Adobe .pdf - Notes from An Alien

10 ~ Might
Haalii had no time to devote to anyone but Mura. She called on some of her trusted tools—people
who considered themselves friends—to entertain and probe for information from the thousands
who clamored after contact with her. She even had to steal some time to train a corps of twentyfour
artisans to create weavings for her business. No one noticed that these substitute creations
were fakes. People met one of the artisans, spent some time with them, waited while they
"consulted" with Haalii, and felt completely entranced with the results. The artisans would never
sacrifice the large sums of money to reveal the truth.
Mura was developing a radically new style of dance that one news Mesh reported was related to
the dances inspired by Anglana. Mura furiously denied it, saying: "I saw the plasma glows and
watched my parents dance. I never felt an urge to taste Anglana and, if you think my dances are
anything like what people do when incorporated with that life-form, you're as stupid as my
parents."
Even with her new name, Mura was still widely known as Delva and Verluin's daughter.
Haalii didn't need to train Mura in the ways necessary to discredit Delva and Verluin. She only
needed to encourage Mura to continue to do what she was prone to do. Haalii did, however, need
to spend enormous amounts of time facilitating Mura's connections with the public, setting up
performances for her, lining up news coverage, and supplying a slowly rotating entourage of
lovers—very carefully chosen lovers.
The fact that the Worlds' economy was structured in a way that favored massive trading
between Anga-Param and Anla-Purum yet had to deal with restrictions when it came to trade
with Angla-Palli made anything that could be exported from Anglana's planet attain extremely
high worth. Even a simple Mesh news item could fetch a higher price if it came from Angla-Palli.
Traders living on Anglana's planet quickly adapted to the commerce restrictions and profited
greatly from what they were permitted to buy and sell.
A single Mesh broadcast of Mura's dance creations brought nine times the value of a month's
worth of food shipments.
Haalii cared little for the money and took only five percent of the proceeds. She did, though,
counsel Mura closely about where to invest the other ninety-five percent. Within a few years,
Mura owned or had controlling interest in an estimated fifteen percent of all the Worlds'
businesses.
Haalii made sure Mura stayed busy and well-bedded. She would instruct her in what to do with
her wealth when the moment for Worlds'-wide turmoil came.
~~~
Verluin sat with Delva on the coast of the largest sea on Angla-Palli—the largest concentration of
Anglana's consciousness. Delva had just returned from a tour of visits to all the Territorial
Councils and had shared what she'd learned with Anglana. Delva's return had also thrown her
into prolonged communication with Anglana about Verluin's state of health.
He'd been exposed to certain toxins when he'd been growing up during the harrowing times on
Anga-Param. He'd had damage done to his endocrine system and not just from the Corporate
implant. The onset of his condition had only become obvious to Anglana and was being dealt with
by continual rituals of re-incorporation. Verluin had been attending to the treatments every week
during Delva's prolonged absence. Anglana had just told Delva and Verluin that, in spite of her
attentions, Verluin had only two years left to live.
Delva used Anglana's presence to communicate with her husband at levels no other could
master.
~~~
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