Common Purpose

[Hydro]

Cult, MY 2234

Planet Sister Lady Skye and the Gaian Parliament,

I must be blunt and to the point so that there can be no mistaking my words. First, as I understand your last message you have targeted several sites that contain alien artifacts of a previous culture that existed on Planet and you plan on "claiming" these sites for scientific study. Correct? One
of the "sites" you have claimed is at coordinates 62,40 and as this site is well beyond any colony or area we could claim you are most welcome to it. However, the site you mentioned, 49,115 is out of the question! Let me restate this clearly, there can be no GAIAN colonization expansion at that spot. Let us examine the reasons why:

1) From a strict military perspective our nearest base, which has been in operation for over a decade is only 10 sectors away from the spot. While your base is nearly 40 sectors away!! By placing a colony or several colonies on that site you effectively claim a territory that is DOUBLE the area that we asked to claim in our "sphere of influence"!!! Exactly what right do the Gaians have to claim such a large area of territory? The answer is, NONE! Also, you place us in a very difficult situation in that we either accept your advance bases, that could be used to stage military
actions while we ourselves have none. Your claim to sector 49,115 is in no way justified by the expansion in the areas you have already claimed. They are not linked in any fashion and they can only be seen as proactive and threatening!

2) If you Gaians really wish to "explore" these ruins then I offer a counter proposal that suits your peaceful nature. First, we agree that NO faction can establish more than ONE base within a 8 sector area of the ruins or artifact. Each faction can establish one and only one research base within that 8 sector area and the base is limited to only 2 defenders and it can not have any military infra-structure, ie.. command centers, defensive walls etc.. etc... Also, these bases can never be allowed to expand beyond seven thousand citizens. This will allow other factions to establish bases and build modest infrastructure to support their modest bases. Imagine if the
Gaians, Cult and University all shared these sites and cooperated in the exploration and discovery of these areas. Of course, prior to any base site construction a review of that bases location would be analyzed so that the base does not unduly effect another base/faction. Also, each base must
severely limit any terraforming so that any expansion does not destroy the natural environment. This point you have already agreed to!

I can not make this clearer than I am now when I say if you attempt to build multiple bases in an area that would deny other factions from participating or exploring the site than you make our request for a modest buffer zone seem like a spec of sand on the beach! Your new base clusters would, in effect, allow you to claim nearly 1/2 of the Planet under Gaian influence while our area of influence would only constitute less than 12% of the Planet. FOR SHAME!! Do you take us for FOOLS!!! Do you think we can not read a map!! My father would have me executed on his return if I allowed Gaians to become masters of 1/2 of Planet!! Especially a faction that claims to be planet loving but in reality treats it like a garbage can!

I think I have stated not only the Cult of the Planets case but for all the other factions on Planet. I warn you that you should consider what I have said carefully. I wish no bloodshed but I have ordered three boil class isles of the deep to patrol the area west of the coordinates 49,115. Should
any Gaian isles or transport come within range of the coast and it should have a colony pod I have issued orders to sink/destroy the transport or isle. I do not want this to come about but I will do what I have to do to preserve our rights to explore Planet. As I have said I could live with a
single Gaian base as long as that base does not claim ALL of the site for itself. If you agree to our second proposal, as shown above, than please notify me.

I hope that your empaths will guide your deliberations since they will aid you in understanding our point of view. I doubt you would be as friendly and as receptive to your plan if the roles were reversed? Is that not so!! What we have here is a simple problem of geography and of cooperation. You Gaians can not expect the factions of Planet to allow you to claim sole ownership of these sites especially when one of them is practically on our front door step!! Would you allow us to do the same to YOU!! I would say NOT!! As we have stated earlier the site at 62,40 is yours and yours alone since its well beyond our borders but for you to claim a site not even 10 sectors away from our nearest colony, well that is a different story indeed. No, we need to find common ground on this and quickly so that your unilateral actions do not trigger a war between us. Make no mistake, I will act to protect my fathers' interest and of my peoples. We will not allow Gaians to claim an area of land over 40 sectors away which will create an area greater than any three factions combined!!

I regret having to right this but I think if you work quickly and with us we can come up with a solution to this problem rather than facing bloodshed. Once again I urge you to proceed with caution!!

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 2335

Dear Eve,

I noticed you didn’t bother to consider the other issues I raised in my last transmission and I have to say I am disappointed that you are so myopic.. Or perhaps I can conclude you agree with the Gaian position? Until you or your father say otherwise I will let these issues lie.

You did spend a rather long time expounding our your territorial claims, and making some rather outrageous claims of Gaian intentions. The Council and I feel that we should, in the interests of clarity, respond to your assertions and accusations on a point-per-point basis.

First, the placement of additional bases will in no way increase the Gaian sphere of influence in the way you assert. The sphere of influence agreed to by the Planetary Council is approximately seven sectors from any existing base, or the middle point between two competing bases, whichever is less. The sphere of influence at sea is considerably less and is generally two sectors or less. Any new base, in previously unclaimed territory, will have a sphere of influence of seven sectors in radius, which is rather tiny fraction of the landmass of Planet. This sphere is much less where there are competing bases that belong to other factions. These facts fly in the face of your claims, and I invite you to support your assertions.

You also are concerned about the ‘right’ of any faction to settle (as opposed to simply claim, as you and your father have done) territory. It is the Gaian view that land outside a Council-approved faction territory is fair game, although we are sensitive to reasonable territorial concerns of other factions. You will note that any lone or small cluster of bases is more vulnerable than a threat since they posses few resources and it is difficult to have them form significant military threat. The bottom line is that they have minimal defense and offensive capability. I think this turns your argument on its head; any new, isolated base or small group of bases are hardly threatening.

To show that we are not being hypocrites the Cult, or any other faction, is invited to colonize the islands north of our lands, or the large continent to our east. Each would put that faction within easy striking distance of the Gaian mainland. These unsettled lands are extensive and you are welcome to them. Apparently the Cult is not so magnanimous, or trusting.

Your second point is more reasonable and I think we that, based on this proposal, we can come to a mutually agreeable solution. The Gaians will agree to one base within eight sectors of the Manifold Nexus, and that this base will have two military defenders. We will not agree to forfeit a perimeter defense, but see no need for a command center or other military enhancement centers. I don’t think that it should be too hard to keep the population to seven or less, but you must agree to some latitude since we can hardly execute or forcibly remove these people, so it will take a few years to humanely remove the excess population. We also agree to not plant any forests or remove any fungus near the Nexus. Any other base, should that ever come to pass, would be eight sectors or more from the boundaries of the Manifold Nexus. This should satisfy your claims.

Lastly, I view your assertion that a few more bases would effectively claim ½ of Planet for the Gaians as ludicrous. First, they are patently false based on the territorial limits agreed to by the Planetary Council – the numbers simply don’t add up. Second, your assertion implies a certain greed by the Gaians that is insulting since it is false, which is proven by the fact we have ceased any meaningful base expansion in the last 50 year. I also was offended that you would assert that we ‘treat Planet like a garbage can’, and I request that you clarify the intent of your slander. Your open threat of using isles to destroy Gaian civilians is likewise threatening and alarming, and the Gaian Council is at this moment trying to parse your meaning. Keep in mind that the Cult of Planet is seen by the Council as an aggressive and war-mongering faction based on your unprovoked attack and subjugation of The Hive. Your recent statements have done nothing to allay these concerns. For the time being we will view the more aggressive comments as miss-statements, and I would suggest that future messages to me and the Council be worded more carefully.

Deirdre Skye

*!*!*!*

Cult, MY 2235

Mistress Eve had called the emergency council session to assess the planetary situation. The solar flares had cut all communication with the other faction leaders and with all of the informants and vid-channels. Essentially for this first time in over a 100 years the Cult of the Planet was cut off from all everyone else on Planet. She looked around the room at all of the guild masters and silently hoped that there would be no surprises.

"Thank you all for coming so soon. First, as everyone knows the massive solar flares have all cut off all radio/microwave communications both within the our society and without. Our overseas colonies are linked to us via the undersea cables which allows for secure communications and between them and command central. However, communications between the various factions and their societies is essentially zero. The only means we have to communicate with them is by person to person. The problem with that is the distance issue. Even if I dispatch a messenger today via an isle of the deep the nearest faction is the Hive and it will take nearly four turns, the others even longer. My father did plan for such a contingency since we were aware of this possibility and our ambassadors at large, at each faction, have instructions to negotiate on our behalf up to a certain level. Our vassal state, the Hive, has plenty of Ranger guides to keep them in order so there is no worry there. So, what do you have to add?" Eve turned to the other council members and then waved her hand towards Ranger One Ramos.

"Mistress Eve, the new faith is in good order. We have expanded many temples into other factions that are open to our cause, the Peacekeepers, Hive and the Gaians. Our Ranger garrisons do need upgrading but with our current energy situation that will be difficult since a full 80% of our energy production goes into our scientific process. So upgrading our forces will take a long time. Hopefully, the Guides can add to our garrisons with more worms or through raising them in the worm chambers. We did complete the prototypes for both missile technology and resonance armor so future upgrades will now be possible with the latest technology we have. However, according to reports from the Seekers Guild several of the other factions might already have more powerful weapons or even armor. I..."

"It does not matter what weapons they have or armor. Our worms have shown that they are the equal to any force on Planet. We can sustain them in the field for a greater length of time and they are highly mobile. Also, many of our enemies lack the sophisticated equipment to protect them from mind attacks. No, what we need to concentrate on is even more worms, spore launchers and isles of the deep!" General Fookosh interrupted Ramos who finished his speech by banging his fist on the table.

"Mistress Eve, " Shari Moon quickly jumped into the conversation. " I agree with General Fookosh. However, I would like to add that our ultimate protection is in the good relations with the other factions. Our military might serves only one purpose and that is to convince other factions that attacking us would be more costly than profitable. Our "liberation" of the Hive would not have been so easy if the Hive had completed more missile, trance or resonance troops to counter our native forces. A strong native army/navy is important to our protection but it will not secure our peace in the long term."

"I agree with you Guild Mistress Moon but in the here and now our forces led by the able General Fookosh will secure our borders better than a piece of paper. Especially now since we can not even contact another factions to lodge a protest or negotiate a settlement. Look at the current situation with the Gaians. We still have not resolved the situations with the ruins and expansion. Should the Gaians move into those areas prior to us reaching an agreement there will be trouble. In essence based on the reply from the Gaians we have the bases for an agreement but until we can talk with them the issue is tabled, unless they act first. I have sent a communication to our base on the western continent informing them that they will now have priority to all our resources to dispatch a colony pod as quickly as possible to build a colony next to the alien ruins. Once we have a base there then we can negotiate with the Gaians from a sense of strength. We will allow them to set-up a single colony and we will adhere to our proposal as I stated but I still want to be first." Eve stated

"But Mistress Eve," Fookosh asked, " What are the orders to the boil class isles of the deep in that area?"

"Until we get a base up they are to block any Gaian ships or isles. If they can not block them then they will try to warn them off and if not then, then sink them. I am confident that our blockade of the narrow passage into that area will be enough to keep them out. With three isles blocking the passage I doubt they will get through. Also, the last report I have is the Spartans have no interest either of having another Gaian colony in what they claim as their territorial waters. If they Gaians want to take the land route to get there we also have a scout in the area who will work to keep the area clean." Eve then nodded to the master caretaker.

"Mistress Eve, I have little to add at this point. Our terra-forming operations are going well. We will also begin the process, again, of replanting fungus on the home islands. There is little fungus left and so we need to quickly replant what we can. Between the crews we have it should not take too long. We have two sea-formers working there way south and west to the western continent to build kelp farms to bolster production there so that they can build a new colony pod." The master caretaker finished his report by handing out more detailed copies.

Even then pointed to her spy master.

"Mistress, I have nothing to add. The solar flares have cut off our spy network so I have nothing to report. We do have one operation that should be ready in a turn or two and it might yield us some more information but as of now I have nothing, I am sorry." The black robed seeker sat quietly waiting for Eve's response.

"Master spy I do not hold you responsible for the suns activity. Just make sure the operation in question is completed this time. University agents detained your last team and returned them to our base unharmed. If they are caught a second time I doubt they will get the same treatment!" Eve replied.

"All right, I see that for the most part we are in a good position. The worst effect of this flare is that I can not contact my father for guidance. Let us all pray for his safe return." Eve then stood up and the others quickly stood up as well.

[Hydro]

Gaia’s Landing, MY 2236

“Colin, put down that torte. This is serious,” Ling said.

He put down his fork and looked longingly at his multi-layered chocolate cake with elaborate cream and strawberry filling between the dark cake. Then he pushed it away a centimeter of two, indicating he was done but not finished.

“As I was saying,” she continued, “the sunspots have completely disrupted the communication channels between the factions, even the University which is so close. There are some serious problems with this breakdown. First, diplomacy will either stop or grind nearly to a stop. During this hiatus we will not be able to broker peace between antagonistic factions, or even try to gain a peace for ourselves with the Hive and Peacekeepers. This means that these conflicts will fester and possibly grow in scope, perhaps sweeping others into the maelstrom. Second, the communications with our current friends will stop, and this will potentially lead to a slow atrophy in the level of understanding, or current flash points will start to spiral out of control.”

“Like the recent demands and proposals from the Cult,” Mohammed added.

“Yes, exactly,” Ling said.

“We don’t even know if the Cult got my message,” Deirdre said, “much less responded to it in a meaningful way. Although some of their accusations and assertions are ludicrous there may be a way to approach their primary sore points. But, now we will have a colony in place at the Manifold Nexus within four or five years. I’d bet they won’t care that we sent the isle with defenders and a former out almost a decade ago. Who knows how they will respond?”

“I’d bet that their response won’t be calm and collected,” Ling said.

Colin snorted in agreement.

“We can’t do anything about the sunspots, so I suggest we move on. We do have an agenda, and we are behind schedule,” Terry said. He looked around and saw no obvious dissention. “First, strategic base development. Mohammed?”

“Thank you,” he said. “Our primary core of bases have completed all basic infrastructure and are starting secondary infrastructure, including energy grids and biologic laboratories. Gaia’s Landing is working on a habitation complex, which should be ready in a few years. This will prepare us for growth past size seven, and will be copied by other bases in the future. Our secondary ring of bases are starting or near completion of basic infrastructure, and are finishing network nodes and research hospitals. Our third ring of bases, those at the periphery or in the Jungle, have rather basic amenities, although almost all have recycling tanks, rec commons, and a children’s crèches.

“Most importantly we will be completing the Neural Amplifier, and we are accumulating resources for a future project. This will be a great help in protecting our isles and seagoing vessels, and our worms and spoor launchers that are scattered all over the lands around us. Supply crawlers are augmenting their completion, so we should be able to have a significant advantage in future efforts to gain Projects.

“Lastly, I have come to verify to you that all bases have reported in and none are producing ecological damage. This has been independently verified by our auditors. It is interesting to note that as we complete the ecologically friendly improvements such as tree farms that our cities ability been able to increase their industrial output. I will update you on this topic as it develops. At this point our industrial output is maximized by they use of crawlers – future crawlers will harvest energy instead of minerals. That is an interesting point.”

“Thank you, Mohammed,” Terry said. “Ling?”

“Our static defense is mostly complete,” Ling said, “and we are still working on our mobile reaction forces, and will be completing more missile rovers as we can. More work is needed in our northern holdings which are potentially vulnerable to Peacekeeper attack, although they will have a significant sea fungus field to get through. I am looking forward to the completion of the Neural Amplifier, which will augment our trance and resonance defenses.”

“Good,” Terry said. “Dee?”

“Obviously there’s been no communication recently. I’ve had no progress with either Yang or Lal. Zak has been very friendly, and at least Aki has been civil recently. We gifted Santiago a few technologies and she was civil, but we haven’t been in contact for a long time – I regret that I didn’t call before the sunspots. I have some hope for our current disagreements with the Cult, and you all know from our long discussions how we are trying to proceed. I have nothing else, and doubt I will in the near future.”

“Thank you, Dee,” Terry said. “Any other issues?” There was no response. “Then our Council meeting is complete.”

*!*!*!*

Cult, MY 2236

The scout team leader had pushed his men hard for weeks but they had reached the alien ruins, objective one complete. Captain Manx was a veteran commander of many campaigns and had been in the militant arm of the Rangers almost all of his adult life. He was not accustomed to shocks but what he was looking at shook him to the very center of his being.

"Captain, I have ordered sergeant Smith to begin taking recon pictures of the area. Hopefully we will get a good laser uplink today with the base and then they can relay them over the hard line back to DPC ( Dawn of the Planet- Command ) this stuff is going to blow their socks off!" Lieutenant Mack turned to his captain waiting for his response, silently predicting what he would say.

"Lieutenant, I am trying not to think about this place. We have achieved the first objective by command by getting here. Our second objective is to keep anyone else away. The last link that got through from DPC was that three boil class sea worms were out over there in that western sea
patrolling to keep any transports from coming in. Our mission to secure this sight for our future research colony. Once we have one up and running then we can worry about anything else then. I want you to go over training data with the men. We have been promised two new missile sleds to help beef up our offensive capabilities. However, no firm date was set but I was told soon. Once you complete setting up another laser comm. relay station we will move out and head to the north side of these ruins. Once inside the fungus we will be able to move three times as fast and can hit anything that might come this way. I just hope it wont come to it, that's all." The captain pulled out his pad and began punching in coordinates for the company to follow.

"Sir, if I may, one of the men thinks he saw the Prophet last night while on guard duty. He was standing on a ridge line dancing? Private Jackson only said he was there for a few minutes but do you think it could be true, especially with what his daughter said?"

Captain Manx turned to his young lieutenant and put his hand on his shoulder.

"Son, the last report we got is that the Prophets team had lost contact just prior to the flares. That's it. Those guides are a different guild all together. I have no idea how long they can last out here without backup. From what I know from my briefing is that the Prophet and his support team landed just north of our current position, about 6 sectors, so it might be true." Manx leaned in closer, "However, lets try and keep this under wraps and make sure that the private understands it might have been anything. The last thing I need, or we need, is half of our men wandering off to save the Prophet."

"Yes sir, understood. One more thing, do you really think the Gaians will come?"

"I really hope not, I really do. If they come packing and ready for battle they will have us out gunned for sure. On the other hand if its just a colony pod and a single defender and we get the drop on them then its another story. I can tell you one thing, my orders are to destroy the colony
pod and supplies first! We hit that and mission accomplished. If our team is taken out from the counter-attack then, well, that's irrelevant. All we need to do is hit the colony construction pod!"

"I suppose that we should keep that little fact from the men, that, well, that they are expandable?"

"Yes, just like you and me!"

*!*!*!*

Near the Manifold Nexus, MY 2237

“This is rather a bleak place,” Maridith said. “Nothing like Last Rose of Summer with all its beautiful forests and rolling hills. All we have here is a barren land, expanses of haunting fungus, a huge fungal tower, and the Ruins.”

“Isn’t that enough? The scans of the Ruins are amazing and have been studied for decades,” Jonathan stated. “We’ve got all we need here, and more than the first colonists. Our former is here and ready to go and will start working next year as we move on, and our worm and spoor launcher will be able to scout the fungus and territory. They are a strange bunch, but I have to admire their dedication.”

“Now,” she said, ‘what about these edicts from Landing? No forests? That’s what I liked best from home, and they we can find a forest that is suited to almost any environment from arid to tropical and wet.”

“Something to do with the Cult, that’s all I’ve heard. Still, this won’t have much effect for a long time since we’ll establish a farm first anyway. Gotta feed the colonists!”

“I hope they get a move on,” Maridith said. “We have over 3000 people with us. It will be a lot of work to get the city up an running, and I hope the resources in the area can support all of us. We are so far away and we can’t just call Landing and ask for resupply.”

“Don’t worry. We’ll make due. All we’ve got to do for a while do the best we can. The rest will come in time. Now, help me assemble this conduit.”

*!*!*!*

Cult, MY 2237

The team leader of the seeker probe team felt the tingle of his ear-microphone alert him to an incoming call, a safety precaution in case he did not want any noise to disturb is operation, this time it was not an issue. He reached up and touched the ear microphone with his middle finger
which had a key sensor in the tip of the glove coded to the microphone and thus allowing the transmission to be heard.

"Team leader this is recon two, over?"

"Recon two, this is team leader, report?"

"Team leader, target one is a no go. I repeat, NO GO. Just minutes ago I confirmed that a full infantry company has deployed from the city and is now encamped one sector away. At this time I see no access route that is available for us to enter the city. Also, a real shame though, but the city seems to be having some type of civil unrest which would have made our jobs easier getting into it. Over?"

"Understood recon two, return to ops. and rejoin team!" The team leader said a silent curse to himself and reached down on his thigh pad and keyed in the frequency for recon team one. The laser communicators were much more secure than radio transmitters but relied heavily for their operation on the simple fact that person A had to know exactly where person B's laser
receiver was.

"Recon one, this is team leader, report?"

"Team leader this is recon one. Target two is quiet, no sign of activity as far as we can see. Unable to confirm type of garrison or if anti-espionage units are standing guard. Over?"

"Team one, return to ops. and rejoin team!, team leader out."

Team leader Bickford quickly keyed in the penetration plans on target two and beamed them to the other team members that were in the field ops. center. Once the recon teams were back in they would check in with their team leaders and get the new plan. Once each member reviewed it their PADs would beam back the acknowledgement. Next turn would tell the tale...

__ ___ ___ ___ ___ ____


The scout team walked through the ruins of the manifold and were amazed at the massive ruins. For the most part they could make out details on the supporting structures such as writings or numbers or whatever it was. Several of the flankers had even reported in they had found access portals leading down, beneath ground, but could not get the doors to open. The captain had even tried to fire his weapon into some debris from one part of the structure only to find that even after hitting it at point blank range it was neither hot or marked.

"Sir, still no reports from any activity from the scouts or flankers do we proceed on?" His second in commands questions sounded more flat than usual over his receiver. Ever since entering the ruins all of their equipment had acted, funny. Nothing would work as designed, every time. Many of the me reported having nightmares or much to vivid dreams. They were becoming more
tired as each day wore on. However, by next turn they would be clear of the ruins and on the northern side.

"Yes, press them on, get'em moving! The sooner we clear, well... this, the better, out."

