Common Purpose

[Hydro]

Gaia’s Landing, MY 2208

Dear Cha Dawn and the people of the Cult of Planet,

The Council and I congratulate you on your achievement in mindworm husbandry! We have not even tried, much less succeeded, in the gestation of a mindworm. The intricacies in such a project are immense, and it must take great intuitive skill on the part of your people to overcome such hurdles. I look forward to any updates you might have for us in this matter.

We Gaians have been truly fortunate in finding and persuading so many isles to our cause. Two have been lost to combat, but we have at least five patrolling the waters around our shores. Our foils have been busy, and one was lost a number of years ago; life is hard on the foil crews, even if they are empath equipped. Soon we will have to form new foils, and I have to admit that our foils are not equipped for combat, only for searching for worms. They could be upgraded, but they are perfectly suited for their tasks, so the decision was made that this type of investment would not be made at this time.

I have attached our world map, and I think you will find we have explored a considerable part of the lands around us. This will increase as we put more foils into operation, and our existing foils and isles continue their relentless search of the seas – pushing back the veil, as it were. There is much unspoiled territory on Planet, and it heartens me that, as of yet, we humans have had relatively little impact on Planet. This was not the case on Earth, where we expanded to fill every void. Our populations here remain relatively small, a mere fraction of the population of one small berg of one of the megalopolises of long lost Earth.

Our agreement to exchange technology still stands. We will not utilize the technology you might provide to us to develop a Project associated with the technology Centauri Meditation. We will also furnish you with technology in exchange. At this time we have two technologies you do not have: High Energy Chemistry and Field Modulation. Both are armor related, with Field Modulation giving and extra defense against psychic attack by native life. By the time you make your breakthrough we will also have the technology Industrial Economics completed, which allows the building of energy storage banks, which enhance a society’s economy.
I also congratulate you on your foothold on the nearby islands and continents that surround your island. I am sure your settlements will grow in a Planet-friendly way, and that with these settlements you will learn more of Planet and its nature.

I, too, have had almost constant pleas for intervention of a military sort against almost all the factions. The only exceptions are yours and the Spartans; all the others have tried to cajole or threaten us into a war with another faction. This is most unseemly, and I will have no party to it. I am glad your faction is peaceably inclined, and this brings us closer together. The attitude of the Spartans is most odd, though. I would have thought that Santiago would have led the drumbeat for war, but she hasn’t. Her cities are spread apart over her territory, and she has developed a not insignificant infrastructure in the bases she has. Her military arsenal is relatively limited, and it is smaller than the Gaians, and we are pacifists! I can only hope that she maintains this attitude.

That said, we have friendship treaties with all the factions except the Hive, which has spurned all diplomatic and economic overtures. Chairman Yang keeps to himself, and has been very difficult to contact and negotiate with. He has also been the target of numerous wars, and it is not clear exactly who declared war on who since both sides claims the other started the war, and neither will lay down their arms unless the other does so first. It is all very irrational. The Hive has rather modest holdings, and even if Yang’s political and economic theories are repellent he does not seem to be a threat to anyone.

As always, I enjoy any conversations I might have with you, and I look forward to more discussions in the future.

Walk with Planet,
Dee

*~*~*~*

Cult, MY 2208

To the most generous Lady Skye, the august body of the Gaian Parliament and the Planet loving Gaian peoples I send you my most warmest greeting!

Lady Skye, once again you demonstrate your far seeing understanding and appreciation of the Planet. Your map file was very illuminating and it also shows that we can all live in harmony and peace with one another. There is land for us all and land that can be set aside for the preservation of Planets natural eco-system. We in fact will soon complete our first set of two terra-formers that have an exclusive mandate to RESTORE the fungus fields that the forests have overrun. This small act will help our planet for many years to come. It will be a labor of love and of trust between Planet and our people. It will do little to enhance our growth or prosperity but that is the sacrifice we make to preserve Planet. This does bring up a point have to make. Your lands are very developed and in many areas, for many sectors of land, not one fungus field can be found. I encourage you to restore some of this land for not just your sake but for us all!

I have consulted with my advisors and administrators and we seem to be at odds over which technology we would trade with you. Many of my advisors argue that the energy storage systems would aid our cause in conservation techniques, a natural boon for Planet. My scientists tell me that the resonance technology is vital to our continued research into the native life forms of this planet. A dilemma to be sure. So after meditating for days on this I offer this proposal. Transfer to us both technologies! In turn, our scientists will move forward into more "in depth" research into this resonance technology and we in turn will trade that future breakthrough to you when we complete it! Please think on this and I am sure that you will see the benefits of this. Essentially you will get a much more advanced technology for one that is a more basic one. In fact, in looking at our recent agreements you will receive the greater benefit from these trades. Within two turns we will make our breakthrough into Centauri Meditation and then in a short will after that bio-adaptive resonance! Both of these technologies are twice as complicated and advanced as anything we will ask in return! So consider this in the balance of your discussion. Remember,
by working together we can expand the envelope of knowledge!

It does not surprise me too much about the Spartans! I found Corazon to bea frank and open person who does not believe in the intricacies of diplomacy and intrigue! She is plain spoken and wishes to prosper in peace. We have tried to work with the Spartans as much as we can since they seem to the be only other sane faction, other than you Gaians, on Planet. The other faction leaders care little for anything else except for power. I do have to admit I do grow more worried each day about some of the other factions. Their constant warring might cause us to defend our borders! This is something we are preparing to do, just as you have done.

Lastly, I wish to thank you and your Gaian people once again for your efforts in helping Planet!

I wish you well in your work and the Peace of the Planet!

May Planet shine on your good people and give them the peace of mind that transcends all worldly desires!

May you live in Peace and serve the Planet.

Prophet Cha Dawn

First Disciple of the Planet. He who walks in the soul of the Planet.


+ + + + + + + + +

Cha hit the send button and eased himself back on to the cushions.

"Master Seeker Evans I think it is time we put some of our assets that are in place in the Gaian council and society to work. Please try to coordinate the following. One, have the higher level operatives support our request for the proposed technology trade. It is crucial that we get both of these technologies! Second, direct those operatives that have access to gather information about the most southern Hive base. All we need to know is what forces garrison that city and the composition of those forces. Do they have trance protection? That is the most important thing to discover." Cha picked up the small cup of fungal tea and took a sip.

"Agreed my Prophet, I will try and coordinate both as best I can. I take it that the technology trade has the most importance right now for our operatives. The military intelligence will be a little harder since only a few of our operatives have direct access to that information. However,
since we only need information about one city and only the military forces there we reduce our operatives exposure. Anyone asking questions will have a hard time putting two and two together. Also, since we do plan on invading in ten turns or so we put some distance between one event and the other. I doubt from all of the reports I have now that the Hive could change that much in ten turns or less." The Master Seeker slowly stood up. He was slightly burdened by the small boy he had in his arms that had fallen asleep.

"Agreed. Make the arrangements as quickly as possible. For some of our operatives this will be our first "request" of them so they might be a little timid so you are authorized to put whatever pressure you feel you need to make. However, we can not let anything they do risk our overall
relationship with the Gaians. If one of the operatives becomes a liability instruct and agent to dispose of that liability, understood?" Cha looked up at his Master Spy and waited for a response.

"Agreed, and now I need to put this one to bed. Adam does not seem to have the stamina the Eve did. She could stay awake for hours during these discussions." The black robed spy master walked between the pillows into the small boys room.

Cha sat there for several minutes thinking. What Adam lacked in some areas he had more than made up in others. He was a higher level empath for sure and Adam also showed that he had a streak of determination that had no bounds. Adam would do whatever would be needed to get the task done, no matter the costs....

*~*~*~*

Gaia’s Landing, MY 2209

Dear Cha Dawn and the people of Cult of Planet,

The Council is delighted that our world map was useful for you. Our mindworms and isles have done a good job exploring the seas and land around us, and everywhere we look there are marvels to behold. The biomes of this Planet are so different from those of Earth that there is little, beside the basic chemistry of life, that is common, and in many ways it is amazing that we can co-exist at all. Perhaps it is fortunate that this world is a series of small continents and islands, and that humanity is scattered among these landmasses. In fact, the only two factions that share a common land mass are the University and us. All the rest are scattered, and on relatively small islands, which limits our populations and, more importantly, isolates native areas from inappropriate development.

Another benefit of humanity’s separation is that it makes wars of aggression much less likely due to separation. The University and Gaians had a long cold war for about several decades, but that is now long past. Even the war between the Hive and the Cyborgs and Peacekeepers won’t likely amount to much due to the separation involved. It is my hope that this separation can limit bloodshed, and temper the more irrational policies of the more blunt naked aggression. After all, with the distances involved it is likely easier to expand and enhance what a faction has than to take from another.

As to the technology trade, we will gladly trade you both Field Modulation and Industrial Economics for Centauri Mediation. We look forward to the insights this technology can give us, and you are most welcome to the defensive and economic benefits of the technologies we will give you in exchange.

I also have some news for you. The Council has proposed to the Gaian Parliament that we freely give any technology that does not have an offensive military potential to any faction that asks us for it. We will, of course, ask that a technology trade be involved where the faction has something to trade as a gesture of goodwill, but I must note that some of the factions on Planet are rather impoverished when it comes to technology. In particular, the Hive and Spartans seem to be falling behind and, governmental differences aside, we hope that this will create some good will and foster humanitarian improvements. It is my fervent hope that such exchanges, even if they are one sided, will help the other factions prosper and come to understand each other, and that they will come to better understand that the Gaians do not represent a threat to their interests. We have been very fortunate, and have made what turned out to be some good decisions in the past, and it is only right that we let others share in our good fortune.

You noted that the Gaian mainland has been rather extensively terraformed, and you are correct. We have concentrated on forests, which have spread far and wide, and have built an interlocking network of roads. In areas where it is appropriate we have built a limited number of mines and an even more limited number of condensers, which are targeted in areas where farms and solar panels have been placed. The seas around our territories have rather large numbers of kelp farms and tidal generators. On the whole our terraforming is Planet friendly and does not significantly damage the biosphere. We have, on occasion, removed some fungus, but forests have integrated most fungus as the forests expand. At this point we have no plans to re-introduce fungus near our lands. Our research indicates that the introduction of forests do not harm Planet, even if it does largely displace the native fungal ecosystems. Mitigating this even more is the wide expanse of fungus on the other continents and islands, almost all of which are effectively inaccessible and untouched by humanity. Perhaps one day we will replace our forests and farms, but at this point it is the Gaian belief that the ecosystems of Earth and Planet can, if properly managed, exist side by side, and that we can benefit from the best of both of these treasures. The value of what Earth and Planet have to offer us is priceless, and it is up to us to preserve what we can of both.

Walk with Planet,
Dee

*~*~*~*

Cult, MY 2209

To Governor Lady Skye, the right honorable members of the Gaian Council and Parliament and the Planet loving Gaian people my most warm greetings to you all!

Lady Skye, I do not presume to lecture you or your people but for us there is only ONE eco-system! Our goal is to eventually return ALL of Planet to its original state not to create a new one. Someday the technology will be available for us to unlock the secrets of Planet and reap the bountiful harvest it creates! Our scientists tell me that the people who left that alien artifact and the other mysterious items on Planet never once "tapped" the mineral or nutrient resources, just the fungus! Imagine all us sustained on the natural growth of this planet. I also have to remind you that every sector of fungus destroyed deprives the natural life forms of this planet of their native environment. We have extensive knowledge on mind worms and though they can live and exist outside of the fungus that is NOT their preferred environment. I hope that in time we can persuade you to curtail your expansion and turn your terra-formers into fungus formers, like we are doing. I do not wish to state we require that you do this but every fungus sector lost is another blow to Planet. Please re-consider this and review some of the data I will include with this message. Planet was not meant to be another Earth but its OWN world we are merely visitors on it and as such we should look towards protecting it at all costs!

I find the position your government has taken on technology very commendable! We in turn will follow suit as well. When plan on "gifting" to the Spartans on our next meeting any of the technology they wish to have! I will also commit to you that when we complete our resonance studies we will transmit that as well to you! Prosperity seems to turn up when ever or
where ever you look! We are only a turn away from completing the work on Centauri Empathy and we will transmit it pre-approved to you!!!

Lastly, reports have been reaching my desk of massive eco-system deprivations by the Hive. Just last turn a massive waste slick of debris, waste products and flotsam floated up on our shores to the north. It made me sick!! I find it harder and harder to look away from such actions, Planet must be defended! Yang does not wish to communicate with me or even begin to listen to my arguments on saving Planet. If you do have the chance please talk with him. Perhaps these waste products are the reason we do not have better luck contacting isles of the deep. We did recently bond another isle making our count two, that was a blessing to us all!

I wish you well in your work and the Peace of the Planet!

May Planet shine on your good people and give them the peace of mind that transcends all worldly desires!

May you live in Peace and serve the Planet.

Prophet Cha Dawn

First Disciple of the Planet. He who walks in the soul of the Planet.

[Hydro]

Spy Master Evans looked at the latest reports from the Gaian mainland. His spy network agents reported that all Gaian operatives asked to support Cha's request were very effective. However, there were still no accurate reports of troop strength at the southern Hive city! The spy master began to worry that perhaps his agents had overplayed their hands in asking their operatives for support. Since the field of information requested was so focused Cha hoped that the operatives would not put two and two together or Gaian intelligence. Evans had little respect for Gaian security. However, they were handcuffed by having an open society and as such it allowed for more penetration by spy networks. Luckily for the Cult of the Planet Cha was the sole ruler and information was sorted and controlled and those moving that information were always observed and were only selected due to their intense loyalty to Cha. The Cult had a few spy networks operating in the Peacekeeper lands but they were hamstrung by the Peacekeepers massive bureaucracy, even if you penetrated one layer it gained you little since each department protect their secrets like crown jewels.

No, he thought he would have to trust that the men and women he trained would get the job done or die in the attempt!

*~*~*

Gaia’s Landing, MY 2210

Dear Cha Dawn and the people of the Cult of Planet,

I think we will have to agree to disagree on the Earth and Planet ecosystems. We Gaians prefer to think of them in a holistic manner, and strive to find ways to ensure that both are preserved and the best of each are enhanced. Perhaps one day we can find ways to hybridize the two, but for now we will concentrate on Earth type ecosystems were we humans live, and will continue to delve into attempts to understand Planet.

I am pleased to report that Gaia’s Landing has finished the first research hospital on Planet, and this advancement will significantly increase our ability to provide quality medical care to our people and better understand our selves and Planet. We were also fortunate to persuade another isle and mindworm to join our cause this last year, and with these new allied denizens of Planet we will be better able to explore and understand the world around us.

I looked into your reports on Yang’s deprivations and abuses of Planet and I wasn’t able to find any corroborating evidence of your claims. His cities seem to be producing no extraordinary amount of pollution, and in fact his industry levels are rather low. Moreover, he hasn’t even done much terraforming and has left his land largely undeveloped. There seems to be no overt population pressure since his cities are large but not unmanageably so. I did have a chance to mention this subject to the Chairman in a recent call and he confirmed my empath’s observations that there were no extraordinary impacts to Planet. He was also pleased to receive Doctrine: Flexibility, Gene Splicing and Resonance Armor, which he asked for when I told him about our new technology ‘trading’ program. I looked into Santiago and she seems to have gotten quite a bit of technology recently, as have the other factions. Aki, Zak, and Lal seem to be doing well, too. The only odd man out appears to be the good Chairman, and this is almost certainly due to his isolation. Still, after these gifts he was magnanimous but wasn’t interested in a treaty of friendship. Maybe he will learn that it is to his advantage to have friends on Planet, especially since so many bear him ill will.

You might also be interested that Aki is near a breakthrough in Superstring Theory, which will allow her to develop weapons twice as powerful as current Impact technology. I find this to be distressing, but not too out of character since the Cyborgs are at war with Yang. True to form, Zak is researching development-related technology, as is Parvin. Santiago is researching polymorphic software for some reason. We are researching Industrial Automation and expect a breakthrough in less than a decade, and maybe as little as five years. We will keep you posted.

Dee

*~*~*

Cult, MY 2210

To the most serene Lady Skye, the noble Gaian Legislators and the Planet loving Gaian people I greet you all with a love and friendship as great as the Planet!!

Lady Skye, I do not accept the statement, "lets agree to disagree"! The situation is simple and clear to understand. You can not have two eco-systems in harmony with each other. One system will always become the dominant system and eventually win over the other. My greatest concern is even though you claim you are "balancing" your system I see no indication of that! Your forests spread like a cancer and your mines bore into the very heart of Planet! For the sake of this argument perhaps you can "control" your system but what of the others!? Do they have the same planet sense and expertise as we do? NO! So those of us who do must be all the more careful with Planet! I am not asking you to destroy all that you have worked for but you should understand that some restoration must be performed even if it means sacrificing the benefits of more resources! If you will take the time to read the most cherished book I wrote on the workings of Planet and the advancement of mankind, in particular chapter 23 verse 12, you will see that if we are not helping Planet then you are against Planet! I would hope that you and your Gaian legislature work towards returning some of the land you have taken and return it to its most natural state, just like we are now doing. With this in mind I have instructed my ambassador to make a direct petition to your Gaian legislature on behalf of the Planet. I hope you do not take offense at this but the need of the Planet transcends all! I hope in no way this has will hurt our relationship but I feel that I must take a stand on behalf of Planet.

As for the Hive. I suspect that you have been beguiled by the evil Chairman Yang. The pollution must come from some source close to our lands and they are the most likely of candidates! Much of their industry and production is housed underground so perhaps they have shielded this fact from your Planetary administrators! We will not stand by and watch Planet become polluted by that evil man and his twisted society!

Next turn we will complete our research and pre-approve the transfer of the technology to you. If you could respond in-kind that would be most gracious of you! We suspect that our next research goal will give us a weapon of near equal power to the weapon the Cyborgs are building. I warn you again, "beware the machine!"

Lastly, we have become more fortunate of late and we have now three isles of the deep under our care!! These isles were encountered far from our shores so once again I suspect the pollution is the direct effect of this.

I wish you well in your work and the Peace of the Planet!

May Planet shine on your good people and give them the peace of mind that transcends all worldly desires!

May you live in Peace and serve the Planet.

Prophet Cha Dawn

First Disciple of the Planet. He who walks in the soul of the Planet.

++++++++++++++++++++++++

Cha sat across the table from a man dressed in the garb of a master guide. At the other end of the table was Victor Ramos and the other was John Evans, Cha's master spy.

"Master Guide Fookosh, do you believe you are ready to lead this attack on the Hive?" Cha asked leaning slighting forward at the end of his question as if ready to pounce on the man if he did not answer correctly.

"My Prophet, I assure you I am ready. Governess Eve has five worms ready for transport and in less than four turns the intelligence unit will be ready as well. Master Seeker Evans has hand picked the leader of the seeker team and I know each of the guides and support team of each worm! My Prophet, we will land in two waves in the fungal fields to the north and south of Fecundity Tower. Each team will assault the base from opposing vectors. I suspect that they will not last beyond the first wave. However, I still lack any real intelligence on the make-up of that base, in particular the garrison units. Once we do take the base our worms can rest in the fungal fields and regain their strength. I plan on leaving a garrison and once we repulse their counter-attack we will move the worms back on to the isles and have them perform another amphibious assault on the main Hive base. We need to strike at the heart of the Hive as quickly as possible." Master Guide Anton Fookosh finished his plan and pushed a more detailed plan across the table to the Prophet.

"I agree with your plan. Also, not once did you say "if". That shows you are confident!" Cha turned slowly to his Master Seeker and said, " Master Seeker, why has your spy's not reported the troop strength of the base yet! We need that information! I will not give up the advantage of surprise by moving the isles close by the base to take a peak and give up our element of
surprise!"

"My prophet, I am working on it but it seems the only operative who has access to the data is also our most highly placed one. I worry that if we put too much pressure on him he might not come through for us. I suspect he will since we have more than enough incriminating data on him to blackmail him but then we end up with a tool rather than an operative. I am still working on it but before the worms get near the base I will have the data." The Master Seeker finished his response and continued to stare back at Cha.

"My Prophet, I have also a full cadre of Rangers ready to board the ships and once we are in control of the city we will quickly re-organize the population under Cult ways." Victor remarked with a wolfish grin on his face.

"Excellent. The quicker we can get the bases turned around the better. The two isles of the deep are three turns from reaching the embarkation point. All worms are moving to that point as well. It is only a short trip across the channel and once there it should be a quick campaign. My only concern is reserves. The isles of the deep can help support the ground forces but that is all. We will not have the means to reinforce if we commit the isles to battle. I have thought about this as well, but, I doubt anyone will come to the Hives rescue either. I know of three factions that only want to destroy the Hive so that is four out of six. The Gaians are the wild card. Master Seeker if you can not get the agent to transfer the data then we will have to go in blind and trust to the Planet to protect us, but, I want that agent to warn us if the Gaians try to help. Also, he should work against any measure to censure us or help support the Hive. Make sure he understands that we are only doing this to protect the Planet!" Cha finished and quickly stood up and put his hands out over the group.

"In the name of the Planet we ask your blessing to preserve and to protect our forces in battle, in your name we pray and fight!" Cha finished and left the room.

*~*~*~*

Gaia’s Landing, MY 2211

“I have to say I’m impressed,” Colin said. “You managed to get both Zak and Aki to call off their wars with Chairman Yang. Didn’t Aki say before that Yang started it?”

“Yes, she did. She must have found out she was mistaken,” Dee said. Her voice displayed none of its accustomed warmth. “Her war is off, and she called it a personal favor to me. The last I heard they have a truce.”

“What happened with Zak?” Terry asked.

“He called us and wanted us to be rid of the Hive nuisance. I declined, of course. Then I asked that he call off his vendetta against the Hive, and Zak said he’d be happy to, again as a personal favor.”

Colin interjected, “Didn’t we ask him to call off a war with Yang a decade or two ago?”

“Yes, we did,” Dee replied. “It seems he decided that Hive was a threat again. Zak wasn’t shy about accepting High Energy Chemistry from us, though. He did say he’d consider trading technology when his Planetary Datalinks are complete.”

“When will that be?” Ling asked.

“Several decades,” Dee said. Ling snorted.

“Seems to me they’re just picking on he little guys.

“Good,” Colin said. “So, it turns out that Yang is the one being persecuted by both Zak and Aki. What about Lal?”

“I got a polite message from one of his aids that he was indisposed and to try again later. I have asked him before and have gotten the same answer. When I do get a chance to talk to him next I’ll be sure to bring it up.”

“In summary, your peace efforts were successful, and the other factions are accepting the technology we’ve been offering. Is that a fair summary?” Terry asked.

“Yes,” Dee said. “That’s fair. Anything else I can do?”

“That’s all we have on our docket for political endeavors,” Terry said. “We do have on item forwarded to us by the Parliament – Cha Dawn’s fungus terraforming proposal.”

“I saw an early draft. What does this one say?” Colin asked.

“It sets an objective of returning lands that have terraforming improvements back to near their original fungus. No hard dates or numbers of sectors mentioned,” Terry said.

“Well then, I see no reason not to put our stamp on it and pass it on to the Parliament for discussion,” Colin stated.

“Not so fast,” Ling said. “That’s just stupid. Razing our forests and farms will mean we can starve in the dark. What will replace our energy and minerals, and how will we prevent our people from starving? The fungus is much less productive than forests or farms. Our economy will collapse. Is that Cha’s objective? To get us to commit economic suicide?”

“We can always amend it later. This proclamation does not have the force of lay, so there will be no precedent as stated. It will be a guidance document,” Colin said.

