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I wanted to give the Lazaruses some fun after their hard slog through the apocalypse, so this post is my thank you to them for all their work, and my a little treat for you, our readers and friends.  I’ve really valued all your support, comments and company on this journey.  From myself and the Lazarus family – thank you so much.  Here’s to a new world!

On behalf of the people of Sunset Valley, I am writing to congratulate you and all the people of Riverview on your hard work in establishing your town and freeing yourselves from the aftermath of the terrible accident that devastated your town so many years ago.

I want you to know that the dispatches sent out by you and your family have been reaching us here in Sunset Valley and we have been following your progress for several generations.  Our library displays them all in a public archive and our schools teach about the accident that devastated your town and about the dispatches sent by your great-grandfather, grandmother and mother.

I must tell you that until that first dispatch from Alf Lazarus came through, the world believed your town had been destroyed, and the safety zone around you was erected purely for the safety of the rest of us, not because anyone thought there would be survivors.  That first message from your great-grandfather changed everything.  Since then we have been monitoring your progress eagerly and willing you all to come through.  We’re so glad you did.  We have heard so much about what Riverview was like before the accident, from the stories and photos passed down to us, and we are so excited about seeing what you have become.

We have been putting aside a help fund since we received that first dispatch and there is a substantial amount of money to help you with your rebuilding, should you require it.  We will also provide you with whatever materials, expertise and equipment you need to help in your reintegration.

I myself have been reading your own dispatches with great interest.  The way your council operates has challenged us here in Sunset Valley to think of our own infrastructure.  We are so glad that now we will be able to visit Riverview and that you will be able to visit us.  I look forward to hearing more of your stories in person and extend to you an open invitation to visit us here, as our guests.

Yours faithfully,

Karis Kyoti

Mayor of Sunset Valley.

My name is Jango Lazarus.  I am the leader of the council here in Riverview, a town once devastated and forgotten, but now a living, breathing, beautiful community.  This is my final dispatch.

Our family has recently been blessed by the arrival of our fourth child.  She was born the night before the wind turbine started running.  She is the last child born in Riverview whilst we were placed under restrictions.  She is our Omega.

Riverview is now a changed place, a renewed and restored place.  My sister Krillitane works in the local research lab and they recently managed to get a wind turbine working to provide our town with electricity for the first time in generations.  This was the last restriction that the survivors of the nuclear accident that devastated our town many years ago believed we would need to meet in order to be free.  My sons, Luke, Micah and Noah  have been anticipating this development for a long time – we have been telling them since they were small how much life would change when we had power and now it’s here they’re incredibly excited about all the possibilities opening up to them, new opportunities both within our town and in the world around us.

The arrival of power to our town meant it wasn’t long before we could finally move into our house – our first ever permanent home.  My great-grandfather, Alf Lazarus, built a small, temporary shelter after the nuclear accident that devastated our town when he was a young man.  He and those few survivors that remained after the blast had to build shelters from whatever materials they could find, and over the years those shelters have sustained a lot of damage and wear and tear.  In recent months we have been able to start building on land, and building larger shelters, now the contamination that polluted our soils has been eradicated.  My sister and her partner Ria helped us design this home – it’s incredible.  All the children have their own rooms, and my wife Anne-Marie and I get to sleep in a room free from distractions!

As for Krillitane and Ria, although we thought they would live with us, or with Ria’s family in their own brand new home, the newlyweds have decided they want the challenge of developing their own place, and so they’ve moved out to work on establishing their dream home.  They’re such resourceful women and have worked so hard for this town.  Since the power came on, a weight has been lifted from Krillitane, and all of her colleagues, and work has been flooding in for Ria and her fellow builders.  Things are looking up for them, and they seem so happy, so fulfilled.

Having electricity is transforming our town in so many ways.  At night we often go for a walk, just to enjoy being part of this town, and seeing it illuminated.  As we walk, we remember those in our family and our town that have gone before us.  We go past the hospital my great uncle Davros was involved in establishing, the research facility where my wife and sister work, and the business centre where my older sister Ilari works.  You can see them illuminated, shining, glorious.

We then visit our stadium, which has pride of place in the town.  It’s a place my grandmother Chaotica would have dreamed of playing at when she was an athlete.  Then there are the gym, art gallery and library that my mother, her sisters, brother and cousins helped establish, and that her cousins Ramon and Shana continue to run.  There is a new wing of the art  gallery due to open later this month in honour of my uncle, Gaius Lazarus, who passed away recently.  Gaius was instrumental in bringing down the corrupt regime of the Alto family and establishing new freedoms for our creative citizens.  Across the road from the gallery are the small businesses operated by local artists and craftspeople.  I am always reminded of the stories I was told about my great aunt Castrovalva, who was a key part of the artists’ colony back when it was dangerous to be involved in that community.  The town theatre, first established by my aunt Ezri and her colleagues, is at the heart of the arts district.  My aunt and my father, Eugene, were both musicians and played there on a regular basis, and there are still regular concerts from local musicians.

As we continue through the town, we go past the police and fire station, which my aunt Ezri helps to oversee, and the school first established by my great aunt and uncle Byzantium and Shavran.  The offices of the newspaper and fledgling television and radio station, overseen by my mother’s cousin Hirogen, are being expanded right now, and we hope we’ll be able to use these to connect with you in the wider world as well as communicate the news within our own community.

