From: Tun Kai Poh [t_poh@hotmail.com] Sent: Thursday, March 11, 1999 12:44 AM To: blue_planet@mpgn.com Subject: [BLUE PLANET] - Media Critics, Revision 2.0 It's the second draft of the beginning of the Gertrude Baum story (well, technically it began on CTN/net a while back) with a prologue courtesy of Eva which explains things better, a couple of rearranged paragraphs, a mention of an important character who will appear later on, the revision of what used to be a nasty ALL CAPS paragraph, and some other minor changes. Jerome, Dave, you have my permission to put this up on your respective pages, in your respective languages. Kai * * * Media Critics By Tun Kai Poh, with Poseidon Extra Late monologue by Eva Piltch * * * Lester: Welcome to the show, we've got a great one for you tonight: almost as exciting as the evening news. Yeah, Kingston's in the news again with their music festival. Did you hear about this one Kim? An HSS officer shot one of the musicians at the festival. Shot her! Yeah, when asked what he had to say for himself, the shooter replied, "Hey man, one less person - maybe the Hydrodome won't collapse now." (pause) 'Cause that could make the difference: it's a thin line between a standing Dome and a crumbled one. Actually, the shooter was aiming at the fly right behind the singer - just trying to be helpful - 'cause that's what Hanover Security does... But I kid. I'm sure the Hydrodome is perfectly sound to seat all those people. I mean, where do you think the NRM disposes of its enemies? The old way was just giving them concrete shoes and dropping them in the ocean, but now they encase whole body in concrete...use it for structural reinforcement in the dome... (pause) Moving on - listen to this: This is a direct quote from CTN/net: "GEO Natural Resources Commission revealed that the frequency of serious poaching offenses in the Archipelago has gone up nearly 50% in the last six months. Sunburst poaching activity alone has nearly doubled." In a related story, Hanover's Gertrude Baum gained another forty kilograms this week...(pause) You don't want to light a match near that woman or it'll be the Danzinger's Open Ocean Exhibit incident all over again. (silence) Because she's a blimp. (silence) Kim: They're horrified that you'd be so cruel as to make fun of Hanover personnel. Lester: (laughing) Yeah, that's it. Stay tuned, we've got a great show for you tonight. CTN/net reporter Gail Arthur is with us to set us straight on everything I just said, singer/actress Jessica Thorn - oo la la! - and musical guest Tsunami Muffins. Stay tuned - we'll be right back with Gail Arthur. * * * A middle-aged woman squeezed into a smart Italian business suit charges into the office without warning. Her face is bright red. "Werner, did you hear what he called me?" "Erm?" The most powerful man in Lebensraum looks up from his holographic display. "Gertrude?" "He called me a blimp!" "Oh, that." He looks away, trying not to smile. "Really, Gertrude. You could stand to lose a few kilos, you know." "And he has made rude, no, slanderous remarks about Hanover Industries! He must be stopped. I've prepared a press release..." "Now, take it easy." He points to a smartchair and beckons her to sit. She falls into the chair heavily, sighing. "Gertrude, you're our best PR officer, we've worked together for years. I've never seen you this outraged." "It's just...with all the problems we've had lately...trying to conceal the Westcape problem, the botched Danzinger Oceanarium opening, that accident in Hazards Casino, the pre-show publicity for the upcoming Schneider Tour, and now these mad ecoterrorist threats...that smug Joey Lester got to me with his flashy smile and his inane comments. I'd like to throttle him, oh yes." She runs a hand through her blonde hair and grimaces. Perfect teeth gleam. A veteran of a hundred media wars, Gertrude should have wrinkles by now, but her genetically engineered heritage keeps her looking young and cherubic. "Well, at least they didn't laugh when he joked about your weight." Werner hits a button and a drone rolls in with a serving tray. "Here, have some tea. Let's forget about Joey Lester and our problems on Poseidon. Just talk." The dumpy German woman tilts her head and looks at her old friend. "When was the last time we just talked?" "Too long. I've been so busy this year. How are the boys?" "Adolf wrote me recently. He's still in HSS academy, on field training exercises, but he'll be graduating soon. And Hans has just been promoted to assistant producer on the new drama." "Really? That's wonderful. 'HSS Heroes,' our answer to 'Poseidon Patrol.' A brilliant idea on your part. The perfect propaganda tool. I'm sure he'll make it a success. It'll be great for his career." The two talk for hours, discussing their relatives, the old home town back in Germany, and anything that will take their minds off the crises on Poseidon. They trade tips on the latest fashionable longevity procedures, the ones which cost more than 95% of the people of the colony make in a year. They sip tea and they dismiss the native rebels as savage beasts. Soon, their problems are forgotten. "...and do you remember that time the GEO commissioners tried to put a worldwide ban on the construction of golf courses?" Gertrude laughs. "Yet another misguided Green policy. 