posted 05-19-99 10:49 AM ET         

MissionYear2100

Planetfall. Our escape pod from the Unity landed safely on the planet called Chiron � as we think most others did (although we saw one pod destruct as we were entering the atmosphere). Our spirits are high, and we had a fabulous meeting last evening.

CEO Morgan gave a stirring speech in which he emphasized the wealth opportunities on Chiron (which we are calling �Planet�). His vision is to establish a single megacity that will incorporate all the beliefs we have of a fully functioning organization dedicated to maximizing Planet�s resources for our own good and wealthbeing.

A small group wanted to take some materials and found a sister city nearby, but the collective will prevailed at CEO Morgan�s insistence, and we voted to use the second city materials to assist in building base facilities in our city (which we are naming �Morgan City� in honor of our CEO).

He also talked inspiringly about our commitment to building a peaceful society. We will all carry handguns as a matter of prudence, but will not be manufacturing any offensive weaponry � the bad experiences of all of us in Unity�s final hours still lingers. We anticipate that the bad blood among all the factions will linger on for some time, but we�re all in the same situation � survival.

Our scientists are abuzz with excitement as CEO Morgan has turned them loose on a secret project which should significantly add to our wealth possibilities (Note:- with hindsight, this Special Project was the creation of the Merchant Exchange).

We are on a rocky promontory by one of Planet�s seas, and shortly a scout team will be departing to explore our immediate surroundings. One of our technicians believes that in the event of disaster Unity was programmed to jettison a number of pods onto Planet�s surface containing a variety of assets � some Rovers, functioning computers, energy modules, and so on (rumor has it that one or two even contained functioning Helicopters). The scout patrols will also try to recover some of these.

MissionYear2165

Much rejoicing today in Morgan City with the opening of the new Recreation Commons. Our enlightened Executive Board realizes that one must strike a balance between work and play, and that the drones in our city must have some diversion from their thankless tasks of mineral and nutrient conversion in our factories.

Much has happened since Planetfall. Our early scouting endeavors uncovered three alien artifacts which when returned to the city spurred our scientists and technicians to prodigious efforts. The SP, our Merchant Exchange, was completed in MY2124 and CEO Morgan takes pride in that it is the first SP built on Planet! This was followed in MY 2158 by an amazing project � we can now control Planet�s weather. This project allows terraforming, and more importantly, our engineers have been drawing plans for boreholes to tap Planet�s inner core and Condensers, to produce more efficient farmland. We have also moved to a different economic model which emphasizes free market economic principles, and to a democratic style of government.

MissionYear 2298

My heart has been so heavy that I have not put pen to paper these many years. We have truly entered a Dark Age. Where to begin? Let me say that we are allied with the megalomaniac Yang, who seems intent on planetary domination. Back in MY2188 we were aghast to hear of the assassination of Lady Deirdre at Yang�s hands, and the eradication of her peaceful faction. This was followed shortly thereafter by a vicious war between Yang and poor Lal who was eventually captured and allegedly tortured by Yang.

Our Executive Board hastily signed friendship treaties with Miriam, Santiago and Zakharov, but Yang�s thirst was not to be slaked. We entered into a forty year war with the monster, but to his credit he did not attack our City, concentrating instead on our supply convoys from our three boreholes. (Interestingly he ignored our naval supply convoys completely).

Of great solace to our people during this period was our Hologram Theatre. The most popular show was �The Lady Yet Lives�, a what-if production, part science-fiction, part romance on how Planet might have been had Lady Deirdre survived, as told through the eyes of her famous general � and lover � Velociryx. Our drones especially were much heartened by this tale.

One interesting sub-plot. As so often life has imitated art, our scientists came from TLYL shows convinced that mind control could be made to work, and shortly thereafter announced that we had developed some elite troops with this ability. We sent a squad to try their talents against Yang�s infantry further up the landmass, but they were interdicted by his needlejet patrols. Our valiant squad foolishly tried to engage Yang�s pilots in a long range probe attempt (we could see this from our city�s observation decks) but they were ruthlessly cut down.

We sued for peace. The price demanded was 900 energy credits, over 90% of our reserves. Our Board debated, but could see no alternative. Yes, we were financing the dictator�s war machine, but we were confident of our ability to soon replace these reserves once we got our economy back on track in a peaceful environment. We had to endure a tedious lecture from Yang on our democratic values, and to placate him we have adopted the trappings of a police state.

