Island of light, p.1
Island of Light, page 1
Praise for Timothy S. Johnston
The War Beneath
“If you’re looking for a techno-thriller combining Ian Fleming, Tom Clancy and John Le Carré, The War Beneath will satisfy . . . If you like action spy thrillers with lots of high tech in a science fiction setting this book will definitely please. It’s loads of fun. And fast-paced. Did I mention fast-paced? ’Cause it is.” — Amazing Stories
“The War Beneath is a thrill ride from beginning to end, with several heart-stopping scenes that clearly illustrate the boundaries of underwater living and warfare . . . What I really enjoyed about the story, though, was the evolution of Mac, himself. The plot challenges his past, present and future and he has to decide not only who he is, but who he wants to be . . . ” — SFcrowsnest
“… sit back, start reading and enjoy a deep sea dive into the future . . . One very riveting, intelligent read!” — 5 stars at Readers’ Favorite
The Savage Deeps
“The Savage Deeps delivers on every level. The action is perilous, but not an exact repeat of what we’ve seen before. New technology abounds, all detailed with exhaustive research. Once again, Mac is the star of the production, a wonderfully complicated character written with delicacy. There is a point when you can push a character too far. Mac is nudged up against the edge and held there until you think he might break . . . The emotional impact of this book is just as compelling as in the first one.”—SFcrowsnest
“The Savage Deeps is like a futuristic Das Boot with a lot of intense action and some interesting technology . . . I give The Savage Deeps a five star rating.”—A-Thrill-A-Week
“ . . . Johnston is an author skilled in bringing life to his characters through dialogue, engaging readers’ emotions by their behaviors and thinking, and creating brilliant settings, all of which play out like scenes in a movie. Thinking of that, dare I suggest these two books are just ripe for becoming the next blockbuster movie? Food for thought!” — 5 stars at Readers’ Favorite
Fatal Depth
“Timothy S. Johnston has the knack of getting the genre formula absolutely right in terms of balance. No one aspect hinders the others in any way. Plot, action, characterization, tech info, and originality are combined seamlessly into a tale that flows as rapidly as a river in flood. Some books are impossible to finish reading. This book is impossible to put down . . . ” — Amazing Stories
“The excitement factor in Fatal Depth is no joke. You could almost compare it to a tsunami plow. The threads in the story culminate in an almighty push that will carry you all the way to the end in a dizzying rush. I read the second half of the book in one sitting . . . ” — SFcrowsnest
“… heart-stopping action! Timothy S. Johnston is an incredible writer, word perfect, and so imaginatively creative one has to read his books to truly experience the cinematic aspects of his beloved underwater world. He builds tension with every chapter as his plot twists and turns throughout, and even the last page jolts us with an unexpected shock. Yet, somehow in the midst of all the dangerous excitement, his readers find themselves caught up in the emotional pasts and presents of his characters, but never at the loss of momentum or suspense. There’s a reason Johnston was the winner of the 2018 Global Thriller Award. Discover that reason for yourself when you read his entire Rise of Oceania series of books.”
—5 Stars at Readers’ Favorite
AN
ISLAND
OF
LIGHT
THE RISE OF OCEANIA
Fitzhenry & Whiteside
Text © 2022 Timothy S. Johnston
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without the express written consent of Fitzhenry & Whiteside, except in the case of brief excerpts in critical reviews and articles. All inquiries should be addressed to Fitzhenry & Whiteside.
Published in Canada by Fitzhenry & Whiteside
195 Allstate Parkway, Markham, ON L3R 4T8
Published in the United States by Fitzhenry & Whiteside
311 Washington Street, Brighton, MA 02135
Fitzhenry & Whiteside acknowledges with thanks the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council for their support of our publishing program. We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund (CBF) for our publishing activities.
Design by Ken Geniza
Interior schematics by Cheyney Steadman
Printed in Canada by Copywell
Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Title: An island of light : the rise of Oceania / Timothy S. Johnston.
Names: Johnston, Timothy S., 1970- author.
Identifiers: Canadiana 20210361395 | ISBN 9781554555819 (softcover) | ISBN 9781554556168 (epub) | ISBN 9781554556151 (pdf)
Classification: LCC PS8619.O488 I85 2022 | DDC C813/.6—dc23
Publisher Cataloging-in-Publication Data (U.S.)
Names: Johnston, Timothy S. 1970-, author.
Title: Island of Light / by Timothy S. Johnston.
Description: Markham, Ontario : Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 2021. | Series: Rise of Oceania. | Summary: “Murder, a cover-up, an assassination attempt, and the ultimate espionage ploy to rescue Mayor Truman McClusky’s sister from agonizing torture by the US Submarine Fleet in a heavily guarded underwater prison. Mac has to do it stealthily, but this time, war with a rival nation is what he wants!” -- Provided by publisher.
