An Ancient Apocalypse

*



He resembled a man in a suit of close-fitting armour, though he was too slender for a man to have fitted inside that skin. His skull was all elegant planes and gleaming curves. The Machine Person was both coldly robotic and searingly human, like an exaggerated and stylistic antiquity, rendered in gold and chrome. His eyes were densely faceted mechanisms, shifting from opal to turquoise depending on the precise elevation of his gaze. He had a broad cleft chin. His cheekbones were parallel flanges of chrome, pushing through his skin as if to serve as cooling elements. He had a nose, which appeared to serve no other function than to complement the proportions of his face. His mouth was thick-lipped, the golden lips parted to a narrow slot, with the chromed complexities of his speech-generating systems lurking behind. His skull was gold save the coloured-glass panels on either side, just above the streamlined representations of his ears. The panels were fretted with a fine network of chrome. Behind the facets whirled traceries of pastel light.

Alastair Reyonlds, House of Suns.



And then in memory, in an ancient apocalypse, with the shadows already fleeing across the landscape. His own vivid wretching isolating him in the gutter, but there were other causes, other voices, guardian angels, all looking down and expanding out, Someone was talking at him. You alright? the bitch asked, an act of entirely faux concern. He stumbled awake, looked up, knew he smelt from vomit. Go away, he said, before he even knew who it was. Not well dear, not well, he heard the echoes as the little coterie headed towards the front door of the bar. Grizzling as if lost. Caught in enormous shadows. Frequent passes. Diseased consciousness.

He heard the final cackle of laughter as the bitch and his entourage re-entered the bar, the muffled sound of music escaping as the doors swung shut. He could still see the security goon keeping an eye on him. He heaved again. There wasn't going to be any rescue. Cars drove past, impressive cars full of ordinary people. He so much wanted to be like them; unafflicted. His clothes felt stale as they flapped against his skin. Shadows were fleeing across the fields. Far off there was happiness and peace, but not here, not in this life. Not on this street; with its callous, drunken knots of queens and the endless swish of the rich in their smart cars driving through this perverts' domain on the way to their homes.

He was never going to join the human race, not now. Things had been pushed too far. The chemicals had destroyed any sense of commonality. He didn't even know where he lived any more. He would find that rooftop, he would watch the dawn, he would preserve his sanity for another day. He badly needed a shower. He moved to escape the smell of his own chunder. The bitch would have to wait. He would think of something clever to say, next time. Right now, he had to deal with his own disintegrating soul. The fact that there was no answer. He had become human wreckage. He had sunk into a different realm. There was nothing human about this, nothing normal. If he could cry, he would have.

He should have stumbled home alone, washed himself and his clothes, got a good nights sleep and sobered up ready for another day. He did nothing of the kind. He circled the block so the goon wouldn't see him. He re-entered the bar from a different entrance; mixed in the crowd at the back of the bar so he couldn't be seen. Ordered another double bourbon and coke, briefly thinking he should make it a triple. And then somewhere in the night he was in another club, dancing, the clouds of cigarette smoke making everything smell of nicotine, the bourbon and coke washing away the foul taste in his mouth.

He saw the bitch again, prancing between tables in the late night club. He thought, briefly, how nice it would be to pour a drink over his head. To bring him down and diss him out. To piss him off for good. This lurching planet, it wouldn't stay still. He could smell amyl nitrate from the seething darkness at the back of the club. Someone handed him a bottle and he stuck it under his nose. The music was loud and he cowered beneath it, trying to dance. The amyl lifted his head off, counteracted the alcohol. Suddenly he was aware of where he was. He could see the men, moving together in lust.

All this dirty, grotty, grimy sex. Someone, he couldn't see who, was fumbling at his belt. He found the glass he assumed was his and drained it in one, although it didn't taste like bourbon any more. The music pounded and the crowd lurched in sympathy. God would have been very distressed at the amorality of it all. He was descending into depths he would never reveal. The disease story was only beginning to be whispered. No one was frightened yet. Aids hadn't yet killed half the talent in town. He was sure he could be happy, somewhere. In the embrace of total strangers. In boasting rights. Amongst handsome men. But for him there was only one goal: to forget, to completely forget. He bowed to look at whoever it was. He still couldn't see in the pitch dark. He didn't know how he would ever find the bar again; primitive, elemental gasps punctured the music.



THE BIGGER STORY:

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,24598160-661,00.html

KEVIN Rudd will fly back from an emergency summit of world leaders to attend a meeting of local mayors before making his second trip to the Americas in less than a week.

To reduce time out of the country and fulfil commitments at home, Mr Rudd has ordered a punishing flight schedule covering almost thousands of kilometres and criss-crossing time zones.

He has ditched plans to visit Brazil, Chile and Mexico.

