{"data":{"id":13634,"title":"DATELINE: SESEN: Part Seven","rsi_url":"https:\/\/robertsspaceindustries.com\/comm-link\/serialized-fiction\/13634-DATELINE-SESEN-Part-Seven","api_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-links\/13634","api_public_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/comm-links\/13634","channel":"Undefined","category":"Undefined","series":"Dateline: Sesen","images":[{"id":1292,"name":"DatelineSesenFI3.jpg","rsi_url":"https:\/\/robertsspaceindustries.com\/media\/x3l6h1jdbgno8r\/source\/DatelineSesenFI3.jpg","alt":"","size":1595560,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","last_modified":"2014-01-29T19:43:33+00:00","api_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-link-images\/1292","similar_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-link-images\/1292\/similar"}],"images_count":1,"translations":{"en_EN":"Governor Tentopet Jones: Soldier for Truth, Justice, and the Outer System Way, or Just Another Corrupt Public Official?\n\nA long time passed before Martinez returned with a gaggle of guards and the spare pantsuit. Once he\u2019d made his delivery he left again, without a word to Jones.\n\nYadav was freed, then left alone to change. The eggplant colored suit was too tight and too long, but it would have to do. It felt good to be dressed like a professional again. That robe had left her open, vulnerable, in ways she couldn\u2019t fully appreciate until she was once more properly clothed.\n\nThe interview party totaled seven; Yadav, Jones and five bodyguards. They split between Jones\u2019 Connie and a second transport, then flew to the bottom of the hill. There they abandoned the protection of the ships and began a leisurely stroll through the dust-covered streets.\n\nSurprisingly, Jones threaded her arm through Yadav\u2019s. They walked linked together like old schoolmates, while the guards trailed behind like a pack of local strays.\n\nSometimes Yadav had to constantly ask questions in order for an interviewee to open up. Not Jones. She clearly had a story to tell, and had been waiting for someone to share it with.\n\nBut she didn\u2019t begin right away. Comfortable silence settled over them as Jones led them onto a main thoroughfare \u2014 the only paved street. Hot sunshine beat down on the dry asphalt, warm enough to make Yadav\u2019s skin prickle without summoning forth gallons of sweat.\n\nThe people did not shy away as the governor\u2019s party approached. No one spat. But neither did they break down in tears of false hero-worship, like so many dictators demanded. They were cordial, polite.\n\nYoung mothers carried infants in baby slings, or braced toddlers against their hips, while bargaining for baked goods. Several old men and women worked hand in hand to patch a crumbling mud wall. Dirty children kicked at a deflated ball \u2014 the older ones shouting to one another with the authority of professional athletes.\n\n\u201cThese smiles \u2014\u201d Jones said, pointing to two young girls making a pyramid out of pebbles \u2014 \u201cAre hard won. \u201cOnly those under twenty are native to this planet \u2014 Sesen, we\u2019ve named it. Means \u2018lotus flower,\u2019 symbol of rebirth. Most of us are original colonists \u2014 displaced persons. Since the first surge, no one new has come. If you\u2019d arrived a decade and a half ago, you would have seen why. We are not your typical colony.\u201d\n\nYadav\u2019s attention split. While Jones spoke, her ears (and her recorder) listened intently. But her eyes fixated on their surroundings, taking mental snapshots. There were no dogs, no cats, no chickens running wild. None of the animals she\u2019d come to associate with a poverty-stricken area. She realized she hadn\u2019t seen a single bird or rat since crawling out of her downed craft. A lone lizard, streaking from the shade of one building into that of another, was a novelty \u2014 a rare sign of non-Human life. The colony didn\u2019t have enough scraps to support anything besides its people. \u201cThis isn\u2019t good land, is it?