Identifiers: ISBN 978-1-55455-581-9 (paperback) | ISBN 978-1-55455-616-8 (epub) | ISBN 978-1-55455-615-1 (pdf)
Subjects: LCSH: Submarines (Ships) -- Fiction. | Espionage -- Fiction. | Thrillers (Fiction). | Fantasy fiction. | BISAC: FICTION / Science Fiction / Action & Adventure. | FICTION / Thrillers / Military.
Classification: LCC PZ7.J646Is | DDC 813.6 – dc23
title page
Books by Timothy S. Johnston
The Rise of Oceania
THE WAR BENEATH
THE SAVAGE DEEPS
FATAL DEPTH
AN ISLAND OF LIGHT
THE SHADOW OF WAR (Forthcoming)
A BLANKET OF STEEL (Forthcoming)
The Tanner Sequence
THE FURNACE
THE FREEZER
THE VOID
Timeline of Events
2020
Despite the fact that global warming is the primary concern for the majority of the planet’s population, still little is being done.
2055
Shipping begins to experience interruptions due to flooded docks and crane facilities. World markets fluctuate wildly.
2061
Rising ocean levels swamp Manhattan shore defences and disrupt Gulf Coast oil shipping; financial markets in North America become increasingly unstable due to flooding.
2062–2065
Encroaching water pounds major cities such as Mumbai, London, Miami, Jakarta, Tokyo, and Shanghai. The Marshall Islands, Tuvalu, and the Maldives disappear. Refugee problem escalates in Bangladesh; millions die.
2069
Shore defences everywhere are abandoned; massive numbers of people move inland. Inundated coastal cities become major disaster areas.
2071–2072
Market crash affects entire world; economic depression looms. Famine and desertification intensifies.
2073
Led by China, governments begin establishing settlements on continental shelves. The shallow water environment proves ideal for displaced populations, aquaculture, and as jump-off sites for mining ventures on the deep ocean abyssal plains.
2080
The number of people living on the ocean floor reaches 100,000.
2088
Flooding continues on land; the pressure to establish undersea colonies increases.
2090
Continental shelves are now home to twenty-three major cities and hundreds of deep-sea mining and research facilities. Resources harvested by the ocean inhabitants are now integral to national economies.
2093
Led by the American undersea cities of Trieste, Seascape, and Ballard, an independence movement begins.
2099
The CIA crushes the independence movement.
2128
Over ten million now populate the ocean floor in twenty-nine cities.
2129
Tensions between China and the United States, fueled by competition over The Iron Plains and a new Triestrian submarine propulsion system, skyrockets. The USSF occupies Trieste following The Second Battle of Trieste.
Winter 2130
Trieste Mayor Truman McClusky begins a new fight for Independence against the United States. With new deep-diving technology, he defeats French and US warsubs in battle in the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, killing Captain Franklin P. Heller.
Spring 2130
Russia launches dreadnought Dragon, a new terror in the oceans. She is 414 meters long, can travel 467 kph underwater, and possesses a new weapon: the Tsunami Plow. Dragon sinks many vessels and destroys the Australian underwater colony, Blue Downs. McClusky leads a raid to infiltrate and destroy the submarine.
June 2130
Present day.
“It is forbidden to kill; therefore all murderers are punished unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets.”
Prelude: The Murder
15 June 2130 AD
Location: Latitude: 27º 34ʹ 29ʺ N
Longitude: 54º 56ʹ 11ʺ W
The Gulf of Mexico, Trieste City
Living Module B
Depth: 30 meters
Date: 15 June 2130
Time: 2200 hours
Meagan McClusky was about to commit murder.
Premeditated murder.
It was a Thursday evening. Outside the module, the waters were warm and still. Inside the habitat, the sigh of the ventilation fans and pressure monitors created a steady thrum of white noise. There was the odd click of machinery meant to keep Trieste’s inhabitants alive, a grinding of gears as bulkhead hatches slid open or shut somewhere on the same level, and the beeping of comms and the shuffling of feet on the deck nearby as her neighbors spoke with friends and colleagues, ended their day’s activities, and conducted their bedtime routines.
It was enough to lull anyone to sleep at the end of a tough day.
Most anyone.
Meg’s heart was pounding in her chest.
She could hear the blood coursing through her head; it was as if her ears were full of water, and each beat resonated loudly within her skull.
Her breathing was shallow and her muscles tense.
Her cabin was only four square meters. Two by two in size, with a bunk, a desk, and a drawer unit directly over her bed. It was miniscule, but that’s how Triestrians lived. They rarely spent time sleeping; they were generally working hard to ensure that the colony thrived. Most were only in their bunks for a few hours a day.
But now Meg sat on the edge of her mattress and glanced around, wondering how she would kill a man in there quietly.
There was only one way, of course. The only reason for someone to enter a woman’s cabin was for sex. Meg had heard enough of it during her time at Trieste. It was like living in a dorm at university. It was a single person’s module, after all, with cabins packed tightly together, and it was impossible to suppress the noise of fucking completely. She often heard the moans of men and women echoing through the corridors of the module.
