posted 08-04-99 10:22 AM ET        

I decided to re-post this, since previously this first part was difficult to read, and I noticed an important omission in the second part. I renew my request for reader feedback, so don�t be shy. If you have any questions, recommendations, anything, please feel free.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The Web of Man

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

��The University of Planet is at a crossroads, with but two options open to it. One possibility is that it fulfills our darkest predictions, despite its democracy, and develops into a society with an intellectual elite supported by a non-voting underclass of laborers whose needs and desires are ignored and whose rights are viciously abused. Alternatively, the University may fulfill its brightest potential and become a society that is open, not only to the exchange of knowledge, but also to improvements in the lives of all its members. Unfortunately, it is my belief that, left to its own devices, the University will follow the former path rather than the latter��

Commissioner Pravin Lal,
�Report on Human Rights�

* * * * *

Anna Galliani�s eyes were closed as she bit into the succulent flesh, as the sweet liquid oozed down her chin. She tried effortlessly to savor the deliciousness of the delightfully ungodly food, food that had such a texture that it was veritably drinkable.

She opened her eyes as her bite of peach flowed down her throat. �That is miraculous.�

Vasily Novi smiled. �Contrary to what you have been taught, the fruits of the Earth were not perfected by God. These peaches are genetic engineering at its finest.�

Galliani did not smile, but rather she sighed in contemplation. If, just a few months ago, she had known of what would happen to her, she probably would have committed suicide or taken some other drastic measure to avoid her fate. How fast things had changed. She closed her eyes again, not only as she resumed her consumption of the fruit, but also as she lost herself in reflection over the past few weeks, over the people she had lost�

* * * * *

�Anna! It�s so good to see you again,� Galliani�s cousin gleamed as she put the ancient book she had been reading down onto the delicately carved, very expensive, wooden table. They hugged as soon as she was standing. �Oh, it has been so hectic lately � seeing you is such a blessing!�

�I know!� Anna laughed. �I was so fortunate to return this early. We managed to isolate samples of the virus much more easily than we had previously anticipated. It turned out to be merely a new variation of the old Prometheus virus, and so treatment was most straightforward.�

�Yes, I�ve received the reports, and I was so relieved. But enough about work. I�ve decided to take today and tomorrow off, so we�ll have plenty of time to catch up. Look, I know of a terrific little caf� where we can go and no one will bother us. Oh, Anna, your being here is such a joy!�

A number of minutes later, after a nice walk from their residential dome and through a few corridors, the two cousins sat themselves down in an �open air� caf�. They consulted with a youthful waiter, said a short but thoughtful prayer, and then began their brunch.

�Oh, Anna, whatever we talk about, let�s not talk about work. These two days I have are for nothing but relaxation.�

�Of course, Miriam��

* * * * *

posted 08-04-99 10:23 AM ET            

Susan Chang sat as requested, happy to see the Commissioner once again. The fact that he had summoned her to his office meant that she was going to be sent on another mission that would have her under the scrutiny of the highest Peacekeeper officials. Although that certainly did not displease her, she was more pleased at being in UN Headquarters once again. It was true that there were few who would agree with her, but she thought that UN Headquarters was on of the most beautiful cities on Chiron. It was a� an arbor city, she thought, a city in and of trees, and this fact was most visible from Lal�s office. Perched at the top of the tallest of the Peacekeeper-style buildings, it had a magnificent view of not only the city, but also of the hills beyond the perimeter. Hills that were covered in century-old trees, in thick forests rich in the greenest foliage.

�Susan, let us go straight to the point, as we are running out of time,� Lal�s voice was filled with urgency, Chang noted, but he still maintained his kindly demeanor and used, as was his unconscious habit, her first name. �For the past half decade, humanity has been most fortunate in the fact that there have been no wars, and I have used all my powers as Planetary Governor to maintain this situation. I have been focusing much of my efforts on the Spartan Federation and the Human Hive, but now it seems that war may erupt from an unexpected sector � the University.�

Chang was taken aback by this. The University was not particularly known for its militancy, and it had always espoused, officially at least, peaceful relations with other factions.

