Shiloh

THE SHILOH REPORTS





Mike Reardon

Copyright 2007

Author's Note: This work of fiction is set in the near future and amounts to an intellectual experiment of

sorts. In it I explore themes of interest to me including technology, wealth, globalism, and the collision of an

ancient faith with modernity. I suppose it could be called an inverted Utopian piece. Or maybe a communal

survival story. Most important to me it is about how Christians ought to live. If it seems odd, or particularly

dry in some of its technical descriptions, remember that it is part exploration and part story.



This work is also free to anyone that wants to read it, so just pass it around. But please don’t change it. If

you have a comment, I’d love to hear it. Write me at shilohreports@gmail.com. Thanks so much.



Mike Reardon

The Shiloh Reports





Classification Level 5

Nov. 20, Unification Year 14



TO: Consul, Administration Complex, Rome

Consul, Global Relations and Diplomacy, Beijing

Consul, Security Complex, Moscow

Consul, Economic Complex, New York

Consul, Media Complex, Los Angeles





RE: Lake Aracaibo Isolation Compound



I apologize for the tardiness in replying to your communication this morning, but the situation here in Jakarta

required my personal attention. The food shortage demonstrations turned violent early this morning. A car

bomb detonated in the crowd, precipitating a riot. By the time Peacekeepers restored order the death toll

was over three hundred. Security Complex agents are hunting the terrorists responsible as we speak, and

they have narrowed the likely candidates to the local fundamentalist group Muhammad’s Sword or the

global anarchist front Strikehard. I will leave that to Security Complex. Diplomatically, however, our

negotiations with the regional representatives finished as well as could be expected. I was able to address

their concerns about corporate presence, reasonable political autonomy, and of course sustainable food

supply. While this in no way lays the turmoil on the Pacific Rim to rest, it does buy us time to implement

corrective actions.



Nevertheless, I did have time this afternoon to examine the material you sent, and it seems to confirm our

concerns. First let me say that this situation is no surprise to me; indeed I have been expecting it for some

time. In my personal monitoring of independence-leaning emedia outlets I have found the rumors about

still-viable secessionist colonies to be several weeks old. They are gathering increased attention in the

separatist movement and at least one outlet I examined claimed to be investigating the rumors. How

credible that statement is remains unclear.



What is undeniable is that given the current political and economic climate the Global Unification faces, a

public revelation of the Lake Aracaibo isolation colony would be dangerous. Our opponents loudly claim

that the political and economic cohesiveness of the GU is fraying within a mere fifteen years of its inception,

and we all know how close that is to the truth. The famines in Bangladesh, Indonesia and Mozambique, the

ethnic conflicts in West Africa and Eastern Europe and the resurgent nationalist movements in China, the

Middle East and North America speak for themselves about the conditions we find ourselves in. I need not

mention the chronic stagflation and resulting unemployment that has crippled global economic activity for

three years now.



Let me be clear, and I believe the Directorate shares my view in this. In my estimation the isolation colony

at Lake Aracaibo poses a greater threat to the Unification than any terrorist group, rogue province or

political movement we face. Some of you may disagree, but consider: if what transpired in Belaguay

became common knowledge on a global scale, it would serve as a lightning rod for all our opponents.

Frustrated developing countries would point to it as an example of GU imperialism. Fundamentalist groups

of all types would see in it a symbol of religious self-determination. Traditional nationalists would claim it as

a concrete demonstration of independence. Radical anarchists would love it merely for its outright

defiance. This may seem overstated given the size and unlikely genesis of the Lake Aracaibo colony, but I

cannot conceive of another object that could so elegantly galvanize our entire spectrum of enemies. Can

any of you identify another? And failed cover-ups always play badly, no matter how small. While at this

point the problem is confined to a local South American backwater and speculative ranting on radical

emedia outlets, in time it may well make its way to the global mainstream. We have seen this before. And

then what will be our position? Secession is already being discussed, openly or otherwise, on every

continent. In essence, the Lake Aracaibo colony did successfully secede from the Unification seven years

ago, and remains so to this day. That point, I believe, is undebatable.

Perhaps the decision to isolate the Lake Aracaibo area with an absolute embargo was faulty to begin with.

Looking back, a forced deportation of the separatists, while heavy-handed and risky at the outset, would

have spared us this crisis. But then, none of us expected the colony to survive the embargo for even two

months. At any rate, that option is now past. To deport all the residents now would be to spread several

thousand knowledgeable witnesses of a standing secession to the world at large. Untenable. At the

mission summit in Sao Paulo we can examine the fine points of solutions, but to my mind there are really

only two. The first is obvious: reestablish relations with the isolation compound and roll them back into the

Unification. I have some thoughts on this that I will share in Sao Paulo, but let me be brief in stating that I

think this option the least likely to succeed. The triggering event of the Lake Aracaibo secession was

religiously motivated: their refusal to accept Universal Transaction Implants as mandated by Unification

Resolution 111. And if there is anything we have learned, it's that ultra-orthodox religious dogma is the

social force least malleable to political mechanisms.



Of course there were many other individuals and small groups that resisted the UTI's for religious (rather,

reactionary fundamentalist) reasons, but most quickly folded when they experienced what it meant to live

without even trivial transaction capabilities. There were also some larger areas that declined (a couple of

former United States, a few small Middle-Eastern countries, the Irish city of Cork and quite a few private

colonies surviving on dwindling resources). The universal embargo eventually prevailed in each case

however, as trade and aid deprivation did its work. Yet, to the best of our knowledge, the isolation colony at

Lake Aracaibo still stands. Ironic that the least likely of the secessionist regions would be the last to fall.

While the locals in western Belaguay may be vaguely aware of the isolation compound, that knowledge has

not and must not spread.



Though I was not present at the meetings with the Lake Aracaibo leaders, I was personally responsible for

the formal packaging of the negotiated resolutions. And in that I can assure you that we are facing a

thoroughly entrenched religious ideology. During negotiations no assurance of built-in privacy, no concrete

legal protections for religion would persuade them. When we demonstrated that there were no "Mark of the

Beast" clauses in the Resolution, they still wouldn't move. We even had representatives of the World Faith

Alliance come in as facilitators to the negotiations but this only seemed to confirm their suspicions. When

we made it clear to them that if they refused the Implants they would be denied any further access to the GU

aid they had been receiving, they simply moved to secede. I believe their own internal meeting on that

decision lasted less than twelve minutes! At that point the negotiations were terminated and an Absolute

Embargo on the Lake Aracaibo area was finally declared. Even then, only about six hundred left the

community and took the Implants. Less than a tenth! This is why I am doubtful about a readmission

solution. To call the isolation colony in Belaguay a cult would be an understatement. And with seven years

to strengthen their hold on its residents, the cult's leader(s) must rule with absolute impunity by now. I doubt

very seriously that we will receive a better hearing if a second attempt is made. And that very fact is the

hope I have in a second solution.



