Alasdair McPherson

New Earth Alasdair McPherson

Not many years in the future, population pressure has moved humanity to the brink of extinction. Advances in suspending animation and fusion powered engines make it possible to send migrants to New Earth, an unspoiled planet orbiting a distant sun. It will take access to all the resources of the present world and a hundred years to cross the ten light years of space. Nectar is a super-computer designed to manage the project; it is hard-wired to shut down if it breaches protocols written by the United Nations. Six mentors are appointed to deal with problems and they are the only people in direct contact with Nectar. Suzanne McKelvie is a mentor. She becomes concerned about the safety of the New Earth migration when another mentor dies in mysterious circumstances after voicing his doubts. When she finds her name on a secret list, she flees, fearing that she will be the next to die. Overcoming her terror, she seeks out other doubters from Siberia to Kerala to try to find out if her misgivings are justified. She discovers that some scientists have compromised their honesty for personal advancement but the main problem stems from the lust for power amongst politicians. Too late to stop catastrophe, she writes an account of her discoveries while governments world-wide collapse. Amidst famine and disease, she joins the groups trying to restore civilisation while many cities are still under the control of murderous gangs and while the war between Texas and California that has destroyed the USA rumbles on.