Introduction

Dear Readers,

First and foremost, I want to stress that this story is not a sequel to Her New World. It does involve and mentions quite frequently references to Freedom, Elvira, the Mayflower, Alan Kent and especially Staci Mann; however, this will be a different take on the intended series. From what I understand, Leviticus (Peter) was working on his own sequel to Her New World and I had occasion to e-mail him once or twice and discuss it with him on the old newsboard. However, I’m told by Suzi that in all likelihood, the sequel will never be seen, since it was largely unfinished and in the early draft stages when Peter unfortunately passed away. Like many of you I’m sure, I grieved for him, for although I’d never met him in person, his imagination and passion in his writing truly showed what kind of imaginative and romantic person he was. As well, I was left wanting more from Her New World and to find out what happens to Staci Mann, Tommy Windwalker, Anna, Jake Torres, Alan Kent as well as the rest of the survivors on Freedom. So, with the wheels turning (and occasional voices speaking to me, lol) in my head, I decided to try my hand in this undertaking; not exactly picking up where Peter left off, but doing something in tribute, to honor his memory.

When I started reading Her New World, I was captivated by it from the start; especially with the plight of Staci Mann. Like in many of his stories, Peter made the main character very real, and made her question many things as she was introduced (more like throwing headfirst into the lion’s den) into the BDSM lifestyle, including her own perchance for submissiveness and exploration thereof. However, what interested me even more was because it was written in a classic science fiction genre (somewhat reminiscent of the classic Star Trek, a personal favorite), and incorporated so many aspects of science fiction: the unknown, gender roles, mysogynism, practicality vs. dogma, control vs. free will, destiny vs. self-determination. All of these themes are quite frequently used on TV shows like in Star Trek, Babylon 5, and Stargate SG-1, the reimagined Battlestar Galactia as well as in the movies such as The Matrix, the Star Trek series, and Star Wars (the overuse of the word ‘Master’ with the Jedi cracked me up). Her New World blended a multitude of these elements and as I read on it evoked several reactions in me. Mostly, at various points, it made me angry; which in retrospect was a good thing, because it then made me think. It also made me think about the roles of Masters and submissives and the paradigm of what they were all about, what they should be, and how they should act. These elements have, since the beginning of written fiction, make us, the readers, look at situations, groups, society and ourselves from a unique point of view.

A constant theme I kept following in HNW was the theme of power. On Freedom, the only commodity people really had and coveted was power. And just as it is with money, the thirst and desire for power corrupted the noble ideals the colony was built upon. Dick Janis’ attempted usurpation of Alan Kent’s leadership all but destroyed so many lives, as well as resulting in his own death. Then with Alan Kent’s Kurtz like breakdown, in killing Dr. Kelly and picking up where Janis had left off was the decent into madness that was an eventuality prominent in such novels as in Heart of Darkness and Lord of the Flies.