If another attempt at integrating the Lake Aracaibo compound back into the Global Unification fails, I believe

our best chance lies in discrediting it. By this I simply mean exposing their experiment in "independence"

for the fraud that it is. Again, our opponents are eventually going to become aware of this fragment of

resistance in Belaguay and hold it up for the world to see. And if so, what if the world were to look upon a

bankrupt, freedom-smothering, medieval cholera hole retreating to the stone age. This might well be a

more damaging blow to our enemies than any that could be given by finance, diplomacy or arms. There is

opportunity in crisis, isn't that our credo? What better contrast could we hope for between the siren call of

the separatists and the delicate system of interdependence we have so painstakingly constructed?



I will say no more about possible solutions until I arrive in Sao Paulo. But I will say this: an intervention team

inserted into the isolation compound could well pursue both purposes simultaneously. They could engage

in negotiations while collecting evidence against the colony for the eventual struggle for world opinion. This,

I think, would be our best course.

I will be en route to Sao Paulo via SST by 0630 Jakarta time. I will do some reading on the current

conditions in Belaguay while en route. I will forward you a list of operatives from your Complexes whose

presence will be profitable at the Mission Summit. I would also like to take Commander Nena Karscatov as

Security. I have worked with her before and find her professionalism impeccable. Time is short, but we

have enough to plan and execute intelligently. If we are deliberate and decisive we can still turn this

development to our advantage. On that I pledge my career and my dedication to the Global Unification

itself.



S.

Nov. 21, UY 14



TO: Consul, Administration Complex, Rome

Consul, Global Relations and Diplomacy, Beijing

Consul, Security Complex, Moscow

Consul, Economic Complex, New York

Consul, Developing Nations, Lagos



RE: Background Info



I have been en-route to Sao Paulo for eight hours as I write this, reviewing background information on the

history and conditions of Belaguay in general and the Lake Aracaibo colony in particular. I offer this to you

simply for the sake of completeness, as many of you know the bulk of this information already.



Belaguay is the third smallest nation in South America comprising 165,302 square kilometers. The people

of Belaguay are primarily Mestizo in identity (80%) with minorities of Europeans, Native Indians and a small

presence of Asians and Africans. Historically, Belaguay was a colony of both Spain (1500's through 1700's)

and Britain (1700's to 1800's), which took it as a settlement of war. This is the source of the nation's two

official languages, and the Spanglish most commonly spoken on its city streets. The culture is a similar

welding of Latino and Anglo influences with siestas coinciding nicely with teatime. Belaguay has struggled

since its independence from England in the mid 1800's. A long line of dictators and revolutionary fronts

have governed the country, with all the corruption, violence and poverty that accompanies them. It remains

a developing nation today, with some agriculture and little industry. It is dependent to a great deal on direct

aid from Economic Complex.



While the commercially important Ronde and Belaguay rivers flow through the country, Belaguay enjoys no

direct access to the ocean. Geographically, the nation is situated 500 km south of the equator.

Topographically, Belaguay is on the Chaco plateau. Grassland and broadleaf forests make up the

vegetation and there is significant commercial farming in wheat, sugar beets and cattle. In the west the land

rises abruptly to even higher sandstone bluffs: the foothills of the Andes. Lake Aracaibo is situated here at

the western border of Belaguay at an elevation of 2410 meters. The climate is characterized by two-month

rainy seasons in spring and fall and dry seasons in summer and winter (which is somewhat cooler). Daily

temperatures generally stay near the mid to high 20's Centigrade; a compromise between Belaguay's

tropical location and high elevation. Aid workers describe it as a permanent spring day in Europe. Owing to

the low atmospheric pressure however, night temperatures can be cold, with July and August nights

occasionally dropping below freezing.



Although in the foothills of the Andes, Lake Aracaibo lies at the bottom of a long, shallow sandstone basin of

some 150 square kilometers. It is somewhat remote, 45 km from, and 1000m higher than the closest major

settlement, New Siena. Though the lake is high in elevation, it has no exit flow and is a land-locked terminal

fed by rainfall in the basin. Its size and depth vary by season, from an area of 5 square km and mean depth

of 2 meters in dry season to 6 square km and 2.4 meters during the rainy season. In appearance it is rather

like a marsh with a large middle expanse of open water. The salt content varies from 6000 to 9000 ppm

(nearly half that of seawater). The lake supports crayfish, insects, snails, frogs and a large salamander (up

to 80 cm).



The area of the fenced isolation compound is 27 square km, not including the lake. The isolation zone has

an elongated diamond shape running 12 km east to west. Its widest point north to south is just over five km,

while at the eastern and western tips the compound narrows to less than 100 meters. The land itself is

mostly featureless and flat across the colony, with a few mounds no higher than twenty meters above the

lake at any point. Brush, crabgrass, thickets and weeds form the dense groundcover and there are

scattered woods of parana pine, willow and a species of bamboo adapted to high elevation growth.

The current population of the isolation camp is unknown. At the time of its separation from the Unification

the area was made up of slums along the shores of the lake. The population then was perhaps just over

eight thousand. Any estimate of current population would depend greatly on assumptions about living

conditions inside the colony. Given the lack of outside aid, we can expect a smaller current population with

certainty.



Although the most recent history of the Lake Aracaibo area is unknown, the events that led to its separation

from the GU are documented. Historically western Belaguay was the poorest region in the country, and

Belaguay is easily the poorest country in South America. In the words of one GU aid worker ten years ago,

the Lake Aracaibo community was "a desperate dysentery pit of sand, shanties and rubbish hugging a

brackish pond. It is the equal of the most squalid slums of Africa and Asia." The description is no

exaggeration. In a population of nearly ten thousand there was not a single vehicle, television or stick-built

home. Dwellings were constructed from garbage pulled from the landfill. Drinking water taken straight from

Lake Aracaibo was a serious source of disease. Prior to Unification aid, the only economic enterprises in

the area were subsistence gardening (mostly red beets and Andean lupins), foraging the small garbage

dump at the eastern end of the lake, petty crime (though what they could possibly steal from each other is a

mystery) and, most importantly, black market production of hemp for the local drug cartel. Our aid

personnel indicate that the locals worked Antonio Edwards' cannabis fields as virtual indentured servants,

which apparently explains his bloody crackdown eight years ago. Over a hundred were killed by Edwards'

paramilitaries before Security Complex stepped in. The loss of life was regrettable, but it did result in

greater Unification involvement. In the next two years, aid in the form of food, clothing, medicine, and

education amounted to over $2 million. There was even a minor program of technology insertion, putting

solar-powered microcomps in the hands of several hundred in order to narrow the emedia access gap.



