Jump 255 02 Multireal by David Louis Edelman

Author:David Louis Edelman [Edelman, David Louis]
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction - Science Fiction, High Tech, Fantasy, Space Opera, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Political, General, Science Fiction, Science Fiction - General, Adventure, Corporations, Fiction
ISBN: 9781591026471
Publisher: Pyr
Published: 2008-09-01T23:00:00+00:00

25

The politicos filed in from the foyer, nine in all, each more smug and self-satisfied than the last. Natch disliked them immediately.

It was a motley group. A labor boss who had led a violent strike against OrbiCo, simultaneously causing a handful of deaths and a plunge in the company's stock price. A pair of tycoons who had bought large swaths of real estate on Luna and turned them into indulgent playgrounds for the wealthy. A few L-PRACG politicians who dangled from the shadier fringes of the libertarian movement. The bodhisattva of Creed Libertas, looking quite regal with her long black hair and her robe marked with the insignia of the rising sun. A tiny bronze-skinned woman whose connectible collar tagged her as an Islander. And finally, of course, Khann Frejohr.

The interesting thing about the libertarian movement, Natch reflected as he watched the group jockey for seats in his living room, was that neither rich nor poor could claim ownership of it. The instinct to keep the centralized government out of one's business didn't just cross boundaries, it obliterated them.

Natch wished he could be somewhere else entirely. The MultiReal stunt he had performed on Khann Frejohr yesterday had taken more out of him than he thought possible; a palpable sense of uncleanliness seeped through his pores, as if his OCHREs were limping along near burnout. And that on top of the corrosive black code in his veins, the MultiReal programming in his skull, and the throbbing of his arm. If only he could jettison all these people from the apartment and just ... sleep. How long had it been?

Frejohr waited until the labor boss had parked himself on Natch's favorite work stool and everyone had taken the prudent step of priving themselves to outside communication. Then the speaker brought the meeting to order.

"My friends," began Frejohr. "Comrades. We live in dangerous times. We're standing on the precipice of a very steep cliff. We're looking over the edge, and we can see that it's a long, long way down."

Natch had found a place near the front door where he could observe the proceedings without intruding. Listening to Frejohr now, he understood why this man had risen so far in the ranks of the libertarian movement, why he had become the symbol of opposition to Len Borda. The voice that had sounded like a tired mumble yesterday had metamorphosed into a hypnotic purr in the presence of his peers. The politicos were transfixed. Natch's exhaustion was quickly forgotten.

"Len Borda has single-handedly ruled the Defense and Wellness Council for almost sixty years," continued the speaker, beginning a slow stroll around the perimeter of the garden. "And what's the high executive given us in that sixty years? An unprecedented military buildup. A state of constant warfare with the Islanders and the Pharisees. The erosion of the people's power base and civil liberties. Just last month, the Prime Committee gave him the legal authority to shut down any program on the Data Sea, at any time.

"And now the Council is in a state of disarray.

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