This is Part 2 of a story about a bright boy living in Berverly Taff's United Queendom. Recent events have caused unrest. Peter and his mother are affected. As before I will edit or delete the story if Beverly doesn't approve.

Peter continued his passion of leaning things he had been denied. He went on the internet every night. He made contact with the shadow organisation that were working in the background to make public all the vile things the feminist governments were doing to keep men under control. All this was done in the name of keeping females safe from the savage barbaric males.

He learned from his mother who had two employees working at her supermarket that were feminist party members, that the new prime minister was going to push through new draconian laws to control males.

Peter had been given a set of IP addresses and a list of which ones he should use. A mal who worked at GCHQ, had been deleting records of illegal internet activity. He had left some minor infractions on, so his feminista mistresses wouldn't get suspicious.

"Mum, look at this."

Mel was happy that Peter could still get enthusiastic about things. She knew working on the dust carts was crushing his spirit. The curfew had been set at 7.30 now. He worked a 12 hour day. All he did was work. He had one day off a week, like most men. The only reason they were allowed that, was the government had been advised males needed at least one day to recover and rest.

She kissed the back of his head and looked at the screen.

"One of our ships sunk, I heard a rumour, but why is it so interesting to you.

"Look at the report, the pictures. These are from the freedom group, five o'clock shadow. The rip in the hull. It wasn't an accident. The navy blamed the captain and demoted her. The ship was worth a hundred and fifty million pounds! All the crew got to safety, but it was attacked."

Peter clicked to another page. It showed a very poor quality picture of what looked like a black flying pasty, with an arm out of the bottom.

"It was him mum. It was Charlie! He's getting his revenge for being attacked. Finally a man who can fight back without the fear of losing his balls"

Mel gave him a bitter smile. They were changing the laws all the time. Castration was once used for sexual offences, now it could be used as punishment for almost anything. Didn't they know? Without testosterone most men lost the strength they needed to do their jobs.

Men still did all the heavy dirty jobs. Sure women were managers, but the men carried out the work. All the mechanics and builders were men , they all worked for women that owned the companies. In most cases the women never had a clue as to what the men did , they just did the admin and made all the profit.

Judy, the checkout supervisor that worked for Mel had been screaming at one of the boys who filled the shelves. The boy had dropped a carton of milk and some had got on Judy's shoe. The boy was fresh out of school. He was only fourteen. Mel took Judy into her office and asked her to go easy on him. Judy said that all men were useless and if the party got its way, within fifty years UQ would be male free.

Mel asked her what she meant. Judy told her they wanted to introduce a female only childbirth policy. Mel pointed out that would mean women doing all the heavy dirty jobs that men did now. Judy said it would be worth it to see the country rid of the male scum.

Mel was determined to get rid of this nasty extreme feminist somehow.

Almost a year later Peter sat at the computer eating a sandwich. It was Sunday morning, he gasped and started choking. Mel ran over to him and patted his back until he coughed up the bread. After he calmed down he pointed to the screen. His eyes were wild with panic.

"Look at this!"

There were stolen copies of changes to the law that meant all men who drove a vehicle were to be castrated. This was done to avoid any chance of hover rage. An incident was cited that had happened a few days before where a man stopped his vehicle and attacked a women and her children after he caused an accident. The police had tasered him to death.

The law stated that any males who currently drove a vehicle were to be given compulsory castrations. This was to prevent them from leaving their jobs. Any male who had a private car, must give up their licence or be castrated.

Peter looked like he was going to be sick. Mel screamed.

"Fucking mad bastards! They are pushing men too far. They can't do this, they can't."

"Our crew is four men. Me and Billy drive mum, they are going to cut my balls off. I may as well fucking kill myself."

Mel had made discrete enquiries about moving to Australia, she was told she may be able to go, but they wouldn't let Peter go.

Peter clicked on a link showing the incident that sparked the new laws. The official news report described the attack, but the site showed a video link with a title of . “Now see the truth. “

The footage from a security camera on a warehouse showed a delivery vehicle moving along a main street, when a hover shot out of a side turning without stopping. The delivery van caught the rear of the car and span it around. The man got out and rushed to the car. The woman had a small cut on her head and you could see the man back away with his hands in the air. The woman was screaming in his face, while he pressed himself against his van, his hand still in the air.

Seconds later a police car arrived. The two women got out and shot the man with tasers, without even questioning anyone. The man dropped to the floor, but officers fired another set of taser leads at him. The man stopped moving. One of the officers started to talk to the woman, while the other could be seen kicking the man’s head.

"No, no, this can't happen it's not fair. They can't treat people like this. All this feminista crap started because they said men were evil. They raped women and kept them as virtual slaves. I ate it up as girl, but as I grew I could see it for the lie it was. We have to do something!"

"The video went viral mum, they uploaded it to all the social media sites simultaneously, from two hundred accounts. The mals that work for shadow are geniuses. There is a protest organized for tomorrow mum. It's outside Parliament, I want to go."

"Peter you've seen what the police are like, they'll shoot you without a second thought. I'm going, but you must stay here love."

The video showing the police killing the poor driver had scared Peter. He knew women could do anything to men without consequences.

The next evening Mel arrived home in a frightening state. Her hair was a mess and she had a cut on her knee. Peter had just got in from work, stinking of dirty bins.

"What is it mum? What happened?"

Between sobs Mel told him.

"If you had been there, they would have killed you Peter. I'm so glad I stopped you. There were a few brave, or foolish men waving placards. There were at the front of a large group of women. There must have been nearly five hundred people there. The men were giving out leaflets about the unfairness of the new laws. That's all they were doing."

"Mum, who killed who? Why?"

"One of the men walked forward toward the police line holding a leaflet. They gave no warning, they just shot him. They used bullets, not tasers. The other men rushed the police line, and they were all shot. The women were outraged we all went to help the fallen men. Women are almost never treated badly by other women, we thought we'd be safe. They open fire on the whole crowed, police came from the sides to stop us escaping. I was at the back and run into a side street. They killed so many women Peter. Nothing like this has ever happened before."

"They can't hush this up mum, it's impossible. The whole country will be up in arms about it by tomorrow."

Oh Peter, the powerful have always controlled the masses via the media; Hitler did it with the Jew's. Women have believed the rubbish about men for years. Although the last election only had a thirty percent voter turnout. Women like me, and I do think there are millions like me think there is no point voting between angry feminists and angry lesbian feminists. There is no party for moderation, so most of us don't bother to vote. The system won't allow it."

"Mum if I know this online group, they will find a way of getting this news out. There must be a security camera they can hack. If the country see's what you saw, it may awaken a sleeping giant."

"Women came to power on the idea that men were all dangerous killers, this shows we women are just as bad Peter. There was a book I read called animal farm, when I was astudent. This reminds me of that. We just have to be careful. The government has shown its hand. If you are not feminista, you're the enemy."

This is Part 3 of a story about a bright boy living in Berverly Taff's United Queendom. Recent events have caused unrest. Peter and his mother are affected. With the end of Beverly's amazing story . This is my take on what some of the events may have looked like from someone living in the UQ.

As before I will edit or delete the story if Beverly doesn't approve. My ideas are guesswork into what may have happened.

As the weeks went by Peter watched in dismay as the primitive clinics were built that could perform the millions of castrations that were to be carried out. Boarder and port patrols were doubled to prevent escapes. The news was full of feminsta propaganda about the possibilities of castrating all men after they were forced to donate sperm.

The irony wasn't lost on Peter as he watched his local clinic being built. As usual all the builders were men. The female supervisors stayed in the portacabin most of the time. The men were sullen and resentful. One of the female television reporters nicknamed the clinics "chop shops". She was surprised at the reaction of some of the women she interviewed. While many agreed men must be controlled, the idea of mutilating so many seemed distasteful.

Some women were scared that many of the men due to be castrated may rebel. They realized that although the men had no access to weaponry, they were still a lot bigger and stronger than the police. They had been taught to fear and despise men from a young age. One of the ways they were made to fear men was being shown the physical differences in size and strength of a full-grown woman and a man. They were told if they were alone with a man the man could overpower them. This led most women to fear men.

A few days before the clinics were to open Peter arranged to meet a contact from the Shadow resistance movement. He rode his pushbike ten miles outside of town and waited on a lonely empty farm road. After waiting for twenty minutes, he was about to give up when an old petrol car drew up beside him.

The window came down and a masculine looking woman with a voice slightly too deep spoke.

"Peter?"

"Yes, what do I call you?"

"Nothing, just get in."

"Why meet here?"

"There are five miles of fields, I needed to see if this was a setup. Were safe for a few minutes anyway."

"I need out. I’m due for castration next month."

"Oh, I see. Well you're lucky. I never had the chance. They did me at fourteen. I work for the government. I’m fully converted."

Peter took in her appearance. She was attractive and curvy, but her face had an unmistakably masculine jawline. He knew converted boys had the same rights and pay as most women. Many of those converted had surgery to improve their looks.

"Before you say anything you regret Peter, I chose to sound like a man. It upsets the women I work with. I like to remind them I was forced into this. Just because I was intelligent, they did this to me. Fucking bitches. You wouldn't believe how many like me are working against them."

"How do you get away with it, don't they notice?"

"No, it's the feminista mentally. They think they have done us a huge favor. They saved us from becoming men. We are very careful. We also have a few sympathizer's among high ranking women."

"Women aren't the enemy Peter, it's the extreme feminists. A handful of fanatics can do a lot of damage, a lot of them can change the course of history."

"You mean like the Nazi's in Germany?"

"Yes, I can see you have been using the I.P. addresses to learn real history. Not the feminista lies. In Germany most of the population weren't Nazi's yet they stood by while they victimized the jews. Decent women do the same as their sons are brothers are victimized. They know if they try to stop it they will be targeted by the extremists. Politically, moderation does not exist. Women have a good life, mostly built on by the labor of men. They don't want to give it up, but it doesn't mean they like the way men are treated."

"My mum was at the demonstration. She nearly got shot."

"I helped upload that to Fembook. There is trouble brewing. Anyway, I can offer you three options. One, Escape to a male controlled country."

"Where and how?"

"India or China. You would be hidden in a small space in a shipping container. That is very hard, it can take three weeks to India, and longer to China."

"What else?"

"I can get you a fake I.D. as a woman."

"A woman! Why not as a man?"

"They change men's I.D. too often. You have to renew it every six months. Women never get asked. As long as you look the part you can work and enjoy an easy life."

"I'm not sure about that, what was the third?"

"Just wait, there is stuff happening. Things are moving fast now. Something has happened involving Queen Sophia’s and Princess Victoria. It could change everything. "

"But I only have five weeks now!"

"Just sit tight. I can get you to a safe house if the plan goes wrong. If you really want option one, contact me in two weeks. Right, out you get, we've been too long."

Peter cycled home and told Mel about his encounter. He never mentioned what was said about Queen Sophia’s and Princess Victoria.

The clinics were due to open the following Monday. On Sunday night the air was filled with the sounds of sirens and smoke. The night sky was lit up behind their house. Peter wanted to ride out and see what was going on, but it was after male curfew. He went onto the Shadow site and saw every one of the clinics we on fire. All fifty of them. It looked like the men were safe for a few months.

The news just reported there were some delays to the program . Peter knew false information was how government control populations. Then something amazing happened. A spaceship came to London from Australia. Peter knew all about Charlie. He read every report he could find. Charlie was his hero.

He followed the news about the saucer on the UQ channels, as well as world news and Australian networks. He learned the Australian's were opening the ships to the public and had insisted men be allowed to visit. He was sure the government would find a way to stop this. Men worked long hours and did not get paid holiday or sick pay. He was sure he would not be allowed time off to go. Peter had it in his head to either stowaway or ask for political asylum.

Then the news came that shocked the nation. The prime minister had been arrested and General Wilson had been shot. This all happened during accusations of treason against Queen Sophia. The nation waited to see how the situation would unfold.

It's a hard life for a bright boy in the Feminine Queendom Part 5

This part fills in some of the events that happened in the final Chapter of Beverly Taff's The Feminine Queendom 90
She kindly gave her permission for me to post this.

Then the news came that shocked the nation. The prime minister had been arrested and General Wilson had been shot. This all happened during accusations of treason against Queen Sophia. The nation waited to see how the situation would unfold.

It took days and the news was confusing. This was mostly due to the media being scared of upsetting the feminista government. They were reluctant to let the public know the facts. After a week parliament had been prorogued by royal command. The Queen was effectively governing the country.