Nevertheless, within two years anti-Unification resentment had reached a climax in the area, with the

people evidently holding the GU responsible for every problem. While this is nothing new in developing

areas that harbor unrealistic expectations of GU assistance, in this case it seemed particularly ungrateful

(pardon the unprofessional opinion). The atrocities committed by certain east Asian peacekeepers then

proved the tipping point in moving the Aracaibo community to secede. While the prospect of secession

seemed comical at first, their insistence eventually left us with little choice. In the end there was nothing left

to do but enact the embargo, as is customary with any area refusing Unification membership, and let events

take their course. Prior to our complete pullout we removed all aid materials that had been previously

committed, including a medical clinic, schools, and seed and hardware that had been brought in as part of

an agricultural startup program. GU aid buildings were disassembled or levelled, emedia and

communication access stopped (the only electricity to cut off was to GU facilities) and all Unification

equipment and vehicles moved out. The conditions inside must be equivalent to a refugee camp at best. At

worst (and considering the lack of outside aid, most likely) the conditions must be concentration camp.



I will contact you all again after the mission summit with a more complete analysis. You may reach me here

until then.



S.

Nov. 25, UY 14



TO: Consul, Administration Complex, Rome

Consul, Global Relations and Diplomacy, Beijing

Consul, Security Complex, Moscow

Consul, Economic Complex, New York

Consul, Developing Nations, Lagos

Consul, Media Complex, Los Angeles

Consul, Legal Complex, Washington

Consul, Education Complex, London

Consul, Human Services Complex, Mumbai

Consul, Science and Technology Complex, Tokyo

Consul, Health Complex, Geneva



RE: Mission Summit



We have concluded the mission summit here in Sao Paulo. Our insertion team is nearly confirmed and

prepared, and the information exchange was profitable. Some of you may not be privy to all of this so I will

share the most important pieces.



Our overall goal was an assessment of the conditions inside the Lake Aracaibo isolation colony, given the

lack of contact for seven years. Files from Developing Nations Office and from Administration/Diplomacy

were of value in this. Eyewitness reports from the last GU aid workers in the colony before the embargo

were of even more value. But again, let me start with the basics.



While the Lake Aracaibo embargo was enforced originally by simple military roadblocks, the risk of

smuggling eventually required an increasingly full-bodied isolation system. At first a single security fence

was added and then electrified. A year later, after it became clear that the isolation compound wasn't

capitulating, a second fence line was added about a kilometer beyond the first to prevent outside contact.

This too was energized. Eventually, after numerous escape attempts, motion sensors and proximity

detonating mines were laid and in the last year 36 Gladiator II armored ground drones have been inserted to

the security zone. This mission is in fact a bit of a test run for the AI of the new Gladiators and those

knowledgeable in the Security Complex seem pleased with their performance thus far. Unification Security

Compound 2473, or the Pig Pen as those knowledgeable in Security call it, is maintained by a permanent

military police detachment of 20 that supervises the site, services the drones and patrols the outside

perimeter. By the use of a small, dedicated security force and automated security systems the intelligence

footprint is kept light.



Although the embargo and isolation order on 2473 remains intact, we found from a handful of classified

reports that there were some limited exits from the colony, especially in the first few years. Initially,

residents of 2473 were allowed to leave under the condition that no return was possible. And for the first

year some seventy were allowed to leave the compound, after extensive questioning of course. The policy

was to encourage defections back to the Unification. In the interviews each would reveal little useful detail

about the internal workings of the community, but did speak at length about their desire to "spread the

gospel" outside. Eventually it was realized that these emigrants were really "missionaries" to use their own

terms, and that they had no interest in rejoining the global community for its own sake. The Administration

Complex decided that further emigration meet stricter criteria to prevent these missionaries from leaving. At

that point, a Unification Commitment Pledge was added to the exit requirements and all legitimate

emigration ceased immediately. Again, this is why I say that we are up against a dedicated religious cult,

perhaps more immovable than Wahhabi Islam or the Anarchists.





The colony's attempts to proselytize did not end there. There were two dozen unauthorized exit attempts.

Initially the escapees were simply caught, questioned and then returned to the compound through the

access gate. These gave the same basic answers as those earlier. But when the number of attempts

began to strain the containment system, the order was given to allow the use of lethal measures in stopping

embargo violations. While unfortunate, this policy is well within the limits of GU embargo law. The proximity

mines were then placed by automated minelayer and the outer security fence energized to a lethal current.

At that point eight escapees were killed. Their bodies were returned to the isolation colony and since then

only a handful of escape attempts have been made (also ending fatally). This is not to say that there have

been no emigrants from the colony at all. In the last five years sixty defectors have departed 2473 via the

access gate, and all have taken the Unification Pledge. These have given a far different assessment of

conditions inside than those previously. They describe an authoritarian, anti-technology regime obsessed

with religion and control, and a population made to live in stone age poverty by their masters.



In the past several years there have been stranger efforts by the colony to communicate with the outside. A

tunnel under the inner security fence was destroyed by proximity mines killing ten. As the soil column is

very shallow at the site there have been no further attempts to dig out. Five years ago the colony somehow

constructed a short-wave radio transmitter and broadcast unhindered for an estimated two weeks until the

Media Complex was alerted to their signal by a GU naval research aircraft off the coast of Chile. A local

jamming station was quickly set up at the Lake Aracaibo site and the signal scrambled. Since then, the

compound has even begun releasing small balloons carrying leaflets. Upon recovery it was determined

that the leaflets contain no specific information about the isolation colony, but are instead simple quotes

from the Judeo/Christian sacred documents with no further elaboration. The Security Complex's analysis of

their prose reveals no likely hidden message or code, so the whole thing should apparently be taken at face

value: the secessionist colony's attempt to "spread the Gospel" as the original emigrants all said. That

being the case, and that the range of the balloons appears to be no more than 10 kilometers, no effort has

been made to prevent them. It is worth noting that all of our actions so far have been completely legal and

defendable under Unification law. We have simply enforced Unification restrictions on religious broadcasts

of any type and on violations of GU embargos.