'The proliferation of realistic Virtual Golf games makes the construction of further environmentally irresponsible golf courses unnecessary.' What environmentalist piffle." She remembers. She was at the driving range in Hanover, listening to the CommCore audio broadcasts, the day she heard that Werner and Rolf won the lobbying campaign. Everyone at the range cheered when the announcement came. She celebrated by flying to the NIS courses in Japan and playing 18 holes with Rolf. Rolf Danzinger, her mentor. Practically a second father. Werner notices. "What is it? You're thinking about something. No, not something. Someone." "Rolf. Just remembering how he used to stand up to the GEO every time they tried to pull something. His whiskers twitching when he told the High Commissioner where he could stuff the ban." "Was it that many years ago? I miss old Rolf..." "Anyway..." She puts the tea cup aside and stands. "I have to get going before we descend into sentimentality. If I'm going to make the trip to Kingston, I'm going to have to start packing. First, I'll have to check with Legal about the possibility of suing Joey Lester." "Put it out of your mind. He's a gnat. Forget about him." She just smiles her famous smile, the one she puts on for the cameras, and walks out of the office. * * * Down the hall, past the smartly uniformed HSS guards. Through two checkpoints, past the automated sensor turrets, and into the elevator. The maglev takes her across Lebensraum. Soon she is in her maximum-security executive penthouse. Home again! As she turns on the flat CommCore display on the wall, a smartchair rolls up behind her and she sits, rests her feet. No messages from the boys. More reports from Westcape. More casualties. If outsiders were to know the truth, the GEO would be down there in a flash, with their green-and-silver VTOLs and their fascist Peacekeepers. She formulates additional measures to continue the jamming of non-Hanover uplink transmissions, using the geostationary satellite that the HSS has placed over Westcape for just that purpose. If not for that move, the Westcape rebels would have their side of the story all over the evening news by now. She peruses several memos from her staff, previews the promotional vid clip for the upcoming Asuka Schneider concert in Haven, then reviews the latest trading news. Suddenly, the screen goes blank. The reports are replaced by a grainy, homemade recording of a musical performance. A ragtag band is playing on a wooden stage in a small native village, in front of an audience of children and young adults. The song begins with a fast drum beat backed by some native horns and sharp guitar work. The lead singer waves her arms in the air, luminescent smart tattoos dancing across her arms and torso. She's an elegant native woman with almost masculine eyes. And she's staring right at Gertrude. Gertrude Baum's face is a death mask. She recognizes the lead singer: Jeanette Harwati-Colton, musical genius and one of the most wanted ecoterrorists on the planet. And the bearer of bad news. "Mouth of Lies, say a prayer / Get down on your knees and despair / Storm is coming and it's moving fast / Next lie you tell will be your last..." It's a song of anger and a song of promised violence. It's a death threat and a warning, a personalized performance directed solely at the most powerful PR officer in Hanover Industries. It's actually a pretty good song, but Gertrude doesn't notice right now. Her hands clutch the armrests so hard that the chair's IA chip complains of excessive stresses exceeding the equipment's tolerance levels. And the song roars to a fiery crescendo. Gertrude isn't even sure what the lyrics are anymore, but the message is clear: We will hunt you down. Your days are numbered. The song ends. In big neon letters, the message plays across the screen: "Poseidon's Price is brought to you by The Children of The Widow, Liberators of Poseidon. Produced by Abel Ransom and Jeanette Maya Mahsuri Harwati-Colton, with the gracious aid of our fans in the Sierra Nueva Cluster. The world will be cleansed with Despoiler blood, in the name of the Storm Widow and our forefathers. Have a nice life, Gertrude Baum." The screen goes blank again. Gertrude hesitantly rises, keys the screen controls. Nothing. It's dead. No sign of any tampering. She looks around. Behind. That shadowy corner of the kitchen, those thick expensive curtains...they could be anywhere. She taps her bodycomp phone. "Guards?" No answer. "Guards! Guards!" She turns, eyes flicking left and right. "GUARDS!!!" (Copyright Tun Kai Poh, 1999) Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: BIOHZD@aol.com Sent: Wednesday, March 10, 1999 11:59 PM To: blue_planet@mpgn.com Subject: [BLUE PLANET] - Lost in the wilds... Hey All, Just a quick FYI. I will be incommunicado until the 22nd. I just wanted to offer a heads-up so that it didn't look like I was ignoring the list or had died or something ; ). Anyway... hasta la vista! Jeff Barber Biohazard Games *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message.