The worse of the last governments laws were immediately repealed. Peter felt slightly safer. He had no idea to where this was all leading. In the following weeks things carried on much as they had before. Peter contacted Shadow again. The converted mal he had meet before responded. She told him that she was sure this was the end of the feminsta government. She said when the truth came out the whole house of cards would collapse.

Peter was told that there was a mal servant that worked in the royal household. He saw something happen in the stables. There were mainly stable girls, but they had a stable boy for the heavy lifting and mucking out. The boy was very good looking and fifteen years old. Apparently Princess Victoria was fond of him. One of the royal guards caught them kissing. She kicked the boy to the ground and tasered him. Princess Victoria had complained bitterly and rushed to her mother and they demanded the boy be released.

General Wilson went to see the Queen and her daughter. The servant only heard snatches of the conversation from outside the door. Wilson had told Victoria she should stick to girls. Victoria told her that not all women were lesbians. She said women should be free to choose who they loved. The Queen agreed and asked wasn't it time the law's that restricted men be relaxed. She said they weren't at war with them. Women were in control, they had won. She was unhappy that half her subjects were treated as second class citizens. Perhaps they could relax some of the laws.

The servant said that Wilson told them that sort of talk was dangerous to the security of the nation. She stormed out of the meeting, with total disregard for royal protocol. Later the Queen and Victoria were invited to Downing street to have a meeting with the PM and Wilson to discuss their ideas.

This was intriguing to Peter, but it didn't make any sense until the news about the Queen and her daughter having explosive implants put in their necks was released. It was obvious that the devices were implanted when they visited Downing street. The evil pair had wanted to make sure the head of state didn't spread her "dangerous" ideas.

A year passed; nothing had changed. Men were still treated with contempt by many women. There did seem to be a growing resentment by many women in business that the Australian economy was now one of the strongest in the world. This was all due to a man. A man that would not share his discoveries with the world. The man was originally a UQ citizen, but due to the mistreatment of men, he had found a way to flee the country. Perhaps the way men were treated was wrong?

Charlie himself was incredibly wealthy now, as were all the crews of the asteroid miners. Peter watched avidly as he presented his evidence at General Wilson's trial. UQ did not normally televise trials, unless it was to make examples of men. This was important to the whole country.

If looks could kill Charlie would have been dead the moment he stepped into the courtroom. Wilson clearly hated him with a passion. At one point she screamed that he would pay for what he did. She said she would kill his whole family. Charlie just seemed bored as he looked her in the eyes and said;

"You tried that already, several times. Just face it you aren't much of a soldier, you were only ever a bully."

Charlie had no charge to answer, as he had acted in self defense and saved the Queen and her daughter.

After Charlie's evidence General Wilson face additional charges of piracy. The most damming evidence was sent to the prosecutor on the last day of the trail. The security service had found a video on the PM's phone. When it was played the whole nation was in shock.

The video showed a young man around the age of fifteen in prison uniform. He had been badly beaten, both his eyes were swollen and his lips were cracked. He was pushed out of the back a black prison van next to a cornfield. He struggled to stand. The camera zoomed out as General Wilson kicked him.

"Get up you piece of filth. You're free to go."

The boys broken mouth turned into what may have been a smile.

"Can I really go mam?"

"Yes, before I change my mind"

He started to limp across the field. General Wilson pulled an object from her pocket. It looked like a remote key fob for a car. She held it up to the camera.

"Now zoom in on the boy."

The camera operator did as she asked. The boy had not got far. He was walking with shuffle whimpering in pain. A dull muted explosion could be heard as the boy’s head was half severed from his neck. Blood sprayed as the body collapsed.

Victoria screamed and fell to her knees sobbing. Several members of the jury threw up.

Before the video ended Wilson could be heard laughing, then saying;

"Well that's the field test done PM. Now we know what to expect if that bitch of a Queen gets any stupid ideas."

There was an uproar in court. One woman clambered over tables to reach Wilson. She was calling her a murdering bitch.

When things had calmed the prosecution summed up.

"I am sorry you had to see that, but images are things that stay with us. I know I'll never forget the face of that poor young man for the rest of my life. Remember this is what our leaders, our government represent. I know this is not completely relevant in this trial. Please, I ask you all to ask this of yourselves this. Would you like to be a man in this wonderful country? This United Queendom?"

Most of the court turned to look at the Queen. She was busy comforting her distraught daughter.

There was total silence. The country held it's breath. Many women watching turned away feeling guilt as they considered the question.

"If the answer is no, which I suspect it is. Ask yourself what you can do to change it. Remember all of you who voted for this party, this is what you voted for. Extreme measures against males. Now you have seen what that looks like. "

The jury retired to consider their verdict. The country watching the trail considered it's future and it's recent past. This horrible woman was a product of the feminista regime. Her extreme beliefs got her promoted to a position of power. Is this what they wanted their county to be?

The Queen caught her eye. She saw the Queen nod almost imperceptibly.

The prosecutor knew she had won her case. She also hoped her message while summing up would give her twin boys a brighter future. She loved them so much, and as a good mother, would do anything she could to spare them the life they were destined to lead under feminista rule.

Mel and Peter were crying after watching the trial.

"Oh Peter, I'm so sorry. What have we become?"

"Not your fault mum, just those crazy feministas."

Later she found him watching ballet on the computer. It was from outside the UQ because it was a man and a woman. They danced in perfect harmony with each other. The man lifted the woman over his head and turned, she landed softly and sprang back up.

"That's how it should be mum. The woman's beauty and grace, the man's speed and power. Working together to create something wonderful."

She hugged him, he really was a special boy.

"That's what happened with Charlie mum. He was always clever, but he needed Chloe to support him to be the man he has become. I'd like to marry a woman one day. Do you think that could ever happen."

"Well after today, I think anything may be possible Peter. We will have to see."

more to come

This story is set after the events that happened in the final Chapter of Beverly Taff's The Feminine Queendom 90
She kindly gave her permission for me to post this.

The election is less than a year away. The Queen has found a leader for a new party to oppose the existing Feminista parties. The polls show that many women and men won't vote against the feminist parties, for fear of reprisal. Peter has been injured saving a police officers life. His bravery has capture the attention of the nation. The Queen needs to find a way to use this to her advantage.

Peter was kept on a drip with pain killers. He slept most of the time. His mother had shown him the extent of his burns. The side of his temple and half of his scalp were an angry red blistered mess. His shoulder and upper arm were in the same condition.

The doctor had told him they would need to wait until it healed until they could decide what they could do with plastic surgery. He told his mother he felt fine and she could go home. He knew she would worry about the staff at the supermarket.

The next morning, he awoke to a vision of beauty. As his eyes focused he saw the Princess Victoria looking down at him with a concerned expression.

“Hi Vicky, sorry I look so gruesome.”

“Oh Peter, my poor brave boy. How are you?”

“Oi, less of the boy, I’m a bit older than you. I’m nineteen. I’m OK thanks, it only hurts when I breath.”

Victoria smiled at him. She had liked him when she first met him. There was something very alluring about a wounded hero.

“My mother has asked me, to ask you for a favor.”

“Oh, and here I was thinking you like me.”

Peer winced as he tried to pull a sad face.

“I do like you Peter, why do you think I volunteered?”

She leant over the bed and kissed his undamaged cheek.

“The press and the television stations are dying to interview you. You are the hot story. Women are fascinated by you. All their lives they have been taught to fear men. Many were weary of the new laws giving men freedom. They still think men hate them. Then you come along and put your life on the line to save a woman. It sends a powerful message Peter. We need to build on it.”

“So what can I do?”

“We want you to do an interview with the FBC. They broke the story. The crew that filmed it are smitten with you. We need to come up with a speech that draws the country together.”

“I’ve been thinking about what to say, since they told me last night about the newspapers wanting to talk to me. Trust me I know what to say.”
“Are you sure, we could run through it.”

“No honestly. It will come from my heart. If we practice, it will sound contrived.”

“Well if you’re sure. They will be here this evening. I’ll stay for moral support if you like?”

“I’d like that Vicky. “

They chatted like teenagers do. Peter told her about the experiences he had growing up and the times her had been mistreated. He could see that genuinely stung her. She told him that the FBC had several men’s news programs on now. That men’s bars had been given free televisions to help keep men up to date about their new rights.

Vicky told him about being implanted with an explosive device, and about Charlie Sage saving her. They had common ground there. They both idolized Charlie. Vicky promised she would try to get a call through to him, so Peter could talk to him.

Later that evening the FBC set up the cameras in Peters room. The interview began. Peter’s mother Mel, along with most of the nation, including many men watched it.

The image of Peter before he was burnt filled the screen. Tracy Wareham began the interview
.
“This is Peter Davis. He is one of the new recruits who signed up to join the police after the recent corruption revelation’s.”

The camera showed Peter in bed, then zoomed into his poor damaged face. This caused most viewers to wince at the painful looking burns.

“Peter, as most of you know put his life on the line for a fellow officer, against all odd, and regard for his personal safety, he saved her from certain death. What I would like to know Peter is why you did it.”

“She was a human being that needed help Tracey. I would have done it for anyone. “

“Many can’t understand why a man would want to help a woman Peter. We are taught from an early age that men shouldn’t be trusted. So why did you help her.”

“Tracy you, like many women have the wrong idea about men.”

“Peter, some of the men we spoke to told us that most men are brave, it’s a masculine quality. Your fellow recruit Angie told you not do it. Barbra your colleague would have died.”

“Let’s get one thing straight Tracy. Angie is brave. She did as she was told by a superior officer, she stayed calm and called for backup. Women are as brave as men, but Angie is 5ft 4 inches. Barbra is 5ft 6 inches. I’m 6ft 2 inches. Well I may have shriveled an inch or two now. Angie could not have carried Barbra. She made a correct call. I’m stronger and faster. I worked out that I had a chance. It was a close call though.”

“Don’t denigrate what you did Peter. It was amazing, you have captured the heart of the nation. Do you have anything else to say?”

“Yes Tracy. This is a message for the men and the women of the nation. First to the women I’d like to say. I don’t blame you for the way you see men. Many of you, like my own mother know the way the women of the UQ have treated men is wrong. You were raised to believe that. History is full of examples of governments using a race or a religion as a scapegoat. Everything wrong is caused by the scapegoat. When the feminist won power, they blamed men and used them as a scapegoat for years. They showed you the worse men can do, never the best. You were lied to and manipulated for generations by greedy evil women that would do anything to cling on to power. Be brave, forgive yourself. “

This was not what anyone expected. The women were used to men complaining about the way they were treated. Many felt guilty and uncomfortable about it recently. The men couldn’t understand why he didn’t blame women for the way they were all treated.

“To the men I’d like to say, be brave forgive the women. They were manipulated. It’s time to move on. What the women did was treat men the way women are still being treated in some places of the world. Revenge is pointless. An eye for an eye, leaves a world full of blind fools. I know you mistrust them, but we need to move on. Show them the best of what a man can be. “

There was silence. Tracy did not want to ask the questions she had, it would cheapen the words she had just heard. Such wisdom from a young uneducated man.

“This is for everyone. Trust each other. Women and Men, get out and vote against the feminist parties. Stop this cycle of hate and pain. Let this disaster end now. Working together we can turn this country around. Vote UCEP. End the hate, end the pain.”

“Well Peter. Thank you for that message.”

Mel was stunned at what her son had said. He had hit the spot with his speech. She and her friends all knew it wasn’t right the way their society was. They all knew what seemed to happen to anyone who rallied against the feminists. They seemed to disappear before they gained much support. The recent trials of party members and police revealed several cases of women murdered for campaigning for men’s rights.

The Queen called Em.

“You saw that right?”

“Yes who wrote it?”

“Vicky said he just did it all on his own. It was better than anything I could have written. It seemed to come from the heart.”

“The audience must have been huge Sophie. We will have to get the results of another opinion poll tomorrow. Vote UCEP. End the hate, end the pain.. I think I want him for my campaign manager.”

Things may finally be turning around, the Queen thought. Hopefully all the women that didn’t vote now would, and the men would see they could only keep their new freedoms by voting.

She was looking forward to seeing the results of the poll when her phone rang. It was Charlie Sage.

This story is set after the events that happened in the final Chapter of Beverly Taff's The Feminine Queendom 90
She kindly gave her permission for me to continue with this storyline and to use characters from her story.

The Queen was having her bi-weekly briefing with Em.

"We couldn't have had a better outcome if we tried. I'm going to enjoy the next poll results."

"Yes it should help even the most committed feminists see that they were being led by crazed fanatics. It wasn't until I expressed anything less than total hatred of men that they showed their true colors. A bomb in Vicky's and my neck. So the stuff about murdering babies and shooting men didn't surprise me."

