2175 C.E.

XV:Captive (Revised)

Letter: From Chinwe Opeyemi, 440 E Ormarith Rd, Jimeso, Ghana: To Eglantine Kayode, 1001 Sherman St, Imladris, Nova: Translated by Ibrahim Wassume

My dearest Eglantine,

I am sorry to have to report that life on Earth has become much more difficult since my last letter. Ambience shuttles have been starting to reach our old hometown. I saw them first in white vans marked with the Ambience logo a couple of days ago. They set up a tent outside of town for the first couple of days. Every day since then, more vans have been coming into town, and even a couple of trucks. The tents have been expanding into a village, and yesterday they brought two trailers into town and connected them together side to side. I think it may be their installation facility. They started reaching out to the population here, too. I see new signs on telephone poles every day. They say things like "install Gen4 at 13 Impala St" and "Come to 13 Impala St for all your dreams to come true." Everything's sponsored by the Hegemony of course.

They came to the village square with their loudspeakers earlier this week to try and talk us into accepting the fact that things were changing in the Hegemony. They wanted us to see that it was for our own good that our right to free thought was being taken away.

Why has the Hegemony come here? Ghana has never before been a concern for them. They talked the talk, but until today, they never cared, not really. Do you remember when we were children and we would watch broadcasts about how children in our town were buying the third generation Interlink so they could convince the rest of the country to do it themselves. But we knew they were lying, didn't we? But now, they have decided that enough is enough. It was too much to have free peoples and now they have decided to take action. Our petty little chaos was too much for them. I wish daily that I had gone to Nova with you.

But I am sorry to rave at Earth politics to you. I wish there were no politics to rave about. I wish that the world was a better place. That way you could have stayed on Earth, or I could have gone with you to Nova. I still think about you, Eglantine. I cannot stop thinking about you. Is it wrong that after five years, I still can't forget the way the way the moon reflected in your eyes the night that you left. I wish we had had more time.

Today I am closer than I have ever been to coming to Nova. I have spoken to Grushan traders in Accra and they say that they may have an empty space in their cargo holds. They don't travel to Nova directly from Earth because of a Hegemony trade embargo. But they do fly to Yvar and then to Glevar. They say that for the right price they can give me passage to Yvar and help me to acquire passage from Yvar to Nova. But they ask me for a price that is beyond even what your family paid to travel. I am trying to gather funds now, and if I am lucky, I can join them when they leave Earth in two weeks.

But it is a hefty fee. I could go myself, but I must also provide for my family. I cannot leave them here, especially not with the Hegemony crackdown as it is today. I hope you understand. I will follow you to Nova one day. It may be a long time from now, but it will be soon. Say that you love me still, and I will twist the universe on the head of a pin, and Earth and Nova would be ten minutes' walk from one another, and then with the snap of my hand, they would be separate again. Say that you love me and I will come to you, though the Hegemony and the Federation itself stands in my way. I love you, Eglantine. Misfortune and light-years can only separate us for so long.

I hope for your reply,

Love, Chinwe.

[Postmarked 07/27/2175]

Official Statement: Terran Global Hegemony President's Office: 07/27/2175