Mike Arram
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It was the first day of September and Rothenians started school in a very different way from Damien’s experience. To begin with there were the flowers. ‘What? I gotta carry a … posy? Like a foo … like a girl?’ Nathan decided to overlook the momentary semi-relapse into expletives. ‘It’s the custom here, and it’s a lovely one. Look out the window there, those are teenagers with flowers on their backpacks, and that blond boy’s actually wearing a garland of roses in his hair.’ ‘Yeah,
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Hi IEAFMOLD! Should I be spared, GA will one day have all the stories (bar two) in proper sequence, but in the meantime AD has the most authoritative collection, and the Dude there has taken care to put the Peacher series in the right order. IOMFATS has the two early stories I've refrained from publishing elsewhere, cos I'm just not happy with them. BTW Golden Portifor is next up for posting here, with the glitches readers have pointed out all (hopefully) corrected.
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‘How about this, Danny? Bund Universität Homosexualnij (Gaij, Lesbiske, Ovupohlavnij, Transexualnij).’ ‘GLOT. Well, it has a little more character than LGBT. Quite a mouthful. Still, it’s nice that the Rodolfer Universität has a link to it on the front page of its website. Any idea what they do?’ Gus Underwood clicked on another link. ‘Without much grasp of Rothenian, I can only guess, Danny. But the pictures look lively.’ ‘Ooh! Now he’s cute.’ ‘I imagine they’ve picked the g
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The Peacher empire needs Justin Peacher-White and he rises to the challenge. But it means moving job, partner and child to the Rothenian capital, Strelzen. It goes off better than he has a right to expect, but what he doesn’t realise is that an implacable enemy is on his trail, and the very existence of Rothenia is in the balance. Fortunately he has unlikely allies in the shape of two way-out monks and a fifteenth-century countess.
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David Skipper brought over two drinks and placed them in front of Ben and Phil. It was midafternoon at Orton’s, which by then had emptied from the lunch crowd. ‘You wait at tables?’ ‘Saves a salary on a slack hour of the day. ‘Sides, I like it. I always envied Henry his bar work at the King’s. Crazy really, as I couldn’t stand the manager there. But the job has a certain romance in my eyes.’ Phil was mildly stunned. ‘And Gavin, you envied him too?’ David gave him a sharp loo
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You guys are thinking of a future occasion when that cavern will be used in a story posted elsewhere. A memory that spans the future could hardly be said to be faulty, could it. 🤩
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The passage along which they were walking grew darker and darker. In Phil’s dazed state it seemed to reach on forever. ‘Do you know where we’re going?’ Enoch squeezed the arm by which he was guiding Phil, who could barely see either of his escorts now. The floor grew more uneven. Enoch flicked the switch of an electric torch. It was clear they were no longer following a manmade tunnel, but were now in a natural cave which curved downwards abruptly. The floor was wet, and there was
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Phil twisted around, trying to determine who was with him, but it was too dark. The hand left his back. A young man’s voice whispered softly, ‘I’m going to get you free of these restraints.’ ‘Who are you?’ ‘A friend of Elijah’s.’ ‘God! Don’t you know he’s dead? They killed him!’ ‘I saw it.’ The man went down on his knees, and Phil could feel and hear him working on the shackles. First one, then another leg was free. The man came into view as he moved to free Phil’s wrists. He
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The armed thugs pushed Phil and Elijah ahead of them out of the storeroom, through the studio and finally into a long corridor with cells along both sides. Opening one of them, they stripped Phil’s footwear off and shoved him and Elijah inside. Dressner followed them. He stood in the doorway as they were ordered to sit on the floor. ‘I don’t know how you got in here, Maddox, but I have to assume you had friends with you. I must also conclude our organisation here in Rothenia has been compro
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Terry stood on a cairn of rocks scanning the opposite hill with Ed’s binoculars. ‘Mmm, bit Tolkeinesque, innit?’ ‘Pardon?’ queried Henry. Justin grinned. ‘What ‘ee means is, it looks like one of them places in Lord of the Rings, sorta ruined and desolate fortress on top of pine-clad hills. Broken arches and shattered walls sorta thing.’ Henry rolled his eyes. ‘Literary pair of action men, aren’t you?’ ‘Passes the time on a stakeout. James Bond is a Dressner fan, or so I’d be
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Ed Cornish peered over the rim of his coffee mug at Henry and Phil. ‘Kaleczyk? Course you know it.’ Henry shrugged. ‘I know the name. I just can’t place it.’ They were back in Osragasse 45, Apt 3. Mrs Atwood had – as threatened – been through the flat like a whirlwind with a sense of tidiness. Since she was still busy scouring the last grease-spill from the kitchen, Henry hastily pushed a coaster forward before Ed could set his mug down on the gleaming tabletop. ‘So tell us, Ed. P
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The Jed ref was just Henry being Henry, though you might say that it's a reminder of what he's had to deal with in the past and a knowing wink ;-) to those who know about it, like you guys.
