Letter: From Chinwe Opeyemi, 440 E Ormarith Rd, Jimeso, Ghana: To Eglantine Kayode, 1001 Sherman St, Imladris, Nova: Translated by Ibrahim Wassume
My dearest Eglantine,
I am sorry to have to report that life on Earth has become much more difficult since my last letter. Ambience shuttles have been starting to reach our old hometown. I saw them first in white vans marked with the Ambience logo a couple of days ago. They set up a tent outside of town for the first couple of days. Every day since then, more vans have been coming into town, and even a couple of trucks. The tents have been expanding into a village, and yesterday they brought two trailers into town and connected them together side to side. I think it may be their installation facility. They started reaching out to the population here, too. I see new signs on telephone poles every day. They say things like "install Gen4 at 13 Impala St" and "Come to 13 Impala St for all your dreams to come true." Everything's sponsored by the Hegemony of course.
They came to the village square with their loudspeakers earlier this week to try and talk us into accepting the fact that things were changing in the Hegemony. They wanted us to see that it was for our own good that our right to free thought was being taken away.
Why has the Hegemony come here? Ghana has never before been a concern for them. They talked the talk, but until today, they never cared, not really. Do you remember when we were children and we would watch broadcasts about how children in our town were buying the third generation Interlink so they could convince the rest of the country to do it themselves. But we knew they were lying, didn't we? But now, they have decided that enough is enough. It was too much to have free peoples and now they have decided to take action. Our petty little chaos was too much for them. I wish daily that I had gone to Nova with you.
But I am sorry to rave at Earth politics to you. I wish there were no politics to rave about. I wish that the world was a better place. That way you could have stayed on Earth, or I could have gone with you to Nova. I still think about you, Eglantine. I cannot stop thinking about you. Is it wrong that after five years, I still can't forget the way the way the moon reflected in your eyes the night that you left. I wish we had had more time.
Today I am closer than I have ever been to coming to Nova. I have spoken to Grushan traders in Accra and they say that they may have an empty space in their cargo holds. They don't travel to Nova directly from Earth because of a Hegemony trade embargo. But they do fly to Yvar and then to Glevar. They say that for the right price they can give me passage to Yvar and help me to acquire passage from Yvar to Nova. But they ask me for a price that is beyond even what your family paid to travel. I am trying to gather funds now, and if I am lucky, I can join them when they leave Earth in two weeks.
But it is a hefty fee. I could go myself, but I must also provide for my family. I cannot leave them here, especially not with the Hegemony crackdown as it is today. I hope you understand. I will follow you to Nova one day. It may be a long time from now, but it will be soon. Say that you love me still, and I will twist the universe on the head of a pin, and Earth and Nova would be ten minutes' walk from one another, and then with the snap of my hand, they would be separate again. Say that you love me and I will come to you, though the Hegemony and the Federation itself stands in my way. I love you, Eglantine. Misfortune and light-years can only separate us for so long.
I hope for your reply,
Love, Chinwe.
[Postmarked 07/27/2175]
Official Statement: Terran Global Hegemony President's Office: 07/27/2175
Over this past week, it has become apparent that certain Terran citizens in the US region of Montana have attempted to incite terrorism against the Hegemony. These citizens are thought to be acting on pro-Novan propaganda that has been spread by members of the dissident movement lead by Gennady Semyonov and Theresa Mwangi. The Hegemony condemns all forms of terrorism and pledges to crack down on terrorist groups operating under the guidance or influence of African or Russian dissident leadership. Any measures necessary to keep the Hegemony and its citizens safe are justified. No more terrorists; no more hatred.
Personal Journal: William Aucaman
07/27/2175
So, the police finally allowed me to have a pen and paper. I don't know what the deal was until now; I think I'm a fairly decent writer, but I'm not going to be able to escape with nothing but the power of the English language. I suppose I could snap the pen in half and put them back together to make a whole, but otherwise I'm not going anywhere.
I suppose I should consider myself lucky. The Three Rivers lawyer, Harold Bellamy, managed to keep them from fitting me with a temporary Interlink. For most cases, it's standard procedure, so he tells me; the Hegemony uses it as a kind of all-purpose lie-detector and suggester in legal proceedings. That's why not many cases go to trial anymore; confessions and convictions are just so easy to obtain. But apparently, American law prohibits using Interlinks that way; Hegemony law doesn't, of course, but in this case, American law may take precedence, according to Mr. Bellamy. Or at least, he can argue that it does until it goes to Hegemony higher courts. For the moment, the argument seems to be holding, but we'll have to see for the future.
We're going to be held here for the next couple days until the state justice department can get clearance to fly us to Beijing and try us in front of the Hegemony High Court. Apparently, somebody realized that we killed an alien out there that night, and now we're in a heap of trouble. I haven't seen much news since they locked us up, but I can only imagine the media storm that they're serving us on HNN and the rest. Today's Friday; maybe we'll make it onto Michael DeVoris on Sunday. When I say, "we," of course, I mean our story, not us. They'll never let us onto national broadcasts without functioning Interlinks.
I haven't been able to talk to my parents since I used my one phone call. I don't think Cynthia's talked to anyone. I don't blame her; when she's seen what we saw when they questioned us, I don't expect her to look to her parents for help. She's actually fairly close to me now; Ellensburg is small, so the police station only has two holding cells really, and they're next to each other. The cells aren't too uncomfortable, and they've let us keep our clothes. I wish I could say that the food was a bit better, but it's emergency nutrition rations designed for Star Fleet, where they have to be really choosy about weight. If you have an Interlink, it can simulate flavor, but I don't have mine, and Cynthia isn't activating hers.