Ling softened a little. “If its only guidance then OK, I don’t have a problem with it.”

“I’ll take that as a second,” Terry said. “Motion called and seconded. Votes?” I was close with 4 for and 3 against. Terry dutifully recorded the approval of the motion and note that this will be sent back to Parliament.

*~*~*~*

Cult, MY 2211

To the most admired Lady Skye, The far-seeing Gaian Parliament and the Planet loving Gaian people I greet you all with open arms and admiration!

Lady Skye, as promised the technology for centauri mediation has been sent to you pre-approved. I hope that your agents will be as prompt as well and return the afore mentioned technologies in exchange. We have also taken the liberty to send you our map files as a sign of our good faith.

I think you will find the technology of centauri meditation very valuable. In fact, I have decided to make it available to ALL who ask since it begins to unlock the vast treasure of resources that is the fungus. Your colonies will now be able to extract energy from the fungus along with nutrients. This alone should help support my efforts to guide your Parliament to accepting the need to restore "some" amount of appropriate land to its original state. There are also plans included that will allow you to set-up areas of land that will help preserve the natural state of Planet! These are all major boons for every faction on Planet, a wonder for us all! I am also including a new study by our scientists at the large crater sight, bowl of the heavens, that indicate the fungus is vital to the life blood of Planet. Soil samples show that fungus was present before the impact and after! In earth history after each major impact by a meteor the eco-systems of earth changed dramatically. However, on Planet they stayed virtually unchanged! The implications of this are staggering to say the least. So once again I encourage you and your Parliament to re-visit the discussion which I am once again asking my Ambassador to make another petition.

I look forward to what I feel will be the wise decision, the only real decision that can be made!

I wish you well in your work and the Peace of the Planet!

May Planet shine on your good people and give them the peace of mind that transcends all worldly desires!

May you live in Peace and serve the Planet.

Prophet Cha Dawn

First Disciple of the Planet. He who walks in the soul of the Planet.

[Hydro]

Gaia’s Landing, MY 2212

Dear Cha Dawn and the People of Cult of Planet,

I have attached the file on Field Modulation and Industrial Economics, as well as the Gaian world map, for your inspection. I hope you will find them to be useful, since I’m sure we will find Centauri Meditation to be extraordinarily enlightening. I have always wondered if it would be truly possible to preserve Planet’s life forms, isolate them, if you will, from contamination, and it appears that the Centauri Preserves you mention will allow us to do exactly that. It may eventually come to pass that even though humanity has not spread to all corners of Planet, one day we may do so. Most of the Gaian exploration has been via mindworm vectors of isles, mindworms, and spoor launchers, so in this case the contamination will be minimal. When we garner the resources that will surely be a worthy project for our greater cities!

It seems our good fortune continues. Every year we seem to capture one or two mindworms, and this year one of our spoor launchers was surprised while exploring the huge continent to our east. At the end of his run he encountered a huge spoor launcher. Its handler knew that the spoor launchers are the most aggressive of the native life forms, and that they alone will attack another native form. Then, as he moved to attack, with little hope of success, he told his handler: “resonance: positive”. The handler was confused since that made no sense, then he understood when the second launcher started to communicate in a primitive way.

In other news, Zak is only 5 years away from completing his Planetary Datalinks and, in doing so he will guarantee that he is never left behind in technology. Aki’s attempts at this Project are barely off the ground and Zak will finish way ahead of her. It is somehow fitting that Zak will finish a Project that will ensure he is at least technological parity with everyone else.

Walk with Planet,
Dee

*~*~*~*

Cult, MY 2212

Lady Skye the inspirational leader of our planet, the august body of the Gaian government and the Planet loving Gaian people I greet you all with my most warm heart!

Lady Skye, you generosity was most wonderful! The technology you transferred allowed my scientists to begin research on changing the forests we have planted long ago and to introduce more "planet friendly" variants that will increase production and resources for our people without having to ADD more forest land. I will gift this most precious technology to you when we complete it as a sign our unending trust with the Gaian people. I can only hope that now you will begin to help support my work in teaching your legislators the need to reduce the ecological damage done by some of your terra-forming. I think in time we can un-lock more secrets of planet and with those secrets available to us we can forever live in harmony with Planet.

I have to depart soon to visit our northern realm and inspect the holdings there. Continued pollution by the Hive disrupts much of work there and I wish to visit it first hand. I find it hard to understand why the Hive hate us so to use such vile tactics as pollution to damage our lands. My only guess is that since they now posses sea technology they will try to use it land colony pods on our lands, a mistake I assure you. Such transgressions will be met with force!

Our xeno-empathy project is going along wonderfully! It will take time to complete but we hope that we can help push things along and finish it quickly. We continue to expand and have established a second base in the bowl of the heaven. We will send out two more colony pods again within the decade to help expand our holdings in the north and south. It is most fortunate that we seem to be blessed with new prosperity at this time.

I doubt I will be able to contact you for some time but if you wish to respond to this communiqué I will still be on our main islands until the end of the following turn.

I wish you well in your work and the Peace of the Planet!

May Planet shine on your good people and give them the peace of mind that transcends all worldly desires!

May you live in Peace and serve the Planet.

Prophet Cha Dawn

First Disciple of the Planet. He who walks in the soul of the Planet.

++++++++++++++ +++++++++++++++++++++++ +++++++++++++++++++++++++

Cha walked over to the master spy and slapped him across the face with all of his strength. The black robed figure took a half of a step backwards but the force of the blow was slight. Cha was not a strong man but the blow itself was not the force that crumpled the spy master.

"FOOL, WHERE IS THE DATE ON THE HIVE BASE!! Why has your operative failed at every task set before him!! If we do not get results soon you will pay for this failure Evans!" Cha was livid, his whole body was shaking. On the wall monitor a much shaken General Fookosh stared at the scene in front of him.

"I am sorry my Prophet. I will do all that I can to obtain the information or the results you wished in the Gaian government." Evans stated in hushed tones of obedience.

"IT DOES NOT MATTER NOW! I have already ordered an isles to make a close inspection of the Hive base and then make for the embarkation point. Our forces are almost ready. Four mind worms, a spore launcher and a intel. unit will make the crossing. However, I have no idea if when they land it will end up a fiasco or a victory. Should our forces fail and are repulsed we will leave ourselves wide open. If they are victorious then we will have a chance to claim a prize and insure that the other factions will treat us with respect!" Cha turned quickly and returned to the chair he had been sitting in.

"My Prophet, I assure I will be victorious." General Fookosh confidently said. "We can not loose this battle and I will not let us loose the war for in doing so we will have failed Planet. The Hive probably has gotten used to seeing isles of the deep pass by and as long as the isle does not have
any troops aboard on the first pass they Hive should not expect any attack. When they return the event might play into our hands since the Hive base commander might expect that it is just another worm passing by. Hopefully, we can land our forces before they know what will hit them."

"General, I hope you are right for all your sakes. I must return to the service and conduct the blessing of the water now. See that I am informed at once when the data comes in on the recon mission. I am moving my command to Eden with General Fookosh to help supervise the upcoming campaign. Once it starts I want to make sure we win!" Cha waved his hand and the screen turned off and the spy master left the room.

Master Seeker Evans walked down the hall and rubbed his cheek. He needed to put pressure on this Colin’s to get the information. He had been working on an idea for some time and he thought he had to put it into operation. A Spartan spy was known to him operating in the Gaian capital. He would feed the information to the Gaian intelligence police and have the spy outed and all the while making sure that this Colins knew it was he that had done it. Perhaps this stark and overt reminder would shake the man back to his senses and thus force him to get the information. He would even promise him that it was the last time he would ever be contacted again for aid or at least by Evans!

*~*~*~*

Virgin Soil, MY 2213

Colin entered the restaurant, bustling in a breathless way. He looked around the secluded booths and darkened tables for a moment, then saw who he was looking for and walked over and seated himself. It took him a few more moments to orient his expanding girth behind the slightly too narrow space between the soft bench and the hand wrought table.

“I just got your message,” he said as he wedged himself in. “I hope nothing’s wrong. We usually have lunch on Wednesdays. Not that I have anything against extra lunch, mind you.”

“I’m glad you could come,” Colin’s friend said. “I’m going to be taking a vacation soon on relatively short notice and I wanted to have a chat before I left.”

“A vacation? Where are you going?” Colin asked.

His friend smiled ever so slightly. “Let’s just say I got an offer I couldn’t refuse. A free trip to see some Spartan holdings, and maybe the Hive, too.”

Colin snorted. “At the Hive? Not bloody likely. He is a true sociopath, and paranoid to boot. He will barely let any formal diplomatic discourse occur, much less something as routine as trade or technology exchange. Anyway, why would you want to go there, or to Sparta for that matter? All those sweaty people in Sparta, in their rather barren bases separated by even more barren lands, hardly sounds like a garden spot. Ghastly! And the Hive! I’d pay money to be allowed to leave!”

“I don’t know,” his friend continued, “I hear that the Hive does have something like a true egalitarian society, with everyone having equal responsibility – from each according to their measure, to each according to their need. Marxism fulfilled. It is different from our society, but maybe we have something to learn from them.”

Colin was silent, a rare thing for him. “Egalitarian. Hmmm. It seems to me that they are all equally impoverished to me. Dee has shown me some of the empath’s reports. They have a total of 4 terraquads of research each year. Four! We have over 170 now. There are almost no improvements in any of his warrens except maybe a recycling tank, and those are used to recycle bodies! Revolting! I always wondered how he kept order, but that became clear when Dee had the empaths poke around a bit more and found he was a police state. His people aren’t kept happy with amenities, but the barrel of a gun! He has military units everywhere. Hmph. Some people’s utopia. Like I said, I’d pay money to be allowed to leave, and even more money to leave right away.”

His friend let him ramble, as Colin was want to do, and as Colin expounded on the horrors of the Hive his friends eyes glittered. He was close, so close.

“You mean police?” he asked. “With stun sticks?”

“I should say not! They have impact weapons with the best armor, and they are very well trained in their arts, if our empaths are to be believed! Imagine having to live each day, and night, with the knowledge that some thuggish brute was likely to burst into your hovel and drag you off to some dank prison, all for not fulfilling your planned work quota? No wonder his people are so compliant, but dispirited might be a better word. I remember an old saying: The floggings will continue until the morale improves! That fits Yang to a tee!”

“A police state?” his friend said tentatively. “Does he have lots of troops in his cities? Do his people have any freedom?”

“Yes, a nasty police state, the opposite of us – no freedom at all. We can’t even imagine, and we thought the simple government we had after landing was a trial. He does have troops everywhere, more in his bigger cities I suppose.”

“How many?” his friend asked. He leaned forward ever so slightly.

“How should I know?! Dee is the main contact with the empaths. They trust her and Terry, and I have to admit I’ve never really had the occasion or felt the need to go talk to them. Dee does a fine job. My job is that of Council Liaison to the people, you know. Very important. We have to keep the lines of communication open or we’ll be cut off, isolated. I don’t want to be a navel gazer. Dee has her empaths and diplomacy, Ling her military interests, Terry works with the Parliament, Mohamed with infrastructure and engineering, and that leaves the most important job to me. They’d be lost without me, Dee says so herself when we have tea.”

Colin’s friend let Colin babble some more, and he did some thinking. Was this enough? Well, it would have to be. Colin clearly had almost no interest in military matters and would have no more additional specific information. Could he try someone else? No. Ling was completely unapproachable, as was Lady Skye.

A comely waitress came by and Colin got her attention and ordered his favorite, and one for his friend, too. The waitress knew him all too well, and also knew he was a great tipper, so she bustled off and in less than 15 minutes each of them had a steaming bowl of hot and spicy Planet Surprise Soup, crusty Chironwheat bread with pats of real butter, a nice slab of very stinky cheese, and a fine red wine – a ‘06 by the bouquet, Colin knew. Knowing Colin she left him the bottle.

Colin dug in, and was making a real noisy dent in the generous portions he had in front of him. His friend went through the motions of eating, but mainly moved his food around. Impending death had a way of removing one’s appetite. He was not sure if he would disappoint The Voice, but maybe, just maybe, this would be enough.

*~*~*~*

Cult, MY 2213

The double doors opened automatically as the electronic eye was triggered in the hall and the Prophet of the Planet walked into the main command center of Eden. All of the people in the room quickly dropped to one knew and recited the now customary greeting, " Greetings and welcome to the first disciple of the Planet, beloved of the Planet!"

Cha walked to the chair at the head of the table and slowly sat down and as soon as he had the others in the room quickly got up and sat in their chairs.

"I have been told there is great news for me, report please!" Cha commanded.

"My Prophet," Eve began first," The overall situation is very good indeed. We have now three isles of the deep in the channel separating our forces and all ready to begin transport and assault duties if needed. We will have five boil class worms and one spore launcher ready for the embarkation in two turns. The intelligence unit is already marching to embarkation site as well. If Planet shines upon our great struggle to free her from Hive taint we might even have one more worm ready as well." Eve smiled slightly as her father nodded his head.

"My Prophet, I have good news as well!" General Fookosh added, "The isle of the deep we sent to "scan" the Hive base only reports ONE garrison unit! It is very well armed and has good armor, but, no trance protection! This should allow our forces to hit them hard and gain an early victory if we can attack first. I still plan on landing in the fungus fields first and having one if not two of the isles "soften" up the garrison first. This should make our attacks even easier. If the Hive try to attack us through the fungus they will be quickly surprised."

"Excellent, and I have been told that the Master Seeker has news as well?" Cha turned slowly to face Evans.

"Yes my Prophet. It seems our operative confirmed our assumptions. The Hive does have a lot of troops, but, from all the information I have gathered the People of the Planet now have the most powerful military on Planet. The Hive does have a good supply of infantry but they will be slow to respond to our attacks. Our forces can quickly move through the fungus, like a highway and catch their forces unprepared. As long as we obtain the initiative in this campaign and move quickly we should be winners. I caution against defensive strategy, that only helps our enemy not us. Once we take the southern Hive city we should press on and take his capital as well. No rest, if it is not absolutely required. The worms can gather much of their strength in the fungus in a turn or so. Also, the faster we take the Hive out of play in the greater game the sooner we can end any debate among the other factions about our actions. Once it is done, it is done."

"Excellent news. I knew you would not fail me my old friend. Send a suitable reward to your agent in Gaia's Landing. I assume our operative still does not know his role?"

"Yes, the operative was at last persuaded to give us the information without "overt" pressure. I am sure though that Colonel Santiago is none to pleased by the loss of her agent." Evans responded.

"Corazon is a fool. She has the best trained army on Planet and fails to use them for anything. Spartan soldiers are like toy models. They are beautiful to look at but do not work. I assume that we can not be traced back to the information?" Cha asked.

"Correct my Prophet. There is no clue that points back to us."

"I have other more mundane reports to go over and I need to check in with the Master Caretaker back at Dawn of the Planet. Overall, the people of the Planet are expanding quicker each day. Our research rate continues to climb and our energy supplies and production grow as well." Cha stood up and the others bowed their heads.

Cha said a silent prayer for victory and then left the room very quietly...

[Hydro]

Gaia’s Landing, MY 2214

Terry asked, “Any progress on your diplomatic efforts, Dee?”

“I’m afraid not,” she said. “Aki refuses to trade technology, saying that we’re too powerful. Zak is friendly but a bit distant, putting off any technology trade until after his Planetary Datalinks are done. Lal is cool to outright hostile, and Santiago is noncommittal. Over the last 10 years I’ve offered to explore forming a Pact with Zak, Aki and even Santiago, but they all refuse. Yang even refused a simple friendship treat after we gave him three technologies.”

Colin shook his head. “And he still doesn’t have any trust for us? Amazing.”

“The only one who seems to want to deal with us on an ongoing basis is Cha Dawn. His abilities have grown, by the way. He has over 10 mindworms, 4 isles, and a good number of spoor launchers,” she said.

“Dee,” Ling said, “I thought you promised not to snoop.” Ling had a sly smile on her face.

“I don’t snoop,” Dee said. “It’s just every once in a while an empath goes astray, and they relay that information to me.”

“Sound like snooping,” Ling said.

Dee didn’t respond. Colin jumped in, “We know about as much about this Cha character as we do Yang. Have any of you read his “Articles of Faith”? Or watched one of his “One With Planet” holos? He comes off as a very articulate old time preacher from back on Earth, with just enough scientific techno babble to give him some credibility. Some of the early 21st Century post-fundamentalists used to do that, too.”

“We’re navel gazing again, and we’ve been over this a thousand tmes. So, what do we do?” Ling asked.

Mohammad said, “It seems to me we have done all we can do. We have brokered a dozen peace deals, given out technology, proffered loans, and tried to give information where we can. After that, we give advice to Parliament, and ensure the well being of our people. Isn’t that enough?”

Ling said, “Right, we need to ensure the well being of our people. Now, we need to beef up our defenses. We still haven’t upgraded our garrisons, although all of them have trance. And we need a core reaction force stationed strategically within three sectors of every base. What we have simply isn’t enough.”

“I agree with Ling,” Mohammad said, “We have the mineral resources, and a few bases with Command Centers. Plus, our energy surplus is almost gone. We can’t afford any more improvements, not without digging into our trade surplus, and that would be a critically bad idea.”

Terry said, “We could reduce our allocation to our laboratories from 70% to 60%. That would solve the problem.”

“No,” Ling said, “With the other factions nipping at our heels technologically, and with us giving them non-military tech, that seems foolhardy. We can’t allow ourselves to fall behind. I’d rather scrap facilities, or build more energy banks.”

“Building energy banks would work,” Mohammad said. “We have several building now. Perhaps bases that aren’t upgrading their military should build energy banks next.”

Terry nodded in agreement, as did Ling. Dee and Colin didn’t respond one way or the other.

“I’ll speak to the Parliament. The Progressives will be for it, and even the Greens will like it,” Terry said. “Then they can ask us, formally, for our opinion. We’re priming the pump, so to speak. Giving them a little pre-advice advice.”

“Now,” he continued, “everyone should note that The Pines was established in the Jungle last year. It is our 21st base, and our 22nd base in the Jungle will be established in a year or two. These pods were in production shortly before our edit to limit base expansion, and these will be the last until there is good reason to expand again. The Progressives are very happy since both of the new bases not only are in the Jungle but also are on an energy lode – very productive, and a nice boost to our energy reserves and lab out put. Mohammad, do you have an update?”

“Yes,” he said in his formal speaking voice, “we will have three more network nodes on line in the next few years, and a few crèches. When these are done we will likely have no more energy and will have to expand our resource base or stop production of facilities. Our growth has been slower now that our bases are bigger. Most are at least size three, and many are up to size 6. We haven’t ‘population boomed’, although we could. The Council has rejected every proposal by the Progressives and they have kind of lost heart. Any chance of changing direction?”

Colin set his lips, and Dee was stone faced. Ling looked hopeful, and Terry neutral.

“I see that there is not,” he said. “That concludes my report.”

“Very well. Thank you Mohammad. That is the last idem on the agenda. Meeting dismissed,” Terry said, and the Gaian Council members left their new, spacious office that had been grown in the new tower at Landing.

*~*~*~*

Cult, MY 2214

Cha and his daughter stood on the observatory platform on the eastern crater lip and watched with pride as the army of the planet glided through the fungus to the waiting isles of the deep along the coast.

"My Prophet, Pravin Lal has called for a vote for the Planet Governorship, how shall we vote?" Asked the Master Seeker who had stood a few feet behind the two and had taken the message over his pad.

"How goes the vote so far?" Cha asked.

"My Prophet, if we side with Lal, he will have enough votes to defeat Skye. If we abstain or vote for Lady Skye then she will retain her authority."

Cha stood for along while and contemplated the next move.

"Father, if I may?" Eve interrupted. " The Gaians have done nothing to rebuild the natural environment of Planet. The continue to expand and expand with no restraint it seems though they claim they are trying to cut back. Our upcoming war will surely strain our relationship with the Gaians as it is but I doubt it will break it. Perhaps, for this one time we should let the Gaians feel the rope around their throats, just a little. It might make them think twice about how valuable we are?" Eve stated as she turned to her father.

"The Master Seeker has taught you well. I agree with your assessment. Master Seeker, inform Pravin Lal of our abstention and do not take any calls from the Gaians for the next five turns or until I order an open link. Once we complete our business with the Hive and the Chairman has been turned over the Planet Council for crimes against humanity and the Planet then we can re-open more friendly relations. Events will soon spin very quickly for Lady Skye and we will see how she rides the whirlwind. Our forces must make fast progress and complete this war as fast as possible. A fiat a comple' is what I need. Once the Hive is eliminated any punitive action against us becomes a non-issue. Lal and Aki can put Yang on trial and we collect the bases as payment. Skye thought she brokered a masterful peace plan but all she did was fall into our plan and "lulled" Yang into a sense of security. Let us see now what the whirlwind brings. In two turns our forces will depart and within four we shall be setting up new temples to the Planet in a
Hive base. Come my daughter let us give words of praise and victory to our troops." Cha turned to his daughter and took her hand and walked down from the observatory platform.

The Master Seeker stood there for sometime reviewing all the other data that had been collected this turn. The discovery of this "fossil field" was amazing and Cult scientists were demanding to be transported to the spot to take samples of the area for study but nothing really mattered right now except the war.

*~*~*~*

Virtual Planetary Council, MY 2215

The hologram of Cha Dawn stood up. He was dressed head to toe in a red and deep pink robe and his characteristic Mandarin-style cap. It was not apparent until his stood that he was smaller than standard at 1.6 meters, which was not apparent until he was out of his virtual chair. As always his visage was calm, yet intense. To Dee he did not have the controlled, enforced calm of Chairman Yang. Rather, he had an inner peace, one of self-assurance.

“Council members,” he said, as he looked each member in the eye. “I have called this meeting to discuss a matter of some importance: the leadership of this Council. Lady Skye has acted as our Governor for over 20 years, and she has worked tirelessly at her job. All of us have come to understand the Gaian view and vision for Planet.

A great deal of time has passed since we last considered the leadership of this Council. We all have grown, and come to learn more of each other. Our own visions, and those of our peoples, have matured, and with that maturity it is possible that our collective decision over 20 years ago might need to be amended.

Therefore, I call for a vote for an election for the Planetary Governor.”

Dee felt a sinking sense of dread. She watched in silence as Cha Dawn’s image turned around and paced a few steps to his chair, turned again, and gracefully sat down. Dee found, much to her discomfort, that as soon as he was seated she found herself staring right into Cha’s slightly pink irises. Dee pulled her gaze away. He seemed to be looking right into her, trying to peer into her soul; she felt suddenly chilled, and more than a little disturbed.

Pravin Lal stood up. In many ways he was the opposite of Cha Dawn. He was tall where Cha was short, and almost gaunt to Cha’s taught fitness. He was swathed in layers of traditional Indian clothing, complete with a wrap that covered most of his head. His raiment was mostly a light gray.

“A most commendable speech, Cha Dawn. I most whole-heartedly agree - it is long past time for a change. As you have said, we have all grown to better understand Lady Skye and her management style, and her proclivity to use the power of the office for her own goals.”

Dee discerned a subtle hostility in his choice of words, and an overt hostility in his tone – that of someone with a long, simmering grievance.

“The Governorship is more than the vision of a single person,” he continued, giving Dee a sharp glance. “It must be a shared vision, a vision of how to approach the future, and how to use that vision to attain all of our goals, not just the goals of one person. I believe, with all my heart, that I can better unify our peoples, and form a collective understanding of how to lead our sometimes disparate peoples. The United Nations, and the Charter that is its law that binds us all even after all this years, was meant to unify, and find common ground. That is what the Unity mission was about. Sadly, some do not see this vision as clearly as others.” Pravin glanced meaningfully at Dee as he paused.

