Old Virginia is the first story included in [[The Imago Sequence and Other Stories]]. ### __Story Summary__ Roger, the leader of a mercenary squad is tasked with protecting a group of scientists doing human experiments in the wilderness of Virginia. This top secret government project is called Operation TALLHAT. The scientists are performing experiments on a clairvoyant woman known as Virginia with the goal of weaponizing her. Obviously, this ends badly. The story takes place in the USA during the Cold War and references 'the Reds' (Communists/USSR) and the CIA project MK-ULTRA. Roger's superior, Doctor Herman Strauss, is also mentioned in [[The Croning]]. A character named Rembrandt Tallen refers to Project Tallhat in the story [[Fear Sun]]. --- ### __The Lost Colony: Croatoan, Mother & Virginia Dare__ The story also features a reference to the old, (non-fictional) American colonist mystery surrounding the word '[[Croatoan]]'. According to [this Wikipedia article](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roanoke_Colony), a group of English colonists headed by governer John White tried to start settlement on the Roanoke Island in 1587. After White left for England to resupply and came back in 1590, he found the entire settlement abandoned without any trace of the colonists. The only clue to their whereabouts was the fact that the word 'CROATOAN' had been carved into the palisade. It was then assumed this meant that the colonists had relocated to the nearby Croatoan Island, but to this day there's been no evidence to support this theory. They are known as the Lost Colony. In the story, the protagonist reads about the colonist events in a book and afterwards has a dream in which the word 'CROATOAN' is written on the wall. Virginia repeatedly speaks of a person or entity called Mother: "[Your men are] with Mother. Except the brute. You killed him. Mother won't take meat unless it's alive. Shame on you, Roger." (The Imago Sequence and Other Stories, p. ) Barron gives us a different explanation for the mystery surrounding 'CROATOAN' when the clairvoyant woman Virginia explains who her Mother is: "You know who Mother is — a colonist wrote Her name on the palisade, didn't he? A name given by white explorers to certain natives who worshipped Her. Idiots! The English are possibly the stupidest people that ever lived." She tittered. "I was the first Christian birth in the New World. I was special. The rest were meat. Poor mama, poor daddy. Poor everyone else. Mother is quite simple, actually. She has basic needs . . .She birthed me anew, made me better than crude flesh and now I help Her conduct the grand old game." (The Imago Sequence and Other Stories, p. ) This ties Virginia herself to the mystery of the Lost Colony as well, identifying her as [Virginia Dare](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Dare): the granddaughter of John White and first Christian born in the New World, who disappeared alongside the rest of the settlement. At the end of the story, the main protagonist manages to carve 'CRO' into the floorboards before being taken away by Virginia. When I read the story for the first time I thought Roger meant to write 'CRONE', because Virginia is on multiple occassions referred to as such and because crones are a recurring theme in Barron's work (like the group of crones in [[Hand of Glory (Story)]], the women in [[Procession of the Black Sloth]] and obviously the events and title of [[The Croning]]). But Roger carving 'CROATOAN' into the floorboards makes a bit more sense. --- ### __Old Leech__ Further descriptions of Mother (or Croatoan) seem to be somewhat in line with the descriptions and workings of [[Old Leech]] found in Barron's other works: "The mountain is nicer, the shafts go so deep. She hates the light. All of Her kind are like that. [...] When mankind will manage to blacken the sky with bombs and cool the earth so that Mother and Her brothers, Her sisters and children may emerge once more! Is there any other purpose? Oh, what splendid revelries there shall be on that day!" (The Imago Sequence and Other Stories, p. ) I don't think Old Leech is described anywhere else as 'Mother' or as female in general, but the mention of brothers, sisters and most of all [[Children of Old Leech|Children]] makes one wonder. Mother lives in the mountain, hates the light and is waiting for the skies to blacken and the earth cool down before she emerges. This is in line with the descriptions of Old Leech found in The Croning. #Story #Imago