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Last Train to Coaltown

by Robert N. Henry

320 pages; quality trade paperback (softcover); catalogue #02-0961; ISBN 1-55395-247-2; US$26.00, C$29.95, EUR21.50, £15.00

Last Train to Coaltown series tells a tale of ancient civilizations, virtual reality worlds, eternal damnation, war, romance, a young girl's rise to power and a father's love. Come to the immortal land of Elysium and meet anew poets, writers, generals, composers and more from earths glorious past in Book I of the New and Amazing Series.

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About the Book      About the Author      Sample Excerpts      Catalogue Info

About the Book In the shadowy recesses of time, in the constellation of Orion, a civilization of extraordinary richness emerged to take its place among the stars. And as this civilization became ever newer and more amazing, the biological creatures from its beginnings began to fade from memory. Resolved to record and document the process of biological evolution that had formed their own world, these creatures from beyond our imagination found a place similar to their own distant past. The place they found was earth ... our earth ... and for over 300 million years, they documented and recorded the horrific splendor of the "survival of the fittest" that went before us until... Twenty five hundred years ago, at the nexus of the Greek and Roman worlds, these "visitors", perhaps out of boredom, perhaps for reasons no one may ever fully understand, created a virtual reality world of extraordinary beauty. They called this world Elysium and they populated it with Amazons, Romans and tools to make amazing lands. To its creators it was just another clever amusement, now long forgotten, but to the inhabitants of Elysium their world was very real and they plotted and schemed in the time-honored tradition of our kind. Collectors on earth sent them people to populate their lands and to keep them informed of earths changing technology. Great recursion zones were erected to separate the lands of Vallis Luna ruled by a regal Amazon Queen from those of New Rome controlled by an all-powerful Emperor. Wars raged, amazing lands were built (including some from earth's fictional tales) until... In a hospital in Tarzana at the dawn of the 21st century, a new story begins to unfold. There a precocious 10-year old lies dying. And there, for the first time in his life, Gregory Tulliver, a playboy doctor, truly connects with a patient. That patient is the extraordinary Erica O'Shea. Little does he know that he is connected to the Boticelli Erica in ways he could never imagine. And little does he know that in a few days the cosmic tumblers are about to line him up and take him on a journey that will change his life forever. Awaiting him in a strange new land are the beautiful Diana Lucifera - High Priestess of the Temple of Artemis, Livia - Queen of the Valley of the Moon (where all men are slaves) and the builder-made Knot Monday, Consul to Braccus, King of the Thousand Lands of New Rome. And waiting to play a part in the life of young Erica O'Shea and Dr. Gregory Tulliver are collected immortals from earths past.... Emily Dickinson, Jackie Robinson, Lewis Carol, Stonewall Jackson, Frank Baum, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and a cast of thousands. And waiting to take someone to the land of eternal damnation (that all on Elysium fear) is ... the Last Train to Coaltown. Book I of the New and Amazing series awaits you.

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About the Author "It was a dark and stormy night at a very ordinary latitude somewhere in the middle of the 20th century when my mother went to my father and said, 'something strange is going on here - the head on this baby is far too large.' Having learned of this story, I spent my life traveling through many lands, talking to gurus of every stripe and flavor, and even rearranging my food to form ever more complex patterns. Finally after many years, I learned that it was not that my head was too large that had prompted my mothers observations on strangeness (as I now feel she would have complained about a head of any size), rather it was the fact that I was born on a dark and stormy night that had caused the bearer of my x chromosome to issue her cryptic warning. And so, after many years, I am finally doing what I was meant to do ... avoiding numbers and writing books. I hope you will enjoy my new and amazing tales." Bob is a graduate of Duke University where he was a member of the football, track and debate teams. He has degrees in economics and accounting and two masters degrees in finance and taxation, plus he received a CPA certificate for left-brain skills from which he now wishes to disassociate himself. He lives in Southern California with his family and is the founder of newandamazing.com.