“I invite all of you to consider your options. You can decide to support Lady Skye, and her idea of governance, or you can trust in the Charter and the ideals of the U.N., a trust and a set of ideals that I hold to with every sinew of my being.”

Lal smiled beneficently, and his brown eyes were smiling, too. Then he turned and sat down. All eyes turned to Deirdre.

She stood near her chair. “This is rather unexpected,” she said. “Although I never greatly desired the Governorship, it came to me and I have tried to work toward enhancing peace and understanding between us. As governor I have helped broker solutions to your disagreements, acting as an honest broke to help various sides see that peace is a better goal. I have also tried to foster trade, since with trade come understanding, and a true trading of ideas through commerce, which is yet another way to bind our societies, that are so different, together. I have also, in the name of peace, gifted technology to most of you, and traded with the rest of you, all in an effort to make us all more prosperous.”

Dee took a breath. “Does this mean I deserve to be Governor again? I don’t think it does. But it does mean that I have done a good job as governor, and that I will continue to do this job if you see fit to elect me again. If I can offer you anything it is my dedication to peace.”

Looking over the other six faction leaders Dee saw only hard or neutral faced. It was clear that Cha and Lal had chosen their words carefully, and Dee was a little bitter that her words had just fallen out, spoken from the heart, but lacking in polish.

Cha Dawn stood up again. “I now call for a vote. Pravin Lal, how do you vote?”

“I cast my votes for the Peacekeepers, and the Charter that we represent,” he said. Cha nodded.

“Prohkor Zakharov?”

He shot a quick glance at Dee, hesitated, and then said, “Abstain.”

“Coronal Santiago?”

“Abstain,” she said. Her voice was flat, as if board with this exercise.

“Chairman Yang?”

“Abstain,” he said. There was not a flicker of any movement on his face.

“Prime Function Aki Zeta-Five?”

“I cast my support to Pravin Lal,” she said.

A smile broke out on Lal’s face.

Cha said, “The Cult of Planet cannot support either of the current candidates. We abstain.”

Lal’s smile vanished.

Cha looked over at Deirdre. “Lady Skye?”

“I vote for myself,” she said.

Cha looked over at Zakharov. He was the only one who understood the complex formula for voting in most Council matters, which was a function of influence from population, technological advancement, and raw economic and military power. It was arcane, but it was the only ‘fair’ form of decision-making the early Council could come up with.

“One moment please,” he said as his image turned away to examine something out of range of the holographic imager. “I am feeding the data and conclusions to each of you now.”

Zak looked up from his off-holo view screen and looked at Dee. “Congratulations, Lady Skye. You have been retained as Governor.” There was no hint of jubilation or disappointment in his voice, only the satisfaction of the simple recitations of a solution.

The same could not be said for Pravin, whose tight lips and tight face said more than any set of words could. His image abruptly winked out.

A moment later so did Yang and Santiago. Aki to a moment to look at Dee and nod to her to acknowledge her victory, then she too winked out.

“Again, congratulations,” Zak said and his image disappeared.

Dee looked over at Cha, and found him staring at her again. Then he disappeared.

Deirdre was left alone, someone stunned. What had just happened here? Why would Cha call an election for Governor, and then fail to vote? If he had voted for Lal he would have won the election. Lal was clearly enraged at having lost, again.

Was this some not so subtle warning? Or was this a part of some other, more elaborate game?

Dee didn’t know. She knew she’d have to call an emergency Gaian Council meeting right away to discuss this.

[Hydro]

Cult, MY 2215

Master Guide Shari Moon sat back slowly in her chair and continued to cry. Her children, her precious children were about to kill humans. Cha had assumed operational control of the all of the worms on the northern continent and they were in turn under the direct field control of General Fookosh. Fookosh! The cruel and ambitious man had been one of the new more zealous converts to the new faith and after bonding a worm he had quickly moved up in the guild of the Guides and now stood, in theory, only second to Shari. However, since Fookosh had the Prophet's ear right now Shari had little control or influence over the Prophet. The buzzer to her door rang and she quickly wiped her tears away and touched the unlock switch at her desk that allowed the door to open.

"Mother, you have been crying again!" Mikhal walked through the door and immediately saw the state his mother was in.

"Son, I am fine. I assure you." Shari responded.

"No, you are not. You cry for us all since about half of us can not. Mother, have you tried to contact the Prophet again?" Mikhal asked as he sat across from her.

"Yes, and he will not listen. The Planet has spoken to him and he plans on using our native forces to conquer the Hive. They will most likely not even know what hits them. All of the worms Cha is using are boil class or above, some should or could grow even larger. Imagine if you can small children, women looking across a plain as an army of worms storm across the fungal fields lashing at their minds with all the power they can. Many of the non-combatants minds will end up like jelly. At least human weapons are more controlled, more precise. A mind worms psychic blasts can effect hundreds." Shari dabbed at her eyes with her tissue and then quickly threw it into the recycle chute.

"Mother, I know Cha is my father but you are my mentor and my Guide and I have learned more from you about Planet and the workings of this world than anyone, including him and I doubt that Planet would want this!" Mikhal slammed his fist down on the side arms in anger.

"Cha has an empathy with Planet that we will never understand. I know this to be a fact. The question has always been is Cha capable of separating Planets wishes from his own. Early on I would say yes, but now. The years have taken their toil. The longevity treatments do something to us. They seem to dull certain emotions and sharpen others over time. I suspect that in some ways Cha is even more in touch with Planet and feels things that we can not even begin to fathom but I think now he uses those feelings to feed other emotions." Shari looked down at her desk and sighed deeply. " I think, in time once this war is over that he might change, become less stressed. But, not now. Reports from Fookosh tell me that the first isles will depart from the coast loaded with worms and they will land to the south. The second wave will land to the north. The third wave will conduct offshore bombardment by spore launchers to weaken the defenses along with direct attacks by isles of the deep. Tactically speaking I can not see how they can fail. The base should fall and once Cha has a toe hold the other bases should fall quickly. Fookosh is praying that the Hive army will storm across the fungal fields in a vain attempt to recapture the city and as the troops trudge through the fungus they will be destroyed piecemeal."

"Mother, is there nothing we can do?" Mikhal asked in a pleading tone.

"No, the dye is cast. The Hive have no friends and Lal and Aki's power block will do nothing to save Yang. Perhaps this is all for the best. The conditions those people live in are terrible. We may not have political freedom but we have economic and social freedom for the most part and as
such I would venture to say they will be better off under us than Yang. I am sure the Gaians are still reeling from the backhanded slap Cha gave them over the vote. Cha plays a dangerous game with the Gaians I think. Her people and government might be fools but she is not. The Gaians have expanded and grown at a terrible rate, their population equals any two or three of the other factions. They drill into the heart of Planet with their mine shafts and they wonder why we are upset. Perhaps this might wake them up, perhaps not. Who knows. But, the Gaians have a native force nearly equal to ours, maybe even greater. I pray that we never go to war against each other. Trained worms attacking humans is terrible enough but worms attacking worms under the command of humans that is beyond the pale of reason!"

"Mother, perhaps if we contacted Lady Skye she could do something as Planetary Governor?" Mikhal said hopefully.

"There is nothing she can do or should do. This is a problem we need to solve ourselves. If the war goes badly for Fookosh and Cha that might set things to rights. If they go as planned then it will be decades if not longer before we could act again since we will most likely be working on
absorbing the ex-Hive colonies. Only a total defeat, a humiliating defeat by the hands of a lesser power, that would force Cha to step back and re-focus on the more important things. No my son for now we must wait and see."

*~*~*~*

Gaia’s Landing, MY 2216

“I can understand why you’re upset, Dee, but you can’t expect everyone to be your friend,” Colin said.

“I’m not upset, and I don’t expect everyone to be my friend. But, for Planet’s sake, Colin, no one voted for me! Not even Cha, who called the Council and the election. He seemed to be the only semi-rational leader on Planet, and now he does this.”

Colin looked over at Dee. She looked tired, and more than a little strung out. “There’s nothing you can do about it. It’s over, and you were able to remain Governor using your own resources.”

“So I elected myself Governor. It hardly seems meaningful when none of the other factions voted for me, and a good fraction voted against. What does that say about my leadership? Or my ability as a politician?”

“You never claimed to be a politician, and I’d be disappointed in you if you did,” Colin said. “None of the ungrateful curs can say anything about your leadership, not even that hypocrite Pravin.”

Colin let that sink in for a moment. “Now, I do have some good news. While you were stewing about the Planetary Council our field teams caught two more worms and another isle. And recently our isles and foils found and had to dispatch four isles and a spoor launcher, netting us the largest windfall of energy we’ve had for a long time. We finished up a network node, a perimeter defense, and a command center. We’re still likely to have energy problems soon, but I hope we’ll grow out of it.”

Dee was still too quiet, so Colin got up. “I’ve got something to show you, too. Look at this,” he said as he activated a holo emitter. A representation of Planet appeared, showing the blue globe with a scattering of pink-dominated small continents and islands, and a large fractal continent that spanned the globe from the north to south pole. The Gaians and Unvieristy populated one of the medium sized continents along the equator, while some of the small islands were populated by the Cult, Hive, and Cyborgs. Santiago held a medium sized continent, but as of yet it was sparsely settled. Cha Dawn had begun to colonies the medium and large islands around him, and Lal was scattered all over the map, having expanded via transport early in his history.

The most dramatic feature, though, was the fact that for the first time since the landing almost the entire surface had been scanned, and the shapes of the seas, continents, and human settlements was now clear. Dee got up and walked toward globe, looking it over in detail.

“I didn’t know we’d explored that much,” she said with a slight smile, and she used her index finger to spin the globe around so she could see more of the surface. “Did we do this?”

“Well, no,” Colin said. “We got some large maps from Lal and the Cult, and an early map from Aki. But, beyond their immediate areas, we have done almost all the exploring. Our isles were critical, of course. They explored the sea quickly, and let the worms off to explore the continents.”

Both were silent for a while. “It is beautiful. Just as beautiful as Earth,” Dee said.

Colin nodded. Dee’s demeanor hardened. “I won’t let them destroy this planet, too, Colin.”

*~*~*~*

Cult, MY 2216

Cha sat in the command center of Eden and listened to the reports carefully.

"My Prophet, General Fookosh reports that 2/3 of his forces are in position and ready to disembark next turn on Hive soil. The last isle is still rounding the southern coast and will be in position next turn and it should be able to land the remaining worms as well. The attack will begin the following turn. Initial reports indicate only a lone infantry unit hiding in the fungus fields to the south of Hive city along with two colony pods are the only other forces in the area now. The general suggests that we remain with the plan for now and "mop up" these units after we have the base." Eve reported as she shuffled papers quickly. "Also, we have completed construction on another colony pod here at Eden and it will move northwards to the site just northeast of Eden, the new base will be called " New Paradise".

"Excellent." Cha replied in a very monotone voice.

"My Prophet, I do have some disturbing news. The Cyborgs have switchedprojects and they are now working on the xenoempathy dome. I can not tellyou how far advanced they are at this time. From very sketchy reports I would guess they are near the same level as we are in production but that is only a guess. I would hate to loose this project." Master Seeker Evans reported as he shifted in weight in the chair. The man was now getting old and soon he would either have to seek rejuvenation or pass on to the long night.

"This complicates things. We will now work to accumulate as much energy as possible to push the project ahead as fast as possible. I will also try to contact Lady Skye and see if she will give us any information on the Cyborgs progress." Cha looked down at the desk and became very quiet.

"My Prophet, why would the Gaians help us?" Eve asked.

Cha was silent for a few minutes and then spoke.

"Skye will be looking to mend fences with us. I will contact her before I had planned but before the attack begins so that issue will not complicate our talk. From what the Master Seeker says they believe that I called the Planet Council session when it was really Lal. That I can clear up. Also, the Gaians still owe us some information I do believe from our earlier dealings. They can now bring their account current. Remember our vote was meant to send a signal to the Gaians that we would not stand for their continued "lip service" to our requests on the environment. They claim that since they produce no pollution they can continue to terra-form lanet until it looks like earth. While we have just completed our first restoration project and have re-planted fungus to the north of Dawn of the Planet. We will soon have two more bases up and running, "New Paradise" and "Temple of Acre". Also plans are in place to transport a colony pod to the west and begin settlement of the large continent there. That colonization effort will complete the master plan of building "buffer cities" around the core cities to protect us from invasion."

The Prophet slowly stood up and turned and left the room, his elite Ranger bodyguards quickly followed. Eve knew her father was angry at the complication, the distraction of the xenoempathy dome issue. The dome project was to be his masterpiece, a tribute to Planet. The cyborgs had demanded the technology as part of the secret alliance against the Hive and now it had been turned against them. Cha did not take treachery well and the Cyborgs would pay for this if Cha did not get the dome built first.

+++++ ++++ +++ + + ++


To the most honored Lady Skye, Governor of the Alpha Centauri system, the esteemed Gaian Parliament and the Planet Loving Gaian people, my most warm greetings to you all!

Lady Skye, reports have filtered back to me stating that it was "I" that called for the election of a new Planetary Governor, that is incorrect! Pravin Lal called that meeting. As to our vote I am sure you have guessed as to the motives behind our abstention. We still wish to be strong allies with the Gaians but your continued dismissal of our requests to help restore Planet to its original state, or at least restrict your expansion have fallen on deaf ears. We seek only to preserve the natural order of Planet. We do not seek to hobble your society but I am sure your vast team of scientists and eco-engineers can find some land to restore to compensate for the land you have changed! This is not such a terrible request. We people of the Planet just completed our first restoration project just north of our capital. Our alliance is strong and I as long as you and your people follow the way of the Planet I see no reason to discontinue our support of your leadership.

Perhaps in order to "shine up" our relationship and perhaps get it back on the proper track we could start with a small request on our part. The cyborgs have informed us that they now seek to complete the xeno-empathy dome before us. This is not an acceptable situation to us. We would like to know how soon are they to completing the project? In exchange we will issue a Planet wide proclamation of our support for you and the Gaian people to all of the factions on Planet. I think this will serve us both. I feel somewhat betrayed by the Cyborgs since they also promised as well to not to pursue the dome project in exchange for the technology, they lied. This alone should give me the right to swear an oath of destruction on them but I will withhold my hand. The technology was meant to be a gift to anyone who asked to help preserve planet and allow the others on Planet to live in harmony with Planet. So you see I am caught in a dilemma. So your support on this issue, a small piece of intelligence will go a long way to
rebuilding our mutual vision.

Lastly, I wish to bring up a small matter that has come to my attention. It seems that the University has built a sea colony just off of your coastline. I wish to inquire as to your stance on the building of such a base so near to your people that denies you access to the fruits of the sea. I myself would like to request a Planet wide edict or injunction on such actions by other factions in the future. These provocative actions could become a flash points for future hostilities and as such you, as Governor, need to create a policy on this.

I wish you well in your work and the Peace of the Planet!

May Planet shine on your good people and give them the peace of mind that
transcends all worldly desires!

May you live in Peace and serve the Planet.

Prophet Cha Dawn
First Disciple of the Planet. He who walks in the soul of the Planet.

*~*~*~*

Gaia’s Landing, MY 2217

Dear Cha Dawn and the peoples of Cult of Planet,

Your repudiation of Gaian leadership was a message not lost on the Council. This was an issue that we discussed at some length, and the Council and I were disappointed. Based on the final vote I could only conclude that we stood alone in trying to bring peace and a just protection of Planet and its native denizens. Further, it is clear that in your mind that it is not possible to ‘agree to disagree’, and that we view events through different lenses of interpretation. While I agree that we must preserve and protect Planet, I do not see how this can be done by terraforming the lands that surround our cities back to xenofungus. This would mean starvation and privation for our people. Moreover, it is my personal belief and the current conclusion of the majority of Gaian scientists that, when wisely used, ecosystems from Earth can exist on Planet without significantly degrading the ecosystems that exist here. Humans inhabit a rather small portion of Planet, and our populations are small. At this point the Gaian population is 78,000 – a mere pittance, to be sure, and we are the largest faction on planet by a factor of two or more. In the future I am sure we will be able to unlock the true potential of the xenofungus, and with it all objections to reverting back to a Planet ecosystem will be moot. You must understand that our foothold on Planet is tenuous, despite our inhabitation for over 100 years. That is a mere blink of an eye for Planet, which has been here for billions of years.

You also accused us of unfettered expansion. That is wholly untrue. We have stopped expansion on our main continent, and the Council gave guidance to the Parliament that no further expansion be allowed except for limited areas, such as the Monsoon Jungle. This resolution was passed by the Parliament a number of years ago. Our last base will be established there next year in the Jungle, and you should know that those colony pods were in production before the Parliament passed its edict. Since that time we have expanded upward, and that expansion has been under Green economy. Our largest city is 6000 people, and that is not the largest on Planet. That claim, I believe, goes to Zakharov and University Base.

I had our empaths look into the Cyborg situation, and two Cyborg bases are working on the Xenoempathy Dome. These bases will finish the project in 16 and 30 years, respectively. I took the liberty of having the empaths look into your progress, and based on current resource allocation the Cult of Planet will finish in more than 30 years. Much can happen over a decade, and I am sure you can marshal the resources to finish this vaunted Project. If you need an update I will be happy to have our empaths look into it, and just to be clear, the same information is being given to Aki, who also has a treaty of friendship with us.

Your statement that Aki’s building of the Xenoempathy zone “should give me the right to swear an oath of destruction” upon the Cyborgs is disturbing. I hope this is a misstatement, since I find it reprehensible if that any faction on Planet were to resort to force to attain their aims. The Gaian position is that there are very few justifications for war, and having someone marshals the resources of their society to build a Project or some other advance is not one of them. The Gaian Council formally requests that you clarify your position so that we can avoid future misunderstandings.

Lastly, the University did build a sea colony off our southwestern coast. After its building a Gaian kelp farm and tidal generator did fall under the sphere of influence of this new base. Since this base is between University and Gaian land bases the Council felt that we had no reason to complain, and we have not filed a grievance against the University. We would certainly have been more distressed if another faction has placed a sea base along our coast if the sea territory were not contested, as would be the case along most of our coast. If this were to occur we would have to work on some other resolution, and I will hope this will not come to pass. There is enough welcoming territory in Planet that there is no reason to ‘poach’ from another faction.

Deirdre Skye and the Gaian Council

[Hydro]

Cult, MY 2217

Lady Skye,
I am sending you this communication coded for your eyes only. I regret deeply this misunderstanding between your peoples and mine. "Agree to disagree" that is an interesting term you use. What does it mean? Might I offer one definition: stubbornness. Each city territory for the most part encompasses nearly twenty sectors of land and all I ask is that you restore to its natural state less than a quarter of that total area and you claim that I am being unreasonable! At best even a city with over 7,000 inhabitants can not utilize even half of the land available so how is my request so damaging to your people. The answer is, its not. You Gaians have the means to rapidly build and terra-form and yet you use this power to do nothing more than build a new earth. Say what you will about our science, it might not be as advanced as yours but we can count and a paltry four sectors of land is hardly a terrible burden for you or your people to carry. I hope that in time you will re-look at this issue with open eyes and see the folly of your endeavors. Just because you can terra-form does not mean you should! You are friends of the planet and as such you, like us, should take the lead and show the other factions that constant
terra-forming is not the answer!

As to your question about our statement about the Cyborgs. Yes, we are mad, I am mad that a technology we meant for them to use in harmony with the Planet is now used against us. Will we attack them, no. Planet commands me to do otherwise. Will we do all that we can to beat the cyborgs to completion, yes, we will.

Lastly, an urgent situation has come up and I will be indisposed for some time. I regret deeply that I can not continue this discussion with you. I hope you take this time until our next meeting of minds to re-think your position.

Lady Skye I wish you and your people the best fortunes in life. You could be great friends of the Planet if you tried.

I wish you well in your work and the Peace of the Planet!

May Planet shine on your good people and give them the peace of mind that transcends all worldly desires!

May you live in Peace and serve the Planet.

Prophet Cha Dawn

First Disciple of the Planet. He who walks in the soul of the Planet.

++++++++++++++++

General Fookosh looked threw the mag-glasses and scanned the area to his front and smiled. To the north he could just barely make out at maximum magnification the host of mind worms arrayed there. To his front his own elite attack force of worms and support teams. The Hive base commander had sent constant requests for the reasons for their appearance on Hive soil, he had not responded. His response would come soon. Some of the colony pods and the lone infantry unit raced to re-enter the base or escape to the north as the Cult forces had landed and moved into position. There would be a fight, a very tough one Fookosh thought.

"General, the Prophet wishes to speak with you!" a young Cult guide apprentice walked up to him and handed him the comm-unit. Fookosh took it and looked down at the screen.

"General, is all well?" The Prophet asked.

"Yes, my Prophet, all is well! Your forces are in position and we will assault the base in a matter of days. The spore launcher will begin the attack first followed by a rolling wave of worms starting in the north and moving to the south. I will lead the final assault! The base has been augmented by a lone infantry unit but it should not be a problem for us." Fookosh reported crisply.

"Excellent Fookosh, mind that you stick to the plan. I need the base up and running as quickly as possible. Ranger One Ramos has a team ready to document all of the atrocities the Hive rulers have done to their people. Make sure that they get good access to all areas. It is critical to the plan that we air this immediately so that we can use it to support our cause." Cha ordered and turned off the transmission, the comm-unit went dead.

Fookosh reached down and picked up the mag-glasses and continued his observations. The Hive must fall this turn!

*~*~*~*

Gaia’s Landing, MY 2218

Ling read over Cha Dawn’s last transmission to Dee. “Condescending little twit. Who is he to lecture us about protecting Planet? He asks us to restore xenofungus, at great cost and effort, and the only reason he gives us is some half-baked ‘Planet Told Me So” b*llsh*t.” She threw the hardcopy on the Council table, where it impacted with a dull thud and slid over toward Colin, who took it to read. Ling continued, “Now I know why they call themselves Cult of Planet – they’re a bunch of loonies. And he chastised us for stubbornness, when all he gives us is assertions? His ‘advice’ isn’t even worth a response, and probably not even worth our time.”

Colin bit his lip as he finished Cha Dawn’s missive.

Terry looked up at Ling. “Are you moving to table Cha Dawn’s communication?”

“H*ll yes,” Ling said. “First he spites us at Council, not he insults us and makes completely unreasonable demands.”

Terry continued to look at her. Then she got it – protocol. “Fine. I move we table, without comment, the communication from faction leader Cha Dawn. Is that good enough?”

“Yes, it is. Thank you,” Terry said. “Do I hear a second?”

Mohammad and Colin both seconded.

“Motion made and seconded. I call for a vote,” Terry said. Everyone said ‘aye’, including Dee.

“Motion carried. Cha Dawn’s communication will be tabled, without comment.” Terry looked over at Dee. “Dee, it is your prerogative to comment on your own. For the record, will you do so?”

“No,” she said.

“Our next item, it seems that Zak and Aki have again declined our offers to trade technology. Is that right, Dee?”

“Yes, it is,” Deirdre said. “Zak was very polite, but said he wasn’t interested. He did express an interest in Centauri Mediation, though. That isn’t on the approved list for free distribution, so I declined his request. Aki wasn’t so polite, and she demanded technology and then, when I suggested we trade, said she’d never trade technology with someone that was called ‘nature’s loony’.”

