Linehan's Trip

The year is 2019. Sean Linehan, an international sports executive, arrives in Padania to vet the newly independent nation’s bid to join the world football community. As usual, Linehan has his own agenda: girls, art and money. He finds a ready supply, but how will he react when Padania reveals some of its dark secrets?In this short story set in the near future, Sean Linehan, an international sports executive, travels to Padania, which has recently broken away from Italy to form an independent state, and is now desperate to gain acceptance by joining the world football community. Linehan’s job is ostensibly just to look into its application and report back to his boss. As usual, though, Linehan has his own agenda: girls, art and money. Once again, he finds a ready supply, but how will he react when Padania shows him some of its unwelcome dark secrets? The short story is accompanied by the first chapter of Bryan Murphy’s novella of ideas, Goodbye, Padania.