Still now word on the missile sleds but reports did indicate a relief/support team was due any day but as to what they carried it was a mystery due to operational security for the mission.

*!*!*!*

Gaia’s Landing, MY 2238

Ling put down her tea cup and let its warmth seep into her fingers, and she looked up at Deirdre. “What do you think about the Cult probe team we saw in University territory?”

Dee concentrated up from her vegetable soup. “I’m worried. They can mean no good. It’s obvious they came from the isle near Velvetgrass Point.”

“Maybe they’re going to only infiltrate Zak’s datalinks. Then the Cult would have the same information we have with our empaths. Fair is fair,” Ling said.

“True,” Dee said as she sipped her soup. “If they do more Zak will likely be furious. He’s very protective of his technology, he always has been. There’s no telling what he might do if his security were breached.”

Ling considered this. “Maybe that what Cha wants - to start a fight. He gets some technology, and Zak, in his fury, declares war. He took out the Hive in less than a decade. Perhaps he wants to add the spires of University Base to his list of prizes, along with The Hive.”

Dee sipped some more soup. “How good was his team? Did our sensor get that much information?”

“They are disciplined, reasonably well trained – nothing more,” Ling said.

“Are they a threat to us?” Dee asked.

“No. We have defensive probes at 2/3 of our bases now, and our bases on the south side of our mainland are well defended. It would take multiple teams to do some serious damage, or breach our security.”

Dee tore off a bit of the whole wheat herb bread on a plate in front of her and chewed it absently. “How many probe teams does Cha have?”

“I don’t know. We agreed not to snoop, and we haven’t. Not much, anyway. Should I look into this?”

Dee paused. “Yes. Considering the circumstances. Any other Cult activity?”

“As a matter of fact, yes,” Ling said. “Our spoor launcher found a Cult synthmetal garrison in the Manifold Nexus. Our launcher handler tried to contact them but they refused any communication except to state that the ruins belong to the Cult. Then they trained their weapons on the launcher, who backed into the fungus.”

“Where is the colony pod?” Dee asked. Her voice lowered a half octave and she set the fragment of uneaten bread on the table.

“Safe,” Ling said. “Unless the Cult garrison heads south and then west they can’t get to them. The launcher will stay in the fungus, healing as it does. We have a number of boils on the way in case things get out of hand. One nice bonus is that our isle in the area encountered a rogue isle in the sea fungus. It turned out to be a friendly, so now our on-site navy is twice as big.”

“We don’t want to provoke the Cult, Ling,” Dee said.

“How are we provoking them? We told them what we were doing after they made their outrageous accusations and demands. We’ll settle there regardless. We even agreed to the Cults odd demands on the number of bases, and what they can do there. What else could Cha want?”

“I don’t know,” Dee said. “Although I think his intentions will become clear soon.”

[Hydro]

Cult, MY 2238

The young lieutenant was running back to the command post he was moving as fast as he could and he quickly covered the distance between the command post and the large Gaian spore launcher. As he reached the C.P. he jumped over the rock walls that had been built to provide cover.

"Sir I gave the ultimatum to the Gaian spore handlers and they accepted it. They did not say much other than they would pass it back to their command. I told them that if they did not move their sporey out of the area we would attack next turn and once again they seemed very calm about it. What's the plan now sir?" The lieutenant sat down at the field table and looked at the map.

"Things are getting very hot here. I got a laser uplink from the coast and it seems our isles of the deep have some Gaian Isles bottled up in a cove to the west of here. They also issued the same ultimatum as well. It seems that the "tacit" agreement between the big boys was to only have two infantry garrisons in this area and from the intel we are getting the Gaians have not followed through, in fact, it looks like they are trying to flood this area with reinforcements. My orders are very clear now. If the sporey does not move out we attack it next turn and try to find the colony pod as quickly as possible. Our isles will destroy the Gaian isles if they do not pull back. This area was supposed to be shared by everyone and now it looks like the Gaians want to gobble it all up." The captain slowly eased himself back in his chair and looked out over the plain to the spore launcher sitting there. " Lieutenant, these Gaians would gobble up the entire planet if we let'em. The Prophet is right about one thing. You can not have two masters, either you support Planet our you support your pocket book. Them Gaians all they care about is more, more more! More wealth, more material more anything. When you worship wealth then it begins to effect you."

"Captain, we still do not know where the colony pod is?"

"I know, I know. But if we pull out of here with the sporey sitting out there we all but give this area over to them. No, I will not let it happen and my orders support me. Tell them men to get ready and dig in!"

__________________________________________________ ___

Antionio Markese glided into the conference room of the Mistress Eve who was working away on some paperwork. He paused but only a second but it was enough to alert her senses to his approach.

"Spy master you are too good to make such a dumb mistake I can only assume you were trying to alert me to your presence." Eve slowly turned and faced the man.

"Mistress Eve, my predecessor trained you all to well. I see you are reviewing the latest communiqué from the western base. Do you think the Gaians will withdrawal?"

"Skye has no consideration for anyone else on Planet. Her people follow her lead and she intends to lead them all over Planet. She could not wait till this damn sunspot activity was done could she? No, the great Lady Skye and her Gaians will do what they want when they want regardless of the other factions. She knew what was there before we did and that is why she did not respond to my fathers proposal concerning our sphere of influence. If she had been open and stated that they had found something in our backyard we could have worked it out, but now, without guidance from my father I can only act on how I think he would want us to do." Eve stood up and let her robe fall open revealing her gorgeous body to the master spy.

"Really Eve, do you think I would allow myself such pleasure. That is such a crude attempt on your part." The master spy chuckled to himself as she pulled her robe close about herself.

"No, it was not trick, I am just lonely right now." She sighed and looked up at the ceiling.

"Eve, to do what you ask would, what you desire, would end my effectiveness to you and your father. No, your loneliness will have to end with someone else. Now, back to the issue at hand. I saw the orders you drafted, do you really plan on carrying them out?"

"I have to do!!" Eve's face turned red and she slammed her fist to the table allowing her robe to open again. " This is where we draw the line in the sand. I wish I had more forces in the area, I wish a lot of things but at this moment I can not blink. Either the Gains begin a general troop withdrawal or we are at war. The Gaians can not continue to think they can push us around! We have rights as well. If they want peace then they will have to work at it just like they work for their gold each day the money grubbing swine!"

"Eve, I suspect your father would have taken the same course of action. The situation looks terrible so we will have to make the best of it. I do have some good news though so I wanted you to know first. Our team did get through and it planted the infiltration virus so we now have full access to the University computer net. It is truly amazing!" the master spy reached beneath his robes and pulled out a PAD and handed it to Eve who quickly grabbed it and devoured the information. Minutes ticked by and after a while she began to laugh and then put the PAD down.

"They are pathetic!" Eve turned to the master map on the wall and then picked up the PAD again and beamed the data over so it could be updated. " To imagine that the Gaians were actually afraid of these people for all these years. If the University was any closer I suspect my father would have found a way to attack them. For all of their science we are well ahead of them and our economy is a juggernaught compared to them even with their precious free market systems that pollute the planet. If my father were here I know he would attack them and end their blight on Planet." Eve walked over to the map and continued her review absently she asked, " Did the team survive?"

"No, they planted the virus and where caught and eliminated but no one can trace them or the bodies back to us. We are clean. In fact, they were not able to plant the evidence as you requested. I am sure if it had worked the University would have been very upset at the Gaians. A noble plan, one worthy of another attempt, if it had succeeded it would have hopeful distracted the Gaians from their efforts at expansion again. Your father has played the factions against the Gaians for decades keeping them off balance."

"Yes, once they turn their backs at last to the pursuit of wealth and concentrate on becoming one with Planet then we can become real allies but for now they are no worse than the rest." Eve turned and left the room leaving the master spy sitting at the table wondering again when would the Prophet return?

*!*!*!*

Manifold Nexus, MY 2239

“What do you mean, they say they will attack if we don’t leave. Are they insane? What did we ever do to them?” Jonathan almost shouted.

The worm empath didn’t respond. She had not been in contact with the worms so long that she had forgotten a rhetorical question when he heard one.

Jonathan had been ranting for almost an hour now and had gotten much of his bile out of his system. He was beginning to think rationally again.

“Anything from the empaths at Landing?” he asked.

The empath shook her head. He had asked the same question just before he went off on his tare, and the answer she had given him then was this: Message received and understood. Danger significant. Orders stand – remain in place. If hostilities commence defend yourselves as best you can. Although they are not nearby, reinforcements will be available for defense shortly. Ming/Gaian Council.

Jonathan signed. “Well, there’s nothing for it. Issue a general alert, something that lets them understand the gravity of the situation but doesn’t instill outright panic. We have 3000 colonists to protect and I can’t having them flying off or doing something stupid. I hate to say this, but order is key. Understood?”

The empath nodded, and then closed her eyes. Then the call went out, and it was heard by all of the colonists either at a subconscious level or as an outright message: Warning – imminent attack. Prepare for the possible hostilities based on the ultimatum from the Cult.

Jonathan understood the message, too. His stomach promptly tied itself up in knots.

*!*!*!*

Ming was in her element – the Command Center at Dreams of Green. This command center was no longer the newest or most advanced, but it was the first military structure the Gaians had built. They now had eight command centers scattered strategically over their territory, and, depending on the result of the sudden and shocking Cult ultimatum, they would start producing either more military hardware or maybe a bioenhancement center. She liked to refer this structure as the Arsenal of Democracy, and for many years it had been.

Now data were flooding in from all over. Even through Ling was not part of the Gaian miltiary command staff she had access to almost everything due to her role on the Council, who were interested in a general way and who also thought it prudent to keep a close eye on any military apparatus. By all accounts the Gaians now possessed the largest military machine on Planet, and this was likely to grow quickly.

It was clear to Ling what the Council should propose to the Parliament – another military buildup, particularly in potentially exposed coastal bases, the creation of a few more mobile reaction forces, a real conventional emapth navy, and more defensive probes. The Cult probe had been seen entering Climatic Research but not coming out again. That boded ill for other nearby factions, including the Gaians. If they penetrated their datalinks the Cult now knew how weak the University was, despite its vaunted technology. What the Cult didn’t know is that the other factions were in similar shape, with a poor infrastructure and too few bases to achieve ‘critical mass’.

The Cult also didn’t know how weak they were in comparison to the Gaians. At this point the Gaians had three times more of almost everything than the Cult, be it research, population, or military. Even in worms the Gaians were ahead, since Ling knew that they controlled 27 native vectors at this point in time, most of which were mindworms. Moreover, it was clear that the Cult was way behind in terms of infrastructure since most of their bases were still finishing rec commons and recycling tanks, which almost all Gaian cities had. The Gaians were working on the second or third tier of infrastructure while the Cult was just finishing their first.

Ling thought to herself: Let them come! They’ll soon regret it!

She knew they would regret it much more if they declared war. The Parliament was on a knife’s edge and had only just rejected the last few proposals to switch to a Planned economy and population boom. As usual the Progressives were behind the proposal, but a few minor parliamentary factions that generally sided with the Greens were teetering, and it wouldn’t take much to push them over.

Ling could hardly wait! In a few years a population boom would seep Gaian lands, pumping the resource base for food, minerals, energy, and with it the economy.

All she needed now was for the Cult to declare war.

*!*!*!*

Cult, MY 2239

Captain Manx looked through the mag-glasses again at the spore launcher and it still had not moved, DAMN! What the hell were the Gaians playing at! He cold knot in his stomach kept getting worse as time seemed to fly by. The relay message from D.P.C. had been clear, it was signed by mistress Eve herself. Attack if the Gaians did not withdrawal! The message had to be kept short due to the distance and the laser communication system was not always reliable so the message read:

Attack the Gaians if they do not withdrawal. Colony pod is being built to support operations in your area but will not be ready and in place for at least 10 turns. Hold eastern side of ruins for future colony site. Full authority is given to you to do what is needed to preserve Cult's right equal share to site. Control of isles of deep in western sea in your hands. If you feel attack is only option to protect area for cult, you are required to do so. Your unit is expandable if need be to preserve our rights! Mistress Eve.

Thanks! That was about as helpful as a rifle butt to the head. To make matters worse a Cult Isle of the deep had reported that a Gaian isle had landed a mind worm to the north. So if he did not attack this turn to force the spore off he would have to do so next turn! Damn! Why me!!! These damn Gaians seemed to think that they had some God given right to slap a colony here and claim the whole area! Damn!!

"Sir, I have to report something to you." Captain Manx turned to face his lieutenant.

"What is it son?"

"Sir, its the men. I have to say that many of them are not to happy at all about our pending attack. I mean, well,, sir, its like this. The men are all good members of the new faith. All of them have grown up learning to honor and love our native friends the mind worms and sporeys and now we have to attack one? It might be a problem." The young lieutenant looked down almost embarrassed to have to report this. All of the men were devoted to the captain but to ask them now to kill a spore launcher, well, he might as well ask them to kill their own families.

The captain had had enough. He grabbed his rifle and vaunted over the wall of the command post and trudged across the field toward the Gaian spore launcher and the keepers. As he approached them he pulled a small white cloth from a thigh pocket and tied it to his rifle. He stopped a few meters from the spore launcher and the Gaian team. He looked around the area and realized that these Gaians were not very good soldiers. They had no listening post or any other basic military preparations had been done. In fact, they looked like they had just stopped and set up to make a camp for some cookout or something. Perhaps the Guild of Guides had the same lack standards as the Gaians.

"HELLO!! Look I got a proposition for you? Who can I talk to?" Yelled the captain.

A young man who barely looked like he could shave walked over to the him and stopped a meter away.

"What can I do for you?" Asked the Gaian.

"Look, here it is in a nutshell. I, and my team are going to come across this field very soon with our shredder rifles and turn the lot of you into swiss cheese. It looks like your spore launcher is already beat up but its healing so perhaps it will put up a fight after all. I also know that when we win we will loose. Because I know that a Gaian mind worm is racing south to help you and they will kill us. And then our isle of the deep kills yours and then you kill ours and we then kill it back and on and on." The captain paused for a second waiting for the young man to respond. At first he looked mad as hell about the part when he said he was going to kill him but then he softened a bit by the end.

"So you see, there it is.... Look I got my orders, you got your orders. I have no idea why the big gals up at the top can not figure a way out of this mess. I suppose it has to be the flares and stuff that make all the negotiating hard. So, here is what I got to say. One, I am staying put. Me and my men are not moving. We got a colony pod coming and it is going to set-up just east of here at the end of the ruins. One pod, that's it. I am sure it will also come with more troops as well. Big surprise. So, here is my idea we all just freeze till it gets here. Then you can set-up your colony and we set-up ours and then everything is okay. That's all my boss wants to see happens, Okay? Otherwise, well I got my orders, plain and simple. If I die carrying them out, well that's what soldiers do. I don't' look forward to it but that's the plain fact of it. So you can take a little initiative yourself and help me find a way out of this and stop what's about to happen or well, you can just die here in a few more days, just like me." The captain finished and waited for the young man to close his jaw in disbelief. After a few more seconds he said.

"Let me get back to you, hold on..." and the man trotted back to this base.

[Hydro]

Manifold Nexus, MY 2240

“Just got a message from the Cult. Get me Landing, NOW!!” Jonathan said to the startled empath, who was desperately trying to shake off the effects of a much needed nap. She didn’t do much more than blink when a calm look crossed her face.

“Just got a message from the Cult garrison that gave us the ultimatum. It seems they’ve changed their mind. If I understand them correctly they want us to freeze until they get their colony pod here in a decade or so. They were a bit vague about the timeline. Otherwise they said they will carry out their orders and attack. Send that. Got is?”

The empath closed her eyes and a look of intense concentration washed over her face. Jonathan looked on with barely suppressed excitement – he knew better than to interrupt.

*!*!**

“Emergency Council, called to order. Glad you could all make it,” Terry asked.

“Like we would be anywhere else,” Ling said.

“Your datapads have the squirt we just got from the Nexus. I trust you’ve all reviewed it?” Terry asked. Everyone nodded. “Now, the Parliament has sent us a directive to decide this for them, advise them of the decision for approval or disapproval, but no debate.”

Colin perked up. “Really? No debate?”

“Really. They understand, for once, we don’t have the time. Ling, any thoughts?”

“We’d be stupid to agree. We’ve planned to send a colony pod there for over 15, almost 20 years. The Cult didn’t bother to do anything about it, and then made their silly unilateral proclaimation claiming the area. When we objected they sent an almost equally silly proposal which we largely agreed to. Now they are threatening to kill anyone there, breaking the agreement. It is very lucky we had a bunch of worms exploring the continent and the lands near the Cult’s new city east of the Manifold – otherwise we’d be up sh*t creek. Now, they want us to hold tight while they spend a decade or so to catch up. Meanwhile, a lot can change in a decade or more and we’re ready to go. I see no reason not to settle, and if the Cult wants to come later then they are welcome to do so.”

“The garrison said we have to freeze or they’ll attack,” Colin reminded Ling. “They could interpret the advance of the colony as violating the impromptu truce.”

“So what,” Ling said. “We’re not saying they can’t settle the land near the Nexus, and our actions won’t preclude them from doing so. We’re not doing anything to violate the intent of the agreement Dee sent to the Cult before the sunspot activity cut off communications. The Cult violated the intent by threatening an attack. We showed up with two military units as we agreed, and they took advantage of that. We were damn lucky that the other worms were in the area.”

“So are you saying we should move the colony forward?” Mohammed asked. “Won’t they be vulnerable to attack?”

“Yes, they would, if they went alone. We should send two worms with them, just in case. The launcher will stay put.”

“That violates the agreement I sent, Ling – two military units,” Dee said.

“They abrogated it by threatening to attack,” Ling said. “It also shows their intent – keep any base weak and vulnerable so that they could take it out when they want to. I call that disingenuous. Downright sneaky. Now we are in a position of having to defend ourselves, and make sure that any attack will be fatal to them.”

“Thank you Ling,” Terry said before Ling monopolized the debate again. “Colin?”

“I don’t like the whole situation,” he said. “I can’t believe the Cult would do this, but they have. We agreed to almost everything they wanted and they threw it in our face. Why? I just don’t understand.”

Terry paused to see if Colin wanted to add anything else. He didn’t. “Mohammed?”

“Even if we build the base it will be very difficult to defend,” he said. “We’ll have to spend a great deal of energy to rush build basic facilities, and non-military units. If we decide to press forward we need to understand the financial consequences. It will cost hundreds and hundreds of energy megacredits. Also, we should be aware that it will take the Cult much longer than 10 years to get a colony in place. It will be more like 20 or 25 years unless technology changes significantly since they have to finish the colony pod and then transport it across huge tracts of sea and land.”

“Good points. Dee?” Terry said.

Dee didn’t respond at once since she was aware that everyone was watching her. The silence grew. “We need to do our best to understand Planet, and be sensative to the needs of other factions. Our best option is to establish the base, and do our best to defend it. But we need to make sure the Cult understands that we are not shutting them out. They are more than welcome to settle the area. If they decide to tear up the draft agreement then we can’t do anything about it. We can settle the land, let the Cult do the same, and even share data with them. We need to adhere to the draft agreement, assuming the Cult pulls away and stops threatening the new base. We can’t do anything else.”

The Council was nodding, Ling enthusiastically and Colin unhappily.

“I think we are in agreement, Dee. We’ll send the pod forward with defenders, and establish the base next year. At the same time we’ll let the Cult garrison know of our counter-proposal, which is to establish the base and that they are free to do the same whenever they get there, and that they will get full access to our data. And that we will pull back our extra military units, primarily worms, eight sectors away when the Cult no longer threatens our base. Agreed?”

More nods.

“Dee, craft a response for our anxious colonists. And all of us need to hope for the best.”

*!*!*!*

Cult, MY 2240

The young Gaian walked across the field waving a white flag over his head somewhat nervously. Manx watched him approach till he got within 15 meters of the command post and then he vaulted over the wall and trotted out to meet the man. As he approached the Gaian reached down and unzipped his side thigh pocket of his environment suit and pulled out some sort of data device. Manx walked up to the man and stopped within a couple of meters of him.

"Captain, I have the following response for you. First the Gaian council wishes to inform you that they intend to proceed with colonization in this area. In fact, in about three hours you will detect the approach of a colony pod with two Gaian mind worms as escort. The council rejects your offer of "freezing" the current situation until further negotiations can be completed. The council still wishes to observe some of the recommendations that your leadership asked for such as no forests. However, due to your aggressive behavior and threats we deem it necessary to protect ourselves against your threats." The Gaian handed the pad over to Manx who read the letter completely and then a second time.

"Well, we already knew that you had a colony pod coming this way and we also knew that you had more forces as well escorting it. I was told that our leadership asked for "limited" military presence in this area so I suppose two mind worms and a spore launcher is the Gaian term for limited." The young Gaian was about to protest the insult but Manx cut him off. "Look, I know you Gaians have a hard time of it looking at things from someone else's perspective so here it is. You Gaians knew about this place for some time and you knew it was closer to our territory than yours. You kept it a secret for a long time and when it became clear that we planned on colonizing this area you then and only then told us of your plan and this site. You wanted to claim this entire area, along with the other alien site, for your own. Of course, you would share with us what information you deemed we could handle but you would enjoy the first fruits of such knowledge. Nice. Look, I am just a soldier but I know greed when I see it and I see it in your people. So now that you have reinforcements I can either attack you and possible kill you and then get myself and my men killed and on and on and on and for what. So, here is what we are going to do. I am moving east about two sectors where our people plan on building a colony there in 10 turns. We will set-up a small command post there and wait for them to arrive. When the colony pod arrives we will set it up and we should be able to claim a part of these ruins for study as well. Of course, by that time your city will have already claimed a large chunk of this area so I have been told that will break our treaty with you. I have been told to inform you that if you wish to re-activate the treaty at that time you are free to contact us and re-open negotiations, we will be receptive. So unless you plan on killing us to clear us off in about 10 turns you will have us neighbors." Manx pulled a PAD out of his pocket and handed it to the young man so he could read the small message that was able to get through from D.P.C. it read as follows;

"Gaians, we no longer trust you. I am sorry to have to say that but that is how we feel. Your continued devotion to the accumulation of wealth and things has blinded you and made you arrogant. I think you no longer understand how your actions are see by others or respect the concerns of others. We People of the Planet have never given you offense to you or taken any action to harm you and this is how we are repaid by your clandestine actions. We plan on building a colony at the site just east of the ruins. We will build a colony pod there and observe the stipulations we first asked for everyone to abide by. It seems that from the evidence at hand that you knew a long time ago about the location of these ruins and failed to inform any of the faction leaders of the location. Such a wonderful discovery to keep secret was a terrible mistake. Upon finding the ruins you should have convened a council meeting to decide how to share the information and research the sites. You did not do so. Lastly, as the disposition of the northern ruins, we will not build a colony there since it is far beyond the scope of our territory and might cause tension between the Peacekeepers and yourself. We will leave that area to you and Lal to explore. However, we will establish a colony near the site in question now and begin our studies. Once again your actions expose your true nature for all to see!