"You know her party has disowned her now? They have also joined the other feminist party. They are now the UFP. So they don't split the vote. I'm sure we are still on course to win. We have the televised party debate in a few weeks, there will just be me and the Kelly Moore, the combined party leader. I'm sure she will have a few tricks up her sleeve."

"Em, I have an idea about that. Vicky has suggested naming Peter as deputy leader of the UCEP. She thinks he will be ideal in the live debate."

"I know he's won the hearts of many women, but dare we risk an unknown in something as important as this?"

"An average man in the UQ, no. They would be full of resentment, and probably get angry. You couldn't blame them. Peter is different. Vicky's been seeing a lot of him. She's with him now at the hospital. He's just had his plastic surgery."

"So why is he different? He was due to be castrated by this woman's party. That would upset most men."

"You saw him on the roof. That Australian bodyguard was about to shoot that demented woman, Peter stopped her. He even asked why she hated men. Vicky says he doesn't feel anger, just sadness that men are treated so badly. Kelly Moore will see a man and do what all feminists do to men. She'll try to get him angry, and when he starts to shout, she'll say; Look typical man."

"So you think he will keep calm? I must admit, having a man in a position of power would help the men see we are serious. It would piss off Kelly Moore too."

"Oh sorry for swearing ma'am."

"Don't worry about it Em. I think it will piss her off too. Peter has a high IQ. I'm sure you can trust him to research what he needs to do. I'll get Vicky to ask him today."

The question was asked, and Peter agreed. He told Vicky of his plans to go into space, but knew it would be impossible if the UCEP didn't win the election. He had three weeks to prepare. The first thing he did was contact shadow. He asked if there was a way to get a sneak preview of what the UFP were going to use to back up their debate. The shadow hackers started to hack.

In Australia Charlie was spending some much needed rest with Chloe and the children. They were relaxing on the beach when his phone rang. It was Katherine Bergson, the defense minister.

"Katie, what's up?"

"Nothing bad Charlie, in fact something to your advantage. I have been talking to the PM. She is so grateful to you for what you have done for Australia, and her boys."

"I've never met he boys Katie. Not sure what you mean."

"Her boys were 10 and 8 years old when you came on the scene. She was facing the choice of having them feminized or letting them stay male and have a sad lonely life. What we want to do is set up a company with you as its head."

"A company doing what? Why would I want to run it?"

"The Australian asteroid mining company Charlie. The AAMC. You will be the owner of all the Dawn craft. You built the engines, but we build the craft. The ownership will pass over to you if you agree the terms. The government will take 50% of the profit. Government's aren't good at running profitable companies. They tend to become political footballs."

"OK, I'll need to talk this over with Chloe before I give you my answer."

"No problem. Just remember though. I know you want real equality and it is happening slowly. Think what it would mean to the men of Australia. The largest, richest company owned, and run by a man."

"Now that would be something. The fighters would stay with the armed forces I assume."

"Of course, we can't have those in private hands can we Charlie."

Charlie discussed it with Chloe, who thought it was a great way to encourage men to get more involved with the new industry. She also knew running a company with all the complex safety and licensing agreements would drive him to despair.

Chloe had a solution. Jane Anston. Charlie didn't dislike her, she had never treated him badly. This was because she knew what an asset he was to her company.

Charlie agreed, he named Juliet as CEO, and Jane Anston the vice president. They were all to receive a share of the profit. Charlie insisted that the company be led by engineers. He had an idea to increase the amount of mining ships tenfold. This would mean more jobs for men in the gravity shipyards and more in space. These men may not be educated as well as the women, but they would soon be richer than many of them. Money talks.

Back in the UQ, the live debate began at 7pm. Kelly Moore was not told that she would be facing Peter until a few hours before the start. She hastily made adjustments to her notes, and was secretly pleased she was going up against a mere male. She knew his display of bravery had gained him affection with some women, but he was still the enemy.

She made her opening statement and told the audience that men could never be equal as they were not intelligent enough to have the responsibilities that women have. Peter pointed out that boy’s education was stopped when they were fourteen. He told her that intelligence and education were not the same thing.

"The rare cases of intelligence in males is rewarded by conversion into females. We never wasted a good brain." She said.

"I have an IQ of nearly 150. Intelligent males had a choice under feminist rule, play dumb or mutilation. Many chose to play dumb."

Kelly shifted uncomfortably. If he really did have a high IQ she may not get an easy ride as she had been expecting.

"Imagine what you could have been Peter, without all that horrible testosterone in your body. We have all seen how destructive that makes men. Play the clip please."

The first clip showed a man climbing out of a delivery truck screaming at a woman. There were old pictures of battered wives. Children and families suffering in wars. Men killing each other and mistreating women.

She smiled at him, and thought to herself, answer that one your silly little man.

"Yes that was horrible. Those men were bad people."

"No, they were bad males. Men do bad things. Men have always been aggressive and women have always suffered due to it."

"Kelly, you are quite right."

Kelly thought she had won. It always worked putting males in their place. This would help win over the public, then she could reverse all these new freedoms’ the men had been given.

Peter continued; "Yes, Men have done bad things due to being males. They have also done amazing things. They have invented most of the technology you use today. The society you feminists have created waste nearly 50% of the potential of the population. Men made that mistake over a hundred years ago. Then things changed and got better for women. When the original feminists came to power they did it by promising true equality. They lied and disenfranchised men. It's been downhill ever since."

"Women are happier now, without interference from men." She said.

"Are they? Princess Victoria told me how many drug treatment centers she had opened. I looked onto it. You and previous governments have been hiding the truth for years. There are huge amounts of deaths by drug overdoses. Suicides and deaths among men were not recorded, you never cared about them. Unnatural female deaths have been increasing since the alienation of men. Women need men, and men need women. Most of the world works like this. Trying to force lesbianism on straight women is the main cause. There was a report done by a previous government. It was never published."

"That's nonsense we don't need men. The world would be better without them. "

"I don't think we'll ever know that. Most of the world recognizes the need for both genders. We complement each other. Now, because of the way you have treated men, if you were invaded tomorrow, they would probably help the invaders."

"You admitted yourself, that men were violent."

"I did, but then we aren't the only sex guilty of such acts. Please run the clip."

The video showed security footage of General Wilson shooting a Taser into the back of Charlie's ground suit.

"That was the inventor of the gravity engine that General Wilson shot. He fled with his wife to Australia. Which now has the fastest-growing economy in the world. Wasted potential!"

The next part showed the driver being kicked, stomped on, then tasered to death. Then there were several blurred videos of men being executed by prison guards. It switched to camera footage of police opening fire on a large group of men and women protesting. The picture showed the large pile of body bags. The final part showed a boy running across a field and General Wilson pressing the detonator and the boy's neck exploding. Then it froze on Wilson's sickeningly happy face.

"I'm sorry to have to show that last part again. I asked permission of the boy's mother to show that clip. She said, if it would stop any other mother losing her son, I could."

Kelly gulped. That last image was so powerful; she could see the shock on the faces of the audience. Most of them had not seen the clip before.

She just blurted out, "Women can't live with men, it just doesn't work."

"Please continue the video." said Peter.

The clip showed children playing together at school. Boys and girls together. Two teenager's holding hands and kissing. It showed them getting married and having the first dance. This faded to them decorating a nursery. Images of the woman giving birth holding her husband’s hand as she pushed. Then the parents playing with a boy and girl on the beach. The children were grown in the next part, leaving home. The last part showed the elderly couple kissing and holding hands watching a sunset.

Peter waited until the image faded. He saw many of women in the audience were wiping their eyes. There was a small amount of men, who were trying to look unaffected.

"This is what a real family is. This is what the feminists have denied you all for years. Support and love. Women, the bond between a father and a daughter is very special. Men, you have been used to father children you may never meet. Women, If you prefer other women, that's fine , just don't force your preference on everyone else. Let them decide. We need to end this war now. Please use your vote wisely, vote UCEP."

Kelly took a deep breath, and said; "Please ladies don't go back to the bad old days when we were slaves to men. Vote UFP.

There were two weeks until the election.

All Characters © Beverly Taff

The election is looming. Will the men finally be free of feminist oppression or will the dark days’ return?

In the last week leading up to the election, the UFP ran adverts saying that the space ships that landed in London were fakes. They were all part of the propaganda trying to trick women into giving up their rights over men.

Three days before the election Charlie was on Earth. He had just finished an upgrade on the gravity engines on Dawn 4 and 5. The upgrade increased the speed by 30%. Trips to the asteroid belt would take lot less time. Charlie’s mind was like a sponge. He had been using the travel time to read up on conventional science. He used some of what he learned to make improvements to his design.

He called Peter to see how it was going in UQ.

“You know Peter, I realized if I had, had even a conventional female education in the UQ, I never would have invented the anti-grav engine. The normal way of thinking and the math does not allow for it. My own system does. So in a way, those horrible idiots that have treated us like animals for years, helped me make the thing that will bring them down.”

“The UFP are saying that your ships don’t exist. They say they are propaganda to get women to vote for us.”

“What? The ships were on TV. Some of the footage was used in the trial of Wilson, and when that woman tried to shoot me on the old BBC building. How can they say they aren’t real? “

“They have been saying it’s camera tricks and large inflatable balloons. It’s all part of a ploy to get men back in power.”

“I despair about the way humans believe the most unlikely explanation sometimes Peter. I’ll see what I can do. How’s it looking anyway?”

“Well the last poll put us ahead by 25%. The UFP have been approaching many of the business owners to threaten the men who work for them. They say they will lose their jobs if the UFP lose.”

“The bastards! They are playing on fear. The way things were, unemployed men, who weren’t living with a female relation were sent to labor camps. I thought you changed that?”

“We have, but the old fears of the feminist is hard to overcome. We have put out a message that we will offer free grants to men to start their own businesses after the election. We should be alright. If the men come out to vote, we will win easily.”

“Do those horrible work camps still exist Then?. I though you would have stopped that?”

“Yes, but now the men are paid. They used to just be fed. It was slave labor. We’ve got them building housing for themselves. In a few months we should be able to close them for good.”

“In that case, I may be able to help you. I can’t promise, but let’s just say, I may surprise you.”

“Thanks Charlie, anything you can do will be appreciated. You know what? I love getting advice from an older man. This it’s what it must be like to have a father.”

“Honestly Peter, that’s one of the things that really still sticks in my throat about the feminista’s. The women knew their kids, but they denied men the knowledge of their daughters and their sons. No wonder many of the people in the feminist controlled countries are so fucked up.”

Peter could tell Charlie was angry at this, he didn’t swear that often.

“You know Peter, recently I’ve been travelling a bit, doing some diplomatic work. The Scandinavian countries have almost equal male and female members of government. They are a fully egalitarian society. They don’t all do the same work, but they share childrearing. They are the most well balanced people I’ve met. “

“How’s Australia then Charlie, what’s it like being a man in charge of so many women?”

“Well my company has a positive discrimination policy. We employ men over women if we can. There was a bit of an outcry, but most women realize that until the first batch of boys graduate from schools and universities, women will have an unfair advantage. Most of the heavy jobs were always done by men anyway. It’s good to see men and women walking together on the streets in the towns. The cities are changing too, slower though. The women I’m in control of realize they can earn a fortune if they don’t kick up a fuss. So they give me no trouble. I have hope that things will be equal in about twenty years.”

“Have you ever thought about tracing your father Charlie? My mum told me about mine, she’s given me his name. When the election is over I hope to track him down.”

“You mean you were conceived in the natural way, Peter?”

“Yes, she doesn’t normally tell anyone. People would have thought she was odd having sex to conceive, rather than sperm donation. She met him when he put a fence up at her house. She said they fell in love and met in secret. He broke it off, as he was scared of losing his job and being sent to a camp.”

“I don’t know how my mummy had me. She never told me.”

Peter noticed he still called his mother mummy. He could sense his sadness when he spoke about her.

“She and her friends tried to help me as much as they could, but they were all unhappy with the world that was forced on them by the feminist government. If you win, I may come back and look them up.”

“If we win you will be an honored guest Charlie. We can see if we can find your father.”

“I don’t see how? Right, I’ve got to go talk to Juliet about the refit. Good luck.”

Charlie told Chloe about his conversation with Peter after dinner that night. He had just put the children to bed and they were relaxing having a drink.

“You know Charlie, there may be a way of tracing your father.”

“What? How? Where would you start?”

“Well you know when we met I was doing genetic research into why the IQ level was dropping? We took millions of samples of DNA from men.”