�My agents are not clear on the details, nor do we know who or why they are going to strike. Apparently, however, Academician Zakharov and the Faculty have expended exorbitant amounts of energy credits towards an unknown undertaking or stratagem,� Lal shook his head, but whether it was in disgust or disappointment, Chang was unsure. �The Intelligence Operations Directorate is of a split opinion as to what the University is planning, and we fear the worst. The Directorate does know, however, that there has been an unusual amount of military activity in the heart of University territory, and that there has been an abnormally high investment in both exploratory forces and infantry divisions. We worry that war is in the air.�

�If war was the intention of the University, how do you explain the exploratory forces? What good would that do them?� Chang frowned.

�War may not be Zakharov�s intention � we simply do not know, and the University is unpredictable at best. We need to know what they are planning, and we have every agent available investigating this in one manner or another. Which is where you come in. You are going to infiltrate their capital and hopefully discover what all of this activity is about. You�ll confer with your superior in the Directorate this afternoon and tomorrow you should depart. All relevant information has been transferred to your personal database.� He looked, for a second, into her eyes. �Best of luck, Susan.�

Susan Chang gave her thanks, and after they said their farewells, she left Lal�s office. Lal, of course, spent some time completing the necessary Intelligence paperwork associated with Chang�s mission, but afterwards he left his office to have a scheduled informal lunch with the Resident Ambassador of the Lord�s Believers.

* * * * *

�What do you mean he cancelled?� Lal admonished. The Believers were not by any means known for their politeness to non-believers, but a cancellation of an appointment, informal though it may be, was rather unusual. This was especially true given the fact that the Peacekeepers and the Believers had just recently formalized a peace treaty after years of successive uneasy truces, punctuated as they were by small eruptions of conflict.

The Believer functionary on the screen did not waver in the slightest, despite being reproached by the Planetary Governor of Chiron, arguably the highest official in existence. �I�m sorry, Commissioner, but today has been declared a factional day of mourning over the late death of a relative of Sister Godwinson. I�m surprised you didn�t already know. I probably shouldn�t even be talking with a foreigner right now. All Believer officials and dignitaries have to spend the day in prayer. I�m sorry, but that�s all.�

posted 08-04-99 10:25 AM ET            

Her residential suite was both spacious and luxurious for one located in a small frontier base, and at first this surprised her. Although she had been, officially, a doctor in her days in New Jerusalem, the University knew of her true occupation and would consider her a �soft� scientist at best, hardly meriting the lifestyle of one of the elite of the UoP. Their desperate need for her skills and knowledge was hilariously ironic. This suite, the �generous� stipend of University energy credits, everything, were �considerations� for her defection and her new work. Knowing that, of course, did not lessen the surprise, for in her heart Galliani did not feel like a defector, as someone who needed payments or bribes. Rather, she felt as though it was the Believers who had abandoned her, as though it was Miriam who abandoned her.

* * * * *

Anna Galliani picked up her journal and entered the numeric code into the digital display to open it. It was something she had neglected to do for quite some time, and today she was determined to make an entry in it. She looked at it lovingly, as it had been a present from her grandmother � nowadays journals were kept in files on personal networks. In this journal, all the entries were handwritten, inaccessible to illegal hackers and prying Domestic Security agents alike, and Galliani was thankful for that. She lifted her pen off from the desk, but after a moments hesitation she returned it to its former position. She couldn�t help herself, before making another entry, from flipping back and re-reading her life story.

