From: Tun Kai Poh [t_poh@hotmail.com] Sent: Wednesday, March 31, 1999 3:46 AM To: blue_planet@mpgn.com Cc: ccbanzai@showme.missouri.edu Subject: [BLUE PLANET] - CTN/net Report Hanover Industries PR Officer Assassinated KINGSTON: Incorporate security forces in the Zion Islands are bracing for a wave of ecoterrorist attacks following the grisly murder of Gertrude Baum, a longtime spokesperson and public relations consultant for Hanover Industries. This morning, maintenance personnel in the Volkhaus arcology found Baum's headless body in an elevator shaft. Hanover Security Service officers found the cause of death to be 'decapitation with a monofilament garrote.' They had no comment on how Baum's killer or killers could have gotten into and out of the arcology undetected, or what might have happened to her head. Three native insurgent groups, The Sword Of Zion, The Children Of The Widow, and Westcape Liberation League, have all released statements taking joint credit for the slaying. All three statements accused Baum of masterminding a cover-up of Hanover's military activities in Westcape, and promised further attacks on Incorporate personnel and property. Hanover Industries and Lavender Organics facilities in Kingston, already on edge because of the large number of visitors in town for the Zion Music Festival, have tightened security even further. In an apparently unrelated incident, two HSS guards and three natives were injured when a brawl broke out at a protest rally in front of Kingston Spaceport's main terminal, this afternoon. Seven natives were taken into custody by the HSS. Gertrude Baum was born in the Hanover city-state in 2150. She attended the University of Hanover and became a reporter for United Bavaria Media Financial News in 2173. She rose rapidly through the ranks, eventually heading UBM's documentary division. In 2194, she was transferred to Poseidon as a senior public relations officer, and eventually became one of Hanover Industries' most well recognized spokespersons. During her career, she produced several award-winning documentaries, including 'Rolf Danzinger: His Life And His Legacy,' and 'Lebensraum, City of Promise.' She is survived by two sons. - Gail Arthur, CTN/net 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: Tun Kai Poh [t_poh@hotmail.com] Sent: Wednesday, March 31, 1999 12:55 AM To: blue_planet@mpgn.com Subject: [BLUE PLANET] - Story, Part 7 Some Die In Kingston, Part 7: The End Of The Beginning By Tun Kai Poh Gertrude is not a very religious woman. As far as spiritual views go, there's a line of dialogue from a classic Chinese film she remembers watching a long time ago: Two former gangsters have robbed their former employers and are getting the hell out of town to start a new life. As they wait in a temple for a dangerous rendezvous, one of them asks his friend: "Do you believe in God?" "I _am_ the God," the friend answers confidently. "God is a man. Anyone can be God, if he can control his life." What an elegant, concise religion, she thought. She was converted on the spot. Many years later, she was mildly disappointed to learn that the screenwriter was a Methodist. There is no Supreme Being to pray to or to curse for her predicament now. She has always believed in controlling her own life. Instead of God, there is only Gertrude Baum. Instead of having a husband, she married her job and had herself artificially inseminated. Instead of having sons, she bore modified clones of herself, although only four people alive know this fact. There were always those who thought they controlled her, men like Rolf Danzinger, but she quickly learned that if she controlled the right information, she could control these men, too. Always the queen, never the pawn. But a lonely queen. * * * Throughout Hanover Industries' Volkhaus arcology in Kingston, the monitors and holographic displays are showing the live satelite feed from Haven Coliseum, where Asuka Schneider is performing to 75,000 fevered fans. The half-Japanese singer struts across the stage in skin-tight outfits, belting out sultry lyrics and casting fiery looks into the cameras. The heavily subsidized show is Hanover's biggest PR stunt yet. Werner Keinz thought it would be a good idea to put it on all the screens in all of the Incorporate's colonial facilities, to boost morale. The security chiefs objected, but Keinz overruled them. If Gertrude Baum had time to take charge of this situation, if she wasn't already distracted with her desperate plans, she'd be appalled. The arcology guards, many of them young men and women fresh out of the Academy, can't help but glance at the