“That term would apply to Cha Dawn,” Ling said.

“That’s too bad,” Terry said. “Mohammad, how is our laboratory status?”

“We are doing quite well,” he said. “Our scientists are producing well over three times the research of any other faction, and we should have a breakthrough soon. Our science rate will increase as more network nodes come on line, and most of our core bases have all minimum infrastructure to nodes. On a related issue, we are keeping a slight positive energy balance, and that is good. We are getting energy banks on line at the same rate that we have increased energy needs for infrastructure, but it would be nice to find a way to increase our overall energy production. I recommend we accept the Progressive’s petition to consider a switch to a Planned economy so we can experience increased growth.”

“That again?” Colin almost yelled. “Now look, we get this at every other meeting. Can’t you just tell them that we are not interested in switching our economy?”

Terry looked around the table and noted that Dee and Colin were empathically against this. “Let the record show that an informal pole resulted in declining to approve a motion to consider an economic switch. Anything else, Mohammad?”

“Except for the large accumulation of minerals for the unspecified Project, no.”

“Ling, any report?” Terry asked.

“We have four probe teams, both infantry and rover based, in production, and a few trained impact rover teams. Two additional command centers are in production, but it will be a while before they are on line. At this time we have four command centers, I believe. Almost all are busy with defensive troops and other material. Also, I checked Zak’s military disposition. He has six impact infantry at Climactic Research, which is three sectors away from Velvetgrass Point. He also has 5 emapth rovers at Gagarin Memorial, which is about 5 sectors away from both Silverbird Park and Autumn Grove. That said, he has made no hostile troop movements, and his territory is so small that even if the troops weren’t at these bases it is likely that get to ours very quickly, if he wanted to. As of yet he has no probe teams, not even defensive probes. That is very lax of him, and it is a good thing we are nice, steady pacifists, isn’t it?”

“Nice, steady pacifists with the largest military on Planet,” Colin muttered with a slight edge to his voice.

Ling just smiled.

“Oh, one more thing,” Ling said. “I got a report that we captured another worm and spoor launcher this last year. That brings our total worms to 12, isles to 8 and spoor launchers to 4. That is quite impressive, even if it doesn’t mean much militarily since they are spread all over Planet, literally. But, the other factions don’t know that, now do they?”

“You can stop being pleased with yourself any time now, Ling,” Colin said.

“Thank you, Ling. Now to a delicate matter. It seems several Parliament members were caught with their pants down, and the Parliament is considering censure and they want us to give them a recommendation…”

*~*~*~*

Cult, MY 2218

Planet wide vid-channel #1 ( Live footage of the liberation of the Hive city Fecundity Towers )

The orange clad rangers seemed to be everywhere as they helped children and women to reach the surface. Almost all of the Hive citizens were pale and filthy with rags for clothes. They were scrawny and bony and some of the older men and women could barely stand. The cult reporter slowly walks up to a small group of women and children that were being feed by Cult Rangers.

"Please tell the people of the planet the conditions that you were living in?" One of the young women looked up at the camera, her face filthy and streaked with tears. She was spooning into her child's mouth some protein soup.

"It was a nightmare! We worked endless hours and we never were allowed to go to the surface. Our children were taken from us as soon as they could walk and were parceled out to the military or worker class. We were beaten and starved into serving our masters. May the Planet bless you for coming and saving us!" The women went back to feeding her child and sobbing.

The reporter then moved to the main entrance of the Hive base and moved down into the base.

"As you can see the upper levels of this city are almost livable. We found many of the rulers of this base lived in these upper compartments and had every luxury you could ask for." The camera crew poked their cameras into what must have been the city administrators private quarters. It was filled with rich furnishings and had every convenience one could ask for. The crew slipped into the kitchen area and opened the door which reveled a treasure trove of food and delicacies. Just then a Ranger moved in and began to gather the food in the area making a comment about re-distributing the food to the children.

"I am now moving to the main elevator and we will be descending into the lower levels of this base. I caution some of the viewers if they have small children they should remove them. The stench is becoming terrible and we are putting on our breather masks. It seems this base did not have any recycling facilities so they just deposited their filth at the bottom of this pit."

The crew continued to pan around as they descended and showed how terrible and bleak the conditions were this far down.

"We have reached the bottom and the main mining levels of this base. Many of the people you saw on the surface were found down here. The base operated more like a slave colony than anything else."

The video feed showed crude rooms fashioned from torn cloth and bent pipes. Skeletal remains, hands, arms and heads could be seen every few feet along with mining carts and rail lines. As the crew rounded a bend in the tunnel a group of orange clad rangers stood around a small man cradling a child in his arms. It was the Prophet himself. A dead women lay beside him, the mother of the infant. Cha as trying to comfort the small child and force a few drops of water into his mouth. Tears flowed from Cha's eyes as he tried to hold the child and clean the filth from it.

"My Prophet, all praise and glor- " The reporter began to say the proper greeting when anyone meets the Prophet but Cha cut her off.

"No! No praise today. We have much work to do in helping these people. This women died only a few hours before our forces stormed the base and liberated it from the evil that nested here. We found the sewer lines that had been fouling our seas and we have turned them off. We will comfort these people and make them part of a new community. I have issued orders to complete the rescue operations here and as soon as we are done we will fill in this hole, this abomination to Planet and these people will learn to live under the sun and stars! I will liberate ALL Hive cities and bring this Yang to justice."

"My Prophet, what is to become of this orphan" The reporter asked.

"He is to become my son and live with me and learn the ways of the Planet!" Cha slowly rose. "Guards, pick up this most noble women and bring her to the surface so she might have a burial with dignity!"

The camera followed Cha as he slowly walked towards the lift holding the crying child. The guards picked up the dead women's body and slowly carried her off as well.

"We will continue our reports in just a moment."

+____________________________-

Later that day...

General Fookosh stood on the observatory platform and looked through the mag-glasses. To the north he could barely see the approaching Hive infantry. A smile crept across his face. Just like we had hoped. The fool! The worms had hardly been scratched in the conflict and they were ready for more. Now the idiot was sending out his infantry, unsupported by either rovers or artillery right into the waiting arms of Cult mind worms.

"General, report!"

Fookosh turned and looked down at the approaching Prophet. Cha quickly scampered up the ladder in a matter of minutes.

"My Prophet! All enemy forces have been destroyed along with two fleeing colony pods. There are no enemy forces within three sectors of this city. However, as expected the Hive are sending out a counter attack just to our north from their capital. We have two worms in the fungal fields to the north along with our spore launcher. The launcher will begin long range bombardment of the infantry in a matter of days as they come into range. We still have one undamaged worm ready to destroy their counter-attack giving our other worms time to rest for a turn or so. Then we will launch our counter attack! I see no reason why we can not be in Hive Central in four turns!" Fookosh finished beaming with pride.

"Excellent my general, excellent. Now I must get ready for the other counter-attacks as well. Our around the clock un-altered video feed of this base will help our cause. It is hard to believe things are this bad. We had preparations ready to "embellish" the story but none was needed. This truly is the first circle of hell. I can only imagine the other bases are just as bad if not worse."

"My Prophet! My Prophet! Chairman Yang wishes to talk with you!" One of Cha's Ranger body guards yelled up to him, "Comm. channel # 32."

Cha quickly keyed in the frequency and the livid face of Chairman Yang popped up.

"Cha! I order you to return my base and pay retribution in the amount of 100 energy solaris! If you fail to do this I will crush you!" Yang yelled.

"Yang, your days are done. I will not return your base and in fact I will soon come and pay you a visit, Cha out!" Cha hit the off button and chuckled. Suddenly the PAD beeped again, it was the cyborg leader and Lal. Cha hit the split screen option and both of their faces popped up.

"Greetings Prophet Cha Dawn!" Aki of the Cyborgs said in a very cold voice. "How goes the war? Will you be able to carry out the plan?"

"Greetings to you both. I recommend that we keep this short, for obvious reasons. I see no reason at this point that why the plan can not go forward. I should have all of the bases under my control within a decade and Yang is then yours to do with as you please." Cha replied.

"Cha, I want to make this clear that if you fail to turn him over to the United Nations tribunal instead of Skye I will have your head!" Lal barked at Cha with obvious disdain.

"Lal, as agreed your courts will hold the trial not Skye. Now I must go." Cha hit the off button again.

"You see general, the counter attack has already begun!"

[Hydro]

Dreams of Green, MY 2219

“Emergency Council meeting called to order,” Ling said as she sat down, as did Dee and Mohammad, who were the only other Council members that could be located on short notice. “I’m sure you saw the vainglorious feeds coming out of Fecundity Towers. To summarize, it seems the Cult has launched a surprise attack on The Hive and has taken The Hive’s southernmost city. Of course, the Cult is trotting out all manner of examples to show how horrible the Hive is, and how they liberated them.”

“Our reports are not much different. Life in the Hive is harsh,” Mohammad said.

“Be that as it may, it was an unprovoked attack,” Ling said. “Although Yang’s people’s utopia is an anti-utopia to most of us, the fact remains that it is his society. And, keep in mind that in almost every case he has been the victim of a war, since he as been the target of the University, Cyborgs, Peacekeepers,” she said, and she almost spat out the last, “and now the Cult. It seems to me this is not so much about ideology, but the strong praying on the weak.”

“Yes, that is how many aggressors rationalize their wars,” Mohammad stated. “They do not initiate wars with those stronger then they are, only those that are weaker. The Hive is much weaker than any other faction on Planet. Except for one thing – they have developed Missile weapons.”

“What!?” Ling was nonplussed. “How did he do that with only four terraquads of research per year? The Hive has 2% of the research we do. How is that possible?”

“I do not know. However, he is prototyping missile infantry at this very moment. It will not, however, do much good against the Cult’s native units. I fear The Hive will fall.”

“Can we do anything about that?” Dee asked. She had been uncharacteristically quiet before now.

“You mean lodge a diplomatic protest with the Cult?” Ling asked. “You think that would do some good?”

Dee ignored her sarcasm. “No. Something more concrete. Like a gift? Perhaps some energy? Or technology?”

“That might stave off the inevitable,” Mohammad said. “We can certainly afford it. Would he take a gift?”

Dee thought for a moment. “Probably not. We’ll phrase it as a loan, even if we will assume we will not be paid back. His energy production is so little that he has little prospect of paying back the loan anyway. Can we gift him some military units?”

“Yes, we could,” Ling said. “They’d have to be in position to help fend him off.”

“Or maybe just block the Cult’s advance until we can broker a peace,” Dee said.

“Miss Pollyanna, what a nice thought” Ling said. “The Cult was hinting that they wanted Yang’s head on a plate, but we just missed those hints. I really doubt that he is interested in peace. What makes you think a few more infantry will help?”

“I think it would. A few trance scouts could make a big difference since Yang saw fit to outfit none of his defenders with trance. And maybe if we kept some troops in the area, and made Cha attack us, we could blunt his attack, slow him down, and give Yang some time to regroup.”

“Hmmm. We could try. But, would Yang let us?” Ling asked.

“He has refused all treaties, so we have no obligation to stay out of his territory. We could also make it part of the terms of our ‘loan’,” Dee said, talking out loud. “See what you can do, Ling.”

“Right,” Ling said as she started jotting down notes in her datapad. “Now, considering the Cult is on the warpath, I move we accelerate our military buildup. What happened to Yang could happen to us, although any aggressor would be likely to be crushed shortly after their first advance, even if they took one of our bases. We need multiple reaction forces, and more probe teams. And our perimeter defenders all must be upgraded to plasma armor. Agreed?”

“Agreed,” Dee said. She almost couldn’t believe she was saying that. It felt like it was someone else.

“Agreed,” Mohammad said. “All our bases with Command Centers will be ordered to finish their current projects and then switch to war material. Is that in keeping with your thinking?”

“Absolutely!” Ling said, with the first smile she had had all day. “That means that any expeditionary force we send to Hive territory is expendable, if worse comes to worse. I’ll see if I can scare up an isle or transport, too.”

Ling’s datapad trilled, and she looked down. “Good. That was Terry and Colin. They’ll be in within a day and a half. I’ll squirt them, and maybe they can join virtually if we can get a secure channel. Meeting adjourned. Let us know how your meeting with Yang goes, Dee.”

Dee nodded.

*~*~*~*~*~*

“Chairman Yang,” Dee said as the holo image resolved itself.

Yang said. “We have been the victim of an unprovoked attack. I ask that, as Planetary Governor, you declare war on the Peacekeepers and Cult.”

“I understand your situation, Chairman,” Dee said. “However, my post as Governor has no military function except what is represented by my faction. As a member of the Gaian Council I am willing to offer assistance, however.”

Chairman Yang looked distracted, but focused on her last statement. “I’m listening.”

“The Council is willing to loan you 80 megacredits to aid your defense against the Cult. Moreover, we are willing to gift to your people our files on Ecological Engineering, if you are interested.”

“I accept,” he said.

“I also would like to know if you’d be willing to trade technology? I noticed you have Synthetic Fossil Fuels, and would be willing to offer some other technology in exchange.”

“For now, the secret of this technology will remain our own,” Yang said.

“I understand,” Dee replied. “Considering your situation, the Gaians offer our hand to you in friendship, which might be the start of…”

“I am not interested in your friendship, or your democratic ideals, Lady Skye,” Yang said. “At the moment I am interested in defending my people from being ravaged by Cha Dawn’s mindworm minions. If you can do something about them then we have something to talk about.”

“I will relay that to the Council. Good luck, Chairman,” she said.

Yang cut the line without saying goodbye.

Dee thought that had been one of the best conversations she had had with Yang, which wasn’t saying much considering past dialogues. Still, Yang had accepted the technology and the ‘loan’. It remained to be seen if it would help.

All Dee knew is that she was tired all the time now, and her biologic age was over 70. She had skipped her rejuvenation treatments for 15 years and now she was paying the price. But why now, when there was the first real crisis? Dee fumed, and mentally prepared herself for the inevitable.

*~*~*~*

Cult, MY 2219

The command center at Worm Federation was one of the best they had ever seen. The facilities were extraordinary and as such had become invaluable to the Cult military staff and the council. In the center of the command room was a raised platform with a table that sat up to eight people, currently only five seats were filled: the Prophet, Master Seeker, Eve, Ranger One, General Fookosh. Each person had a series of screens by which they could manipulate data and of course they could just look around the room at all of the larger screens that displayed military reports, maps and troops status.

"My Prophet, the counter attack was repulsed and as expected the Hive lost both infantry units. Our surveillance isle of the deep off shore reports that the Hive is now "holding up" waiting for our next assault. Our worms should be ready for the next attack in a turn or two. What I would suggest now is a holding action here which will pin there forces down. I will order three worms to embark on an isle of the deep and make for the most northern Hive city and attack there. This will cause Yang to once again shift his forces which will expose them to our attack." General Fookosh hit a button on his desk control and very detailed graphic popped up on the main screen and the smaller desk units showing the plan.

"General, at this time I think not. Let us regroup our forces for now. I have ordered reinforcements to be sent to us from across the channel and they will arrive soon. That will bring our force up to six mind worms! What I am most concerned about is striking at the Hive central base. Once we have it secured it will be just a matter of time. We should be able to launch the attack in three turns?" Cha asked.

"Yes my Prophet!" Fookosh confidently responded back.

"My Prophet. I have reports that the Gaians are actually sending economic aid to the Hive now to repulse our invasion. Also my agents inform me that the Gaians might actually try to land military forces to stop our advance." The master seeker did not trust the new technology found here and instead shifted some papers across the table to each of the members.

"My Prophet, do you think the Gaians would actually attack us?" Eve asked. "Why in Planet's name would they risk one soldier to protect that madman Yang. Its not like he was Lal or Santiago, this is YANG! The Gaians truly amaze me if they are willing to send their sons and daughters into a conflict that does not concern them. Perhaps we should try to tie up their forces on the home front for a while. Our ambassador could make a petition directly to the Gaian Parliament. If Lady Skye wishes to play umpire and involve herself in matters that do not concern her perhaps the Gaian people might feel differently? I honestly do not believe the Gaian people, whom we have befriended for decades would turn their backs on us for this, to actually support an attack on a fellow friend of the Planet?"

"A good point." Cha turned slightly to Ranger One Ramos. " Order our ambassador to make the petition as quickly as possible. I will not communicate with the Gaians at this time. It serves no purpose. If the Gaians wish to place themselves in harms way they do so at their own peril. I have no wish to kill Gaians. They are still our allies. We have a treaty. This issue does not concern them in this regard. We will push our claim until we die trying. IS THAT CLEAR!" Cha slammed his fist down hard on the table.

"My Prophet. The University has just completed a treaty of friendship with us. They had no concern about our actions, in fact, they welcomed them." Ramos added.

"Yes, that is true. We still have allies. I still find it strange that the Gaians would go out of their way to defend this monster. I expected and had planned for Skye to be mad about this but still it is out of character to be sure. Perhaps more radical elements of her council have taken over. This Ling person who heads up their defense forces seems to think we are actually going after them next? What evidence does she have to support her claims, none. However, she is shrewd enough to use this to her cause and increase her military budget." Cha mused aloud.

"My Prophet, whatever the situation is over there they are not acting rationally. So time is of the essence now. Fookosh must rest the worms and as soon as they are able advance them against Hive central and occupy it before it can be reinforced even more better. Time is both with us and against us." The spy master added.

"My Prophet, one last issue. The Peacekeeper transport north of Dawn of the Planet. Our isle of the deep did report it was loaded with troops. Why would Lal push us this way and what should our response be?" Eve asked.

"If the transport approaches within three sectors of Dawn of the Planet order the isle to destroy it." Cha quickly stood up and left the room.


+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++


The Cult ambassador to the Gaian Parliament sat across the table from the leaders of both parties. They had been meeting for hours and Zakatuk felt he might be making headway with them. The video feed he had brought was most convincing to them and he had spent much of the time pleading the case that this was not un-justified but rather the opposite.

"Good members of Parliament, let me conclude that the Prophet himself, Cha Dawn, does not wish any hostilities with you or your people. We are only securing our borders and aiding an oppressed society by throwing off the yoke of oppression. I ask you why send your sons and daughters to help defend a mad man bent on turning those same sons and daughters into their slaves. Lady Skye is a venerated leader and our Planet Governor but she is not a king and I would remind you that you are the leaders of the Gaian people, not the police dogs of Lady Skye." Zakatuk finished and waited for a response.

"Ambassador." Delegate Rash Mohanane responded first, "I understand your point of view and your evidence is powerful. We have to discuss this among the leadership and then with Lady Skye and her council."

"Excellent, I am sure that we can work all of this out, in time..."

[Hydro]

Gaia’s Landing, MY 2220

Terry stood up. “Let me introduce Mr. Mercer Vend, former senior member of Parliament, ambassador to the University, one of our closest allies, and minister without portfolio to the Unified Parliament Steering Committee.”

All the Council members knew the vaunted Mr. Vend, and they all nodded to acknowledge him. All except Deirdre, who wasn’t present.

“I wanted to tell you personally that, due to the fact that Lady Skye is currently undergoing longevity treatment, that the Parliament has passed a super-majority resolution that her position be filled until she returns. Let me be clear: Lady Skye is not being replaced, and the new member will be officially called ‘Acting Council Member’ in all proceedings. The Parliament deemed this necessary due to surprise attack by the Cult against the Hive, and to ensure continuity in our Council-led diplomacy and valued guidance to the Parliament itself. The appointment is effective immediately.”

Colin piped up. “Who is it?”

Mercer said, “It is me. Killed two birds with one stone, eh?” He smiled in broad way, and his face lit up as if exposing some hidden jest.

Colin was not amused. “This is highly inappropriate. You are a prominent member of the Progressive party, and Dee would have never approved. This issue should have been resolved before she went in to treatment.”

Mercer’s gaze swiveled over to Colin, and he maintained his smile, which was a bit forced now. “That may be true. Unfortunately, the bill was introduced and passed after Dee went into rejuvenation. It was clear to many that, while understandable due to the emergency, her absence is ill timed and that the Council needs to maintain its function with a complete voting block. I’m sure you can put up with me for these next few months.”

Colin crossed his arms on his chest. “I want to lodge an official protest. This sounds like back room maneuvering. You all knew Dee was going into treatment for a week, and now this is done after she is in for a whole day? Irregular. Highly irregular.”

“You are free to lodge your protest, Colin. But, keep in mind that no matter how august a body this is, and how much the Parliament values and needs its guidance, it is up to the Parliament to determine replacements to the Council in circumstances such as this. You are free to recommend changing our constitution with a Writ from the Council, if you like. The Parliament will give it all due consideration.”

Colin kept his arms crossed, but didn’t say anything. He knew he was boxed.

Terry made a few notes in his datapad. “Per Council rules, I’ve just logged the proclamation from Parliament of Acting Council Member Mercer Vend, who is replacing Lady Deirdre Skye while she is on medical leave. Welcome, Acting Council Member Vend.” Terry got up to shake his hand, and the handshake was firm. Ling and Mohammad got up to shake his hand, and of these Ling was more than enthusiastic.

Mercer exchanged a few more pleasantries and then sat down, as did the rest of the Council.

“Our first order of business is a reply to the Ambassador from the Cult of Planet. Ambassador’s long speech wandered a bit, and I have taken the liberty of summarizing what I thing are his main points:

1) The Hive is a threat to the Cult of Planet, and that the actions of the Cult are in self defense;
2) The people of The Hive are oppressed, and the actions of the Cult of Planet will liberate his people from the repressive rule of Chairman Yang; and
3) Lady Deirdre Skye, as Planetary Governor, does not have the authority to use the resources of the Gaians as ‘her police dogs’ to expedite her wishes as Planetary Governor.”

Ling said, “Sounds like the rationalization of any conqueror through history to me. Oh yes, the Hive as the smallest faction is a dire threat to the Cult. I am sure Cha Dawn is quaking in his boots, and wetting his robes, at the mere thought of a Hive juggernaught rolling through his territory. And, of course, he is ‘liberating’ them. From what I hear his rule isn’t much better than Yang’s, with worm pits and people disappearing every now and then. He has seen fit to specifically deny his people the benefits of democracy. Lord knows what his fevered mind inflicts on them. And, after he has made these two persuasive arguments, he tries to tell us we shouldn’t act. I particularly like the way he tells us we are ‘leaders of the Gaian people, not the police dogs of Lady Skye.’ Nice image. I’m sure Dee, when she gets out of the tanks, will appreciate the symbolism.”

“Was the Cult Ambassador trying to insult Dee,” Colin asked.

“What else,” Ling said in deadpan. “First he calls the Planetary Council, which he later denied. But, we have the comm. frequencies and our records show it was Cha, not that simpering idiot Pravin…”

“Council Member Ling,” Mercer said. “Let me remind you that everything said in Council is available to the members of Parliament, and that all records except those sealed by express order of the Council or Parliament are public record.”

Ling turned to him. “I know that. I speak my mind, and sometimes the truth hurts. As I was saying, then he specifically votes to abstain, leaving Dee all alone and having to go to the humiliating lengths of voting herself as Governor with no other support at all. Now, this ‘police dog’ insult. Seems pretty obvious to me.”

Terry, normally quiet, broke in, “Maybe not. He could have misspoken, and they could have had other reasons for denying support to Dee in the Planetary Council.”

“Yes, but not good ones. Cha goes on and on about protecting Planet, and then denies us his support. That hardly seems like a friendly move to me. Now these apparent insults to Dee as Planetary Governor. Even if he didn’t mean it, the message is out.”