\u201d she asked. \u201cDeemed unsuitable for colonization by the UEE?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes. But official terraforming results don\u2019t mean much. No one simply abandons a planet after all that work has gone into it. The surveyors don\u2019t shrug their shoulders and leave. Even though it was worthless, they found a way to make a profit.\n\n\u201cTraffickers came to my home station. Gathered us all together, and told us about this grand new frontier. They convinced my parents it was as rich as the Nile delta of old \u2014 I think one of them recognized my name. Tentopet was an Egyptian queen. My mother was obsessed with the history of the ancients \u2014 their habits, their food, their dress. The traffickers spun mother a story that put lights in her eyes.\n\n\u201cWei is the son of my mother\u2019s brother. His parents and my parents gave their life savings to the people-movers, so that we could start anew in this glorious paradise.\u201d Sarcasm dripped from her tongue, but it was devoid of true contempt. \u201cWhen we made our fortunes we were to go back for them.\u201d\n\nSubtly, Yadav continued to survey every person who came within view, and a strange pattern emerged. There was not an unattached, able-bodied man or woman in sight. The only virile adults were those with small children. Yadav hadn\u2019t seen any single persons between the ages of fifteen and fifty who weren\u2019t part of the governor\u2019s party.\n\nWhere were all of the adults? They weren\u2019t poking out of shop fronts or darning clothes or building structures \u2014 they were simply absent. Surely not all of them were needed up on the governor\u2019s hill.\n\nShe made a mental note, but kept the observation to herself.\n\nAn elderly man offered Jones a chunk of bread from the loaf he\u2019d ripped apart for his grandchildren. She accepted it with a small bow.\n\n\u201cWhat\u2019s it like living here?\u201d Yadav asked the man, \u201cCompared to where you come from?\u201d\n\n\u201cWarmer,\u201d he said. His voice carried the tremors of old age, and the gravel of someone who had abused his lungs in youth. \u201cClimate\u2019s pretty mild. Can\u2019t grow much, though. Even now that we don\u2019t have to pay the tax.\u201d\n\nYadav glanced sideways at Jones. \u201cWhat tax?\u201d\n\n\u201cThe Surveyors\u2019 tax. The traffickers dumped us here, and the Surveyors thought their cut had been too little. Since they owned the land \u2014 sanctioned or not \u2014 they taxed us in goods. The best we could grow went to them.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou starved and worked the land, or you starved and were buried under it,\u201d said the grandfather. \u201cThey didn\u2019t care. They don\u2019t come \u2019round anymore, so we get to keep it all. But the ground is weak, and the water isn\u2019t good \u2014 oceans and lakes are so full of toxic bacteria, we could never filter it enough. Clean rain almost never pools. It seeps right down and out of reach.\u201d\n\nYadav pressed the toe of her pump against a crack at the edge of the asphalt. The dirt crumpled away, thinning to dust. No little bits of grass or random weeds held it together. \u201cWhat happened to the Surveyors?\u201d\n\n\u201cAsk this young lady right here,\u201d he said, pointing his thumb at Jones. \u201cShe and \u2019er crew organized us against them. We drove \u2019em away but good.\u201d He laughed lightly at the memory, revealing his broken teeth.\n\n\u201cCrew?\u201d\n\n\u201cMyself, Wei and a few others from our home station. Stole some of their ships \u2014\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd gave \u2019em reason enough never to come nosing around Sesen again,\u201d the man finished, slapping his knee.\n\nJones smiled. \u201cAfterward, we threw together a loose government and started to try to make this our home, for real. I was only supposed to lead temporarily. But here I am, well over a decade later. I\u2019ve offered to step down \u2014\u201d\n\nSure, Yadav thought cynically.