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Sample Excerpts

Chapter 14 - Concert Under the Stars

It seemed as if I had barely arrived, when I saw light starting to form in the distance. In the flash of a second, I was speeding towards it like some kind of a Hollywood special effect. Then darkness descended again and I completely lost consciousness just as before.
When I woke up everything was pitch black. Only my sense of touch told me that I was back in some kind of physical (or virtual) reality. My first thought was that I was back in the hospital, as it seemed from the sound of my voice, that I was in a small room. It wasn't until the coolness of the stone table hit my back that I realized that I must still be in Elysium. But where I thought? Surely, if this were Receiving Station Number Two, there would be women of
Vallis Luna here to greet me. Instead, I was in a completely dark room and there was not a voice or sound to be heard. As I got up and started to walk around the room, I was able to find a narrow doorway on one side of the rectangular room. This lead to a dark passageway, which I could only navigate by touch. Eventually, I was able to make my way to a set of circular steps. Winding around in circles, I climbed these stairs until I was standing on a landing looking out through a pair of what appeared to be eyes. Through these, which were covered in a fine mesh, I was able see the great moon I had first seen at the Temple of Artemis.
Had I not left the gardens? I asked myself. I felt all the way around the circular enclosure that I seemed to be in, and I concluded that I must be in some type of statue. After a considerable search, I could find no exit or mechanism. It was with great reluctance that I went back down the circular stairs again and into the blackness from which I had come.
It was a very creepy feeling, wandering through the inky darkness with only my hands to find the way. After numerous trips from the receiving station to the statue, I was about to give up hope, when suddenly I found a crack in the wall that I had not noticed before. Pushing and shoving at the wall, I was eventually able to learn that the section of the wall with the crack pivoted around a single post. Once you knew exactly where to push, it wasn't too difficult to open. In no time, I had moved the wall enough to allow myself entry to another passageway. From there, I was able to find another door which lead to one of the rooms below what I assumed was the temple above. From there, I had easy access to the temple grounds through an alcove door similar to the one where I had first met Diana.
To my surprise, this was not the Temple of Artemis from which I had started. Instead, it seemed like a much smaller version of the great temple. And the grounds themselves were completely overgrown, as if they had been abandoned for quite some time.
Diana had told me that I would probably be naked, just like the first time that I had come through. But instead, I was still wearing the Shira robes that she had given me, and I still wore the collar that she had placed around my neck. Something had clearly gone wrong in the transmission process, and I had arrived at a place seemingly unknown even to the great Diana Lucifera. It was as if I had gone through a better version of the standard receiving station.
I was now lost in a place beyond death, in a land where I was a slave, and with seemingly no hope of seeing the two people that I loved, ever again. As I looked at the great orb that hung like a familiar friend over the star-studded skies, I said a brief prayer to Artemis and to my beloved Diana. "Make my stay in this place a time of happiness and a time of peace." And oh yeah, I prayed, "make it new and amazing."
The prayer was one of my last actions before sleep finally took away my thoughts on the gentle cool breezes of the land of eternal twilight that was the Valley of the Moon.


When I awoke, still lying at the base of the small statue of Artemis that I had found, I resolved to head along a North/South axis in the hope that I would eventually reach the capitol city of Kapru Kale. The woods that thickly surrounded the hidden temple made the early part of my journey difficult, but I was able eventually to follow a dry creek bed to a lower elevation where after a days journey, I managed to find a small trail that crossed the old creek bed that I had been following. I made a small pile of rocks at the juncture of the trail and the creek so that I could again find the temple if the need should arise.
After another few days of travel through thick pine forests, the trail eventually led me to a redwood forest of enormous proportions. Not only were the trees over 300 feet in height, the forest itself went on for quite some distance. I felt that I was in a giant cathedral, as I silently made my way through the dappled light path that wound through this magical place. So large was the forest however, that I was starting to think that I had entered a great recursion of some type, when I heard the sounds of a violin waffling on the evening winds. At first I thought perhaps it was just my imagination, but as I followed the sound, it became not only more real, but more beautiful as well. It sounded as if someone were practicing for a great performance and it made me think of the haunting violin that Naomi had played on the day of Erica's death. As I crept closer and closer, I finally emerged into a clearing where a small stream, a grassy hill and a teenage boy with a violin formed an idyllic picture that any of the grand masters would have been proud to paint.
As I kept walking towards the boy, he suddenly screamed "Ach du liebe!" in a clear sign of frightened surprise. "Wer, um Himmels willen?"


