This image is the cover for the book The Vault of Svalbard

The Vault of Svalbard

The vault of Svalbard, the global seed bank, has been robbed and its irreplaceable content stolen. The theft becomes a priority case for the Global Agency for Informed Consent (GAIC). As the agency’s director, Achilles is in charge of the investigation into the disappearance of the seeds. Suspicions first fall on the Earth Movement and its music band Save the Earth, because of their radical position on climate change and food shortages. Unpredictable circumstances though take the investigation to the Sahara Desert controlled by the Confederation of the Tuaregs. The theft of the seeds is the first episode in a series of adventures that involve a mysterious small chamber hidden in the vault of Svalbard. When Achilles and its team eventually enter the chamber, its secret is finally unveiled. The chamber contains a jar full of water. Some say that it has healing powers. Others claim that it never evaporates hence one single drop could quench a person’s thirst forever. Is it is new water? Should the jar be removed from the vault? How can such water be protected from the grabbing hands of a thirsty humanity? Two dramatic events now happen. The seeds are returned undamaged and a moving glacier destroys the vault of Svalbard. Achilles suspects that somebody removed the jar before the destruction. But where is it now, the water jar? The mystery surrounding the precious water stretches from the North Pole to the South Sahara and is resolved in the last pages of the story.

Michela Arturina Betta

Michela Arturina Betta is an authoress of literature. She was born in Italy where she grew up and went to school. She studied in Milan and Frankfurt where she received her PhD. She worked as an academic in Germany and Australia, Melbourne, and has written essays and books on ethics. Her fascination with literature dates back to her childhood when she won a poetry prize at the age of seven. She now lives in Stockholm. The Vault of Svalbard is her latest book. Previous works of fiction are Stories for Posthuman Readers and The Gatekeeper/s.

Austin Macauley Publishers