\n\n\u201c\u2014 but we won\u2019t have her resignation,\u201d confirmed the old man.\n\n\u201cSo, when you introduce yourself as \u2018Governor Jones\u2019\u2026?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s unsanctioned, unrecognized. None of us are Citizens. How could we be? I don\u2019t think the UEE knows we exist.\u201d\n\nYadav thanked the man for answering her questions, and she and Jones moved on.\n\nA stiff wind wafted into Yadav\u2019s face. It carried the scent of roasting grains, compost rot and hot metal. \u201cYou\u2019ve kept your promise, then?\u201d she asked after a long break in conversation.\n\nJones looked confused. \u201cWhich promise was that?\u201d\n\n\u201cTo bring your parents here when you made your fortune. They must be getting on in years.\u201d\n\n\u201cThey aren\u2019t here yet. We aren\u2019t ready. But we\u2019re working on it. A new prosperity will be coming to our people. We\u2019ll do more than scratch out a living. We\u2019ll thrive. And then Wei and I will go back to our home station and collect everyone. Not just our parents. Cousins, nieces, nephews. Everyone we can.\u201d\n\n\u201cSounds lovely,\u201d Yadav conceded. \u201cBut where will this \u2018new prosperity\u2019 spring from? Your resources don\u2019t seem adequate for trade off worl \u2014\u201d\n\nA sharp series of consecutive pops rang out. Puffs of dust burst from the ground at Yadav\u2019s feet, and she instinctively jumped back.\n\nShe was all too familiar with gunfire.\n\nto be continued \u2026","de_DE":"Gouverneur Tentopet Jones: Soldat f\u00fcr Wahrheit, Gerechtigkeit und den \u00e4u\u00dferen Systemweg, oder nur ein weiterer korrupter Beamter?\n\nEs verging lange Zeit, bis Martinez mit einer Schar von Wachen und dem Ersatzhosenanzug zur\u00fcckkehrte. Nachdem er seine Lieferung gemacht hatte, ging er wieder, ohne ein Wort zu Jones zu sagen.\n\nYadav wurde befreit und dann allein gelassen, um sich zu \u00e4ndern. Der auberginenfarbene Anzug war zu eng und zu lang, aber es musste reichen. Es f\u00fchlte sich gut an, wieder wie ein Profi angezogen zu sein. Dieses Gewand hatte sie offen, verletzlich und auf eine Art und Weise zur\u00fcckgelassen, die sie nicht ganz verstehen konnte, bis sie wieder richtig gekleidet war.\n\nDie Interviewgruppe umfasste sieben; Yadav, Jones und f\u00fcnf Bodyguards. Sie teilten sich zwischen Jones' Connie und einem zweiten Transport auf und flogen dann zum Fu\u00df des H\u00fcgels. Dort gaben sie den Schutz der Schiffe auf und begannen einen gem\u00fctlichen Spaziergang durch die staubbedeckten Stra\u00dfen.\n\n\u00dcberraschenderweise schob Jones ihren Arm durch Yadavs. Sie gingen wie alte Schulkameraden miteinander verbunden, w\u00e4hrend die Wachen wie ein Rudel einheimischer Streuner hinterherliefen.\n\nManchmal musste Yadav st\u00e4ndig Fragen stellen, damit sich ein Befragter \u00f6ffnen konnte. Nicht Jones. Sie hatte eindeutig eine Geschichte zu erz\u00e4hlen und darauf gewartet, dass jemand sie mit ihr teilt.\n\nAber sie hat nicht sofort angefangen. Bequeme Stille lag \u00fcber ihnen, als Jones sie auf eine Hauptverkehrsstra\u00dfe f\u00fchrte - die einzige gepflasterte Stra\u00dfe. Hei\u00dfer Sonnenschein prasselte auf den trockenen Asphalt, warm genug, um Yadavs Haut zum Kribbeln zu bringen, ohne Gallonen von Schwei\u00df hervorzurufen.\n\nDas Volk scheute sich nicht, als sich die Partei des Gouverneurs n\u00e4herte. Niemand spuckte. Aber sie brachen auch nicht in Tr\u00e4nen der falschen Heldenverehrung zusammen, wie es so viele Diktatoren gefordert hatten. Sie waren herzlich, h\u00f6flich.\n\nJunge M\u00fctter trugen S\u00e4uglinge in Babytraget\u00fcchern oder befestigten Kleinkinder an den H\u00fcften, w\u00e4hrend sie um Backwaren handelten. Mehrere alte M\u00e4nner und Frauen arbeiteten Hand in Hand, um eine br\u00f6ckelnde Schlammmauer zu reparieren. Schmutzige Kinder traten bei einem entleerten Ball - die \u00c4lteren schrien sich mit der Autorit\u00e4t von Profisportlern gegenseitig an.