Mercer finished dictating to his datapad and looked up. “We have to craft a response to the Ambassador. How about this as a first draft?” He shot his text to the other members.

1) The Gaian Council does not recognize that The Hive is a significant threat to the Cult of Planet due to the limited resources of The Hive and their lack of ability to project that force. It is our opinion that their abilities were defensive in nature..
2) The Gaian Council understands that the people of The Hive live a hard life, and that many disagree with the political and economic views of Chairman Yang. This does not, however, provide justification for outright warfare.
3) Any actions taken by the Gaian Council or Parliament will not be as representatives of the Planetary Governor. The Gaian Council rejects the suggestion that we are ‘police dogs’ for Lady Skye.
4) Based on the evidence presented by the Cult of Planet Ambassador and evidence gathered through the resources of the Council, the Gaian Council recognizes that the war by the Cult of Planet is a war of aggression and that it has not been justified by either claims of self defense or liberation of an oppressed people. Further, the Council recommends that a formal diplomatic protest be lodged by the Gaian Parliament to the Cult of Planet, and that all non-diplomatic ties be held in abeyance until the Cult satisfactorily address the concerns of this Council.

The Council members finished. Colin smiled. “I like it. Wouldn’t change a word. I move we approve and send this to Parliament. They’ll undoubtedly modify it a little, but that’s fine unless they change the content.”

Ling said, “Second.” The tallied vote was unanimous to approve.

“Chair, I have a proposal,” Mercer said. Terry recognized him. “Due to the current circumstances it is clear that this crisis will not end any time soon. It is also clear that the Gaian people need more resources to defend ourselves, and perhaps others from aggression. I propose that the Gaian Council consider a switch to a Planned economy for a limited period of time so that we can better grow, and take advantage of our infrastructure. This growth will be vertical, in keeping with previous Council guidance. And the switch will be terminated at the end of a few years.”

Ling said, “Second.” She was clearly happy about his, and had been waiting for this for many years.

So had Colin. “Now the truth comes out. The Progressives packed the Council, and waited for Dee to be out. Now you’re going to push your economic agenda through. When Dee gets out of treatment she’s going to be furious.”

“I can assure you that was not the intent,” Mercer said. His voice and mannerisms were smooth, those of a master politician.”

“Motion made, and seconded. Due to the nature of this proposal, and the fact it has been debated frequently, I will call for a vote.”

It was four for, and one against. Colin was the lone dissenter.

“These proposals will be sent to Parliament for consideration,” Terry said, referring to the response to the Cult and the economic switch. “Any other business?”

There was no response.

“Then this meeting is adjourned.”

*~*~*~*

Cult, MY 2220

The worms were a little restless as the isles of the deep continued to plow northwards along the Hive coast. The strike commander had been ordered to land in the fungus fields to the north of Hive command and then strike south while the southern forces hit from the opposite direction. The plan was to complete the attack in two turns, if all went well.

"Strike commander Marsh, did you hear the news?" Marsh turned and looked at his aide who had bounced over to him, the surface of the isles sometimes was like a trampoline.

"What?"

"The Gaians have become industrialists! It seems a large section of the population wants more "creature comforts" so they are going to abandon their green policy and become industrialists. I knew we could not trust those Gaians!"

"Yes, it seems you were correct. They remind me of late 20th century farmers. They use all of their technology to squeeze more and more production out to the earth without realizing the long term effects they had. I bet if you asked each farmer now and told him what his farming methods did to the land he would most likely have done it different."

"But what about the Gaians. It seems they are turning their backs on everything?"

The strike commander turned and looked at his aide.

"Yes, they are. That is why we have the Prophet. His vision is pure. His motives are true and our cause is just. We will live and die protecting Planet and if those damn Gaians want to help a monster like Yang than I have no problem ordering Omicron to tear their minds from them..."

*~*~*~*

Gaia’s Landing, MY 2221

“There has been no reaction from Cult of Planet on our response. It seems we may have annoyed the Cult,” Ling said.

“Maybe,” Colin replied as he slurped some minestrone soup. The he reached for some crusty French bread. Now that Dee was in the tanks Colin sought out a new lunch partner and was surprised when his old nemesis, Ling The Merciless, as he called her privately, sought him out. Even more surprising is that both seemed to enjoy it, after they cut through the jargon and other word-walls they put around themselves. “More likely our migration to Wealth has irritated them. My contacts suggest that, to them, that is a bigger sin than our recent ill considered migration to a Planned economy.”

“Hmm.” Ling took a bite from her watercress and mustard sandwich. “Could be. I hadn’t considered that. But, do we care?”

Colin put down his spoon. “Of course we care! Even if the Cult seems more like all the other fanatical factions here on Planet we don’t want to needlessly antagonize them!”

“Our current emphasis on Wealth does no harm to Planet, Colin. Their views are distinctly irrational, like those of many of Earth’s old religions – faith above reason. And that sort of faith can be twisted to justify almost anything. At least our views are generally founded on science.”

“To some they are,” Colin said. “The Cyborgs call us ‘nature’s loonies’, so the view that we are rational is far from universal. And if the other factions agreed that we are rational I would suggest we’d have more support in Council.”

“You could be right there. Of all of them I’m most surprised by Aki, who is supposed ot be so logical. Colin, Aki has declared war on the Hive at least three times,” Ling said, “and each time we have brokered a peace. For all her logic she is decidedly irrigational. After all, what has the Hive ever done to her? Now, I can understand some of Pravin’s stance.”

“Hypocrite. Peacekeeper, indeed!” Colin said.

“Give me a chance. He values personal freedom, and that is the antithesis of what Yang stands for. His society is a police state, after all. What do you think of Cha’s claim that Yang was polluting Planet?” she asked as she took another bite.

“There is no evidence for that whatsoever. He accused the same of us, and even said that our more innocuous terraforming like forests were wounding Planet. You’ve seen his communiqués. You’ll note he didn’t bother to put that in his rationalization of his aggression against Yang. I’d guess that’s because he knows it won’t hold water, particularly for the other factions,” Colin said.

“I’m inclined to agree with you. Say, any word on Dee?”

Colin put down his spoon. “There was more work to be done than expected. It turns out she had been skipping her periodic treatments for over a decade. Who knows why, but it finally caught up with her. She should be out in three or four months.”

“Poor thing. She will hurt all over, and the physical therapy will tear her apart. I was in the tanks for three weeks during my last reconstruct and it was h*ll.”

“We’ll all have to be there for her,” Colin said. Ling and Dee frequently had significant disagreements, and Colin was pleased that Ling was genuinely sympathetic. Maybe going through treatments created a certain empathetic bond.

“I wonder which faction leaders will send their good wishes?” Ling asked.

Colin wondered. “Yes, I wonder.”

*~*~*~*

Cult, MY 2221

( 2 kilometers offshore of the northern island of the Cult of the Planet )

The isle of the deep's guide watched through his mag-glasses as Peacekeeper troops began unloading on the beaches just north of Light of the Planet. One infantry unit and a rover attack squad by the looks of it. Quickly he reached for the comm-unit and keyed in the priority one command line.

"Command, this is Guide Chevel. I am reporting a landing just north of Light of the Planet by Peacekeeper troops. One infantry company and a rover attack squad. Estimate a week before they are fully unloaded and ready to proceed. Requests orders?"

+++++++++++++++

( Worm Federation - Command Center )

"WHAT!" Cha screamed. All of the senior commanders were present with the exception of Fookosh who was now in the forward command center. " Peacekeepers on our soil! What is that idiot Lal thinking. Just two units! We will crush them the instant they do something, anything! I want to talk wit--"

"My Prophet, a report is coming in right now, it seems that the Hive have counter-attacked just north of Hive command and have destroyed a worm and it support team. Fookosh reports that the Hive infantry will be destroyed in turn but there was nothing he could do and the worm did put up a very good fight indeed. Once the infantry unit is destroyed the worm will hide on in the fungus and restore itself." Eve laid the report in front of Cha who was quickly trying to control himself by use of a meditation technique. " Fookosh does report as well the destruction of a terra-former just east of Hive command. It seems that it was trying to build something but he worms quickly finished it off."

"Issue a general state of alert of the home islands. Order all mind worms to begin movement towards the Peacekeepers. Perhaps we can force them off of the island. I do not like this one bit, not at all. I am beginning to suspect a double-cross by our allies, the Cyborgs and Peacekeepers. We dispatched nearly all of our free forces to crush the Hive and now they think they can attack us. Well, they will not find it so easy, I assure them of that." Cha had calmed himself and seemed more centered.

"My Prophet, Perhaps we should delay our attack on Hive command and consolidate our gains so far. I would th--" Cha quickly interpreted Ramos.

"NO! We will not set back and wait. If need by I will commit more to the battle. We have to expect that the war would not go perfectly for us and this is the result. I doubt the Gaians will send us aid as they did the Hive but I wonder if they will take the same stance with the Peacekeepers as they did with us. I doubt it. They are all hypocrites and liars. I will order a text only message to be delivered by our ambassador to the greedy industrialist Gaians about the Peacekeeper situation and we will see what their response is. They have turned there back on us and the Planet by their new love of wealth and industry, I no longer trust them or wish to talk with them." Cha seemed to almost spit the last part out.

Eve continued to listen but she was making plans in her head. She would return soon to her own base at Eden to begin "shoring" up the defenses there. If the Peacekeepers were bold enough to attack the home islands then they were bold enough to hit her continent.

++++++++++++++++++++++
( Gaia's Landing - The Embassy of the People of the Planet )

"Mr. Vend I have been instructed to turn this text message over to you by order of the Prophet." Zakatuk reached into his orange robes and pulled out the message and allowed him to read it. "You see the situation we are in. If the Gaians are willing to "interfere" in our dispute with the Hive then they should also intercede against the Peacekeepers in turn. We are not asking for your assistance or aid in any way. We are dedicated to freeing the Hive people and bringing them into the light of day. When the last Hive slave is freed then we can begin new talks to explore a restoration of our relationship. However, the decision by your government to begin down the path of wealth and industrialization will create an even greater block to progress."

"Ambassador, I understand your situation and I will report back to the council." Vend stood up and shook his hand and left the room. Almost immediately a man entered the room and Zakatuk turned to him. " I think you need to make a lunch date with your friend as soon as possible."

The man smiled and nodded and left the room.

[Hydro]

Gaia’s Landing, MY 2222

“Welcome back, Dee,” Terry said.

Deirdre was able to mutter, “Thanks.” Her voice was soft, and its tone limp. Even though she looked like a person in her late 20s again her voice betrayed her age, at least until she had an appropriate amount of time to recover.

“We received an interesting text communiqué from the Cult,” Terry began. “It seems some Peacekeeper troops have landed near one of their bases, and it is clear that Cha Dawn does not trust his allies since he implies there is an attack imminent.”

“Have the Peacekeepers attacked?” Colin asked.

Dee said, “Not to our knowledge. I’m sure Cha Dawn would have informed us if an actual attack had occurred.”

“Has Lal declared war, then?” Colin continued.

“Cha didn’t say they had, and Lal refuses to answer my requests for an audience. We can’t verify one way or the other,” Dee said.

“Well then, there doesn’t seem for there to be much for us to discuss,” Colin said as he pushed back his chair. “Just suspicion and allegation. Still he could be right. I do find it ironic that an aggressor may be the victim of aggression. Bad karma begets bad karma.”

“The Cult diplomat will want a response. What would we tell him?” Terry said as he pulled out his datapad.”

Dee cleared her throat and paused to gather strength. “Tell him that we need confirmation of the initiation of hostilities, since then we may be able to call the initiating party to declare a truce. If hostilities are confirmed then we will take the same stance with the Peacekeepers as with the Cult. However, considering the fact that they are asking for no aid I suggest no aid be proffered if hostilities are confirmed. Aiding the Cult would be morally wrong while they are trying to conquer the Hive.” Dee was spent. Colin offered her a glass of ice water, which she gladly accepted.

“Now,” she said, “I would like to propose that our economy switch back to a Green model. Colin informed me of the back room dealings that apparently went on, and I am disappointed. We need to switch right away to avoid explosive population growth, and the social unrest that comes with it. We also need to keep a better eye on ecological damage as our bases. Our little experiment with a Planned economy needs to end, soon.”

“Second,” Colin said. The vote was called, and it passed with two abstentions – Ling and Terry.

“I’ll get this to Parliament immediately,” Terry said.

*~*~*~*

Cult, MY 2222

Cha sat at the conference table in the vast command center at Worm Federation practically alone. He had dispatched his daughter, Eve, to return to Eden to bolster the defenses there and to push her people to expand their holdings and to capture more worms. Ranger One Ramos had been ordered to return to the home islands and assume help Guild Master Guide Shari Moon and the Guild Master Caretaker Thompson in the administration and defense. Only the Master Seeker stayed behind with Cha. General Fookosh was still in the field directing the assault on Hive central. Around the room the large display monitors had been programmed to display each of the non-present members so that a general war council could take place.

"Before you start I want to update everyone on the diplomatic situation. Lal and Aki refuse to return my calls for answers as to the reason for the incursion on our soil. The Gaian leader, Lady Skye, has returned from the rejuvenation tanks and has ordered changes back to a "green model". It seems the rapid expansion has taken its toll on the Gaians and several of their cities are up in flames due to riots and our agents report a definite increase in pollution and waste generation. I truly pity the Gaians because they have always struck me as a people lost. They praise their science and pay homage to it and yet they let it control their lives and fail to look beyond the testable, the measurable and see that Planet has a life-force and that proper respect should be their first priority! Aside from that we have little else to add except that I have instructed our ambassador to ask for a formal hearing by their council in order to find a solution to their concerns over our liberation of the Hive. I have give the ambassador strict guidelines to listen to their case and then report back. He has been told that we would be willing to entertain any ideas they might have but ultimately any solutions must be coupled with their pledge not to revert back to a industrial economic model again. Also, since our isles of the deep have begun encountering Gaian isles I am demanding that they withdrawal them from our territorial sphere of influence or risk damaging our alliance even further!" Cha completed his report and then hit the audio feed for General Fookosh.

" My Prophet, the campaign against the Hive goes well. Our spore launcher is reeking havoc on Hive Central and is weakening their forces considerably. In two turns we will mount our assault on the base and capture it. I see no reason as of right now why we can not make this happen. Our forces are rejuvenating in the fungus and should be ready to make the assault as planned. I have only one reservation in that I wish we did have more worms but that can not be helped." Fookosh nodded and Cha hit the feed for his daughter Eve.

" My Prophet, I greet you. I have little to report as of now. We are make improvements to the area known as the bowl of Heaven and we hope to start expanding again soon. No reports of any Peacekeeper of Cyborg activity."
Eve finished and give her father a big smile which Cha returned. He then turned to the Master Seeker and waved his hand to begin his report.

" My Prophet, our spys report little to nothing at this point. We are still trying all sources to gain some insight as to workings of the major factions. Little else I can add at this point other than it seems we will not be able to complete the xenoempathy dome as planned. Even though we have accumulated a great store of energy it will still leave us very short in completing the project. I did have a thought. The xeno-dome project is crucial to us, perhaps more so than our war with the Hive. Might I suggest this. We approach the Gaians and ask for reparations. We will hold off taking the remaining two Hive cities in exchange for a 300 credit payment in energy. With 600 energy solaris we might be able to complete the project before the Cyborgs. With only two bases left we accomplish the same results and it also sends a clear message back to Lal and Aki that betrayal by them comes at a cost. If Lal lands troops on our island then he will pay for it!" The master seeker finished and Cha was silent for some time.

"A good point my old friend. I will instruct our ambassador to the Gaians to "float" this idea through the back channels in the Gaian government and he can also bring it up during his meeting with them." Cha then hit three buttons that opened the link to Ramos, Moon and Thompson.

"My Prophet, Shari Moon and Lance Thompson have authorized me to make the report. Guild Master Guide Moon has begun preparations for the worms and spore launchers of the home islands to begin war preparations. The Peacekeeper forces are as was reported. They are unarmored but do have empathic attack abilities. They have taken no provocative action this turn, just maneuvering. We continue to monitor the situation closely at Dawn of the Planet and Shari Moon will be leaving soon to direct the defenses in the field." Ramos smiled and then bowed deeply to the Prophet.

"Excellent. Make sure I am kept up to date as to the actions of those forces. Should they do anything hostile I will enter into an alliance with the University and the Spartans to destroy both Peacekeepers and Cyborgs. Perhaps our dear Governor can be made aware of this possibility, indirectly of course. The Cult holds the key to unlocking a total planet wide war with all of the factions lining up against each other. The Cyborgs and Lal against the Spartans, University and the Cult leaving the Gaians in-between. Let us see what our dear governor is truly made of now..."

*~*~*~*

Gaia’s Landing, MY 2223



“Greetings. I’m just giving you an informal message relayed through Ambassador Zakatuk,” Minister Vend said. “This is verbal only, so bear with me. First, they want to discuss a resolution to the hostilities with the Hive, but only after a pledge that we will not adopt a Planned economy in the future.”

There were howls of protest from the Council.

“Second, they wasn’t us to withdraw our isles of the deep from their territorial waters. Third, the Cult would like compensation in exchange for sparing the last two Hive bases in exchange for 600 megacredits.”

The howls and groans came from the entire Council this time, especially from a now very animated Ling.

Mercer put up his hands to quiet the howls. “Now, don’t stone the messenger, and let me finish. Lastly, the Cult Ambassador hinted that Peacekeeper forces are still in their territory, and that if they start hostilities he may have to approach the University and Spartans about ‘other permanent options on the status of the Cyborgs and the Peacekeepers.’”

“At least he keeps our lives interesting,” Colin said.

Mohammad added, “He can’t be serious – 600 energy credits? At our current energy surplus it would take us 18 years to accumulate that amount, although with our trade surplus the time is considerably less.”

“Oh, yes,” Ling said. “This way he gets to fund his war, and gets a huge windfall at no risk to himself. I think our answer should be no, and H*LL NO!”

“I have to agree with you on that one, but not the language,” Colin said. “But, what about his other issues? I’d agree to deferring a future migration to a Planned economy if we can broker a peace.”

“You would,” Ling retorted. “Agreeing would just set us up, and put us in a straightjacket. Our three year population boom, while debilitation socially, was an unqualified success. Our science rate is now 300 lab equivalents! Giving up such an ability, especially when it is used judiciously, is ridiculous. I have a counter proposal. We agree to broker a truce between the Cult and the Hive, with no bribe and a commitment from the Hive not to EVER engage in a surprise attack on any other faction ever again. That sounds more equitable.” Ling seemed very pleased with herself.

“He would never agree to that,” Dee said. She sounded much stronger. “And for the same reason we would have a hard time agreeing to limit our social and economic abilities: it would limit his options, with little to gain by way of compromise. The idea of brokering a truce is a good one though, although Cha would have to agree to the truce first since he is the aggressor.”

“I agree with Dee,” Colin said. “Give him a way to save face, and if he wants to blame it on us, saying we’re throwing our weight around, then fine. Now, what’s this about our isles? Are we really lurking around his territory?”

“Of course not,” Ling said. “We have a few isles exploring, and one about 15 sectors away from his southern coast. One is carrying a Unity rover, for heaven’s sake: hardly an invasion force. Tell him we don’t have any isles in his territorial waters, which is true, so we can’t withdraw them.”

“I’m a bit concerned about his last comment though,” Dee said. “What he is proposing is a world war.”

“Fine. Let him,” Ling said. “Any idiot that starts a multi front war is doomed, especially if we massively help the other side. That will insure a stalemate, and it will drain the life force out of the Cult. We can always broker a peace deal behind his back, so that way he will fight alone. If he wants to do a little bloodletting then he might find out how it feels to bleed.”

Colin grimaced at her choice of words.

Terry turned to Mercer. “Do you have what you need?”

“I believe I do. We are offering to broker a peace deal between the Cult and the Hive, but won’t limit our economic choices to do so. We are telling him we have no isles in or near his territorial waters so, therefore, we can’t comply with his request. The 600 megacredit bribe is rejected out of hand. And we won’t respond to his innuendo about a global war. Close enough?”

Terry looked around the Council members, all of whom were nodding. “Yes. Thank you, and give our best to the Parliament.” Mercer nodded and left.

“Now,” Terry said, “to an issue we’ve had to put on a back burner for a long time. A worm discovered some ancient ruins that seem to be operational. The humans have given it the name Manifold Nexus…”

[Hydro]

Cult, MY 2223

To Governor Skye,

I am contacting you since I have been informed of the terrible calamity that has befallen your people. Reports that I have seen indicate that some ecological virus has destroyed vast amounts of your forest and other improvements. First, let me say that Cult scientists stand ready to assist you in your hour of need. We can help your scientists in researching this virus and perhaps come up with an counter agent. Also, our caretakers ( or as you would call them terra-formers ) stand ready to assist you in guiding your efforts in rebuilding these areas. I encourage you to listen to them and heed their advice since it might help against any future outbreaks. We Cultists have recently developed a special preserve that will protect forever the pristine nature of Planet for future generations to come. We offer access to the area for your scientists so that they can learn about Planet as a "baseline" for all future research.

I wish to say that we do grieve for your people and the obvious stress it has put your people under. I am authorizing our Rangers at the Planet Temples in the cities effected to provide food and shelter to any of your unfortunate citizens. If you need economic assistance as well we can
address that in future talks.

Lastly, I wish to remind you that this was avoidable. I think you realize it as well. Planet will not tolerate your continued actions to increase your prosperity for short term benefits. I find it sad that our science is discounted by your scientists simply because we embrace a spirit, a life force as a fact that can not be measured by our current science. I think someday you will live to regret the damage you have done to Planet and to your own people. Growth in moderation will achieve the same long term goals and at a lower cost to everyone, including you. Imagine for an instant if the third world nations of Earth's 20th century had used restraint on their populations and reduced the explosive growth they allowed. Imagine what Earth might be now. What is most surprising is that they used the same old tired arguments your advisors use today. We will not "handcuff" ourselves unilaterally and allow others to prosper while we do not. The old United States took the same stance and failed to sign a treaty to reduce pollution on Earth for the same reasons you argue now. Shame on you all. I ask now for you to make a commitment to this planet and to the other people on Planet to promise never again to embark on such a fool hardy path. Reject the promise and false hope that wealth brings and bring your people back to the green fields of long ago. You and only you can do this for you and this Planet.

I wish also to correct an "error" made by our Ambassador. The sum of energy credits in question was 300, not 600. In fact, I now waive that requirement as part of any final settlement due to the tragedy that has befallen you and your people. I must be blunt with you and tell you that I can not stand the Hive in any form. They are an abomination to all that I hold dear and true. There society holds no hope or promise of hope for a better tomorrow. My forces are very close to completing the assault on Hive central. It will fall and soon. I will try and minimize the deaths as much as possible but Yang is the key to this not us. We do not wage war on civilians, we are liberating them! I see no reason at this point in stopping our efforts to save these people. Sometimes the burden of history and humanity falls on the shoulders of a select few and history then determines if those shoulders were up to the task! I am still willing to negotiate concerning the Hive but I see no incentive greater than freeing those poor souls from the yoke that has been put on them. I understand that your advisors discount our reports of pollution and the terrible crimes against humanity! Well, I suggest you go yourself and tour a Hive base as I have done and I think you will find nothing redeeming about it.