I'm really impressed with how she's been holding up these past couple of days. I heard her crying the other night, when we first got put in here, but otherwise, she's been handling it really well. If she's engineered, I suppose I should expect a certain degree of toughness. A lot of engineered kids get reduced emotional processors in their genetic code from what I understand. They're not psychopaths or anything, but if you're a parent, and you're spending enormous amounts of money to engineer a child, it's much convenient to be sure that they don't become emotional messes. But Cynthia always struck me as a very compassionate person. She was far more concerned when her sister went missing than her parents were, and I can tell by the way that she talks that she's dejected now. I worry for her a lot, but I'm not much good as a comforter. I think she...
I got cut off for a second. Cynthia says that she's hearing voices in her head. I asked if it was her Interlink, but she said no. She says it sounds like that black creature, the Zaha-Katchem or whatever they are. She heard it before in the woods, when it knocked her out. One of them must be nearby. I haven't been waiting for this.
Personal Communication: From Admiral Nobuyuki Ito: To Vice President Yong An-Hong: 07/28/2175: Translated by Zhou Hanshen-Yao
Esteemed Vice President Yong An-Hong,
I write to you of a matter of extreme importance. The President has called discrete meetings with myself and my colleagues in the admiralty. In these meetings he has pressed my colleagues and myself about the readiness of the Terran Star Fleet and its strength relative to that of the Novan Alliance and the Grushan Federation. He was particularly interested in the positioning of the Novan fleet and the possibility of a surprise attack. Admiral Winters, Admiral Chen and Admiral Jung have enthusiastically engaged with the problem and given the President extremely optimistic projections which I do not regard as accurate in the face of intelligence reports; Admiral Jung has actually told the President that a full victory over the Federal Grushan Star Fleet could be possible in under six months. They seem to believe that the assistance of the Black Ship could tip the scales dramatically in Terran favor. I believe this to be a gross misestimation of our relative fleet power. I also find it unlikely that the Zaha-Katchem will willingly provide the degree of assistance that the President expects, given our already uncertain history with their people.
I entrust this knowledge to you because humans all throughout history, and especially the powerful, tend to believe what they wished to so long as their advisors help to construct this belief. You are the President's confident and right hand; you know his mind better than I. I do not know for sure if he truly intends to attack Nova. But if such plans are being considered above my level as a mere task force admiral, and one with an uncomfortable propensity to tell the president that which he does not wish to hear at that, I must warn you that the fleet is not capable of such an attack. The Grushan hold a sizable advantage over us in numbers and in technological expertise. Their fleets outnumber us three to one; their fighters outmaneuver ours, their battleships pound ours to pieces, their missiles twice as effective as our own. The Novan fleet is, of course, insignificant, but they have had the benefit of close relations with the Grushan, and hold a technological edge over us. And these considerations only regard raw fleet power; if army strength, communications technology, warp speed, and Warp Gate range are to be considered, along with economic capacity and the time such a war would demand, as they must, then it is clear to me that the plight of the Terran Hegemony is impossible in such a war.
I write to you because perhaps you, a reasoned, intelligent, and cool witted man, may see reason where the President does not. In our meetings, President Yan was erratic, jumping from thought to thought like a child, his demeanor lighting up and exciting when he was told something he liked and becoming sullen and resentful when told something he did not. I fear his eagerness has caused him to lose objectivity and wisdom, and that if left to his own devices, he may plunge the Hegemony into an irretrievable path of destruction. If you are a man of wisdom, please see the merit in my words and bring them to the President; for though I am loyal to the Hegemony, and will follow his orders until death, I would not see its fall through the overzealous ambitions of one man, popularly elected the world over.
Nobuyuki Ito, Admiral of the Terran Star Fleet 6th Task Force
Personal Journal: William Aucaman
07/28/2175
Cynthia had a bad night last night. I heard her tossing and turning a lot. The feeling like the black creature is here hasn't left her at all. I asked one of the guards if a Zaha-Katchem was nearby; he didn't answer. Cynthia swears there is though. She says that she's starting to see it out of the corner of her eyes, that she feels like it's watching her constantly. She says her sister experienced something similar before she went missing.
Cynthia also described a dream she had. She said she was looking for something, or being chased by something, through her house. I was there, apparently, with Brent and Olivia, her sister. A bunch of her friends were there too, but they were laughing at her. Then her house caught fire and one of the black creatures came at her; that's when she woke up.
If one of the black creatures really is here, I don't know what we're going to do. Obviously, we can't stay put; I don't know what it would do if it found us here, but it can't be good, and I doubt the guards would stop it. From what little news I've gotten from the rest of the world, it sounds like everybody wants to be their buddies. I don't know why; from what I've heard from Grushan and Novan news programs, they attacked the Terran fleet as soon as they showed up. Oh well. I suppose Cynthia and I are the only ones who really know what they're about. We've the only ones on Earth probably who've actually seen them in action.
We may have to escape. Never really thought I'd actively consider a jailbreak before. It's a weird feeling.
I sure hope the police aren't using this to spy on me, in all seriousness.
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It should be noted that the original Nova colonists were nerds. Thank you once again for your patience with this revision; I would rather not have done it personally, but I don't think I had that much of a choice in the matter, and this is significantly better in my opinion. Thanks so much for reading, have a great day! Sincerely, the real jonbrain. (07/01/2018)