiles of indeterminate colour, with the shattered remains of strip-lights overhead, this place must once have been more welcoming than now. The shadows were almost alive, coiling and twisting over the shattered tiles, the bits of fallen masonry, shards of coloured plastic. The darkness itself was a predator, lurking around the next corner - and Josiah could not but feel that they were the prey.

The Book of Josiah - Chapter 14a

    The searing heat from the explosion still tore at his face and hands, a hundred scorpions striking one after the other. Josiah could see only the afterglow, nothing else was real. But even before he fully realised what was happening, Josiah had drawn his gun and was diving for cover. A soft-drinks dispenser now served as a barricade. Someone was shouting orders but Josiah couldn’t tell who it was. As his eyes began to clear, colour returned in stark contrasts. Stuttering flashes drove spears of light across the hall. What the hell was going on?
    Somehow, Lovecraft materialised beside him, hands nervously twitching as they held a sleek pistol. He popped his head around the machine, fired twice and darted back.
    “Where’s Amber? Where’re the others?” Josiah asked, fighting to concentrate.
    “I do not know,” Lovecraft replied jerkily, “I lost them.”
    Flashes of light burst across his eyes. Josiah felt the machine behind him shudder with sudden impacts. His hands were shaking and he looked at them curiously. He was holding a gun. What should he be doing? He had to do something. The noise was too loud. Bursting volcanoes of sound. Bones quaked, teeth shook. What should he do? What could he do? More flashes of light, gut-tearing eruptions. He had to get out of here.  Where was the exit? There had to be a door, a window, a way out. He shouldn’t be here. He had to get out!
    “Breathe slower,” Lovecraft said evenly, not looking at him. “We can get out of here if you concentrate. Pick up your gun, then wait for a lull. Shoot the people shooting us.”
    For a moment Josiah did not comprehend the words. It was all noise on top of noise. His pulse beat strong and fast in his ears, throbbing. Breaths were short and shallow. But when he became aware of this Josiah could fight for control. Lovecraft was right. He tried to slow his breath and waited for a pause. Without letting himself think, he was shooting across the platform. One shot, two shots. He hardly registered the recoil before ducking back into cover. Two more. Back into cover. They came more easily now. A fifth.
    Then he caught sight of Amber, crouching behind a stack of metal barrels in the ditch that had once held the railway lines. A weight lifted from his chest - at least she was okay. And beside her was Theano, pale but seemingly uninjured.
    Josiah slipped back into cover a moment before the return fire slammed into the wall behind him - for a moment the air was full of dust and shards of concrete. When it cleared, he peeked out from behind the drinks machine, searching for a target.
    The smoke from the explosion obscured everything, all the overhead lights had gone out as well, Only the flickering glow of flames and the flashes of gunfire lit the room. The sound of shots filled Josiah’s head from ear to ear until it became nothing but background noise. Between the staccato sounds he heard someone barking orders.
    “MOVE WIDE!” someone shouted but Josiah could not tell who it was.
    There! He could see one of the Nightmares behind a metal crate. Carefully, Josiah took aim.
    Cold metal pressed against his neck.
    “Drop your gun,” the voice hissed, “your friend as well.”

The Book of Josiah - Chapter 13

    A wave of dizziness passed through him. It started somewhere in his bowels, before rippling through his spine and up into his head. His legs felt insubstantial, as if they existed in three places at once - a nauseous feeling swelled in the pit of his stomach. He swayed, and nearly fell. Grabbing hold of a barrel, he caught himself, closed his eyes, and waited for the sickening sensations to pass. They left him a few moments later, with no trace of their presence remaining.
    Jos opened his eyes and looked around him. He must have stood up too fast when he stepped out of the ventilation shaft. At least he hadn’t revealed their presence here by falling over, or getting sick.
    Jonah didn’t seemed to have noticed that anything had been amiss. He was peering over the silver barrels into the vast brightly lit room beyond. Jos moved up beside him and inhaled sharply. He had heard of such engines in theory, seen the plans, the blueprints, but nothing could have prepared him for the actual presence of the great machine that dominated the room.
    It was the size of a large house, a mass of heaving metal and plastic. Parts were of nickel, parts of ivory, parts had certainly been filed or sawn out of rock crystal.  It was huge, brutish and ugly but with a strangely compelling elegance, like some sort of prehistoric predator swimming the oceans of space, devouring all that entered its path. But most entrancing was the engine’s strange song. From the depths of its belly came a ghostly sound, like a howl or a whale song. At irregular intervals it broke free and filled the room with an eerie song. And beneath it all was the purring hum, a note so low and loud that it made teeth buzz and bones vibrate.
    Surrounding the beast were dozens of displays, each shooting multicoloured readouts into the air, relaying the demands of the engine. The technicians scurried around and obeyed the whim of the machine, whether by pushing the buttons, turning the dials or pulling the levers that were spread around the room in a seemingly random manner. But arcane white markings painted on the steel walls suggested that beneath the chaos was a deeper order - an order that the uninitiated could not perceive.

The Book of Josiah - Behind the Scenes - 1

GENESIS
My inspiration usually comes from structures rather than characters - with Radiance the idea was to create a story around the 10 sefirot of the kabbalah, for the Book of Josiah, my first novel, the idea was different:

-What if there was a man who got younger the further into the future he went?

Which led to this thought:

-What if there were were three storylines, each set at different points in the future but the further into the future they went, the younger the main character became?

Casting my mind back to when I first began to write this story (I think I must have been around 16 at the time), I think that one of my main motivators behind this structure was to cheat around the size of a novel. Not being certain that I had one novel's worth of plot within me, I decided to write three interweaving stories instead, choosing to divide and conquer.

Cont. after the jump.

The Book of Josiah - Chapter 12 - JOE

 

Chapter 12 marks the half-way point for the Book of Josiah. We've heard a lot from Josiah and Jos, but what about Joe? We last saw him in chapter 6 when an old friend asked him to help terraform the moon.

    Joe had already been awake for nearly an hour when his alarm went off. He had barely been able to sleep at all, his mind full of niggling doubts and vague worries. Today was the day.
    He had gone to bed early, to be at his best, but sleep had deserted him. For hours he had tossed and turned, unable to hide from his memories, unable to slip into darkness, away from thought and fear. When he had finally drifted off, sleep had been capricious. He had woken more times during the night than he cared to remember. No, it wasn’t his sleep, it was his dreams that had betrayed him, over and over again. And then, at 6:34 he had woken and that was it. Since then he had done nothing but stare at the clock and replay his thoughts.
    It was 7:30 am. There was no real need for Joe to get up quite this early, but he had been anxious that he might not have enough time. He didn’t want to be late, nor have to rush. But now, in the harsh light of day, Joe couldn’t bring himself to stir. It had been too long and he wasn’t sure he could trust himself. What if he failed? This was a big chance, an opportunity to do something and leave a mark on the world. What if he said something stupid or irrelevant? How long had it been? He watched the seconds and the minutes ticking away and couldn’t muster the will to move his legs. Today was the day.