Now, about Hector Santiago. It is the opinion of Administration Complex and Security Complex that he was

the catalyst in the separatist mentality that developed at Lake Aracaibo, and may well be the leader of the

cult within. Santiago is a former political aspirant in Belaguayan socialist politics and now a "reformed"

religious minister. Dr. Santiago, as he should most accurately be called, is seventy eight years of age,

somewhat overweight with thinning gray hair. He was born in the state capital of San Rafael, the second of

two children (his older brother died in childhood). His father, Orlando Santiago, was a successful minister of

the state-run Christchurch in San Rafael during the last century. During the Red Glory revolutionary front

Orlando Santiago had to carry the party line on government and policy. Sophisticated and urbane, the elder

Mr. Santiago evidently held his own with these dangerous power brokers. As far as I can tell his ministry in

San Rafael was one of humanitarian work rather than traditional religious teaching. Indeed, he was

awarded a small number of national and international honors for his efforts in these causes. This, along

with his willingness to play politics must have been what kept him secure during that tumultuous time.



Orlando Santiago valued education and saw to it that his son received the best that could be had. During

his early years Santiago attended private academy in San Rafael and distinguished himself as a fine

student. For university he was sent to Oxford on a Rhodes Scholarship where he studied religion and

philosophy as an undergraduate. His graduate work in political science was done at Cambridge. It was

perhaps during this time that he formed the mission for the first half of his life. He became persuaded that

socialist politics in general, and globalist politics in particular, were the next logical courses for human

evolution. Possessed of both a religious ordination and a doctorate in political science he purposed to use

the two to reshape both his home nation of Belaguay and in a broader sense all of Latin America. About this

time his father Orlando passed away and Hector was immediately called to take his place at Christchurch in

San Rafael. He accepted the position and used it as a platform to advance his various political

philosophies. Because of his tacit support for socialist thought and radical politics, Santiago enjoyed the

blessing of the ruling Marxist front for some time.

In his late thirties, however, Santiago’s involvement in radical politics became more than philosophical in

nature. By now the revolution had begun to splinter into competing factions. Historians may well attribute

some of this to the collapse communism was undergoing worldwide at the time (or at least the collapse of

Belaguay's most important trading partner, the Soviet Union). As best we could determine, Santiago began

to become much more intimate and active with one of the camps in that struggle. Less of his time was spent

at Christchurch and more on direct political maneuvering in San Rafael and even elsewhere in South

America. The details here are sketchy, but I think I can offer a summary with some likely hunches: Santiago

had become ambitious in both his political vision and his own career. No longer seeing himself as a moral

agent in a public platform, he increasingly cast himself as a direct political player with power in his own right.

We have certainly seen this before. Throwing in his lot with a group that shared his vision, and that sought

him as a credible figurehead, he was suddenly no longer a harmless megaphone for the revolution. In the

end, and here Security Complex intelligence is specific, he crossed some very determined opponents. One

of these, True Revolution, arranged an assassination attempt that nearly succeeded. While at Christchurch

meeting with organizational leadership, they were raided by paramilitaries. Caught by surprise (there is

some speculation about a mole inside his organization) the strike was quick and complete. Ironically,

Santiago was the sole survivor, though in critical condition. He was treated for multiple gunshot wounds to

the torso and over the following week beat a 5 percent chance of survival. The next two years were spent in

intensive rehabilitation, eventually regaining his mobility and some of his former strength.



During his long convalescence Dr. Santiago immersed himself in literature. With his education this is no

surprise, but apparently his reading tastes had changed. Instead of political pieces he now pored over

theological works. This time is widely regarded as Santiago's "epiphany" in Belaguay. Since that time, he

has seemingly dedicated himself to more traditional Christian causes, splitting his time between social work

among Belaguay's poor and what he would probably call "preaching the gospel." His real motives may take

some time to discern, though we are well familiar with political aspirations taking on the mantle as a guise.



After recovering from his injuries, Dr. Santiago moved his ministry to the poorest regions of Western

Belaguay. His influence there was built on teaching and service for half a decade prior to GU intervention.

According to the aid workers who last served there, he consistently wielded his local political capital to

undercut reliance on the Unification and shift public allegiance to himself. And dedication to him in the Lake

Aracaibo area cannot be understated. While he was a failure in legitimate politics, it appears he has

arranged a fiefdom for himself among the poor there. In whatever course of action we take, we will most

likely have to reckon with his continued presence there.



After some deliberation and considerable input from knowledgeable operatives, a profile of anticipated

conditions inside 2473 has been constructed. To put it simply, it will be the most economically devastated

place on earth. Prior to the Embargo, the Lake Aracaibo area was already the poorest in the Western

Hemisphere. The only viable work was in the local drug lord's hemp fields; slum housing consisted mainly

of cardboard shacks and lean-to's of plastic sheeting and sticks; without GU food aid thousands would have

suffered malnutrition. The area has virtually no natural resources: the soil is too sandy for crops, the lake's

water is nearly undrinkable, there are only a few stands of trees remaining. The basic necessities of food,

shelter, drinkable water, clothing and medical supplies cannot be had. Further, the Lake Aracaibo area had

no technology or manufacturing capacities other than what it had gotten from the Unification in aid. After

our withdrawal, there is not even an automobile or a Coke machine inside the compound. The reports by

defectors regarding tool age living conditions are not metaphor. While these conditions will be useful

weapons for us politically, it must be desperate for those inside in a purely human sense. I take comfort

from the fact that once the political components of this situation are resolved (and the fruit of radical

independence exposed once and for all) we will be able to resume aid to the oppressed residents of this

wretched community. Seven years ago the population of Lake Aracaibo was estimated at eight thousand.

In the opinion of those knowledgeable it may stand today at three thousand.

Finally, our mission goals, as determined during the mission summit and confirmed by the Directorate, will

be as follows:



Prompt identification and interface with the governing authorities of the isolation compound. Negotiation of

terms for termination of secession and reentry to the Unification.



Initial assessment of the conditions inside the colony: living standards, cultural conditions and social

stability. Analysis of public morale and cultural forces with regard to government and the embargo. Look

for signs of exhaustion and opportunities for exploitation.



Determination of the efficacy of the embargo. Special attention to food supply, resources and infrastructure

(whatever that may be).



Perhaps most importantly, continual information and imagery acquisition for construction of a case against

the Lake Aracaibo secession (and by extension against independence) in world opinion.