My German was not quite as good as my Latin, but I was able to mutter in a very bad accent.
"Ich bin ein freund. Mein name ist Doctor Tulliver, Gregory Tulliver."
My friendly disposition and my clumsy use of his language seemed to calm him a bit and he asked me if I spoke Latin or English.
"Yes, I speak both," I said to him. "Aber, meine deutsche ist nicht so gut."
"Well Doctor we don't get many visitors and you really surprised me. Mein name ist Rudolph Keller," he said fading back into what was clearly his native tongue.
"What are you doing here?" he asked, still incredulous that anyone could be here.
"I am quite lost, I'm afraid. I came through the great redwood forest and before that I was in a great pine forest, which lies in that direction," I said, as I pointed in the general direction of the path I had followed.
"You came though the great forest? That must be two weeks walking time," he said pointing in the same direction as I had just indicated. "And before that is the pine forest which is recursive in many places. No one from here ever goes there, as you can take one wrong step and never be seen again," he said amazed. Until now, I had not realized the danger I had been in.
"Well, where am I now Rudolph?" I asked.
"Oh, just call me Rudy," he said.
"You are in Vallis Luna, or the Valley of the Moon, as you would probably call it. This place is called Locus Cantus Antiquus or Place of the Ancient Music. It was established by the great Queen herself in 1747 earth time, and we live and rehearse here. Usually once a year, or once every other year, we go to Kapru Kale to give a live performance for the Queen. Once in a very great while, she even comes here for a Concert Under the Stars as she calls it.
"So Queen Livia comes here?" I asked excitedly.
"Oh yes, but it has been over thirty years since her last visit. When the attack by Braccus set the Temple of Artemis behind a recursion and she lost her great friend Diana Lucifera, I am afraid her spirits waned a bit and her love of music with it.
"So this place is a home for musicians."
"Oh yah, if you are a musician, this place is the greatest place that you can imagine. Everything is provided, the best instruments, the best musicians from all around the world and from many different times. And it's all under the leadership of the master himself. He is truly a wonder. Hopefully you will meet him soon. But first I think you should meet Aello, Captain of the Vallis Luna warriors that are here to protect us. I am sure she will have many questions for you."


