1
THE PENAL COLONY
Richard Herley
You are free to read, keep, and copy this ebook for non-commercial purposes, provided only integral copies are made. If you enjoy or gain value from it, I ask you to visit my Web site and pay a modest, one-time fee.
The site is at:
http://www.richardherley.com
where you can freely download my other ebooks too.
-- Richard Herley
THE PENAL COLONY
Copyright (c) Richard Herley 1987
The Author asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
First published by Grafton Books Ltd, London, 1987
Revised for electronic publication, 2008
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-No Derivative Works 2.0 UK: England & Wales Licence. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/uk/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 171 Second Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, California 94105, USA.
Please be sure not to delete any of the foregoing text when making a copy.
For my mother
THE PENAL COLONY
PART ONE
1
Routledge became conscious. A foul taste was on his tongue; he felt nauseous, drug-sick, and at first he thought he was emerging not from sleep, but from anaesthesia. It followed that he must be in hospital, in pyjamas, but his skin and limbs returned a contrary sensation. He was fully and heavily clad; and hospitals smelled of disinfectant, while this place smelled of damp wood, and stone, and salt air, and an unpleasant acridity which he could not quite recognize.
Then he remembered a recent fragment of dream. He must after all