It would be preferable to have more time in mission prep and team selection, but the continued chatter in the

separatist emedia seems to indicate a growing interest in the notion of isolated secessionist regions. The

talk of "freedom agents" searching for them is maybe more serious than we would like. If we had a little

more time, it would be preferable to have current satellite imagery of the Lake Aracaibo area. Our request

for satellite time was bumped for military surveillance of the civil war in Central America by Security

Complex. The most recent imagery we have is about five years old and shows some farmland, construction

and dirt roads.



Our time is short and we will have to improvise as we go. Our team is nearly assembled and final

equipment should arrive in the next 48 hours. Within 72 hours I anticipate that we will be in Belaguay. I will

contact you all prior to insertion. If you have any final instructions or concerns I may be contacted until that

time.



S.

Nov. 27, UY 14



TO: Consul, Administration Complex, Rome

Consul, Global Relations and Diplomacy, Beijing

Consul, Security Complex, Moscow



RE: Insertion



Our helifleet is loaded and ready, so our team is getting a little last-minute rest. The final briefing offered no

new information, but we are fully prepared for the mission.



In the morning we will approach the isolation colony by air from the south. I have opted against a land

approach through any nearby villages in order to minimize attention. Our flight path will be over mostly

uninhabited forest and highlands. Our plan is to fly directly into the colony and land in the most densely

populated area we can find. It would be helpful to have current satellite imagery of the colony, but there isn't

time to wait for it. We will make the decision ourselves from the air.



Communication out of the colony will be difficult. With the wide-spectrum white noise broadcaster we have

installed jamming all transmissions from the colony, I will use a combination of tight-beam transmissions

and even couriers outside to the security garrison. There may be some delay in my reports given the

temperamental nature of tight-beam relays.



We launch in 15 hours. I have arranged for an escort of two Dragon combat helicopters and a Special Ops

platoon. A clear show of force may serve us well in the opening moves here. I do not anticipate we will

need them after the initial insertion. And I have a carrot to go with the stick. I have requisitioned 10 tons of

rations, pharmaceuticals, clothing and hand filtration systems to distribute to whatever locals we

immediately encounter. A reminder of the basic benefits of Unification membership should not be lost on

the people who could most benefit from them, and who suffer most by their absence. If there is any real

dissatisfaction with the current state of affairs in the isolation colony then an obvious show of power coupled

with a suitable enticement for rejoining the Unification could well solve our problems at a single blow. As we

have seen before, cults of religion and charisma are dicey things. I just hope a food riot doesn't break out

like we've seen recently in Honduras.



I'm off to bed myself; the next few weeks will be demanding and sleep will be a commodity. If there are any

last minute communications from the Directorate, I will be up in seven hours.



S.

Nov. 28, UY 14



TO: Consul, Administration Complex, Rome

Consul, Global Relations and Diplomacy, Beijing

Consul, Security Complex, Moscow

Consul, Media Complex, Los Angeles

Consul, Science and Technology Complex, Tokyo



RE: Inside the Compound



We have been on the ground here in Lake Aracaibo for six hours, though the residents here refer to the

isolation colony as "Shiloh". Even in the brief time we have been here, what we have observed can only be

described as staggering. To call our initial assessment of conditions here mistaken would be an epic

understatement. To put it briefly, the residents here have somehow managed to create a miniature nation

with a government, culture, economy and technology all its own. We have only begun to examine what has

transpired, but instead of sand and squalor we have found a thriving, if low-tech, bubble society.



The events of the day:



0500 hours: Pre-launch preparations and final mission overview with team.



0700 hours: Our helifleet departs from Puerto Mirana Airbase in southern Columbia. ETA at Lake

Aracaibo approximately 0845 hours. We pass over rainforest in the western Amazon basin. A few remote

villages are visible below.



0839 hours: As we are in the dry season now, the weather is clear and sunny. Visibility is excellent.

Heading south in a looping arc we approach the eastern end of Lake Aracaibo. Below we can discern the

security base as well as lengthy vehicle barns and fueling stations. Both security perimeters also come into

view.



0846 hours: Our helifleet has passed into isolation airspace and the jamming system has rendered radio

communications inoperable. Below us the details of the colony become clearer. Astonishingly, we see a

quilt of farm fields, roads, hedges, canals and houses covering the land from the lakeshore to the security

perimeter. There are dozens of windmills scattered around the colony. Traffic is on the roads; pedestrians,

animal-driven wagons and what look like pedal carts. One of my staff notices a smoke plume and we close

to investigate. It is a truck-sized steam engine pulling a short train of cars on the highway!



0852 hours: As we cross the lake it becomes clear that its shape has changed. Dikes have been built out

into the lake, deepening it while opening more farmland. We can see that they have also constructed

artificial islands on the lake. Rather like the legendary Aztec floating gardens. The waters at the shore are

also clearer and less marshy. We see a number of watercraft: rowboats, canoes, fishermen with

long-handled dip nets. Some have small triangular sails and others are poled along. A long open-decked

vessel carries rows of casks and piles of sacks... a freighter! Another long oared boat we fly over suddenly

surges with passengers leaning out from beneath the deck awning to see our helifleet. This is clearly a ferry

heading to a town on the east shore of the lake. This will be our destination as well.



0900 hours: On my order we perform a double fly-over of the city. This allows us a close-up survey of the

town, and demonstrates our presence in the most public way possible. From this view some details

become clear immediately. Instead of the squatters and holes we originally anticipated there are paved

roads, whitewashed buildings three and four floors high, gardens, churches, and a small park with game

fields and band shell. Crowds of pedestrians and vehicles move about the streets in an orderly manner.

Near the lakeshore is what looks like an industrial area: beehive furnaces, smokestacks, pits, squat brick

buildings, ponds. At the adjacent docks, medieval style treadmill cranes lift crates and nets into sail barges.

We are getting quite a bit of attention from the crowds below.

0904 hours: At the beginning of our second pass, our lead chopper sights a low-flying aircraft off to our

right! My helicopter circles it to confirm, but the isolation colony has somehow devised a functional airship.

It is 20 meters long and slightly elongated with perhaps four people onboard. It operates on heated air as

we can make out burners in the suspended gondola. At this point my pilot notices another feature. There is

a thin line extending from the front of the airship to a smaller foil balloon and large parawing some 100

meters higher. Apparently this takes advantage of the added buoyancy and prevailing winds across the

lake for greater speed and lift. As we fly in for a closer view a scarfed pilot gives us a wave and thumbs up!

There is no longer any doubt. The isolation colony has done much, much better than we anticipated. Be

assured, we have not released any of the video imagery to Media Complex.