images now and again. Security will deteriorate tonight. Somewhere in the bowels of the Incorporate fortress, a leak has been sprung. The rats crawl in. * * * "Mother dearest? You don't sound well. But then again, you never have. What's up?" Hans Baum, a chubby, blonde, vaguely effeminate young man, sits in the Coliseum's VIP Booth, his hand to his ear. The physical action keeps the connection open in his uplink implant. "I just wanted to talk to my son, that's all." "You sure picked a funny time for it. Break's going to be over in a few minutes. And say, aren't you running the show?" "Actually, yes I am. I'm jacked into the control room right now, but I'm just supervising. Mostly, it's Ilsa who's running the show." "Ilsa?" "Ilsa Sarinem, the new producer I was telling you about. She used to work for ROMA-1. She's done such a good job of managing the concert's virtual infrastructure. I'm thinking of recommending her to take charge of 'HSS Heroes.' You may end up working with her. Anyway, I just wanted to say hello, ask how you were doing." "I'm fine." "How's your girlfriend...Suzie, isn't it?" "Oh, we broke up last month." "You didn't tell me that." "You didn't ask. Why the sudden curiosity?" "Don't be so suspicious. Not everything I do has an ulterior motive." "Could have fooled me, Mother. Trying to play the innocent again, hmmm?" "Damn it, Hans, why can't we just talk normally for once? Like mother and son?" "You've picked a poor time to develop parental instincts. They don't suit you. Unless, of course, this is just another scheme of yours." "Hans, please. I love you." "The show's starting again. I like what your girl has done with the laser lighting. Must go, chat again later, I do so love these heart-to-hearts of ours. Bye." His mocking voice is cut off by static, followed by a short series of tones on the secure HSS military channel. * * * The concert has been over for hours. The online press conference is done, the quote for CTN/net has been recorded, and now Gertrude sits alone in her bedroom, sipping wine and brooding. Her audio implant is inactive, but still a voice chatters in her ear. She thinks: Oh, my sons... It says, Sons? You poor thing, you didn't want to be lonely, so you had yourself cloned. Pathetic. You sick creature. I tried! All I wanted was for them to have the best, everything I never had... You tried to manipulate them and turn them into male versions of yourself. Now look at them. Hans went into media and could end up worse than you, if he didn't lack the brains. And Adolf? What a piece of work. Adolf bought into the HSS propaganda you wrote eight years ago, and now he's playing soldier in Westcape. I still don't understand. I hired all the experts, the very best teachers... Hah! You gave them CommCore for a babysitter, and their childhood friends were a bunch of overpaid child psychiatrists whose only worthwhile qualifications were that they were never convicted of child molestation. Was that your way of showing love for them? Everyone understood why I couldn't be there for them. I had a career! I had work to do, important work. Excuses, excuses. It's too late now. You're reviewing your life's work and coming up short, and regretting. Well, you're a deer on the autobahn and you're frozen in the headlights. Too late for regrets. I'm not going to die. I'm going to survive and I'm going to change. It's going to be different. If I can just connect with my sons, really connect, just once... * * * Captain Berring calls her at 0430. She activates her multi-gland implant and gives herself a caffeine dose to wake herself up completely. She knows there are better drugs she could use, but caffeine has always been the old standby. "Baum here. Go ahead." "Frau Baum, our observation team saw something unusual tonight, but they've been out of contact until just now. They'll be severely punished for it, I swear -" "Don't make excuses. What is it?" "You know that missing reporter you asked us to watch out for? Ortega?" Oh, no, she thinks. "Well, he was seen having dinner with the subject's sister at Garvey's Bar. We have no idea where he came from, or how he got to Kingston. Probably an assumed identity." How? It hasn't been 30 hours since she spoke to Maria Roxas. There's no way she could have found him. She didn't have any information. It must be a coincidence of some sort. It has to be. "Go on." "Anyway, there was an altercation with some of the other patrons, but neither of the two was injured. They went back to the subject's house. As you will remember, the walls have some sort of anti-surveillance coating, so we couldn't use IR or sonics to check