“How did you do that. Why would they volunteer it?”

“They didn’t. We used to go to the rookeries and the camps and take samples. They never got a choice. A bit like sperm donations ”

“That’s horrible. I forget how bad most men used to be treated. I avoided the worse parts by living with mummy, then you.”

“The good thing is, my old company still has all the DNA on a database. If Peter’s party wins, we may have a chance of reuniting fathers with their sons and daughters. Think how far that may go to heal the rift between men and women. It will have to be handled carefully. The men must be given the choice, not like they did when they were used to conceive.”

Charlie was lost for words. He may just possibly be able to meet his father.

The day before the election the queen got a call from Charlie.

“Good morning your majesty. I need to fly two of our ships over the UQ for a low level test flight. Can you please tell your air force not to take pot shots at us?”

“I’ll tell them to expect you. Are you paying a visit?”

“No just ironing out our new engines. You’ll be pleased to know we have nearly finished the UQ ship. It’s a beauty. It will have the new engines. We took the liberty of naming it. You’ll only get it if the UCEP win though.”

“Yes we know, Em tells me it should be alright if the men vote. If not, it could be a close run thing. What did you call the ship? “

“I named it the Liberator. It is a gift for the liberation of the men of the UQ.”

“Good name Charlie. I’ll keep a lookout for you. Will you fly over London?”

“Should be there just after dark.”

That night two ships flew over every major city in the UQ. The rookeries and the labor camps got close attention. The ship blasted sirens as they approached. All the people that came out saw messages flash on the underside of the huge ships.

“Men, vote tomorrow for your future and your freedom. Vote UCEP.”

“Women vote for fairness, your sons and your brothers. Vote UCEP.”

Charlie had wanted to include fathers, but Juliet told him the concept of a father was probably too alien to appeal to women.

They were finished at around 2 A.M. After that they headed home. Peter had seen the ships pass over London. He just hopped the message had got through. As the ships slowly went by he said.

“Thank you Charlie, you’re the best!”

Rumors were rife the next day. Men were not voting. The UFP wanted the election cancelled because of Charlie’s “stunt”. It was interference from the Australian government. That was of course nonsense as the the ships belonged to an independent company, the AAMC. There was a brief interview with Jane Anston the vice president.

“Ms. Anston, the messages your ships gave last night have upset the UFP. What do you have to say?”

Jane just smirked and said.

“Good, I hope they lose.”

She waved at the camera and cut off the feed.

Peter was with Em, Vicki, and the Queen when the result came in at 4.30 A.M.

The UCEP had won by a landslide. They won 85% of their seats. The feminist parties would be a powerless minority. They would have no way to change any of the new laws.

Peter cried and hugged them all.

Em smiled at him and said.

“No time for all that sentimentality deputy prime minister. We have work to do. Chop, chop.”

The country had finally come to its senses.

All Characters © Beverly Taff

Equality has finally come to the UQ. Now Peter may get to meet his father.

The next few months we a frenzy of hard work for the new parliament. The first task was to make sure the mistake of the past could never happen again. A law was passed that was enshrined in the new constitution that made it impossible to disenfranchise anyone, no matter gender, race or religion from voting.

It was the lack of the male vote and the strict control of political power that kept the feminists in power so long. So the law allowed any party that wanted to run for election could put forward candidates.

So many women interviewed after the election said that they disliked the feminist government, but had no other non-feminist party to vote for. The feminist governments had done a good job ensuring they kept in power.

A push for men to be recruited into the military forces was made. One of the plus sides of having fitness standards that were aimed at recruiting women, meant the average man was accepted. The fire service was bolstered by the addition of men. No women ever complained that a man couldn't lift her out of a burning building and carry her down a ladder. This was something most of the women in the fire service were not capable of doing, especially for larger women.

Many men did lose their jobs as some the feminist owners sacked their men in solidarity with the feminist parties. They soon ran into trouble when they tried to recruit women to fill the jobs. Strangely enough, women did not want to do jobs that involved getting covered in dirt and grease, or even standing up to their knees in mud on a freezing cold night. The business owners tried to offer men their jobs back, but many were working for the new companies started with government grants.

One of Peter’s pet projects was the Male Business Scheme. They offered grants in the form of interest free loans and business advice. As most of the man were not capable of running the accounts of a business, training courses were offered alongside of a list of “male friendly” business services. It didn’t surprise Peter that a huge number of businesses were “male friendly”. These women knew that men would be a good source of income in the new economy.

Peter arrived home at 10.30 P.M. to find his mother in a good mood.

“Why the happy face mum? A good day at work?”

“Yes I sacked someone.”

“What! Some poor guy loses his job and you’re happy? What did he do?”

“Who said guy? Do you remember Judy? She was the checkout supervisor. She’s been giving all the men and boys a hard time since she started. I couldn’t sack her for talking down to a man before. Now with those new laws you passed, the men are on equal standing with the women.”

“Oh the misandry laws. Yes, we have had a lot of positive feedback on those. Surprisingly most of it from women. It seems many disliked the way men could be treat badly just for being born male. What happened?"

” She screamed at one of the operators for giving a woman the wrong change. She called him a cheating, thieving piece of male scum. It turned out the woman had said she had given him a £50 note. I checked the till, there were no 50’s. The young man had been right. The customer apologized to him.“

“Did Judy not apologise then?”

“No she refused, so I had her in my office. The bitch smirked at me and winked. I told her she was done. She couldn’t believe I would sack her over a man. It felt so fucking good Peter. Her face when she saw I was serious. She said she was going to report me to the party. That would have worried me a year ago. I just laughed in her face.”

“They are voting against every new law we pass mum. Hopefully we would have made enough progress by the next election that they won’t get any seats. In twenty years they will be a bad memory.”

“I saw a few couples in the shop today. It was really good to see men and women out together. They were mainly teenagers. I think you and Vicki inspired a lot of that. There were also an elderly couple. They were telling me they met a few years ago and had been texting each other a few times a week. Now he felt safe enough to move in. She told me they wanted to get married, but were waiting for the laws to change so she didn’t own him.”

“That should be sorted out next week mum. It wasn’t that urgent as no one was rushing to marry. After Charlie escaped with his wife they made it nearly impossible.”

“I’ll let them know if I see them. It so nice to see. He wouldn’t let her carry the bags, she looked at him with so much love in her eyes. A few years ago you would only ever rarely see that with two women.”

“The country is changing mum. There are still a small amount of women that hate it though. There have been a few cases of assault and rape reported.”

“Well, that’s not good. Were they real?”

“Remember Shadow? They have developed an app that discreetly records and timestamps. It’s a dating security app. The data is sent to a secure server. It can record audio and video if required. The man accused of rape had the app running. He was on a date when woman invited him back to her flat. She asked him if he wanted a drink then threw the whisky over him. She told him she was going to rip her clothes and say he was drunk and tried to rape her. He ran away and the next day he was arrested. He told the police about the app. They listened to it and have now arrested the women for wasting police time.”

“Lucky for him he had that. If that had happened a few years ago he would have been a castrated prisoner by now. Shadow are still useful then.”

“Yes, I invited them to come and see Em, but they said until they are sure everything is stable they will stay in the background. They have access to almost every surveillance camera in the country. They helped the police with the assault cases. Two of those were real. The men in question were both getting revenge on women who had, had them punished. One of the men had been castrated and recently released.”

“Have you had any luck tracing your father?”

“Yes mum. I called him today. He is living in the Peckham rookery. He was overjoyed to talk to me. He had seen me on TV. He never realized he had a famous son. He wants to come and visit us both on Saturday. I said I’d ask you first. Are you ok with it? I’ll understand if you’re not.”

“Oh Peter, I’d love to see him again. He was so handsome. A friendly, intelligent man with a great sense of humor. What time? I’ll book the day off.”

That Saturday a van pulled up outside and a man in his early forties carrying a small bunch of flowers knocked on the door. His name was Paul Clover. Peter watched as his mother opened the door. She was dressed in a short black dress, with black tights and high heels. She looked stunning. He would even say sexy, but you aren’t meant to think your mother is sexy.

Paul looked her up and down and said.

“Wow, Mel you look better than ever! It’s so good to see you.”

They fell into each other’s arms and kissed for way too long and too deeply for people who hadn’t seen each other for twenty years. Paul hugged his son and Peter felt paternal love. A totally new sensation for him. A father figure showing him affection. The only other person he had got that from was Charlie.

Paul had just started his own business as an electrician. He had used a grant and had brought tools and a van. He had started working for an electrical company after the fencing company went bust. They chatted about their past. There was a real connection between them all. Mel asked when they could meet again. She also asked him to if you could call at the supermarket and give her an estimate for rewiring the supermarket for new freezers.

After saying a very long goodbye to Mel. Paul hugged Peter and said.

“It’s been so good to see you son, In so proud of the man you’ve become.”

This choked Peter up. Proud, and man had not gone together in a sentence in the UQ for years.

“It's been great dad. Please come back soon.”

“That’s up to your mum son. I’ll keep in touch with you whatever happens.”

“I’d be happy to see you anytime you want Paul. You’re Peter’s father. I’ll see you at the supermarket on Wednesday, we can have a chat.”

After he left Mel asked Peter if he would mind if Paul, perhaps moved in with them in the future. She said she would have to take it slow and get to know him all over again, but this was what she wanted twenty years before.

Peter was thinking about this on the train to parliament the next day. As he walked out of the station his phone rang. It was Chloe, Charlie’s wife.

“Thanks for allowing me access to the genetic database Peter. It has taken a few days, but I think I've found Charlie’s father. His name is, or was, David Rodgers. He was in a work camp outside Cambridge. The last entry on his record showed he was diagnosed with a heart condition. That was over a year ago. I know the records for the camps have not been updated since the feminist lost power, but the report wasn’t good. The medical care for men was poor. Pets got better care than men most of the time. They were only treated better if their employers were making good money off of their work. Labor camps just treated basic things. I can’t trace him. Can you help?”

“ I can try Chloe. If I find him do you want me to approach him about Charlie?”

“Yes please. I won’t let him know if he’s dead or doesn’t want to talk to Charlie. He may seem like a confident genius to you, but underneath he is an extremely sensitive man.”

“I’d do anything for him Chloe. The men of this country owe him a huge debt. I think I know where to start.”

All Characters © Beverly Taff

There is a lot of action and violence in this part.
Notes , In the UK , an allotment is a piece of land divided into sections for people to grow fruit and vegetables. These are usually rented out by a local authorities.

Peter used his secure phone to contact the forcibly converted male he had met the year before. He sounded as masculine as he ever did. He had told Peter he did it to remind the women around him what they did to him. He looked feminine, but sounded all male.

“I just want to say thanks for all your help. I also want to tell you we are considering offering mals help in becoming males again. Australia have done a number of successful testicle implants. In your case it would be impossible to give you back what was taken, but we may be able to help with plastic surgery.”

“No, I’m fine with what I am now, but thanks. I love the shocked look on women’s faces when they hear me speak. I definitely detect a lot more guilt. I’m a living example of why they should never vote for a feminist government. How can I help you Peter?”

“We are trying track down Charlie Sage’s father. His name is David Rodgers. He was in a work camp outside Cambridge. When the feminists institutions were investigate for corruption, many of the camp staff fled in fear of prosecution for mistreatment. The camp unofficially disbanded. We lost track of him. Please anything you can do.”

“No problem. That guy is the reason we are getting back to normal after years of fucked up feminist rule. I’ll look into it personally.”

“Thanks, you never did tell me your name.”

“Just call me Phil, OK.”

“Thanks Phil let me know as soon as you have something.”

Later that day his secure phone rang while in a debate about making it a legal right for men to contact their offspring without the permission of their mothers. He stepped out to take the call.

“Peter this is urgent. We think we have located him. We suspect he’s been living in a shed on an allotment in Huntingdon. He must have been hiding there for some reason, surviving by stealing fruit and vegetables. There have been a number of reports of men’s clothing and food being stolen in the local area going back about a year. The problem is we aren’t the only one’s looking. I traced back the other searches. The feminist regime was looking for him around the time of Wilson’s trial. They probably wanted to use him against Charlie.”

“Do you think they got him?”

“We have a poor picture of him from a door camera last night on his way back to the allotment. This image has been accessed by someone else too. I checked telecom records and found a message to and from an unauthorized mobile in Holloway prison.”

“That’s where Wilson is!”

“Yes, it could be her. The message was. Target located. Clear to proceed? The reply came back with this message. Make sure the job is done properly this time. Get backup and film the execution if possible.”

“No! When was this?”

