posted 01-08-99 08:01 PM ET        

This is the current situation of the Lord's Believers. There are three main bases. New Jerusalem is the largest and contains most of the population and facilities including barns for domesticated animals and green houses for plants (they haven't gotten any open air crops going yet). They have also started, with the assistance of the Gaians, a small aquaculture operation in a nearby lagoon (also the source of water, after extensive purification, for the base.
The second most important base is New Baku,(don't laugh Brenda) sited on a large hydrocarbon field 200 kms north of New Jerusalem. Due to Sister Cecilia's expertise, the oil production and cracking is a potential source of building materials, energy and income.
The third base, Moria, is located another 200 kms SW of New Jerusalem. It is a small iron foundry operation and mine. They have been able to a small amount of structural steel. Because of Brother Haruhiro's skill as a smith, they have also produce some very fine edged weapons and fungus clearing tools.
A fourth base was established to experiment with wind-generated power but a hurricane wiped it out.
Life within New Jerusalem is not luxurious. All healthy adults have a job to do. Married couples live in small apartments. Children are nurtured in day care centers. Unmarried adults live in gender segregated dormitories. Meals are taken in communal dinning halls. At least one a week there is a mass prayer meeting conducted by Sister Miriam. They are united in their faith and their devotion to Sister Miriam. There are a few restaurants and bars, but they cater mostly to visitors.

The Believers have a Memorandum of Understanding of mutual asistance (far far less than a treaty) with the Peacekeepers and each has a small consulate in each other's capital. Politically and culturally, though, the Believers feel isolated. An emotion that was heightened when tried to broadcast a planet wide address explaining the Believers' faith and mission. This broadcast was sabotaged by, as yet, unknown person or persons.

posted 01-11-99 05:36 PM ET            

001/30.5
Sister Tammy Burbank & Dr. Emily Birchfield-Smith
Lifesaver's Point Marine Research Station

Accept for a few brightly color -coded buoys the estuary look just as it did the first day Sister Tammy laid her eyes on it. From the surface you could not see the hundreds of cages, racks and shelves that cultivated varieties of seaweed, shellfish and fin-fish. The most successful so far had been fast maturing species of shrimp and salmon. The shellfish were not doing as well because they were not yet able to metabolize enough calcium carbonate for their shells. The great progress they had accomplished was almost totally due to Sister Tammy's hard work and Dr. Emily Birchfield-Smith, the Gaians' top ichthyologist, expertise. Together they had overcome the problems of designing and constructing a system that automatically adjusted water chemistry to maximize seafood growth and also filtered and recycled the out-flow so that the natural community of Chiron sea-life was protected. That, after all, was the price of working with the Gaians. They would help but only if the projects did no harm to native habitats and ecosystems. They also expected free access the equipment and data in the future in order to certify that the systems were functioning as promised.

The insistence on open inspection nearly defeated the whole project. The Believer's had been feeling more and more isolated since Sister Miriam's Planet-wide transmission fiasco. Most Believers thought that either Yang, Zahkarov or Santiago was behind the sabotage, but none of the other Factions were totally trusted, especially if they were free to poke into any corner of New Jerusalem.

"It looks like we can sustain a harvest of 200 kilos, live weight, every 10 days for the units we have in place now, Emily. " said Sister Tammy. "That is not much of a net gain Tammy, pun intended, from your energy inputs. These species take a lot of high protein feed." Replied the Gaian surveying the fishponds one last time before affixing the red and green seal to the main osmosis pump/filters. The hardened integrated regulating systems would insure that the water flowing in and out would meet her exact specifications for a long time.

"Yes, I understand that this isn't a significant increase in overall productivity but the additional variety to our diets has been a great moral builder if nothing else. Besides, it has helped with the efficiency of all our integrated food production programs." Stated Sister Tammy as she checked the feed projections. "Yes, this has been a remarkably successful project. I have even gotten some ideas on how to improve our own farms. The Stepdaughters are always interested in adopting new family members. We could really use someone like yourself who not only has an inherent respect for all living systems, but also has the skills which can solve some of the natural contradictions of our living on Chiron."

With great effort Sister Tammy hid her astonishment at hearing this last statement. To her knowledge no one from the Believers had ever been offered the option of joining the Gaians or even to visit their bases for that matter. Sister Tammy's mind raced at the possibilities. She was intensely curious about the open and deep ocean marine research that, according to Emily, the Gaians were currently conducting. She was, however, grateful to the Believers in general and very loyal to the militia squad with which she regularly trained. Emily spoke again interrupting Sister Tammy's reverie. "You don't have to make up you mind right away, but I am leaving with Arsinio's caravan in five days. If you wish, you can join me then."

001/30.9
Brother Greg Treestock
Believer
New Jerusalem pharmaceutical laboratory

Brother Greg roused himself out of a reverie that had bordered on homesickness. He was fondly remembering his last real XXXX drunk in The I Club back on Earth moon's Tyco Base. That was also the night he had found and then lost again, his love, Cindy Crawford. Those last weeks before the U.N.S. Unity slipped orbit and started on her way to Alpha Centauri were the next thing to a waking nightmare Greg could think of. That is, of course, if you didn't count the first few weeks on Planet. No one had adequately prepared for the affects the gravity would have on everyone. It also took a long time for the survivors to get used to the diurnal/nocturnal cycle. Most people had lived in their enviro-suits until the first pressure dome was erected and sealed. Then there were the damn mind worms. Absolutely no one had expected them. Worn out enviro-suits and mind worms had killed over 120 people at their base camp alone. Greg wondered how the other six factions had faired during those early days. No one seemed to want to talk about it yet over a year and a half after landing. Oh, well, that was then, this is now. "Where is she?" asked Greg for the millionth time since that night.