When we’ve been for our walk and have seen all of these great places, we take a stroll by our beautiful river and dine at the finest Bistro in town – run by my little sister Kes, and her husband Antony.  They opened the restaurant as soon as they had a steady flow of power and it’s already becoming one of the most popular destinations in town.  Kes has finally achieved her lifelong dreams, and it’s a joy to see her doing something she loves so much, with a man she adores supporting her all the way.

My older sister, Ilari, is preparing for the changes that being part of the wider world will mean for us.  She is confident our financial infrastructure is as ready as it can be for the changes ahead, and now her daughter Sheila is at school, she has the time to dedicate to the job at hand.

My elder sons are flourishing in our new home.  Although they have their own rooms, they spend a lot of time together, sitting and watching the stars at night, talking about girls and playing games.

Luke has so many questions about what life is like out there in your world, and he is incredibly excited that we’re about to find out, although I think he may also be a little nervous.

Krillitane brought him an old computer system from the research lab.  There have been several of these in storage since the accident and he loves playing games on it.  I imagine our technology is incredibly primitive compared to what we will find in your world – but I’m sure Luke will love getting to grips with the latest developments.

We bought Micah a handcrafted guitar for his birthday.  I sometimes play my father’s old guitar and Micah has shown a love for it lately, but it’s old and not in great condition.  My boy has dreams of becoming a musician like his grandfather and so we got him this new guitar to play with – he’s incredibly talented already, and though I don’t know whether he will change his mind as he gets older, right now it’s great to see him thriving.

Our youngest son, Noah, has finally got the telescope he’s long dreamed of.  Now that the skies are clear and we have a rooftop patio he can go out on, he spends lots of time in the evening watching the skies and dreaming…

As for Omega, she makes us melt with just a glimpse of her smile.  Our daughter will never remember a world before we were free.  She will never know what it is like to be constrained and restricted.  Everything will always be open to her and she will never know any different.  I’m so grateful she has this chance, though Anne-Marie and I are both keen to tell her the stories of our town and of all those brave men and women that came before and won these freedoms for us.  We want her to enjoy the life she has been given, but never to take it for granted.

Kes has given me a few cooking lessons, and we have installed a large kitchen, and we have an oven for the first time.  I’m nowhere near as good at cooking as my little sister, but I enjoy having a go, and the produce my wife grows in the garden is second to none and even with my mediocre skills, it tastes fantastic.

Anne-Marie has moved into a new area of biological research at work.  She’ll be part of the team helping to re-establish wildlife in our town, making sure the right creatures migrate here and that they are able to establish themselves.

Although we have our own rooms and our own interests, the thing we enjoy the most is spending time together as a family.  Having a large house means that for the first time we can all sit together in one room.  Our shelter was always too small for us to sit and talk or read in one place so it’s wonderful to have the freedoms to be apart and to come together.

The town recently decided that I should adopt a new job title.  Leader of the council was fine when we were simply a small, parochial town, concerned with our own interests and little else.  But now we have done everything needed to remove the restrictions placed upon us, it’s been decided that my job title should reflect our new situation: Leader of the Free World.

We have placed white flags on our borders – we are ready to rejoin the world at long last.  We are free.

Although a whole new world awaits us, a world full of visions and experiences and opportunities we can never imagine, we will never forget those who came before us.  This freedom could not have been won without the efforts of my great-grandfather and all those survivors who worked so tirelessly to ensure our town’s survival.  We will never forget them as we enter this new beginning.

Welcome to Riverview.

—END TRANSMISSION—

My big sister Ilari is now a mother to baby Sheila.  She’s doing really well at balancing motherhood and work, and is preparing herself for the challenges that reintegration will bring to our business community.  Sheila is beautiful.  Anne-Marie and I were both inspired to have another child after meeting her.

We’ve always wanted a large family and it’s even more exciting to think that this baby could actually be born into a free world.

My other three children are doing really well.  Micah is a keen fisherman and loves going out with his aunt Krillitane to explore the ever-increasing life in our river.

Spending time with the boys has been great for Krillitane – it’s been helping her relax a little more, and she’s so good with them.  She teaches them all kinds of things that I have no idea about.

Our youngest son, Noah, is now at school and even more inquisitive than his older brothers.  He looks up at the stars and wants to know how they are formed.  He loves the different weather and wants to understand it.  Krillitane has promised to get him a telescope from work so that he can explore his interests even more.

The kids are understandably excited about their new baby brother or sister.  They all get on so well and I’m confident the new baby will be well loved.

Luke is becoming a young man – he sometimes seems very serious, but he’s never sad, he’s just always thinking.  He asks us a lot of questions about what reintegration will mean, how it will change our lives and our town, what we will be able to do. 

It’s difficult to know how to answer those questions so we’re as honest as we can be – we believe it will be good, we’ve always believed that. We believe there will be new technologies, new experiences, new things to see, to eat, to taste, to do – new people to meet.  But the truth is we just don’t know.  We don’t know if other towns have experienced catastrophes.  We don’t know if life inyour world is as good and free and exciting as we were always taught – we just have to believe, and hope.