It brought back painful memories, memories of the fall of the United States, the rise of the Christian States, and, of course, of the early years on Planet. For her, spiritually dead years. Like the Gallianis back in the days of the Christian States of America, early on, on Planet, she had retained her Roman Catholicism. In a twisted sort of way, her family�s ties with the prominent Godwinsons help them hide, and thus keep, their faith despite the mainstream fundamentalist fervor. This twisted reality held true on Chiron, as no one dared to suspect the only living relative of Sister Godwinson of holding an allegiance to the False God of Rome. Unlike the Gallianis of Earth, however, Anna could not go to secret Catholic masses, could not give secret confessions, etc., and slowly her faith degraded. Anna Galliani was unwilling to concede that, if God existed, he was anything other than Catholic; as a result, there were many points on which she could base an atheistic outlook. On Chiron, there was no Vatican, no Holy See, no successor to Saint Peter, and so she gradually conceded that her religion could not be correct � if it were, where was the Pope, the cardinals, the bishops? Therefore, she disbelieved in God.

Anna Galliani shed a tear as the journal brought these memories to the forefront of her consciousness. Pretending to be one of those hatefully bizarre fundamentalists was taxing, to say the least, but after decades of practice, she had become exceptionally good at it. Even her �beloved� Miriam hadn�t a clue as to the existence of her fa�ade. One day, she swore, I will escape the Believers and make them regret their very existence. For now, however, she would play the part of the good little Believer.

After collecting herself, she rose up out of her seat and turned around to survey her room. Not a pretty sight, but her luggage appeared to be in order. Confirming this with the help of a checklist stored on her palmtop, she smiled to herself and put the journal into a pocket of one of her bags. After making sure that her computer�s answering service was online, she strapped her bags onto herself and exited her suite.

Officially, Galliani was a microbiologist, and it was true that that profession was within her capabilities; she held numerous degrees in many various fields. Every now and again she would make medical excursions � like the recent one relating to the Prometheus Virus outbreak � to fool the press and the public at large. Doing this was necessary as she was, by virtue of her relation to Sister Godwinson, a public figure despite the fact that her true job was classified. These lies were sinful, but Galliani did not particularly care about sin, and Godwinson viewed herself immune to it. It was just another on of those things.

�Ground floor, please.� The elevator�s computer obeyed, hissing her down to the bottom of the residential dome. An archaic transportation system compared to the other factions�, she thought, but, then again, what could she expect from a faction such as this? The elevator topped its descent and Galliani disembarked, waving towards neighbors she happened to pass by.

�May I take your bags, Ms. Galliani?� a baggage boy ran up to her smiling. �We go anywhere in the city now.�

She paused for a moment. She had forgotten that the baggage services of the Dome had broadened their �field� of work due to slumping sales. It was like living in Morgan Trade Center, Galliani joked mentally. �Sure. I�m meeting one of my colleagues at the entrance of the Departures Complex, Mister�?� She asked as she lifted her bags from her shoulders.

�Oh, James, ma�am. Taking a vacation after all that work? My father was in Valley of the Faithful when the epidemic broke out and he would have died if it wasn�t for your team.�

Oh, just my luck, Galliani thought, smiling nonetheless. �Oh that�s wonderful. No, I�m afraid not about the vacation, though. Just more work, but minus the outbreaks this time, thank the Lord.�

�Amen to that. When do you have to be there by, ma�am?�

�You can call me Anna if you want,� Galliani said, opening her palmtop. �Ooh� twenty minutes.�

�Oh, we�d better hurry then.�

* * * * *

Galliani awoke from her rejuvenating nap, stirring upwards to glance at the time on the computer display on the wall. She stretched, happy in the knowledge that it had only been half an hour. �Computer,� she demanded, �play �Izblavenie Posla.� It�s a medieval Orthodox motet, I believe? I don�t know who it�s by.�

�Your selection has been accessed. However, this work contains religious references,� the metallic voice of the computer warned. �Pursuant to the Act of Artistic Freedom, you must swear that you are listening to this music for artistic, rather than religious, reasons. Do you so swear?�

Galliani was suddenly very awake with a rush of a cold emptiness overcoming her. This was a preposterous requirement� but it wasn�t as though she�d have to lie. Reading from the display, she recited, �I, Anna Galliani, do so swear.�

posted 08-06-99 05:06 PM ET            

The whole atmosphere was mystical and enchanting. There was resplendent light shining from the windows, and everyone seemed filled with bliss. There were icons everywhere of the prophets that could predict the seemingly random activities of the fungus and of the important martyrs who had sacrificed their lives to oppose the materialism of the Morganites in the recent war. For now, however, the ceremony focused on the current procession that was bringing forth the two veiled icons of Deirdre Skye and of the Voice, which current dogma taught was the mental embodiment of the fungal stalks. As the two most holy of icons approached the altar, the chants had begun to metamorphosize into wild frenzies of frantic voices, and just when it seemed that the singers could no longer strain their voices, disaster struck.