“It was half an hour ago. If you hurry you may get there first. They may take time to arrange things and they don’t know we are on to them.”

Peter’s mind raced. He interrupted Em, who arrange for a helicopter to pick up Peter and three armed guards. He tried to ring Charlie, but couldn’t get through. Then he remembered he had Juliet’s number.

Juliet told him Charlie was a’moon, with Chloe. She connected him using the base radio.

“Hi Peter, just testing the new improved engines on Dawn, they work very well almost a 50% speed improvement!”

“Sorry Charlie this is urgent. I found your father. He’s alive, but the Wilson’s feminist goons are after him.”

There was a long silence. This was all a huge shock for him.

“FUCKING BITCH!!, I’ll fucking kill her if they do anything to him. I've had enough of this. No bloody more, no more! Give me the coordinates.”

Peter had heard Charlie angry before. This time though he was raging. He gave Charlie the map reference.

“I called the local Police, they sent a firearms unit to investigate. I suspect your father will think they are trying to kill him too. They should be there in 15 minutes. I’ll be there in around 20 minutes.”

There was no answer. Peter suspected that the amazing armored ship was already speeding through space.

The police arrived at the allotment first. The team consisted of two women and one man. The man, Patrick, had just finished his firearms training. He was the only male officer in the whole of Cambridgeshire to be trained so far. The inspector rightly thought that Mr. Rodgers would most likely respond better to another male.

They pulled up outside and carefully looked around the sheds. Patrick called out to Charlie’s father.

“This is the police Mr. Rodgers. You’re not in any trouble. We’re here to help. As you must know, the feminists aren’t in charge anymore. We think some rouge group are trying to harm you though. If you come out, we can get you to safety.”

As the approached the ninth shed they heard a reply.

“How do I know you aren’t working for them. They tried to kill me in the work camp."

"We're not Mr Rodgers. Would the feminist have a male police officer? What happened to you."

"It was the day the feminist’s government officials were being arrested. A guard came into my cell and tasered me. They knew I had a weak heart. I'm sure she would have kept it up until I died. My friend Billy hit her on the head with a chair.”

“I’m sorry Dave. Is it OK to call you Dave? We are just trying to help. We know how you were all mistreated. We don’t know how much time we have. Please come out.

Just then a black Range Rover burst through the gates. It skidded sideways and three women clad in black leapt out and went to ground. All three were armed.

The police all dropped to the ground and drew their weapons.

Sargent Ann Peirce got to her knees.

“Armed police drop your weapons or we will open fire.”

The response was a short burst of machine gun fire that hit her upper chest and unprotected neck. She fell to the ground with blood bubbling from a neck wound as she tried to breath.

The radical feminist spread out in a line to get better cover and shot towards the police and the shed. Inside the shed David Rodgers cowered behind a battered wooden work bench. He was cut in several places from splinters from the gunfire.

The now outnumbered police returned fire, but knew they would soon be outmaneuvered.

Patrick crawled towards Liz, who had just taken a wound in her leg.

“I’ve called for backup Pat, but they say it will take at least ten. We’re not going to last that long. They’ll get behind us soon.”

Patrick looked up and saw a black object plummet from the sky with a whooshing noise.

“What the hell is that?”

Charlie had Chloe train the cameras on the allotment at maximum magnification. They had been improved and were controlled by the computer to zoom in and out, this was to keep the image the same size on the screen. Charlie assessed what was happening as he descended.

Dawn dropped from the sky and hovered 6ft off the ground. The feminist assassins fired continuously at this strange new target. Charlie tapped the screen and plotted a maneuver.

The craft lurched sideways as the assassin’s backup arrived. Another Range Rover pulled up outside, and four heavily armed women rushed into the allotments.

Dawn’s shear dropped as she swung on her new course. It ripped a 4ft deep furrow as it came towards the first three women. They screamed and ran away, but the radar tracked them and altered course. The first woman was cut in two and ploughed into the ground. The second stood her ground and emptied a whole clip at the ship as she was hit head on by the plough. She was pulped as the plough ran over her..

The last woman almost made it back to her car. The plough shear hit her from behind crushing her body against the Range Rover's rear door.

Dawn stopped. It’s preprogrammed sequence being complete.

Charlie panned around with the cameras to see one of the new arrivals retrieve a bazooka from the rear of the undamaged vehicle. A bloody bazooka! he thought. They were going to use that against a man in a shed. What’s wrong with these people.

“Hold tight Chloe. I’m not sure if this will work this close to the ground.”

He activated the collision detection system that he had developed at Anston Aerospace. It helped the UQ planes avoid missiles. He had it tied into the navigation computer. He had fitted it to avoid asteroid strikes when prospecting the asteroid belt.

The rocket fired at a range of 100ft. It couldn’t miss, or so the woman shooting it thought. The ship moved faster than she could perceive. It lifted up 5ft then returned to its original position. The rocket exploded in the woods behind the allotment.

She dropped the bazooka and ran for the Range over. All the other women did the same.

“No you bloody don’t. Try to kill me and my wife. You think I’m going to let you get away with that."

He tapped the keyboard and Dawn cut through the fence toward the vehicle. The driver floored the accelerator and the tires threw up a cloud of smoke as they sped off.

The plough crashed through the back window and roof. As Dawn rose into the sky one of the women in the back seat was caught in the hook and eviscerated against the metal roof.

Within seconds they were at thirty thousand feet. The remaining women screamed, They were crushed by the sudden acceleration, their lungs burned with the cold and lack of oxygen.

Chloe froze, she knew what he was going to do. She had stopped him from killing Wilson, and Wilson had tried to have him killed again. While people like this were around, they would always be in fear for their children’s or their own lives.

When her children had been kidnapped, she would have killed anyone to protect them. As a doctor she should “Do no harm”. She knew she had to let Charlie do what men have done since antiquity, protect their family.

Dawn was over a large wooded area. Charlie put the craft into a spin. The plough ripped open the roof, and the Range Rover fell back towards earth. He set the ship to return to the allotment.

His brilliant mind calculated with a terminal velocity of around 53 m/sec, it would about 157 seconds to fall 30,000 feet. Almost three minutes of pure terror, knowing you are about to die. He didn’t regret it. It was cathartic.

Dawn arrived at the shed before the range rover hit the forest. He saw a helicopter had landed and the guards were helping the police. He and Chloe walked over to Peter as the helicopter took off with the injured police officer. The sergeant was dead.

A figure, unsteady on his feet, held himself up in the doorway of the shed.

They all turned as a large object hit the nearby forest and exploded.

“Oh my, he looks just like you Charlie.” Chloe said, as she rushed back to the ship for the medikit.

Charlie looked at the blood covered man emerging from the shed.

“Daddy? Err sorry. I think you’re my Dad.”

The man stared into Charlie’s eyes for a few seconds, then clutched his chest and collapsed.

Chloe rushed across to help him.

Charlie has found his father, and rescued him from Wilson's assassins. The strain was too much for his father, who has suffered a heart attack.

Chloe worked quickly, while Charlie stood by feeling helpless. He usually had a solution for most things. His engineers brain analyzed situations and came up with ways around most problems, but medicine was Chloe’s field.

She took his pulse and put an oxygen mask over his face.

“I think he fainted due to blood loss and shock. His heart is weak. I suspect he needs coronary bypass surgery.”

“Can you save him Chloe.”

“Charlie it’s OK. I’m sure if we get him to hospital soon, he’ll be fine.”

Charlie ripped the door off the shed and put it on the ground next the ground next to his father. He turned to the male police officer and one of the security staff that came with Peter.

“You two, help me get him into my ship.”

“Sorry sir you must come with us and answer some questions about what happened here.”

“Just help me you fool; he needs to be in hospital.”

Peter looked at Pat, the police officer and said.

“I commend you for trying to do your job. I’m the deputy prime minister and I take full responsibility here.”

“Yes, sir. Is that really Charlie Sage.”

“Yes, now please do as he says.”

The three took Charlie’s father up the ramp. Peter followed them.

“Charlie where are you taking him?”

“Straight up. The moon. We have a new, state of the art medical facility there. Right, all off now or you’re coming a ’moon.”

Peter was tempted, but he had to sort out the mess Charlie had made saving his father.

The ramp shut and the ship ascended. It was just a dot within a few seconds. His secure phone rang. It was Phil from shadow.

“We saw most of that. We tapped into the body cam feed from the police. We even saw the Range Rover getting picked up. We saw it drop, via a security cam from a nearby house. It was awesome Peter.”

“Awesome Phil? Seven women died.”

“My colleagues have been flat out for the last hour. We have cracked all the contacts on Wilson’s phone and her contacts phones. Their laptops have been scanned too. You won’t believe what they were planning.”

“Please Phil, don’t make me beg.”

“I know you know real history, not the feminist bullshit. Did you read about the gunpowder plot?”

“Yes, the plot to blow up Parliament and King James in 1605.”

“Well think of that, times ten. They were planning on nuking London, then take over the country. We have the whole web of the hardcore feminista traitors. We have evidence on all of them. You will need to arrest them all at once or they will go to ground.”

Em had warned something like this might happen, but Peter’s trusting nature led him to think they would accept defeat graciously. He guessed he didn’t know enough about women. He had to get back to London now.

“Peter, you Em and your families are targets also. I hate Wilson, but you have to admire her determination. Can you let me know when the arrests have been made? I have a nice surprise for her.”

“What do you mean?”

“Don’t worry, You’ll see.”

Peter boarded the helicopter as the files and names were uploaded to his phone.

Dawn docked with moon base alpha. As soon as the airlock depressurized a medical team met the ship. They rushed David in to the ICU.
Chloe emerged with Doctor Indra, the base physician.

“Mr. Sage he’s very ill. We need to do the bypass immediately. It should have been done years ago.”

“Yeah well it wouldn’t be would it. You fucking women didn’t care enough about men. There were three classes of men. Free range, like I was. I’d have to pay for medical treatment, or hope a female relation would care enough to. Then you had the working men in the rookeries, their employers had what they called “pet insurance” on them. This was only while they were useful for making money. People like my daddy, in work camps, just got the basic first aid kit. So yes, it should have been done years ago.”

Chloe could see how upset he was. She knew he was right; the way the feminist governments had treated men was detestable. She and Doctor Indra were once part of that system.

“It’s all changed now Charlie, because of you. Doctor Indra needs your permission to operate. You’re his only relative.”

“Yes please operate. I’m sorry, I’m just upset.”

“It’s Ok Charlie. You wait outside. I’m going to assist. He’s going to be fine.”

Chloe kissed him and washed up. Charlie sat thinking on what he had just said. He wanted to find a way to help all of the men, women and everyone else in the world who were mistreated due to gender, religion or sexuality. This would be something to distract him while his father was having his surgery. He usually only thought about his problems, something like this was more complex.

Back in the UQ, the arrests were made that evening. Over sixty-five women in key positions were now in custody. Hopefully now the country was a safer place.

Peter rang Phil and told him it was done.

“Thanks Peter. I’ve just sent you a link. Link to it on your laptop.”

Peter did it. There was a feed from Wilson’s prison cell. She was in her wheelchair watching TV.

The screen split showing a message on the phone saying “Mission accomplished”. Wilson fist pumped the air and laughed.

“I got your father. You useless male scum. Next it’s your family, then you.”

Her TV showed images from the allotment from the previous day. Her face dropped when she saw Dawn 2 arrive and destroy her troops. She screamed and swore when she saw the bazooka miss and the Land Rover fall from the sky. The video feed stopped when Charlie’s father appeared in the doorway.

Then a message flashed up . “Charlie Sage 7 , Wilson 0.” That wasn’t quite true, they had killed the poor police sergeant thought Peter.

The screen showed several bodycam videos of Wilson’s associates being arrested. Then a message appeared saying, “Your Done Wilson”.
Wilson screamed and thrashed about, then finally broke down sobbing. That was the first time anyone had seen her cry. Even when she was shot and sentenced to life, she never showed remorse. Now she was crying like a baby.

“Thanks Phil, it’s sad, but I can’t say she didn’t deserve it.

“That’s OK Peter. This is why we must remain in the shadows. The power we have is too great to give to a government. We could end up in a worse state than the last one. We will help where we see fit. We will work for a better country.”

Back on the moon Chloe came out of the operating theater.

“He’s doing well Charlie. David’s strong like you. He should be awake in about six hours. Come on let’s get some food and rest. We can have a shower and meet your father when he wakes up.”

“I can’t wait Chloe; I have a dad! A father! I’m sorry I shouted.”

Chloe noticed he didn’t say daddy this time. She wondered what he would settle on.

