CHAPTER TWENTY

“Welcome to the jungle,

we got fun and games…

“We got everything you want,

we know the names…

“We are the people who will find

Whatever you may need…

“And if you got the money, honey,

we got your disease.”

- Axl Rose

The Federation was immense.

From its beginning in the mid-22nd century as a fragile alliance of four mutually suspicious, nigh-antagonistic peoples from five star systems—Andor, Tellar, Terra (along with her burgeoning Alpha Centauran colony), and Vulcan—it had grown to encompass a swath of interstellar territory that even the fastest warp-driven vessels took almost a decade to cross.

In a way, though, there were two “Federations.”

The first was the one most people assumed was being discussed when they heard the term used—that of the “Core Worlds.” These were the intense concentration of stars and planets containing life which had been touched by the Preservers, and included in a broad sense not only those which had comprised the foundation of the UFP, but many of its greatest allies and rivals as well. The Romulans, Klingons, Bajorans, Cardassians and innumerable others were all part of the extended Preserver “family”... and it was apparent to scholars that the seeding process so often theorized, and finally confirmed by the renowned archeologist Richard Galen, had been especially concentrated in this small segment of the galaxy. While humanoids had been encountered everywhere in the Milky Way (USS Voyager's remarkable journey had confirmed this), clearly Earth and those other worlds were very near where those aboriginal caretakers had once called home... and they, in their touching, understandable vanity, had wanted things to look familiar even after they were long gone.

Then, there was the real Federation.

It contained over 175 members, and that statistic only took into account those that were both unified in government and held seats in the UFP General Assembly. There were thousands of colonies the inclusion of which were de facto if not acknowledged, and a myriad of planets with partial, associate or provisionary membership. From the first inducted member, Rigel IV, to the dozens which were in various stages of the process at any time, all had seen the benefits of inclusion in the larger community around them, and had affixed themselves to a whole greater than they had ever imagined.

The citizens of the Federation, three-and-a-half-trillion strong, spoke with a voice that had grown in strength with each passing decade, and overcome obstacles military, social and idealistic to remain clear and ringing: “Join us,” they said, “and together we'll seek a better future for all.”

But not everyone appreciated the new order. The Federation's enemies were legion, and not all of them opposed it openly; the bright, idealistic light it emitted gave rise to even darker shadows in contrast.

The growth of UFP territory was neither steady nor symmetrical. While a perfect, ever-expanding sphere, both literal and figurative, would have appealed to aesthetes, it wasn't to be. Instead, the Federation, if observed on a graphic display, resembled an amorphous glob of Swiss cheese. Vast tracts of territory within its very boundaries were enclaves of hostility, antipathy, or even simple apathy.

And in most of these areas, you could find the Orions... sowing discord, appealing to the baser natures of any and all they encountered, and extending the tendrils of their influence in whatever manner they could.

It was easier in some places than others.

There were those social scientists, clerics and even common citizenry who marveled at the fact that depravities as were practiced on such worlds still survived in the face of modern technology, like holodecks and replicators.

Idealists often cannot comprehend the motivations of the self-indulgent.

Reasons, however, did abound. Not all societies possessed the wealth and affluence of the Federation core worlds. On Earth, for example, all poverty, most disease and much want had been abolished almost two centuries before. Vulcan was, if anything, even more idealized and perfect than Terra itself.

But these two planets were among the jewels in the Federation's crown. Elsewhere, some people had, and others had not. It had been that way since men had looked at their neighbors and coveted what they possessed... and it would be that way as long as the goal of having more—more money, more status, more power—was an admirable and attainable one.

The Orions had known that, instinctually, since before human beings had descended from the trees... and they had tempted many an upright and steadfastly moral person into vice, simply by making it available and alluring.

There was always a market for sin...

...and on Dionysus II, a planet where other forms of currency spoke with far greater eloquence than did credits, business was booming.

Here, beyond the bounds of acknowledged Federation space (though, indeed, completely surrounded by it), representatives of those races that believed in quid pro quo, caveat emptor, laissez faire, and lingua latinum purchased and proffered, procured and presented, all manner of goods and services.

There were blood sports, from old Earth cock-fighting to Andorian ritual duels... delicacies of every conceivable description, starting with chocolate, and ending with slabs of meat from species considered non-sentient—by their consumers, at least... drugs of various effects and potency, even such semi-legendary substances as the Mists of Thanatos, popular with those who'd contracted a terminal disease and wanted one last, incredible experience to carry with them to the other side.

And, of course, there were women... women of every conceivable size, shape and description.... Whatever your pleasure, privation or perversion, there was a woman (or a man, for that matter) who would aid you in indulging it—assuming, of course, that the price was right.

As a famous (and cynical) hedonist had once said, “Enough latinum will lubricate the most reluctant woman's shavan.”

Technically, Dionysus II was not an Orion world... but that technicality was a small one. The Orion presence here was pervasive: The Syndicate, acting for the Warlords, owned much of the land, had assisted in the construction of planetary infrastructure, and kept the local government well supplied with both latinum and luxury.

The Orions had the Dionysians in their pockets...

…and those pockets were very deep, indeed.

Chapter Nineteen Chapter Twenty-One