�Death to false religions!� was heard throughout the room, and as Fiona Knox turned, she heard screaming as the apparent fanatic and the congregation nearest him incinerated due to the explosion of a bomb. Unfortunately, it didn�t end there. At the opposite end of the building, nearer both Knox and the main exit, another fanatic pulled out a laser pistol from his jacket and began shooting people trying to leave, but he was quickly engaged by the security detail of the two icons who had their own lasers. That did not stop the terrified and confused people from trying to flee the shrine, however, and this clamor intensified when some idiot decided to shout out that the bomb had caused a leak in the walls and atmosphere from outside was pouring into the room.

Opening her eyes very slowly, Fiona Knox awoke to find herself in a hospital bed with a doctor standing over her smiling.

Knox decided to ask the obvious question of what had happened.

�Two Believer terrorists. One is in custody, the other dead. I�m Dr. Gibbons,� the elderly man said. �I will venture to say that you are a very lucky woman.�

�I don�t feel too lucky.�

�The pain will go away; I just gave you a painkiller. You�re lucky in the fact that you were rescued from the Shrine just in time for you not to have any permanent damage to your lungs or any other permanent injury. You�ll be able to walk away from this thing. Many others had breathed too much outside air or had suffered high degrees of burning from either the lasers or the bomb.�

�How many people died?�

�Thirty-nine, and eighteen people are critical. You, on the other hand, will have to stay here for only another day for routine observation. You�re very, very lucky.�

Knox moaned out of sadness more than pain. The ceremony had been open to the public, and there were even some Peacekeeper observers. Hopefully, they would go back and tell Lal about this vicious Believer attack. Even in the extraordinarily unlikely event that they did not, Fiona could do so personally, as she was the Gaian Diplomatic Liaison to the Planetary Council at UN Headquarters. In fact, she planned to inform him anyway and expose the Believers as the leeches they were.

�This is just terrific,� she shouted in frustrated boredom after Dr. Gibbons had left the room, and indeed there was little for her to do to relieve her boredom. The other hospital beds in the room were empty, and there was nothing good on the 3D Vision system. Later on in the day, she discovered a new hatred � that of hospital food. The dinner was a terrible concoction of super-nutritious, super-bland foods that looked like the by-products of some failed scientific experiment.

Resultantly, when Lady Deirdre Skye arrived, along with her personal security guards and The Minister of Foreign Affairs Germain Bazin, Knox was in a less than stellar mood.

�Lady Skye, Minister Bazin,� Knox greeted, giving off unintentionally an air of minimalism.

Skye hardly noticed, and instead gave off her own air of� benevolence? Kindness? Knox was never sure, but being around Skye always gave her a good feeling, and she liked to think it wasn�t because she regarded Skye as a religious figure. �Ambassador Knox, Dr. Gibbons tells me your condition is very good, and we�re very happy about that.�

�Yes,� Bazin chimed in. �We knew you were at the ceremony and when we heard the news we feared the worst.�

�So what information did you get out of the Believer creep?� Knox asked bitterly. Her bitterness was odd, given the fact that she was a diplomat and usually was more diplomatic.

Skye could understand her feelings, but did not necessarily approve. �Well, you won�t like this, but we don�t believe that the Believer government had anything to do with this attack. Nevertheless, we need you to return to UN Headquarters as soon as possible. I�ve spoken with Dr. Gibbons and he has agreed to release you today.