Mistress Eve"

The young Gaian linked his PAD to Manx's and copied the message and then handed the PAD back.

"Look, I want to thank you for not attacking earlier. I know, well, that things got bad back there but,,, I really didn't want to die, not here, not even for this." The Gaian waved his hand around pointing to the enormous alien structure.

"I didn't either and I sure as hell did not want to kill a native life form of Planet if I did not have to. Look kid, I like you, you had spunk holding out against us when your sporey was half alive from whatever it tangled with. Now you got reinforcements so the shoe is on the other foot." Manx shifted his weight look back at the Gaian campsite. The spore launcher did look better than before.

"Yes, I suppose so." The Gaian replied.

"Bye and good luck Gaian!" Manx turned and walked back to the command post and then yelled, "BREAK CAMP WE ARE MOVING OUT!!"

The Gaian saw the captain vault over the walls and observed the flurry of activity and then turned and walked back. He had dodged a bullet, it had been close...

[Hydro]

Gaia’s Landing, MY 2241

“If we won why do I feel so sad,” Colin said. He hadn’t touched his lemon soufflé, which was an exquisite yellowy brown and heady and delicate aroma that hinted of jasmine.

“Come on. Eat up! I made it for you to cheer you up,” Ling said. She had been in a buoyant mood for the last few days since the establishment of the newest Gaian colony Children of Earth in the Manifold Nexus. The Cult garrison had pulled back after issuing a stern rebuke, and a personal note of displeasure from the leader-pro-tem Mistress Eve. Gaian colony leaders had immediately deployed the prefab colony elements and a base with three thousand people was up and running.

“It’d cheer me up if we weren’t causing others so much distress. We came this close,” he said as he held up his pointer finger and thumb, separated by a millimeter, “to war with the Cult. Was the Nexus worth it? We may have permanently damaged our relations with them, just when we were starting to come together. This has only highlighted our differences.”

“Come on, eat your soufflé. I’ll be sad if you don’t,” she said, putting on a ‘sad’ face for show, and her normally stern and hard face seemed to melt into sorrow with a crumpled brow and creased frown lines.

Colin started, completely taken aback at the change. Then he picked up his fork and dug in.

“That’s better!” she said. “It’s a good thing they didn’t, too. Our Neural Amplifier would have made our worms very hard to kill, if they had the temerity to do so. And then, by dumb luck, we had more worms and isles in the area to support our colony and convince the Cult that we were serious.”

Colin considered this as he dished a rather large helping of soufflé onto his white china plate.

“We learned that the Cult understands strength from their attack on the Hive. Remember how we couldn’t why the Cult was attacking, but I think now it is clear: they were attacking because they could. In other words, they attack those that they feel are weak. Mark my words, they’ll pick a fight with someone else that can’t defend themselves, maybe the University since they are small and close.”

“They wouldn’t do that,” Colin said with his mouth half full.

“I hope you’re right, Colin, but the Cult is an aggressive society. We need to keep that in mind,” she said.

Colin put down his fork.

Ling said, “Now, don’t get mad. I’m not saying that the Cult are megalomaniacs or psychopaths, only that they are aggressive in defending their beliefs.”

“And our problem is that we don’t understand their beliefs,” Colin said.

Ling’s eyebrows arched upward a bit. “Right The problem is that we don’t understand their beliefs even if we have similar values. Our approaches are completely different, and this is bound to create conflict. Other factions have different values but similar approaches, like the Gaians and the University, so we are likely to get along better.”

“Then why did Lal declare war on us,” Colin asked. “We have similar values and beliefs, so by your theory they should be our friends and allies. Answer me that.”

“Good point. All I can say is that Lal has been erratic since he landed on Planet.”

“So is Zak,” Colin said. “So, why doesn’t Santiago, who is very aggressive, take on the other factions? She hasn’t.”

“Oh, eat your soufflé,” Ling said in frustration. That is why she enjoyed Colin so much. He seemed so soft and pliable until he started asking questions.

“Do you think we can do anything to help the Cult understand us a bit better?” Colin asked.

“Maybe,” Ling said. “They won’t be able to place a base where they like due to the Planetary Council faction boundary limitations, and they will be very annoyed at that. Maybe we can set up a base in the area and gift it to them?”

“Hmmm. That would be a good guesture. Mind if I mention it in Council?”

“Not at all. Dee trusts you, and links me with the evil Progressives. I do think it will help.”

“You are linked with the Progressives!” Colin said, his color rising. “And they rammed through that blasted proposal to shift our economy to an inefficient Planned model! Dee was livid, and was furious that her views were shoved aside. This just proves everything the Cult was saying about us – growth without reason, or forethought, greedy and grasping. The social chaos alone will be catastrophic, and you Progressives have no plan to deal with it. Lunacy!”

“Stop being so sensitive. You know it is only for a few years, then we go back to a Green model. We wouldn’t have been able to get enough votes without a limited life span, a sunset clause, if you will. So stop bellyaching. You’ll get your Green back, and likely keep it for a long, long time.”

Colin wasn’t hungry anymore. “I feel like I’m consorting with the enemy when I lunch with you,” he said.

“No you don’t. You like exchanging views as much as I do, and if the Cult were even half as interested in understanding us as we are in understanding them then we wouldn’t be in this predicament. They could learn a little from us, especially reasoned pragmatism.”

“Hmmph,” Colin said as he pulled the soufflé toward himself again.

“Now, would you like some coffee?” Ling asked.

*!*!*!*

Cult, MY 2241

Mistress Eve had called an emergency council session of her closest advisors. They were meeting late at night due to the extreme importance of the information. Eve had reduced the command council to herself, the master seeker, Ranger One and General Fookosh. The Caretakers Guild was important still but nearly everything they did or controlled was non-critical and could be dealt with as needed at scheduled meetings. Shari Moon the Guild Master of the Guides had been forced into a more advisory role, primarily administrative. Eve hardly interfered, or bothered with the internal workings of the Guilds but from all accounts Fookosh’s victories had gained him great power and prestige within the guild. Even though he was no the guild master for all intents and purposes, he was.

Eve began the meeting by saying, “ I am glad you could make it at this hour. We have much to cover so let us get to it. First, I have not heard from my father. Still no contact. Until the solar flares end I doubt we will be able to contact him or he us. So I know some of you have some important things to discuss.”

“Mistress Eve, I have been informed that the Gaians are once again “booming”. They have shifted their economy from a Planet friendly one to a planned industrial. Their population is surging from the sketchy reports that have I have been able to pull together. As of now I would say that even if all of the other factions voted against the Gaians they would still have more than enough proxy votes to win any council vote, in their favor.!” The master spy reported while at the same time he had punched up the details on the holo-viewer on the center council so that everyone else can see.

“That despicable *****! Do the Gaians have any principals what’s so ever! Do money and power drive them alone! This is unacceptable! Every time we protest her factions actions when they turn from the green path all she says is that “the other factions are worse, you should like the fact we only pollute just a little bit” So when the great Prophet does take action against the Hive for their abominations against Planet she labels us as conquerors and claims we are enemies of Peace. WELL WHAT ABOUT BEING ENEMIES OF THE PLANET!” Eve slammed her fist down hard, so hard it shook the holo-viewer and scrambled the data shown.

“Mistress Eve, there is nothing we can do at this time.” General Fookosh replied very calmly.

Eve turned on the general and stared at him, “What do you mean by that?” she barked.

“Simply put Mistress the great army we amassed to defeat the Hive is now dispersed through out our cities to provide garrisons for the cities. If we were to recall of these worms and spore launchers it would, no it will create chaos in the cities. No, our army is gone.” Fookosh then reached across the table and punched up his data on the status of the army. Eve had known this information earlier but to see it laid out has Fookosh had done made the Cult seem insignificant. “Mistress, we need to build up our military forces both native and human. Some of our cities still have only scout units while others have a mis-match of arms and armor. We need a wholesale upgrade in weapons and armor at all bases. We need to increase our overall human garrisons to have at least two units at each base and a native unit.”

“Fookosh, what you ask is not possible. Until we get more tree farms and the planetary energy grid on line our resources will be limited. However, we could take the same path as the Gaians, the industrial path. If we could even add 25% more population we could increase our resources greatly. Perhaps if we...”

“NO! We will never the abandon our principals and our faith. The Gaians are souless beasts! They are even worse than the other factions. At least the other factions do not pretend to be friends of the Planet. They are not hypocrites like the Gaians. What we will do is this. First, we will build more spies units like the ones that infiltrated the University. We will steal technology and energy and continue our efforts to de-stabilized the Gaians influence and align a anti-Gaian powerblock.”

“Mistress Eve, what you propose will be difficult to say the least. It will take to build and deploy espionage teams. At best we are talking about 10 turns at best before the first team can deploy. I would suggest our first target would be the University. They have developed a high-energy weapon called a chaos gun. With that we will have equal conventional weapons with any of the other factions. We can also work on planting false evidence to frame the Gaians. This would help achieve the second part of your desire to destabilize the Gaians and it would force the other factions to seek allies, namely us.” The master seeker turned slightly to Eve and nodded briefly.

“Mistress Eve, I can add little to what has been said so far. Our core bases are becoming very advanced but due to the late start in colonization our outer bases are still lacking in most areas. Our key and I do mean this, our KEY, is the planetary energy grid. With that on-line we should see a vast increase in our energy production which, in turn, will give us the resources we need to expand our research and upgrade our forces. I tend to look at this situation as a race. We need only to keep pace with the Gaians for now. Once we make more improvements and expand even more we can then make a dash to the finish.” Ramos interjected.

“Yes, you are correct. We can not let ourselves become too focused on the Gaians. We can still “chip” away at the others and build our base. We have three more colonies almost ready for deployment. We will continue with my fathers’ great plan to build many, many small bases but keep the populations small. Our biggest problem is that our cities are spread out over a vast area. It is hard for us to concentrate our forces since our people and forces are spread out over four continents.” Eve replied.

For a few minutes they were all quiet and then Eve slowly got up and left the room. The others said nothing until she left and the door closed.

“I think we need to brainstorm for awhile and devise a plan that will show that we are a powerful faction and that w should be taken very seriously.” The master’s spy said as he turned to the others.

“Let us hear again about this espionage team idea. Also, I could possibly put together a small strike force that we can use to pick away for now at our enemies rather than the might blow.” Fookosh added.

Ramos smiled as the other two began to plan. He added a comment here and there but he knew what was really needed to spark his people, a holy Jihad! He would order all ranger priests to begin a new program of indoctrination and study to focus the will power of the entire Cult into one mighty force that the great Prophet could wield. One the Prophet returns that will be the signal to declare the jihad and embark on the Planet wide cleansing of unbelievers. Yes, that is what he must do!

*!*!*!*

Gaia’s Landing, MY 2242

“It looks like the Neural Amplifier has already paid off,” Ling said. “An isle exploring the seas near the Peacekeepers survived an attack by a sea foil, and it is only minimally damaged. Before it would have been, at best, even due to the vagaries of psi combat. The only other attacks were four encounters with hostile native units, all of which were dispatched.”

“You mean killed,” Dee said.

Ling looked at Dee and bit back a caustic response as she thought better of it. “Killed, then. This yielded planet pearl energy that exceeded our current surplus of 90 megajoules per year. Our military buildup has been scaled back massively due to the current population boom and the need for population calming structures.”

“What you mean is that the uncontrolled population boom growth is causing massive civil unrest, with six cities in full riot,” Colin said. “And that we are desperately trying to keep a lid on it before it gets completely out of control.”

“I’m not sure I would characterize the unrest as massive, and our control measures seem to be working just fine. There are no longer any riots,’ Ling started.

“Until the next year when the riots start again,” Dee said.

‘I think you’re miss-characterizing the situation. Most of our cities have a maximum population already and are quite stable. Only our younger second tier cities are experiencing high growth rates, and only a few of these are having stability problems. Moreover, I think Mohammed can tell us that our infrastructure is four times as massive as that of our nearest rival, the Cult. In other words, our second tier and developing cities are have a better infrastructure than the best of the other faction’s cities. This means that they are comparatively and absolutely more stable.”

Mohammed didn’t contradict Ling since he had just presented the Council with a development report summary three weeks ago, and the gulf between the Gaians and the other factions were stark and wide.

“But how much growth is justified, or good? The Cult has called us to the table on this for the last 50 years,” Colin said.

“Yes, and then they violated it,” Ling said with some heat. “They called us wanton expansionists for having so many bases, saying that we were despoiling Planet. Then, a few decades later, they have just as many bases as we had then. Either they have critically short memories, or they are hypocrites. I think they just want us to limit ourselves in their efforts to equal and then surpass us, which I think is a fatal idea. They have used the power they have to conquer, and have projected aggressively. I shudder to think what will happen as they grow, and grow they have, and get more abilities to project power. We will be sorely pressed to respond, much less prevent, any actions by them. We may not even be able to adequately defend ourselves, at least not completely. The only defense we might have is to diversify, and to do that we need a wide resource base. That is what the Progressive are doing, and what you oppose.”

“I think I will have to disagree with you,” Dee said. “Our defenses are sound with almost all bases having two defenders, many of them rovers. Almost two thirds of our bases have anti-espionage teams, and these can be inter-defensive depending on the location. And we have a few squads of fast-response rovers. Our current resource base is more than adequate to support these and more, and our only possible deficiency is the lack of a foreign response force, not that it is not much of a loss. Our existing forces are many times more powerful than any other faction. The question of ‘How Much Is Enough’ is a valid one.”

Colin nodded enthusiastically.

“Then we’ll have to agree to disagree. I’ll just hate to have a catastrophic event occur and then be unable to respond in short order while the damage is manageable, or at least not apocalyptic. You’d better hope you’re right,” Ling said. Her voice was calmer now, and her tone penetrating. Mohammed and Terry were listening with attention, and Colin and Dee in opposition – the typical divisions.

Terry stood up and hoped to diffuse some of the tension. “The parliament has told us to approve the continued use of Planned economics for the next year, and we have until tomorrow morning to give them our recommendation. We are out of time, and as Chair I call for a vote: All in favor of the continued use of Planned economics say ‘aye’.”

Terry, Ling and Mohammed said aye.

“Opposed,” Terry said as a formality.

Dee and Colin dissented, Colin in a very loud voice.

“I count three for, two against. The measure passes for another year. Due to the time this Council meeting is dismissed,” Terry said, and the members got up to leave. As Dee stood she placed a light hand on Colin’s shoulder and he looked up at her. He put his hand on hers, drawing strength for fighting the ‘good fight’, even if there was no end in sight.

[Hydro]

Cult, MY 2242

The young man had been sitting in the audience chamber of the Prophet for nearly an hour. Joshua had been trained for waiting and other duties since he had entered the seekers guild. Officially he was still a member of the Caretakers Guild but all seekers who were not active had cover identities to protect them. Suddenly the large portal and the back of the chamber opened and the daughter of the Prophet walked in followed by none other than the leader of his "true" guild.

"Joshua Malister, welcome and peace be unto you in the name of the Prophet!" Eve walked over to the young man and greeted him. Joshua quickly bowed and gave the customary reply, " Many blessings by yours great lady of the true garden, the beloved Mistress Eve, daughter to the one true Prophet of the planet!"

"I thank you. Now, Joshua I have a task for you. There are many things that are ccurring throughout our world but the flares make things difficult to communicate. So, I have a task for you. I am sending you to the Gaians. I have already sent emissaries to the University, Hive, Peacekeepers and Spartans and you are the last to go. There is a reason for this. First, all of the other emissaries will be carrying standard greetings and general
information about us. Many of them will take a decade or more to arrive. Also they are just "normal" people, so to speak, asked to do standard things. You, on the other hand are special. Take this and read it." Eve handed him a PAD and began to read. Joshua had a perfect photographic memory so anything he read was consumed and stored to the exact detail, the reading took some time but after 30 minutes he had finished and then handed back the PAD which was then passed to the spy master.

"Now, for the next several days we will be very close, you and I. I want you to digest the material you read and then ask me questions from it. Record my answers and observations since I would suspect they will be asked again." Eve took the mans hand and began to guide him back to the large portal, the master guide fell into step behind.

"I think I can correctly say that I am to go to Gaian territory and discuss these issues with... whom?" Joshua asked.

"Lady Skye and her only. I will give you a special PAD that will inform our ambassador that your our my special envoy. The ambassador will be at YOUR disposal. He will get you an audience with Skye herself, no one else and discuss what I have written on the PAD. It will take you four turns to get there and then another turn to travel to her headquarters. I doubt little will change in the meantime." Eve continued to guide the young man down the hall into the private sitting area of the Prophet and then pointed for him to sit.

"My ultimate mission objective is???" Joshua asked.

"First, you have seen our plan and what we intend to do. It is accurate and truthful. Present it to the Lady Skye and get here response and return to us." Eve replied.

"Joshua, I choose you because you are the best diplomat in training we have. Your mind is the best we have seen in a long time and your training the best we can give. More sketchy information continues to "dribble" in from the Gaians and we need to confirm some of it. Also, it seems that our position has been and is grossly distorted by certain elements within the Gaian council. You will do all that you can to secure a more open and trusting relationship between our two peoples." The master spy flashed several hand signals that only he could understand. Present the Cult position of intents. Help our ambassador secure a better relationship with sympathetic elements in the Gaian council, eliminate if need be any Gaian group or persons who promote anti-cult sentiment. Return to base when mission complete.

"Understood Mistress Eve." Joshua responded but he did turn ever so slightly and flashed the acknowledgement sign to his guild master.

*~*~*~*

Gaia’s Landing, MY 2243

Dee pulled the fine white lace curtains from the high balcony entrance of her apartment to let in the light of a new day. It was brisk and the open portal let in a crisp and gusty breeze and Dee drank it in – it was bracing, and invigorating. She could feel her skin rise in small goose pimples in response to the vigorous air, and a slight involuntary shiver coursed up her arms to her shoulders. Her chest expanded as she breathed in the pine-scented revitalizing air. As she looked out the sky was changing from a deep purple to a pink, diffuse with cirrus clouds on the horizon. Alpha Centauri A was rising and the sky now turned from pink to gold as the fiery orb burst from the confinement of the rolling trees of the horizon and the enveloping clouds.

There was movement behind her, a soft padding that approached her just out of vision from the darkened recesses hidden from the growing light. A hand reached out. It closed on Dee’s left arm.

“You’re cold,” he said.

Dee smiled. The she took a small step backward, colliding gently with a solid form that stood behind her.

“Hey!” he said, surprised. His arms almost reflexively closed around her, enveloping Dee in warmth. She snuggled closer, placing her cascade of raven hair to the left of his face and resting the back of her head on his shoulder, and drawing his arms closer around her torso. Googlie followed her liquid movements and gave her a slow embrace, rocking back and forth slightly and molding his body to hers. His shoulders flexed as he accepted her into his full embrace.

“I’m not cold anymore,” Dee said in a soft voice. She shut her eyes and drank in the sensations of bracing coolness from the breeze and the enveloping and reassuring warmth behind her. Googlie made a barely audible rumbling hum the emanated from deep in his chest, caressing Dee’s arms with his hands and stroking her right ear with his chin.

Dee felt that he sun had fully risen and opened her eyes. The sky was filled with gold. She pulled away ever so slightly, turning as his arms gave up some of their eager grip. In a moment she was face to face with Googlie. Her arms rose up over his broad back, and his arms closed over her shoulders. Their eyes met for an instant, the she playfully bit his lower lip, then pulled herself even closer for a long kiss. Their caresses pressed and intertwined, merging.

One of Googlie’s hands broke free and clasped the curtain, drawing it across the balcony portal, closing out the rising sun but not the rising warmth.

//Discontinuity//

“YES, THIS GRAND EVENT, ‘LADY DEIRDRE’S LOVER’, AND MUCH MORE CAN BE YOURS FOR ONLY 15 MICROCREDITS, PAYABLE IN ADVANCE IN 15 EASY INSTALLMENTS! IN FULL HOLO SENSO-VISION, EXPERIENCE THIS EPIC AS AN OBSERVER, OR BE THE NOBLE LADY OR THE VALIENT GOOGLIE - THE CHOICE IS YOURS! YES, ‘LADY DEIRDRE’S LOVER’ IS AN AFFAIR NOT TO BE MISSED. BUT, ACT NOW. THIS IS A LIMITED TIME OFFER AND SOON THIS EXPERIENCE OF EXPERIENCES WILL BE GONE FOREVER!

ACT NOW!

*~*~*~*

Cult, MY 2243

Joshua had found a quiet place on the isle of the deep, away from the prying eyes of the crew, to do his research. Minutes before embarking a special envoy had arrived with data PADs for him. The envoy was a special representative from the master seeker and the information on the PADs contained more background information on the Gaian society and the leaders. Shortly after the isle departed for Gaian territory Joshua had begun to read them and memorize them after he finished each one he through the PAD overboard so that the data would be destroyed. Now he was done to his last PAD, which contained all the data known about the leadership of the Gaian people.