Lastly, I wish to clarify a point my ambassador made about alliances. Let me be clear and to the point. I have been contacted by both Santiago and Zakharov to launch an assault on the Peacekeepers as part of a new "triple Alliance” , a pact. This alliance would, in turn, result in a state of general war between the University, Spartans and Cult against the Cyborgs and Peacekeepers. Currently we reject this "triple alliance" but should any Peacekeeper attack us we would proceed with it as a means to defend ourselves since any counter-attack by us would trigger the Cyborgs to wage war on us, a two against one situation. This we can not stand for. Speaking bluntly, I will pursue an alliance that would give me the edge over my enemy. The end result would be an all out general war. I do not welcome this at all. The devastation it would bring on the Planet would bring us back to the old days of earth. So, I offer the following proposal. I will refuse such an alliance in any form if you will stand with the Cult in our efforts to free the Hive citizens. You have my sworn word that we will not entertain any alliance from anyone else, and in fact, will only court an alliance with you. The price, is of course, the Hive. The end result is we avoid a general war and the Hive people are liberated. This is much more preferable to having a world war the will destroy the Planet. I have been told through sources I can not mention that your "bravado" is such that you think that you can diffuse any war that might breakout, you are wrong. The language of these treaties are very clear and they offer no room for a reversal. They remind me of the early 20th century pacts made by the European powers. Once an ally is attacked it is as if you were attacked and as such there can be no retreat, only victory or death. I am forwarding to you a sample of a treaty I have been asked to sign, read it carefully and you will understand the implications it brings.

Lastly, on this subject I wish only peace. Peace for the Planet. Your advisors do you a great
disservice if they argue otherwise. War destroys, plain and simple and Planet will be caught in any cross-fire so I implore you and your Parliament to review my proposal. I even offer the following incentive. Should you agree to my proposal I will begin the process of democratization of my government. This will be a hard and long process but it can be done. If you agree to my proposal the end result would leave not power block with a clear advantage and as such no incentive to proceed with an all out war.

In conclusion, I think you will see that if you do not act quickly events could spin out of your control and the dye will be cast. We do not wish to see you as enemies anymore than I think you want to see us in that light. I know your hearts are in the right place, you do love Planet, however your love for progress and material things crowd out your more pure emotions and needs. It is time for you to return to the green and orange gardens of Planet and become one with the Planet.

I wish you well in your work and the Peace of the Planet!

May Planet shine on your good people and give them the peace of mind that transcends all worldly desires!

May you live in Peace and serve the Planet.

Prophet Cha Dawn
First Disciple of the Planet. He who walks in the soul of the Planet.

_______________________


Cha sat brooding for some time and then hit the send button and the message was off. He had left Worm Federation since he could no longer stand the city anymore and had so desperately wanted to see the new Centauri preserve that had been built. He had ordered a special room to be built so that he could have access 24 hours to the place so he walk in the beauty of Planet. Cha was becoming upset about a great many things. The war, the constant tensions between the factions and the continued demands in ruling a people. Cha knew he had done everything he could to distribute the workload and also set up conflicting power centers so that no one group could gain power and as such Cha could control things. When needed he did take action to keep his advisors from getting out of hand like the poor soul Ivan Ivanovich but sometimes you had to do things to keep order.

Cha stood up slowly and looked out the window onto the beautiful terrain below. He missed the old days of traveling the wilderness as it had been called back then. Now, even with their anti-terraforming efforts the wilderness was gone. Cha hoped that they would be able to rebuild portions of it but not soon enough. Cha chuckled to himself about the thought that he was just as bad as the Gaians, how dare he lecture them about terra-forming when he himself had done the same thing. No, they were worse. The Gaians were masters of terra-forming for decades and they used that power as much as possible. Only recently had the Cult found the means to restore fungus and in time they would restore every sector they had destroyed.

Cha knew that just to the northwest were the Peacekeeper forces. From all reports they were still just sitting there, waiting. Cha knew if he acted events would start that he could only flow with, not stop. The only thing he controlled right now was his refusal to take the bait and start the
whirlwind that was to come....

*~*~*~*

Gaia’s Landing, MY 2224

The panic was only just letting up, at least a little. All around Gaia’s Landing the forest, the beautiful forests, had withered and died, a great browning as the virulent Prometheus virus swept away all earth vegetation in its path. Then the farm administrators started calling, reporting that their farms had started to die in waves. Relative calm had persisted until two weeks ago when the virus swept within eyeshot of Gaia’s Landing. Dee could almost hear the moan of the people, who were observing in horrified wonder from the balconies of the towers, as the browning swept toward the city. It was a like a slow tidal wave of death, and when it got within a kilometer of the city the panic started. The fact that the virus only affected plant life made no difference; the psychological shock of the rolling terror made them impervious to reason.

That was over now. The hills were a dull brown, as was the silt choked river. It was much like the terrain had been when they had first arrived. Dee had forgotten how alien, how stark, the landscape looked without the tracts of wild and managed trees.

The virus had taken something away. It would be replaced, and five terraformers were on the way; even more could be called up, if needed..

Moreover, as the brown wave had approached the key to the virus had been unlocked, and it was not clear that only advanced biological research centers could prevent future outbreaks. Biology labs, which had been dismissed as rather expensive, now looked like a much better investment.

In the meantime there was no starvation. In fact, there was still a 28% food surplus. Industrial production had taken a hit since so much of it was based on renewable wood fiber, and energy production was down somewhat. It would take a while but Gaia’s Landing would recover.

Now, to responding to Cha Dawns generous and discourteous letter.

*~*~*~*

Dear Cha Dawn,

It has been a long time since I have heard from you, and I thank you for your concern for the Gaian people and the inhabitance of Gaia’s Landing. The Prometheus Virus was a terrible shock to us; it struck quickly, eradicating all early plant life over 25 sectors. We watched in horror as it advanced, knowing we were helpless.

The terror has passed, and although we are reduced there is no deprivation. Although your Rangers are welcome they will find no starvation, and they will discover no chaos. After a few days the people of Gaia’s Landing understood, and now we are going to labor to rebuild what was lost. As the plague advanced we did find one critical bit of information: the Prometheus Virus cold have been swiftly eliminated if we had better biological research facilities. To date we have not invested in biology labs, and that will now change.

I did find your theories to be interesting, but I am afraid I do not see this episode as a divine judgment by Planet, as you seem to imply. Frankly, I am surprised this has not happened before. Two alien ecosystems are bound to have strange interactions, and these interactions may not always be favorable to either Chiron or Earth life forms. Far from being a result of expansion, or of widespread pollution, it now seem preventable through scientific investment; placating an angry Planet will do no good, unless it gives you the resources to build biology labs.

Our peoples have a very different set of ideals when it comes to war, and this is more evident each day. As a rule Gaians deplore wars and violence, while it seems your people do not. Your war against the Hive, which is, I admit, a repellant society, offends the part of us that is pacifistic. In the opinion of the Council the operative rule should be live and let live, and since Yang wasn’t threatening anyone we fail to see how your war can be justifiable. It is clear that nothing we say will dissuade you from you course of actions, but those actions make it clear how different our peoples are, and for that I am very sad.

As such, the Council rejects your offers relating to The Hive. We will not offer Yang up as a sacrifice, no matter how repressive his society might be. To make such a deal would make us complicit in that very war we can’t justify. I seem to remember other 20th Century leaders offering up other countries to aggressive nations as the price of peace. Such deals always worked to the appeaser’s disadvantage, and history remembers them as a betrayal of their own basic values.

It is also clear that the Cult seems to be at the epicenter of the events that seem to be sweeping out of control. We Gaians can only try to limit the spin, and repair some of the damage, but to us your actions only exacerbate events. I look to you to see into your own heart and examine your motives. It might be you will not like what you see.

Walk with Planet,
Dee

[Hydro]

Cult, MY 2224

Lady Skye and Gaian Council,

I rejoice and the glad tidings you tell of your peoples' survival. I wish no harm or injury to the good Gaian people. We people of the Planet have invested deeply in biology labs to aid us in understanding the relationships between Earth and Planet life forms. I am attaching several of our more interesting papers on the subject which you should find illuminating. However, you fail once again to understand the true "meaning" of what happened to you and for that we are sad. You fail to confront the root causes of the virus and that is the conflict between earth ecological systems and the indigenous system of Planet. Yes, biological labs would have helped slow or even halt the outbreak but you must be truthful to yourself and see this even for what it is, a sign! A true sign that the sentient being spirit of Planet is reacting in the same way our own bodies treat a virus by sending out anti-bodies to destroy the infection!! When will you and your scientists learn that just because we can do a thing does not means we should do a thing!! A Hundred years from now we will look back and say, why did we not listen, why didn't we just restrain ourselves, even a little bit and we could have avoided the calamity before us. I am afraid
that you will learn nothing from this and as you stated in your last transmission, more terra-forming is your response. I agree that you should re-terra-form some of the land but to its natural state!! Do not make the same mistake again learn from the mistake you have made in the belief that just a little bit can not harm Planet. IT CAN!

I wept openly at your characterization of the people of the Planet. How sad for us all. War-mongers, I think not. It is very easy for you Gaians to claim a desire for peace and non-interference when the sad truth of the matter is that Yang has turned thousands of people into beasts of burden! We claim no special right of interference and attack every society that displeases us. If that were the case we would have launched many campaigns already. No, the Hive is a special case. They have sinned against the Planet and against the very code of humanity. I will see this bizarre experiment put out of business once and for all. I will insure that the children of tomorrow are not born with the expectation of being nothing more than a workhorse, a beast of burden. I suggest that the next time you are sipping fungus wine in your luxurious apartments you upload the files we have offered to everyone, un-altered files, of the living conditions, of the torture done to the small children and then you can call me and tell us that we have no right. Your statement that "Yang wasn't threatening anyone we fail to see how your war is justifiable" is so repugnant to me it made me vomit! Ask the millions that died in every genocide if they would agree with your statement! I am sure the mothers and children who were gassed in Nazi concentration camps held to your high standards and would have supported them then and happily breathed in zyclon B gas. Or perhaps all the others, the billions that died as a result of a greater power not acting to preserve life. Sometimes action is demanded! Yang's defeat is a forgone conclusion unless you intend to actively support his defense by attacking our troops. Perhaps Chairman Yang will feed and house your troops while his own people are starved to death in the dank caverns below them. I am sure that such an environment will only help the morale of your soldiers. Lastly, I find it regrettable, most regrettable that your people will spend vast sums of energy credits to support a monster like Yang but not one credit to bury the thousands of skeletons we found at Fecundity Towers or to feed the starving children there, once again they thank you as well for holding to your ideals. You must sleep very well at night.

I wish to address this issue of being the "epicenter" of events and that somehow we have set in motion actions that could lead to war. Explain this to us? Did we land troops on your continent and then order them to march around in a provocative manner in hopes of igniting a war, no. That was done by the Peacekeepers. Have we resisted all efforts to pull us into an alliance system of "pacts" that would plunge this planet into a world war, YES! Have we reported these things to you as Planetary Governor asking for guidance and even offering a way out, YES! So exactly how are we to blame? Do you have some secret document showing our complicity to these events? How is our liberation of the Hive in anyway connected to the hatred by the University and Spartans toward the Peacekeepers and Cyborgs, the answer there is none. You look to demonize us to make things easier for you to understand world events, a scapegoat, rather than dealing with the reality of the times we live in. Perhaps in a few turns I will land worms and
troops on your soil and parade them around, threatening your people, and then you will understand how we feel. Of course if you act to rid yourself of these interlopers you will be branded a warmonger and censured by the Planetary Governor. I doubt you would let us do it to you so why should I allow Lal to do it to me? I am allowing it because to do otherwise would plunge us into a state of war, a world war.

Lastly, I have been told by my ambassador that you claim no Gaian isles of the deep are near Cult territory. In fact, that is a lie. You have an isle of the deep at sector 72,86. I have two isles of the deep and an empath war foil converging on that sector. You are requested to turn your isle about
and head northwards out of Cult territory. If the isle continues south it will be destroyed. Or we could make a deak in which you grant me and my army and people free access to all of your land and seas and as such I would be free to travel anywhere I so please on Gaian soil. Is that acceptable to you? I would think not. We have provided you our maps many times to help prevent such events, there is no reason to explore in an area that we have already mapped, be GONE! We can only interrupt such actions as an act of war if they persist.

Cha Dawn

+++++++++++++++++++

Fookosh looked through the mag-glasses one last time and smiled. Reports from Hive central were only getting better. All of the garrison forces were at half strength from the constant bombardment by the spore launcher. Fookosh knew he would have to act soon or else. Two more turns of bombardment. On the second turn the Cult forces would move forward and close the ring even tighter around the base and then the following turn storm the gates and take the city. Cha had ordered that no sector would be occupied if would deny the Hive people a source of food. Fookosh had not expected that so it had complicated matters forcing him to only keep worms and other forces in non-productive areas until ready. So far it had not been a problem.

"General Fookosh, a few more refugees have been caught fleeing from the Hive base. Shall we send them on to Worm Federation?" An aide asked.

Fookosh nodded and then picked up the mag-glasses. Soon, oh so very soon it would be all over and then it was just a matter of time. Here was the linchpin, the keystone and once it fell it would be all over.

*~*~*~*

Gaia’s Landing, MY 2225

Cha Dawn,

I have very little time, so I will make this brief. There is little more we can say about both the Hive, your war, and the Prometheus Virus, and I don’t want to spend more time telling you the same line of reasoning, and then have you give me your line of reasoning again. This serves little purpose.

Our isle that you mention is many sectors away from your land, and nowhere near your territorial boundary. It is mapping the seas in that area – they are black to us. You will note it is not lingering, either, and is maintaining a regular search grid to explore the maximum area. Moreover, it has no units whatsoever on it (unlike your isles, I might add). So, take a deep breath. Relax. There – don’t you feel better?

Dee

*~*~*~*

Cult, MY 2225

Lady Skye and the esteemed members of the Gaian advisory council,

I am attaching our map files so your scouting isles may return to your own territorial waters and explore them to their hearts content. This issue does bring up an "interesting" subject, one that we have put aside due to our strained relationship however it seems events have pushed it to the
forefront. Territorial waters, what does that mean? For us the people of the planet it means a great deal. We see no reason why any other faction should build a sea base within 6 sectors of any coast line we claim. On our next transmission we will send you a list of map sectors that will map out our sphere of influence which will encompass our territorial waters. We feel this is crucial to our understanding of Planet due to the Hive's pollution effects on us. By keeping a large buffer zone of untainted, and undeveloped lands we can therefore preserve and maintain a Planet ecosystem free of infection by terrain life forms. Once we complete our survey and send you the data please feel free to copy the other planet leaders so that they too can respect our rights and beliefs.

Lastly, I feel that I have failed in some great way in reaching an understanding with you Lady Skye. I blame myself entirely for this and for that I am truly sorry. In some respects I do see your side of the argument and I can sympathize. You were attacked brutally in the first years upon landing on Planet and it has forever scarred you and your people into believing that by prosperity and the accumulation of power that these are the keys for your survival. I regret that you had to undergo so perilous and anguishing times but they are behind you and we people of the Planet will still stand with you in your hours of need. I regret that some of your people and advisors reject my teachings in favor of the science they so dearly love. I think they could learn a great deal from us.

Perhaps when our conflict is resolved with the Hive we can re-open negotiations to rejuvenate our friendship.

I wish you well in your work and the Peace of the Planet!

May Planet shine on your good people and give them the peace of mind that
transcends all worldly desires!

May you live in Peace and serve the Planet.

Prophet Cha Dawn

First Disciple of the Planet. He who walks in the soul of the Planet.


+++++++++++++++++++++++++

General Fookosh stood at the command table and completed inputting the clearance code to bring up the holo-display of his assault plans. One last bombardment by the spore launcher then all worms would advance forward in one last surge in preparation of the attack. Then the following turn Cult worms would begin the attack. Fookosh coded the plan and sent it to the Prophet for approval. He waited only minutes and when he opened and un-encrypted the message he saw what he hoped to see, approval.

"All right everyone, lets get things in motion. Issue orders at once to begin the final assault on Hive central." Fookosh roared and within seconds the moderately busy command center was now a whirlwind of activity. The bombardment had worked, all Hive forces were at half strength which would make them venerable to attack. Even if the Hive were to initiate an attack their forces were so weak that they would lack the means to stay toe to toe with full strength mind worms. No, the end was near...

*~*~*~*

Gaia’s Landing, MY 2226

Cha Dawn,

I am informing all of the faction leaders personally that Pravin Lal, of the Peacekeepers, has declared war on the Gaians. Remember that isle of the deep you were concerned about that was traveling north or your territory? Pravin’s foil saw fit to eliminate the isle, although his foil was severely damaged. Luckily there was another isle nearby and his foil, who perpetuated this grievous act, will not be going home. The crew that survived will be interred at an undisclosed location until Pravin sees reason to end his impetuous and very unfortunate act.

You might ask what the Council is going to do about this situation. That is a very good question. Our military buildup is proceeding at a decent pace, although some on the Council would argue it is not going nearly quickly enough. There are enough Gaian bases that it will take a while before they are properly defended, and at this point there are no plans for any significant overseas adventure. I have always thought that the Peacekeepers and Gaians have much in common and have been dismayed at Pravin’s unceasing hostility. I hope force will not be needed, and at this date I see no need to press the issue since our lands are not significantly threatened.

I forwarded your proposed territorial boundary to the Council and, in general, they have no problem with it. The only provision we ask is that the seas surrounding a territory be navigable – in other words, that the six sector border not cut off the sea lanes. It will be no problem to maneuver outside of territorial waters were this is possible.

Lastly, the Gaians were not brutally attacked in our first years, at least no more so than anyone else. We had our times of want and for a long time our position was tenuous, but that has not overtly colored our perceptions of where and how to live. As we learned more of our environment we have prospered, and I consider myself very fortunate to have such a wonderfully resilient and flexible people, and that they allow me to be one of their leaders. As to learning, I believe we all can learn from each other. Everyone has something to give, and to contribute to a greater whole. Even a faction like the Hive can contribute, if they are given the chance.

Dee

[Hydro]

Cult, MY 2226

Cha Dawn had returned to Dawn of the Planet just recently and he was both happy and sad. His son Adam had grown much in the time he was gone and it was a little difficult at first since they had only talked via secure vid-channel. However, tonight was special. Eve had returned to the Dawn of the Planet and had joined them for dinner. She had been aware that she had a brother but they had never met, until tonight.

"Father, what news of the outside world?" Adam asked as he munched away on a crusty piece of bread. Adam was now in his late teens and he was very handsome young man, in fact, he was nearly beautiful. Muscular build with sharp blue eyes and blond hair. Cha had sometimes though of Adam as the perfect boy and now he was the perfect man. Cha had used the most state of the art gene altering technology the Cult had to "clean up" the boys DNA. No defects. Someday they might have the technology to go beyond simply eliminating the defective genes and actually "enhance" the DNA to make a superior human, someday.

"Adam, the world is a dangerous place. Our forces have at last began the final assault on Hive central. We should conquer it by next turn if all goes well. A mind worm and its guide made a surgical strike on the city and destroyed the only infantry unit that was equipped with resonance
technology. The remaining garrison forces are badly damaged and should fall easily to General Fookosh's assault. Then after resting on to the last remaining two bases. Once Hive central is gone the other bases are too small to mount any effective defense, its a matter of time now." Cha
finished while pouring more fungus wine.

"Father," Eve interjected. "Prior to coming to dinner I was contacted by the Master Seeker and he informed me that the Cyborgs will most likely complete the xeno-dome before us. When last I looked we were still 300 energy credits short of building the project. If we can not finish it before them can we not use some of our accumulated wealth to help complete some need projects on all four continents."

"Yes, as much as it tears me up to think about have such a precious project fall into those devils hands at least we will still have a good amount of resources here Dawn of the Planet to work on the next project."

"Father," Adam asked while holding out his glass for some more wine, " is it true we signed a friendship treaty with the Peacekeepers?"

"Yes we did. I at first was disposed against it but a friendship treaty is a non-binding agreement of interest, nothing more. Even though Pravin wanted to end our treaty with the Gaians we told him no. What we must avoid is these binding "pacts" the other leaders are demanding we sign all the time. Now, that the Gaians are at war with the Peacekeepers they are essentially at war with the Cyborgs because of the pact. The major advantage is that by signing the friendship treaty Pravin removed his scouts from our lands and thus the trigger for war."

"Yes, but," Adam continued, " the Gaians are in theory Planet loving people even though they pursue wealth and industry. Why should we not end our treaty with them and form a more powerful alliance with the Peacekeepers and Cyborgs to offset the Gaians?"

"Because, in the Gaians heart of hearts they do believe in the way of the Planet. I know this, Planet has shown me through my dreams that Lady Skye is a friend of the Planet but she does not listen to the spirit of the Planet. Someday her spiritual ears will be opened and she will know what we know. The Gaians are a people with no spiritual center. They work to protect the Planet not because it is a living being but rather their science tells them that protecting nature is a way to make a better life. They have yet to link the spiritual Planet, the sentient Planet to their need to
preserve Planet. We care for Planet is if it were an infant child that needs our protection, our warmth. The Gaians motivation is the result of their scientific understanding of Planet. For example we have drastic limitations on mining because it hurts planet. We only mine those area
where Planet freely gives up its bountiful resources for all. The Gaians limit mining only to the extent that their science tells them that if they dig one more mine that it will cause too much pollution. However, up to that point they will build as many mines as possible. Their science guides them in their understanding of Planet while we use our hearts." Cha finished and took a long sip of wine.

"What Father says is very true Adam. In the Bowl of Heavens we could build mines that would out produce any mine on planet but we refuse to do so. We now are re-planting fungus instead of building more farms or other projects because the fungus is the living heart of Planet."

"Children, I must leave for awhile. Eve, I had other reasons to ask you to come to my city. I am going into rejuvenation treatment tomorrow and I need for you to guide the People of the Planet. The Master Seeker and the others will be there to help. Adam, before I go to sleep in the morning I want you to make an expedition. The new base established on the far south-western
lands is in need of someone to help find worms. I want you to go. Your mind is as powerful as Eve's when it comes to empathy with the worms and it is time you learn more of the world." Cha stood up slowly and smiled at them both and turned and left the room. Adam sat their for a while smiling looking at Eve.

"I am so glad that father has at last allowed me to leave as you had done my sister. I did not expect father to do something like this." Adam smiled as he took another deep drink of the fungus wine.

Eve smiled and stood up and walked around the table and to stand next to Adam.

"Adam I want you to father me a child." Eve stated very quietly as she dropped her robe around her feet. " Say nothing, come to me."

Adam at first was amazed but a young man was full of energy and Eve was the perfect women. He quickly stood up and took her into his arms and guided her into his rooms.

"Why my sister?" Adam asked as he closed the door and removed his robes.

"That is my concern you need not let anyone else know of this even our father. This is our secret just like you and I are Fathers secret to the world." Eve sank to the floor and held her arms open for her brother...

*~*~*~*

Gaia’s Landing, MY 2227

Colin read over the report of the science minister and the latest Gaian breakthrough. “Finally,” he remarked. “Environmental Economics! Now we have the basis for a truly sustainable economy, and a better understanding of Planet!”

“Don’t get carried away, Colin,” Ling said. “This will allow us to better integrate our economy with what is sustainable, but it is hardly ‘truly sustainable’, as you say. We don’t understand a lot.”

“I suppose,” he said as he twirled some more linguini in a penne sauce on his fork. “I still think we should research Planetary Economics. I don’t even like the term Neural Grafting. It gives me the shivers!”

Ling sopped up some of her vegetarian broth with some new herbal bread, fresh out of the oven. “Don’t be so quick to judge. You read the preliminary reports, and the Project Neural Amplifier promises to greatly enhance the abilities of our native units. Not to mention the Bioenhancement ability to our conventional unit.”

