Meanwhile, back in the real world of cities and large towns, where brainwashed nonentities lived in a constructed reality, the tyrannical triumvirate was going the way of all such attempts to share power peacefully—jousting for influence and wealth. At first the troubles were a poorly kept secret behind the walls of official buildings, army barracks and Protector training schools. But when a JE official was poisoned at a banquet, an IS official was drowned in his bath, and two CH officials were discovered without heads or genitals, a toxic state of affairs became outright war, spreading onto the streets where collateral damage was severe. Thousands died. Not from their wounds so much as from lack of even minimal first aid and antibiotics. When bullets and knives didn’t kill, bacteria did. On the up side, unemployment, which had been rising, was now falling with vacancies in numerous key and not so key positions.
At the nightly Oasis updates, Steven Snupe continued to hold his audience in thrall with tales from the world of politics. Of interest, but not especially worrying, was that having disposed of the JEs and ISs, the CH group renamed Queensland the Christian Kingdom, and appointed a Lord Cardinal as head of state, supported by Cardinal-Dukes and Bishop-Barons, each with their Ministers. Eschewing the colourful gowns, capes and cloth of gold, mitres and jewelled rings and sandals of their medieval predecessors, the new lords of the realm dressed in plain black suits embellished with a simple gold cross on the lapel. Thus they proclaimed their adoption of the simple life preached by their tripartite God.
What was very worrying, was that the deposed JE party’s interstate and international financial manipulators put an embargo on all Christian Kingdom banks and lending institutions. As the Christian Kingdom had already taken over all banks and financial institutions, they responded by launching the Christian Kingdom Angel, or CKA, with one hundred Souls to the Angel, which was pegged at parity to the old dollar. As it was a digital currency only tradeable in the Christian Kingdom, its value would be stable. Depositor accounts had been automatically converted to CKAs, to be used in the same way as dollars.
‘Will there be any physical money?’
‘Not at this stage. Everyone will have a debit card that can be topped up on-line, and in the banks.’
What about poor people?’
‘They’ll be paid with debit cards.’
‘And big brother will know the spending habits of every citizen.’
‘Exactly.’
Steven consulted his notes. ‘As you know, a great deal of infrastructure has been damaged by unseasonable storms, and without sufficient heavy machinery to rebuild, and no international currency to buy stuff with, forced labour has been reintroduced.’
‘What do you mean, reintroduced?’
‘Until the nineteen seventies, much of Queensland’s infrastructure was built using indigenous and Pacific Islander forced or slave labour—paying them only enough to feed and clothe themselves. It made it impossible for them to accumulate enough assets to join in the affluence enjoyed by whites, but you can’t make omelettes without breaking eggs, as they say.’
Four weeks after the dismissal of their servants, complaints from women and girls about having to do all the cleaning, cooking and just about everything else while their menfolk sat on their fat arses and did nothing, suddenly stopped because of tests conducted by Penelope and Hercules, which proved they were leaner, fitter, had clearer skin, glossier hair and felt more energetic than they could remember. All said they slept like logs and no one had had felt depressed for weeks.
‘So why are you all complaining?’ Hercules asked.
‘Everyone else was so we thought…’
‘You didn’t think about the effect it was having on your sons and husbands who are working just as hard as you, or on the noble savages who are also working their butts off trying to make you happy.’
‘Sorry.’
‘Are you missing having servants?’
‘No!’
All felt relieved at having the house to themselves and not having to be careful about speaking in front of servants. All had learned to get the chores done quickly and then get out in the garden, or to other activities. At meetings they swapped recipes, cleaning tips, and ways to work more efficiently. Three of the retrenched men took over their household, leaving their wives to become gardeners, playwrights, wrestlers, joiners and maintenance workers under the guidance of Fidel, Robert and others. Fidel and Zadig ploughed up a large grassed area that was seldom used, divided it into allotments, spread tons of mulch and compost that had been piling up in the forest, and with unlimited water from deep wells, and shade cloths to ward off the sun, they were soon self sufficient in vegetables and fruits of every variety. The volcanic soil was rich and several metres deep, and produced up to three crops per year.