\n\n\"Diese L\u00e4cheln -\" Jones sagte und zeigte auf zwei junge M\u00e4dchen, die eine Pyramide aus Kieselsteinen machten - \"Sind hart erk\u00e4mpft. \"Nur die unter Zwanzigj\u00e4hrigen sind auf diesem Planeten beheimatet - Sesen, wir haben ihn genannt. Bedeutet \"Lotusblume\", Symbol der Wiedergeburt. Die meisten von uns sind urspr\u00fcngliche Kolonisten - Vertriebene. Seit der ersten Welle ist niemand Neues gekommen. Wenn du vor anderthalb Jahrzehnten angekommen w\u00e4rst, h\u00e4ttest du gesehen, warum. Wir sind keine typische Kolonie.\"\n\nYadavs Aufmerksamkeit wurde aufgeteilt. W\u00e4hrend Jones sprach, h\u00f6rten ihre Ohren (und ihre Blockfl\u00f6te) aufmerksam zu. Aber ihre Augen fixierten sich auf ihre Umgebung und machten mentale Schnappsch\u00fcsse. Es gab keine Hunde, keine Katzen, keine H\u00fchner, die wild herumlaufen. Keines der Tiere, die sie mit einem von Armut geplagten Gebiet in Verbindung bringen wollte. Sie erkannte, dass sie keinen einzigen Vogel oder keine einzige Ratte gesehen hatte, seit sie aus ihrem heruntergekommenen Schiff gekrochen war. Eine einsame Eidechse, die sich vom Schatten eines Geb\u00e4udes in das eines anderen streift, war eine Neuheit - ein seltenes Zeichen f\u00fcr ein nicht-menschliches Leben. Die Kolonie hatte nicht genug Abf\u00e4lle, um etwas anderes als ihre Bewohner zu versorgen. \"Das ist kein gutes Land, oder?\", fragte sie. \"F\u00fcr ungeeignet zur Kolonisation durch die UEE gehalten?\"\n\n\"Ja. Aber offizielle Terraforming-Ergebnisse bedeuten nicht viel. Niemand verl\u00e4sst einfach einen Planeten, nachdem all die Arbeit in ihn investiert wurde. Die Gutachter zucken nicht mit den Schultern und gehen. Obwohl es wertlos war, fanden sie einen Weg, um Gewinne zu erzielen.\n\n\"Die H\u00e4ndler kamen zu meiner Heimatstation. Er hat uns alle zusammengebracht und uns von dieser gro\u00dfen neuen Grenze erz\u00e4hlt. Sie \u00fcberzeugten meine Eltern, dass es so reich wie das alte Nildelta war - ich glaube, einer von ihnen erkannte meinen Namen. Tentopet war eine \u00e4gyptische K\u00f6nigin. Meine Mutter war besessen von der Geschichte der \u00c4ltesten - ihren Gewohnheiten, ihrem Essen, ihrer Kleidung. Die Menschenh\u00e4ndler drehten ihre Mutter eine Geschichte, die ihr Lichter in die Augen legte.\n\n\"Wei ist der Sohn des Bruders meiner Mutter. Seine Eltern und meine Eltern gaben ihre Ersparnisse an die Menschen, die umziehen, damit wir in diesem herrlichen Paradies von vorne anfangen konnten.\" Sarkasmus tropfte von ihrer Zunge, aber er war frei von wahrer Verachtung. \"Als wir unser Verm\u00f6gen gemacht haben, sollten wir zu ihnen zur\u00fcckkehren.\"\n\nSubtil befragte Yadav weiterhin jede Person, die in Sichtweite kam, und es entstand ein seltsames Muster. Es war kein ungebundener, kr\u00e4ftiger Mann oder eine Frau in Sicht. Die einzigen m\u00e4nnlichen Erwachsenen waren diejenigen mit kleinen Kindern. Yadav hatte keine einzigen Personen im Alter zwischen f\u00fcnfzehn und f\u00fcnfzig Jahren gesehen, die nicht der Partei des Gouverneurs angeh\u00f6rten.\n\nWo waren die ganzen Erwachsenen? Sie stie\u00dfen nicht aus den Ladenfronten, stopften Kleidung oder Geb\u00e4udekonstruktionen - sie waren einfach abwesend. Sicherlich wurden nicht alle von ihnen auf dem H\u00fcgel des Gouverneurs gebraucht.\n\nSie machte eine mentale Notiz, behielt aber die Beobachtung f\u00fcr sich.\n\nEin \u00e4lterer Mann bot Jones ein St\u00fcck Brot von dem Laib an, das er f\u00fcr seine Enkelkinder zerrissen hatte. Sie nahm es mit einer kleinen Schleife an.\n\n\"Wie ist es, hier zu leben?\" Yadav fragte den Mann: \"Im Vergleich zu dem, wo du herkommst?\"\n\n\"W\u00e4rmer\", sagte er. Seine Stimme trug das Zittern des Alters und den Kies von jemandem, der seine Lunge in der Jugend missbraucht hatte. \"Das Klima ist ziemlich mild. Kann aber nicht viel wachsen. Selbst jetzt, wo wir die Steuer nicht zahlen m\u00fcssen.\"\n\nYadav blickte seitw\u00e4rts auf Jones. \" Welche Steuer?\"\n\n\" Die Steuer der Gutachter. Die Schlepper haben uns hier abgesetzt, und die Vermesser dachten, ihr Anteil sei zu gering. Da sie das Land besa\u00dfen - ob sanktioniert oder nicht - besteuerten sie uns mit Waren. Das Beste, was wir anbauen konnten, ging an sie.