“When I know he’s safe and recovered, I want him to live with us.”

“If we get on, which I think we will. I’ll have no objections.”

“While you were in there, I had an idea on how I can help the world. I need to talk to the prime minister to run the idea by her first.”

All Characters © Beverly Taff

Charlie's father has had heart surgery. They are waiting for him to wake.
All Characters © Beverly Taff

There was a bleep on the coms unit in Charlie and Chloe’s quarters.

“It’s Dr Indra. Your father is awake Charlie.”

While they walked to the ICU she told Charlie he should make a full recovery. He was very undernourished and his testicles were badly damaged. She told him they may have to be removed and he would need to be given a testosterone implant.

“What happened to his testicles Dr. Indra? Did it happen in the shed?”

“No it’s an old injury. I only noticed when I checked him this morning. We can ask him now. Mr. Rodgers, please meet your son, Charlie Sage.”
Charlie stood frozen. His Dad looked just like him. It was like looking into a mirror, with the man looking back at you much older and gaunt.

“Dad? Can I call you that?”

“Oh my god son, it’s true. You really are my son.”

He reached forward to get to Charlie, but the Doctor pushed him back down.

“Don’t over exert yourself let him come to you Mr. Rodgers.”

Charlie bent down and carefully hugged him. He was overcome with emotion. It was a meeting he thought would never happen.

“Son, I loved your mum so much. It broke my heart when we parted. I never knew she was pregnant.”

“She never told me about you. I thought that she had me by insemination.”

“Well she probably did that to stop you from looking for me. We know you would have got into trouble doing that.”

“How did you meet her dad?”

“Dad? That feels so nice. The last person to call me that was young Billy. I hope he’s alright.”

he looked worried.Chloe tried to calm him.

“Many of the men from the camps in the UQ are being helped now. There is a program to re-house men. I don’t suppose you are aware of what’s been going on, what with hiding for a year.”

“I got a little news from old newspapers when I was scavenging from bins.”

Chloe saw Charlie’s fists clench, she quickly changed the subject.

“Where did you meet her Dave. Hey I just thought. You’re my father-in-law!”

He smiled at her. He had Charlie’s smile, or rather Charlie had his.

I keep thinking I’m going to wake up and some women is going to beat me, or zap me.”

“Not now dad. If anyone so much as looks at you wrong, they’ll deal with me.”

Charlie almost snarled these words.

“I was working for a building company when I met your mum Charlie. I worked too late one night. She saw I was panicking that I wouldn’t get back to the rookery before curfew. She offered to let me stay in her shed. Later that night she asked me to join her for a meal. She had a wonderful mind your mum. We chatted, and well fell in love. She kept me there getting more buildng work done. My boss didn’t mind as long she was making money. “

“So why did you stop seeing her?”

“You know how it was. Her neighbors were getting suspicious. They were threatening to report us. She was worried I’d get hurt. We knew it could go nowhere. It was the happiest month of my life with her though. How is your mum?”

Charlie’s eyes filled with tears.

“Mummy died years ago.”

“I’m so sorry son. Come here.”

They both cried as they hugged.

“I’m sorry for crying dad, I know it's not manIy.”

“Charlie that’s rubbish. Men cry all the time. There’s nothing wrong with it. We just try not to do it in front of anyone. It shows weakness. What a load of bollocks.”

“I’ve got you now dad. I’m going to look after you. Did you know you have grandchildren? Look.“

Chloe showed David pictures of the children on her tablet.

“Hell, yesterday I was running for my life, now I have a family. A real family. You don’t know what this means to me Chloe.”

“Charlie wants you to live with us in Australia. Would you like that?”

“Anywhere my family is home. Although I’m not sure about the moon. The nurse told me that’s where we are now. Is that true.”

Chloe saw the disbelief in his eyes.

“Yes Dave, all due to your sons wonderul brain. Amazing isn’t he.”

“Dad what happened at the camp?”

“Well I got ill ten years ago and couldn’t work. My boss fired me, so I was sent to the labor camp. We got very little food and had to work twelve hours a day. I knew it would kill me. I’m sure that was what they were for. Getting rid of useless men.”

“I was always afraid of going to a labor camp. Women used to threaten to report men so they would be sent there. Sadistic bitches.”

“Some of the guards were sadistic. They would drive us out in vans to pick litter or cut grass. There was one guard we called the ball buster. She liked to select a man from the group. She would tie rope to our arms and legs between trees. When we couldn’t move she would kick us between the legs until we passed out. That’s why mine are so damaged. She liked to pick on me. I don’t know why.”

Charlie punched to wall and bloodied his knuckles.

“Fucking twisted bastards. I should have killed the fucking lot of them. I even sunk that bloody ship in shallow water so they could get off. I'm too fucking nice. I should have got some revenge for the shit they put us through.”

Chloe jumped in.

“Dave if you can describe her, or have her name, we can ask our friend Peter to track her down. They are prosecuting women that mistreated men now.”

“She was the one that tried to kill me. She set up her phone to record it. She said someone called Wilson wanted to see me dying. She told me that the feminist party had sentenced me to death. They must have known that I was your father. I never knew at the time. When I heard her say that I tried to run. She hit me with the taser. I passed out. When I woke up she had put me in a chair. She said she wanted me to put on a show before she killed me. Then she stamped on my groin, I remeber screaming and then..”

“If I find her she’s dead. I will strangle her with my bare hands. Sick fucking bitch.”

“Calm down son, I’m OK now. Let me tell you the rest.”

“My scream was heard by Billy. He saw her aiming her taser at my chest. He knew about my heart, so he hit her with a chair. We knew we would be in big trouble so we had to escape. Most of the guards had left. I didn’t know what was happening at the time. Later I found out there were a lot of arrests for corruption. We split up so we would stand a better chance. I have been hiding ever since. I have nearly been caught a few times. Women came looking. Always in a black Range Rover, always with guns.”

“Well you won’t have to worry about that anymore. The women and the black range Rover are spread all over the woods behind the allotment. Sometimes dad, I really hate women I know Chloe and many others I met aren’t bad, but I just…”

“Oh son. Don’t give in to hate. There was a guard called Sarah. When she found out about my heart condition she tried to get the camp medics to help. They told her I was not worth the treatment. She used to bring me boxes of aspirin. She thought it might help. Who knows perhaps it did.”

Doctor Indra nodded.

“Yes Mr. Rodgers. Aspirin blocks an enzyme called cyclooxygenase. That makes your body less likely to produce chemicals that can help cause inflammation.”

“Bless her then. You see Charlie when I was young in the rookery, I shared a room with an old man. He was a history teacher before the feminists took over. He said men voted for them as they said they would just make everything equal. This included visitation rights for dads. They did all they said they would in the first term. So they got elected again, In many other countries the same thing happened. Some European and America countries had feminist governments. Then almost as one, they disenfranchised men. It was like a global conspiracy.”

“Almost none of the Asian countries, Russia, Canada or Scandinavia did though dad. Over two thirds of the world isn’t feminist . I know it seemed like that though, living in the UQ.”

“Yes Charlie. They were very good at hiding the truth. After few women were murdered by men, all men were all blamed, and they put a curfew on us. It all went downhill from then. Our human rights disappeared.”

“I helped get them back in Oz dad. UQ is on its way back now. I have an idea to spread this to the rest of the world.“

“What I’m trying to say son is, it’s not women’s fault really. The old teacher told me that in the past men were expected to beat their wives. They could sell their wives. They were treated like property. Women were even put on funeral pyres with their husbands in some cultures. The men just accepted it .It was how they had been raised. The same happened to women. The ones that were to blame were the ones around when it happened.”

“They must have known what they were doing was wrong though dad.”

“The old teacher told me an about a saying. He said; The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. it comes from a speech from a philosopher, John Stuart Mill."

"What did he say?"

"Let not any one pacify his conscience by the delusion that he can do no harm if he takes no part, and forms no opinion. Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing. He is not a good man who, without a protest, allows wrong to be committed in his name, and with the means which he helps to supply, because he will not trouble himself to use his mind on the subject.”

“In this case son it should have been; The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good women to do nothing. We need to stop this happening again. Forgive them son. Hate just eats you up. Life is too short.”

Chloe could see she was going to learn to love this old man. He was going to be so good for Charlie.

He sat back in his bed and drifted back to sleep. Charlie had a lot of work to do. He promised himself he would find this Billy his dad’s friend.

I have a few more idea's Please let me know if I should continue.

Charlie pauses to smell the flowers

All Characters © Beverly Taff

Six months later. David Rodgers was living with Charlie and his family. He was a big hit with the children, who were now old enough to play football on the beach.

The Australian security guards were telling him that he was playing soccer, not football. David knew better though.

~o~O~o~

Charlie had accelerated his building program and spent a lot of time away building engines. He had been persuaded by Juliet to let other companies build all but the crucial components of the anti-grav engines. Although mistrustful at first, he had to admit if his plan was to work it was necessary.

The AAMC now had a fleet of thirty-five ships. Mostly this was due to Jane Anston. Charlie finished the last of the engines and flew them back to the large new AAMC’s production site. He now had six sites all over Australia. He was the biggest employer of men in the whole country.
The ship settled next to the loading bay and he went to see Jane.

“How do you like working for a man Jane? Am I too scary and rage filled? Am I toxic? Full of too much testosterone? Do you feel threatened?”

Jane laughed. She could see he was in a silly mood. She had some good news for him.

“Come now Charlie, you know I never believed all that. I just worked within the system that was in place. I only wanted to make money. “

“Yes I know, just teasing. Things are happening faster than I thought. Men’s sport is back on telly.”

“See Charlie, someone, probably a woman, I admit, has seen there is money in men’s sport. Greed will level things up.”

“Money makes the world go around. I never really thought about it much. Being a man in the UQ we were happy just to earn enough to stay out of the camps.”

“Well you’ll be pleased to hear that you are now the richest man on the planet. Thanks to that massive deposit of Jadeite you found, you're worth over three hundred billion.”

Charlie smiled at that. He knew he was very rich, but rarely looked. That amont was meaningless, it was so vast.

“So I can afford a chicken dinner then Jane?”

“You could afford to buy every chicken in the world and all the eggs if you want.”

“Can you give everyone in the company a $5000 bonus next month.”

“But Charlie that will cost...”

“Jane please. My company, my money. You have more money now than you had when you owned Anston Aerospace. You should have learned. It’s the workers who earn you the money. This worker says share it around.”

“Well, you’re the boss.”

“Yeah, don’t you forget it miss. Seriously though. It was one of my best decisions giving you the job. I couldn’t have done what you have, nor could Juliet.”

“True, but to be fair. Men never got to own companies under the feminist regimes did they. There are lot of new startups now though. The first men are graduating with degrees. Many are taking government loans to start their own companies.”

“Good news. I think I spend too much time in space you know. I miss a lot of what’s going on.”

How odd she thought. He doesn’t realize how important he really is. He changes the political landscape of three countries. Took human kind off planet, and he still seems like the practical engineer that worked for her six years before.

“Right, I’m off to see Chloe, the kids and dad. See you in a few weeks. Thanks again for your good work Jane. Bye”

~o~O~o~

Back in the UQ things were moving in the right direction. Em and Peter were having a meeting about changing the name of the country. A bill had been passed about succession already. The next ruler would be Vicki. If Vicki had children the first born, male or female, would be the next monarch.

“How about just going back to the old name.” Said Peter.

“What United Kingdom?” Said the Queen

“I don’t think that’s going to be popular with the women Peter.” said Em.

“No just Britain, not Great, just Britain.”

“Yes, nothing controversial there. Britain derives from the Roman word Britannia.”

“Thank ye most kindly your majesty, I didn’t know that on account of me being a poor uneducated male see. “

“Really Peter. I was only trying to be helpful. Keep up the sarcasm, and I’ll stop you from seeing my daughter. “

“Come on you two. This is serious business. Are we going to propose Britain then?”

“Sorry Em. That’s fine with me. I never thought UQ was right, we weren’t really that united were we.”

The queen turned to Peter.

“I understand there have been some more arrests. These were women accused of mistreatment and murder of men?”

“Yes. Now we have managed to resettle most of the men from the camps, many have come forward with horror stories about how they were run. Some of the crimes must be answered for. One camp commander personally killed over ten men. The men called her machine gun Kate.”

Em interrupted.

“The problem is. Some of what they are accused of wasn’t illegal under the last regime. They could just say they were following orders. I think we will have to concentrate on the ones accused of murder.”

Peter shook his head.