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Ben and Phil had a passionate reunion as soon as Henry brought Phil back to Strelzen. ‘I’m so proud of you, baby.’ Ben kissed Phil and caressed his flanks as they lay together. ‘Our life will change a lot.’ ‘Oh, I don’t mind. There’s quite a tradition of academics being kept men. What worries me is if you get sucked into the job and have no time for me.’ ‘That’ll never happen. Look at Matt and Andy, how they manage.’ ‘Matt’s away a lot.’ ‘But they are together a lot
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Phil looked out across the windy spaces of the grand Hofbauener Plaz. Autumn was come and grey clouds were racing low across the rooftops and a cool wind whipped up leaves from the cobbles in miniature tornadoes. Henry had been right. Hofbau was indeed a handsome city, with magnificent brick and stone townhouses, their gables towards the road. It was impressive even on such a dull day. The Hofbauener Plaz might have been laid out in imitation of the Rodolferplaz, but it looked like Strelzen
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Check back D’quake. Benny sat on the board in his previous post and was chief editor. He has the managerial experience. And be fair, he couldn’t be worse than the previous crew at Wardours.
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‘Oh Philip! Really, you don’t want to develop a taste for adventure. Believe me, it’ll age you – all the uncertainty and stress.’ Henry was laughing at Phil across a table at Ribauds, the famous restaurant on the Flavienerplaz. Ben was at PeacherCorp headquarters, and Henry was keeping Phil entertained. ‘Well, I did love the adrenalin rush, and the look on Dressner’s face as the trap closed was priceless! It paid me off for the beating-up his thugs gave me in Stevenage. I still want him to
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‘So what exactly happened last night, Benny?’ ‘You liked it, didn’t you?’ ‘Liked it! It blew every erotic fuse in my body it was so hot. I came harder than I ever had. What I mean is, where do we go sexually from there? Cos I think it could lead us down some very dark avenues.’ Ben suddenly grinned. ‘No, darling. I don’t think so. I think we only want each other. This won’t lead us to the bathhouse. But when you took me like that, with other men watching, I’ve never felt anything
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‘What do I wear for clubbing? I’ve never been in a gay club before.’ Phil was nervous. Ben shrugged. ‘My experience isn’t all that wide. Generally, I’d say don’t wear a top you’ll miss if you lose it. They tend to come off and disappear if you get into dancing.’ He looked sultry. ‘I’d love to dance with your naked chest in front of me … everybody envying me, the sweat shining in rivulets across your muscles, ooh!’ Then he blushed. Phil grinned. ‘Christ, now I have an erection.’ This le
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Yup. Guilty as charged D’quake😉
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‘You packed, baby?’ Ben frowned. ‘I think so. We’ve never been away together before. It’s almost romantic. I just wish they’d tell us where we’re going.’ ‘They said to pack the passports, so it’s not Margate or Blackpool.’ Ben finally smiled. ‘I don’t care where it is. But I do wonder who’s paying for all this. It’s Matt and Andy going overboard again, I’m sure.’ ‘Then let’s not ask. There’s too much at stake, not least our arses.’ They hoisted their travelling bags and
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‘Hey you! What the fuck you doin’ there?’ The hand on Phil’s throat relaxed its grip. Its owner looked up, then sprinted off, running low between the lines of cars. The instant he raced out of sight around a corner, there came the sound of a vehicle gunning an engine and tearing away. A walkie-talkie hissed and clicked nearby. ‘Incident in west car park. Attempted mugging.’ A stream of incomprehensible speech replied. ‘With the victim now. Christ, Phil, you’re a mess.’ Phil groane
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‘You’ve certainly been busy, Clive.’ Ben was surveying a sheaf of manuscript chapters. Dressner shrugged. ‘It’s the system I work to; it’s nothing if not productive.’ Ben and Dressner were working over a table in the committee room of Wardour Publishing Ltd. Lunch was going to be at the firm’s expense, brought in by outside caterers. The CEO would be joining them in an hour. Ben lifted his red pen. ‘Can we look at this passage where Enderby cross-examines the character Burbage in
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‘When’s he coming?’ Andy was craning to look down into the street from an upstairs window. ‘Isn’t it me who’s supposed to be on pins to see my boyfriend?’ ‘Benny’s got a boyfriend? Wow. I’m so pleased and relieved.’ ‘… and surprised?’ ‘Not really, we know how sweet you are. God bless the Internet, I say, at least in this case. So when’s he coming?’ ‘After ten this morning, he said. He’ll be on his way now.’ ‘What does he look like?’ ‘He’s really something: dark, sort
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Ben was not too nervous as he stood in the great spaces of the British Library’s foyer, contemplating its many levels of brick and glass. He had a good feeling about today. He liked this building though he did not often visit it. He hung around the new but already-famous bronze bench in the form of a chained book, watching the clock approach eleven. He felt an edge of anticipation which took the form of an urgent need to pee. Deciding he had time enough, he made his way to the loos in the b
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Twice a day till it’s done. I promise.😉
