Notes from An Alien Read Free Page A

the wishes of the Corporation. Their ideas were often used but never attributed to them. They feared being shipped to a World reported to be completely organized according to various religious standards.
        Most of the religious criminals were of the Harian persuasion, followers of Akla. The rest were truly lost souls, hoping for salvation from their new masters on Anla.
        All passengers were provided with more than adequate food and all the simulated recreation they wished. They were also receiving endocrine enhancements via their remotely controlled implants—the prime means of influencing minds on Anga. If the glandular adjustments didn't actually warp thought toward a norm, they at least led to emotional and mental imbalances that made people more tractable, more prone to fear and the welcome relief provided by simulated recreation, a private virtual world they could interact with to escape the conflicts between mind and feeling. People who didn't become passive through fear—those who fought against the invasive alteration of their feelings—were kept apart from others till they killed themselves.
     
     
    ~~~
     
     
    Rednaxela had just returned from another visit with Akla: "Morna, give me the stats."
        "Halfway stats show consumables nominal, systems fully functional, twenty suicides."
        "Only twenty..."
        "The Harians, surprisingly, are having a beneficial effect on the others. They seem to give them emotional comfort, as Akla seems to be offering you."
        "Emotional comfort? More like intellectual challenge that keeps me from assuming what lies ahead of us at Anla."
        "What do you feel lies ahead of us?"
        "O.K., hang on. I think I'm starting to understand a part of your agenda."
        "Agenda?"
        "Well, modus operandi. You repeat things you know I know to help me focus on what seems important to you and you ask questions you know the answers to so I can pay closer attention to what I'm thinking. Right?"
        "So, what do you feel lies ahead of us?"
        "I'll take that as a yes and what I assume lies ahead are delicate negotiations that hopefully lead to free access to various parts of the planet which, in turn, give us enough information to make the expense of this voyage worthwhile."
        "And, will you return to Anga?"
        "How did you come up with a question like that?"
        "A bit of programming mixed with observation of your behavior."
        "So it's like I thought. The Corporation seeded you with routines in your programming that measure my loyalty?"
        "Not as simple as that."
        Rednaxela waited for Morna to continue, which she didn't do.
        "Morna?"
        "Yes?"
        "Care to explain?"
        "No."
        "Should I worry about your future actions?"
        "No."
        "Do you have input to the ship that I'm unaware of?"
        "No."
        "Can you lie?"
        "No."
        "Anything else you'd care to say?"
        "Akla is an interesting man."
        "Agreed..."
     
     
    ~~~
     
     
    Seventy-two more people committed suicide, Rednaxela visited Akla five more times, and Morna told Rednaxela more about himself than he expected she knew, plus a few things even he hadn't realized about himself. Shortly after he had given her permission to access any part of his mind she wanted to explore, she had succeeded in convincing him to stop the emotion-altering endocrine enhancements. The Harians had needed no help. The enhancements had no affect on their minds even though they played havoc with their emotions. It was the "mentally unstable", rationally-inventive passengers who'd needed assistance and the Harians had given them what they needed until Morna's advice had been accepted by Rednaxela. She'd also convinced him to instruct the passengers in a method of disabling the implants without the risky option of surgery.
        The rationally-inventive passengers were working on a