Notes from An Alien (3 page)

~~~

ShipOne attained orbit around Anla and deployed the tethered laser to power their return. The transfer pods began their descent—down to the city of Muram, capital of Enes-Suva, center of the Lord's Army Dominion.

    The Anlan priests were prepared for two actions. The first was immediate interrogation of each settler to decide who would live or die; the second was the immediate death of Akla.

~~~

Not long after the dispatch of transfer pods paused, to give ShipOne time to return to the proper place in its orbit, a single pod prepared for descent. It contained Akla, Rednaxela, and Morna.

    "Morna, check Akla's coordinates again please."

    "They are fine. We'll be landing in a deeply forested region of what the Anlans call the Unholy Lands in a country called Ceia-Abi, 50 miles from the main city, Oaur."

    "Yes, yes, I know. Sometimes you're too consummate in your responses."

    "Thank you, Rednaxela..."

    Akla returned from his lengthy meditation and said, "The Nari in this region are anxious for my arrival."

    Rednaxela countered, "Their knowing the time of your arrival is the one part of this plan that I truly don't understand."

    "It is simple. I told them."

    "Yes, you've told me you told them but communicating through plasma waves can only convey general principles and emotions—  Why am I repeating myself?"

    "You are trying to convince yourself that what I have done is impossible."

    "Yes."

    Morna chimed in with, "Detach."

    Rednaxela began to wonder about the crew he'd left aboard ShipOne. Had they believed him when he'd told them that the Anlans had asked that Akla be delivered to a place not in their orders?  Would the people of the Educate and Conquer group convince the Anlans that ShipOne needed to be seized? What would they do when the Anlan priests queried them about Akla and the Captain of their ship? Did any of it matter? His moral sense was completely confused. His devotion to Anga had been shattered by what Akla had taught him. He thoroughly trusted Akla and had no idea why he did.

    Morna piloted the pod in a series of trajectories that would hide the location of their landing.

