Grind the Anthropologist

On the second boat, #10, Grind, the anthropologist, was caught up in contemplating the mystery of the sea and entertaining her imaginings of what might lie below.

The eerie, gray fog surrounding her melted into the gray water, forming a seamless curtain that created a feeling of floating into another world, a world beyond the veil that she had read about so long ago.

Grind looked like a normal, Grippland citizen. She was of average height, muscular and physically fit with an angular face and dark brown eyes. Yet, she was a very unusual and well-educated character.

Her crime was collecting, hiding, and reading forbidden books to learn about ancient cultures and former civilizations. Studying mythology and spirituality had provided her with a much-needed escape from the Tone-Drone-Drift of robotic, Gripp Speak and Gripp Logic—a form of thinking that eliminated curiosity and imagination.

This logic had been designed to interrupt extraneous thought processes. In other words, stopping any concepts that might lead to the truth or that might provide possibilities for an alternate future.

There was always a double and triple standard in Grippland. And the idea of “The Truth” provided a wide variety of interpretations, depending upon which of the many Truths High Command determined were the most beneficial for The Greater Order.

Grind’s profession as an anthropologist was rarely in demand in a society that was erasing history and replacing it with the New Historical Narrative, a falsified version of history to enhance the power and order of Grippland.

Her studies of previous civilizations were viewed as a significant threat to The Greater Order. And yet, it was her unique knowledge that Gripp Command reluctantly surmised could be important if the exploration team were to encounter an advanced or even a primitive civilization.

High Command had approved her volunteer status and released her from prison at the very last minute. Even though she carried the lowest rank on the mission team, they thought she might piece together clues along the way.

So, here she was on a raft, imprisoned on a course to nowhere, slowly spinning around as if she were riding on one of those mythological carousels where children had once played.

Portals in Time: The Quest for Un-Old-Age by John Joseph TeressiChapter One, The Eye of Time Exploration Team, The Crossing…Page 33