Conexion is a drug that takes you back through DNA to the memories of your ancestors.
The world is run by a shady group of trillionaires.
Then there are the aliens. Who are they?
Excerpt – Conexion
Down below, in what used to be the city of New York, before Terra became one complete urban conurbation, there is a meeting room that is simply called the Hub. It is like no other. The room is technically and physically secure. It has advanced hardware that would make it impossible for any form of bugging or recording device to operate – neither could anybody gain access to that room without being fully processed, nor bring any explosive, chemical or biological device into the place.
The Hub was the most secure place on the planet. It was the centre from which the Consortium coordinated its business interests.
It was said that if anyone in the Consortium sneezed the whole system’s economy took a dive.
The site for the Hub was carefully chosen. It was close to the United Nations Government building. That was no coincidence. The Consortium, who regularly met in the Hub, had direct contact with the government and needed to exert influence.
The Consortium was made up of twenty selected members. It was the most select group anywhere in the whole system. To be considered for inclusion one had to firstly be one of the wealthiest individuals in the whole system and secondly to have been vetted to the nth degree. The Consortium did not officially exist and that was the way they intended to keep it.
In line with this policy there were clandestine entry points. Jump tubes, that were completely unregistered, took people in to the secure vestibule. The members of the Consortium were always incognito. They were addressed as numbers and wore costumes with electronic facial masks that maintained their anonymity. Even the meeting room was arranged to maintain this secrecy. Each place around the table was an isolated cubicle so that members could see one another but there was no personal contact.
The inner core were simply called Numbers 1,2 and 3. They set the agendas and ran the meetings.
Everyone was seated when Number 1 entered, flanked on both sides by Numbers 2 and 3. Numbers 2 and 3 seated themselves leaving Number 1 standing. He looked around at the gathered individuals. In their Consortium costume it was impossible to tell if they were male, female, old or young or any other details. Only the inner core knew exactly who constituted the Consortium, though there was much speculation in the minds of the other members that was unlikely to have been too wide of the mark.
‘Right,’ the tall slender figure of Number 1 announced in the stentorious tones of a real aristocrat from long ago, which indeed he was. Number 1, whose real name was Darius, could trace his family right back to beyond the crusades. ‘I call this meeting to order.’ After a suitable pause he sat himself down.
‘This particular meeting is more of a briefing update,’ Number 1 informed them. That was no surprise, most of them were. The inner core of Numbers 1, 2 and 3 tended to meet separately and develop most of the important policy decisions. ‘I wish to keep you informed and receive preliminary feedback. We have three items on the agenda. Item one, as you can see is this fellow Jesus De Monde.’ Number 1 looked around at them. ‘He started out as a minor sideshow on Titan but we have noted that he has attracted quite a following and is beginning to become more universal.’
‘What does he stand for?’ One of the members asked in a bemused manner. All faces turned to stare. If one was in the Consortium one was expected to be au fait with all developments. Everyone should be up on Jesus De Monde.
Number 1 did not seem too unfazed by the interruption. ‘This Jesus character is seeking rapprochement between the various political and religious groups that are presently at odds with the federation. He is seeking a unified front and a non-violent stance to achieve equal rights for the extra-planetary citizens,’ Number 1 summarised. ‘He believes that everyone should be treated equally,’ he added with a twinkle in his eye and raise of eyebrows that indicated how absurd that was.
‘That could impact on a number of our operations,’ someone observed. ‘We are making a lot of money out of supplying those groups with arms.’
‘And supplying the security forces too,’ someone else observed.
‘Precisely,’ Number 1 agreed. ‘Which is why I have asked the government to closely monitor the situation. I have instructed them to get the BIA on the case.’
‘Why don’t we just take him out?’ someone else asked. ‘Surely that can’t be too hard?’
Number 1 fixed him with a frozen look. ‘Because there may be opportunities for us to profit here,’ he explained with a pained expression on his mask of a face. ‘He has a lot of followers. We have opportunities for merchandising. Indeed, I have allotted Number 17 with the franchise for exploiting that market.’
‘I will supply everyone with detailed profit sheets in due course,’ Number 17 reported.
‘For now,’ Number 1 resumed, ‘we do not regard Jesus as a major threat to our other operations. Our investigations indicate that he is unlikely to gain any close unification of those groups. They hate each other as much as they do the federation,’ he remarked with a whimsical smile. ‘We cannot see them ever working together. Neither can we see them adopting a non-violent stance any time soon. That means that the government will not be addressing the disparity between pay and condition between the extra-planetaries and planetaries any time soon. For now it appears that our interests are secure. Number 20 will shortly supply you with details of the profits from our various enterprises and I think you will find everything is very satisfactory. That is why I have requested that the government merely monitors the annoying individual but refrains from taking action.’
There were general nods of agreement.
‘If we are not careful this Jesus character will create too much peace,’ Number 17 observed in a surly defensive manner having taken umbrage at the attitude that had been picked up from the group. ‘Peace is not good for business.’
‘Quite,’ Number 1 agreed in a manner that put the matter to bed. ‘Now item 2. The Nationalist bombing campaign. Over to you I believe Number 2.’