The first part of the document dealt with the Gaian form of government and how it operated. For Joshua and most other People of the Planet the Gaian form of government was as alien as this planet. The Gaian government was grossly inefficient and seemed to be plagued with constant power struggles for the direction of the Gaian nation. What seemed more odd was that this advisory council that advised their parliament had on the surface very little power but in reality had a great deal. What became very clear to Joshua is that even though the parliament had the power all of the leadership of the government rested in the advisory council, so as the council voted so did the parliament. If any change could or needed to be made he had best focus his efforts there. So the next part dealt with the actual council members themselves. What was interesting to note that the Cult had for decades now had a sympathetic ear on the council, Colin. He was also a spy for the Cult as well, though he probably did not know it, this Colin could prove to be a useful tool. Joshua continued to read the biographies of each person and it soon became clear who were the dominant people on the council, Ling and Deirdre. Deirdre represented the greens and Ling represented the progressives. It was the progressive party that had lead the way to increase military spending and the size of their army and build up their military infrastructure. It was also the progressives that were behind the efforts to focus their economy away from a green economic model to a more industrial path. What also had become more apparent was that this Ling used every external event to bolster her case for increased military might and industrialization and the fools that they were blindly followed her arguments even though in reality there was little truth to them. When the Peacekeepers declared war she had used that event to argue for a major increase, across the board, in military spending while all the time she knew that any military action by the Peacekeepers would be minor to non-existent. It became clear that this woman looked for enemies everywhere to justify continued military and industrial expansion. He doubted that he would have any luck in reasoning with Ling to persuade her that the Cult’s actions were justified and limited in scope. Ling believed that the Gaians had a destiny to fulfill and she was going to make sure they were ready both militarily and industrially to create that destiny.

Joshua touched the PAD and advanced it to the next screen of information, Lady Deirdre Skye. There was a lot of information here but when you boiled it down to the basic parts it became clear that she was a friend of the Planet. However, she had lost control of her society by turning it over to a democracy. She abrogated her vision to others and now her society was lost and without a soul. On several occasions her people had polluted the planet to bolster their military and industrial might. She was a voice of reason but was frequently drowned out by the progressives on the council. Thank the Prophet for his wisdom to keep the reins of power in the hands of a few capable people. The people of the Planet did not suffer the angst and turmoil that democracy brought. The guild system allowed participation by the citizens/guild members and the guild masters then debated and decided at the command council policy. The guilds were responsible for the daily administration and operations of the government and society but all the most important decisions were handled at the top, free of the whims and turmoil of the masses. Of course, the final decision, the ultimate authority was the Prophet himself whose vote was final. He had able advisors to help him reach those hard decisions but it was always his word that counted in the end.

Joshua finished the last screen and threw the PAD overboard and began to really digest the material. He could reason with the Lady Skye and perhaps win her over to the Cult’s point of view but Ling would never budge. There were few options when it came to Ling. Death or dishonor. He could assassinate her and thus create a power vacuum allowing the “greens” the chance to take control of the council. Another progressive would most likely fill her position but from the reports he had read the replacement would not be as forceful or as strong as a leader as Ling had been. He could also implicate her in some dishonorable action that could weaken her position on council. Some of the data he had on a special PAD had several documents that Gaian sympathizers, believers in the new faith, had sneaked out before they were destroyed that clearly showed that Ling had known and had ordered the wanton pollution at several cities but the documents had never come to light at the show trial they put on. Right now he did not have to decide on a course of action, there was still time. He could try to dishonor her first, perhaps use Colin to bring the documents to the council’s attention, better him then Joshua it would seem more genuine. If Ling still continued to hold power then he could still eliminate her.

Joshua stood up and looked out over the ocean and took a deep breath. He looked back at the guides that helped the isle of the deep. All except the captain seemed to be very annoyed that they had to transport a single individual halfway across the world when they could be doing more important things. If they only knew how important this mission was they might be more receptive.

“Captain, how soon before we make landfall?” Joshua yelled back at the area where one could call the helm of the isle.

“Sir, we will be there in three more turns, perhaps two if we can keep this current!” the captain yelled back.

Joshua walked over the area where he had a bedroll and pulled back the fleshy membrane that covered the pocket where he slept. He walked in to lay down and rest something that he doubted he would get when they arrived and had to begin his work.

[Hydro]

Gaia’s Landing, MY2244

“By my count, the vote to continue with a Planned economy is three for and two against. The motion is carried, and will be presented to the parliament,” Terry said by rote, as he had for the last few years. Positions were clear, and the result was foreordained. Ling turned to Mohammed for a quiet sidebar discussion, and Terry gathered his datapad to record the results of the vote as part of his preparations to depart.

Colin looked over at Dee, his face questioning. Dee stared straight ahead and didn’t return is gaze.

“We have one more item of business,” she said. Ling and Mohammed continued their discussion, but she got Terry’s attention.

“It isn’t on the agenda,” he said in his customary flat tone. He didn’t bother to review the agenda since he had prepared it himself.

“Then I move that I be allowed to make a statement,” Dee said. Colin gave her a quick second.

Terry stopped his departure organization, and Mohammed looked up. Ling stopped talking when she noticed she no longer had his attention.

“Very well,” Terry said. “We don’t need a vote to extent the Council for a few minutes.”

“Thank you, Chair,” Deirdre said. Her posture was stiff.

Now Ling looked up at Dee, thinking, Chair? Why the title? She’s never done that, not in 100 years. What’s going on? She gave Dee her full attention.

“Please put this in the record, Chair,” she started. Then she took out her datapad and called up a screen and started reading. “The Council has had its disagreements in the past, but we’ve always done what we think is best for the Gaians. Our vision has been to protect our ideals even if we’ve had different ideas on how achieve our goals. However, the events of the last four years have shown me that our shared vision has diverged, critically so. Fully half of our cities have been in riots during the population boom demanded by the Progressive party in Parliament and supported by this Council, and recently even Gaia’s Landing rioted. I saw this mayhem personally, and the chaos was heartbreaking. It reminded me of the last days of Earth, where starvation, war, and disorder were tearing apart the fabric of our societies, and that of the Earth itself. Additionally, for a year there was even a small amount of pollution at Gaia’s Landing, and although it was repaired immediately I was shocked that the uncontrolled growth the Council recommended would lead us to such a path – one that we all swore we would never allow, ever again. It is my belief that allowing such social disorder is irresponsible, and antithetical to my personal vision of how a Gaian society should be managed. The degradation of Planet can not be allowed to occur, much less continue.

The death of Earth was our testament, and I cannot in clear conscience stay a part of a Council that fosters such actions. Due to past events and the intransigence of this advisory body I hereby resign, effective immediately, from the Gaian Council.”

Dee looked up and her composure broke a little. Her eyes silvered with moisture as she reached out to give the datapad to Terry, who reflexively took it. Mohammed looked like he had been slapped full across the face, and Ling’s face was drawn and her gaze was fixed on Dee, almost as if she didn’t believe what had just happened. Terry was immobile, his outstretched hand clutching the datapad. Colin just looked sad, but not surprised. Of course, he had known.

There was complete silence, except for Dee’s chair which scraped as she pushed it aside.

She walked out of the Council room alone.

*~*~*~*

Cult, MY 2244

The master caretaker, leader of the Guild of Caretakers, Lance Thompson was not a happy man. For decades he had for many years worked endless hours for the great Prophet but his daughter had, in essence, demoted him. The value of his services it seemed to her was only administrative. Eve only listened to the Ranger Master, General Fookosh and the Master Seeker. The Guild Mistress of the Guides hardly every showed up anymore at these meetings since Fookosh was the true force in the Guild of Guides. He looked down at his watch again and realized that Mistress Eve was now 20 minutes late for the meeting. Suddenly the doors to the private chambers of the Prophet opened and in came Eve, Fookosh, Ramos and the master spy.

Thompson quickly got to his feet and led the ritual greeting, “ All praise and honor to the Daughter of the great and only Prophet, Cha Dawn, first disciple of Planet!”

“Blessings and honor to you all, and thank you for waiting. Certain matters of a utmost secrecy came up and I had to review that information with the my team of advisors.” Eve replied.

Lance sat sullenly for some time as the other “lesser” advisors gave their reports about the status of the Cult of the Planet. He had little to add at this time. He worked very hard with each city council to coordinate the development of the surrounding areas so that the cities would prosper. Lance for the most part was a happy man but he missed the intimacy he had with the Prophet.

“Master Caretaker, your report please?” Eve interrupted his thought.

“Mistress Eve, all goes well. There is little to report at this time. Our sea-formers are now operating in the west and will help our base out there grown. Once the formers complete a couple of sea sectors of development they will move on to the new site next to the nexus and work there until all sea sectors are developed.” Lance replied in a very monotone voice.

Eve glanced at him again and then to her master seeker who only looked back. For any of the others in the room this exchange was barley noticeable at all. However, for the two of them it meant a great deal.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++=

Lance had just fallen asleep when a pillow was suddenly put over his face. He fought bravely but the attacker was too powerful. Within minutes his strength began to fade and his ears began to ring and then blackness.

*~*~*~*

Gaia’s Landing, MY 2245

“You couldn’t have done more damage if you’d dropped a bomb in parliament,” Colin said. “Once your resignation, and your signed repudiation of the Council and the parliament, became known there was a general feeling of shock. All the news holos reported it, with bylines like, ‘Lady Skye to Council – I Quit!’, ‘Skye Resigns in Protest,’ and ‘Lady Dee Accuses Government’, and the like. Quite a firestorm.”

Colin looked over at Dee to see if it was having an effect. It wasn’t. She still looked sullen and withdrawn, and the soup that Colin had brought her was untouched.

“Within days the Greens called for a no confidence vote. Most of the Progressives either changed their mind or were found that they were tied up elsewhere. The vote was a landslide, and the Government dissolved. Isn’t that great, Dee?” he asked. Still no response.

“From what my little birds tell me there is open revolt among the Progressives. One smallish faction will probably break away, and my sources think they’ll call themselves the Green Progressives, which will advocate a Green economy and an emphasis on wealth. A number of the Greens will likely break away and join this faction. The old Progressives are even abandoning their name and will probably call themselves the Social Progressives. Complicating matters even more are the Planet Protectors, a radicalized faction of the Green party that declared themselves yesterday. Their rhetoric sounds a lot like what comes out of those Seekers, and Cha Dawn and his daughter.

“And if you think the parliament is in chaos you don’t know the half of it. There are spontaneous protests all over, the largest here at Gaia’s Landing – over 2000 people! That is almost 20 percent of the entire population! Dee, just think of it!”

Colin paused again and waited for Dee to respond.

“They’re calling for elections in two weeks. Everyone wants you to make a statement, Dee. Do you understand?” he said. Dee finally looked at him and she seemed to focus on him. “The Gaian people want to hear what you have to say, and I think you should do so.”

“Ok, Colin. This is what we wanted to happen,” she said. “It will take me a day or so to put together a statement. Will that do?”

“Of course, of course!” he said, glad to finally have a response. “Just let me know how I can help. Oh, and you should know that the Council wants you back. They have all tendered their resignations, and I have too. We won’t go back to work unless you do – that’s the deal.”

Dee focused a bit more. “Even Ling?”

“Especially Ling,” Colin said. “We had a little chat after you left and you should know she was pretty upset. You, in essence, called her a wanton industrialist and after thinking about it I don’t think she liked what she saw. Now, don’t think she is going all soft on us, she wouldn’t do that. I don’t think she will be as ready to support a Planned economy anymore, that’s all.”

She took a deep breath.

“What can I tell them?” Colin asked.

“Tell them that I’ll make up my mind after I see the results of the parliamentary elections,” Dee said. “That will put a little pressure on, I think, and that’s what we need. Tell them that.”

Colin reached over and patted her hand. “Now, I want you to eat a little. I made this soup especially for you – bean and broccoli with garlic roasted tofu, just like you like it. I expect you to eat every last drop, and if you need more just let me know.”

He patted her hand again and decided to give her a bit of time, but not much. Her funk had lasted for too long and events were passing quickly. A few reminders were in order, and maybe some cookies.

“Eat you soup,” he said as he stood up and turned for the door. He had left orders with the guards to keep the well wishers, hangers-on, sycophants, press, and publicity seekers strictly away. That should help a little. Toggling the door he glance back and was gratified to notice that Dee was eating the now tepid soup. She was spooning it in rather mechanically but, considering the circumstances, that was just fine. There was more where that came from.

*~*~*~*

Cult, MY 2245

Joshua walked off the isle of the deep and thanked the captain once again for a very swift passage. They had been able to reduce the transit time by nearly a turn and half and now he was here on Gaian soil. This was Joshua’s first visit to any city other than a Cult city and he was impressed. The city showed a high degree of sophistication and symmetry. The city also seemed very prosperous as well but that would be a given considering the emphasis these people place on wealth. It seems that his arrival caused quite a stir since as soon as he walked off the isle several Gaian security men stopped him.

“What are your intentions here?” They lead security guard asked.

“I am on a diplomatic mission from the People of the Planet, here are my credentials.” Joshua reached into his pocket and pulled out the letter and data crystal. The lead security guard took the crystal and the other guard looked at the letter. The guards quickly scanned the crystal and letter returned them to him.

“I hope that you understand, we have to be careful, especially with you people. We have standing orders to intercept any Cult people and examine them. It says you are traveling to Gaia’s Landing. You can take a transport shuttle to there at the central hub, in the center of the city.” The lead guard turned and began to leave but for some reason the second guard stayed for a few more seconds.

“I greet you my brother of the Planet?” The guard said very quietly.

“I greet you in the name of the Prophet, may Planet grant you peace of mind and long life.” Joshua responded, “ How is it possible for a planet friend to be in Gaian security forces?”

“I don’t advertise it much and well, it’s against the law here to discriminate against anyone for any reason, even if they are a Planet friend. May I ask you a question, has the Prophet returned?” The guard asked with a pleading look in his eye.

“No, the great Prophet is still on a pilgrimage when I left in the great waste lands. His daughter is still the caretaker for now.” Joshua looked at the man again and then asked, “May I ask a question, since the blackout information has been sketchy but could you tell me how many Planet friends are counted among the Gaians?”

“From the last thing I heard we were a full 5% of the population, certified from the last census. Now that was the official count of course, but, I suspect many people do not openly declare their true faith so the number might even be double that!” The man said proudly. “I myself am a regular worshiper at the local temple of the Planet and I am taking Ranger classes.”

“Most wonderful,” Joshua responded. “Now can you please help me get to the transport hub and I need to contact our ambassador.”



Joshua had made a quick trip to Gaia’s Landing and he was now housed in the Cult of the Planet’s ambassadorial residence. He had met with the ambassador and had been quickly brought up to speed with the current events. It seemed that part of his mission might be solved for him. Since the government was in turmoil now he was not going to get an audience anytime soon so he might as well get started with the one of his plans. Joshua left the residence and quickly traveled to a restaurant making sure he lost any trackers that might be following him. Once he arrived he quickly sat a table and within minutes another man sat next to him.

“Greetings, I am glad you are punctual, it tells me a lot about the man I am working with.” The cult spy whispered across the table.

“Here are the documents you need to get to your “friend”. Review them before you give them to him and make sure he understands how important that his mission is.” Joshua stated.

“Understood.” The man quickly left the table and went out of the room.

Joshua ordered a handsome meal, much better than any Cult restaurant he had every dined at. He could see why the allure of wealth and things could be such a narcotic for these people. Once you have such trappings they are hard to give up. Joshua had given the spy all of the documents he had on Ling. He hoped that this Colin would put them to good use. At best, this plot would pour even more fuel on the fire and continue to weaken the Gaian political system.

[Hydro]

Autumn Grove in the Uranium Flats, MY 2246

“Here, here! Have a seat!” Colin said to his friend. “How was your trip?”

“Very good, thank you,” he said. “I’m glad you took the time to see me. I imagine you’ve been quite busy.”

Colin waved his comments aside. “No, I’m never too busy for my friends, and I have a lot of friends! Now, put that away,” he said as his friend started to pull out a datapad. “I’ll have none of that. First, let’s order. I’m starved!”

His friend smiled in a good natured, if slightly forced, way and nodded. Colin made a big production of pulling out the old fashioned paper fiber menu and talking through all the items, giving a running commentary: this dish was exquisite, and this one was best with a mature red wine; the pasta was a bit too al dente for taste, but not bad with the garlic white sauce. He went on for at least 20 minutes and his friend knew better than to interrupt since this was part of the ritual, and eventually he would labor over which of the delectable items to order and finally come to a decision. His friend’s choice was easy – he’d let Colin decide. It worked better that way, and Colin took great delight in questioning him on his preferences and what he might like from the huge and expensive selections.

In the end he decided on a veal with raspberry sauce, herb-roasted new potatoes, fresh Earth corn with real butter, a garden salad and a spicy hot house dressing, and a bottle of their best 2210 red wine from the vineyards of New Napa Valley. He ordered the same for his friend – there was no way to improve on today’s selection, of course.

The salads came in short order, and Colin dug in. In between bites he asked,” So, how have you been? I haven’t seen you for too many months. My busy schedule, you know, and Dee’s kept things a bit stirred up recently with the government shake up and all.”

“I’ve been fine, and busy, too,” his friend said. “My travels have taken me to the new Hive, which is much less oppressive than when I was there before the Cult liberated them.”

“Liberated?” Colin asked. “Conquered, you mean.”

“Well, I’m not sure the citizens think that way. Yang is now a better leader since he has been taking the guidance of a more enlightened culture.”

“Really,” Colin said. He didn’t sound convinced.

“That’s how I see it, at least,” his friend said, and realizing he was losing Colin he changed the subject. “Then I went to the University as part of a trade delegation. Did you know they’re running a Free Market.”

Colin put down his fork. “Yes, we did. So are the Cyborgs, Spartans, University and Peacekeepers – everyone except for Yang and the Cult. It really is quite depressing, the wanton disregard for he environment these leaders show, all for short term gain.” He picked up his fork again, having made his point.

“Is that so,” his friend said. He didn’t know these other factions were running free market economics, and the Cult would surely be interested. Another useful tidbit from loose lips.

“Yes, it is. The Cyborgs even have huge amounts of pollution at their capital, like we had for a short while before Dee made her point.”

“Is Dee back on the Council, then?” his friend asked.

“Of course,” Colin said. “After the parliamentary elections a coalition of the Greens and the Green Progressives took power, and implemented a proper Green economy. The Progressives lost over 30 percent of their seats between the fracturing off of the Green Progressives and losses to the Greens. Frankly, they did better than they I thought they would, but that is to be expected since they changed their tune. They can still block legislation, but they don’t control the agenda. That’s fine with me since I don’t want any political faction to have a lock on power, not even the Greens.

“Didn’t some of the others resign? I thought they all resigned after the collapse,” his friend said.

“They did, but Dee asked them to rescind their resignations. Dee made her point, and the point was taken and there were no hard feelings. If anything the other members of the Council didn’t realize how much they had wounded Dee and are trying to make amends.”

“Even this Ling you mentioned? Dee must not like her after all she did after all she did,” his dark friend said between bites of salad.

“I wouldn’t say that. They are friends and understand each other better now,” Colin said. “Ah, the main course!” he continued as the waiter brought steaming plates to them, heaped generously as Colin expected. He was a very generous tipper, so he was well remembered and accommodated.

Conversation lapsed during the change in the meal as the salads were whisked away and the platters placed in front of the two men. Colin eyed the browned veal with delight and, brandishing his knife and fork, dug in.

“I thought you might like to know that while I was at the University a friend in their industrial ministry and I had a chat,” his friend said has he went through the motions of eating, which consisted more of moving the food around than eating. “He gathered some interesting data you might be interested in reviewing. I have it here if you are interested.”

“Of course I’m interested,” Colin said after he cleansed his palate with a sip of the delectable red wine.

“Here you go then,” his friend said as he handed him a data crystal, which Colin took and pocketed.

“So, how was your trip to the University? Isn’t University Base grand? I love the rounded architecture and the glorious white and gold spires – lofty is the word I’d use. They have 8000 people there now, which is smaller than Landing with 10,000 people. Did you know that Landing is by far the largest city on Planet now? Not that it came easily, oh no. We suffered through years of chaos during the last boom, and that’s what finally set Dee off. I don’t think we’ll be going in that direction for a good long time; the memories are too fresh and painful. Still, our ecologically sensitive production is now at its highest level and stable as augmented by 20 or more supply crawlers, and our science output is over 450 terraquads of data per year! Isn’t that amazing? Oh, and did I mention that we finished the Maritime Control Center this last year? That should boost the movement of all our sea units, even the isles, due to all the training. I think we’ll even beat the Cult to the Planetary Economics, which is quite a big deal since they have been working on it for well over a decade. I am a bit worried about the Cyborgs and University. Their research is going in a completely different direction and we are far behind them. Who knows what they’ll uncover, and we won’t be able to catch up. We’ll just have to live with our choices, I guess…”

His friend let him prattle on, mentally indexing all the bits of information that flowed. Mistress Eve would be quite interested, he was sure. It would be even more interesting to see Colin’s reaction when he reviewed the incriminating data on Ling.

[Hydro]

Cult, MY 2246

Joshua had at last secured a private interview with Lady Skye. He really doubted that it would be “private” since he was sure the room was laced with recording devices. It had taken months to get to this staged but he was here at last. For some strange reasons the Gaians could not quite get their minds around the idea of an official/unofficial representative of the Cult of the Planet. The official ambassador of the Cult had to make several direct requests to get him to this level of a meeting with Lady Skye herself.

The door to Lady Skye’s chamber opened a middle-aged man walked through the doors and went right up to where he sat. Joshua quickly stood up.

“I am Lady Skye’s director of security and before you go I need to check you one last time.” The man did not hesitate to begin his search and he did take his time about it and once he finished the only thing he had a question about is a holo-emitter.

“It’s been checked twice before I reached this point and I am not sure you could detect anything at this point with the naked eye.” Joshua looked at the man’s palm where he was holding the emitter and he suddenly felt as if his brain was being “squeezed” be some force. The holo-emitter was a common thing among the people of the Planet since it had been their scientists who had unlocked the true depths of holo-technology. Then all of sudden the pressure was gone and Joshua looked up into the aide's eyes and realized that he had just been scanned by a Gaian empath.

“You Cult people might have an edge on holo-technology but when it comes to the mind I do believe we are the leaders. I needed for you to think about the device so that I could scan you mind.” The man replied.

“Well, I hope you are pleased with your findings?” Joshua asked.

“Yes, you may proceed.”

Joshua took the emitter from the man’s hand and began walking through the door but then stopped and turned around.

“In the future you might want to be more “subtle” about your scan. By alerting me to what you were doing I could block you?”

“No one is that good!” The man growled back.

“You might want to consider the possibility that someone IS better and then look at the next step in your security measures.” Joshua turned on his heels and walked in to the rooms.

