The Present Future Trilogy

Spoiler Alert! - Do not read any further if you have not read book 1.

Synopsis of Book 1 - A Time to Reap.

What has happened in the United States between now and the year 2492? Global warming has transformed the world, such that it would be unrecognizable by today's inhabitants. We don't know how warm it is or how high the tides have risen but that is largely irrelevant. It is enough to submerge large portions of the nation's coastal regions. It is enough to effect crops and the water supply. It has sufficiently changed the weather patterns across the globe. The good news is that technological advances have mitigated the climatic impact and in many ways enriched the lives of contemporary society. But technology is a two-edged sword. What has not changed is human nature. The era around 400 BCE is considered the beginning of civilization. People then and in 2492 CE conduct themselves in very much the same manner, in terms of power, prestige, greed, corruption, justice, war, friendship, love, hate — you name it. Sial Breen, our primary protagonist, has a huge ego. He does what he does for what he believes is the "greater good". He is not seeking personal gain only for the sake of his ego he seeks it because he believes he needs it to fulfill his mission — to unite the civilized world and reverse the planetary conditions he inherited. He lies and he manipulates people to get what he believes he needs, the ends justify the means. He is a consummate politician. Breen is committed to eradicating the Fedayeen, killing innocent women and children but only because he can find no other way to stop these people from destroying Western Civilization. His actions are not unprovoked or unjustified. He has values. He also believes in the 'just war' doctrine. He believes right is on his side. People in power always do when they make these kind of decisions, like dropping an atomic bomb on the citizens of Japan. Breen shows disdain for the thirds but he has done everything possible to ensure the success of the Antarctica mission. What do these things tell you about the man? Inch Marsh is an ordinary citizen who gets caught up in a situation that turns out to be bigger and more dangerous than he ever imagined. If he had suspected the outcome, going in, he would have stayed in the lab with his head in his computer. First he is swept along by curiosity which morphs into an intellectual challenge to solve a complex mystery and then a quest to find out who abducted his wife. His character remained unchanged, loyal to Hersh, Dee, Nyan, Feta and finally President Breen. Vladimir Grekov is a bit more complex. We don't know why he does not leave his residence, though that will be revealed later in the trilogy. He inherited his wealth through questionable business transactions not unlike the heirs of J.P. Morgan and other robber barons. The conflict lies in his love of country and his disdain of government. He openly says what others in power only think. The laws do not apply to him. Like every major corporation he is cheating on his taxes, he is unapologitically skirting the laws when he can. However, he does not flaunt his contempt for government unless provoked. He builds blacklisted technologies for his own purposes and when requested by the government. The 33 million he got from Nyan to build the etheric reader is not money he needed or even wanted. It was all about the challenge. He could have challenged Nyan when he said the reader was for a government project but he really didn't want to know. This wasn't a biological agent or a bomb. It wasn't going to kill anybody and he believed it should not have even been on the blacklist to begin with. Grekov was Breen's go to guy. He provided resources to the Arm, he helped Breen get elected, he was working with Breen trying to find out who was behind the plot discredit the president. He and the president cooked up the scheme to fake the attack on Grekov because the president knew that the Oval Office was bugged and he was feeding bad information to, who he thought were the traitors, not knowing that Nyan and Inch were spying on him thinking he was responsible for the quakes and stock market theft. Grekov helped Breen fake the assassination and hid him out. You could say that Grekov was amoral, not a good guy or a bad guy. He is a wealthy guy who makes his own morality. Not the first I'm sure. Who are the villains, you ask? Rola Blinz, Karl Hyde and Moush Harin. Rola is unequivocally a bad person, other than her business acumen, she had no redeeming qualities. She was broken at childhood and never made whole again. Power and control were her cover for feeling out of control emotionally. She went to the dark side with the promise of the presidency. She thought she was working with Karl Hyde, her old time friend, but she was working with a cyborg impersonating Hyde. What happened to the Fedayeen? Who were Rola Blinz and Rigel Rouse working for? Will the expatriots make a new life in Antarctica? Who caused the quakes and stole the money? Are there more cyborgs out there? Is Breen going to be successful? Answers are coming.

Synopsis of Book 2 - Revelations.

Several years have passed but not a lot has changed. Breen is still battling with forces, new and old, to get the Global Union fully adopted. Changes in the political climate in Europa have moved them further rather than closer to adoption. Those responsible for the terrorism in the United States and Europa remain at large. While social and political issues continue to demand the president’s attention planetary crises are occurring with an increased frequency. Coronal mass ejections, city-block sized asteroids, and massive volcanic eruptions are competing with ever-increasing terrorist activity to disrupt the social order and perhaps destroy the planet. Dr. Marsh finds himself, once again at the center of all the planetary issues. With his new recruit, Wispa Wilkes, they do their best to corral the talent necessary to resolve these problems. Meanwhile, a new antagonist is revealed. It turns out that Fawzia Zaliki is behind much if not all of the terrorist activity. She has an ago old agenda. She will clash with President Breen, besting him at every turn but it will cost her dearly. Her unique weapon is the cyborgs that she has installed in the Europan government, NSA and on the streets of Patago. This technology is so draconian that even Vladimir Grekov wants nothing to do with it. We see AI technology being used for good an evil and “blacklisted” technology once again saving the day. Many of the questions left unanswered in book 1 have been addressed but some things remain unresolved. The Global Union has been adopted with Breen as its first president. Planetary threats have been neutralized. Fawzia has been exposed but is on the run. The SHARE program is addressing economic disparity, for now. But where does this all end? Book 3 is coming.

Book 3 - Going Home

This story is completed but life goes on.