\"\n\n\"Du hast gehungert und das Land bearbeitet, oder du hast gehungert und wurdest darunter begraben\", sagte der Gro\u00dfvater. \"Es war ihnen egal. Sie kommen nicht mehr vorbei, also k\u00f6nnen wir alles behalten. Aber der Boden ist schwach, und das Wasser ist nicht gut - Ozeane und Seen sind so voll von giftigen Bakterien, dass wir sie nie genug filtern konnten. Sauberer Regen ist fast nie ein Teich. Es sickert direkt nach unten und au\u00dfer Reichweite.\"\n\nYadav dr\u00fcckte die Zehe ihrer Pumpe gegen einen Riss am Rand des Asphalts. Der Schmutz zerknitterte und verd\u00fcnnte sich zu Staub. Keine kleinen Grashalme oder zuf\u00e4lliges Unkraut hielten es zusammen. \"Was ist mit den Vermessungsingenieuren passiert?\"\n\n\"Frag diese junge Dame hier\", sagte er und zeigte mit dem Daumen auf Jones. \"Sie und ihre Crew haben uns gegen sie organisiert. Wir haben sie weggefahren, aber gut.\" Er lachte leicht \u00fcber die Erinnerung und enth\u00fcllte seine gebrochenen Z\u00e4hne.\n\n\" Crew?\"\n\n\"Ich selbst, Wei und ein paar andere von unserer Heimatstation. Sie haben einige ihrer Schiffe gestohlen -\"\n\n\"Und gab ihnen Grund genug, nie wieder in Sesen herumzuschn\u00fcffeln\", beendete der Mann und schlug sich aufs Knie.\n\nJones l\u00e4chelte. \"Danach warfen wir eine lose Regierung zusammen und begannen zu versuchen, dies zu unserem Zuhause zu machen, wirklich. Ich sollte nur vor\u00fcbergehend leiten. Aber hier bin ich, weit \u00fcber ein Jahrzehnt sp\u00e4ter. Ich habe angeboten, zur\u00fcckzutreten -\"\n\nSicher, Yadav dachte zynisch.\n\n\"- aber wir werden ihren R\u00fccktritt nicht zulassen\", best\u00e4tigte der alte Mann.\n\n\"Also, wenn du dich als \"Gouverneur Jones\" vorstellst....?\"\n\n\"Es ist unbest\u00e4tigt, unerkannt. Keiner von uns ist B\u00fcrger. Wie k\u00f6nnten wir das sein? Ich glaube nicht, dass die UEE wei\u00df, dass wir existieren.\"\n\nYadav dankte dem Mann f\u00fcr die Beantwortung ihrer Fragen, und sie und Jones machten weiter.\n\nEin steifer Wind wehte in Yadavs Gesicht. Es trug den Duft von R\u00f6stk\u00f6rnern, Kompostf\u00e4ule und Roheisen. \"Du hast also dein Versprechen gehalten?\", fragte sie nach einer langen Gespr\u00e4chspause.\n\nJones sah verwirrt aus. \"Welches Versprechen war das?\"\n\n\"Um deine Eltern hierher zu bringen, als du dein Verm\u00f6gen gemacht hast. Sie m\u00fcssen in Jahren weitermachen.\"\n\n\"Sie sind noch nicht hier. Wir sind noch nicht bereit. Aber wir arbeiten daran. Ein neuer Wohlstand wird zu unserem Volk kommen. Wir werden mehr tun, als nur den Lebensunterhalt zu verdienen. Wir werden erfolgreich sein. Und dann gehen Wei und ich zur\u00fcck zu unserer Heimatstation und holen alle ab. Nicht nur unsere Eltern. Cousins, Nichten, Neffen. Jeder, den wir k\u00f6nnen.\"\n\n\"Klingt sch\u00f6n\", r\u00e4umte Yadav ein. \"Aber woher kommt dieser \"neue Wohlstand\"? Deine Ressourcen scheinen nicht ausreichend zu sein, um die Welt abzuw\u00e4gen -\"\n\nEine scharfe Serie von aufeinanderfolgenden Pops ert\u00f6nte. Zu Yadavs F\u00fc\u00dfen sprangen Staubwolken aus dem Boden, und sie sprang instinktiv zur\u00fcck.\n\nSie war nur allzu vertraut mit Sch\u00fcssen.\n\nwird fortgesetzt.....","zh_CN":"Governor Tentopet Jones: Soldier for Truth, Justice, and the Outer System Way, or Just Another Corrupt Public Official?\n\nA long time passed before Martinez returned with a gaggle of guards and the spare pantsuit. Once he\u2019d made his delivery he left again, without a word to Jones.\n\nYadav was freed, then left alone to change. The eggplant colored suit was too tight and too long, but it would have to do. It felt good to be dressed like a professional again. That robe had left her open, vulnerable, in ways she couldn\u2019t fully appreciate until she was once more properly clothed.\n\nThe interview party totaled seven; Yadav, Jones and five bodyguards. They split between Jones\u2019 Connie and a second transport, then flew to the bottom of the hill. There they abandoned the protection of the ships and began a leisurely stroll through the dust-covered streets.