Goodbye, Padania
By Bryan Murphy
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About this ebook
In this novella of ideas set in a dystopian near future, a young woman strives to break free of the weight of her grim past and avoid a bloody future. Amid the death agonies of a pariah state, Daria Rigoletti transforms herself: from contract killer to people-smuggler to cult leader; but circumstances combine against her attempts to break free of violence. Will the mysterious Mercurio help her – if she doesn’t kill him first? Will any other man reignite her human feelings and her passion for love and life?
Bryan Murphy
Bryan Murphy is a writer from Kent, England. He has lived and worked in Africa, Asia and Europe. Bryan recently retired from a job as a translator and editor within the United Nations system, and now concentrates on his own words. He divides his time among England, Portugal, the wider world and cyberspace.
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Goodbye, Padania - Bryan Murphy
Goodbye, Padania
Bryan Murphy
Copyright 2012 Bryan Murphy
Smashwords Edition
To discover more work by Bryan Murphy, visit:
http://www.bryanmurphy.eu
This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, places or events is purely coincidental. The characters are products of the author’s imagination.
Smashwords Edition License Notes
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
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Acknowledgements
Earlier versions of the chapters entitled Esculent Pursuit, Her First Priest, Breakthrough and Meltdown all first appeared in The Hiss Quarterly.
What they say
"We were blown away by Esculent Pursuit …"
Lalo Fox, Editor, The Hiss Quarterly
"Bloody good … superb and masterly use of the language … a very well built piece of sci-fi with a sound pscychological study of the protagonist."
Giuliana Manganelli, theatre critic, Il Secolo XIX
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To all exiles
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Table of Contents
Chapter 1 – Esculent Pursuit
Chapter 2 – Her First Priest
Chapter 3 – Breakthrough
Chapter 4 – The Harvest of Delirium
Chapter 5 – Worm!
Chapter 6 – Better Than Shopping
Chapter 7 – Meltdown
The author
Connect with Bryan Murphy
Other books by Bryan Murphy
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Chapter 1
Esculent Pursuit
Turin, Republic of Padania, June 2032.
Daria hated working on an empty stomach. Unless her own flesh was well and recently nourished, the sound of her knife tearing someone else’s flesh thoroughly nauseated her.
Right now, with a job to start, she needed to go and look for food. The tables in the dark, empty hotel restaurant were adorned only with dead flies, which meant she would have to venture into the grey, decaying city. She should locate the casino her target would be using. She might even find her target. In any case, she strapped the knife inside her cassock, its moulded plastic warming to her thigh. A gun, fitted with a silencer, would have been better, but guns and silencers were old technology, jaded memories of wealthier times. Knives were silent, though you could never count on their victims not to scream.
Daria did not expect the evening sunlight that dazzled her as she stepped out of the hotel lobby. When her eyes adjusted, they focused on evening commuters edging out of the railway station opposite. There were not many of them. They clustered around the tram stops between the station and the hotel, those in the green uniforms sauntering to their rightful place at the head. Pale-faced beggars gave them a wide berth as they worked the queue.
If I can get together a bit of capital,
Daria mused, and a touch of enterprise, I could move sideways into people-smuggling.
Now that emigration, as well as immigration, was banned, it was starting to be an enticing prospect, better than killing people you felt no hatred for. And this job would give her some capital, if she brought it off.
Daria snapped out of her reverie. There might be food at the station, but railway food was rarely nutritious at the best of times, and these were the worst of times.
She headed south, opposite the post office depot attached to the station. It still had a few battered vans loading and unloading. No shops or eating places on that side. On her side of the street, Daria passed a couple of open establishments, one selling bolts of fabric, the other doing good business in folk remedies. Then she caught a whiff of bread and