if they spent the night together or separately." "No, I doubt Portacio slept with him. He's not her type. Send me the surveillance footage." She downloads it into her implant computer. "Well, do you want us to take any action? I have a full tactical team standing by." "That won't be necessary. Keep me informed. Any word from Dietrich and Stolz yet?" "None. Our people in Haven are trying to locate them now." "Right. That's all then?" "That's all." In the darkness, worries and suspicions fly wildly through her mind. Too many variables. Does Roxas know about Ortega or doesn't she? Is Vasquez still alive? Will Roxas succeed where the others have failed? What if her other operative has gone rogue? Will the Children of the Widow negotiate? Is it already too late? She can't take it any more. Fresh air, that's what she needs. But not outdoors. There's a small green park on Level 6, sure to be empty this time of the night, except for the security drones. She gets dressed in a nice silk kimono and steps into the corridor. The air cycling system is using pine scent this morning. The wall monitors are all blank. An HSS guard, a burly young woman in a freshly pressed uniform, salutes sharply as she passes. Something makes Gertrude stop. "Mind if I ask you a question?" "Uh, certainly, Frau Baum." "How old are you?" "Twenty Earth years, Frau Baum." The young woman's face is wide and plain. Her eyes are blue, and her short blonde hair is shaven in a crew cut. The girl could easily have been her daughter, if things had turned out differently. "Hmmm. Just out of the Academy, eh?" "Yes, Frau Baum. My first assignment. I'm proud to serve." "I bet you are. Hmmm. You have a boyfriend?" The guard blinks, confused for a moment. "No, Frau Baum." Gertrude puts her hand to her chin, thinks about continuing this line of questioning. She wearily shakes her head and chuckles. No, it's not going to lead anywhere. She's built up walls around herself all her life. It's a little late now to try and make a real friend out of some girl she's never met before. "Never mind. That's all. As you were, soldier." Too late to make a start now. Gertrude walks down the hall. She waits for the elevator. It's taking a rather long time, considering how little traffic there is at this hour. Finally, the doors slide open. She steps in. The doors close. The lights in the elevator go out. The roof panel of the car cracks open just as Gertrude sends out the distress signal. Her implant tells her that she's being jammed. Then a lithe body drops down behind her and she hears a whistling sound and a sharp short sensation at her throat. She has made plans for this moment. She would smile confidently, facing her would-be assassins, telling them that she has valuable information. She'd bargain and negotiate with the savages. She'd win again. She tries to gasp for air, but instead there is a funny sound coming from her throat as the larynx is breached. Her open jugular gushes all over her kimono. "Silence, Mouth of Lies," whispers the ecoterrorist in her ear. (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: Paul O'Grady [paulog@one.net.au] Sent: Wednesday, March 31, 1999 3:37 AM To: blue_planet@mpgn.com Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Greetings & Salutations >Well, I don't know if you'd have any knowledge of this, but what kind of >sonar and stealth statistics would cetaceans have? Well, as you've surmised I dont have any specific data (we dont use too many cetaceans in the Royal Australian Navy !) but I do know that "Biological interference" can be quite intrusive on passive sonar systems and that active sonar pulses not only detect whales, dolphins etc but high power pulses can distress them quite significantly....Food for thought isnt it ? Cheers, Paul From: Auberon [fskln1@uaf.edu] Sent: Wednesday, March 31, 1999 12:56 PM To: blue_planet@mpgn.com Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Greetings & Salutations Paul O'Grady wrote: > > Well, as you've surmised I dont have any specific data (we dont use > too many cetaceans in the Royal Australian Navy !) but I do know that > "Biological interference" can be quite intrusive on passive sonar > systems and that active sonar pulses not only detect whales, dolphins > etc but high power pulses can distress them quite > significantly....Food for thought isnt it ? Just an essay or anecdotes from a sonar officer would be cool. -- +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+= "I never get involved in my own life. It's too much trouble" - Michael Garibaldi (Babylon 5) *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message.