It was about a thirty minute walk back to the center of the town that they called Locus Cantus Antiquus. As soon as we had cleared the last turn through the redwood forest, and walked over a ridge that formed part of a large valley, I saw the most amazing sight. There before me was a Bavarian village from the 18th century, with a Roman looking palace on one side of the town and a large outdoor amphitheater on the other. The amphitheater was set high into the valley ridge and faced opposite the great moon. It was very beautiful and I could only imagine the music that must be played there.
Rudy led me down into the village, where many anxious town folk clamored about to get a look at the first stranger they had seen in thirty years. Rudy kept moving me towards the palace, where two female guardswomen patrolled the entrance to the place grounds. Both were powerfully built and very attractive in a Greco Roman sort of a way. Heavier than the current craze for thinness in my time, they definitely looked the part of Amazon warriors. Dressed in leather and furs with breastplate armor, they stood rigidly at attention, until I was just a few feet away. One held her rifle pointed at me while the other stepped forward and said in perfect Latin.
"Who are you and why are you here?"
"My name is Dr. Gregory Tulliver and I am the Dolcon and property of the great High Priestess of Artemis, Diana Lucifera."
As they inspected my collar, I could see their excitement grow, both going from stoic warriors to schoolgirls in about the time it took me to say my name and station. The two women kept staring at me if as if I was some kind of a curiosity. In fact, I felt like they were looking at me in a sexual manner as if I were an object for their desires. Very odd and yet very flattering, I thought. It was to be the way I was treated throughout my travels in Vallis Luna and to think I had never believed Diana when she told me what it meant to be a Dolcon Regina.
"Get word to the captain," said one, "she will want to get word to the Queen right away."
"Yes ma'am," said the other, as she rushed to obey the orders she had just been given.
The one who remained said, "follow me," and we were off to the other side of the palace courtyard, where the main palace lay just beyond the garden walkway and just behind the fountain where water spilled forth from a vase held by a man wearing a collar. In a few minutes, I was comfortably placed in a very luxurious suite within the palace and while the room was not locked, I had no doubt that I was a prisoner.
Over the next four days, the captain and the other women in charge asked me many questions about how I had gotten here. I think none truly believed my story, but they had no plausible explanation for my arrival either.
Finally on the fifth day, I said to the woman guarding my room, "I am going for a walk. I want some chocolate."
"No Dolcon that is not permitted," she said firmly.
"But I am Dolcon Regina of Diana Lucifera. Am I to be treated as a prisoner in Vallis Luna? Is that the respect you show for your High Priestess?" I said, playing the only card I had.
"Well I don't know," said the women clearly torn between the orders she had been given and the desire to respect my station as the Dolcon of one of the most respected and powerful women in all of her land.
And then as quickly as I had forced the dilemma, it was ended by a voice that said, "Warrior your duties here are over. The doctor shall accompany me to town. I thank you for your service."
And with a simple "Yes Ma'am," and the placing of her right arm over her breast, the woman who had been my guard was gone.
The woman who spoke looked like she was about the same age as Diana and had the same sense of command that the High Priestess had shown when first we met. She was wearing a simple black flowing robe, which was clasped together at the neck with a silver medal which had the initials PV on it.
"You are a Princess Veritas?" I said in amazement.
She smiled slightly and then said, "That I am Dolcon."
"What is your name?" I asked.
"Surely Diana must have taught you better manners than that," said the woman clearly used to being in command.
"A slave need not know the name of his Mistress. Until I am done with you, you are now my property. Just call me Mistress. That is all you need to know," she said sternly.
"Yes Mistress," I said meekly.
And then just as Diana had done, she walked over to me and gently took my hand.
"Come with me, Greg. I have much to ask you."
And with that, she led me through the gates of the palace, and through Wilhelm Strasse, the main street of the village, towards the great amphitheatre that lay beyond. Only a single male slave followed us, and he kept a respectful distance. We stopped just once to get a piece of some fine German chocolate, which I later learned was one of only two places in all of Vallis Luna where such a thing could be obtained. The near illicit status of the object of my desires made it all the more delicious.
"So you like chocolate, do you?" said the Princess Veritas smiling at my obvious enjoyment.
"Oh yes, this is my first chocolate since I got here," I said grateful that I had stumbled upon perhaps the only German village in all of Elysium.
"I shall remember your weakness," said the woman with a glint in her eye.
Once we arrived at the amphitheatre, I could see that the whole thing had been carved from the rocks. Even the benches in the back and the chairs in the front, seemed to have been hewn from solid rock, which was reddish brown in nature. In the very middle, with a spectacular view of the moon and the stars and the lights of the village below, I was interrogated by a Princess Veritas of the Valley of the Moon.
I told her about all that had happened at the Temple of Artemis, of Knot and Erica and Elise and Soma. She knew so much about the temple, and about Diana, that whenever I would talk to her about any of it, she would get emotional, sometimes clapping her hands in happiness, sometimes dabbing her eyes with tears. I could see how much the temple meant to her and how much Diana was revered among her people. I learned that she was seen as the lone protector of their sacred temple, singled handedly keeping the place from falling completely under the control of the much-hated Braccus. My Diana, was in fact, a goddess to her own people, as much as she was to me.
Periodically, a slave would bring us some of the clear golden nectar that Diana had introduced me to, and we spent most of the next two days going over exactly what had happened on my trip from earth, on my trip to the secret temple, and on my travels through the pine and redwood forests.
The woman I was with had a dizzying intellect that reminded me very much of Diana and she even wanted to hear about some of my new and amazing theories. She was totally taken aback by the discussions I had had with Diana about virtual reality and the possibility that her world was not what it seemed. Never did she lose her composure or argue from a purely emotional point of view, however. Always she wanted to know more and more about the theories that Diana and I had postulated.
Finally, in the end, when she had groked (to borrow a phrase) every ounce of information that I had to offer, she paused and said, "Doctor, do you like music? Classical music I think you call it."
"Oh yes," I said, "very much."
"Then," she said, "I have someone that I wish you to meet." At that, she snapped her fingers, and the slave sitting some distance away came running.
"Please ask the concert master to put together a collection of his most famous works and tell him that I shall be singing the role that I performed during my last trip. I am in the mood for music under the stars again, as only my old friend can perform it. Tell him just a little of the new works, okay."
"Yes Mistress," said the slave and he was off.
After my exhausting time with the Princess, I went back to my room to sleep. It was a deep and restful sleep and I wondered who or what would be playing for us the next evening.


The next day I was escorted to the private booth reserved for honored guests in the amphitheatre. On the way to the concert, the town was abuzz with activity and excitement. People were hurrying from place to place in a flurry of last minute activities. There was a real excitement in the air.
As the time got closer for the start of the performance, I could see the orchestra filing in and I could see the audience, comprised of the town's people and the people from the palace, starting to gather. Even the vast army of slaves that served the palace, was well represented, sitting high atop the rocky bluffs of the amphitheatre.
Finally, the lights dimmed and the conductor walked onto the stage to a loud ovation. Then before any music started, he walked straight to the booth in which I was a guest of the PV and bowed before the Mistress of the evening.
"Herr Mozart, I would like you to meet Gregory Tulliver, Medical Doctor and Dolcon Regina. He is a great admirer of your work," said the powerful women that I had developed a fondness for these past few days, now smiling at having kept her secret so long.
I couldn't believe what was happening. Here before me was Wolfgang Amadeaus Mozart, the greatest composer of all time, a man who had been dead for more than 200 years and now he was about to perform for me a concert under the stars.
"Guten Abend, Herr Mozart," I said with all the grace I could muster. I am a great admirer of your music. It is still much beloved even in the 21st century."
"I am most grateful to you Herr Doctor," said the beaming Mozart, bowing once again, this time to me.
"If it had not been for you, our most beautiful and magnificent Queen Livia would never have graced us with her presence. We are forever in your debt."
I looked at the woman sitting next to me and watched in amazement as she gently dipped her head to verify the authenticity of what Herr Mozart had just said.
"Your majesty," I said, "I didn't know."
"I thought it better that way. I just wanted to get an honest reaction from you, so I thought it best to keep my identity hidden. I can certainly see why Diana was so taken with you. You are bright and challenging, yet you are able to accept our culture without anger or regret about your status. You are truly a worthy Dolcon," she said with all the grace and bearing of the Queen that she was.
"Thank you your Highness," I said. "Diana told me so much about you and I am so glad to have finally met you, albeit in such a strange and wonderful way."
"Well Concert Master, you may begin the performance. I think you know the pieces that I wanted to hear."
"Yes Majesty," said Mozart; "I hope that you shall enjoy our musical offering to you, our Queen and patron. It is of course the greatest music ever written."
"Naturally, Herr Mozart," said the Queen, smiling at the less than humble qualities of one of her very favorite subjects.