There has been a real change in Krillitane lately – she’s seemed much more relaxed, and as if she’s finally worked out what she wants from life. Spending time with the children and working on the house has helped hjer focus on things other than work – but work has been much more rewarding lately. She finally became engaged to Ria, and she seems more confident about the future than she has ever been.

The research team have come up with a new breakthrough in their search for generating power. They’ve been able to channel electricity on a small scale for some time now (Krillitane is often getting minor shocks from it, shocks that make her hair stand on end, though she insists it’s nothing to worry about!), and now they believe they’ve come up with a way, finally, of supplying power to the whole town.

They have set up a wind turbine, hopefully the first of many, which they believe is capable of harnessing power. The turbine goes into operation tomorrow. The next time I write we may be finally free from our restrictions.

For now we wait in eager anticipation.

Luke and Micah are the best of friends – they’re always playing together, and they really enjoy running around town to play tag or use the swings.  So much more is open to them than was open to us as children; they have so much freedom.  I think they will adapt well to the wider world once we have been restored to it.

Both boys were really excited about the news that they had a new baby brother or sister on the way.  Micah has declared he will take special care of the little one and be the best big brother he could possibly be.

The boys have developed a new hobby; chasing insects.  There were very few insects in town until recently and certainly nothing like the beautiful butterflies we now see.  Before, all we saw on a regular basis were flies, gnats and cockroaches – now we have a whole array of beautiful bugs and fish in our town.  Anne-Marie and her colleagues at the lab are working on ways to make our landscape favourable to other forms of wildlife so that in time we will see all of the animal species that once lived here return.

The presence of more wildlife, trees, grass, plants and flowers has not only given people here a real boost, a new energy; it has also started to sway those who have been reluctant to face the prospects of a new world.  People are beginning to realise that being open to the rest of the world will mean we see more beauty – we have heard that different countries, even different towns, have different nature and different landscapes.  It must be so exciting to have all of that to discover, and people are really starting to dream dreams about what might be.

Since I have become mayor of Riverview I have had a very high public profile and people in the street will stop me, and other members of my family, to discuss what they think we as a town should be doing.  It’s often encouraging and enlightening to hear people’s views, and to hear so many people who are pleased with the way our town is progressing.  There are still some dissenters who believe we don’t need the commercial and political infrastructures we’ve established, who think they still pose a threat, that they are there to restrict people rather than enable us to function without chaos.  I suppose such people will always be with us, but they are a minority.  Since my uncle Gaius published his memoirs, people have become much more understanding both of what he did and of what the rest of our family have done by supporting him.  I still get some criticism for supporting him, but most people understand a little more of why he had to do the things he did, and why we have stuck by him.

My mayoral role has been more of a public face for the local council, but I have recently been asked to lead the council, to be the one ultimately responsible for passing new edicts.  It’s a scary responsibility but one I relish – I hope that my fellow council members, my family and the rest of our community will help me make good choices.

My first official duty as leader of the council was to open our very first pulic park since the accident.  Ezri, Ramon and Shana had been involved in the taskforce helping to get the project off the ground.  It’s a beautiful park – tree lined, full of grass, flowers and interesting plants, with a large gazebo in the centre for people to sit and chat.  I hope it’ll be at the centre of our community for generations to come, and that it’ll be the first of many such spaces.

A new park was the perfect opportunity to show off the newest addition to our family – Noah.  Anne-Marie and I are thrilled to have three beautiful sons and to be able to raise them in such a beautiful world.

My next act as leader of the council was to overturn an old law that was put in place after the accident.  When the accident happened, people’s shelters were only allowed to occupy a limited amount of space to reduce the risks of pollution and decay.  Now our ground is safe and we have skilled builders who are helping people develop permanent homes, I have decreed that people can use as much of their land as they need to establish the homes they desire.  Krillitane and Ria have been helping build the foundations for our own home – it’s so exciting to think we will have a larger home where we can all sleep in separate bedrooms and where we have room to sit and eat or talk together.

Krillitane is still working too hard,  though, both at work and on the home.  I keep telling her she needs to take some time off to just spend with Ria, or the family, or by herself, but she is determined that she helps us get a permanent home and that she helps our town get electricity.  I tell her that it doesn’t matter if these things don’t happen straight away, that I am proud of her no matter what – we all are.  She’s achieved so much already.

Kes has finally achieved her dream of becoming a five-star certified chef.  She and her colleagues have set up the first diner in Riverview, a small grill house that serves the best hot dogs and grilled fish in town!  Her heart is set on her and Antony establishing their own restaurant, though, and she’s been talking to Ilari, Shana and Ramon about how to get the business off the ground.

With the fresh fish and vegetables we now have access to, our diet has become much more varied.  Kes has been preparing all kinds of wonderful meals to try out on us in preparation for when she starts her restaurant.  The latest discovery is something she calls ‘autumn salad’ – a dish of cold vegetables with a unique dressing of herbs and spices.  It’s sensational.  It has taken some getting used to the new sensations of eating fish, fruit and vegetables and our digestive systems have taken a while to adapt, but it’s amazing how different the tastes and textures are in each meal Kes creates.  I’ve asked her to tell me some of her recipes so I can try and recreate them.  I’m going to miss her home cooking.

