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Knowledge<br />
The Worlds' Council had been apprised by <strong>An</strong>glana that she was ejecting all known Independents <strong>from</strong><br />
her planet as well as beginning a procedure for determining potential Independents and attempting to, as she<br />
said, "ReForm" them. Because of increasingly lax control within the Worlds' Council, word of <strong>An</strong>glana's decision<br />
immediately leaked to the Worlds' News Meshes.<br />
Riots, on a small scale, began on both <strong>An</strong>ga-Param and <strong>An</strong>la-Purum. They consisted of local<br />
Independent leaders rallying their Dissatisfieds to the burning of four farms and six transportation hubs. They<br />
were quickly quelled but the Independents involved were not sought out by the Local Councils.<br />
<strong>An</strong>gla-Palli itself had its share of unrest, quickly quelled by <strong>An</strong>glana's penetrative influence.<br />
<strong>An</strong>glana had told Mura that the banishment of the Independents was delayed until Mura had<br />
incorporated. Mura had asked: "What if I hadn't." <strong>An</strong>glana had said: "That could not have happened."<br />
The increasing corruption in Local, Regional, and Territorial Councils was abhorred by the general<br />
population who knew what the Independents and Dissatisfieds were about and only wanted the calm and sane<br />
sense of order that the Worlds' government had initially brought them. These same everyday people knew that<br />
<strong>An</strong>glana's action against the Independents had nothing to do with a desire to squash true independence.<br />
Common sense could easily tell the difference between the freedom to pursue an independent course of action<br />
and the anarchy of attempting to overthrow the government.<br />
Delva had applied her pressure on the Worlds' Council to replace the three members who had acted<br />
unilaterally to send her the note about the Aklan killings. She argued that, even though the intentions of the<br />
Council members had been actuated by a concern for the followers of Akla, the disregard of the Council's<br />
Constitution concerning either a consensus, or, lacking that, a majority vote on all issues made their action<br />
dangerous if it were allowed to set a precedent. The Worlds' Council didn't need to issue a decision because the<br />
three Council members voluntarily relinquished their positions.<br />
Delva knew her intervention would set its own precedent—giving her Mediation Boards the right to<br />
challenge such actions in the future. She knew the corruptive potential would continue since the Worlds' Council<br />
was elected by the Territorial Councils and their membership was, in turn, dependent on the Regional and Local<br />
Councils. Until the majority of the population decided, on their own initiative, to move <strong>from</strong> an actionless desire<br />
for Worlds' order to a proactive implementation of the principle of the Oneness of All <strong>An</strong>gians, the whole<br />
governmental system was continually in jeopardy.<br />
Delva took a further step to shore-up the Worlds' government. She refashioned the Worlds' Mediation<br />
Board and used her unique persuasive abilities to make sure each regional arm of the Board had at least one<br />
Aklan. She further insisted that each member of the Mediation Board be given the right, if they so desired, to<br />
state in their wills their own replacement.<br />
Mura questioned her mother about her efforts to ensure perpetuating Aklan membership on the Board.<br />
"Mother, have you considered that people will think you're favoring one religious group over others and<br />
injecting a religious bias into the mediation process?"<br />
"Mura, you're learning how powerful my abilities are to induce others to act as I wish. You know it<br />
carries an immense sense of responsibility and causes me no end of hours'-long internal debates. I've repeatedly<br />
stressed my non-involvement in direct religious activity and even gone further and published my heart-felt<br />
reasoning for my stance. People used to complain that Verluin being my husband was reason enough for the<br />
Worlds' Council to replace me. I'm going to be appearing on the News Meshes soon to detail my reasons for<br />
assuring Aklan membership on the Mediation Board. It will be a tiring experience and will necessitate much<br />
more work than I wish I had to perform. I wish I could just tell people that the Aklans are intelligent and have the<br />
Worlds' best interests at heart; but, people have to be reminded that they've shown us, repeatedly, that they can<br />
act <strong>from</strong> the highest moral intentions while respecting others' beliefs; and, that they are more than willing to die<br />
for their own beliefs. I think the vast majority of people don't need my explanations—it's the ones who have<br />
financial power, mostly, who have to be exposed to my position; plus, the common people need the detailed<br />
arguments if they decide to wield their own influence in their Local and Regional Councils."