“Even the feminist government didn't actually allow men to be killed legally. Although it happened all the time. From what that demented Cynthia Brown said, it would have been open season on men if they won the election.”

The queen shuddered at the thought.

“Any other news Em?”

“Yes, the university intake this year is 50% boys. This is really down to positive discrimination. The first batch of metal and minerals are back from the asteroid belt. They found some gold and palladium amongst other rare minerals. It’s worth a fortune. With the government owning the company, it will help pay for some of the things we have been doing to help the men.”

“If I may?” said Peter.

“I spoke to Charlie. He plans to sell us ten more ships. All at cost.”

“Peter I’m prime minister, why didn’t you tell me?”

Em rolled her eyes.

“Sorry Em, I never got the chance. He called just before I came in.”

“Why is he being so generous. I thought he never really forgave us?” The queen said.

“He told me he wants to prove something. Some plan he’s working on. I’m clever, or so people keep telling me, but he’s way above my level. It will be fun to see what it is. “

“With that many ships looking for metals and minerals, this country will be rich in no time. Are there any conditions?”

“He wants us to help with the construction of the new Mars base. Mainly design and engineering. We need to assign one of the ten ships to that project.”

“Tell him yes! Yes please.”

“Did it already Em.”

“You do realize I’m your boss Peter? Do you? You know prime minister outranks deputy.”

“I knew you’d want to, because you’re not an idiot.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment, I think?”

~o~O~o~
Ronnie, Pauline and the children had just finished their dinner when they heard the knock on the door.

“Charlie is that you?”

“Can I come in?”

“Of course you can.”

The children went crazy and leapt all over their uncle Charlie.

“I’m sorry Ronnie. I’ve been a bad friend, but I’m here to make it up to you.”

“Charlie I understand why you left. I would have gone mad without Pauline and the family. It’s like having my own family living here together. I never got much hassle with the security services. Pauline saw them off. Now UQ is a much better place.”

Charlie opened the large bag of toys he was carrying. The children dived in and screamed with joy.

“I have the latest tablet computers for the Briony and Billy. How’s the business going?”

“A little slower now. A lot fewer normal cars, and a lot more hover cars, but we get by.”

“How would you feel about coming to Australia to work for me. I can offer you a ludicrous amount of money.”

“I’m not sure Charlie. We need the money, but didn’t the government stop people leaving.”

“That was after I got away. The new government stopped the criminals of the feminist government escaping the country, but that’s all finished now. I can get your emigration approved. I have friends in high places. I just want to put things right and look after my friends Ronnie. You’ll be building spaceships. I can even give your whole family a trip to the moon.”

“Charlie I’m not sure about uprooting the kids. We do need the money though. It’s a shame it’s so far away.” said Ronnie.

Charlie thought for a moment. He could just give Ronnie a huge amount of money, but he knew he wouldn't accept it.

“I have an idea. I’ll pay you six month’s salary in advance and you commute. Come to work on Monday, then go home at weekends.”

“That takes nearly a day Charlie! It wouldn’t be worth coming home.”

“Well it took me less than two hours Ronnie.”

“I don’t own a spaceship like you Charlie. It’s nearly ten thousand miles away.”

“I can loan you Doris. I would let you have her, but she has sentimental value. I trust you with her though. I’ve upgraded her with all the latest equipment. Anti-collision, navi-comp, the works. You just set the destination, then sit back and have a coffee. What do you think?”

“You owe us nothing Charlie, but yes thanks that would be wonderful.” Said Ronnie.

Pauline thought about it. Money had been a worry most of their life. It looked like the future was looking brighter.

“If Ronnie settles in and likes it. Can we visit, then perhaps move in with him?”

“You’ll love it Pauline. The weather, the beaches. I can offer you all jobs. Perhaps Ronnie can meet a nice ozzy girl. There are plenty of guys in my plants that would love to meet a good woman like you.”

Charlie flew away in a very good mood. It was nice to help people friends mattered. He just wished he had done it earlier.

Later that year Charlie heard some worrying news from Peter. One of Britain’s mining ships spotted a potential “Planet Killer” asteroid on the way back to earth. The Woden, contacted earth and ask the Boudicca to confirm their findings on their way back to the asteroid belt.

“I’ve sent you the data Charlie. It does look like it’s on course to hit earth. The thing is nearly 70 miles’ diameter. It will kill all life if it hits.”

“Years ago Peter, America had a space agency called NASA. They used to track this sort of thing. The feminist shut it down. Probably didn’t like the look of the big rockets.”

“Charlie please, this is serious. Can you have a look and confirm our findings. If it’s going to happen, we’ll have to go to the U.N.”

“I hope you’re wrong son. If the worst comes to the worse, I can get you and your family to Mars. It’s not quite self-sufficient yet, but we’re almost there.”

“Thanks, I just hope we are wrong. If we’re not, we have less than two months.”

The data proved correct the next week Charlie, Katherine Bergson, the Australian defense minister and Peter were at the U.N. Charlie was a little apprehensive, but he took his special forces friends, Sally and Jackie, just in case.

The whole of the U.N. were stunned. There were frantic phone calls to their home countries. Some thought it was some kind of trick until the data was confirmed by their own scientists.

Within a day most of the countries in the U.N. were asking what they could do. Many of the ones that had nuclear weapons offered to launch missiles at the asteroid now known as Anubis major. The problem was, none of these countries had the time to build a rocket system that could reach the asteroid in time.

~o~O~o~

Charlie addressed the world leaders by video link.

“Anubis is a planet killer. It’s nearly 70 miles’ diameter. I’m not sure nuclear weapons will be enough. I have another idea. My ships are the only way to reach Anubis before it hits earth. I think we can use them to pull the asteroid off course.”

The Chinese president told them he had his people retro fitting missiles for space flight. Charlie knew that it wouldn’t work. It would be like throwing rocks at a train that was about to hit you.

I have plan to use all of my ships, and Britain’s, to drag the asteroid off course. It needs a lot of work. So I have shopping list of personnel I need for the planning stage.

Charlie tapped a button, and the list of men and women scientists and specialist appeared on the screen. I need these people in Australia in five days. All the leaders agreed except one. President Kirkland of the Feminist Republic.

“There is now way I’m trusting the future of the Feminist Republic to a male. If you want our help, I insist that the planning be done only by women.”

There was an uproar from the rest of the world leaders. Charlie heard swearing in a multitude of languages. The Feminist Republic was now the only strictly feminist country. Many of the others had started to ease of off on male restrictions due to public pressure. This was after seeing what had happened in Australia and Britain. Both countries’ economies had surged.

“The world is going to be destroyed and you stick to your ridiculous feminist bullshit. I really can’t believe you.”

“I don’t mind men being involved in the grunt work. That’s all you’re good for, but intellectual work is women’s work.”

“I invented the anti-grave drive Kirkland. Is that intellectual enough.”

“We all know you stole that from Jane Anston. It’s common knowledge.”

Charlie had learned from Peter that there was no point in arguing with such prejudice. It was like playing chess with a chicken. The chicken would knock over all the pieces, crap on the board and still say it won.

“OK, we shall do without Sylvia Milbourn. I wanted her advice on power dispersion ratios. I’m sure I can work it out, even if I am a dumb male.”

Charlie outlined his plan to surround the asteroid in ships. They would be clamped on and interconnected. The gravity field would encompass the whole asteroid and steer it away from the earth.

“I have a fallback plan for humanity. We have bases on the moon and Mars. Each country can select twenty men and women to be taken off planet before the asteroid hits. I suggest that this is done by a lottery. I assure you my plan will work; this is just a failsafe to continue the human race.”

There were murmurs of agreement from the leaders them the meeting was over. The asteroid had been spotted by observatories on earth. There was some civil unrest spreading. The meeting was broadcast on news services over the world. All countries saw there was hope. All except the Feminist Republic. Kirkland thought it made her look bad, so she suppressed it.

The next day however, most of the women in the Feminist Republic had seen or heard the exchange via the internet. A hacker had broken the Feminist Republic firewalls and posted it on every social media site. Charlie had an idea who had accomplished it. He had to remember to tell Peter to pass on his thanks.

~o~O~o~
The lists of evacuees came through to Charlie while he was in Australia working on his plan. He had his factories working flat out making the clamping and power interconnection equipment. He quickly read through the list and showed it to Peter.

“Charlie, some of these names have the odd son or daughter of the leaders. That’s to be expected, they’re only human. It’s the Feminist Republic. The president and her partner. Her mother and her partner. Her sister and her partner. It just goes on. There are no men at all. They are just trying to save their own family.”

“What did you expect Peter? Do you think your shadowy friends can make this public knowledge? It will be good for the Feminist Republic to know what their leaders are like.”

Peter smiled.

“I’ll get on to them now.”

“I meant what I said about getting you and your friends off planet Peter.”

“I trust you Charlie. If you say it can be done. I believe you.”

The meeting at the Darwin site had just begun when Charlie got a call that there was a late arrival. Sylvia Milbourn was around thirty-five years old, and shook Charlie’s hand warmly. She wasn’t what he was expecting from a product of a feminist upbringing.

He got her up to speed quickly and she made a substantial contribution. She offered to write a program that would spread the load to the anti-grav where it would be needed, but she insisted that she could do the job better. She could compensate for unexpected dropouts quicker. Charlie agreed and the plan was finalized.

~o~O~o~

All the ships had returned to earth to pick up the equipment needed. When that had been loaded the work crews would head to the asteroid and start installing the clamping restraints and running the power cable. If the plan was to work the anti-grav engines would be running at 130%. Charlie knew they were capable of it for short periods.

When all the ships were in place he would land in Dawn 1 to control the gravity field. Sylvia Milbourn would be aboard Dawn 2. She would control power distribution on the Thor from there. The Thor was Britain’s largest ore carrier It was the size of a passenger ferry. The Thor contained two of Charlie’s upgraded generators. He could have done the job himself, but maintaining the gravity field would need all his attention.

The world held its breath while the work was being done. There were regular news updates from the men and women on the installation teams.

Chloe and all his friends had told Charlie he shouldn't be on this dangerous mission. He told them if it failed, they would all die anyway. He also had a unique “feel” for how gravity worked. He was the only one qualified to do it.

In the Feminist Republic, Kirkland and her whole government had been ousted. The new government decided it would be best to be more open, they allowed the external news reports. Most of the women were dumbfounded at the friendly way the Australian men and women interacted.

It was going to be close. The last of the installation crews left in the Austrailian personell carrier, the Charlotte, immediately after hooking up Dawn 1 and the Thor to the network of ships.

The asteroid was visible from earth and was causing mass panic.

All the televisions on the planet must have been tuned into the feed from Dawn 1.

“This is Charlie Sage from Dawn 1 on Anubis. Wish me luck, and pray to whatever gods or goddesses you believe in. Engage booster power Sylvie.”

Charlies hand moved like lightening over the controls as he stared at the readings on the screen. It was working there was a small course deviation.

“Sylvie can you give me more power to grid 17 please.”

“Done Charlie, grid 9 is fluctuating. I think one of the engines on the Juliet is malfunctioning.”

“I see it, I’m compensating. We have a 5-degree deflection now.”

“Charlie we only have 5 minutes until impact. It’s not enough.”

“It’s OK Sylvie. I’m saving the full power until the last minute. When I tell you bring the second generator online.”

“But Charlie, all the engines will overload, including yours. You’ll be killed.”

“Possibly Sylvie, but the engines will have a burst of 200% power. The exploding gravity field will give an extra push. The earth will be safe.”

“There must be another way Charlie.”

“No Sylvie. I’m sending you off when you transfer power. You’ll be safe. I’ll take it from here.”

“No let me help I can keep the power stable! Charlie let me help.”

She was sobbing now.

“You’re a brave women Sylvie. I respect you, but I’ve got this.”

The asteroid was skimming the outer atmosphere now. The friction was starting to damage the ships.

“Give me full power now.”

“Charlie thank you.”

The cameras focused on the asteroid picked up a ship shooting up from Anubis. Charlie was on his own.

He looked square into the camera.

"Chloe I love you.You were my life.”

The feed cut off and the world watched in horror as there was a series of explosions on the surface of the asteroid. The ships were exploding as the power surged through them. They extra power had given the engines a massive boost. The exploding gravity field fields pushed the asteroid out of the atmosphere.

~o~O~o~

The earth was safe. Massive cheers erupted from the whole world. In the control room it took a few minutes for the screams to die down.
Peter looked up from his coms screen. He was crying. Chloe stared and shook her head.

“I’m getting no signal from his tracking beacon I can’t raise him. All the ships were destroyed.

Chloe collapsed.