With Kes newly qualified, and the new building ordenances, she decided it was time for her and Antony to set up their own home so they could concentrate on developing their business.  We held our first wedding ceremony at home, inviting over a marriage celebrant and bringing together the whole family.

The wedding was time for an extra celebration – Ilari is having her first child!  I am surprised as she’s never really expressed an interest in becoing a parent before, but with the business infrastructure holding steady, she decided this would be an optimum time, so that when we are restored to the world around us and Ilari needs to help our businesses make the transition, the child will be old enough to need less of her time and attention.  I’m so excited about becoming an uncle and about my boys having a little cousin to play with.

The ceremony was perfect – the sun shone down upon them, and I have never seen Kes so happy.

The new Mr and Mrs Lazarus make a fine couple.  Antony is a good man and he and Kes are a great partnership.  They have the same dream and although he isn’t yet qualified as a chef he shows no jealousy towards Kes – he’s incredibly supportive.

I am so proud of my sisters.  All three of them are great women who are doing great things.  I’m sure Mum is looking down on us right now and smiling – we have so much to be grateful for.

Mum’s death has had a profound impact on our family, and on my youngest sisters in particular.  They’ve reacted in very different ways to her passing.  Krillitane has been throwing herself into her work.  Things have been somewhat frustrating at the research lab of late.  We recently discovered documents from some of our earliest survivors detailing the conditions they believed Riverview would need to meet before the sanctions imposed upon us by the outside world were lifted.  We have come so far – we now have clean air and soil, we can grow our own food, fish and insects are living here once more – but one significant condition is some way off.  The science team have still to find a way to give us electricity.  They’ve been looking through the documents the survivors left us and know that sun and wind can be harnessed to give power, but as yet they haven’t made a breakthrough.  Krillitane is finding it particularly frustrating and somehow feels responsible, determined to honour our family name by helping this breakthrough to happen.  She and some of her colleagues somehow have the impression that if we do not develop power in our lifetimes, we won’t be restored to the wider world and it will all be their fault.

When she hasn’t been at work, she’s been working on our garden and trying to come up with plans for our permanent home.  Now we have people constructing permanent homes in town, she thinks it’s time we started to plan our own.  It’s great that she wants to develop her skills and we do need a new home, but I don’t want her to be spending all her free time working on that when she’s so busy in her job.  I’ve been so worried about her, I think the stress could be too much.

Kes’s response to mum’s death has been almost the polar opposite.  She’s still working hard but as she approaches her final exams, she’s started to think about the rest of her life.  She is progressing well through her training and expects to qualify as a five-star certified chef very soon.  She’s still planning to open a restaurant with some of her colleagues.  But she has realised she wants more from life.

For a long time, she has been close to Antony, a fellow chef, and this friendship has recently blossomed into love.  They spend their working day together and much of their free time; they’re just besotted with one another.  Antony is a great guy – humble, hard-working and unassuming.  Kes is much closer to qualifying than he is yet he encourages her and doesn’t seem to be jealous in the least.

I’m so excited that he is going to become my brother-in-law.  It’s so wonderful to see Kes happy.  Now that there is much more freedom to move around, and there are a small number of marriage celebrants in town, not to mention some thriving dress-making businesses, Kes and Antony are planning a big wedding.  It’ll be the first real ceremony any of us have attended and we’re all very excited about it.

My eldest son, Luke, is now old enough to go to school, and it won’t be long before Micah joins him.  Life is so different for children in Riverview these days; there is so much more open to them than there was to us.

Children now have freedom to move around town, they can appreciate the natural beauty that is developing around them each day.  There have even been swings built for them in the school grounds – it makes my heart sing to see my boy and his friends having such fun.

Ilari continues to enjoy her work overseeing much of the business and financial infrastructure, yet like Kes, she’s finding more time to let her hair down.  Last week she came over and I caught her flirting with my friend Joaquin!  Maybe she’ll even settle down and start a family – it’s hard to think of Ilari ever settling down, but it’d be great to see her find love one day.  I’d hate to think of her being alone, especially as the rest of us establish our own families.

Kes and Antony have been worrying about Krillitane as much as I have.  Antony has a sister, Ria, who’s a builder.  She’s been flat out helping people start to design their new, permanent homes, and hasn’t had much time to enjoy life.  They realised that Ria and Krillitane might have something in common, and so they introduced them under the pretence of discussing building projects.  They were rather shy and awkward around each other at first, but soon discovered they had a lot in common.

Maybe, just maybe, Krillitane has found what she needs.

Soon it will be time for Micah to go to school, and for our third child to be born.  I look at this world we have created and developed and it seems to be a place where they can grow and thrive – and yet this is only the start.  If the science team can find a way to develop electricity, if we can continue to produce our own food, if we on the council can guide peple through transitions with a minimum of disruption than this is only the beginning – the whole world will be open to them.  They can go wherever they choose and become whatever they wish.  But even if it takes longer than we think, the waiting won’t be too hard.  It is as if the grass, plants and flowers have given us all a new sense of life.  All around me I see love, hope and joy.  Riverview really feels like a special place to live right now.