The weather continued it’s erratic behaviour, dumping either too much rain or too little. Heatwaves and hurricanes. Seldom a middle ground. Relentlessly rising seas were forcing people further inland, and temporary camps and trailer parks were moving closer to Oasis. This triggered the dismissal of the gate-keeper with very generous severance pay, and the dumping of several truck loads of gravel and huge rocks directly outside the ostentatious gateway, which was removed and replaced with a tangled barbed wire fence preventing access to all traffic—foot and wheeled.
Official signs were attached to the barrier, and smaller ones appeared around the eight-kilometre boundary fence, informing curious eyes that the Toxic Waste Dump was now closed, but poison residues including low-level radiation remained. So Keep Out.
The only access to Oasis now was through the overgrown garden of a vaguely commercial-type property of no interest, with a long back yard that reached the estate border; it was one of several properties bought by the body Corporate years before as an address for Internet financial transactions and taxation. Vehicles could drive through the garage and then through a gap in the boundary fence. But it was a fuss, so the fifteen men who went to the city daily, parked their cars behind the building and rode bicycles through the forest to their residences. Oasis schoolboys had been riding their bikes that way for years as it was shorter than using the main gate.
As residents learned to enjoy taking care of their own needs, some attempted to bridge the social gap between them and the savages. These attempts were always sternly rebuffed by Hercules and his men who, having experienced the euphoric freedom of living outside all the usual social restrictions, weren't about to shackle themselves again.
Perses’ decision after his performance on stage to swim and do sport naked, because he loved the feel of air flowing around his balls and the sensation of total freedom, was eventually taken up by several other youths and men—but not females unless there were no males present. They realised intuitively that a gash could not compete with a spear, and their attraction lay in the mystery granted by concealing it. Several women became angry and dismissive of their nudist husbands and sons, sneering at their less than perfect bodies—calling them perverted exhibitionists. This undermined the happiness of these perfectly healthy men and led to disharmony.
And then it rained. And rained. And rained.
The soil on the north slope of the crater, on which all the residents’ houses had been so perfectly designed, built and landscaped, began to slide over the granite beneath. Not because of faulty construction—the drainage had been meticulously planned, but because of tree clearance in the suburbs near the rim to accommodate the ever expanding cancer of cheap housing where builders, in the interests of profit, had simply directed all storm water towards the ‘uninhabited’ forest of Oasis instead of constructing proper drains.
None of the resident’s mansions crumbled, they were too well built. They simply slid slowly down hill until they reached the bottom, then gently piled up, leaning, twisting, reclining against each other like amorous behemoths—amusing if it wasn’t your house. Cautiously, so as not to precipitate a catastrophe, furniture and valuables were removed and stored in large marquees. As many personal effects as possible were taken to the public rooms—females to the Assembly Room because it was larger and had a pleasant aspect onto parklands, and men to the Hercules room, which accommodated them easily and was but a hop, step and jump from the swimming pool.
No one grumbled, complained or made problems. Both dormitories had small kitchens where they could make themselves snacks and drinks whenever they liked, and the large covered barbeque area beside the main swimming pool, only fifty metres from both the Hercules and Assembly rooms, was perfect for making and consuming all main meals. Hylas drew up a roster and discreetly supervised the cooks, so meal preparation became a time of gossip and companionship, and eating a communal pleasure; better than the city restaurants they were used to because they could call across to friends, make a noise, laugh and sing and enjoy the eating as well as the food—some for the first time in their lives.
By the end of the week it was acknowledged, if not spoken aloud, that this was a much more pleasant arrangement than rattling around with a spouse and one or two children in a vast house; having to go out for everything—even to find someone to talk to. In the evenings after the theatre, cards, dancing or whatever they'd been doing, women and girls could sit around, or lie in their beds and enjoy a gossip about what they’d been doing, their hair, clothes, perfume, and what book they were reading. In their enclave, the men deliberated about the state of the world, the weather, the crops, the condition of their vehicles and other mechanical equipment, and planned improvements to everything, while their sons in their area did homework, talked about sex, girls, cars, sport and everything else that interested them.
