Foreword
These rare and valuable diaries were found during an archaeological dig of a site known as Arkadia in historical times, and are two hundred years old. The data pad on which they were written took five years to restore and the Washington Area Society of Historians (WASH) is still in the process of deciphering the data. The diaries represent such an important insight into the survivors of the Apocalypse and Prime Fire, our ancestors, that we are releasing them to the general public as soon as they are deciphered and rendered into a readable condition. There appear to be at least five volumes of the diaries, beginning with the Ark Diaries which detail life on board the Ark before it came to Earth, and cover the year 2148 to 2149. Little is known about the author, Marcus Kane, as so few historical records exist from that time, which is why the discovery of the diaries was an exciting event of great historical significance. You can follow the diaries online at /users/IsolationShepherd and
The Secret Diary of Marcus Kane Aged 40-Something
Volume I The Ark Diaries
January 1st 2148
Sinclair dragged me out to a New Year's Eve party on Mecha Station last night. I knew I would regret going and so it proved. I drank too much whisky, way too much, and I can barely remember a thing before waking up in Earth Monitoring Station slumped over the console with my face pressed against the screen and my saliva smeared somewhere over the east coast of the former United States of America. My head is thumping louder than that awful rap music Sinclair likes to listen to and my mouth is so rough I could smooth the edges off a steel cable with my tongue. What a way to start 2148! Also, I think I had to kiss Abby Griffin in a game of spin the oxygen canister and the worst thing about that is I can't remember what it was like.
I'm not one for New Year's Resolutions normally but I think this new year requires a new start. So, here's my list.
No more whisky. Ever. Even if Thelonious cracks open that 100-year-old scotch he thinks no one knows about.
Try to get on better with Abby. Yes, she's pompous and annoying and always thinks she's right even when she so clearly isn't but she has a good brain. She thinks differently and that could be useful.
Don't kiss Abby again. Especially not in front of Jake. Or anybody. Even if it's a game.
Try and get a date with Callie Cartwig. She told Sinclair she likes a man in black, so there's an opportunity there. Be bold.
Be more lenient with the young people. They're idiots, but they know not what they do half the time. Cut them some slack as the kids say.
Update the diary every day. It relieves the tension and helps clean the slate ready for a new start the following day.
March 3rd 2148
It's been a while. This is a quick update because I'm heading out for a date with Callie. Not that one can really "go out" on the Ark, just swap one grey-walled room for another, but still, it's better than the monastic life I've led for the past few months (okay years, but let's not dwell on that). The Ark cinema is showing a 2001 retrospective this month so we're going to watch Y Tu Mama Tambien. I am slightly disappointed because I wanted to watch Black Hawk Down but Cece was talking about seeing Bridget Jones' Diary! I'd rather pull my fingernails out with my teeth than watch Bridget Jones so I hope we've reached an adequate compromise. Time will tell.
Later
The film was good. Very sexy in places. I managed to persuade Cece to come back for a nightcap and discuss the insights into society and relationships the film exposes. It may have been set 147 years ago but life in the Ark hasn't changed much in the last century or so. The film is still relevant. She's in the living area pouring a whisky. I'll update again later.
Much later
;)
April 1st 2148
Today is April Fool's Day in some cultures and I'm afraid to say Abby Griffin got the better of me. My defences were down because Cece and I are still in the shag-every-moment-you-can phase of our relationship and I'm tired all the time. Abby knows this because she and Cece are best friends and women talk about the most intimate things. I've banned Cece from telling Abby the details of our sex life but I'm pretty sure the good doctor will have wheedled some information out of her. Why can't women be more like men? Sinclair found out the other day and he said "you and Cece, eh?" I nodded. He nodded. That was the end of that. No further words needed.
The day started out like any other. We had a Council meeting and my proposal to increase the number of guards in Lockup was being debated. I knew I had Cole, Kaplan and Muir on my side because I'd spent a considerable amount of time persuading them earlier this week. Cole is a sly old bastard. Cost me two packets of hair gel to get him on board. He won't even use them because he's balder than a turkey at Thanksgiving; he'll just sell them back to Nygel for an inflated price. He says it's not a bribe, just the cost of doing business but I know it is and it makes me feel dirty afterwards. If I don't give him what he wants he'll vote against me every time just out of spite. Come to think of it, maybe he's jealous of my hair and that's why he always asks for the gel? Anyway.