The people of Riverview recently elected me as their mayor.  I can’t describe what an honour it is to be chosen to be a key figurehead for our town at such a crucial time.  It means the world to me that people feel they can trust me; especially as I know so many are suspicious of my relationship with my uncle Gaius, and I’m aware that others feel I am very young for such a responsibility.  I’m not alone in this task though.  I work with a great team who are on our local council; and there are many older, much wiser people on that council whom I look up to and who are there to support me and guide me, but who don’t want to have the public profile being mayor entails.

I’ve been somewhat overwhelmed by how recognisable the job has made me.  It isn’t a large town and most people have an awareness of each other, but now I’m stopped on the street daily and asked about my policies and plans.  Hirogen and her colleagues at the paper have been very supportive and have printed a number of interviews but I know the time will come when I will be a figurehead for criticisms of the council.  We will never be able to please everyone and as the mayor I will be singled out for praise, and more likely, for criticism.

My appointment led Hirogen to make the decision she’s been contemplating for some time now; to move out of the family shelter and strike out on her own.  She has plans to set up a television and radio station once we have the technology.  She got herself a new haircut and some new clothes from the new boutique and salon in town to prepare for it!  I am sorry to see her go, but it will mean we each feel a little less conflicted over our duties to work and to family.

Family is something that’s very important to me.  Even though I have a lot of responsibility in my new job I am determined not to miss out on the boys growing up.  Luke has been learning to walk and talk lately and every day he develops a new skill.  I want to see as much of that as I can.

Our other ‘babies’ are also growing nicely.  The seeds that the research team have planted in town are springing to life and everywhere you look trees, flowers, plants and grass are growing.  Our first crop of fruit and vegetables has just been harvested and Anne-Marie has taken them into work for testing to see if they are safe to eat, to see if it’s safe to plant more across the town.  There is a real buzz in the air.  The greenness and the new life has awakened something in everyone.  I have seen people standing in the streets weeping as they contemplate this life they’ve heard about for so many years but never really believed they’d see.  The colours, the smells, the textures are so much more vivid and incredible than we could have ever dreamed.  We were always taught that our town was a beautiful place before the accident but I never envisaged it could be this beautiful – and I can’t contemplate how much more beautiful it will become.

Mum, like many of her generation, found the changes both frightening and thrilling.  I know she always harboured fears about what would happen when we reintegrated, but I also saw the delight in her face when she saw plants in bloom for the first time – it was almost as close to the smiles she had for Luke and Micah.

In fact, she was on her way to snuggle Micah when her time came.  Perhaps it was a kindness that she got to see so much life without having to face the challenging prospect of reintegration.  It was certainly a kindness that she passed away peacefully and in no pain.  She was 95 years old and had lived a happy, fruitful life.

I immediately went to my baby boy, I wanted to ensure he wasn’t afraid or distraught that one moment his Granny was there and the next she was gone – but as much as I was concerned for him, I wanted the comfort of holding him, of holding my child and knowing life goes on.  I have been the head of this household for some time now, and mum has let me make decisions, never arguing with me or doubting me – but it is only now that she is gone that I feel the weight of that role.  She was my anchor, my security, my mentor, my guide – I don’t know what I do now.  I have never really felt that it all lies on my shoulders before, but now I do.  I need to do a good job of looking after this family and looking after this town.  My boys deserve it; and my mother’s memory deserves it.  She was such a strong, brave woman.  She was everything I want to be as a leader and as a parent.

We had a small burial service and a time of mourning as is traditional.  We laid her to rest with all those in our family that have gone before her.  But we knew mum would want us to celebrate her life as much as mourn her death and so we held a funeral party for her and invited all our family and her closest friends to honour her life and achievements.

My mother’s cousin, Ramon, provided the drinks for the party.  He manages some of the local businesses that my mother’s generation helped set up.  I know how much the establishment of the gym, library, gallery and theatre meant to all of them, and Ramon is doing a fine job of management.

His sister Shana manages the facilities alongside him and works just as hard.  She always looked up to my mother and they would often meet up to chat – something both of them treasured.  She’s devastated that mum has gone, although she’s resolved to continuing the work they collectively established.

My uncle Gaius will miss my mother terribly – she was his closest ally – but he is incredibly determined that we celebrate her and all her achievements.  He recently wrote a long column for the paper, a sort of mini-memoir of his experiences in the Alto mob.  He is leaving out the most distressing details but feels he needs to explain his motivations and I know he still feels some need to atone for his actions.  He tells me people who’ve always avoided him have started to talk to him and that the sister of one of ‘the disappeared’ approached him in the street yesterday to tell him she forgives him.  She will never realise but that is the greatest gift anyone could give him.

Ilari is thriving in her role as manager of the local business district.  She’s very busy with work and we don’t see her as much as we’d like, but she is still my best friend and most fervent supporter and I am so grateful for her.  I know her expertise will be instrumental in helping us transition back into the wider world.  She gave a little tribute to mum at the funeral saying how mum always encouraged her to do whatever she wanted with her life, to dream big dreams.  Mum was her biggest supporter, as she was for all of us.