\n\nSurprisingly, Jones threaded her arm through Yadav\u2019s. They walked linked together like old schoolmates, while the guards trailed behind like a pack of local strays.\n\nSometimes Yadav had to constantly ask questions in order for an interviewee to open up. Not Jones. She clearly had a story to tell, and had been waiting for someone to share it with.\n\nBut she didn\u2019t begin right away. Comfortable silence settled over them as Jones led them onto a main thoroughfare \u2014 the only paved street. Hot sunshine beat down on the dry asphalt, warm enough to make Yadav\u2019s skin prickle without summoning forth gallons of sweat.\n\nThe people did not shy away as the governor\u2019s party approached. No one spat. But neither did they break down in tears of false hero-worship, like so many dictators demanded. They were cordial, polite.\n\nYoung mothers carried infants in baby slings, or braced toddlers against their hips, while bargaining for baked goods. Several old men and women worked hand in hand to patch a crumbling mud wall. Dirty children kicked at a deflated ball \u2014 the older ones shouting to one another with the authority of professional athletes.\n\n\u201cThese smiles \u2014\u201d Jones said, pointing to two young girls making a pyramid out of pebbles \u2014 \u201cAre hard won. \u201cOnly those under twenty are native to this planet \u2014 Sesen, we\u2019ve named it. Means \u2018lotus flower,\u2019 symbol of rebirth. Most of us are original colonists \u2014 displaced persons. Since the first surge, no one new has come. If you\u2019d arrived a decade and a half ago, you would have seen why. We are not your typical colony.\u201d\n\nYadav\u2019s attention split. While Jones spoke, her ears (and her recorder) listened intently. But her eyes fixated on their surroundings, taking mental snapshots. There were no dogs, no cats, no chickens running wild. None of the animals she\u2019d come to associate with a poverty-stricken area. She realized she hadn\u2019t seen a single bird or rat since crawling out of her downed craft. A lone lizard, streaking from the shade of one building into that of another, was a novelty \u2014 a rare sign of non-Human life. The colony didn\u2019t have enough scraps to support anything besides its people. \u201cThis isn\u2019t good land, is it?\u201d she asked. \u201cDeemed unsuitable for colonization by the UEE?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes. But official terraforming results don\u2019t mean much. No one simply abandons a planet after all that work has gone into it. The surveyors don\u2019t shrug their shoulders and leave. Even though it was worthless, they found a way to make a profit.\n\n\u201cTraffickers came to my home station. Gathered us all together, and told us about this grand new frontier. They convinced my parents it was as rich as the Nile delta of old \u2014 I think one of them recognized my name. Tentopet was an Egyptian queen. My mother was obsessed with the history of the ancients \u2014 their habits, their food, their dress. The traffickers spun mother a story that put lights in her eyes.\n\n\u201cWei is the son of my mother\u2019s brother. His parents and my parents gave their life savings to the people-movers, so that we could start anew in this glorious paradise.\u201d Sarcasm dripped from her tongue, but it was devoid of true contempt. \u201cWhen we made our fortunes we were to go back for them.\u201d\n\nSubtly, Yadav continued to survey every person who came within view, and a strange pattern emerged. There was not an unattached, able-bodied man or woman in sight. The only virile adults were those with small children. Yadav hadn\u2019t seen any single persons between the ages of fifteen and fifty who weren\u2019t part of the governor\u2019s party.\n\nWhere were all of the adults? They weren\u2019t poking out of shop fronts or darning clothes or building structures \u2014 they were simply absent. Surely not all of them were needed up on the governor\u2019s hill.\n\nShe made a mental note, but kept the observation to herself.