Lady Skye’s formal receiving rooms were part of the Parliamentary complex, and to him they were grand and opulent, filled with plants of every type of plant and flower and the occasional precious treasures of Planet. The rooms and their furnishings lead Joshua to understand many things about these Gaians. He would never find such extravagance in any Cult room, and the mere thought of such concentration on wealth and “things” would repulse many Cultists. These people were truly slaves to the material world.

Joshua turned slightly to his left and there was Lady Deirdre sitting in a large chair. She was dressed in simple pale green dress that appeared to be made of the finest silk. It fit her perfectly and was flattering, to say the least. She effortlessly got to her feet and walked over to where he stood.

“Lady Skye, truly your image on the holo-net does not do you justice. I greet you and wish you long life and prosperity, may the light of the great Prophet Cha Dawn, first disciple of Planet shine his radiance upon you and give you the peace of eternal understanding!” Joshua used the most formal greeting the Cult had to address the Gaian leader whose face seemed to ‘crinkle’ at the greeting as if she had just eaten a sour lemon.

“You don’t need all the formalities, Mr. Malister. Call me Dee. I welcome you on behalf of the Gaian people.” Her reply was rather curt by comparison. “Please have a seat so we can talk.” She turned and walked back to the same chair she had been sitting in and sat down and then waved her hand at the chair opposite her. Joshua walked over to the chair but before he sat down he put the emitter on the floor between them. Skye looked down at the device with a slight look of apprehension and then looked up at Joshua with a faint smile.

“Lady Skye, I am sure you must be asking - why I am here?” Joshua silently crossed his legs.

“Yes, I am. In fact I am very curious. I find it very interesting that you were sent instead of your ambassador since you have no official capacity, and I don’t know what we could discuss in this interview that I could not discuss with the Cult ambassador. I am also interested in why you insist on recording this interview.” Deirdre turned her head slightly letting her dark hair fall around her face.

“The truth for one.” Joshua replied quickly. “Second, I hope to seduce you.”

Deirdre Skye was one of the few founders that still lived. In her long life she had been subjected to many kinds of verbal and even physical assaults, such as the recent Lady Deirdre’s Lover holo adventure that had been sold all over Chiron. She had also had heard every kind of proposition and come on imaginable. Still, this one was creative, if a bit blunt.

“You are welcome to try both, Mr. Malister. I hope you succeed in the former, and you are on your own in the latter,” she said.

“Please excuse my informal attitude but I am under orders to from Mistress Eve herself to answer any question you place in front of me with utter honesty. I am also under orders to seduce you. I can not make it more plain than that.” Joshua smiled as he answered noticing that she was becoming somewhat detached and distant.

“Okay, then here is my first question: why seduce me?”

“Easy. It is Mistress Eve’s hope that by seducing you I can gain your trust and in time work with you to ease tensions between our two factions. It is Mistress Eve’s hope that by gaining your confidence I can secure technology, energy credits and any other assistance we might need at very generous terms.” Joshua continued to smile.

For a minute Deirdre Skye toyed with the idea of calling for her security chief and then thought better of it. This young man had some gall to proposition her on holo, and then claim it was part of a diplomatic effort to create understanding between the Cult and the Gaians. She was genuinely intrigued with this young man so perhaps she should continue.

Deirdre decided to be polite. “I understand. That is an interesting proposition. Now, to my questions. First, where is Cha Dawn? Our last report indicated that he left for the unexplored reaches to the west, our east and has not been heard of since then.”

“Yes, your reports are correct. The great Prophet was ‘called’ by Planet to return to the wilderness to commune with the Planet. He took a small band of guides and a mind worm and has not been heard of in many turns. I suspect if we do hear from him it will not be until the blackout is over which would make it over 20 turns. However, if anyone can survive for that long with no aid then it would be Cha Dawn.”

Lady Skye gave no visual indication to her emotions or thoughts. She sat there quietly for a few more minutes and then asked another question.

“Please explain Mistress Eve’s threats and accusations concerning Nexus area. The Cult’s actions seemed very provocative to say the least.”

“We felt betrayed for starters. If you don’t mind, this might help.” Joshua leaned down and touched the holo-emitter and then disconnected the remote and flipped through several images until he landed on a map of the Planet. “As you can see our nearest base is only 10 sectors away from the nexus site. Your closest base is 40 sectors. From this alone we felt that the site, by right of proximity should be ours to develop, not yours. Also, we from our intelligence service we learned that you had knowledge of this site for some time before you informed anyone else of the discovery. Instead of calling a planet-wide conference on how to develop these sites and learn from them you kept the location secret and clandestinely planned to build a colony pod to claim the area. This action alone indicated that your greed for more land and more power overwhelmed the concerns of others, in particular, us. So now we have a colony pod in transport via an isle of the deep which will arrive in two more turns and then another three to get into position and set up the colony at the site I do believe our scout captain is positioned currently. The bottom line is that these sites transcend the concerns of one factions desires and as such you should, as planetary governor, been more open and proposed a plan for development.”

Once again Lady Skye sat quietly, deep in thought. Then she asked another question.

“Why did you attack the Hive?”

“Once again, look at the map. We have no concentration of colonies, as do you and several others. Our security rests on having “space” around us so that we can detect incoming isles of the deep or transports and prepare a defense. That is why it is crucial for the Cult to maintain as much space as possible until we can set up more outposts. The Hive was just too close to our borders. I really cannot say too much about the “official” reasons for our attack other than the fact that by subjugating the Hive we insured our borders for centuries to come. Has the Hive become a better place for our actions? The answer is yes. Do we plan on attacking other factions? Yes, IF they continue to encroach on our territory. Planet is a large place. We see no reason whatsoever for other factions to build any bases closer to us except to use them to stage an attack on us.” Joshua replied.

Once again Lady Skye showed no emotion to his response. Then she quietly asked another question.

“We hear rumors about terrible things that take place under the rule of Cha Dawn and now his daughter. Your society has no advanced form of democracy. In Gaian society the rights and prosperity of the individual are guaranteed by our society. Since the Cult does not seem to have these values how can we ever trust you?”

“Well, I really think that it is the Cult that should ask this question, not you. Your society seems adrift, lost, unfocused. Your people are split over the direction they want the future to bring and we see little action on your behalf to offer them that direction, that future. Your constant focus on wealth and the accumulation of ‘things’ demonstrates that your people lack a vision; you seek only to maximize your accumulation of objects. One year you follow the path, in harmony with Planet and the next year you dump toxic waste in the rivers as you switch back to an industrial focus. You have been threatened so you build up the largest military force on Planet and for what purpose? No standing army like you have can stay in the barracks forever. From our perspective we assume you plan on using your forces any day. Now, as to what happens in our society. Yes, we are backward and have only a limited from of democracy, our guild system. However, the guild system has been in place for a long time and it would be very hard indeed to take it apart, just as it would be for your society to undo your democratic system. Do ‘bad’ things happen? Yes. Have political rivals or renegades been killed? Yes. Cha Dawn has a true vision of what Planet has in store for us and he intends for the People of the Planet to be in the vanguard and nothing or no one will keep him from that.”

“Doesn’t that frighten you?”

”Yes, in fact, my own family is held as hostages to prevent me from doing anything unspeakable. Do I like the idea that my sister, father and mother are being watched by seekers every hour and should I make just one wrong move they will be eliminated? The answer is no. However, this is our society. It is stable and people prosper in it. We have rules and informal regulations on how to live in it. Yours might seem a bit more civilized than ours but in essence they are the same. If you found that one of your advisors were a traitor would you not put him to death?”

“No. There is no Gaian death penalty,” Skye fired back.

“Fine, that is your law, your justice. However, in our society we hold the entire family responsible for the actions of the individual. This makes for a tighter family unit that depends on each other for security. I will do nothing to jeopardize their lives and they will do the same for me. You have loyalty to the state and we have loyalty to the family. How is that so different?"

“Well, this has been very illuminating to say the least. How long will you be here for?” Deirdre asked as she stood up and hit the button on the chair that summoned her aide, who quickly walked in.

Joshua leaned down and picked up his emitter and put it in his pocket. While doing so he looked up and down Deirdre’s bare leg that had been exposed as she stood up. “I am here until the blackout clears and I can make contact with Mistress Eve. Until then I am at your service. If you wish to have me return I will do so and we can chat again. My the eternal light of Cha Dawn shine on you and give you the peace of mind that transcends all time and space.” Joshua leaned down and performed a deep bow and then quickly turned and left the room.

Joshua walked down the hall and smiled to himself. He would be back, oh yes, he would be back.

*~*~*~*

Gaia’s Landing, MY 2247

“I had the most unusual interview with a Cult ambassador-without-portfolio a week ago,” Deirdre said. “I hope you’ve all been able to review the holo?”

Everyone around the Council table nodded. Ling had a smirk on her face, and Colin looked a little flummoxed, as if he was having a hard time absorbing the meaning. Terry was dead serious, as was Mohammed.

“I’m not sure what to make of it,” she continued. “Any ideas?”

Ling jumped right in. “If it’s an attempt at rapprochement then they’d better try again. All this Mr. Marister did was confirm that the Cult is basically aggressive, and that they see aggressive actions in almost anything any other factions might do. They also use this ‘lebensraum’ argument to justify their actions against the Hive. Also, I thought the explanation they gave of their political system was just plain frightening. And they were complaining about the Hive! Yang was a saint by comparison to these people. Taking family hostages, and political executions – that’s pure police state fascism right out of the 20th Century.”

Ling paused for a brief moment, but not long enough for anyone else to jump in. She was on a roll. “It was interesting that the Cult must view sex as a political weapon, and that their political figures have to seduce each other to gain political favor. I wonder if their Prophet does this, too? I seem to remember a 20th Century Chinese leader, Mao something, that used his position to secure his very particular sexual favors and I can’t help wondering if the Cult is like that. Kind of twisted, if you ask me. Or, maybe he confused the mass market Lover holo and had a hard time differentiating fiction with reality. Sorry Dee, but maybe he thought you were really like what they portrayed in the holo.”

“I didn’t like that part,” Colin said. “I couldn’t believe that any ambassador would just state he was ordered to seduce a senior member of another government. That doesn’t make sense. Are we sure this man is a legitimate representative? Have we been duped?”

“As far as we can tell his paperwork was all in order,” Terry said. “I had the exact same reaction and checked on it personally. I even called the Cult ambassador to confirm.”

“He hinted that he would like another interview,” Dee said. “Should I give it to him?”

“Only if the official Cult ambassador requests one through proper diplomatic channels,” Terry said. “There are a lot of people who would like personal interviews, but we have to prioritize them. You are a very popular person, Dee. More popular than even me.”

Colin did a double take. Did Terry just try to tell a joke? Looking over at Terry’s straight face it was hard to tell, but there was a hint of a smile.

“The next order of business is a projected energy shortfall. Mohammed?” Terry said.

“Please activate holo index 23 trough 30. As you can see, we are currently breaking even in our energy budget and have a good surplus in trade. This will change in the next five years as more tree farms and expensive research facilities come on line. We have a few options. First, we could scale back our energy allocated to research from 70 percent to 60 percent. Second, we could order some bases to stop producing low priority facilities, such as Command Centers and biology labs, and focus on basic infrastructure. We should also consider stopping the construction of habitation areas since our populations will not be expanding to fill them for a while. Third, we could have a few cities stop production entirely and devote their faculties to energy production, which while inefficient would solve the problem.”

“I think we should be more careful about the construction of Command Centers,” Ling said. “Every base manager wants one, but they are only really needed in a few strategic areas. At this point we have over 10, and that is plenty. I suggest we scrap those in production and have their production shifted to other items.”

“Ling,” Colin said. “Did I just hear you right? You want fewer Command Centers?”

“Yes,” she said. “I don’t like to waste resources, and endangering our energy reserve is serious business. Efficiency, Colin.”

Colin nodded. What could he say to that?

“We could also order all bases to start building energy banks if they don’t already have them,” Terry said. “That has, to this point, been a second tier improvement. I recommend we bring it up to a first tier and encourage the base commanders to act accordingly.”

“Good point,” Mohammed said as he started taking some notes on his datapad. “Until directed otherwise I will recommend that we prioritize energy banks, scrap command centers in production, scale back hab structures and shift second tier base improvements to supply crawlers, defensive espionage teams, and strategically placed offensive and defensive military units. Comments?”

There were none.

“That is the last item on the agenda. Move for dismissal?” Terry asked.

There were a flurry of ‘motion’ and ‘seconds’, and everyone got up to leave.

Colin tapped Ling on the shoulder. “Could I have a moment?” he said.

Ling nodded. Colin pressed a data crystal into her hand. “I got this from a friend. I thought you should be able to review it before I bring it to the rest of the Council. If you want to talk, let me know.”

Colin hurried off, leaving Ling in the Council room all alone. She looked at the crystal wondering what it might contain.

[Hydro]

Gaia’s Landing, MY 2247

The reception at the Gaian parliament building was packed with all the dignitaries and officials of the Gaian government and other faction representatives. Lady Sky had given a brief speech at the opening of the event and met with the key legislators and leaders of Parliament and had planned on leaving early when she turned and was face to face with Joshua Malister. A Gaian security agent who had been keeping a discreet distance quickly closed the range and was next to Deirdre.

“Greetings Dee, may the light of the Prophet bathe you with the wisdom of understanding that will grant you peace of mind and oneness with Planet.” Joshua bowed deeply.

“Mister Malister, it is pleasant to see you again.” She deftly extended her hand to shake his but he swept it up and gave it a light kiss.

“Really Mr. Malister, do you honestly believe such a thing as that will make me swoon?” she said with rather flatly.

“I am just being polite. Is that a crime in Gaian territory?” Joshua replied with a slight smirk.

“No, it is not, but perhaps in Cult territory from what you told me it might?” She quickly fired back at him.

“No, it is not a crime to be polite. In fact, politeness is encouraged as a civil necessity amongst our people. One of the fortunate features of our society is that we do not overstress our resources, our environment, our families or our society we live within our means. Unlike you Gaians that seem to revolt and have numerous civil disturbances due to the lack of resources allocated. At our last meeting you seemed somewhat “repulsed” as to how our society operated. Perhaps you thought that we were no better than perhaps the Hive? However, the last time I looked the death toll during your last bout of riots was in the hundreds! I have been told you are fond of saying, “lets agree to disagree” so perhaps on this point we can.” Joshua continued to look at Deirdre as if he were waiting for a response, ready to pounce on her next move.

“Your observations are not accurate but as you suggest, for now, lets agree to disagree. One last question, if I may; why should I or any of our advisors believe what you say? Some think this is all an elaborate ruse on behalf of your leader.” Deirdre walked slowly to the doorway she was already behind schedule for her next appointment.

“There is nothing I can say I suppose to convince you of my honesty other than what I have already said. I have been ordered to be honest with you and to give you any information that I might have correctly and truthfully. Now, if there was some information I was not given then I can not comment on it. Also, I am forbidden to freely divulge information I can only respond to questions.” Joshua continued to walk beside her as they worked their way through the crowds to the door.

“All right, then I have a question for you. What is the cult planning?” Dierdre asked.

“To general, make it a bit more specific unless you plan on inviting me back to your quarters.” Joshua replied with a slight inflection in his voice.

“No, that is not my plan. Okay, what is the next military action the Cult plans to make?” Deirdre asked as she reached the door.

“To infiltrate your information network and the Peacekeepers. When I left two probe teams were being trained and readied in the bowl of heavens area. Once complete both teams will work to infiltrate the Peacekeepers and then you. In fact, the isle of the deep that dropped me of on you western shore is now scouting your coastal cities for the best target to hit. Now, that is the last data I have on this subject. Events could change the target or targets since I left but that is what I know.” Joshua reply caused Deirdre to stop short and turn quickly on Joshua.

“We will not willingly allow you to penetrate our networks.”

“We need information and the more we know of each other the less chance we have of a misunderstanding that might result in one. Remember what I told you earlier. It was your secrecy about the alien ruins that caused much of the resentment my people feel.” Joshua replied calmly.

“Do you hate us? Does Mistress Eve have such anger and hatred towards us?” Deirdre mentally forced herself to end this conversation on this question, no more.

“No, hate is not an emotion I think my people feel towards you or your Gaian people. Does Mistress Eve hate you I would say the answer is yes. She feels that your support of the Hive during our dispute was done out of spite towards us. If you had really cared about preserving the Hive in all their terrible glory then you would have sent troops to stop us rather than energy credits. You have great convictions but lack the will to back them up. You are a proud people who relish in the accomplishments of your science and industry but you lack moral and spiritual convictions.” Joshua paused for a second. “Sorry I did not mean to over indulge your answer so much. Suffice it to say that we feel betrayed by your people. Our entire society is devoted to preserving Planet and learning to live in total harmony with Planet. We seek to cast away, if possible, all manner of earthly ways, such as terra forming, so that we can sustain ourselves totally within the natural environment of Planet. Imagine if you can a man who cares for a garden that he tends with his whole being. Then each day someone walks through the garden trampling his work, then another person , then another person. However, one person takes the time to walk around it to preserve our works. But, when your people want more food, more power, more of everything you walk through the garden just like the others to reach your goals quicker regardless of the damage you do. So from our perspective we could almost excuse the others since they at least make no pretension to preserve our garden but for you, well you are hypocrites. So yes, I think you could say that in some sense we are angry at your people but I would like to believe that we are more disappointed.” Joshua ended his reply and bowed his head.

Deirdre looked at Joshua for a few more minutes, not saying a word and then turned and left.

*~*~*~*

Gaia’s Landing, MY 2248

Terry put the data crystal in the center of the Council table, then he looked over at a defiant Ling.

“I believe you have some explaining to do,” he said as he sat down, giving the stage to Ling.

She began without preamble. “The data on the crystal are a basically true, but strung together in such a way to tell a story, one that is not very flattering to me. For instance, the crystal documents my early and continuing links with Dreams of Green, and the military establishment I created there. It also goes on to insinuate that the fungal bloom at Green, likely triggered by pollution from excessive mineral production, was the result of my irresponsible management. The sad fact is that I had not been governor of Green for almost 50 years when the bloom occurred, and although I still have my links there I have no more power than any Council member. It is obviously constructed in such a way to discredit me, and lay the blame for the tragic bloom at my feet.

“The presentation builds upon this, suggesting that I am at least culpable in the varying amounts of pollution present all over Gaian lands. This is not true for a number of reasons. First, the pollution occurred during a growth boom, and we all know that the social and economic effects of a boom are hard to manage. Sometimes things just happen, despite the best planning. Second, you will find that, if you review the records, that I am just as busy as any of you and would have little time to delve into the sundry details of the industrial production of any one, much less a dozen, bases. It staggers the imagination that I could be directly irresponsible for the base’s decisions. Such a position also suggests that the base governors are either ineffectual and easily dominated, or that they are in my pocket. I think that is an insult to our base governors, who are a competent to brilliant lot.

“But, there are some grains of truth in it,” Ling said. This got everyone’s attention.

“I was not as sensitive as I should have been to the ecological impacts of planetary pollution. I would not have, in my wildest dreams, have imagined that a fungal bloom could be directly attributed to our actions. After that tragic event I think we all saw that our we need to take more care in our management, and it showed me that we are aliens on an alien planet, and this ecology is stranger than we can possibly imagine.

“Think what you will,” Ling said. “I can’t deny the details, but I contest the construct. If the Council wants me to resign I will since the Council needs to have mutual respect, even if there are starkly differing points of view.”

Terry let a pause grow, then said, “Thank you Ling. If you would kindly leave the room for a moment so the rest of us can discuss this.’

“Of course,” she said as she stood up, then turned and left.

After she had left Terry turned to the remaining Council members, who had serious looks on their faces. “No Council member has been removed due to malfeasance. This is a serious matter and we need to discuss this completely. Are there any opening comments?”

The next few hours saw heated discussions rage, subside, turn, and rise again. Each issue was wrung dry, and eventually everyone was satisfied and a consensus reached. Terry got up and went to the door, palming it open.

“Council person Ling?” he said.

Ling turned, smiling. His honorific said it all.

*~*~*~*

Cult, MY 2248

Eve walked down the private hallway that lead to the chambers of Ranger Ramos. From the hallway you could look down into the main part of the temple area where people were offering up gifts and prayers to the Planet. A Ranger priest was chanting from the book of Cha Dawn. Over the past few turns attendance had been climbing at all of the planet temples and certain changes in the Rangers Guild that had been brought to Eve’s attention that had caused her great concern. She continued to watch as she walked down the hallway and then turned the corner only to find two Ranger Paladins ( one of the new changes Ramos had implemented last turn ) baring her way.

“Move aside!” She commanded. For just an instant they hesitated but then moved. They said nothing to her as she passed by them, no ritual greeting, which began to make her angry but then she noticed the badges on their sashes indicating that they had taken a vow of silence. She thought for a second that if you were going to have your own bodyguards that would swear to a lifetime of silence you had a very dedicated force. She reached the door and stopped. The door should open automatically but it did not. Then she moved her hand to the door keypad and hit the open button and a warble sound came from it indicating that the door was sealed but an alarm would sound inside. She waited for perhaps a minute then the door opened. She stepped inside and looked around the room. Victor Ramos was rising from the floor along the far side of the wall. In front of him was his private vestibule, which housed a marble like stature of her father holding a small child in one hand and in his other a small but very detailed version of Planet.

“I am sorry for not opening the door sooner but I was deep in prayer and I do not like to be disturbed.” Ramose stood up and smoothed out his robes. He was a big man nearly 6 feet 6 inches and very muscular in even in middle age. Ramos had not partaken of the rejuvenation treatment process but if he was going to he would have to do so soon or the process would be not as effective and more painful. He quickly crossed the room and reached to take her hand.

“Please set down over here. I have some nice fungal tea steeping and some very good cakes as well.” He guided her over to the sitting area and then began preparing the tea and cakes. “ If I remember from our days at Hive Central you like your tea with only a small twist of lemon?”

“Yes.”

“Excellent. Here, please let it cool for a minute or so.” He handed her the cup and saucer and then moved the plate of treats in front of her. She raised the tea to closer to her face so he could breath in the aroma and it also allowed her to look around the room more closely. Ramos like all other Cult citizens had a very spartan lifestyle and even more so for a Ranger. The only exception he took was the abandonment of the traditional pillows, rugs and low tables in favor of a normal sized table with six very comfortable leather covered sitting chairs. Everything else in the room was very plain and simple.