As much as I tried to be upbeat and brave at the funeral, there came a point where I just broke down.  I am going to miss her so much.  I don’t know how I will cope without her.  My aunt Ezri consoled me.  She is such a strong, amazing woman.  She recently turned 100 and is still working part-time as a consultant for the emergency services.  She is a real rock in this community, and in this family.  I don’t know how she has coped with burying both of her sisters, but she is incredibly resilient.  She told me that my mother was incredibly proud of me, that she was proud of all her children, and that she knew I would do my best for the town.  My mother had never told me this, but she told Ezri that she firmly believed I would help lead our town into the time when we are restored.  She was maybe afraid of the implications of the change for herself and her own generation, but she truly believed it was coming, that my generation and my children’s generation would see a new world, and she was glad.

Riverview will soon be restored to the rest of you; we will soon have many more possibilities open to us than we can imagine. Our children will live in a free world, a different world, a whole world.

But just as our ancestors passed on to us the stories of the before times and instilled in us the hope that we would see the things that are now coming to fruition, so we will pass on the stories of those who worked, lived and died that we might see them.  We couldn’t have got to this place without those who worked for something they would never see.  When we write our history books, I know that my mother’s name will be written large.

With the paper doing really well, Hirogen has been thinking about her future lately.  Her close working relationship with her colleague Daniel started to develop into something more.

They began discussing their future together and the possibility of moving out and maybe even starting their own family.  I know sometimes Hirogen has expressed concern about whether a journalist living with a politician is the best thing; she can see that for both of us it could cause compromises.

I’ve never felt any problem with this; after all Hirogen has been here all my life and she helped raise me and my sisters.  I know that as my career develops things could become tricky for both of us but I enjoy her company, and it’s been good for mum to have her cousin around.  If she feels the need to move out, I won’t stop her, but I don’t want her to feel she has to leave on my account.

Mum is really enjoying being a grandmother.  She’s often up to feed Luke in the night before Anne-Marie or I can get there!  Despite her advanced years, she’s still working hard for the police, although she’s now mainly training younger recruits to do the detailed criminal profiling she’s become renowned for.

Since Gaius came out of prison, things have been difficult for me politically, but mum has been a real encouragement.  She says she’s proud of me for sticking by my principles and for being loyal to my family as well as to my town.  Although she, like many of her generation, is anxious about the changes coming to our town, she has been nothing but supportive of our proposed constitution and believes by working out strategies for how we can govern our town whilst learning to reintegrate with the wider world, we’re doing a good thing for Riverview.  To know someone I respect as much as my mother believes in what I am doing has been a real boost to me at a time when I’ve needed it.

Anne-Marie is seeing several shoots from the seeds she has developed and it won’t be long before they hopefully grow to become trees and fruit bushes.  During her recent, second bout of maternity leave, she spent every day tending to the seedlings, watering and weeding them.

She has been reading all she can from the books written by the survivors on how to garden, and what different plants do.  She’s very excited at the thought of fresh fruit and vegetables in particular.

Krillitane has been helping Anne-Marie with the gardening where possible, and she continues to monitor the fish that are populating our river once more – we are seeing increasing numbers of healthy fish, a really significant sign that the town is free from the fallout of the disaster – hopefully those on the outside will see this soon, too.

Most of the fish Krillitane and her colleagues have caught has been deemed safe to eat, so Kes has been experimenting with grilling it.  It’s very strange to eat something that isn’t hot dogs, and for a few days, most of us felt a little ill after tasting it, but this seems to have just been our bodies adjusting to a new foodstuff.  I’m beginning to appreciate the taste of the different types of fish, though it’s still hard to become accustomed to putting something with such a strange taste and texture in my mouth.  Soon, though, my wife and sisters keep telling me, I will be able to taste so many different foods, we all will.  I wonder how long it will take us to adjust.

Kes is working very hard still and the plan she and her colleagues have been working on for a restaurant is really coming together.  Building work has started and they are confident it won’t be long before they have access to the food and equipment they need to produce a range of meals – and until then, they will do the best grilled hotdogs and fish you can get in Riverview!

I have had to spend a lot of time in town talking to the residents here about our constitution.  I needed people to understand how important the suggestions we’ve made are for the future of the town, how close we genuinely are to being reintegrated in the wider world and how seriously they need to consider our future.

Some people are still vehemently opposed to the ideas, but many more are beginning to understand why we’ve made the proposals we have.  Meeting people face-to-face has been really important to me given the furore over my relationship with Gaius.  I don’t need people to approve of him, I understand the deep-rooted reasons why they might not, but I need them to understand who I am and what I stand for, and that even if we disagree on some issues, there may be others we can stand together on.  Not everyone has wanted to talk, and some of those who chose to have been openly hostile towards me – but many others have been interested in talking, have been friendly and welcoming.

Our constitution has been passed with a majority – people are willing for us to set up a new governmental infrastructure that will not only serve Riverview but also allow us to integrate with the world at large.  It will take time for things to be integrated but I truly believe we are on the right path.  My colleagues have asked me to consider applying for the role of Mayor of Riverview.  It’s one of the first publicly elected posts in our council and it would be a great honour to be elected to such a position – but I don’t know if people here trust me enough yet.

