Some of the characters in the story

James Thorburn
Gets a letter out of the blue with a message from his wife. But his wife died three months before the letter was written. The letter is unsigned - the only clue is the Inverness postmark. At first James dismisses it as a hoax. Then events bring him to the Scottish Highlands to try and find the author. He is drawn into a situation where sinister and powerful forces are at work.

Maggie MacLeod
Widow of Revd David MacLeod
Extract 13 (Chapter 5, page 34)
They went into a hallway that looked as if it had not changed since the lodge was built - probably around 150 years ago James reckoned. Tapestries with highland hunting scenes hung from picture rails over oak-panelled walls. A long and richly patterned axminster rug lay on top of the highly polished floorboards.
They entered a room in which the centrepiece was a large fireplace with a dark mahogany surround. James briefly glimpsed the delicate plasterwork on the ceiling and the gilt framed pictures of mountains and lochs on the walls.
Then he saw Maggie MacLeod. She was undoubtedly the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.
Although around forty her complexion and figure remained youthful. As she stood to greet him her movements were natural and graceful. She held out her hand to James and smiled. James instinctively held out his in response but said nothing. Her flawless skin and large deep blue eyes were framed by soft blond, slightly curling hair. Her smile was generous, revealing perfect teeth.
James eventually found his voice. ‘I’m James Thorburn. It’s a pleasure to meet you Mrs MacLeod.’
‘It’s a pleasure to meet you Mr Thorburn, although these are strange and mysterious circumstances.’
They sat down and began to talk.

Peter Wimshaw
Landlord of the Kilvarnon Inn.
Extract 14 (Chapter 13, page 55)
Wimshaw was a frequent visitor to that part of Inverness and was well known by the local prostitutes. He had moved up from Manchester eight years before and had soon found his way to the red-light district. Wimshaw was always drawn to the seedier nightspots.

Alec Gleeson
Ex special forces. Assassin in the Domini's pay.
Extract 15 (Chapter 6, page 36)
Gleeson found himself wandering the streets of his youth, much changed but still a dangerous part of Glasgow. His mind on other things he did not notice the group of four men who tracked his movements. Eventually as they drew closer he became aware of their presence. He turned down an alleyway he knew was a dead end. If they followed him down here he would know they were up to no good. The four followed.
Alec Gleeson stopped and turned to face them. ‘OK lads, can I help you?’
His calm demeanour should have alerted them but they saw him as easy pickings. Stupid bastard, they thought. Simultaneously four knives appeared. Gleeson smiled, but still the four failed to pick up the danger signs.
They didn’t see him move. Before they knew what was happening the leading two in the group had been felled. One had his own knife embedded in his abdomen. The other had the bridge of his nose slammed inwards by a kick delivered with such power that he died instantly. The remaining two dropped their knives and turned to flee. Before the nearest could run two steps his head had been smashed against the alleyway wall. He survived for two days but never regained consciousness. The last of the assailants turned to Gleeson and began to plead for his life. But Gleeson’s blood was up. He grabbed him by the hair and pulled sharply downwards. At the same time he brought his knee up with great force. There was a sickening thud as the man’s facial structure imploded. Gleeson dropped him with the others.
He left them where they lay and continued on his walk. This bloody place never changes he thought.

Cardinal Oscar Gatti
On the Vatican staff. Domini member
Extract 16 (Chapter 9, page 44)
Cardinal Oscar Gatti sank back in his chair and sighed. Walker was coming to see him that afternoon. He didn’t like Walker. The man had no finesse ... effective enough, but no finesse.
Gatti gazed out of his office window. His rank in the Vatican hierarchy meant that he had one of the better rooms. The view westwards towards the centre of the city never ceased to enthral him.
He could do without this meeting for he had enough to do. Gatti’s renowned competence meant that a lot of work came his way. His skills as a politician and administrator were exceeded only by his theological talents. Oscar Gatti had a gift with words that made his arguments on matters of faith and doctrine very persuasive. It was well known that he had the pontiff’s ear. His rivals recognised Gatti’s influence in some of the Holy Father’s more conservative pronouncements. Oscar Gatti was both respected and feared by his fellow cardinals.
‘Damn Walker!’ Gatti whispered in exasperation. He had no wish to get involved in Walker’s latest project. It was going to get messy and Oscar Gatti did not like messy.