“Great Mistress what brings you to the temple today?” Ramos asked as he sat down.

“Like my father I do not normally become involved with the internal policies or operations but over the past several turns the changes you have made within the guild of the Rangers have other ramifications. For instance, the changes you made in the rankings within the guild: priests, monks and paladins. Also, it has come to my attention your priests are telling the citizens that when the Prophet returns there will be a great cleansing of the Planet. I looked last night in my father’s book and found no mention of, how do they put it, the “ohn’-vohn” or holy war?” Eve asked between sips of tea.

“Mistress Eve the changes we have made within the guild are purely for organizational purposes. By specializing each ranger we can improve the effectiveness of each person. For instance, the two men guarding my door are hardly fit for “clerical” duties, wouldn’t you agree. So they are now in the order of paladins. While we have monks to handle the administrative work in each city and those who are truly blessed by the spirit of Planet are taken into the order of Priests. Now, as to the ohn’-vohn or holy war I think if you study the meanings of your father’s words it is clear what he intends.” Ramos sipped his tea during his reply but he never took his eyes off of her.

Eve sat quietly for a few minutes holding the cup in her hand. Before she had come to visit Ramos she had consulted with her master spy and it was clear that should the meeting become strained that any actions she wanted to happen would be difficult. The changes Ramos had made and the loyal and completely devoted following he had ringed himself with made elimination both difficult and risky. The elimination of Ivan Ivanovich had been seen as a welcome event but since then Ramos had learned from his predecessor’s mistakes and is elimination would be very difficult. She had thought about this for some time and clearly realized that her father had left her a snake in the grass to deal with and she had not dealt with him. Now, it was clear that only her father would have the authority to remove Ramos without serious repercussions to the Cult society. The death of an administrator like Lance Thompson was one thing but the First Ranger of the Guild of Rangers was something all together different. She was not at anyone’s mercy yet. She still had the loyalty of the seekers or rather to her father. The caretakers guild was now firmly under her control with the election of Ralph Wunder as the new master caretaker. Ralph was a pure administrator who would run an efficient and effective operation but he also knew his place and had no illusions about climbing into the inner policy circle. The last card she checked on was General Fookosh. Fookosh made it very clear that he would always support Eve in her “temporary” role as leader of the Cult so long as the Guides were the predominant military arms of the Cult. This was how the Prophet had wanted it and as long as she continued his policy his support was hers.

Eve stood up and placed the cup on the table. “Thank you again for this chat Ranger Ramos.” Eve turned and walked out of the room.

Ramos sat there for some time thinking about this “visit” from Eve. She was only a caretaker for the great Prophet. When he returns Ramos would be there waiting for his return, the obedient servant who had prepared for the great holy jihad to come. And, if the Prophet should not return then who better to lead the people of the Planet to the glorious vision they were destined to than him!

[Hydro]

Gaia’s Landing, MY 2249

“Council members, we are in a race. Although we have the highest research rates on Planet we are only just ahead of the other factions, most notably the Cult, University and Cyborgs. It seems these other factions have been exchanging technology, to our detriment since they have generally not been willing to exchange technologies with us. Both Zakharov and Aki-Data Five have declined our recent advances, and the Cult has put significant strings on any technology trades.

“It looks like the Cult beat us to Planetary Economics after all,” Mohammed said, “but only by a year. The question now arises – where do we direct or researchers to expend their effort? Both Aki and Zak have been developing a completely different line of research, one based on more discovery instead of understanding, as we have done. Aki is now three levels of technology farther than we are in these areas and is currently working on Advance Military Algorithms, a technology we can only try to fathom.

“Based on the actions of both Zakharov and Aki, I recommend we put our efforts into Optical Computers, which we should finish in approximately seven years at our current research rates. We still have a long way to go to catch up to Aki and Zak, but we can do it. The Cult has an advantage due to their acquisition of Cyberethics from their vassel Yang. Even so, we should still be able to generate the needed research to achieve technologic superiority.”

Terry asked, “Are any additional research-enhancing infrastructure coming on line?”

“I am afraid not,” Mohammed said. “Almost all bases have finished their network nodes, and research hospitals are now in the second tier of priority due to their costs. We are running an energy budget deficit now, and we can escape only by growing, maximizing energy production, or reducing our laboratory budget. The other factions might like to be in our position, but we are building infrastructure faster than we can generate the energy to maintain it.”

“Thank you Mohammed,” Terry said. “Anything else?”

“Our trade is easily covering our energy production deficit, but this is a long term issue.”

Terry looked over at Dee, who was dressed in a soft looking set of sweat pants and sweatshirt. Her doctor proscribe exercise period was just before the Council meeting and she hadn’t had time to change. “Anything Dee?”

“Not really, except for one interesting note: Lal is now pacted with Yang. At first I didn’t believe it, and I asked the empaths to double check. It was true, though. They went from mortal enemies, working the Cha Dawn to tear down his society, and then he turns around and swears common cause. The situation sounds too Machiavellian to me; enemy of my enemy. I can understand why Yang might do such a thing, especially after they were on the receiving end of a Cult attack and need all the friends they can get, but Lal?

“There is still not break in the sunspots, and I haven’t been able to actually talk with any faction leader, even if the empath guild members can see what is going on in their bases, which are still running Free Market.”

Terry nodded. “Ling?”

“The Cult will find it hard to find a Gaian base unprotected by an anti-espionage team. We currently have 20 probe and infantry probe teams stationed around our territory. Some areas, like those in the Jungle, are more lightly protected, but that will be fixed shortly. Within a few years all of our bases will have at least one probe defender, and a few offensive rover-based espionage teams in reserve at likely hot spots. Our defender upgrades are largely done, with every base having at least a plasma steel defender. The fast-response missile rover squads are more challenging due to their cost. Defenders are being augmented by native units, particularly along the coast. Of course, our perimeters are more heavily fortified than the interiors, but we aren’t neglectful of those by any means. Some good news came in this last years – we killed four worms, netting over 120 megacredits of energy. This should help offset our energy problems,” she said, looking at Mohammed.

“Good,” Terry said. “Colin? Do you have a social update?”

“Indeed I do! I am happy to report that there have been no disturbances in the last years. Almost all of our bases are currently at maximum habitation limits of 7000 per city, although there are a handful of cities that have grown, like Gaia’s Landing’s 11000 citizens, or can grow due to the hab dome completion. My only regret is that we haven’t finished more research hospitals, but I can understand why they would be deferred due to budgetary constraints.

“We also started on the Project Aesthetic Virtues, which promises to use our space more efficiently and change national consciousness to do more with less. Basically, this is a training area for our people that will impact our society significantly, and possibly ease crowding in our cities, too. Two cities are constructing crawlers to add these minerals to this Project and, at the current construction rate, we will finish it decades before the Cult, who started the Project last year.”

“Thank you Colin,” Terry said. “I have noting significant to report on from the parliament. The Green and Progressive Greens are still working together, but the Progressives have been gaining legislative strength. Due to the events of a few years ago they’ve been keeping it non-confrontational and low key. The Planet Party just gained the requisite 5% representation to be part of the decision making and coalition process. We should all note that this is a Planet worshiping religious party, with nominal allegiance to Planet and veneration for the Voice of Planet.”

“Cha Dawn, in other words,” Ling said.

“Yes,” Terry responded, “Cha Dawn, and his representative Mistress Eve. They haven’t done anything but lecture and throw legal hand grenades to stir things up a bit, but they are slowly gaining in strength. Dee, you may want to have a talk with them sometime.”

Dee nodded,” I’ll do that.”

“One more thing that Ling left out of her report,” Terry said. “It turns out a isle captain attacked the garrison of a Peacekeeper sea city. Their garrison was destroyed, and immediately replaced. Since this attack was not authorized by this Council or the Military Chiefs this commander has been censured and been told to pull back to a safe distance.”

Ling started scribbling in her datapad, scrabbling out what Terry had said. Terry wondered if she had known, and it wasn’t unreasonable to think she was fully informed. Had she given tacit authorization? Unknown – pure speculation.

Terry let the matter drop. “If there no other issues then this Council is dismissed.”

*~*~*~*

Cult, MY 2249

Eve sat at the conference table in her father’s quarters and listened to the reports from her advisors. She looked around the room at all of belongings of her father, some she played with as a child and deep down she wished he were here now.

“Mistress Eve, the report is not good from the western continent. A gaian spore launcher blocked the southern access to the fungus field, which would have allowed our colony pod quick access to the nexus site. When the colony pod commander asked the Gaians to move the simply looked at them in dumb silence. So rather than just sitting there they moved northwards with hopes of entering the field more to the west. Also, we have reports that the Gaian isle of the deep is still blocking passage through the narrow channel. The isle commanders have retreated somewhat in hopes that the Gaians will as well but their actions are clearly provocative. They themselves agreed with the idea of “free passage” but they themselves now refuse access.” General Fookosh completed his report and waited for Eve’s reply.

“General, commend the isle captains for pulling back in hopes of triggering the Gaians to do the same. Tell them to wait one more turn and then try the channel again. If the Gaians are still there and will not move, order the Gaian isle destroyed. Also, inform the colony pod commander to continue as best he can to the nexus site and make best speed possible. If the Gains continue to block his access then find another route or signal for a isle to pick them up and try an amphibious landing.” Eve replied.

“Mistress Eve, from the sketchy reports I have the Gaians might have started the ascetic virtue project as well. With their superior industrial capacity they will surely complete it before us. What do you think?” Ramos asked as he picked up a stylus to write down her response.

“We shall switch resources. Make the arrangements as needed. We have the Gaian treaty that they promised not to develop the planetary energy network so we shall see if they will keep their promise to us.” Eve responded and then turned to her spymaster, “ If you get any report of the Gaians beginning the planetary energy network then inform me at once. That will be a clear sign of how low and untrustworthy they have become. It is becoming clear to me that the Gaians are now so enthralled with their wealth and need for more material things that they will do anything to maintain their superiority. I see no reason to believe that they are more willing now than before to listen to some reason and begin to see events from our perspective. It seems our agent might have failed in his task and for that I am truly sorry to hear. Joshua could have been a very important bridge between the Gaians and the Cult but their current actions lead me to think otherwise. The blocking of our access to the nexus site and the narrow sea route to the west is just the beginning I think. We will see how the switch from in projects plays out. If the Gaians go back on their word to us then we will know how deep their souls have been corrupted by the lure of wealth and power.”

Eve slowly bowed her head and that was a sign for them to all leave her. It had been a long day indeed and the meeting had been full of details and problems she had thought they had solved before. Now this issue with the Gaians! Eve no longer believed that Lady Skye had any true influence over her people or nation. One of the reports indicated that the Gaians had actually attacked a Peacekeeper base, and for what? No reports of military landings by them or anything. Certainly they could not be still nursing old wounds, such as the attack nearly 20 turns ago on their isle of the deep. You would think they would have the sense to wait till the blackout was over to begin any military operations so they would have clear picture of the situation. She stood up and walked to the window and looked out into her father’s private garden. It was very late at night and the garden was so peaceful she wondered if her father was safe and at peace now.

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

Joshua had gotten a garbled message from the D.P.C several hours ago but he had been able to figure out, for the most part, what the message had said. He smiled at the memory of his visit to the Cult embassy and getting escorted into the communications area. The message was coded with a cipher he only could understand, how the ambassador and communications techs had stared at him when he wrote down the message and then quickly left without a word. Now he was standing in front of Lady Skye’s official residence and was writing a quick note to her. The chief guard was still puzzled by the request but had promised to forward it to Lady Skye.

The note read:

Dee,
I hope you are well and I do hope that you will ask me to visit you someday so that we can continue our conversations. I am going to break a rule that I was sworn to keep about divulging information but on this case I have been allowed to do so. First, your isle of the deep is blocking free passage through the channel route near the nexus site. Is this intentional? Do you plan on denying free access in this area? If so this constitutes a grave infraction that you have agreed to which was free passage on planet. Second, your native troops are blocking our scientific colony pod team access to the nexus site? Do you plan on attacking the pod if it proceeds further?

These are important matters to my people and yours. I hope that I can pass on a reply to my leader soon.

Your most cordial friend,

Joshua Malister

*~*~*~*

Gaia’s Landing, MY 2250

“What do you know about this, Ling?” Dee asked. “Why would we block a corridor for sea travel against the Cult, and what purpose would be served in preventing their colony pod near the Nexus from moving?”

“I learned about this when you did Dee,” she responded. “We have many native denizens patrolling near the Nexus. It is important, you know. The spoor launcher reported that it saw the Cult pod but not that they were blocked, so I can’t verify that. The isle was between orders, and it did report that it sighted a Cult isle which disappeared shortly thereafter.”

“I want them moved,” Dee said. Her voice was flat and firm. “Now. Our relations with the Cult are bad enough without these small incidents building on a perception of mistrust.”

“Of course, Dee,” Ling said. Her voice was earnest and eager-to-please. “I have nothing but respect for our Cult friends and wouldn’t do anything, purposefully anyway, to nettle them.”

Dee nodded, accepting this statement.

Colin, by contrast, knew Ling much better and perceived a note of veiled sarcasm. She was known for her caustic whit, and it wouldn’t surprise him one bit if she was using a tiny fraction of it on Dee at the moment – an intellectual test of a sort.

Dee continued. “I do have other news. The sunspot activity has subsided enough that we can contact the other factions, and I have done so. We’ve been out of communication for far too long and I wanted to touch base with key faction leaders.

“First, Zak called me and I received his call. His attitude has cooled in the last years of relative isolation, and all he wanted was for us to ‘share’ technology. I was about to give it to him, but then remembered that we’ve gifted him two technologies in the recent past and he has not reciprocated. If the University were technologically impoverished I would have done so anyway, but they have several advances that we do not have. Therefore, I made the decision to withhold the technology unless he wanted to proffer an exchange, which he refused to do. For me that closed the issue and, after a few curt pleasantries, I signed off.

“I also called on Aki, and she was in no mood to talk but I persuaded her to give me a few minutes. The subject of technology came up, and she flatly refused an exchange, even though she expressed and interest in Doctrine: Initiative. When I offered to trade she surprised me by telling me she would sell Cyberethics for 325 megacredits of energy. I said yes before she could change her mind.”

Ling almost jumped out of her seat. “325 megacredits! That’s outrageous! And you agreed to pay it?”

Dee turned to her. “Yes, I did. This Council has given me discretion in our diplomatic dealings that to not involve the declaration of war and I used it to demonstrate that we Gaians are flexible in our positions, and that we will not turn down an offer that has value. We have all been complaining for decades that the other faction leaders are not interested in trading technology, and I have told that to Zak and Aki, so I could hardly refuse when they finally come around.”

“We’re not questioning your judgment, Dee,” Terry said. “We’re just surprised since that is a lot of energy. I think it was energy well spent, and it will help Aki’s people. It’s too bad the Cult didn’t see fit to offer to sell or trade. That amount of energy could have helped their lagging Project efforts.”

“I tried to contact Lal, but I got a lower functionary that told me that Commissioner Lal was busy and could not be troubled to talk to a lowly Gaian functionary,” Dee said.

Mohammed’s face pinched, and Ling was fuming. Colin just looked sad.

“After that, I tried Chairman Yang, who did take my call right away. He wasn’t as hostile as in the past, and I asked if he would consider a truce. He said he would, if we would help defray the cost to stand down his ‘massive army’ for a mere 50 megacredits. I gladly said yes and we hammered out a peace treaty, which he just happened to have on hand. That was most fortunate.”

“Good. Worth every joule,” Colin said.

“Paying extortion to someone as weak as Yang,” Ling said under her breath. “Massive army? Pea shooters and pop guns, more likely.”

“I did not contact Santiago or the Cult, but I will do so now that the native units near the Nexus will be moved. I want to tell Mistress Eve via Mr. Marister that these units have been moved. I don’t quite understand why they want to move the colony pod since they won’t be able to establish a base in what is our territory by Planetary Council rules, but they are welcome to try.”

“Thank you, Dee. Seeing that our military, social, and infrastructure reports have been made this meeting is adjourned.”

*~*~*~*

Dear Joshua and Mistress Eve, Cult of Planet,

Please accept my apologies for the actions of our native units. I’ve asked the military liaison to the Council and she stated that the spoor launcher in question was not aware that he was blocking your movement, and our isle was between orders and also not aware that your isle wanted to travel up the passageway through the continent to your seas. These units have now been moved and I don’ think they should block your operations. If you or Mistress Eve have any other concerns please route them to me for quick resolution.

I do have a concern for your colony pod, which I assume is traveling west toward your synthmetal garrison. According to Planetary Council edict the territory around Children of Earth is in the care of the Gaians and, as such, I don’t think you will be able to establish your base. That said, you are free to try – we have no other claims on the Nexus area, and will abide by our agreement. I would hate to have your colony pod spend so much time traveling to your intended spot only to find that international rules of law prevent them from doing their duty. My only suggestion is to establish a base in Cult or unclaimed territory, which will push the Cult lands toward Children of Earth. Then you can set up another colony closer to your intended target. This is not a elegant solution by any means, and I am offering it to you for consideration. I want to make sure your research colony is established in all due speed.

Attached to this communication is our data collected to date on the Manifold Nexus. This data is not encrypted and is intended for free distribution, but I wanted to make sure the Cult had access to this information before other faction leaders. Unless I hear otherwise I will have this re-classified for general distribution in one Chiron year.

Walk with Planet,
Dee

[Hydro]

Cult, MY 2250

Lady Skye and the Gaian advisory council,

I it is fortunate that communications have been at last restored and we can now communicate freely. I have several issues that I would like to bring to your attention.

First, we wish to inform you that our colony pod will arrive in a turn at the site next to the nexus manifold. Our establishment of that base will result in ending of our long-standing treaty. I am assuming that we still have a tacit agreement to study the nexus manifold jointly and that once our colony is up and running we can once again negotiate a new peace treaty.

Second, I have been advised by my aides that the establishment of more formal trade negotiations will help all of our societies prosper with no impact on Planet’s fragile ecosystem. I hope that you can see the wisdom in supporting such a treaty that will set-up standards and regulations for commerce which in turn will help protect Planet from undue exploitation and increase all of our prosperity.

Third, I wish to broach a subject of vital interest to us, the planetary energy grid. Since the end of the blackout several factions seeking this technology have approached us. We hope that you will not trade this technology until we have completed the energy grid ourselves. With this in mind we will forgo any reasonable hope of completing the aesthetic virtues project in exchange for your promise to withhold that technology from the others. I hope that by working together on this we can help ourselves and eventually the other factions.

Fourth, our good friends at the university traded with us technology, military technology on superstring weapons. I am not sure if you have already mastered this technology but we would be willing to trade this to you for your technology on neural grafting. I would suspect that this would aid you in maintaining parity with your neighbor and thus preserve the balance of power.

I hope that we can work together more closely and thus reduce the tensions that have erupted in the past. We see that your people are now more sensitive to the will of the Planet and we hope that with even closer bonds we can one day merge our two societies for the betterment of the Planet.

Mistress Eve

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


Eve sat in the command center at Dawn of the Planet and waited for any word from her father. For days now since the blackout had eased the communications team had been trying the Prophets communication frequency trying to raise him with no luck. Eve looked at the screens again and realized that for nearly 84 hours they had been waiting for a sign but nothing. She stood up and turned to the lead ranger-paladin that was in command today in the command center.

“Inform me at once if you here anything!” She demanded and then left the room.

The paladin waited till the double secure doors closed and then picked up a comm.-link and keyed in a new number.

“Ranger one this is Commander Anderson in the command center.”

“Commander Anderson, any word yet?” Ranger Ramos responded.

“No sir, but I will inform you immediately if we hear from him. I assume that my orders stand. You’re first and then contact Mistress Eve?” The commander asked.

“Yes commander your orders stand, Ranger One out!”

*~*~*~*

Last Rose of Summer, MY 2251

Dear Mistress Eve,

I am aware that your colony pod near the Nexus will be arriving soon, and I hope my previous message made it to you. I am concerned that you may be disappointed when your colony pod arrives since I do not think they will be able to establish base since it is technically in Gaian territory. My previous message made a few suggestions, which I recommend you review, and if you have any comments I am willing to entertain them.

Your proposal to increase the value of trade has passed overwhelmingly, with only Yang and Santiago declining. This should help all factions on Planet prosper, and I hope see that there is more to be gained by peaceful interaction than more forceful means.

I understand your concern about the proliferation of Adaptive Economic Systems, and in deference to your request I will ensure that this technology is not released to any other faction until your Energy Grid project is completed. Your faction has worked on accumulating the resources for this valuable project for some time, and it would be a shame if someone else literally stole it out from under you. As per our previous agreement we will not work to complete this project – it is yours to complete, as you see fit.

You will note that, attached to this message, are our files on neural grafting and our world map. Your offer to trade neural grafting for superstring theory is a generous one and I do appreciate your concern. Zak and Aki have had this technology for quite a while now, and neither wanted we Gaians to have access to it. This was puzzling to us since we were offering technology in exchange that was just as useful, maybe more so, but both turned it down. In the end the Cult will profit instead of them since you will get another technology out of the trade – a good deal for the Cult and Gaians.

Take care, Mistress Eve, and Walk with Planet,

Dee

*~*~*~*

Cult, MY 2251

Lady Skye and the Gaian advisory council,

I am pleased that everyone did accept my proposal for the global trade agreement. The regulations and guidelines governing commerce and trade will serve to protect Planet from undo exploitation and damage. I admit that I was concerned that the other leaders would not support such a strong trade agreement but the benefits achieved seemed to outweigh their petty concerns.

We will attempt to build the colony at the site we have chosen. I appreciate your concern but will move forward as best we can. If for some reason we cannot then we do have a fall back plan. My advisors tell me that the main obstacle to this the fact that our current treaty prohibits such actions so in building the base it will result in a cancellation of the treaty. Of course this will have an inverse effect on our trade agreement but I hope my ambassador can quickly re-negotiate a new treaty with you.