Charlie Sage, the man who had changed the course of so many lives. Who had saved his planet was dead.

The feed cut off and the world watched in horror as there was a series of explosions on the surface of the asteroid. The ships were exploding as the power surged through them. They extra power had given the engines a massive boost. The exploding gravity field fields pushed the asteroid out of the atmosphere.

The earth was safe. Cheers erupted from the whole world. In the control room it took a few minutes for the screams to die down. In the control room.

Peter looked up from his coms screen. He was crying. Chloe stared and shook her head.

“I’m getting no signal from his tracking beacon I can’t raise him. I think all the ships were destroyed.

Chloe collapsed.

Charlie Sage, the man who had changed the course of so many lives. Who had saved his planet was dead.

All Characters © Beverly Taff

~o~O~o~

The radio crackled in the control room.

“This is Sylvia Milbourn on board the Dawn 2. Did Charlie get off?”

“We have heard nothing from him Sylvie. His tracking beacon has stopped transmitting. I think every ship exploded. I afraid he’s gone.”

Peter could barely say the last part. The lump in his throat was threatening to make him start sobbing again. He looked for Chloe and saw David was comforting her.

“Oh my goddess, no he can’t be.”

After a few seconds of crying the mike cut off.

The news services picked up the story and the celebrations were muted when they learned Charlie was dead.

“Sylvia, can you fly the ship back or do you need assistance?”

“Charlie showed me the basics. He controlled the ship until the explosions started, then I got manual control. That must mean he’s….”

Peter couldn't imagine this confident clever woman crying over a man she barely knew. The idea of a woman who was the product of an extreme feminist country crying over the death of a man surprised him.

“He saved me Peter. He knew all the ships would explode, so he sent my ship off. I’ve been taught all my life how greedy and stupid men are, now this happens. What do I believe?”

“It’s OK Sylvia, it’s not your fault. It happens all the time. Race, religion and gender. We are very good at finding differences, but not good at finding common ground. Come back to earth. You’re a heroine. I’m sure the world wants to thank you.”

“I don’t feel like that Peter. Charlie was the real hero. I don’t think I’ve ever used that word. What I would have given to spend more time with him. He took the definition of the word genius to whole new level.”

“He was a good friend to me Sylvia. I don’t know what we’ll do without him.”

“It all looks so fragile from up here. I can’t see why we have to spend so much time hating. We could be wiped out at any time.”

“That’s just how I feel.”

Peter had forgotten that they were still linked into the world’s television network. He cut the feed. He hoped that Sylvia wouldn’t be in trouble in the FR, after what she had said.

“Set to arrive at Darwin in around ten minutes Peter.”

“See you soon Sylvia.”

Peter looked around. People were relieved, but sad about Charlies death. Chloe and Dave had left. He would have to catch up with her before she left. There were only two ships left now. The only other anti-grav craft were Australia’s fleet of fighters. The world had lost more than it knew.

~o~O~o~

~o~O~o~

An urgent cry came through the radio.

“Peter, my ship not responding. It’s going off course. What’s happening?”

Juliet ran to Peter's side.

“Sylvia, this is Captain Juliet. The third screen on the right. Bottom left indicator what does it say?”

“Remote Override.”

“HE’S ALIVE!!”

Her shout silenced the whole control room. They waited holding their breath. Wishing it was true.

“He can take over any of his ships or destroy the engines remotely. I suspect his control ended on your ship when the rest exploded because feedback must have fried all his systems. His mobile phone would still work though. You must be close by. See if you can see him.”

“Can you help Darwin?”

“There's too much debris from the explosions. It’s up to you now. We will get our fighters launched to help. It might take them a little while to reach you. He'll be without power, he could suffocate or freeze. We need to find him, fast."

“The override keeps tuning on and off. What does that mean Juliet?”

“You can’t reach him if you can’t control the ship. He’s allowing you control so you can get to him.”

Sylvia looked over the ships systems. She saw the metal detection equipment Charlie used for prospecting. She turned the electromagnetic scanner on, and set it to discriminate for metal. Within seconds she found what she was looking for.

She waited for manual control to return the ship surge through the debris. She saw the dark outline of Dawn against the stars.

“Found him. The ship looks battered, but uncompromised.”

“No time to lose Sylvia. I’ll talk you through opening the cargo doors and taking Dawn 1 aboard. You must get him out quickly. He probably has hypothermia by now. I’ll tell you where the emergency release is for the ramp is. Please hurry.”

~o~O~o~

Dawn 2 jarred and shook as it took aboard the spinning Dawn 1. Sylvia ran down to the cargo hold and waited for it to pressurize. As soon as the green light came on the she rushed to the ship to release the ramp. Juliet had told her to wear gloves or she would lose all her skin off her hands, touching metal at absolute zero.

The ramp opened and a large cloud of mist filled the cargo hold. The air in the ship must be freezing. Charlie was sitting in the command chair his hand frozen to his phone.

She dragged him out into the comparative warmth of the cargo hold.

“Come on Charlie, stay with me.“

He coughed weakly. She must warm him up. She laid him on the deck, then took off her jacket and wrapped it around his shoulders. She hugged him into her body tightly, trying to share her body heat. It struck her. She had never hugged a man before. Feeling his well-muscled body against hers felt good. What the hell was wrong with her? she thought.

Charlie coughed again and dropped the phone. He looked up at her through frosted eyelashes.

“Do you mind madam? We hardly know each other.”

“Charlie you’re alright. You did it.”

Charlie started to get up. He grinned at her and said.

“No, we did it. Working together. The feminist and the feminist’s worst enemy. Help me back to the cabin I need a nice hot cup of tea.”

“Come on, I help back onto the command deck.”

She helped Charlie stagger up the stairs and into the co-pilots seat.

"The kettle should be in the galley. You don’t mind a man asking you to make him a drink do you. I know it goes against your ethics and everything.”

He must be feeling better thought Sylvia. His gentle, jokey sarcasm was back.

“Charlie, my ethics have taken a hard turn right over these last few weeks. Seeing the fun your workers have with each other. Women and men working alongside each other, has been an eye opener for me.”

“You do the tea Sylvia. I must call my wife.”

“Charlie Sage calling Darwin. I’m alive and well. Tell my wife I love her very much, and Major Tom will be back soon. Oh, and Peter,I saw a brass monkey crying its eyes out just before Sylvia rescued me.“

A huge cheer went up in the control room.

~o~O~o~

The world was informed Charlie was alive and after they played his message, many countries wanted to know what the “Brass monkey” reference meant.

Peter told them that to freeze the balls off a brass monkey means it is very cold. He didn’t go into its origin. Just that Charlie was joking saying it was cold enough for a brass monkey’s balls to fall off.

~o~O~o~

Charlie expertly piloted Dawn 2 back to Darwin. There were huge crowds to congratulate the pair. Charlie.

Charlie stood by the door to the control room. He had one arm around Chloe, the other around his dad.

The media companies wanted interviews with the pair.

“I’m tired. Please let me get some rest. Today we, the people of the world worked together. Men and women from all different races and religions, saved the planet. Tomorrow I’ll tell you how we work together to save humanity.”

The whole world waited on what this amazing man had to say.

As always - All rights and Characters © Beverly Taff

“I’m tired. Please let me get some rest. Today we, the people of the world worked together. Men and women from all different races and religions saved the planet. Tomorrow I’ll tell you how we work together to save humanity.”

The whole world waited on what this amazing man had to say.

~o~O~o~

The next morning, Charlie stood at a podium outside the Darwin factory. He waited for the crowd to quiet down before he started.

“A poor man wanders out of the desert. He is dying of thirst. His wife is dying of hunger. Their baby needs medicine. He sees a man sitting on top of a mountain of water, food and medicine. He says, can I please have some? The man says no. I might need it.”

He paused and let this sink in.

“That man on the mountain is insane, greedy or just plain evil. That’s what billionaires and rich people like me have been doing for thousands of years. It is insanity. There is a misused passage in the Christian Bible; The poor will always be with us. This is only a matter of degree. We throw away huge amounts of food and medicine. Yet allow babies to die through lack of healthcare. People starve every day. This happens because we allow it. I’m saying no more. I will use my wealth to help the world. When I die, I would want people say, he helped ten million people, rather than he made five hundred billion dollars. Our greatest assets are each other. I plan to set up factories in countries that want my help. I'm embarking on the biggest ship building program in the history of humankind. My ships can be used to farm under the sea and access the most remote of areas. They can transport food and water to anywhere it's needed.”

There was a murmur growing in the crowd as his news was commented on.

“Please I’m not finished. I propose to offer my technology to all the countries of the world.”

This caused a surge of questions.

“I will get to that. Australia and Britain are the first members of the United Spacefaring Countries. We are inviting all the nations of the world to join the USC. To join you must agree to all our terms. Any country joining will have a vote on the USC council. Once you are accepted, you will be given ten anti-gravity vessels.

The was a cacophony of sound. Charlie pressed a button and list appeared on the huge screen behind him.

1)True equality. No matter what gender, relgion, race or sexual preference.

2)Peace, you must not be at war. (The temptation to use the vessels for war would be too great)

3) Your people must be given free healthcare. (The USC will offer help to countries after assessment)

4) Your people must not be in food poverty. (The USC will offer help to countries after assessment)

5) Any country using the technology for violence or harm will have their vessels disabled until they are investigated.

6) Any member must agree to continuing assessment of the above conditions

7)Charlie Sage will have an absolute veto on all decisions made by the USC.

There was an uproar. Questions were shouted at him from all directions.

“I know the healthcare part will be difficult, but many countries around the world already do it. The idea of someone dying because they can’t afford the drugs is as bad as someone starving to death.”

“Sorry madam? Who died and made me king of space? No one died, because I saved the planet. I’m not stopping anyone going into space. If they want to use my technology though, they will obey my rules.”

“Please listen. What just happened should be a wakeup call. We are vulnerable. If you want your history and your cultures to survive, we must go out there, amongst the planets. We may even reach the stars soon. We need to sort this planet out using the resources of the planets and the moons to expand humankind’s habitat. Humans have fought about resources and land since we first started to farm. Now we have almost infinite resources and land. It will be hard work, but we can do it.”

The questions ket coming.

~o~O~o~

A year later Peter was on Mars having a cup of tea with Charlie. Peter waited until the canteen had emptied out.

“Are you looking forward to the first full meeting of the USC Peter? It all went better than I thought. So many countries don’t want to be left behind. They were falling over themselves to comply.”

“I have my shadow friends spreading propaganda in the Feminist Republic. Sylvia Milbourn is in the running for president. I think she will agree to your conditions if she wins. After that the last few feminist controlled countries will probably fall. Making it a condition that any USC country can't deal with countries that violate human rights is ruining them.”

“Well nine members in a year is a good start Peter. Some of the scientists I meet at Darwin had an idea about looping around the sun and getting a huge gravity speed boost. They think we could get to Proxima Centauri in about ten years. There are a few plantes in the goldilocks zone there. It would need a huge ship for the supplies, but I'm sure I can figure it out. Hopefully we can get more of the lager countries to join next year. India should be joining in a few months, but I don’t think China will ever agree to the conditions.”

Peter glanced about to make sure no one could hear.

“Well played by the way. The whole thing. Genius.”

Charlie gave Peter a sideways glance.

“What do you mean Peter.”

“I may not be up to your level Charlie, but please give me credit. I've suspected for months now. You set it all up.”

Charlie laughed.

“What gave me away.”

“I watched the video of the asteroid. There was another explosion after it was diverted. That was the huge anti-grave engine you used to aim it at earth wasn’t it.”

“Yes, I was getting rid of the evidence. I thought I might have had to use it, but there was enough power in the ships to do the job. What I didn’t anticipate was all of Dawn’s engines blowing. I took one offline, but it still blew. Sylvia really did save me. Ironic really. Feminista's worst enemy being saved by a woman from the Feminist Republic. I bet Wilson soiled herself.”

“I also knew you wouldn’t have left your family on the planet if you thought there was any real danger.”

“Well it was worth it Peter. The world is slowly turning from dystopia to utopia. I had to get everyone’s attention. Chloe wouldn't talk to me for a week when I told her.”

“You certainly did get the world's attentiont Charlie. Oh, and I watched some of those twentieth century sci-fi videos you told me about. I love Armageddon, by the way. Star Trek was good too. USC? Good job you didn’t call this UFP.”

“Did you watch all the Star Trek series.”

“Nearly, not sure about the one I’m watching now though. Hardly any men in it. It’s like the ship is run by the feminists of the old UQ”

“Oh I know that one.”

They both fell about laughing.