    His last thought as they neared the ground, dutifully recorded by Morna, was: Velu, my dear lost daughter, you may never know what I've done but I pray it helps you, in some way...

~~~

Brolan sat speechless before his Board. He was having trouble digesting the news of the disappearance of Rednaxela and Akla along with the slaughter of all the religious passengers and the resistance of the crew of ShipOne to the attempt by the criminals to take it. The endocrine enhancements had failed and the criminals had either aligned themselves with the Anlans or been taken prisoner...

    Brolan's deputy, Ralm, broke the silence: "What shall we do?" The others at the table were all looking at their hands.

    "Do? What shall we do? Speed up the completion of ShipTwo, increase the endocrine enhancement levels of the population, electro-shock the mental criminals slated for our second wave of occupation, kill any religious criminals, step up our sweeps for more of them, increase the incentive payments to Corporate Mesh members, and send me the Mesh Plot Planners. Our World will not be stopped in its expansion! We cannot afford to not expand!! We—"

    Brolan's face went from rage to fright, his body lurched, and his head slammed onto the table.

2 ~ Glory

The Board room of the Angan Corporation was dismally silent. Brolan was absent. Ralm, second in command, was checking the Corporate and Public Meshes while his AI attended to note-taking. The thirteen Board members arrived in groups of two and three.

    All were silent...

    Things had been happening since ShipOne had failed in its mission. Things none of the Board wanted to deal with. Brolan was recuperating from his seizure—expected to be back in action in a month, if he began to submit to endocrine enhancement, which he was still firmly rejecting. He'd been out of action for a year.

    ShipTwo was nearing its final stages of construction but workers were falling prey to permanent emotional illnesses and others suited to the task were hard to find. It would still be four years before Anga and Anla would return to their closest separation yet supervisors were projecting the ship might not be ready in time. That would delay its launch for five more years as Anga and Anla completed their orbital dance.

    ShipOne, still in orbit at Anla, was secure but needed to wait for its return until the planets aligned and there were some who feared the crew might decide to join the criminals on the ground if the situation on Anga continued to worsen. Also, plasma-radio communication with the Anlan priests was still not functioning and the connection with the prisoner's implants was still dead.

    Ralm's stare into the Mesh intensified as he said: "Morna and Rednaxela—"

    The Board members waited for him to complete his statement.

    Ralm said: "Strange..."

    The Board members exchanged covert glances.

    After a few minutes, Ralm spoke again: "Ah, thank you for coming. Just finished looking at the stats for our endocrine enhancement program. There's nothing wrong; people are responding appropriately, they're resorting to the available simulated recreation and the Unbonded Corporate Mesh is positively throbbing with Plot interactions—"

    Ralm reached for his drink. His hand shook ever so slightly. He continued: "However the Plots are becoming less stable, less sensible. I trust your juniors will report to you soon—I've sent the reports on to them because we have more serious concerns to deal with."

    The Board members liked the money they received but didn't like being on the Board, though Ralm was less a bother than Brolan. They were considered to be powerful people. They were actually place-holders that could be manipulated to enforce what Brolan decided. Brolan and Ralm knew that they usually didn't pay attention to what was happening in the Corporation or the populace but, with Brolan possibly permanently out of the picture, they were paying keen attention to what Ralm said.

    "We've cracked the encryption of ShipOne's operational records and conditions here at home are improving. We're apprehending an increasing number of mental criminals and ShipTwo will undoubtedly be fully loaded. Religious criminal suspects are being dealt with in what I'd call a creative manner. We've increased the incidence of non-traceable personal transportation failure so you might say they're killing themselves. But the important news is that Rednaxela's defection had nothing to do with a malfunction of his endocrine system. The analyses show that the emotional control mechanisms on the ship were shut down. This means that the mental criminals on board, our dearly loved settlers, were also deprived of endocrine enhancement."

    The "dearly loved" epithet brought a tinkling of laughter.

    "What I'm about to say will not leave this room. Sever your connections to the Mesh."

    The Board members made the internal thought pattern to stop Mesh-interaction and waited for Ralm to confirm isolation. The various forms of interest on their faces included a few of almost-glee.

    "I want to take a vote on the tragic end of our esteemed leader's life."

    All present knew this was no vote since a nay meant death.

    "All in favor?"

~~~

The mother was attending to business as she rode her personal transport home, the father was hacking the Corporate Mesh in their living room, and the youth was studying recent Angan history in the backyard.

    Suris Molan ordered her transport to its space and entered the home.

    Jalur Molan was unable to attend to the mental alert of another human presence in the house while he was hacking.

    Velu Molan sensed trouble.

    Suris crossed the living room as she began her tale: "So there was another accident near the institute and one near the sportsdrome..." She paused to let Jalur gain her attention. He was still locked into the Mesh. "Jalur?" She reached down and stroked his cheek. He broke contact and his face contorted in fright.

    "Jalur, what's wrong?"

    Velu entered the room.

    "What's wrong Mommy?"

    "I don't know, Velu, Daddy's acting strange."

    Jalur began to get his bearings and said: "Bad news..."

    His wife sat next to him, cupped his chin in her hand and carefully turned his head toward her: "Jalur, take it easy. We're both here and you're o.k."

    "Yes, I'm alright but something's horribly wrong on the Corporate Mesh."

    "Mommy, I think I know what Dad's talking about 'cause my connection to the Mesh was acting funny, too."

    "Velu, what kind of funny?"

    "Well, I was analyzing the history of ShipOne's construction and crew and suddenly an announcement came through from the Public Mesh about the progress of building ShipTwo. I tried to steer the imagery back to ShipOne and I got an order to disconnect."

    "Velu, we've been told that ShipOne is just fine and will be returning on schedule. Why were you in analyzing mode?"

    "Mom, I think Dad will have to tell you..."