We have accepted the proposed agreement for the exchange of maps and technology. I suspect that in the future we can work even closer on such exchanges that will benefit both our people. It does seem that the other faction leaders have great animosity towards you and your people. I suspect it comes from the lack of cultural, social and diplomatic exchanges between your people and them. I myself have not understood why you have such poor relations given the fact that you all worship the accumulation of wealth and the treasures. I would have believed that since the Cult put such things behind us decades ago that the others would be more suspicious of us. However, your recent attacks on the Peacekeepers seem to reinforce the others suspicions of you. I did try and contact Pravin Lal to persuade him to end his war with you but unfortunately those “pact” agreements he has entered into prohibit him from seeking a peace with you now. So I suppose I have to be the bringer of bad news and inform you that you and your people will never be able to find accommodation with the Peacekeepers.

I am also pleased to see that your isle of the deep has ended its 5-turn blockade of the narrow passage. I would also suggest that as part of any future negotiation that we prohibit any of our forces from “stopping” along that channel so that other factions might have free access. The blockade of that narrow channel would force any faction to travel great distances around the unspoiled continent.

Lastly, I wish to re-address the issue of the manifold nexus continent. I am willing to entertain any suggestions that you have to the development of that area to maintain its pristine condition.

I wish to close this message with a personal request. Since the blackout has ended we have not been able to raise my father or his team that set out before the beginning of the blackout on his pilgrimage. I have attached his frequency so that if any of your outposts might get a message from him to relay that to us. There are many plausible reasons for his not getting the message and none of them include his death. That is our hope. Please inform us of any contact with the Prophet of the Planet and you will have our enduring pledge of friendship!

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 2252

Mistress Eve,

I am happy to report that Pravin Lal finally came to his senses a year ago or so. He called me up personally and asked that we set aside our differences. Frankly, I was shocked in the change in his demeanor. He was almost friendly, the first time I can remember that he had a kind word. We hammered out a truce agreement, which he said would be a building block for things to come, hinting that he was working on his own advisors. Maybe we’ll be friends in the future? I choose to remain hopeful. This means that there are now no vendettas that I am aware of on Planet – the first time that has been the case in a long time, and I welcome it. Maybe the other faction leaders are beginning to see wisdom, and that peaceful interaction is more profitable than dirty wars.

It was a busy year diplomatically. Both Aki and Santiago called, and after they did some of the glow from Pravin’s call faded. Santiago, as usual, was blunt and wanted me to join her in a vendetta against Pravin and his precious Charter. I couldn’t say no fast enough, and Santiago was more than a tad put off and her mood was dark. I ended up gifting her Cyberethics as a gesture of good will, which she accepted and terminated the link. I had a similar conversation with Aki except she wanted the Gaians to declare vendetta with her against the Spartans. In the end she went away disappointed, but I did give her a technology as a gesture of good will, too. I noticed a disturbing trend here, and I can’t say I liked it one bit.

Your question of why so many of the other factions seem to bear us ill will is well taken, and has been discussed ad nausium in our Council. The only conclusion we can find is that the other factions are jealous of what we have achieved by a bit of good luck, decent planning, and peace. When other factions were wasting their resources on a soon-to-be-obsolete military machine we were building colonies, and then developing them. You may be right that our society’s emphasis on wealth may be part of the problem, but the issue is that no matter what we chose someone will be annoyed. If we chose Power then Santiago will like us, but Zak and Aki will think (correctly) that we are war mongers. If we choose Knowledge the Zak will love us, Aki will like us more, and Santiago goes on the war path. I know Wealth is not your preferred social priority, but I just cannot understand why this is so. You seem to tolerate Free Market, which is wholesale plundering of Planet. Most of the factions on Planet are running Free Market economics, but do you see us berating them, or brandishing a sword to bring them to heel (as you did recently in your unprovoked war on the Hive). I will take a lot to dislodge our pacifistic tendencies, and I shudder to think what such an event might be or our response when fully roused.

Do what you think best for your base near the Nexus. I just hope it won’t be extreme, or any damage irreparable. You will note that we have terraformed the land near Children of Earth, but per our agreement we have planted no forests – only farms, roads, and a sensor. A request was placed by the base commander to build a condenser, and that request was conditionally approved. The land in the area is rather barren as far as human life goes. Your former crews and base leaders have been given strict instructions not to removed or disturb any fungus in the area, so that the natural ecosystems can remain pristine.

Lastly, I had one of our technicians try your father’s frequency and I regret to inform you that, to date, we have gotten no reply. I have asked that they keep trying, and will continue to do so until I hear from you.

Walk with Planet,
Dee

*~*~*~*

Cult, MY 2252

Lady Skye and the Gaian advisory council,

I am glad that you at last were able to solve your dispute with the Peacekeepers. I have never understood their “issues” with you since from our perspective you nearly the same!

I have been told that Joshua Malister was unable to spend any time with you to help you understand our issues with your society so perhaps I can quickly illuminate our differences.

In our society we do not prize the accumulation of currency/wealth and material objects as a respectable attribute. Wealth is the path to greed and greed is the root of all evil in our view. What destroyed Earth? The answer is wealth or more precise the pursuit of wealth. There is a finite amount of resources or capital and by pursuing a social policy that encourages the accumulation of wealth you have to “take away” from those who do not have it, both within your society and without. Wealth corrupts the spirit and the spirit is what is needed to communicate with Planet. I hope that I have made it clear. It was our hope that your society would someday reject this primitive social agenda and work towards a nobler one, the accumulation of knowledge!

As to the free market system you mentioned. We have no great love of that or a planned economic system either! Both in our estimation lead to the same destructive social and ecological tendencies, as does the accumulation of wealth. Both a planned and a free market system tend to take but give little in return. Our green economic system offers both a social and economic reward to everyone who decides that today I will not buy that extra item, I will save and recycle I will work to preserve what I have and live within my means. I will not take so no one goes without!

I hope I have been able to shed some light on our society and why we still find yours to be backward economically and socially. I doubt you will understand much of what I have said since from what I have been told your apartments alone could finance a multitude of more worthwhile projects. Do not ask us to accept that your way is the best way for your people. Sometimes by asking others to take the harder road you become stronger for it!

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


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



Eve walked along the hallway deep in thought. Time seemed to have healed some of the animosity between the Cult and the Gaians. It almost seemed comical that they had been at odds for so long. In essence they the two factions were nearly identical in many ways except for one. The Gaians seemed by nature a very peaceful people if left alone they would set by and work and build in peace and try, but may not succeed, to live in harmony with Planet. While the Cult had shown and believed that by expanding their influence through military means that they could have greater control over their environment and thus preserve Planet. Eve continued to muse of many things but suddenly stopped near her quarters. She looked all around and realized her bodyguards were not posted at the door to the family quarters of the Prophet. Since the creation of the guilds the Prophet had used Cult guides to be his bodyguards and now they were gone.

“Mistress Eve?” A very quiet voice seemed to come from all behind her and suddenly a hand was on her shoulders, it was her spymaster.

“We must leave now!” He whispered to her but with command in his voice.

They turned and quickly left the area. Eve moved through the corridors and walked for some time until she reached what she thought was their destination. The spymaster turned to her and said.

“Mistress Eve, my operatives just reported minutes before I found you that your guards were dead and that several assassins were waiting for you, inside.”

“How would you know this?” She asked looking slightly frightened.

“One of the men sent to kill you is a seeker guild member, but the guild he is in does not know his true origins. He has a secret transmitter, he can use, which he did, and we were alerted even as he was killing your guards in order to maintain his “mole” like status. For now you need not know more but suffice it to say that unless things change one way or the other we will soon have a civil war on our hands.”

Eve starred at the black robed seeker and knew what she must do!

[Hydro]

Gaia’s Landing, MY 2253

A holo displayed Mohammed’s visual aids. An icon representing each faction were hovering above the conference table, and below them were tallies of numbers that assessed each faction’s number of bases, population, scientific output, and total maintenance budget. The last Mohammed insisted on including since it was a general assessment of the level of development of a given faction.

The summaries were:

* Gaians – 24 bases, 183,000 population, 541 terraquads of data per year, and a maintenance budget of 211 megacredits
* Cult – 18 bases, 65,000 population, 271 terraquads of data per year, and a maintenance budget of 50 megacredits
* Cyborgs – 11 bases, 39,000 population, 164 terraquads of data per year, and a maintenance budget of 22 megacredits
* University – 8 bases, 32,000 population, 141 terraquads of data per year, and a maintenance budget of 16 megacredits
* Spartans – 10 bases, 29,000 population, 31 terraquads of data per year, and a maintenance budget of 20 megacredits
* Hive – 2 bases, 10,000 population, 3 terraquads of data per year, and no maintenance
* Peacekeepers – 13 bases, 51,000 population, 83 terraquads of data per year, and 17 megacredits maintenance budget

After everyone had a chance to peruse the display, and make a few cross checks, Mohammed stood up.

“As you can see, the differences between the factions are stark. We have a commanding lead in resource utilization since our population allows us to harvest more from the lands around us. What is not shown is that almost every Gaian base has one or more supply crawlers supplying minerals for its industry, which further boosts industrial potential. None of the other factions are utilizing this valuable strategy to any great degree.

“This and other early investments have resulted in a huge infrastructure, which is fully four times that of our largest competitor, the Cult. The infrastructure is possible because of our boosted industry, and some of our bases now produce over 24 mineral equivalents every year without ecological damage – we are getting better at harvesting resources without disrupting our environment, a lesson we should have learned back on Earth.

“Another curious fact is that while our research is twice that of any other faction, the Cult, Cyborgs and University are at least making an effort to keep up. I am amazed that the Cult, with its smaller infrastructure, is able to produce half the scientific output we are. I suspect they are running a Knowledge to get this return. We may want to consider a committee to look into the option. At this point we are the scientific leader on Chiron, but there are Discovery areas where we are behind the University and Cyborgs. At this time we are working to correct that oversight.

“Lastly, I’m happy to report that our maintenance budget deficit has disappeared since a few more energy banks have come on line. More are being constructed. Moreover, our trade income is over 170 megacredits per year, so we now have a healthy surplus again.”

Mohammed looked over at Terry to indicate he was finished. Terry nodded in return and Mohammed took his seat.

“My, what an eye opener,” Colin said. “I knew we were ahead, but not that much.”

He turned to Ling. ‘Now, why do we need a few more bases in the Jungle? Don’t we have enough?”

“The proposed bases would be established such that a canal to traverse between seas could be created,” Ling said. “Each would be founded on an finger of land that connects the landmasses, and since base straddled the divide ships can pass through between the seas. This will also, conveniently, take advantage of the remaining Jungle terrain. These bases are for ease of commerce, and also for military operations, if the need arises.”

“Are the colony pods in production?” Dee asked.

“No. At this point the lands are being prepared. In both cases the terrain is completely covered by fungus, which is being removed. Basic terraforming improvements are being made, and then roads will be put in. These bases will have built in sensors, unlike most other bases. Formers are being carted in from the mainland, where they don’t have much to do anymore – a superior use of existing resources.”

“That’s all well and good,” Colin said. “But we don’t have a navy to speak up.”

“I beg to differ,” Ling said. “We have isle of the deep patrolling all over the seas, and although our conventional navy is small it still is the largest on Planet. We haven’t prototyped a cruiser hull yet, but that is a matter of time. Having these canal-bases will be critical in the future, and if we are to use them we need to prepare now.”

“As Chair I’m ending debate and calling for a vote on recommending the establishment of these two bases,” Terry a said. The vote came in 5-0.

“Any other items?” he asked.

“Yes,” Mohammed said. “I have been asked to bring a motion to convert to a Planned economy.”

“Not again!” Colin said. “Every single meeting it’s the same. What’s the argument this time?”

“Now we have five habitation domes completed so we can take advantage of the fast growth at our bases. The industry boost will allow us to finish more hab areas, and other infrastructure too.”

“That’s not much different from last year,” Colin said. “I call for a vote to get this out of the way.”

The vote came in 3-2 against, with Terry casting the deciding vote. Terry looked over at Colin and Dee. “The only thing holding me in the Green camp is that the Progressives don’t have their act together. Their plan would require us to be in a Planned economy for at least ten years, which is too long.”

He turned back to a disappointed Ling and Mohammed. “I’ll consider voting for a measure like this when our infrastructure is set up for growth, but not before.”

Dee and Colin looked satisfied. Strangely, Ling didn’t look disappointed, only more determined.

*~*~*~*

Cult, MY 2253

The entire command staff of the People of the Planet sat in the large control/conference center. This was one of the rare times that Mistress Eve had called a meeting of the entire staff. Around the room holo-projections had updates on every aspect of the Cult’s economic, social, military status along with maps showing all of the Cult’s holdings and the other factions. It was still not a true command center but until one could be built, it served its purpose. The doors at the far end of the room opened and Eve walked in and as she did the entire command council and staff stood up and offered the customary greeting.

“May the Prophet bath you all in his light of reason and spiritual radiance so that you all achieve a perfect understanding of Planet!” Eve walked to her chair and sat down followed by the rest of the command staff.

“First, I still have no report of the Prophet. No other faction leader has heard from the great one either. I still have no reason to doubt that he is still “out there” somewhere but for now he still wants to be alone. The Prophet left in the year 2232, over 22 turns ago. Just prior to his leaving he did take a rejuvenation treatment but with the hardships of the wilderness those 22 turns would be very hard turns to endure. If he does not return soon then his next treatment will not be able to restore as much as his vigor and youth as it had in the past.” Eve reported and then turned to her spymaster.

“Mistress Eve, with the establishment of Virgin Planet next to the nexus site we now have direct access to the area. However, as expected, it also canceled our treaty with the Gaians and as a result all trade and diplomatic avenues are closed. At your request Mistress we have tendered the new truce agreement to the Gaians and we await their response. They cannot be surprised at this event since we have warned them for many turns of our actions so we can only assume at this point they will accept our truce pledge. Once we have the truce in place we can negotiate a new treaty between our two peoples. Our new treaty will include our requirement that the Gaians observe our sphere of influence and not place any future colony pods within this area. I suspect that this should be acceptable since they are already planning expansion on the northern portion of the continent and we are doing so in the south. Also, our espionage teams are now in route to the Peacekeeper base. Our first priority will be to plant another virus into their system so that we can gain access. If the second team can gain access as well they are to steal any “new” technology files they find and plant evidence to suggest it was another faction. That “other” faction is yet to be determined.” The master spy finished his report and sank back into his chairs and the folds of his robes. Eve turned slightly to Ranger One Ramos.

“Mistress Eve, development at all of our cities, as you can see around the room, is proceeding at a fair pace. We should be able to complete the planetary energy network in less than 8 turns. Also, we have now 4 sea colony pods in production that will serve as our outposts and forward support centers for our isles of the deep. With the sea colonies in place they will serve two purposes, one, to provide forward support and surveillance and two, to mark the extent of our territory. We have also begun to slowly in, in small stages; to improve all garrison units at each city with the latest technology. We will do this over a long period of time, due to lack of resources.” Ramos gave a scowl at this point and looked around the room, “ With that said, I have been working with the Master Seeker to improve our security measures and to begin building more seeker teams to protect our bases from infiltration.” Ramos finished his report and looked at Eve with steely eyes. Eve returned the stare for a brief moment and then waved her hand towards General Fookosh.

“Mistress Eve, our native forces have not encountered any rogue or wild worms in some time. Our isles scour the seas but to no avail. I cannot understand why the sudden drop off in the natural native life forms of Planet. However, with your support we will begin raising our own worms soon to provide a rapid reaction/scouting force on each continent. Currently, many of our worms our helping as garrison units at the cities. While this makes the worms and guides happy it does not build a strong and highly trained force. Our worms need to be bigger and I think we have yet to see the ultimate size at which our native soldiers can grow!” Fookosh ended his report with a slight cough.

“Master caretaker, your report please.” She turned towards Ralph Wunder.

“Mistress Eve, our terra-formers are working around the clock, non-stop!” Ralph reported with great enthusiasm. “However, we still lack sea-formers and the need for more kelp farms and tidal energy collectors are pressing. We are still fortunate in that our terra-formers are keeping up with demands for more resources yet we are still preserving a great amount of the native environment. Our un-terraforming efforts are just as impressive! We have restored 7 sectors of fungus with more to come. When the Prophet returns to the home islands he should me very pleased with our restoration efforts. It is a constant struggle to keep the forests at bay but we will win that struggle. We have also made sure that we do not use any of the prohibited technology such as boreholes or condensers but we have made good use of the echelon mirrors in enhancing our energy collection, an extremely low environmental impact project!” Ralph completed his first report to the complete council and he was very pleased with himself.

“You should be proud of your work, as should you all.” Eve responded. “We are the second most powerful faction on Planet! We have achieved this status through our dedication to our beliefs and have stuck to our principals! Unlike some of the other factions whose development has resulted in pollution, riots, wholesale destruction of the Planets natural environment. All of our achievements have been completed but we have protected Planet and never once polluted the Planet. The Gaians have achieved their success by allowing over population. Now they seek even more bases while even building larger cities. We on the other hand will build more cities but keep them small and spread them out over greater distances. This will make us vulnerable to attack but through the master seekers efforts we will have ample early warning.” Eve finished and then stood and gave a brief blessing and left the room. The others quickly gathered the documents and began to file out. The master seeker watched as the others left keeping and eye out for any indication of shifting alliances within the guilds but for now it looked as if things were stable.

*~*~*

Gaia’s Landing, Parliament, MY 2254

Be it proclaimed that,

* Whereas the Gaian Council has recommended that the Parliament consider all reasonable measures to ensure ecologically sound growth, and;
* Whereas the Parliament Commission on Infrastructure has determined that Gaian base facilities are capable of handling the potential social strains of base growth, and;
* Whereas the Parliament Commission on Ecological Preservation has determined that any growth can be monitored to ensure no disruption to the environment, and that current Gaian measures to enhance industrial output are well within limits to ensure no environmental pollution;
* It is hereby resolved that the Parliament, duly elected in MY 2252, to direct the Ministry of Economic Administration to enact a Planned Economy not more than one Chiron month after the promulgation of this Act, and;
* It is hereby resolved that Parliament will appoint a Special Commission on Growth to fully monitor city growth to ensure social stability and that no environmental pollution occurs, and that any infractions will be immediately reported to the civil authorities and the Gaian Council, and;
* It is hereby resolved that the Parliament has budgeted not more than 10 percent of the yearly Gaian budget to social programs to enhance social stability until the end of the growth cycle, and;
* It is hereby resolved that this Act will be reviewed yearly by the Gaian Council, and that the Planned Economy will be terminated if the Gaian Council does not approve its continuance with a supermajority of 80 percent of its legally standing members.

Notary – this Act was voted and approved by a majority of Parliament, with a Gaian Council sunset provision to be reviewed yearly

*~*~*~*

Colin and Dee read the Act, which had been provided to them prior to the official announcement to the media as a courtesy. Neither were happy about it, but once it was clear the Council and the Parliament had determined that a switch was prudent both had worked hard to wring concessions out of the New Progressive Party. It was a near thing, but the Progressive Green party had switched sides in the last week of political maneuvering. This left no choice – go along, or be run over.

Colin was particularly proud of his built-in sunset provision, and the supermajority measure. This meant that if Dee and he kept together they could kill it on any given year during renewal. The had both assured the Council they would not do so if social conditions were stable, and that there was no ecological pollution, and provisions for these were in the Act, too.

Dee was concerned since she knew the Cult would probably be apoplectic, as they were wont to do on occasion. To her this was troublesome, but as a school of hard knocks politician she knew you couldn’t please everyone, and it was foolish to try. Keep as many people happy as possible – that was the key. And, although she had misgivings, she also thought this was by far the best template for expansion the Council had ever considered. She was willing to go along with it as long as growth didn’t get out of hand, and she knew that Colin would support her in pulling the plug as soon as there was any hint that anything was getting out of hand.

“I need a drink,” Colin said. “Care to joint me?”

Dee put the datapad down. “Yes. I know just the place. They have terrific Fungal Gin Fanny Bangers, complete with mint.”

Colin’s eyebrows rose a notch. “That bad?”

“Maybe I’ll have two,” Dee said.

Colin laughed, and they left the room together.

[Hydro]

Cult, MY 2254

Lady Skye and the Gaian advisor council,

My ambassador has informed me that once again you have turned your back on the Planet. I find this decision must regrettable. I have read the “new law” with all of the stipulations and amendments and though on the surface you seemed to have addressed the concerns you have about pollution and civil disobedience you still do not answer the fundamental question as to why? Why embark on this path when you do not need to do so? I can tell you why we think you do so. Your peoples driving need for more wealth and material things blind them to the needs of the Planet! I realize that anything I say here will have little to no effect on your opinion or those of your people but at least you can understand our position on this matter so that there is no confusion. You continue to put pressure on the resources of Planet with no thought to the long term, and let’s be clear here, long term effects it will have Planet. By consuming more resources and putting more sectors of land into production you forever change the face of Planet. With that being said here is our current position with your faction:

One, we will not seek to expand our current diplomatic status with you until you return to a green economic model and turn away from the pursuit of wealth. All of your policies eat at both the heart of humanity and Planets.

Two, we will not seek any further technological trades with your people. Any technology we would exchange would only add more fuel to your burning desire for more wealth. Perhaps this will hurt us more than it will hurt you but that is what true conviction is built upon not the whims of the masses and the need for more wealth.

Three, we will honor all current and past agreements with you but will not seek any further negotiations with you until you have recovered from you state of insanity. We will pursue our goal of establishing a “perimeter” of cities at the border of the area we claim as our sphere of influence. As such we will not tolerate any expansion into that area. Any expansion into our area will be seen as an attempt by your people to provoke a state of war with us.

Let me be clear we have equal problems with all of the other factions on Planet with their use of free market economics and the damage they do the Planet. However, since your people now outnumber every other faction on Planet and you are second only to us in territory even the slightest stress you put on Planet is magnified more than any other faction. The Spartans, Peacekeepers and all of the others are polluters but when your great cities began to dump waste and tear at the ground for more minerals it is on a much greater scale and has an even greater impact. We can only see that your continued expansion will lead to the complete destruction of the previous environmental system of Planet. For that we curse you for all time for you, unlike the others, have at least some understanding of your actions yet you care not.

From this point on any communication you wish to address to our government will only be accepted through verbal communications with either our ambassador or Mr. Malister. Seek not to try and send us any further communication until you have amended you ways. We will pray for your souls and the soul of the Planet that you are about to destroy!

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


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

Eve turned to her spymaster who watched as she sent the reply to the Gaians.

“Inform your teams that the target faction is the Gaians. All evidence should put to them at any incursion you make, is that clear!” Eve commanded.