Colin’s brows furrowed. “Are you trying to aggravate me? There is only one use for a Bioenhancement Center, and that is war! It should be enough that you convinced over half the base governors to build command centers, a prelude to an arms race!”

Ling wasn’t swayed by Colin’s theatrics. “In case you haven’t notice, the Warkeepers declared war on us, and one of our isles already paid the price. Our northern coast bases are all vulnerable, and they are acting according. There is also the prospect that the Cyborgs will follow their Warkeeper pactmates into war. And, to add insult to injury, the University is pacted with the Cyborgs. If Dee can’t hold things together by her silver tongue then we’ll be at war with more half the planet.”

“Zak has no stomach for war,” Colin said, resuming this attention to the generous plate of linguini. “He knows better, and he’s been a good friend for a long time, and very friendly, according to Dee.”

Ling smiled slightly. “That can change. He doesn’t like our emphasis on Wealth, and pactmates do strange things. Remember the first wars in the 20th Century? All the pacts dragged in so many with promises of quick, profitable wars. As usual it didn’t work out that way. And,” she continued, “Zak has been prototyping chaos infantry, as has Aki. That is a material increase over our abilities, so don’t count him out. He may see that, and not the bulk of our numeric superiority. He has a lot of unarmored impact infantry, which are impressive until they have to do anything. Our rovers will take them out, if needed. If we call in our reserves we’ll have 6 impact rovers there in no time. Even better, Zak only has one armored defenders.”

Colin’s eyes widened, and he stopped shoveling his linguini for a moment.

“I couldn’t believe it either, so he better not do anything too untoward.” Ling was matter-of-fact, and that chilled Colin a bit.

Colin wanted to change the subject before he lost his appetite. “So, when is our next breakthrough?”

“Seven years,” Ling said, smiling.

“Are we going to trade with anyone?” Colin asked.

“Dee’s considering it. Zak and Aki have told use, politely and rudely, respectively, that they aren’t interested. Well, that’s their loss. Yang won’t talk to us. Cha might be a possibility, even if he hasn’t been exactly friendly recently.”

“We should consider it, Ling. Has anyone contacted Cha about it?”

“No, it is still under advisement. We’ll see."

*~*~*~*

Cult, MY 2227

Cha sat astride a giant mind worm mass as Yang was brought before him. To Cha's left and right stood more mind worms and Ranger support guards. The final assault on the base, Hive Central, had been swift and precise. General Fookosh had used all of the native levees to destroy the remaining garrison leaving it wide open for assault. Since the assault had been a pincer movement and an isle of the deep had remained offshore Yang could not flee his feeble command center and as such was quickly captured by Ranger units. Yang had been cleaned up and had been allowed three of his aides to accompany him to the meeting. General Fookosh had already given Yang the text of the agreement he was about to sign so there was little to this ceremony but for the show. Yang slowly approached the conclave of worms and as he did the worm mass that Cha had sat upon slowly deposited him to the ground.

"Prophet Cha Dawn, on behalf of my people I accept your most generous offer of peace and understanding and we most humbly agree to all of your terms and conditions for the brotherhood of the Planet pact." Yang slowly stepped forward, his eyes constantly darting to the massive mind worms that flanked Cha and handed him the document.

"Excellent, pact brother Yang. Your people will now prosper within our new family of nations. We accept your reparations for the damage you did to the environment. We accept your gift of technology which will allow our peoples the protection that they deserve." Yang smiled and raised his hands in a blessing. " Let all who know that Chairman Yang has allowed each of cities to establish temples of the Planet in them and Ranger priests will begin instructing his people on the proper respect for Planet. Also, Chairman Yang, at my request, has ended his feud with the Peacekeepers and will sign shortly a treaty of friendship with them."

Yang seemed to shrink after each sentence spoken by Cha as if he were physically striking him.

"Also, our new planet brother has agreed to support Lady Deirdre as Planetary Governor as a token of respect and a willingness to rebuild bridges between the Gaians and the Hive. We wish to state for all the factions on Planet to hear that the small mis-understanding between the People of the Planet and the Gaians is now behind us. We support Lady Skye in all her efforts to bring a new peace to planet." That was the que for Yang to drop to one knee and for Cha to lay hands on him and give the final blessing. Cha closed the distance between them and Yang dropped to his
knee.

Cha put his hands on Yang's head and said aloud in as loud a voice as possible. " Let Planet welcome her new son, Chairman Yang and his people into the new life ahead of them."

Yang slowly looked up and said very quietly. " Cha, I hate you."

Very quietly so that only Yang could hear his reply, " Chairman, you are nothing now. Hate from nothing is nothing."

Cha then reached down and pulled Yang to his feet and give him a very awkward hug and then Yang turned and left. The video feed slowly began to fade as Cha once again mounted the massive mind worm accepted the cheers of the people.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Lady Deirdre Sky and the Gaian Parliamentary advisory council, my most warm greetings to you all,

I hope you have seen the latest footage of our peace treaty with the Hive and I hope that this can bring an end to the distrust and ill will between our two people. We have secured a new peace with the Hive and their promise to never again pollute the seas. Also our advisors are hard at work with Hive administrators to restore some humanity to their society and thus bring a new human condition to the future of the Hive.

As you have seen in the footage you have our full support in your role as Planetary Governor. With the votes of the Hive and Cult I suspect you could withstand any vote of no confidence. It might also make your neighbor, the University, to think twice before any military adventure against you since he would be facing foes from both directions. I hope this will give your poor people some peace of mind.

Also, I hope that with our new understanding I might propose the following:

1) The Hive have given us technology that will allow us to build missile weapons. These could be of great use to you in your defense against the bloodthirsty Peacekeepers. In exchange we could transmit this technology for the sum of 200 energy credits. We are still trying to complete the xeno-dome before the Cyborgs and such funds would prove most useful to us.

2) You have completed before us the secrets to tree farms and unlocking more energy from Planet. We ourselves are four turns from completing this technology. If you would gift us environmental economics we in turn will plow our efforts into another technology which we will complete quickly and in turn gift it back to you.

3) I would be willing to share our current map files and also provide your people with any information of Peacekeeper troop movements to give your forces time to prepare. Currently we are tracking several transports loaded with troops that might be of interest to you.

I hope that you will be able to digest all of our unique and worthwhile proposals and accept them. I hope that you will see that it would be more beneficial to you to see the Cult of the Planet complete the xeno-dome project first rather than the Cyborgs. Once again I am sure we can rebuild our bridge of friendship.

I wish you well in your work and the Peace of the Planet!

May Planet shine on your good people and give them the peace of mind that
transcends all worldly desires!

May you live in Peace and serve the Planet.

Prophet Cha Dawn
First Disciple of the Planet. He who walks in the soul of the Planet.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Cha sat quietly in the command center at Spirit of the Planet and stared at the plaque above a chair at the end of the table which read, " Chairman Yang Savior of Humanity ". Cha had become somewhat fascinated with the chair and plaque. He had ordered that this room to be left untouched and a new control room to be built. The reason he gave was that the cost of refitting
this one would be too high but in truth he wanted to keep it as a reminder. The war had achieved more than he had hoped. Yang was his servant now, constantly accompanied by Rangers that would keep tabs on his actions and report them to Cha. They had two new bases, more energy and more technology to show for it to. All in all Cha could not have asked for better. Fookosh had been ordered to shift some of the army to the north central continent so they could search the fungus for more worms and rebuild the army. Preparations were underway to rebuild the ex-Hive cities and make them prosper. But even with all of this Cha was worried. He wanted the xeno-dome project more than ever. He wanted more bases to the east and west to establish a perimeter around his core bases. The Gaians were flailing about to secure the bases and prepare for the Cyborg, University and Peacekeeper assault. They should be now more than ever willing to help him and in turn help themselves. Cha stared at the plaque again and doubt crept in again. Yang must have thought much the same way as well but his reality was now a myth. Cha would not have that happen to him.

[Hydro]

Gaia’s Landing, MY 2228

“I’m sure Yang enjoyed that little love fest,” Ling said as she watched the holo of Yang kneeling before a magnanimous Cha Dawn. “I’m sure he meant every word when he said he’d swear a pact to Cha. After all, the Hive and the Cult have so much in common.”

“Pithy comments aside,” Mohammad said, “now that the ugly little war the Cha Dawn started is finished, what do we do? Cha Dawn obviously wishes to repair some damage he has done to our relationship due to his aggressive actions. Do we accept his offers?”

“Of course we do,” Ling said. “At least the ones that benefit us. We should agree to ‘gift’ the Cult 200 energy in exchange for missile technology. I’ve been lead to believe that we will be able to install fungicidal additions to our terraformers, even if Cha and his Planet Cultists haven’t quite figured that one out yet. I’ll bet it hasn’t even occurred to him. I’m not sure about gifting him Environmental Economics, though. He might make an advance soon that we might want.”

“We’ll just have to discuss that with him,” Dee said. “Environmental Economics is not a dangerous technology, and we should be willing to trade where we can. He may even decide to direct his research toward a Planetary Economics, which we nearly decided on before Ling convinced most of us that the defensive benefits of Neural Amplifier were more important.”

“I agree,” Colin said. “We should buy missile technology from him, and gift him Environmental Economics for whatever he will discover in a few years. It only makes sense.”

“As long as you conveniently forget that lovely little staged incident with Yang,” Ling said, pointing at the holo, which was still playing the rather long surrender ceremony. “This Cha Dawn is ruthless to those his little voices say harm Planet, mark my words. Don’t be blinded by what you want; look at what he does.”

Mohammad shifted in his seat and looked at the holo again.

“All the more reason to get the Neural Amplifier on line ASAP,” Ling continued. “I’d hate to have Cha’s little voices tell him we have profaned against some obscure part of his Planet Manifesto. Imagine his swarms of boils, spoor launchers, and isles overwhelming the Uranium Flats, or the Jungle. Or even Zak. Not a pretty sight.”

“He wouldn’t do that,” Colin said.

Ling raised an eyebrow as she looked over at him, but she didn’t say a word. The holo said it all.

Terry said, “It looks like we all agree to buying Synthetic Fossil Fuels from him, and we have 200 energy in our treasury to spare. We’ll leave it up to you to decide whether you feel its prudent to gift him Environmental Economics, and our world map.”

Dee nodded and got up to leave. She had a call to make.

+++++++

Dear Cha Dawn and the People of the Cult of Planet,

I can’t say I was happy at your resolution of the war you started with the Hive, but that is now done. It was strange to see the proud Chairman Yang kneel at anyone’s feet, and even stranger to hear him utter words that his subtle mind would never form in other circumstances. I’ve known Sheng-Ji Yang for a long time now, since long before the start of the Unity mission, and I would never have guessed his fate would be to be your vassal, since that is what he apparently is.

The Council has agreed to exchange 200 energy for Synthetic Fossil Fuels. This technology will assist us in defending against any deprecations brought to us by the Peacekeepers, although I should mention that at this point we have a friendship treaty with both the Cyborgs and the University. I would hope that we can maintain these treaties, if for no other reason than to show Lal the folly of his war.

We are potentially willing to gift you Environmental Economics for a future technology you might discover. However, the Council would like to know what that technology might be to ensure it does not duplicate our research, and to ensure there is not going to be an insolvent conflict between our goals. Please forward your thoughts on this matter to me at your convenience.

At this time we are going to decline to share our world maps. The Council is still at little numb at the war you started with the Hive and its gruesome conclusion. Perhaps in the future we can learn that your people can regain the full trust of the Gaian people.

Walk with Planet,
Dee

*!*!*!*

Cult, MY 2228

To my most honorable and deepest friend Lady Skye,

I understand your reluctance and hesitation in re-building the bridges of friendship and harmony between our two peoples. I hope that in time we can do so. I feel I have taken the first step to rebuilding our friendship and I believe you have done so as well. I have pre-approved the transfer of the chemical formulas and as a sign of our good faith our map files as well. I hope that on your next transmission you will supply the energy credits and the technology on energy enhancement and tree farms. We are only four more turns away from completing the work on tree farms so I feel you must send the technology next turn or we might miss our window of opportunity here. Once we get the energy credits we can complete the xeno-dome immediately and complete a valuable project for the betterment of my people. It will also deny a very powerful technology to fall into the hands of your enemies. Remember my warning, beware the machine since it has no soul!

To be honest I have not done much consulting with my scientists on which technology would be of greater use to us. We still need to bolster our industrial capacity. I am loathe to do so since it has such harmful effects on the Planet but without greater insight to production techniques other
factions soon will out distance us in our technology and we will be left behind. So I suppose I will have to plow our accumulated technology into industrial automation techniques. My generals are all demanding we use our research data and build fighter planes our even large warships. However, since I am a seeker of peace always I suspect I will order our data to be
used to uncover the secrets of adaptive economics which will allow us to unlock more secrets of the planet and build upon our strong knowledge of the planet. It will also lead us to the next technology of planetary economics which will have a profound impact on our society. I have been informed that your parliament seems determined to explore military technologies to help defend your people. I support such research as long as you only use such knowledge for defense. But of course, that is a given, is it not!

Lastly, I will send to you next turn some map coordinates for your review. Since your forces are making deep in-roads on the large continent between our two peoples I think it is fitting at this time that we establish some "spheres' of influence" so that we do not cause any diplomatic or military mishaps.

I wish you well in your work and the Peace of the Planet!

May Planet shine on your good people and give them the peace of mind that
transcends all worldly desires!

May you live in Peace and serve the Planet.

Prophet Cha Dawn

First Disciple of the Planet. He who walks in the soul of the Planet.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++


Cha had been in closed door meetings around the clock with his advisors and scientists. He had been trying to decide on which course of action would put his people on the better path. Cha had ordered all of the advisors and scientist to leave him while he mediated in quiet and thought about the issues.

Slightly to Cha's front a secret panel opened and a black robed figure stepped through. Cha knew the moment the door opened that someone had walked in since he felt a small gust of air on his face.

"My Prophet, my name is Antonio Markese and I am the new Guild Master of the Seekers." The man quietly approached Cha and he was able to see his face. Antonio was a man in his middle thirties by his look with a very strong build, muscular with strong brown eyes.

"Where is Evans?" Cha asked.

"Guild Master Evans has died. He could no longer endure due to illness and as our guild requires, we can not take rejuvenation since our secrets might be taken from us during the process. So I have been elected to pick up his role." Antonio quietly sat down from across Cha and waited.

"I determine who heads a Guild and who does not! I am the pow--" Cha began to speak louder but Antonio cut him off, something of a rarity for Cha.

"My Prophet, you can not elect a spy master. I have been chosen because the elders in my craft have determined I am the most qualified. Your other guild masters can be selected by you since you can weigh their achievements and advancements. For us you can not. We operate on the shadow of night. Our secrets are ours alone! We are the seekers! We serve you! That is how it must be. For you to know more, to become more involved would undermine your ability to govern. If you need information, ask me. If you need a something done that you can not ask the other guild masters to do, ask me. If you need for me to eliminate an enemy or even a friend, ask me." Antonio replied.

Cha sat in silence for a while and then replied. "What if I want you dead?"

The new seeker smiled a bit and then said," All you have to do is ask."....

*!*!*!*

Gaia’s Landing, MY 2229

Dee thought for a moment, then gave her final authorization to release the 200 energy to the Cult, and to release Environmental Economics for their use. The Council had entrusted this decision to her, and Cha’s answer to her question was appropriate. She knew she was worried they might pursue Doctrine: Air Power, and then use that to ill effect. :Pursuing a development-based research program, or research focused on a greater understanding of Planet, was a worthy goal, and there was no real reason to deny the Cult a like research, especially when they promised a like technology in turn.

The spheres of influence query was more problematic, and Dee wasn’t quite sure how to reply. It would take some thought. One thing she did know is that she was reluctant to parse up Planet, much like the 19th Century European powers had parsed up the world. It seemed somehow wrong, and maybe a bit greedy. Yes, this one would have to be an item of discussion for the Council.

It was clear Cha was looking to make amends, and this made Dee deeply ambivalent. Perhaps his actions would redeem his apparent militant tendencies – time would tell.

*!*!*!*

Cult, MY 2229

To our good friend of the Planet Lady Skye,

I have been informed by most able administrators that no technology files were pre-approved for transmittal. We are only three turns away from completion of our research so if you do plan on agreeing to our exchange of data the sooner the better. Once again I am still at an impasse as to what level of research to proceed to next. It seems that you have also made great inroads in industrial automation, which, is one of the technologies my scientists and engineers are asking me to pursue. This of course would be a huge waste of resources since you already have achieved this breakthrough! So I am in need of your good will and friendship. Certainly you would not agree to trade us the advanced energy systems and tree farm technology for industrial automation, a technology you already have. So, perhaps I can offer this incentive to help guide your choice. There have been reports that I have received that your council still has reservations about rebuilding our friendship. What is done is done. The Hive are now under our care and guidance and their people are much better off than they were before. We have been able to open up Yang's society and he has received a great benefit in technology from us to help his people. Yang is now willing to support you and your position as Governor. Someone might argue the ends do not justify the means but in this case it is hard to argue that a child that was starving is now fed is not a worthwhile end. So, I will make this promise to you. We will use our accumulate research towards more peaceful research only. I can only hope that it will calm the nerves of the war-mongers on your council.

We do have good news to report! The xeno-dome was completed and it will be in operation next turn!! I am ordering a whole week of festivities to honor the event and I will issue a planet wide proclamation of Peace! This is a glorious day for us all. The machine has been thwarted! Your enemy will not have an advantage of you!

Lastly, my staff is still working on the sphere of influence information but I assure you it will be a complete document that will lay out a clear understanding of our intents.

I wish you well in your work and the Peace of the Planet!

May Planet shine on your good people and give them the peace of mind that
transcends all worldly desires!

May you live in Peace and serve the Planet.

Prophet Cha Dawn

First Disciple of the Planet. He who walks in the soul of the Planet.

*!*!*!*

Gaia’s Landing, MY2230

Dear Cha Dawn,

I did attach the files for Environmental Economics, but neglected to pre-approve the data transfer. Hopefully I have not made this oversight twice! I have likewise pre-approved the transfer of our files on Industrial Automation. We have enjoyed the benefit of this technology for a long while, and have gifted this technology to both the Cyborgs and the University. Both Aki and Zak asked if the Council and Parliament would be willing to offer this as a gift of good will, and due to its useful but non-threatening nature there was little misgiving in approving this gesture of goodwill. We, therefore, are willing to give this technology to you. It is our wish that you will find benefit for your people. The Council will be most interested in the target of your research and your goals.

Congratulations on completing the Xenoempathy Dome! This will be a terrific boon for your understanding of Planet and I would hope that you will consider informing the Council of your findings.

One vigilant member of the Council noted recently that the Cult has expanded considerably in the recent past. I can only assume this means you’ve had a change of heart on the value and efficacy of base expansion since I seem to recall that you were upset with the level of Gaian expansion as of 50 years ago. It is also interesting that your new bases are on rather large continents with considerable room for expansion. I can only wonder if you intend on significant colonization of these land masses. Do you have a philosophy for your expansion? At this point the Gaian’s have agreed that further base expansion is not needed except for research purposes.

You might also be interested in the fact that most of the other faction leaders are pursing a Free Market economy. This has disturbed me personally and the Council in general. At this point there are no plans to take any action but friendly persuasion, and I hope you will do the same. I have proposed that we lead by example, and that our actions will demonstrate by themselves our intent. Your recent actions demonstrate, in my opinion, a negative example and it is my hope that your future actions will diminish this unfortunate instance.

Dee

[Hydro]

Cult, MY 2230

To our most cherished friend and supporter of Planet Lady Skye,

I am once again hurt by your terse words of misunderstanding and resentment towards us. The past is now the past for good or for evil what is done is done. In the eyes of some of your more militant council members I am a monster. To they eyes of the children we saved from starvation, torture and endless toil, I am a savior. Who is right? I will let history judge my actions. Suffice it to say I think we are moving forward to repair the bridge between our two people. I have noticed that your people lack technology on artillery systems. This could be of great use to your people in the defense of your homelands. If you agree I will transfer this technology to you, as a token of my generosity and support of your cause. I understand you Gaians have withheld some military technology from other factions, perhaps us included, but I will not sit by and see our friends of the Planet hurt without my help. Think of it as means to repay some of your kind generosity or as a further indication of our good will towards your people. We have begun work on the expanding and improving our tidal/wave energy collection systems which should greatly enhance energy collection systems. Also, my scientists all agree that such information will expand our understanding of energy collection facilities and the linking of them into a great network. Of course, we would reserve the right to exploit any special projects that might come of such research. I do hope you agree to this minor stipulation. I am sure you Gaians will want to work on some more important military technology or project first.

Also, the information we have harvested by the xeno-dome is staggering. I am sending you the raw data for your scientists to review. I am sure you will be shocked by the data. I, of course, have known for some time what the data is now telling us that each fungus stalk generates a neural connection of energy and when taken as a collective the network is beyond the scope of understanding. As of now I have no hard data to suggest what I, once again, have already know and that is Planet is alive! A thinking sentient being which has a mind, a soul, of incomprehensible power! The information has brought great joy to my people and the Planet temples are over-flowing with new and renewed believers in the new faith! What joy this has brought to thousands of my people and now to you and yours!!! What a wonderful age we live in! We have now glimpsed into the very workings of the mind of a God and it is wonderful to behold!! We are trying to work on some device to "link" with the neural net but our technology is not sufficient to support our hopes, but someday it will! Rejoice with us, with me in the what has become a new beginning for us all!

Lastly, here are the coordinates I have promised that mark out our sphere of influence. I think you will find them very interesting and also very generous. If you start at sector 37,127 and then move to 46,117; 46,111; 47,107; 47,97; 46,96; 50,92; 50,90; 55,85; 57,85; 60,82; 60,80; 61,70;
61,79; 65,79; 87,57 these coordinates will draw a line marking the farthest area we claim as under our territorial sphere of influence. I think we have been most careful in our plan so that it still leaves a navigable sea lane between our two factions. In fact, the channel that separates the two large landmasses serves as a major indicator between the two masses. On the area east of the line we have marked we claim this as our sphere of influence. You mentioned our expansion into the larger continents and our strategy. Our goal is to preserve the land east of the line of influence in its natural environment. We might build one or two off-shore sea farms or even a land farm or two but no forests or other man made environments will be introduced into this area. It will remain pure, pristine for all to come and rejoice in the land of this great being, our loving Planet, our guide! I think it is more imperative than ever to protect as much as possible the fungus since this is the mind of Planet. I hope you will see the light of reason and work with us and protecting this land from further destruction. You argue that we are still few in numbers, yes that is correct. But Planet is a giant being of pure love and energy. Each sector of fungus is now vital to the health and well-being of Planet. I hope you will come to see this to be as true as I do.

I wish you well in your work and the Peace of the Planet!

May Planet shine on your good people and give them the peace of mind that
transcends all worldly desires!

May you live in Peace and serve the Planet.

Prophet Cha Dawn

First Disciple of the Planet. He who walks in the soul of the Planet.


