pdf file - Notes from An Alien

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, the youth was studying recent Angan history in the backyard.
Suris Molan ordered her transport to its space and entered the home.