\n\nAn elderly man offered Jones a chunk of bread from the loaf he\u2019d ripped apart for his grandchildren. She accepted it with a small bow.\n\n\u201cWhat\u2019s it like living here?\u201d Yadav asked the man, \u201cCompared to where you come from?\u201d\n\n\u201cWarmer,\u201d he said. His voice carried the tremors of old age, and the gravel of someone who had abused his lungs in youth. \u201cClimate\u2019s pretty mild. Can\u2019t grow much, though. Even now that we don\u2019t have to pay the tax.\u201d\n\nYadav glanced sideways at Jones. \u201cWhat tax?\u201d\n\n\u201cThe Surveyors\u2019 tax. The traffickers dumped us here, and the Surveyors thought their cut had been too little. Since they owned the land \u2014 sanctioned or not \u2014 they taxed us in goods. The best we could grow went to them.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou starved and worked the land, or you starved and were buried under it,\u201d said the grandfather. \u201cThey didn\u2019t care. They don\u2019t come \u2019round anymore, so we get to keep it all. But the ground is weak, and the water isn\u2019t good \u2014 oceans and lakes are so full of toxic bacteria, we could never filter it enough. Clean rain almost never pools. It seeps right down and out of reach.\u201d\n\nYadav pressed the toe of her pump against a crack at the edge of the asphalt. The dirt crumpled away, thinning to dust. No little bits of grass or random weeds held it together. \u201cWhat happened to the Surveyors?\u201d\n\n\u201cAsk this young lady right here,\u201d he said, pointing his thumb at Jones. \u201cShe and \u2019er crew organized us against them. We drove \u2019em away but good.\u201d He laughed lightly at the memory, revealing his broken teeth.\n\n\u201cCrew?\u201d\n\n\u201cMyself, Wei and a few others from our home station. Stole some of their ships \u2014\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd gave \u2019em reason enough never to come nosing around Sesen again,\u201d the man finished, slapping his knee.\n\nJones smiled. \u201cAfterward, we threw together a loose government and started to try to make this our home, for real. I was only supposed to lead temporarily. But here I am, well over a decade later. I\u2019ve offered to step down \u2014\u201d\n\nSure, Yadav thought cynically.\n\n\u201c\u2014 but we won\u2019t have her resignation,\u201d confirmed the old man.\n\n\u201cSo, when you introduce yourself as \u2018Governor Jones\u2019\u2026?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s unsanctioned, unrecognized. None of us are Citizens. How could we be? I don\u2019t think the UEE knows we exist.\u201d\n\nYadav thanked the man for answering her questions, and she and Jones moved on.\n\nA stiff wind wafted into Yadav\u2019s face. It carried the scent of roasting grains, compost rot and hot metal. \u201cYou\u2019ve kept your promise, then?\u201d she asked after a long break in conversation.\n\nJones looked confused. \u201cWhich promise was that?\u201d\n\n\u201cTo bring your parents here when you made your fortune. They must be getting on in years.\u201d\n\n\u201cThey aren\u2019t here yet. We aren\u2019t ready. But we\u2019re working on it. A new prosperity will be coming to our people. We\u2019ll do more than scratch out a living. We\u2019ll thrive. And then Wei and I will go back to our home station and collect everyone. Not just our parents. Cousins, nieces, nephews. Everyone we can.\u201d\n\n\u201cSounds lovely,\u201d Yadav conceded. \u201cBut where will this \u2018new prosperity\u2019 spring from? Your resources don\u2019t seem adequate for trade off worl \u2014\u201d\n\nA sharp series of consecutive pops rang out. Puffs of dust burst from the ground at Yadav\u2019s feet, and she instinctively jumped back.\n\nShe was all too familiar with gunfire.\n\nto be continued \u2026"},"links_count":0,"comment_count":69,"created_at":"2014-03-14T00:00:00+00:00","created_at_human":"12 years ago"},"meta":{"processed_at":"2026-05-14 16:35:54","valid_relations":["images","links"],"prev_id":13632,"next_id":13635}}