The Hercules room now resembled the lounge of a gentleman’s club; an elegant, classical space dotted with armchairs, statues, and other less conventional furniture. Each occupant had a small carpet, his favourite armchair, a wardrobe and desk or table, as well as their own bed or chaise longue as some now called it. Privacy, to everyone’s surprise, wasn’t an issue. It was a relief to know other men were nearby in case of… in case of anything. Men, they discovered, needed to be together, to share the ‘male burden’, even if it was imaginary.
Personal cleanliness was ensured when Fidel and Zadig constructed superb shower facilities for both the Assembly and Hercules rooms.
As for sex, wives were usually not averse to a wander in the forest as long as their hair wasn’t disturbed, but for the men, wanking in their own bed was less of a fuss because it didn’t involve cajoling, flattering, and wondering if they'd provided enough foreplay and other stimulation. Nor did they worry they wouldn’t get an erection, ejaculate too soon, or have bad breath or sweaty armpits or a multitude of other sins. If their cock wilted before orgasm, they didn’t have to apologise and feel inadequate. And as every man on earth masturbates, there was no shame in that. So they did.
Then with the example of the savages as a guide, some began to experiment, and discover the calm pleasure of sexual activity with someone who, because they had the same sexual equipment, understood the sort of things that arouse and can bring on exquisite orgasms.
Mort's father’s house had gone the way of all the other residences, so as the two cottages belonging to Zadig and Hercules were intact, being situated behind the unaffected public buildings, Robert and Bart moved in with Hercules and Hylas, while Fidel and Arnold shared Mort and Zadig’s cottage. Instead of Oasis being a collection of isolated individuals, it became, in Hercules’ words, a termite nest of like-minded people with plenty of forest to lose themselves in when the urge to be alone replaced the desire for company.
Relationships between the sexes improved to such an extent that men and women actually became friends, sharing ideas, experiences and laughs with each other as equals. No one in Oasis wanted a baby, in fact they didn’t want a baby with such force that the very idea of sexual activity that might lead to that, was enough to shrink the boldest penis… at least among those over forty.
To accommodate the desire of young singles to experiment with sex, Fidel and Zadig made the two least damaged houses safe, setting one up as a clubhouse for the youngsters, and the other as a place for married couples to copulate in private, away from the creepy crawlies in the forest.
Contrary to popular wisdom, spending very little time alone with their husband or wife and enjoying casual bonking with same-sex lovers, had the effect of cementing the marriage bond. Dressing for a date with their spouse, then collecting her from the Assembly Room to go to the theatre, or a dance or whatever activity was on, became almost as exciting as when they were young.
Each day every resident who could manage it, walked, jogged or ran around the eight kilometre long track just inside the boundary of the estate, keeping a careful eye on the state of the three metre high fence; watching for gaps, damage, defects or any other indication of a weakening of their defences. Ten metres inside the legal boundary, the high-tensile steel-mesh barrier, electrified and laced with security sensors, threaded its way between dense, tangled old forest and scrub that on its own would deter all but the most determined walker. An added security measure when it was first installed was to plant the dreaded gympie-gympie bushes every few metres against the outside of the wire. The slightest touch caused extremely painful rashes that lasted for days—sometimes weeks. A normal chain fence out on the legal boundary stopped honest people from intruding, so those who got stung deserved it. Only someone deliberately wanting to enter Oasis would find the security barrier, but as the entire estate had been digitally removed from all Lands Department electronic plans, it was unlikely anyone would be looking for it. Furthermore, being situated in a shallow crater, the trees were scarcely noticeable from outside. Looking towards Oasis from the city the eye passed over the rise and saw only the distant hills of the escarpment. And as the rainforest canopy covered most of the area, Google maps showed only patches of apparently unremarkable buildings dotted here and there among trees. Nothing to excite interest.