0907 hours: Our helifleet moves to the small open park near the center of the city. As we descend, the thin

crowd of walkers and kite-flyers scatters like mice (I'm sorry to admit that I'm not yet so veteran that I didn't

enjoy the sight). While one of our combat choppers maintains a hover at 100 meters, we take the cargo

helicopters down with mine in the lead. Once on the ground I send out a fire team to secure the area: a

clear defensive posture but certainly not aggressive. They meet with no resistance, though a crowd of

perhaps a hundred watch from a respectful distance. There is no sign of panic or disorder among them.

We begin to unload our ground vehicles and equipment, but on my orders we wait for the colony residents

to make the first move at contact.



0913 hours: I have dismissed our second escort helicopter. A few minutes later we are confronted by a

squad of four uniformed enforcers (police always have that look about them, no matter the culture). Our

troops move to intercept, but I order them to stand down while Commander Karscatov and I approach to

confer. They wear fatigues and soft wide-brimmed field hats of tie-dyed white and gray that gives a

camouflage effect. They also sport weapons; a bamboo staff, and slung on their backs what appears to be

a thick-barreled wooden gun! Though the thing is an oddity, it is clear that the colony has achieved a

significant level of alternative technology in spite of the embargo. On the other hand, the appearance of

these enforcers does seem to indicate a police state of some kind.



One of the guards greets us in Spanglish and mentions something about "more sick people", but he is cut

off by his commanding officer who identifies himself as "Sergeant Domingo of the Shiloh Police". He

demands that we identify ourselves. Commander Karscatov and I inform him of our identity as GU

representatives and our intentions to meet with the colony leadership. I must say that these "Shiloh" guards

seem competent, if slightly intimidated by our show of force. From the conversation, it seems that the

colony has taken on the identity of a nation, complete with name, laws and security apparatus. I look

forward to seeing for myself the nature of Shiloh.



According to the police officers, there is no continuously assembled governing authority for us to meet with

immediately. Apparently a body of "Judges" does meet periodically to decide various applications of their

law, but they are not currently in session. They inform us that they will advise their Captain of our presence,

and that communications will be sent to them. Evidently they hold disparate occupations and are scattered

around the colony, at least at the moment. Two of the police officers leave to send word and it looks like we

will have to wait it out.



0928 hours: With no word coming from the Shiloh authorities I have ordered the remaining marines to begin

setting up our modular command station and security perimeter. My support staff has also begun

unpacking the relief supplies and setting them up for distribution on the ground. Strangely, the locals seem

to show little interest in the food packs or other supplies. Instead, our troops are approached by a small

group of women. Commander Karscatov shoots me a look but has them stand down. They are then

presented with a berry pie. Though my whole staff laughs, Karscatov's question is genuine: who is giving to

whom?

1044 hours: From our position here at ground level I have been able to perform a cursory observation of the

surroundings and people. The first thing to grab my attention is a flag on a wooden pole at the end of the

commons. It is a national flag in size and look with a hand-stitched magenta cross on yellow field. A ring of

white letters encircles the cross spelling out "Psalms 33:12". The residents here evidently consider

themselves nothing less than a sovereign nation.



The park we have landed in is about half the size of a football pitch and in a natural depression a few meters

below street level. It is clearly a multi-purpose facility. It has a couple of small sport fields that are marked

in a way unfamiliar to me. The sides of the park are terraced with rough cut stone for simple seating and at

one end is a brick acoustic band shell. Stone tables, benches and roasting pits are clustered at the other

end. Near the tables is what appears to be a very large aeolian harp, some three meters tall and carved

from a single piece of oiled wood. A community art investment? The field is mostly pebbly sand, but the

park is lined with trees and wildflowers.



The part of the city I can see from here has nothing to do with the shacks and hovels of a decade ago. The

buildings are definitely mud brick, but are not the standard third world piles so common elsewhere. The

architecture has the classical lines of Spanish colonial adobe with smooth coats of mud plaster and

whitewash, and roofs of reed bundles or terra cotta tile. There is little ornamentation, but the feel is clean,

functional and straightforward. The buildings are narrow, two to four floors high, and linked in long rows.

With limited land the locals here have built up rather than out. Some have small balconies overlooking the

street, and boxes of potted plants are at every window. There are even lightable streetlamps on the curb

corners! The look is similar to photographs I have seen of city streets from the 19th and early 20th

centuries. The one missing piece is the trash so universal on the streets of developing countries. There

isn't a scrap anywhere.



The crowd watching us now numbers over a thousand. Some have brought bamboo and canvas lawn

chairs and gotten comfortable. Others carry white sunbrellas and hand-fans as it is becoming warm. They

show more curiosity than fear or hostility. At one point a shouting paperboy moves through the crowd!



I must say that their fashions show a decided effect due to isolation from the rest of the world. If I had to

choose an analogous time period it would be the 1800's. The men seem to go in for long-tailed,

high-collared shirts and loose trousers often rolled up to the knee. A few business-looking types sport ties!

Their garments have muted, natural colors. The women wear dresses, skirts, blouses and bodices of

sturdy linen that are Victorian in modesty. In the absence of synthetic elastics, zippers or velcro, everything

seems to be held together with laces. Footwear ranges from sandals and children's moccasins to

wooden-soled shoes and leather boots. Some wear lenseless leather goggles of stubby bamboo rings;

apparently an alternative to sunglasses for cutting down glare. Though the fashion is odd, it is functional

and neat. What is most striking about this is the fact that photos of the area a dozen years earlier show

mobs in classic Third World uniform: ragged dirty pants, cheap imported T-shirts, and filthy shoeless feet.

It's as if those earlier people were suddenly removed and replaced with a population from Europe two

hundred years earlier. It may be an enforced religious/cultural standard.



The overall effect is low tech, but far from impoverished. In the next week I will have my teams begin a more

detailed examination of Shiloh's economy, technology and infrastructure, but this initial survey

demonstrates that they have not only weathered the isolation, but have actually prospered. If so, we won't

be able to use poverty as a principle evidence against this separatist colony should it come down to that.

On the other hand I'm beginning to suspect we won't need it. It's becoming clear that religiously-motivated

oppression might well be the only evidence we'll need. The conditions here might well warrant direct

intervention by Security Complex if human rights deprivations are prevalent.