MissionYear2234

My heart is still heavy. Our uneasy alliance with Yang continues, but we swallow our bile. He has developed nuclear weapons (we refer to them as PlanetBusters) and is not hesitant in using them. University base has been obliterated, as has New Jerusalem. We have friendship treaties with both the Believers and the Spartans, but I fear they must both hold their noses when dealing with us. Zakharov has declared vendetta against us, but he soon will be in Yang�s interrogation chambers.

On a brighter note, we have built a perimeter defense, and have restored our energy reserves to over 1,000 credits. Mineral production is high, we have 6 land crawlers and 4 marine crawlers hard at work.

posted 05-20-99 04:39 AM ET            

Good luck (even though, deep inside of you, you *know* what's going to happen )

posted 05-20-99 02:54 PM ET         

Yang glowered at his commanders as he furiously paced his war room. Acolytes leapt out of his way as he viciously kicked at anything within reach.

�How could this have happened?� he yelled to no one in particular.

His Chief Science Officer spoke up:

�Mr. Chairman, it was a calculated risk we took. When you activated the Overload sequence, linking every planetary node to flood Planet�s neural system we effectively gave every faction all the fruits of our research as well. We assumed that with the science production from our 70 or so cities we would easily outstrip any other faction in the Great Leap Forward � the Ascent to Transcendence as you have so aptly named it. We never for a moment thought that this great endeavor could be bought - and we are still not sure how - our brightest brains must have been bribed massively to allow the traitor Morgan and his minions to meld with Planet.�

Yang moved round the table to stand behind his Chief Intelligence Officer, and with his foot spun the chair round so that he was inches from her face.

�You were unaware that this was happening � explain� he said, in that quiet menacing tone that boded ill for the unfortunate subordinate.

�Mmmmr. Chairman,� she stammered, "I am at a loss to understand. As pact brothers we had full access to their data, and of course knew that they had started the Great Leap Forward themselves. We ran the numbers and knew it would be a tight race between us with our modest production from many bases and theirs with their massive production from Morgan City. But we knew we would win that race.�

The Chairman�s eyebrows arched.

(Dare she mention that every time Morgan came calling, begging for tech, that The Chairman gifted it? Doctrine Air Power that let them build their Aerospace center and launch those solar satellites and mine Planet�s moon. Yang was so besotted with the thought that he had created a disciple in Morgan that he wouldn�t listen to the Officers� Committee recommendation that he constantly keep Morgan with a bare minimum reserve of energy credits. No, probably not.)

�But we didn�t, did we?� � The Chairman�s retort interrupted her reverie.

Hastily she continued: �What we didn�t factor in was their ingenuity. With their adopting for so many years the trappings of a police state we were lulled into forgetting that at heart they were rampant capitalists. They raised massive energy credits from their citizens through the creation of a Mutual Fund to sell all their City improvements, raising several hundreds of energy credits. This pushed them over the limit needed to beat us by about a year�

(Dare she mention that when she and her fellow officers became aware of this they wanted to recommend demanding a 10,000 credit �garrison charge� or PlanetBusting Morgan City if they refused, but couldn�t reach Chairman Yang as he was engrossed in one of his interminable Planet dreams? No, probably not)

�����An icy cold permeated the room and gripped the minds and bodies of the assembled war council. They looked at Yang. He was staring slack-jawed in disbelief at the command monitor at the head of the war room table.

They followed his gaze. There they could see a shadowy, ephemeral image of CEO Morgan himself on the screen.

A disembodied voice rang out;

�Chairman Yang, don�t fret so much. This spirit life is not for you. Your ascetic values thrive on corporeality and in disciplining and mastering the body. you would wither in this domain of the mind. But we � Planet and I � have need of you with your unique talents.

�We have picked up distress calls from Planet Earth � yes, she too is sentient. She is emerging from her Nuclear Ice Age, defenseless against a mutant humanity intent only on pillage and exploitation. She needs a strong leader to install discipline and order. We want you to equip and train 100,000 of your most dedicated followers and for you to lead them to save Earth. We will supply the transportation by means of our new spacefaring Locusts of Chiron.