Ascendancies by DG Compton

Imagine an alternative 1980s. The economy is going gang busters as Britain booms with unheard-of levels of prosperity. On top of this, the majority of workers enjoy a three-day working week enforced by strong trade unions. Sounds much better than the 80s we actually got. But there is a catch. In 1983, a dust commonly known as moondrift began falling out of the sky at random intervals. This was found to be a safe, fissile material ideal for generating power. It was also a fantastic fertiliser, ending global hunger in addition to cancelling the dependency on fossil fuels. A few years later, however, came the downside. People began disappearing. Their displacement to who-knows-where is preceded by the blanketing of a locality with disembodied singing and a strong reek of synthetic roses. Typically, upwards of 700 unfortunates wink out of existence. Why it happens is beyond anyone's ken, but it takes place shortly following falls of moondrift. That surely puts a link beyond the…