In the meantime, I have more important concerns to attend to – a new baby, my second son, Micah.  Anne-Marie had a long and difficult labour and she needs to rest and let me and the rest of the family care for the boys for a while so she can recover fully.  Both of my young sons are so beautiful and I’m so excited about the world that is opening up for them.

But where there are new things, sometimes the old things must die.  Daniel unexpectedly died suddenly last night.  He was barely 70; one of the last members of our community to suffer degenerative health conditions as a result of the accident.  The health of our town is much stronger than it ever was, but there are still a small number of people whose bodies carry the effects of the fallout, such as my aunt Ezri.  We’re developing new medicines all the time, but they can’t help everyone, and Daniel was one of the unlucky ones.

Hirogen is naturally shocked, and devastated.  Here am I with my future and my children’s future opening up before me, and yet her future has suddenly been snatched away.  There are so many opportunities in this town and yet events like this remind us that there’s still so much that is unfair.

I hope with all my heart that Daniel is one of the last people here to suffer and die because of that terrible accident several generations ago. One of my first proposals, if I become mayor, will be to invest more in treatment of such conditions. We are becoming a people of restoration; I cannot stand to let our past hold us back any longer.

There is a lot that has occurred lately that has caused me to reflect on who and what I want to be.  The birth of my son has been perhaps the most important thing that’s ever happened to me.  I will do anything for Luke, anything to protect him and anything to secure his future.  His birth has brought home to me just how important it is that we do all we can for this town.  I am more convinced than ever that the proposed constitution we have been drafting for governing our town and helping us reintegrate into the world at large is vital.

Unfortunately, there is unrest in the town.  Some people are angry that we are trying to govern them.  There has been no governance here since the accident.  People are afraid, we have just been released from mob rule and they do not want to be constrained.  Others don’t think our proposals go far enough; they want us to issue even more edicts than we have done.  We have a lot of support, but there is a very vocal minority against the proposals, and they might sway the outcome of the forthcoming vote.

Perhaps I myself haven’t helped matters.  By having my uncle Gaius at my campaign events, I have made myself a target.  Gaius and his contemporaries who brought down the Altos massively split public opinion here.  Some people laud them as heroes, defenders and liberators.  Others can’t forgive them for the atrocities they committed, and as Gaius was the main figurehead of the movement to bring down the Altos, he is the main figurehead for both the adulation and the anger.  By me publicly choosing to stand by him, I appear to have become more popular with some of the town and despised by others, who don’t want their future leaders associating with people who were involved in the Alto mob in any capacity.

Hirogen has been trying to print some positive stories about the constitution at the paper, but she can’t avoid printing articles and letters that question what we are doing; the unrest here is too loud to silence.

I am worried; how will we be able to convince people that our constitution is the best way forward?  What if it isn’t?  What if we’re wrong?  We need to be a united people if we are to avoid descending into anarchy – we have so much that is almost within our reach, but if our town becomes fractured and unstable, so much could be lost.

Gaius’s release from prison has been great for my family, though.  My mother is so delighted that he is out and she loves any opportunity to see him.  Ramon, my mother’s cousin, is also pleased to see him; they were childhood best friends and now they are distinguished old men.  Ramon and his sister Shana help run the library, gym and gallery and they are a real asset to this town.

Even my aunt Ezri is pleased to see Gaius released.  She was angry when she first heard about what he’d been doing and the way my mum had compromised the family and their police careers, but the years have caused her to soften.  Since Echo died, I think she’s realised how important all her siblings are to her, and she’s forgiven both Gaius and mum for their deception.

The seed Anne Marie planted has sprouted and so far it looks healthy.  She attends to it every day.  She and Krillitane have been given several more seeds to plant as the research lab are so pleased with the way things are currently working out.  It won’t be long before we truly see the results.  The potential is amazing: we could see trees, flowers, fruit, vegetables, all these things we have dreamed of for generations.

The research lab’s work is developing at a great pace; Krillitane and Anne Marie are always talking about the new projects they are working on.  One of the most exciting is that there is a section of the river that is now clean enough they are seeing signs of life.

They have fenced off the area so they can perform tests and see what life is beginning to flow again.  They have found some plant life and small insects, and they are beginning to see signs that fish are living, and swarming and breeding.  Krillitane has been working on the team investigating the life there.  She says the fish aren’t quite the same as the ones they’d seen in textbooks, but that’s to be expected given the toxicity of the water and soil for so long.  Nevertheless, the mutations appear to be minor and the water and soil samples are coming up clean.  The hope is that fish and insects from the neighbouring towns will migrate here now the water is clean and flowing; that we will have wildlife here once more.

Kes is excited by the potential of fresh fish, fruit and vegetables.  She is reading the books of recipes the survivors created from memory and there are so many things she is keen to try cooking.  She is doing incredibly well in her chef’s training and has dreams of opening a restaurant with some of her fellow cooks.  They have been talking to Ilari and her colleagues about how to set up a business and liasing with the research laboratory and local builders about materials for the building and equipment to prepare meals.  We have had nothing to cook on but grills since the accident and they want the lab to help them develop ovens and other cookery equipment they’ve read about that can be used in the restaurant at first and in homes once the technology has been established.