+++++++

The guild master of the seekers sat in a dark room with a team of covert specialists trained by the seekers guild. Each of the twenty seekers in the room had undergone intensive espionage tactics and training in the past five turns. The guild master stood up and looked at each of the men and women in the room and then said,

"I have no words to give you to bolster your courage or put steel into your resolve, it is not needed. You are the elite of the seekers guild. You all volunteered for this mission and as such you all know the risks you are about to take. Your target has been kept from you until now. You will proceed east and embark on an isle of the deep and move eastwardly and disembark on University soil, at a site that will offer you access to their transit system. Then you will proceed with your mission to infiltrate the University data banks and insert the worm virus that will allow our guild to monitor the entire University network. The second stage of the mission is to plant evidence that will lead the University to believe it was another faction that penetrated their systems and have compromised them. The name of that faction will be given to the team leaders only. The Prophet has not decided as of yet who he will want the blame to fall upon. However, prior to landing on University soil you will be given the name of the faction and the needed materials to frame them. I can not stress how important this mission is. Once we breech their security and plant the worm virus in their systems it will be all the easier to steal any further information we need. I should warn you right now that if you are successful that your next target will be the Peacekeepers so do not think that one mission is all their is. You are in this for life!" The guild master bowed slightly and left the room.

*!*!*!*

Gaia’s Landing, MY 2231

“He’s asking for half of Planet!” Ling said as she pointed to the strategic map, which highlighted the territory claimed by the Cult of Planet. “If we agree to this we will be ceding huge tracts of land, and we will be limiting our own options. I suggest we demure.”

“There’s one more thing that you neglected to mention,” Colin said. “The Manifold Nexus. If we agree it will fall into Cult hands by default. We’ve planned for far too long, over a decade, in fact, to establish a base or two there. The Cult has the Xeno Dome, and they’ve learned a great deal from that. I don’t think we can agree to this, even though I’d like to.”

Ling snorted and gave Colin a look that said: Stupid child; you just don’t understand. Colin ignored her, as usual.

“I must agree with both Ling and Colin,” Mohammed stated. “It would not be fair to the other factions to give this territory to the Cult. If such a thing were to be agreed to at the Planetary Council I’d be more sanguine. I can’t imagine the other members of the Council agreeing to give the Cult so much land, regardless of their stated intentions. I also think that the scientific value of the Manifold can not be underestimated. We have seen very little of the alien civilization that existed here. The Peacekeepers control the borehole cluster, and an obelisk. We have nothing, except for the alien artifact we linked many decades ago.”

Terry cleared his throat. “In view of these opinions I will record a motion to not respond to the Cult’s territorial proposal by Ling, and a second by Colin. Is that acceptable?”

Ling and Colin nodded. Both were a little surprised since neither could remember the last time they had proposed anything together.

“Then motion proposed, and seconded. I call for a vote.” Terry noted that everyone, including himself and Dee agreed. “Motion carried unanimously. Is there any other guidance from the Council to Dee in her response to Cha Dawn’s latest transmission?”

“Yes,” Ling said, “I think we should agree to accept his technology on artillery. This could be useful, and we have given him technology gratis on several occasions. Frankly I’m surprised he is doing this, but am not going deny his generosity. We should also agree not to pursue any technology he grants to us. Fair is fair.”

“I have noted your informal proposal to Dee. Anything else?” Terry asked. There was nothing. “The next item on the agenda is the proposal from the Parliament on another few years of growth by the use of a Planned economy.”

Colin groaned, “Not again.”

“We are obligated to respond to the needs of the Parliament,” Terry said, remonstrating Colin yet again. “This issue is summarized in Exhibit Three, which I know you’ve all reviewed. To expedite the agenda I call for a vote…”

*!*!*!*!*

Dear Cha Dawn and the People of the Cult of Planet,

I think I need to clear up some apparent misunderstanding that lie between the Gaians and the Cult of Planet. First, we don’t resent you, your people, or your achievements, which are many. The Gaians are happy when any faction, even those with which we are currently at odds, experiences prosperity. As a people we try to be tolerant, and we understand the need for diversity in human society, just as it is necessary for any ecology; in the end they are the same – diversity is healthy, and mono-culture breeds weakness. This, in part, is why we view some of the actions of the Cult with concern. Your aggressive actions act against the diversity of the cultures on Planet, especially since the Hive never directly threatened the Cult in any serious way. In short, we do not understand why your aggressive actions were necessary and, as a result, reject them.

We will accept your generous gift of Polymorphic Software, and acknowedge this gesture of good will. Such exchanges may, in time, bring us closer together since they build trust, which is easily damaged and hard to rebuild. Our previous research has been largely defensive and focused on development. This has not changed. That said, we will not be adverse to advances in our military potential. We have invested significant capital to our defenses, and this will be a welcome addition. The Council and I will have no problem in your reserving a Project that might be possible, but keep in mind that we may do the same thing in the future.

Your information from the Xeno Dome is truly extraordinary, and it has changed a few minds in our scientific circles, particularly those who had a more conventional understanding of Planet. I must tell you, however, that some of your statements that Planet is sentient are little more than assertions, even if they are philosophically persuasive.

The Council and I have decided to demure on your proposed territorial boundary. The general consensus of the Council is that your proposed boundaries were rather… extreme. Moreover, it would be inappropriate for the Gaians and Cult to parse out Planet without the agreement of the other faction leaders, which I hardly think will be forthcoming. If you have further ideas on this subject please forward them to me and the Gaian Council.

Walk with Planet,
Dee

*!*!*!*

Cult, MY 2231

Cha looked out the windows of his private apartments and began to cry again. Planet had been communicating to him each night during his dreams and still he could not understand what Planet wanted of him. The dreams were more of a nightmare each night it seemed since he had been unable to get any sleep in three days. He had at last figured out one of the things he needed to do in his dream and it both scarred him and gave him great joy.

"Father, you asked to see me?" Eve had quietly entered his rooms. She was dressed in the a beautiful dress of orange silk and that left little to the imagination.

"Eve, I called you hear for a very important reason. I am leaving for a long time and you will be in charge. I am formally announcing this later today at the command council and I have prepared a message for our people. I am going on a pilgrimage to the large continent to the west. The Gaians have yet to respond to our "sphere of influence" proposal and I doubt they ever will. I am troubled that they would begrudge us that land since they already a much large area of land. While we might have more territory it is mostly islands, no large land mass to speak of except the one to the west." Cha turned and took his daughters hands.

"Father, why must you leave?" Eve asked quietly.

"Because a great voice is calling me, to go there. It is Planet. I will take an isle of the deep to the new continent and a mind worm and its guide team will be my only companions. I will be gone for some time I think, perhaps decades." Cha looked down at his daughters hands and held them to his face. " Father, what plans for me?" Eve looked at her father with tears in her eyes.

"Eve, In my message today I will announce that you will be the representative. I will inform them all that you are my daughter and as such my chosen heir to represent my concerns at council. The guilds control much of the day to day bureaucracy and administration for our people. Your role is to guide the leaders of the guilds and to set policy, nothing more. I will have a secure channel set for you to contact me when you need to. I have also prepared to a file for your review of all the important issues that are pending before us, before you. My instructions will only cover the next turn or so use what I have given you as a guide. The guild master of the seekers will be your most able advisor lean on him when you need more help or guidance. At first I was not trusting of him but I have come to respect him as much as he predecessor." Cha walked across the room and sat down. Eve notice that he must have just completed a rejuvenation treatment since he looked so young and strong. But once out there in the wilderness, time and the environment will take its toll.

"Father, why must you go now?"

"Eve, all I know is that I must go and I must go west. Nothing else. The great voice that is calling to me will let me know then." Cha reached down and picked up the disk that had the file on it and gave it to Eve. "Once you load it you will have only one chance to read it since it will destroy itself afterwards. Now, let us go and tape the announcement." Cha stood up again and took his daughters hands and left the room.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"And so my children of the Planet I am leaving you and I am not sure when I will return. When I do expect great things for us and for Planet. I will be going on a great pilgrimage and I will be gone for some time. Your welfare has been put into the able hands of my daughter, Eve. I know you will come to love her as you love me. May Planet shine on you and give you peace and everlasting understanding." Cha slowly backed away from the podium and put his arm around Eve and guided her to the microphone.

"I have promised my father that I will care for his gardens with me life and I will serve Planet with all my heart. I hope you all wish him a good journey and a quick return to us!"

The video feed ended fading to black.

*!*!*!*

Gaia’s Landing, MY2231

Ling was annoyed, as usual. “Just how did the Cult get a significant technological advance. Answer me that.”

“I assume that is a rhetorical question, Ling. I’ll answer it anyway,” Terry said as he steepled his fingers. “First, we have given away several technologies to factions who have asked. No one else has done that, or at least no one has until we receive the files on Polymorphic Software from the Cult. Second, Cha Dawn has been much more successful than we have been in technology trading. Most of the other factions have been threatened by our advances, and they have told us so.”

“Then we need to stop being such idiots and stop giving our secrets away!” Ling said, raising her voice almost to a shout. “The sweat and toil of our scientists, and the fact that we have three times the scientific output than any other faction, comes to nothing! We give, and we don’t receive.”

“Not quite,” Colin said. “The Cult has promised to give us their next technology breakthrough in exchange for Environmental Economics, and since they recently made a breakthrough they should forward Adaptive Economics to us in the next year. Also, we gave technology to the University and Cyborgs and gained some good will as a result. Also, we need to consider asking other factions, such as the Cult, to act as intermediaries for us. In this deal we give them technology and they trade it to others who are less threatened by their presence, and then they gift the fruits of their efforts to us.”

“Why? The only one that benefits is the Cult, or whoever supposedly agrees to this. And there is no guarantee they will comply,” Ling said.

“Yes there is,” Colin said. “We have the Empath Guild, and we can snoop. If the Cult or any other faction agrees and then gains technology, and then reneges, then we can conclude that they are not trustworthy.”

Ling didn’t reply.

“I think we should ask the other factions, discretely, if they are interested,” Dee said. “We really don’t have anything to lose, and we can generate some good will.”

“Fine. As long as we don’t get played as suckers,” Ming commented. “I’m tired of the other factions playing us for victims, and taking advantage of our good nature. We need to be more proactive.”

Terry looked over at Dee. “Do as you see fit on this one. This is your prerogative, and there is not dissent. Now, the next item: The Hive has declared war on us. Personally, I think that Chairman Yang is seriously deluded, and I think we should ask the Cult to ‘request’ that they offer us a truce, which I’m sure we will accept. Any comments?”

“No. Makes sense to me,” Colin said. “Maybe Cha was right about Yang. And if so his guidance hasn’t increased his wisdom, has it. I hope he can come through on this.”

“OK, Dee?” Terry asked. She nodded. Terry said, “Anything else?”

“Yes, there is. I have been receiving reports from my sources that some of our cities are generating significant amount of ecological damage due to excessive extraction of resources. We need to look into this before something dire happens.”

Dee perked up. “Who are your sources, Colin. Are they reliable?”

“Of course they are!” Colin said. “I can’t tell you since I was told in confidence, and they all wanted us to conduct an inquiry to verify this critical information.”

“I hope this isn’t true since it violates everything we stand for,” Dee said. “Even if it isn’t true we need to look into this. I move we informally look into this issue ourselves, and then forward these preliminary results to the Parliament for a formal investigation.”

“Second!” Colin said.

Terry called for a vote. There were four for and one abstention – Ling. She looked indifferent, but Colin thought he saw her eyes dart around a bit too much. Suspicion? Deception? Maybe.

[Hydro]

Cult, MY 2232

Eve had traveled for a great long time to reach the meeting point that she had ordered Yang to. Reports from her master spy indicated that some war had broken out between the Gaians and the Hive and she needed to find out what had happened. Her isle of the deep was quickly approaching the shoreline where she could make out Yang and his staff accompanied by Cult advisors or more accurately Cult spies. The isle of the deep glided up the sandy beach and stopped allowing Eve and her advisors to off load which they quickly did. Eve walked slowly up the Yang who was smiling at her approach and as she reached him she spun about and her boot took Yang full in the face sending him reeling to the ground. Eve quickly jumped on the old man, ( Cult scientists had withheld some the longevity treatments forcing Yang to age more and more each year ).

"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING YOU OLD FOOL!!!" Eve screamed at the man. She quickly reached down and pulled the limp Yang to her and along the ground all the time he desperately tried to crawl on his knees.

"Mistress Eve, I assure you that we are not the culprits here! I beg you to review the information I have before taking action!" Yang pleaded with her as he fumbled for a computer pad in his pocket. Eve took and scanned the information and from it seemed that Yang was telling the truth. Eve looked back at the Cult/Hive advisors and nodded to them.

"Is this correct?" Eve's head shot up and bored into the group of Hive/Cult advisors.

"Mistress Eve, as far as we can tell yes. We have seen, nor heard of any actions on behalf of the Hive that could create a state of vendetta between them and the Gaians." Replied the senior advisor.

"Then what on Planet is Skye playing at?" Eve turned and stamped down to the beach but stopped halfway and then turned.

"Yang, if I have been tricked you will soon learn how the Cult deals with treachery!" Eve's eyes bored into Yang who was still on his knees.

"Mistress, I pledge again our assurance to you that we are your loyal allies. In fact, I have some new technology for you as a gift, cyber ethics. With it your science rate should increase significantly!" Yang waved his hands as an aid rushed forward with some data crystals wrapped in the velvet bag. Eve took the crystals and turned and remounted the isle along with her staff and the isle quickly departed leaving Yang alone with his puppet masters and his aides. He quickly stood up and dusted himself off. Yang starred at the isle as it departed out to sea and wondered where was Cha Dawn and thanked fate that he did not come because he knew if he had he would have been dead.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

To the Gaian advisory council and Lady Skye,

I have been informed that some unpleasantness has occurred between the Hive and the Gaians. I have ordered Yang to accept any peace settlement you offer him but from all indications I have seen it is YOU who are the aggressors here. Yang would not go against our advice to make peace and so the failure must be you. I request that you offer terms of peace to Yang so that we can end this slight disagreement between you two. Yang is a loyal supporter of your governorship Lady Skye so I hope you will see it is in your best interest to act here.

As my father agreed the promised gift of technology and the completion of our technology exchange is attached to this transmission. I hope you use these new technologies wisely. We will soon be working on new areas of research and discovery due to some advances we have made in scientific research and techniques. Also, next turn we will begin working on a new project I have authorized, the planetary energy network. It will link all of our cities into a vast energy grid which should increase our energy resources. I do believe my father has an agreement with you that you will not proceed with any competitive stance on this project.

Lastly, it was my fathers wish that we would work together more closely in the future so that on his return he would find that our factions would be as one. Unfortunately, the immediate possibility of such a reunion is not possible since I have been informed your cities are producing more pollution than ever. My father has gone to search for the great voice of Planet, a pilgrimage of the highest order, what I would hope that upon his return he would not find the Gaians polluting the ground, air and sea with their waste! Please looked towards cleaning up your society in all aspects! May the light of Cha Dawn keep you safe and light your way into the heart of love and understanding!

Mistress Eve
Daughter of the Great Prophet of the Planet, Cha Dawn

*!*!*!*

Gaia’s Landing, MY2233

Dear Eve,

I am at a complete loss at how we might have initiated hostilities with the Hive. The Hive has no sea units so they could not have been attacked at sea. Any attack on land would have been immediately noticed and documented by The Hive, and likely by the Cult overseers that are present in the two remaining Hive cities. I have personally tried to contact Yang since I became aware of the start of hostilities and he has refused my calls. He has also refused the calls of others who have tried. The Gaians have no reason to attack the Hive, and doing so would violate our basic principles. Considering how your father impugned Yang’s character I would submit that the error is on the side of the Hive.

Let me personally thank you for the technology you have transferred to us. Polymorphic Software and Adaptive Economics will be most useful, and they will eventually aid us in our efforts to understand our environment and the more mundane human condition. We are close to making a breakthrough in Neural Grafting, which is a technology that offers great promise but does have some frightening potential. Our agreement to not pursue technologies associated with Adaptive Economics stands, and the Gaian Council will be most interested in anything this Project will tech your people.

The topic of pollution came up at our last Gaian Council meeting, and we have formed an informal board of inquiry to examine the allegations. It is inimical to our nature to harm the environment and anyone who would do such a thing will be brought to justice.

Lastly, you should know that most of the other factions are running a Free Market economy, and by doing so they show a flagrant disregard for Planet. This has lead to no small amount of social unrest; for instance, half of Zak’s cities are in revolt, and several Cyborg cities have had similar problems. I have not received any information that the Spartans, Hive or Peacekeepers have been so foolish as to sate their greed with an active program to despoil Planet.

Walk with Planet,
Dee

*!*!*!*

Cult, MY 2233

To our Planet sister, Lady Skye,

It seems that Chairman Yang prior to making a commitment to the Cult pledged support to Pravin Lal as a " pact mate ". For some reason Yang felt "obliged" to support Lal in his vain attempt to usurp your authority. Suffice it to say that this "pact" that Yang is in with Lal is irrelevant now. Our current alliance with Yang overrides all other concerns the Chairman might have so do not worry on that regard. In fact, as I have said before, Yang will support your governorship should Lal try to force the issue again. Yang is now our most worthy friend and as such looks to my
fathers wisdom for direction.

I to grow more worried each day at the rampant explosion of pollution on Planet. Many of the other leaders feel the same way you do that their populations are small and the impact on the environment is miniscule. My father has reported many wondrous things while on his vision quest and I should not doubt that upon his return many changes will take place.

I have decided to take this opportunity to forward the following exchange. We people of the planet are in possession of a technology called cyber ethics. We will soon move our society to a more knowledge seeking status. Of course, this will in turn will offer us greater scientific output and the resulting discoveries will make us all the more efficient. I will transfer this technology to you if your government will sign a treaty that they will never pass or approve legislation that seeks to guide your society towards the pursuit of money or industry. The benefits of the expected improvement in efficiency will help offset any reduction in your treasury I would think.
Please consider this proposal.

Lastly, I have been told that you have yet to respond to my fathers request to establish zones of influence so that we remove any chance of a "flash point" between our two factions. I wish to inform you that we are moving forward with our plans to scout the great continent that lays between our two factions and we have plans to set-up research colonies within the fungus fields to study Planet. Any introduction of forests or other non-native eco-systems within our sphere, that can not be contained, would be looked upon as a direct threat to our religious and scientific exploration of Planet. Should you wish to plant forests on your area, as you have done in the monsoon jungle, that is your concern but we wish to keep our area pristine. In fact, we have laid out plans to even plant more fungus in this area. Your thoughts on this issue would be most welcome. There is a great amount of land for us all so I hardly think the request from my father constitutes a general alarm. If any faction on Planet has a right to claim more land for future expansion it is certainly the Cult. If there is some pressing reason you feel the need to place cities in the area we claim as our sphere of influence please notify us and we can then discuss them. Otherwise the placement of a base so far from your core territory could only mean that you plan on massive expansion that threatens Planet peace and the Cult way of life.

I hope my comments do not alarm your war dogs but please understand we will fight, if need be, to protect the area we now claim to keep it pristine and as close as possible to the natural environment of Planet. We see no reason as to why you think we are "land grabbing" since we have only claimed a mere 1/3 of the area leaving 2/3 for other factions, including yourself to colonize. Which in fact you have with your colonization of the monsoon jungle area. So I hardly think that the area my father marked out hardly indicates any threat to you and your people.

May the light of Cha Dawn keep you safe and light your way into the heart of
love and understanding!

Mistress Eve

Daughter of the Great Prophet of the Planet, Cha Dawn

*!*!*!*

Gaia’s Landing, MY 2234

Dear Eve and the people of the Cult of Planet,

The vendetta by Yang continues to puzzle me. I find the idea of Yang being pacted with Pravin to be unbelievable. Note that I do not deny that is what you have been told, but it is clear that Pravin and Yang are diametrically opposed in their philosophy of governance. In fact, I brokered at least two rather fruitless truces between the two, and in both cases it was Pravin who declared war on Yang. You should also know that Yang finally deigned to talk to me in an official capacity. He was belligerent, and demanded a large energy payment for peace. I agreed, and he rejected it and said,” I will enjoy seeing you executed.” Needless to say I was not amused, nor was the Council. Even Pravin, in his pique and his baseless vendetta, has not been so personally insulting. This is even more outrageous since Yang has no way of pursuing his war since he surrendered to your father. The Council has advised the Gaian parliament that there is no reason to actively pursue the war that Yang has initiated. We will not even take the unlikely landing of Hive troops on our land as a provocation, although they will be summarily destroyed. The Council has determined that Yang is not a threat, and we will act as such until there is reason to reassess this position.

There has been something of a crisis in Gaian lands in the last month. A small pollution-induced fungal bloom erupted at Dreams of Green, which has been our primary producer of military material for the last 50 years. The Governor and his advisors have been arraigned and their trial is now underway. In addition, a full scale inquiry has been enacted by Parliament, and even the most ‘minor’ amount of environmental pollution will not be tolerated, and those found guilty will be subject to rather lengthy prison sentences. Some even suggested rescinding the Gaian ban on capitol punishment in these cases, but cooler heads prevailed. Suffice to say that any prisoner convicted of these environmental crimes will probably wish they were dead - their lives in prison will not be pleasant (although their safety and general well being will be assured). I hope this allays some of your and your father’s fears. It has certainly refocused our efforts on this issue and it is highly unlikely that it will happen again.

To make amends for this unhappy occurrence we have completed tree farms at Gaia’s Landing and Lily of the Valley. These fine facilities will allow us to gather more renewable resources, which are gifts from Planet. More such facilities will be constructed in short order, both to demonstrate the Gaian commitment to expansion of our existing bases and to the peaceful development of our ability to understand and protect Planet. I can only hope the Cult of Planet will agree to this philosophy and walk with us in this path.

Your offer to exchange Cyberethics is generous but the Council has decided that we must decline. We do not agree that the judicious, and very rare, use of Planned industry and growth related economic mechanisms should be banned. It should be understood that, as a rule, I will not support this, and will insist that we support a Green economy. At times I am overruled, or elements in our democratic parliament will not adopt the guidance of the Council. Moreover, I see no problem with the utilization of Wealth. This offers no harm to the environment, and it helps the appropriate development of our society. I am surprised that you made no mention of a Planet-unfriendly economic model – Free Market. This model leads to wanton destruction, as opposed to inadvertent damage, to the environment. This economic model is a conscious choice to put the wants of the few over the need of the land in which we live. Many of our neighbors have chosen this model, and we Gaians disapprove. I would hope that your people will not choose this path.

The Gaian Council has considered your territorial claims and has decided to neither agree or disagree with them. There are a few points we do wish to respond to, however. It is our belief that no faction has the right to claim 1/3 of the undeveloped lands of Planet, even if they claim it is to be placed in “trust”. Moreover, I told you father that it is not appropriate for the two most powerful factions on Planet to simply divide up unclaimed territory like the great powers of Earth’s past. This might be an issue to bring to the Planetary Council, but I would hardly think the other factions would agree that your proposal is justified.

That said, it is fair to limit potential friction by being more open on future plans. So, while we neither agree nor disagree with your territorial proposal we will let you know our general plans as they develop. At this point in time our exploration has identified a few areas we will settle to conduct scientific research of alien ruins. These areas are near these coordinates: 62, 40 and 49, 115. Neither of these areas is anywhere near your current colonies and neither will threaten your expansion plans. Moreover, these areas will have one to a maximum of three colonies – which is hardly a massive expansion. That said, we will agree to your father’s desire to keep these areas ‘pristine’, and by pristine I mean that we will not planet forests nor will we remove fungus in areas of your concern. The Council was closely divided on this point, and I had to be rather forceful to get them to agree to this, and I hope you will see that we are acknowledging the foresight of your father’s vision.

Our hawks, such as they are, are focusing on upgrading our defensive abilities, a select group of offensive response units, and a large cadre of anti-espionage elements. Your isle of the deep that is patrolling our territory is welcome to inspect our ports, and they will find our claims are true.

Walk with Planet,
Dee