The proposal had been read and Jaha asked if there were any questions before putting it to the vote. One small hand shot up and I don't have to tell you to whom it belonged.
"I do have a question, actually, Thelonious," Abby said.
She turned those fiery brown eyes on me and I knew I was in for trouble.
"Councillor Kane. Your proposal is vague on where these extra guards will come from. I assume you haven't been training a secret army up there on Prison Station?"
I gave her my most patronising smirk because it drives her nuts to be looked down on.
"Come now, Abby. I'm sure if I were doing such a thing you'd be the first to know about it. You're always so well-informed."
She narrowed her eyes but wasn't to be deflected.
"You state you need five more guards to cover your proposed extension to the prison. If you're not training new guards, then the only way to get them is to remove them from duties elsewhere. Is that your proposal?"
Trust Abby to get to the core of the matter. That mind of hers is like a steel trap. If she didn't have such a soft spot for delinquents and trouble-makers she'd have taken over the Ark by now.
"Of course the guards will have to come from elsewhere on the Ark. I didn't think that needed spelling out."
Jaha butted in at this stage. "Now hang on, Kane. Perhaps we are being too hasty. I can't think of any area of the Ark that can spare the guards. Where ARE they going to come from?"
"He's going to take them from your security detail, Thelonious." Abby sat back in her chair, arms folded across her chest and smiled at me in a way that was smug and triumphant. It was so annoying it was all I could do to hold myself still and not leap across the table and strangle her. Not that I'd ever physically hurt her but she always provokes such a strong reaction in me. I don't know what it is about her, she just rubs me up the wrong way (she'll certainly never rub me up the right way!).
"Some of the guards will have to come from your security, Thelonious, yes. Two perhaps, maybe three. I myself will give up one of my guards and I thought perhaps Doctor Griffin could spare one from the medical wing?" I hadn't proposed to lose one of my guards or one from Medical but the idea came to me on the spot and seemed like a good one at the time. That was a mistake.
"How kind of you to offer one of your own guards, Kane," Abby said in a voice dripping with so much sarcasm I worried she would cause a flood. "However, it seems to me that losing two or three guards would leave the Chancellor extremely vulnerable." She looked straight at me, challenge in her eyes and her voice. "There are plots against the Chancellor every day, and who knows how many traitors in our midst."
I swear she looks at me and it's like I'm made of glass, only it's that special glass you get in shower cubicles that distorts the view. Abby thinks she sees me, but she doesn't. You can't tell her that, though, because she's never wrong and if she sees it, then it must be true. Frankly most of the time I don't care what she thinks, except when it interferes with my plans, or when she accuses me of crimes of which I am not guilty.
"The Chancellor's safety is my number one priority, Abby, as you well know. The fact is we need to increase the number of cells available in the Sky Box. So many of the young people are out of control. I have been over the figures and this is the only way to make that happen."
"I have to question that you have the Chancellor's best interests at heart because this proposal of yours seems to indicate the opposite. Without adequate security, it would be difficult to fight against a coup, for example."
"Abby's right, Kane," said Jaha before I could counter her outrageous accusation. "We can't risk it. A coup against the Chancellor and the Council would bring chaos to the Ark. I don't think I can support your proposal unless you can find another way to increase security."
"We can train more guards but that will take time, which we don't have." I knew I'd lost the argument. I wasn't fully prepared because I'd written the report in haste at three in the morning after a particularly arduous session in bed with Cece and I was so damned tired all the time I couldn't think straight.
I slumped in my chair, the fight having gone out of me, almost. "I'll look at the report again, but I would like it on record that Doctor Griffin's thinly veiled accusation that I am plotting against this Council is untrue and I resent it."
"I apologise to Councillor Kane if that was the impression I gave. I'm sure the Chancellor's safety is all he thinks about." She stared at me and I stared back. I wanted to smile to be honest because that was the snidest apology she'd ever given and I admired the chutzpah of it. I wasn't going to give her that satisfaction, though. Jaha withdrew the proposal from the vote and ended the meeting. I left before Abby had a chance to collar me and gloat.
So, that is how Abby got the better of me today. Cece is coming over later and I'm going to have to tell her we need to slow it down. I need my wits about me and this near-constant sex is putting me off my game. She's not going to like it and neither do I but we have to be strong. I need a whisky.
