No Man Can Say

By John Pether

The story is set around the time of the French Revolution. Clive Sinclair, a retired doctor from Teignmouth travels in Europe and notices a strange set-up in a foreign country which might help us make up its mind whether to go to war. The feed-back from London is full of praise and he is hooked; the excitement of spying makes life worth living, his skill with the sword helps. Sinclair befriends a French aristocrat, Rousillac, who is seeking a bolthole in England to avoid the early days of the Revolution.  Sinclair, disguised as a dutchman, is sent by the embryo Secret Service to Corsica where he meets the Buonaparte family. Later he becomes involved with the squabbling between revolutionaries and royalists. He is recognised, but escapes, protected by Lafayette. He retreats to Paris, falls in love with Rousillac’s daughter. He hides in Lille and returns to England and marries the daughter. Sinclair must return to France to rescue his son and others. He is involved in the siege of Toulon and later in the Battle of the Nile.  His wife dies of consumption, but the developing Secret Service needs him. Dr John Victor Sebastian Pether. Born 13th August 1934. I am a retired consultant microbiologist, having worked for the PHLS (Public Health Laboratory Service - created pre-WW2 in case the Germans tried germ warfare - now sadly abandoned). I ran the Somerset microbiology service from a laboratory in Taunton for around 30 years, published 60 papers and discovered the first cases of Lyme disease and Hantavirus infection in England. With cash from Rentokil. I caught over a hundred rats and 100 mice, took  all the ‘bits’ to Porton Down. Five rats had a very high antibody and should have had the virus. All good clean fun, some might say. My job has now been privatised - so no more research. When I retired, the stories in my head poured onto paper. Two novels published by you, The Slow Apocalypse and Deadly Botanicals, and two in Australia, Cotton Dust and Homo Derelictus. The present offering, No Man Can Say, was started by my father, probably in the 1950’s but seemed to stop in mid-flight. It has been completely rewritten and brought to a close.

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