1203 hours: A reception group arrives and greets us on behalf of the "Republic of Shiloh". It is composed

of the Chief of Police, a few civil servant types and a Judge named Luis Ordonez. He introduces the group

and explains that because the Council of Judges (Shiloh's governing body, an oligarchy of seven) are not

assembled he must temporarily be their representative. When I inquire if he is the leader of the Judges he

informs me that Hector Santiago is. What else did we expect? According to Ordonez, the Judges are being

summoned by signal dispatch (no explanation of what that is) and that they should all be back in Aracaibo

Town by tomorrow. We may address them as a group then. He leaves the civil servants to see to our

needs and the group excuses itself.



Frankly, I'm not sure how to regard this reaction. My political instincts tell me it is a ploy by Santiago to

obtain a position of authority in our coming dealings. We've seen this kind of thing before from despots and

cult leaders; the party that dictates the schedule dictates the negotiations. Nevertheless, I think our

presence here is commanding by its very nature and mere posturing on Santiago's part will not negate the

spectacle of a half dozen heavy choppers descending on his capital.



On the other hand, this place is low in technology and it may well be that the Judges are not able to get here

immediately. And I must remark that my interactions with those here so far leaves me with an impression of

quirkiness that is difficult to describe. They exhibit an odd calmness that doesn't seem to match up with the

urgency of their position. I realize this kind observation is subjective, but in my opinion it is valid. I would

say that it is similar to the symptoms of systematic brainwashing, but there is a difference in quality.

Something about the eyes. I'll have my team socio-psychologist check it out.



1428 hours: It has gotten warm here on the Aracaibo commons, 30 Centigrade. My team has finished

set-up of the power generator and is now working on the command center and portable barracks. Most of

the crowd has left and there are less than a hundred diehards remaining to watch the activities. While we

take a fluids and rest break Karscatov tries the berry pie she was given and gives me a piece. Blackberry,

I think. Not bad.



When the portable barracks are complete I will let the staff and remaining marines take shifts inside for

air-conditioning. We haven't heard anything more from Shiloh leadership (burning documents, no doubt) so

at this point it looks as if we will just finish assembling the command station and sit tight until tomorrow.



S.



postscript: With the white noise broadcaster in operation and the tight beam transmitter still being calibrated

to satellite I had to physically take this communiqué out through the gate to the outside security facilities for

transmission. While we were there, we noted that the dedicated detachment there was actually Red

Mountain Global Security Corporate and not GU military police. While I'm sure you're aware of this I must

inquire why we were not informed about the change. I can readily guess that this is part of the cost-cutting

measures being implemented by Security Complex. At any rate, Karscatov remarked that their morale

seems low. I can imagine so, considering they have not had a personnel changeout in five years. Security

Complex might find it advisable to pass this information on to Red Mountain Corporate.

Nov. 28, UY 14



TO: Consul, Administration Complex, Rome

Consul, Security Complex, Moscow

Consul, Economic Complex, New York

Consul, Developing Nations, Lagos

Consul, Human Services Complex, Mumbai

Consul, Science and Technology Complex, Tokyo



RE: A Shiloh House



At this moment I am in a Shiloh home just over a hundred meters from the command station. At 1730 hours

a messenger from the Judges delivered a written invitation to a personal home that had been prepared for

me for the night. Considering the options, and despite Commander Karscatov's objections for personal

safety reasons (consummate soldier, that Karscatov) I accepted. With the command station nearly

assembled and without any other significant tasks this first night, Karscatov can take command. If we want

to gauge the condition of this isolated "state" then I can think of no better place to start than a standard

home. If in the process Santiago seeks to do away with me, then our dilemma about this tiny separatist

state will be solved.



My guide led me to a neighborhood of row houses. The streets here are paved: crushed stone in a dried

mud pack with narrow gutters that appear to feed curbside plantings of wildflowers. The streets are quite

narrow, like a medieval city, but remarkably clean. Houses here, according to Cortez my guide, are all built

from sun-dried brick with bamboo members for added structural strength. A lime-based whitewash protects

them from the elements. There are people on the streets near sunset, some walking, some riding those

bamboo pedal trikes, and kids playing a footbag game in the street as well. The mood is almost too serene.



And there are children everywhere here (I wonder if the colony has any population control policies at all).

After school got out hundreds of them in uniforms descended on our position in the park for a good look.

But after a half hour or so they headed home. We haven't seen the multitudinous "street rat" types here yet

at all. All the kids we've seen are clean, dressed, fed and act like they have parents that aren't pickpockets.



Cortez led me to a generic house in the middle of a block, handed me an odd wooden key and bid me

goodnight. I couldn't resist asking him about the need for locks in a "Christian" country. He replied, "Sin is

alive and well in Shiloh." Interesting. It took me a moment to figure out the lock, but when I got inside there

was already a light and dinner on the table. Bribery? We'll see.



First the meal. I will admit I was hungry so that may color my perceptions a bit, but we are interested in how

this refugee camp has been able to feed itself in spite of the embargo. Here was the first practical test.

There was a salad of beet and dandelion greens, herbs, diced pickled beets, a little sliced egg, fresh beans

and a light dressing of oil. The main dish was a coarse flatbread piled with a cooked mash of chopped

beets, beans, peppers, mushrooms and a potato-like tuber, crumbles of a strong cheese and a meat and

gravy of indeterminate variety. The flatbread served as an edible plate. There was also a cup of roasted

sunflower seeds and pine nuts, a cup of blackberry cordial and a small pot of herbal tea. There was even

dessert, a blackberry tart drizzled with honey. I devoured every bit of it, but like I said I hadn't eaten much all

day. To the main point though, we can deduce a few things about their food supply. First, unless the meal

is unusual (and it may be) they have no shortage of food. The meal I ate was solid. There were several

sources of protein, assorted vegetables, starches, a dairy in the mystery cheese and a fruit source in the

juice and pastry. And any culture that serves dessert cannot be in dire straits. They do seem to have only

a few crops: beets, beans and an unknown grain. Second, their sugars seem to be limited to naturals like

blackberries and honey. Third, they rely on nontraditional sources like beet and dandelion greens to

supplement their limited staples. This may have been the best they can offer, meant to impress me, but

then I haven't seen anyone exhibiting malnutrition signs here yet. And again, there was very little interest in

the supplies we offered at the command station. So until I have my team investigate their agricultural

system more closely, we will go on the assumption that "Shiloh" has solved its food problem, even if with

limited variety.



Now on to the house itself. I spent the remainder of the daylight hours examining it inside and out and my

initial impression is that, if this is a typical Shiloh house, the people here have done very well with the limited

resources they possess. It is small in ground floor area (only about 30 square meters) but by building

vertically and giving each room multiple uses they achieve a modest family home for the land area of a

garden shed. The bottom floor is the kitchen and dining area with a nook for a small washtub. The second

floor apparently doubles as a living room and bedroom. The top floor is a bedroom/study double. With

limited area for habitation and food supply this design makes sense.



