I've noticed an increase in the number of ships reported MIA recently. Freighters, transports, and cruisers -- mostly cruisers -- just up and vanish. No sign of the crew; no sign of the vessel; no debris. Missing ships are nothing new; space is pretty big, after all. But this sort of thing makes me wonder. Does the GTI have its fingers in this?
Maybe the Shivans are eating them. Maybe they're abducting the crew and looking for cattle to mutilate. I've heard worse....
I've come to realize that there's no such thing as a conspiracy. At least, not in the way people usually think of it. It's merely an emergent behavior, caused when enough people who are out for money or power or prestige get together and start collaborating. The corrupt soldier wants more stuff to blow up; the corrupt politician wants more power; the corrupt economist wants more money. When they act on their own, they seldom get very far. But when their interests intersect, you'd better watch out. I doubt everybody in the GTI is out for the same thing; they just see it as a convenient means to further their own goals.
Maybe the Hammer of Light is right -- maybe we
do deserve the Shivans. None of us would care to be blasted back to the Stone Age, but then again there wouldn't be universal surveillance, mandatory military service, or the income tax to worry about.
And on that cheery note, I've decided to pass the point of no return. I'm transmitting classified information over the holonet.
We've been incredibly busy over the past week or so; the GTI is ramping up for a major operation against the Shivans in Antares, involving all three branches of the organization. Naturally, I can't give away much about what I know if I want to remain anonymous. On the plus side, people who are busy are careless, and thanks to someone's inattention I was able to swipe the above image. It's only a thumbnail, but it looks mighty interesting.
