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By: Maxwell Colin Robertson

Lack

Pages: 182 Ratings: 5.0
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As Earth’s biome crumbles, humanity fails to develop the technologies necessary to stop an impending climate disaster. Faced with widespread starvation and environmental ruin, a radical faction seeks to preserve a segment of humankind by unleashing a deadly virus, targeting the vast heterosexual majority in a drastic attempt to reduce the population and save the planet.

However, this extreme measure falls short of halting the escalating environmental catastrophe. With the planet deteriorating rapidly, the remnants of humanity embark on a daring exodus. They set off on a 6,000-year journey to the nearest habitable planet outside our solar system. This epic voyage, devoid of star or warp drive, demands a completely self-sustaining environment, where everything, including the colonists themselves, must be recycled.

Amidst this backdrop, one man finds himself an outsider on this formidable journey, constrained by strict rules governing all aspects of life, including reproduction, which is meticulously controlled to preserve the colony’s genetic health. Defying these regulations, he forms a clandestine relationship, leading to the conception of an unauthorized child. This grave breach of protocol poses a moral dilemma for the crew: how should they deal with this infraction, and what consequences will their decision have for the future of their fragile society? This narrative explores the complexities of survival, ethics, and human relationships in the face of a daunting interstellar challenge.

The author has studied and tutored English and writing while earning a more prosaic living until recent decades. Recent incarnations have included tutoring Effective Writing, Critical Reading, and Reading and Writing the Short Story at James Cook University Cairns Campus in North Queensland. A longtime love of science fiction, the author’s homosexuality and the developing climate crisis have coalesced into a parable of possibility revealing the strength inherent in human variability.

Customer Reviews
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  • Pam Leonardi

    Lack by Maxwell Colin Robertson is a story based around a “generation” colonisation ship that is attempting to travel to the nearest planet outside of our solar system. This term refers to a journey and sci-fi genre that takes over a single generation to complete. The journey begins after the world has hit the Climate Change Wall and the world’s biome is collapsing and continues to collapse. In an attempt to give the planet one last chance to recover, and in a desperate attempt to drastically reduce the population as a last resort, a deadly virus is manufactured to kill all of humanity with the newly discovered heterosexual genetic markers amounting to approximately 90% of the population. This does not work and people continue to stream away from the Moon, where all of the colonising vessels leave from. On board each of the spaceships, only homosexual people are allowed because of the proven unreliability of heterosexuals when it comes to unwanted breeding. The “hero”, Dame, is heterosexual and discovers another heterosexual woman on board their ship, and they “accidently” create a pregnancy. What should the colonists do with this gross breach of the rules? The actions taken leave the colonists with changed priorities and an uncertain future. The story asks: What is our future? What is the human animal and which is the best model? How does humanity control its greatest threat – that of overpopulation? The ending is a bit of a brain-burn, requesting an existential decision of the reader as it does, but what at first seemed like a simple proposition has given me many hours of thought.

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