Walker
Washington based leader of one of the Domini cells
Extract 17 (Chapter 9, page 45)
Meanwhile, as the cardinal sat in his office at St Peter’s, Walker was making his way from the airport. He booked into his hotel and headed for the metro. Walker had been to Rome many times and knew to avoid travel by road in the city whenever possible. He also knew that the metro was a magnet for beggars and thieves, but it was the better option.
It was a warm afternoon and Walker had slung his jacket over his shoulder as he stood in the crowded carriage. There were three young men who had moved to stand near him. Two to the front and one behind him. Walker was familiar with this kind of set up and waited for them to make their move. Sure enough, within minutes he sensed the expert hand of the youth behind him. He was checking out Walker’s jacket pockets. Walker remained where he was. Keeping his eye on the two youths in front of him he continued to hold his jacket over his shoulder. He leant back slightly and with his free hand reached behind him and grabbed the young thief firmly by the testicles. The youth immediately removed his hand from Walker’s jacket pocket. But Walker did not remove his hand from the young man’s genitals. Instead he gripped more tightly, then pulled up sharply. There was a gasp from the youth, his manhood reduced to a crushed mess. Walker had perhaps over-reacted. But that was Walker.

Jack Mitchell
Domini hit-man
Extract 18 (Chapter 68, page 221)
Mitchell was not a member of the Domini. Like Gleeson he was contracted from time to time for certain duties. These “duties” more often than not involved killing someone. Mitchell was good at it. He and Gleeson were the Domini’s top two assassins. Their backgrounds had some similarities. Gleeson was brought up in the east end of Glasgow, Mitchell in the east end of London. Both got into trouble early on. Whereas Gleeson joined the army, Mitchell became an amateur boxer. He was physically strong and ruthless. But after he had been disqualified from several bouts for various misdemeanours, including continuing to pummel an opponent after the bell had rang, he decided to give up boxing.
He took a job as a bouncer, working for his cousin in Walford, and did well at it, until one night he lost his temper and smashed a drunk punter’s head off the pavement.
He was sentenced to two years in Wormwood Scrubs, where he met some serious criminals. When he got out he started working for one of the big east-end gangsters.
Drugs was the name of the game. Mitchell had a dual role. He was a "hit-man" and an "enforcer". As a hit-man, his job was to get rid of the competition. As an enforcer, his job was to persuade dealers to pay their debts. Sometimes this required setting an example to other slow payers. On one occasion this involved pushing someone off a fourteenth floor balcony with a noose of piano wire around his neck. It took two minutes for the wire to cut through the connecting bone and gristle. The head and torso fell together. Horrified passers-by said that the man’s legs were still twitching when his headless body hit the ground. Mitchell’s reputation soared. A lot of well-paid work came his way and eventually he was recruited by the Domini.

More characters to follow. Meet Bill Russell and Alasdair Cameron the eccentric couple who live in the lodge; Donnie Ross, the local shop-keeper; Eleanor Jackson - skivvy to Peter Wimshaw; John McGribben - church elder and child molester; Willie Souter - regular at the Kilvarnon Inn; Father Ambrose Hennaut - Belgian priest and member of a counter-Domini group; Patrick Yellowhawk - native American, arch-enemy of the Domini; Monsignor Francis Cabot - Gatti's personal assistant and Domini member; Caroline Manning - clever lawyer and politician, daughter of black civil-rights activist - wants to expose the Domini; Ulrich Ermer - German Franciscan monk, active against the Domini; Neville Brackley - president of a major US bank and Domini member; Philip Kaps - senior executive in one of the world's biggest petrochemical companies and Domini member; Sister Catherine - head of order of nuns in Norfolk... and more.

What is the Domini Conspiracy?

Here are some extracts that begin to answer this question:

Extract 10 (Chapter 11, page 48)
No one knew more about the Domini than Oscar Gatti. He had first come across references to it during study for his doctorate thesis on early Christianity and the Roman State. From its origins it was a highly secretive body. The name ‘Domini’ is a Latin word meaning ‘masters’ or ‘lords’. It was established in the fifth century AD during the reign of the emperor Constantine, at the time when Rome adopted Christianity as its official religion.
The founders were a group of powerful Roman citizens and senior military leaders who recognised the significance of linking religion with the state. They knew that as well as providing a structure for unity, religion could also be used as a means of exerting power and control. Used intelligently, religion could help a state reinforce its authority, help the rich and powerful remain rich and powerful, and keep the masses obedient, poor and fearful.
Gatti knew however that then, as now, there are many who hold their religious beliefs sincerely and see their faith as a means of liberation, justice and equality. But there are some who will falsely affirm these worthy aims, because they know that they can also serve their own more selfish purposes. When a group of such people work together they can be effective and powerful. The Domini was just that, effective and very powerful.
Continuously in existence for over fifteen hundred years, its precepts and rules passed on through generations of members, the Domini was now an international organisation. Its members included, politicians, heads of major global businesses, military leaders, agents of security services, religious leaders, judges and even heads of state. To serve its needs at different times it had promoted conservative models of different faiths as well as secular ideologies such as communism, fascism and capitalism.
Conversely it would encourage the undermining and persecution of any movement or individual that threatened the status quo. During its long history the Domini had been responsible for a variety of clever and often brutal strategies to serve its purposes including undermining the Celtic church when it threatened the authority of Rome, inciting warfare between rival nation-states, ensuring the failure of the Reformation to remove central religious authority, firing up enthusiasm for witch-hunts, planning the execution of radical religious leaders, assisting in the rise to power of tyrants such as Hitler and Stalin, and arranging the assassinations of Martin Luther-King and John F Kennedy. It had helped maintain the system of apartheid in South Africa, fuelled division in Northern Ireland and supported Islamist fundamentalist movements.
The Domini existed to ensure power and control remained with an elite class of wealthy individuals and organisations. It would use almost anything to achieve this.

Extract 11 (Chapter 24, page 85)
Walker never ceased to be amazed at the range of people who attended these congresses. He recognised several major world political figures alongside a number of senior military personnel – at least five of whom were at the rank of General or equivalent. As well as the usual sprinkling of management from global corporations, he also spotted the owners of three well-known media conglomerates and a number of prominent figures from different religious groups.
He used to be surprised at the involvement of leaders from the world’s poorer nations, but no longer. For Walker had learned that everyone in the Domini held the same world-view, whatever cultural or economic context they found themselves in. Quite simply they all wanted to maintain their positions of wealth and authority. To do this meant supporting political, religious and economic structures that allowed the very wealthy few to benefit from the labours of the rest.
The combined power and influence of the Domini members meant that it could manipulate almost any situation to its purpose. International conflict was useful when it increased the profits from arms sales and military industrial growth. Providing economic aid was useful when it resulted in high interest returns on mounting debts. Religious belief was useful when it controlled people’s lives by demanding obedience to authority – but was less desirable when it encouraged ideas of freedom and equality.
Although every member of the Domini rejected a belief in a god or an afterlife, they welcomed and encouraged this belief in others. They knew that their life on earth was their once only opportunity for existence, but for others to believe in reward or punishment to follow was positively helpful in maintaining pliable populations.

Extract 12 (Chapter 24, page 86)
For over fifteen hundred years the Domini had sought to suppress free-thinking and radical ideas. Under its influence the life-affirming teachings of Jesus Christ had been moulded into a theological straightjacket. Conformance to orthodox doctrine rather than consideration for others became the measure of a Christian. The church still outwardly proclaimed a gospel of love but increasingly it became pre-occupied with its own self-perpetuation.
From time to time in its history the church made little attempt to hide its love affair with power and control. The medieval popes fought and negotiated for wealth and territory. Alliances were formed with other powerful individuals for mutual benefit. Rulers of the nations of Europe saw the advantages in embracing the true faith when it resulted in the patronage of the Holy Father, but eventually some European nation states began to resent the ambitions of the Church and grew powerful enough to challenge its authority.
Disputes with a theological veneer often covered much more worldly motives for conflict. The Reformation in the sixteenth century was as much about power and wealth as it was about doctrinal differences. Alliances between secular and church authority became uneasy. The solution in England was breathtaking. The merging of divine and political authority in Henry VIII was a stroke of genius and a great victory for the Domini.
Throughout its long existence the Domini had successfully suppressed individuals, ideas and technological developments that threatened its aims. Courageous free-thinking men and women who proclaimed a philosophy of compassion and justice when faced with the tyranny of secular and ecclesiastical authority were either quietly done away with or ridiculed into obscurity. Ideas that challenged orthodoxy were branded as heresies with sometimes appalling consequences for adherents. Technological developments were turned to making profit and manipulated to maintain the prevailing social hierarchy.

I've been asked when further extracts will be posted. The answer is soon - but I don't want to post too much at once!

I've also been asked why I changed my original post where I said that the story character David MacLeod's dream description was based on my own experience. I suppose I felt that I was being too personal. However, it is true. The experience described is very much my own - during one summer's night in 1978. And like the fictional character David MacLeod, it did change my life in many ways. Certainly since then I have had no fear of death. In fact I look forward to that time - but only after a worthwhile life now.