I am so proud of my wife and my sisters.  They are doing so well at achieving their goals, but I feel so anxious about meeting mine.  I play my guitar a lot and think about Dad.  I wish he was here; he’d know what to say, what I could do.  Everyone loved him; I just wish I had that gift.  I know I need to stand up for what I believe in, but it’s very hard to do so when it alienates some of the people whose support I need right now.

I knew there would be challenges I would face as I entered politics, but it never occurred to me that people might look on me with spite, with fear, with hate.  I know for some it’s because they are hurting from what the Alto mob did.  I know for others it’s because they are afraid of the future, of the changes that may come.  I don’t know how to tell them that I care, and I understand – and I certainly don’t know how to do that and yet tell them I will not compromise on my principles.

Riverview can’t stay as it is, in our isolated bubble; we will be returning to the wider world sooner than people realise, and we need to be ready.

We are living in a time of great change.  There is great opportunity here, but all the new things opening up for us inevitably mean the loss of some of our history.  In the same way, as my generation grow and start our own families, so those who went before us are reaching the end of their lives.  My aunt Echo died recently.  Echo was a talented composer who was a major force in establishing our local theatre.  She worked closely with my father, among others, and her music has become one of the signature sounds of our community.  She is a great loss to Riverview.

Yet where there are losses, there are gains.  My uncle Gaius has finally been released from prison.  My mother’s sorrow was somewhat lessened by the joy of seeing her little brother again.  He is a very impressive man.  Whilst some are still angry with him, perhaps understandably, for the crimes he committed whilst working for the Altos, I know he did what he had to do, and he took the consequences and faced his responsibilities.  There are many things about him I admire; his willingness to put himself on the line and take risks for what he believed in; his sense of duty and responsibility; his willingness to take the consequences of his actions.  There is much I can learn from him – I know as I grow into my political role, I will need to take big risks and I will need to face the consequences of my actions.  I only hope I can do it with the dignity he has managed.

In order to get the public to accept our proposed constitution and to trust us as their representatives, we on the committee have decided to hold campaign parties.  These are events where we can gather small numbers of people from the community to talk about the proposals and answer their questions.  I decided to hold my first event at the art gallery last night.  I chose this venue as it’s so special to me, and my family.  I invited all of my family (for moral support!) and several other local residents.

I also invited Gaius.  I was aware this was a controversial move: there could well have been people there whose relatives he harmed in some way.  But I am not ashamed of my uncle, or of what he has done for the town.  Several people shunned him at the party, but others treated him as a hero.  I don’t know if I have made some enemies in town, although I hope not – but I need to be upfront about who I am and what I stand for if I ever have a hope of making a good leader.

My biggest supporter, and my best friend, is my big sister Ilari.  She is a real role model to me, and a true leader.  For some time now, she has been working as part of a taskforce to develop structures of finance and commerce in order to prepare us for reintegration with the wider world.  Part of her remit has been to talk to talented local people to persuade them to turn their skills and talents into profitable businesses.

Although we have a library, which is an amazing resource for the town, Ilari has convinced some of our most popular writers to start producing multiple copies of their books for sale, so people can have their own copies.  The town has some old printing presses from the before times that have lain unused for generations, and a small team of authors have been experimenting with mass reproducing their work for a while – now they’ve developed a system that means we can have a small bookshop next to the library so their works can be enjoyed by more people.

Ilari has also encouraged people to charge more for their talents, and to use their talents to help others.  There are builders talking about going into housing development once they can source the materials to turn our shelters into proper, long-lasting houses.  There are a team of people interested in offering their services to clean or to repair goods.  There is even a small spa business open now with hairdressers, make-up artists and massage therapists.  Anne-Marie was one of the first Riverview residents to use the new facilities – she said the massage really helped her aching back when she was pregnant.

That’s right – we have decided to start a family.  My mother is thrilled, she’s always wanted to be a grandmother.  She keeps saying she wants five grandchildren, claiming that with four children, it shouldn’t be too hard, but I don’t know that either Anne-Marie or I want quite so many children, and none of my sisters seem ready to start their own families yet.

Kes and Krillitane seem so absorbed in their work that they haven’t really thought about settling down with a partner or children yet, and although Ilari has now moved into her own place, has started to really take control of her own future, she’s never talked about children being part of that future.

Anne-Marie had a happy pregnancy; she used her maternity leave to read up on gardening techniques at the library, as well as trying out our new spa.  Our son’s delivery went smoothly and he is a beautiful healthy child.  We have named him Luke.

Having Luke has really sharpened my priorities.  It is so important that we do our best to make this  town free so that he and his generation have the whole world opened up to them.  I love Riverview, this is my home, but I want him to have the freedom to make his home wherever he chooses, to be whatever he wants, to experience everything those of you out there have in your lives.

My new baby is a sign to me of our future, of the new life and the new possibilities open to us.  It seemed almost poetic that only a few days after his birth, Anne-Marie and Krillitane were given an assignment from work that could change our world forever.  Krillitane’s team have been working on methods of irrigating our barren land, and she was given one of the irrigation tools to try out at home.

Despite Anne-Marie still being on maternity leave, they offered her a homeworking opportunity she couldn’t resist.  She was chosen to plant the first seed here in generations.

Life is coming back to Riverview.

Now we must tend to it, nurture it, and wait…