Editing Letter 03a, 26 Nov 2522

We were on Boros in July and the fleet assigned to Georgia was there. The Feds were a blanket of purple on the ground, stopping people everywhere demanding to see idents and papers and all the rest of it. Joshua and I were caught up in it. And of course, I haven’t carried an ident in years. Not since Wesley Camden snatched us on Aesir, as I’m sure you remember. Luckily, Joshua was able to do some fast talking and we were let go. Needless to say we went straight back to our berth and stayed there. We were lucky. Others on Boros weren’t so lucky, including our fixer Lee. He was ‘invited’—that is exactly how they phrased it, I kid you not—to go to the Core to ‘help’ the Feds indentify ‘insurgents’. They weren’t officially detaining him as a criminal. Oh no. They just appealed to his sense of ‘civic duty’ to help maintain the peace. Peace, my ass. Police state is more like it. He went, Christian. Like a lamb. It was that or face worse. Did I mention that the Feds on the ground were all armed and armored? No? Stupid of me. They were.<br><br>  

News from the Core seems little better. I don’t know if you’ve heard the news but the Feds have raided Oolong Abbey. They claim it was harboring Independent agitators. Of course, the Church condemned the action and well they should. The Alliance has to this point kept its hands off the religious communities and the raid on Oolong Abbey is a disturbing precedent. For all I might blaspheme, Christian, I mean God and His followers no ill will. Religion gives people strength when they are weak, courage when they are afraid, solace when they grieve, absolution and grace when they need forgiveness. You cannot deprive people of this and still claim to be civilized and just. The Lama on Sihnon has called on Buddhists to leave military service and though the Alliance is saying it is working with Temple leaders to address this concern, I am skeptical of anything civilized or just coming from it. I’m sorry, Christian, but I do not have much hope the Lama will fare any better than Oolong Abbey has in this matter. Closer to home, have you heard anything about the Abbey? I’m sure you know which one I mean. Reports say it is intact with no sign of violence but it’s empty. The reports do not say ''how'' it was emptied. I am trying not to imagine the ''how'' or dwell on the ''why''. Knowing that it stands empty is distressing enough.<br><br>

Family is important to Joshua. He is looking for his even now and I’m pretty sure he wants to meet them, if not invite them to the wedding. I have no problem with that. I am looking forward to meeting them.  But when we were on Puck he asked me to promise him something and I couldn’t refuse. He wants me to contact my own family in the Core and let them know I’m alive. In light of the religious community’s recent entanglements with the Feds, I am reluctant to go to the clerics to pass my message on. I don’t dare do it over the Cortex either. And with those options removed from the table, all I have left is you. As a former client of yours, could I possibly beg you to send a note through your fellow Companions? So far, the Feds have kept their hands off the Guild and I pray they continue to do so, but I don’t know how long that situation will last. I will have my message ready for you when we make landfall. If you feel you cannot do this, I might be able to find another way to do it. We will eventually end up going to the Core anyway, if our lead on Joshua’s family is correct and for all we know, they might end up being neighbors to mine.<br><br>