Her victim, Admiral Taurus T. Benning, had made his feelings obvious in the weeks prior. He always leered at Meg whenever they were together. His hungry eyes would drink her in as they moved upward from her thighs. They would linger on the curve of her hips and breasts before settling on her freckled face, blue eyes, and blonde hair. Then he’d cast his eyes downward again, back to her breasts before flicking again to her eyes.
And there was always that damned half-smile on his face as he did it, as if he knew what he was doing, and knew she was aware of it, but he didn’t care. Why would he? He was one of the most powerful men in the Gulf and Caribbean regions.
Disgusting.
She didn’t really give much thought to hiding the murder, covering it up, obscuring her motive. It was obvious to anyone who knew the situation.
She would just kill him and then worry about later.
She reached for the comm.
—••—
Benning had a cabin in the city. He’d been staying there for a few days while healing from the recent injury during his mission to sink Dragon, the Russian dreadnought. He had sustained a gunshot wound to the leg, which the doctor had bandaged. It itched severely as his body repaired the damage; antibiotics were helping things along. He’d been lucky to survive the mission. He and seven others had infiltrated the massive warsub. They had made it to the reactor core, which they sabotaged, then engaged in a running gun battle with Russian crew through the ship while they figured a way out. The fact that the Russians had captured Benning during it all hadn’t helped; thankfully, the Mayor of Trieste, Truman McClusky, had made it to the brig to rescue him and help him off the doomed vessel.
Now, five days after returning from the adventure, Benning lay in his narrow bunk, in Module C, staring at the bottom of the metal drawer just inches from his eyes.
His leg was aching.
He closed his eyes.
The comm beeped.
He glanced at the clock and swore. It was just after 2200 hours. His ship, Devastator, was still en route to the city from the battlefield in the South Pacific, and they had been working on keeping the warsub seaworthy without him. They knew he was recovering from his injury. He doubted it was his XO.
“What do you want?” he grumbled.
“Hi.”
It was a simple word, said without any emotion, but his eyes snapped fully open and in an instant, he was wide awake.
“Hello,” he replied after a heartbeat.
—••—
Meg stared at the comm. That was easy, she thought. Men are so damn predictable. Always thinking with their cocks.
And in this case, it was going to get Benning killed.
Finally.
She’d tried to do it five days earlier, while on the Russian dreadnought, but hadn’t been able to carry out her plan. It had been the perfect time and place. People would have assumed he’d died in the battle, drowned as the ship went down. But her twin brother, Truman McClusky, had stopped her.
He’d had second thoughts and knew that to kill an Admiral in the USSF would end up bringing the Fleet down on Trieste harder than ever. Cause another occupation perhaps.
He was probably right, and Meg gave in.
But each day that passed was harder than the one before. She couldn’t stop thinking about Benning.
She couldn’t continue with her own life at Trieste with Benning still there.
The conversation had been easy, if somewhat flat. She’d called Benning. He’d answered quickly enough—he hadn’t been sleeping—and she’d invited him to her cabin. He’d paused, asked why, and she had stumbled through an excuse about needing to discuss recent events. She’d said she felt ashamed and needed to talk things through.
She knew he would come.
She looked down at her hands.
There was a long knife gripped between her sweaty fingers.
She exhaled harshly.
—••—
Benning stared at the comm.
That was odd, he thought. But it did make sense. This woman had tried to kill him just a few days earlier. Maybe she was feeling some remorse. After all, he was the most powerful man in the region. Perhaps she was just realizing that.
He swung his legs off the bunk—grimacing as he did so—and threw on a light-colored shirt and loose-fitting pants. His uniform had not yet arrived, and he was wearing the only thing he had, provided by the clinic staff.
He checked his face in the mirror. As he did so, he thought about Meg McClusky. She was so damn beautiful. Maybe, just maybe, she was so remorseful she’d be willing to have sex with him.
Yes, he thought. He was the commanding officer of the entire United States Submarine Fleet in this region. If he used that against her, perhaps he could end up in her bed tonight. It would certainly help Trieste.
He’d make sure to tell her that.
He felt a pressure in his groin.
He slid open the partition and marched into the hall.
—••—
Meg hid the knife under the pillow.
Then she stared at her bunk for a few seconds, hesitating. That was pretty damn obvious and cliché. She pulled it back out and put it in a drawer just above the bed. That’s better. Less obvious.
Her heart was really pounding now. Her face was flushed. She wished she could splash some water on it, but the common restroom facilities were down the corridor.
She checked herself over, made sure her clothes accented her figure. Her shirt was tight. She looked good, but there were dark circles under her eyes.
Mac would point them out next time they saw each other.
The thought made her stomach drop.
Mac.
Her twin would not like what she was about to do. In fact, she was supposed to be with him at that exact moment; he was expecting her for drinks with the team at the pub. They’d survived the dangerous mission and were celebrating.
She shrugged the thought away.