“Yes great mistress it is.” He replied and turned and left.

Eve thought for some time about her decision for good or for bad but it had been made. If the Gaians desire for power and riches was so great that it blinded them to all other concerns perhaps by forcing them to concentrate on their security it would force them to pursue a less expansionistic policy. This was her hope and perhaps fools dream she thought.

*~*~*~*

[p]Lily of the Valley, MY 2255[/b]

“Mohammed, is your status report ready?” Terry asked.

“Yes, it is,” he said as he stood up. “The population boom is proceeding without incident, as planned and our population increased by 11 percent in one year. You will also note,” he said as he toggled a holo projection, “that there are no instances of social disturbance, and no outbreak of planetary pollution. All of our bases have experienced a marked increase in population, and attendant resources. The completion of the Aesthetic Virtues Project last year helped in this regard since our people now can make better use of the space that is available, effectively meaning that our existing infrastructure can accommodate 28 percent more people.

“Next year we will have similar growth, but after that it will be limited to those bases that have hab complexes. Now six are on line, and four more will be completed in a year or two. More can be rush built, at considerable cost to the treasury, if authorized by the Parliament. I have it on good authority that the Parliament will allow such expenditures if the cost isn’t too exorbitant.” He looked as a skeptical Dee and Colin, who were poring over the holo data, obviously looking for flaws or convenient omissions. “Our objective is to ensure stability, and no pollution, of course.”

Mohammed lapsed into silence to allow the Council to examine the data, calling up drill-down details for aspects that were of interest. He knew there was nothing to hide, and was waiting for questions or comments.

There were none.

After the active examination had tapered off a bit Terry said, “Anyone who wants a copy is welcome to it. There is nothing secret here. Are there any objections to a vote?” He looked over at Dee and Colin, who shook their heads.

“Very well, please vote to recommend the continuance of a Planned economy by saying ‘aye’,” he said. There were a three ‘aye’s. “Abstentions?” Both Dee and Colin abstained.

“Motion passed. I’ll forward it to Parliament,” he said. “The last issue on our agenda is the rather terse missive from Eve of the Cult. Dee, any comments?” Terry asked.

“Not really,” she said. “They are effectively suspending all diplomatic relations until we change our economic focus back to Green, and change from a Wealth society focus. We will likely back out of a Planned economy soon enough, certainly within years, but all of us agree that there is nothing Planet unfriendly about Wealth. Unless they change their minds it is likely that we’ll not have any relations with them for a long time.”

“Any need to contact Mr. Marister?” Colin asked.

“I’m not sure I have anything to say,” she said. “I’ll forward a general holo to his office in the Cult embassy to let them know we’ve received Mistress Eve’s declaration, and that while we are sorry they’ve chosen this path we can understand it.”

“But it’s irrational,” Ling said. “All this harping on polluting Planet, and damage to Planet – there is absolutely no evidence of this! They’re simply asserting it, and making vague metaphysical claims that we’re supposed to accept at face value. It’s their extreme religion talking, not a rational person. I don’t know how we can deal with such sophistry. How do you have a meaningful conversation with someone who doesn’t believe in cause and effect, evidence, or the scientific method? It’s like talking to a wall.”

“It’s the polite thing to do, Ling,” Dee said. “I generally agree with you, but disagreeing with them won’t help matters. We know we can’t accommodate them, so our only choice is to acknowledge their opinion and move on.”

“And if they take their displeasure one step further? What then? What if they decide that we need to be exterminated, or humbled, like Yang? Or if Mistress Eve convinces herself that the University needs to be brought to heel, like Yang? Face it, Dee. The Cult is aggressive and have all the worst qualities of the extremist religions of old Earth. Remember those? They were only too happy to throw fuel on the fires of war, and were willfully blind to their role since they were all convinced that it was God’s will. Only, in this case it’s some banal ‘Will of Planet’, or some other revealed wisdom that, of course, can’t be proven, much less verified.”

“I know that, Ling. We’ll have to cross those roads when the time comes.”

*~*~*~*

Cult, MY 2255

The latest report from the spy network was very alarming. For the first
time the Gaians seemed to have at last been able to manage one of their "pop
booms" as they now called them without the massive social turmoil they usually incurred. The spy chief scanned the data for hours and it soon became clear that the Gaians for better or worse had achieved their materialistic breakthrough. They could have massive expansion without immediate impacts on the environment. What was troubling was that over all of this time neither Cha or his Daughter had been able to convince the Gaians to slow down their expansion. The Gaians would continue to grow and grow and that growth would forever change the face of Planet. The Gaians never seemed to look at the long term effects of their works. 200 hundred years from now the Gaians will have forever changed the face of Planet and it will look more like earth then Planet. The question is will the generations to come thank the Gaians for their efforts or damn them for all eternity. They never seemed to think in the long term as did the Cult. The Cult took every smashed fungal stalk as a sign, an omen that to destroy one single item could result in the wholesale changes in the future. He wondered if the people who lived in the early 21st century appreciated the rapid, unchecked growth of their forefathers. If some restraint had been used perhaps some of the evil that had been done might have been avoided on earth. The spy master gave a deep sigh and pushed any further thoughts of this issue from his mind. He needed to concentrate on the here and now. The simple fact was that the Cult had to keep the Gaians unbalanced and more importantly, uncommitted. As long as the Cult could continue to expand in their area, infiltrate data networks and steal data and if need be conquer their neighbors without rousing the Gaians to war he would earn his pay. The data was clear and uncontrovertibly, the Gaians were a sleeping giant that if roused to war would be nearly unbeatable. They could if need be fight a war through proxy by funneling vast sums of energy credits without missing a heartbeat. The trick would be is if the Cult did attack another enemy was to make sure that they hated the Gaians as much as they hated the Cult and would not accept any resources from the Gaians.

The spymaster switched screens and reviewed the data on the espionage teams. They would land next turn, if the current was with them and then the attack would begin. He began to compile a summary of his findings for Mistress Eve and give her the bad news.

*~*~*~*

Gaia’s Landing, MY 2256

“At least Landing isn’t rioting,” Colin said. His voice dripped with sarcasm.

Dee took up where he left off, and she wasn’t going to give Mohammed any slack, except maybe to hang himself with. “How many bases are rioting?”

“At this point it isn’t….” he started.

“The answer is six. Six cities are in full riot due to uncontrolled growth. Your countermeasures were effective for one year, and that’s it. Can you give me a valid reason, as opposed to some doubletalk, why Colin and I shouldn’t stop this chaotic adventure right here and now?”

‘Well, ah…” he started again.

Ling saw Mohammed was flummoxed by the vitriolic attack by Dee and Colin. Both of them had been in rare form, and had been grilling Mohammed for 20 minutes. If she didn’t know better Ling would swear that they were enjoying this, a little too much, in fact.

“What we meant was that the bases wouldn’t stay in riot for a full year. We are taking countermeasures to control the situation,” she said.

“Not good enough,” Dee said. “My understanding is that no bases were to go into unrest, and that there would be no pollution. Luckily for you there is no evidence of pollution or I’d scuttle the Planned economy here and now. Tell you what,” she said as she leaned forward and looked straight at Ling. “I’ll forgo terminating this growth if during the coming year there are no bases that go into unrest. Otherwise this period of Planned economy is over. Do I make myself clear?”

“Eminently so,” Ling said. Here voice and mannerisms were tight, and a veiled hostility filled the normally affable Council room.

Terry decided to intervene. “I’m calling a recess. We reconvene in two hours.” He didn’t know if it would work, but anything would be better than this.

*~*~*~*

Cult, MY 2256

Eve watched in horror as the video feed from the riots displayed every aspect of the evil of that was humanity. Right before her eyes a Gaian, most probably a worker from this clothes, was bashing in a window by throwing a security guard through it. He laughed with glee as the guard was cut perhaps a hundred times over by falling glass then the worker and many others rushed in to grab the precious stones and jewelry displayed in the window. Eve watched for hours as Gaian killed Gaian over food, consumer goods, luxury items just about anything they could get their hands on. The Planet temples in Gaian cities had taken in hundreds of people who had fled the violence, all seeking a sanctuary of peace and understanding. Eve had issued orders that every Gaian was to be given all assistance they could provide even if they wish to relocate to Cult areas if they wanted. Every person who wished to move would be given a job, housing and food credits. They had already had 400 people request, as they put it, economic asylum, and they had granted it. The spy master had been incorrect in his assessment last turn about the effectiveness of the Gaian system to curb the demands and riots. The bottom line was that each time the Gaians switched to a planned society the people resented the extra demands placed on them for more work, more service to meet the increased demands by the elite, the powerful, the greedy. No matter how they tried they would always fail and fail again. Only by re-educating their people could they hope to curb the excess built into their flawed beliefs in the power of money to solve all things. Eve stood up and opened a communication channel to her defector ambassador to the Gaians, Joshua Malister. Within seconds the comm-link beeped back and Joshua's face was on the screen. He looked haggard and pale.

"Are you well?" Eve asked.

"Yes, I was caught in a riot and had a break thrown at me and had to be sent to the hospital for treatment. Nothing too serious, a minor concussion and stitches. The Gaians do have first rate medical treatment unfortunately it is not universal and as such only those who have the money have access. The problem when you use credits as a means to allocate all services and material in your society. Many of the riots started up due to the fact that the decrease in wages brought about by the switch to an industrial society resulted in many going without basic healthcare." Joshua rubbed the bandage on his head and smiled.

"I want you to inform the Gaians of an offer. I want you to make contact with this Colin directly and perhaps the other advisor, Mohammed. Ask them to join you for a meeting and then make the following offer, non-official of course. Offer them the following: we will gift them when we complete our next breakthrough after optical computers access to "clean reactors" by gifting them this technology they will not despoil the environment and thus reduce their demand for resources." Eve finished waiting for Joshua's reply.

"Is that all great mistress."

"No, one last stipulation if we gift them the technology they can not exploit the advance we will make as well, an advance in the longevity treatments. It will increase the age limit considerable for all citizens who receive the vaccine. My fear is that if the Gaians get with their huge population they will increase the stress on their society even more!" Eve finished her reply.

"Understood great mistress. I will be attending a social function next week, if the riots do not cancel it, and many if not all of the advisory council will be there. I will make the offer then." Joshua smiled again and killed the link.

Eve sat for a while and almost called Joshua to cancel the offer but she decided to let Joshua try and see how things went.

_____________________________________________


A lone man walked to the top of hill and looked down at the cult city. He was bent with the trials and burdens he had faced but it was time to go. He slowly walked down the hill followed by very young worm mass, his companion for nearly 2 turns. It would take the better part of a month to reach the city but he would and then he had work to do...

[Hydro]

Gaia’s Landing, MY 2257

Dee sat down on the couch in her rather small but cozy apartment. She was facing Ling. “Ling, you had your chance. Two more cities were in full riot last year, so that’s it. Colin and I are moving to terminate the Planned economy and switch immediately to a Green economy,” Dee said.

Ling just nodded. She knew this was coming, and had warned her Progressive contacts of the likely economic change.

“I wanted to tell you personally so you can make any necessary contacts. But, that business aside, what do you think of the offer Mistress Eve made through Mr. Marister?”

“I don’t like how they’re always so indirect,” Ling stated as she poured some tea. “Why not just contact the Council in general? They should know by now that anything said to a Council representative will be discussed openly. It’s not like we have a closed society like the Cult, or maybe they don’t understand that?

“That’s their way, and it doesn’t do any harm except to delay discussion on any item of interest. What do you think of their proposal?”

“Very restrictive. They also need to define by ‘despoiling the environment’. That is rather vague, and since it is coming from the Cult we need to find out what they mean since. In the past they have stated that the Hive was polluting, when we knew it wasn’t true, not in the least. Yang had so little industry and terraforming that his lands were almost pristine. She also accused us of wanton pollution when we haven’t had any pollution since the first surprising outbreak many decades ago.

“After we get that cleared up it is worth considering, assuming we don’t get there first. Our research rate is double theirs, even with their likely emphasis on Knowledge.
We may not decide to pursue that line of research. We should bring it up at the next Council meeting,” Ling said.

“I agree,” she said as she sipped her chamomile tea. “Have a lemon twist,” she said, pushing a hand thrown potter plate toward Ling, who took one. “Colin made them for me, said I was too thin.”

Ling laughed. “Colin thinks everyone is too thin. If he fattens them up he’d have more company.”

“Colin’s not fat, just a bit portly,” Dee said.

“Or big boned,” Ling said. “He brought me some raspberry chocolate truffles two weeks ago. They were very good, although they were so rich I could only eat one. Colin polished off four before I brought him his coffee.”

“Did he leave any for you?” Dee asked.

“Oh, yes. He brought plenty. I invited some clients over and served them. They were a big hit, and Colin was thrilled when I told him that three people wanted he recipe.”

“Were they Progressives?” Dee asked.

“Progressive Greens,” Ling said, helping herself to another lemon twist.

That surprised Dee a little, but it was good that Ling was branching out. Maybe it wasn’t so hard since the Progressive Greens were likely old associates of hers.

“Have you met this Mr. Malister?” Dee asked.

“Only indirectly. He always seems to steer away from me when I approach. That’s fine with me. The Cult gives me the creeps with all their half-witted prophesy and ‘Planet this’ and ‘Planet that.’ If he’s read the Council transcripts he probably knows my views since they aren’t exactly a secret.”

“You’re suspicious of everyone,” Dee stated.

“Damn right,” Ling said with some heat. “Our experience here on Planet hasn’t exactly been a walk in the park. We have to keep our guard up or we’ll end up like Yang – at the end of a short leash. By the way, the next time the Progressives recommend we undertake a population boom we will have our duck in a row with proper infrastructure, like research hospitals and hybrid forests – that should do the trick, and make most of our social ills go away.”

“Good,” Dee said. “Enough business. It’s almost seven and our dates will be here in a moment. How do I look?”

“Ling looked over Dee. She was wearing a simple silk pants suit that looked like a dress – ever practical. It looked stunning on her, though, since the spring green brought out her eyes and contrasted with her raven hair. Her single piece of jewlry was a planet pearl pendent, which had a faint glow. It was one of the first ever found, and no one had objected when Dee kept it as a keepsake.

Ling reached over and primped an unruly curl over her left ear. “Now you’re prefect. How about me?”

Ling wore a severe black dress that looked like an evening gown, but wasn’t quite formal enough. It matched her jet black hair, and she wore an archaic set of pumps that were so out of fashion that they were a fashion statement – just like Ling liked it. She didn’t follow anyone and made her own rules.

“Wouldn’t change a thing,” Dee said, and she meant it. Even Ling’s makeup, what there was of it, was subtle.

“Let’s go to the lobby and meet them there,” Dee said as she walked toward the door. Ling followed and beat her there.

*~*~*~*

Cult, MY 2257

Colin sat in across the table from Joshua Malister and seemed to be enjoying the meal immensely. Joshua had kept the conversation general and had steered it away from politics as much as possible only answering, if pressed by Colin for some answer. The server brought out the final course and Colin did not wait a second to dive into the sea bass (or what was called a sea bass on Planet) steamed to perfection and served with fungal leeks and new potatoes. Colin wasted no time and after a few minutes seemed to devour the fish with a flourish then looked up at Joshua and smiled.

“Sorry, I did not mean to be so rude but Council business has kept me locked up all day and as such I had so little time to eat.”

“No offense was taken, I assure you Colin. I am just glad that we could arrange this impromptu meeting so quickly after I received your request. So what can I do for you?” Joshua asked but he already knew the answer.

“On this last offer of yours, the Council needs more information. On one hand we have a letter from your leader Mistress Eve stating no further exchanges will take place and yet here you are?” Colin reached for his wine glass and took a long drink from it.

“Colin you have to understand how much more complex our society is over yours.” Colin’s face contorted slightly and he was about to protest the statement since every Gaian felt their democracy was the most perfect system every devised by man.

“Please be at ease. Your system is all laid out in an elaborate constitution that guides your leaders and establishes all of the rules by which they govern. We on the other hand have nothing. Our guild system is primitive when compared to yours. The guilds offer limited political involvement by the people and the guild leaders help develop policy which is then approved or disapproved by our leader, mistress Eve. However, underneath that thin veneer of a system is a power system of shifting loyalties, agendas and ambitions that drive much of our policy. The letter that mistress Eve sent you was most likely a command council joint decision that was used to placate the more extreme power bases on the council.”

Colin quickly interrupted. “The more EXTREME elements?! You mean to say that there are people in the Cult council that take an even more extreme view of the Planet than Mistress Eve or even the Prophet?”

“Yes, very much so. You see we have the moderates, which I think Mistress Eve could be considered as. On the other hand we have Ranger One Ramos, the leader of the Rangers guild. The man is a zealot and would like nothing more to launch a planet wide cleansing of every faction and force every person on planet to worship Planet.”

“Then Ling was right about you and your people all the time!” Colin was getting upset, perhaps more so due to the amount of drink he had consumed.

“No, your Ling is wrong. There are other elements that wish to help guide other factions by example. For instance, your people could be just as prosperous as they are now, even by using a green economic model and a focus on something other than the love of money. Look at us, the Cult. We are orders of magnitude greater then any other faction on Planet and we have done this by sticking to our principals and beliefs.” Joshua waved his hand at the server for coffee and dessert.

“But what about this new offer!” Colin asked again.

“Simply put this is a back door attempt by Mistress Eve to keep negotiations open between our two peoples. The offer is simple. We will begin work on clean reactors a technology that offers great benefits to the Planet. Imagine if you can a power cell system that creates no toxic waste and does not require massive amounts of material support from a base. Your cities would not have to drill so many mines to support these troops and equipment. Less mines means less chance of pollution. The planet wide benefits outweigh the current political situation. In turn, all we ask is that you do not use this technology to advance any special projects that it might open up. These would be reserved to the Cult. This arrangement is very similar to our past arrangements. I really cannot see how this would be seen as a negative situation. You get a free technology and we ask nothing in return for it except your promise.” The server laid out the plates and cups and begins filling each.

“But why?” Colin asked again his frustration mounting.

“Colin, as I said mistress Eve wants to keep negotiations open. If she can bring this back to the council and present it as a victory for both the Cult people and the Planet then she could use this as a means of leverage against the more extreme elements. Once again this is all I can comment on since this is all I know. If Mistress Eve has “other” motives I would not know what they are.” Joshua reached down and picked up his coffee cup and took a drink waiting for Colin to take a break and finish of his torte.

“I will obviously bring this back to the Council and see what they have to say. Your documentary on the Gaians fleeing our society to seek a better, more spiritual society really upset some of them. The video tape of the slums, the riots and all the other unpleasant aspects of our society really made them mad.” Colin had finished his fungal torte and had begun to ask for another one.

“That was not done by me but by the Rangers who are lead by the extreme elements in our society. The sad fact is nothing of that documentary was doctored or falsified in any way. Certainly it could have been spun another way to make it seem less terrible than it was but he basic facts were there. Your society has a much greater potential than you realize and from our view you waste it on the desire to procure more things to accumulate more wealth. These are hardly worthwhile goals and I think you would agree with me.” Joshua replied.

“Yes, I do but the progressives keep beating us both on the Council and Parliament,” Colin replied after finishing his second torte.

“Well, we can help you somewhat in that area. I have arranged several substantial contributions to your party, which is legal under the current laws I do believe. However, the longer your people focus their society on the pursuit of wealth and industry the harder it will be for them to ever break away from the lure of those riches.” Joshua finished his coffee and put the cup down.

“Joshua this has been a very good dinner, in many ways, I thank you again.” Colin smiled and so did Joshua.



The elderly man had reached the city and had made his way to the transport central station. He booked passage on a freighter to the capital city and then waited for the ship to begin loading. He had released his friend just prior to entering the city since having a mind worm at his side would draw much too much attention. The intercom blared out that general boarding had begun and so he slowly stood up and walked to the docks. The ranger guard checked each border and their papers but as the old man walked up the Ranger stopped him.

“Where are your papers?” The ranger asked.

The old man looked at the ranger for a few minutes and examined him. The ranger wore a brown robe with an orange sash with a several pins attached to it.

”Of what order are you?” The old man asked.

“I am a monk of the Rangers, old man, now where are your papers!” The ranger stuck out his hand again.

The old man fished out from his pocket a tattered book and handed it over. The ranger scanned it and handed it back, “You may board, and may the Prophet shine on you and watch over your voyage.” The guard then began to turn to the next person.

“Oh he will young man, oh he will!” The old man chuckled to himself and walked up the plank and silently thought that perhaps he would spend some time poking around before he would make his final visit.

*~*~*~*

Gaia’s Landing, MY 2258

“No strings attached, besides not attempting any special projects associated with the technology?” Ling asked.

“As far as I can tell, that is what Mr. Malister says. He ‘suggested’ but didn’t demand that we switch from a wealth emphasis, either. All he said is that it would reduce our need for mines, and therefore reduce our chance of environmental pollution,” Colin said.

“I recommend we accept their offer, provisionally on the precept that we don’t get the technology first,” Terry said. “Our technology rate is still well over twice that of the Cult.”

“Yes, but it seems to be leading us in a different direction,” Dee interjected. “I don’t see any harm in telling Mr. Malister that we have considered the offer and, with a few minor provisions, can say yes. That would give Mistress Eve a ‘win’, and if he is right strengthen her against her more radical elements.”

Ling snorted. The Council knew her opinion on the Cult, and that was that they were are radical, and a bit cracked.

“They are correct that a ‘clean’ reactor technology would be a significant benefit to our industrial output,” Mohammed said. “Some of our cities currently have almost a fifth of their output tied up in support, even though we’ve tried to spread the costs around equitably. Incorporating this advance during our next set of military upgrades would let us build even more, faster. This would let us increase our city infrastructure, also. I see no harm in accepting.”

“Then let’s vote so we can move on,” Terry said. “All in favor of accepting the Cult proposal.” A series of ‘ayes’ followed. “Opposed?” Ling voiced a strong ‘nay’.

“Motion carried,” Terry said.

“The next order of business is the formation of three new chaos rover offensive and armored defensives to be stationed in the Jungle and the northern part of the our main continent. We have been asked to consider this by the splinter faction Defense Coalition. Tied to this is the construction of bio-enhancement centers at two or more cities before the military buildup starts. Please refer to holo attachments three and four in your datapacket…”