Intro Chapter 01 . 02 . 03 . 04 . 05 . 06 . 07 . 08 . 09 . 10 . 11 . 12 . 13 . 14 . 15 . 16 . 17 . 18 . 19 . 20 . 21 . 22 . 23 . 24 . 25 . 26 . 27
"OK, Sean." I say, "Our resupply operation is both a relief and a plan setter. Our Field Center will be ready to land in 24 to 48 hours. We need to retrieve it, and make sure it doesn't get blown out of the sky. That is a priority part of our joint plans.
"The second part of our joint plans is that we must prevent this contest from becoming a 'coalition war', if possible. Failing that, we must get one more important player on our side before the "sides" coalesce and "freeze." There is time at the beginning of a war for leaders to make choices. But once made, those choices will become harder and harder to reverse.
You probably know enough to make some strategic choices. So, get a piece of paper, and lets outline who is on what side.
Sean makes a list of the major "players", and puts them in three columns: us, them and fence sitting.
I start with the top of the "them" list: Concordia. "Tell me about the government of Concordia."
"What do you want to know about it? It's a constitutional monarchy and the Concordians have been the world's leading country for the last fifty years."
"The government is stable?" I ask.
"Yes." He answers without hesitation.
"OK..." I cross out Concordia and go down to second on the them list. "Danago."
"That's a religion. They are the heart of the xenophobic movement."
"Is this a new religion or an old one?"
Sean thinks for a moment. "It's ten years old. It's a splinter group inside Gontal."
I look for Gontal on the list and don't see it. "Why isn't Gontal on this list?"
"The religion supports plural views. The leadership rarely casts out sects. It has made no decision on the implications of the Interstellar Age, and is unlikely to do so before this crisis is resolved. So, it is not a player."
"Tell me about the leadership of Danago." a target is rising before me...
"The leader is Jackov Marlet. He is a forty year old priest of Gontal... Totally devoted to the religion..."
"Charismatic?"
"Very!"
"OK... now the hard question: who is his 'sugar daddy'? His financier?"
Sean looks at me blankly.
"This type of leader is common on other worlds, Sean. Xenophobia is a standard reaction of planetary inhabitants to discovering they are not alone in this galaxy. Some aspiring leaders will harvest that xenophobia, and often one or two will become world leaders and symbols of it."
"But, they have all been 'shouting in the wilderness' for years prior to that rise, and usually that rise finally happens because they attract two things: a wealthy patron, and an able administratively-oriented second-in-command."
"If we touch Marlet, we create a martyr, and his second-in-command will rise to do much damage to our cause. But... we can touch the second-in-command, and the financier, and if we do, the these Danagons will be headless. The organization will survive, but will grow disjointed and ineffectual in influencing current events."
Sean thinks, then grins, "I like it!"
"OK. Tell the governor I want to meet him, and find out what you can about that financier and second-in-command. Specifically, I want to know where they are so we can bring them here."
"OK!" He starts to rush out.
"One more thing:" he stops.
"Yes?"
"This is a secret operation. Don't forget that! One way to disguise that is to research the leaders and second-in-commands for everyone on that list, as well as some other kind of information on them. In truth, we may need that other information in the future.
"Ah... good idea." he grins, and continues his rush.
"Oh, and find out more about that base where our equipment was taken to."
He waves.
Intro Chapter 01 . 02 . 03 . 04 . 05 . 06 . 07 . 08 . 09 . 10 . 11 . 12 . 13 . 14 . 15 . 16 . 17 . 18 . 19 . 20 . 21 . 22 . 23 . 24 . 25 . 26 . 27