The Prime Minister will head to Washington on Friday, November 14, for a summit of G20 leaders aimed at tackling the global financial crisis.

He will then race back to host the inaugural Australian Council of Local Governments on November 18.

A meeting with premiers and chief ministers has been postponed because of the Washington meeting.

On November 21, Mr Rudd will fly to Peru, to attend an Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation group summit, which will focus on the international economic situation.

The Opposition has dubbed Mr Rudd the "Prime Tourist", because of his frequent overseas trips.

The Washington and Lima visits will push to more than 50 the number of nights the PM has spent overseas since taking office.

Mr Bush's decision to call the Washington summit means "side visits" to Brazil, Chile and Mexico after the Peru conference will now not go ahead.

Mr Rudd may meet the President-elect -- Barack Obama or John McCain -- while in the US.

http://www.reuters.com/article/vcCandidateFeed7/idUSN0335408420081103

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrat Barack Obama leads Republican John McCain in six of eight key battleground states one day before the U.S. election, including the big prizes of Florida and Ohio, according to a series of Reuters/Zogby polls released on Monday.

Obama holds a 7-point edge over McCain among likely U.S. voters in a separate Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby national tracking poll, up 1 percentage point from Sunday. The telephone poll has a margin of error of 2.9 percentage points.

Obama heads into Tuesday's voting in a comfortable position, with McCain struggling to overtake Obama's lead in every national opinion poll and to hold off his challenge in about a dozen states won by President George W. Bush in 2004.

The new state polls showed Obama with a 1-point lead in Missouri and 2-point lead in Florida, within the margin of error of 4.1 percentage points. But Obama also holds leads in Ohio, Virginia and Nevada -- all states won by Bush in 2004.

The five states where Obama is ahead have a combined 76 electoral votes. Along with states won by Democrat John Kerry in 2004, they would give Obama 328 electoral votes -- far more than the 270 needed to win the White House.

Obama also leads by 11 percentage points in Pennsylvania, which McCain has targeted as his best chance to steal a state won by Kerry in 2004.

McCain leads Obama by 5 points in Indiana and by 1 point in North Carolina -- both states won by Bush in 2004.

"Obama's lead is very steady. He could be looking at a big day on Tuesday," said pollster John Zogby. "These are all Republican states except Pennsylvania, and that does not look like it's going to turn for him."

In Florida, the biggest prize being fought over on Tuesday with 27 electoral votes, Obama leads McCain by 48 percent to 46 percent. The two were running dead even at 47 percent one week ago.

OBAMA LEADS IN OHIO

In Ohio, the state that decided the 2004 election with a narrow win for Bush, Obama has opened a 6-point edge. He also has a 6-point lead on McCain in Virginia and an 8-point advantage in fast-growing Nevada.

Obama leads McCain by a statistically insignificant 1 point, 47 percent to 46 percent, in Missouri. McCain has the same 1-point edge in traditionally Republican North Carolina.

McCain has a solid 5-point lead in Indiana, which has not supported a Democrat for president since 1964. Obama has worked to put Indiana in the Democratic column, and plans a visit there on Election Day to try to help turn out the vote.

In the national poll, Obama leads by 15 points among independents and by 13 points among women, two crucial voting blocs in Tuesday's election. He leads by 1 point among men and among all age groups except those between the ages of 55 and 69, who favor McCain by 1 point.

McCain leads among whites by 13 percentage points but is only attracting about 25 percent of Hispanics. In 2004, Bush won more than 40 percent of Hispanics.

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,24598164-662,00.html

TV personality Todd McKenney is "delighted" police have dropped a drugs charge against him after being advised the chances of a conviction were remote.

McKenney, 43, a judge on Dancing With The Stars, faced a charge of possessing GHB after being found unconscious in a Sydney park, allegedly with a vial of it in his jeans pocket.

He insisted his drink had been spiked the night before, and the drug planted.

A police spokeswoman said yesterday the charge had been dropped. "Following the receipt of legal advice, police have determined the prospect of a conviction is remote and proceedings will not continue," she said.

Police would have had to prove McKenney knew he had the drug.

In a TV interview after his arrest, McKenney said he'd never used the drug, also known as fantasy, and "didn't know that was in my pocket".

He is said to have told police that he'd had a shower during a party at a friend's home in Potts Point on April 24, and dressed in borrowed shorts. He put his jeans back on and left about an hour before he was found unconscious in Rushcutters Bay Park.

The 43-year-old had pleaded not guilty to possessing a prohibited drug. Magistrate Jane Culver yesterday accepted a police application to withdraw the charge.

If convicted, McKenney could have faced a maximum penalty of two years' jail.

McKenney's manager, Mark Klemens, said the star of Priscilla Queen of The Desert, The Musical, who also co-hosts a breakfast program on Sydney radio, was delighted.