    Velu's face was calm as she held her mother's stare, calm with a trace of passionate curiosity.

    "Jalur?"

    He looked to be back to normal but Suris could feel the slight trembling in his leg.

    "Jalur, I'm going to bring you a warm drink and then you're going to tell me what's wrong with the Corporate Mesh and what Velu's talking about." Suris rushed into the kitchen.

    Velu sat down and took her father's hand. He looked at her and said: "It's time, Velu. We have to tell your mother."

    "She'll be very upset."

    "Possibly. It depends on how we tell her. Let me take the lead."

    "Sure, Dad."

    Suris returned, handed Jalur his drink, looked from him to Velu, and said: "Break it to me gently. I've had a hard day."

    "Suris, you know we said we'd tell Velu about her biological parents—"

    "Jalur you didn't. Without me? How could you? Why—"

    "Mother!" The force of Velu's voice shocked them both.

    Suris wondered who this young person was: "Velu...?"

    "Dad told me because he had to. There's stuff going on and he's trying to protect me."

    "Jalur...?"

    "Suris, the Corporation is using the Public Mesh to cause accidents; they're purposefully killing people."

    "Jalur, don't be—"

    "Suris, listen. Your Corporation connections won't keep me from being branded a mental criminal; plus, Velu's biological father was the Captain of ShipOne and he defected to the surface with a religious criminal."

    "Jalur, I respect your mind and your risky hacking excursions are kind of sexy but how in the world did you find this out?"

    "I've been riskier than usual. They suspect my hacking and they'll soon designate me and Velu as passengers on ShipTwo. They want us to find Velu's father for them. Maybe we will find him but the Corporation will never know. The prisoners found a way to block activation of their implants so feedback tracking of individuals is impossible, for now. Maybe the Corporation will devise a way to reactivate control but I seriously doubt it. All the religious criminals were slaughtered but the mental criminals more than likely survived. ShipOne has limited ability to scan the surface but they say the mental criminals are still alive."

    Suris stood perfectly still.

    Velu reached out to touch her hand.

    Suris stepped back.

    Jalur stood up.

    Suris stepped  further back.

    "Suris...?"

    She fainted.

~~~

Select Reports from the Angan Bonded Corporate Mesh:

# B092J05

    Personal transport accidents have been increased by 15%.

    New Corporate Head, Mr. Ralm, has disposed of the former Board and is actively soliciting nominations for replacements.

    The Territory of Beselima is under military rule until the religious uprising is quelled. Agricultural production has been slightly affected by the uprising but greatly affected by the anomalous weather.

    Special attention is being paid to those who are suspected of spreading the idea that the Corporation is causing the deaths of potential religious devotees.

# B093J14

    Population increase procedures are going well. The endocrine-induced sexual urges are most prominently productive in the Anselua Territory, showing a 20% increase in pregnancies, especially in the 12 to 14 age range.

#B099J43

    Studies are underway to determine the possible linkage between recent surges in religious fervor and masked plasma transmissions from Anla.

    Mr. Ralm has advised all Controllers of the Corporate Mesh to redouble efforts to stop instances of  hacking.

    Mr. Ralm has authorized a 50% increase in common laborers at the ShipTwo site, said workers to be drafted from the Polar region of Magruma to ensure enough stamina to work shifts of 16 hours.

    Mr. Ralm has authorized the beginning of ShipThree construction and released scientists from the Corporate Headquarters to oversee the Ship's weapons development.

#C014Q01

    Preliminary results from the Global Meteorological Department's recent analyses (aided by Corporate investigators) suggests possible connections between Corporate increases in population relocation and weather changes. The most likely link is endocrine-enhanced emotions triggering local plasma fluctuations. Studies underway to mitigate such possibilities.

    Pregnancies up by 32%.

    Initiation of augmented mental criminal sweeps in major cities will be coordinated with Mr. Ralm's Directive to begin rural sweeps.