And so in the fourth month of my journey to Elysium, I sat next to Queen Livia, ruler of the Valley of the Moon, and for the next seven hours, I listened to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart conduct and perform some of the most amazing music anyone has ever heard. And matching the music, beam of light for note, was the beauty of the moon and the stars. The great redwood forest in the distance watched as well, in mute tribute to all that was.
The evening started with the famous Requiem in D minor (K626) that was written for Mozart's own funeral. How fitting, I thought, that a concert celebrating a man's life should begin with the music written for his death. How odd, I was later to learn from the Queen, that the Mozart now conducting this music had no recollection of having written it, as he had been collected prior to the writing of this piece. It was, I learned, one of the pieces that he most enjoyed playing however, for the very reason that it was both unfamiliar and yet very much his own.
Next, we heard a varied selection from Mozart's operas including selections from Don Giovanni, Duettino Che Soave Zeffiretto from the Marriage of Figero (which many of you may remember was the song played at the prison in the old movie Shawshank Redemption), a few songs from The Abduction from the Seraglio, and one or two others that I can't recall.
After these pieces, which had been staged and sung to perfection, out came Wolfgang himself to play a concerto for violin and piano. Diana said it was one of he pieces that he had written shortly after she had brought him to Elysium. It had never been heard on earth and I reveled in the special evening that I had been given.
Then came one of his new symphonies, number 121, which he had written to commemorate the Queens 2000 year reign in Vallis Luna. It was a piece unlike anything that I had ever heard. It was a polytonal piece that sounded more like Stravinsky than Mozart, but it had a grand quality to it that made it unforgettable. I could only imagine the celebration that must have occurred on that wonderful day.
When this piece was played, the queen reached over and held my hand in hers. I could feel the emotion it touched in her, as she thought about the day that was so special to her.
Then she whispered to me,
"You know, when I first heard this, I was sitting next to my love, Diana, and she held my hand, just as I am holding yours. I remember kissing her and feeling a love that was pure and seemingly unending. Now I feel that I shall never hold her in my arms again," she said mournfully, as the music strained to match the sight of a shooting star marking this special evening.
"Could you be happy with her Dolcon?" I asked, boldly risking everything with my question.
She looked at me tenderly and said, "Would Diana be displeased?"
"No, just the opposite. Before I left, she asked me to offer myself to you for your pleasure. She said that if you agreed, I should become your Dolcon Regina and pleasure you in the way she had taught me to pleasure her. You know she loves you very much."
The Queen looked at me as if for the first time. And then said, "When this piece is done. I shall give you your answer."
As I sat there wondering if I had made a tragic mistake, the music from the master came to a pianissimo ending, with a violin finishing a note that an oboe had started and completing the haunting melody of the great Queen of the Night symphony (K. 2000). As the thunderous applause filled the air, and the meteor shower overhead added its own cosmic touches to a perfect evening, the beautiful and all powerful Queen Livia of Vallis Luna, pulled me into her arms and stared into my mesmerized eyes. I could feel her touching my lips with her fingers and then without thinking, I took her strong beautiful fingers into my mouth, running my tongue along each, kissing each one as if they were the most precious thing in the universe. And then, the Queen in her desire for me grabbed me by the hair, tilted my head back and possessed my lips with her lips, possessed my tongue with her tongue and possessed my soul with her own. And so it was in that beautiful moment, I became Dolcon Regina of Queen Livia, ruler of all the land of the great Valley of the Moon.

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Catalogue Information

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