The structure of the building is simple. Interior walls are few as each floor is essentially a single open room.

The ground floor is brick and the second and third story floors are bamboo tubes sewn to wooden beams.

The brick oven is in the center of the ground floor and its chimney forms the center support of the stairwell

through the middle of the building. Steep flights leading from ground to top seem awkward at first, but I

perceive more than one purpose. In the roof at the top of the stairwell is a trapdoor skylight, just below the

chimney. During warm days the stairwell moves cool air down by draft while on cold mornings it would also

act as a large central heating duct. Daylight also cascades down the stairwell, passively lighting the house.



The windows are tall and narrow (about 150 cm by 15 cm) and covered only by gauze screens. They are

likely kept narrow as a security measure in lieu of glass. The skylight has translucent panes of oil paper and

there is a stack of similar panes that can be slid into the window slots during cold weather.



Utilities are also passive. Obviously there is no electricity here, but there is apparently also no central water

or sewer service. In the garden behind the house is the water source: a massive ceramic cistern, about 2

meters in diameter, 2 meters high and sealed at the top. It is receives rainwater from the roof that is

channeled to it by a bamboo gutter and connected to a basin in the house by bamboo pipe. It must be able

to hold thousands of liters, and during the two month rainy seasons in spring and fall it probably fills all the

way to the top (which would incidentally give a nice water pressure inside the house). I estimate a capacity

of 4500 liters, which would last through four months of dry season at 35 liters per day. The latrine is a

portable ceramic urn fixed with a seat and gasketed sealing lid. It is kept in an outside vented room off the

back of the first floor. As best I can determine, it is dumped periodically through a stone hatch into a

covered trench sewer on the street front.



Without electricity, most of the lighting is passive through the windows and skylight. Still, there are candles

here and there and portable oil lamps as well.



In the kitchen is a small brick stove with removable tile doors and top plates. Bundles of dried stalks

standing in a corner near the oven are, presumably, the fuel. Though the brick walls here in the house

continue to radiate the day's heat after sundown, I assume that the oven can be used both for cooking and

heating. The brick walls must act as a moderator on the internal temperature of the home, retaining heat in

the evenings and keeping the house cool into the afternoon.



There is a small ceramic tub in a corner niche on the ground floor. The bamboo pipe from the outside

cistern enters from the wall above the tub. It drains by a tile sluice to the back of the house. Going outside

through a narrow back door, there is a small garden about the same size as the ground floor of the house.

Nearly all of it is planted with red beets, lupins, sunflowers and pots of nondescript herbs or wildflowers.

Walls of blackberry canes around the garden serve as fencing between the neighboring row house

gardens. There is also a basin to catch soapy waters from the tub drain (no doubt used as irrigation and

insecticide on the garden plants), a compost pile, a clothes drying line with wooden pins and a bamboo and

canvas lawn chair under an awning. Elevated in the center of the garden is an interesting device: a broad,

whitewashed reflecting stand. Centered in it is a dark glass bottle (6 liters or so) filled with hot water… a

passive solar heater. It is very much like the disposable kinds we distribute to impoverished African

villages, but without foil and certainly more rugged. The other gardens adjacent to this one have them as

well. They must be used for both water pasteurization and cooking. This would certainly conserve their fuel

supply, at least during the dry months.



As for furnishings, they are spartan in their simplicity and utility. Woven reed and occasional woolen rugs

cover the floors. Furniture is hand made from wood and bamboo with cord netting for support. Cloth

cushions are stuffed with a flax-like material or animal hair and the futon-like couches on the second floor

fold out into beds. Storage takes the form of covered wicker baskets, ceramic jars and cloth bags. A very

vocal song sparrow in a woven cage is apparently the Shiloh equivalent of an audio entertainment system.

The upper floor is a study with desk, lamps, bookshelves jammed with apparent theological works

(Augustine, Lewis, Da Silva, Spurgeon, Calvin, Ying) and some interesting wall hangings. There is a

charcoal silhouette of a person, a series of handwritten religious statements (presumably quotations from

the Judeo/Christian scriptures) and of most interest a fairly accurately hand-drawn world map. On it cities,

regions and nations are marked up with numbers and checks like a military plan. Is Shiloh planning an

invasion? Strange thing to find in a society which has so thoroughly turned away from the world community.

I hope to find out whose home this is.



Sizing up the house as a whole, it is simple and efficient. Nearly every modern convenience has some

low-tech approximation that operates passively or manually. What is notable is that there is not one piece

of metal in the whole building. The valves on the bamboo pipes are twistable leather hoses; the lock on the

front door is a simple set of gravity driven wooden pegs between the staple and the bamboo bolt; in place of

door hinges are smooth, rounded stone sockets; the plates and cookware are glazed pottery; wood is

fastened to wood by tightly wound cord or wooden pegs; interior doors and separators are fabric curtains;

the oil lamps are ceramic, the forks and spoons wood. There are three single-edged wooden knives in the

kitchen, all set with extremely sharp blue glass blades. Of course metals would be in short supply here, but

their resourcefulness in compensating for them is determined to say the least.



S.

Nov. 29, UY 14

TO: Consul, Administration Complex, Rome

Consul, Global Relations and Diplomacy, Beijing

Consul, Legal Complex, Washington



RE: Hector Santiago and the Council of Judges



This, our first full day in the isolation colony, has been productive. For most of the morning I have been in

meetings with Shiloh leadership (the residents here do indeed consider themselves a sovereign nation).

My team and I had the opportunity to assess the governing system of this little separatist camp, submit our

intentions to them and had some time personally interacting with Hector Santiago.



We began our meeting with the governing body, or Council of Judges as they call it, this morning at 0800.

Our meeting place was Santiago's church in downtown Aracaibo Town (the Da Silva Mission). It is an 18th

century Spanish compound, the oldest and largest structure in the area. As might be expected, it is also

their permanent building of government. In brief, the Judges are a religious oligarchy numbering seven.

The leader of the seven is the Speaker, and is currently Hector Santiago. What is surprising is that he has

only recently returned to the Judges Council. His last term ended three years ago. The outgoing Speaker

was apparently a shoe maker from the west side of the lake! When I asked Santiago why he declined to

meet yesterday, his cryptic answer was, "I was counseling a married couple. It couldn't wait." When I

pushed the matter further he apologized but added, "Marriage is more important than any government.

Even yours." My initial impression is that Dr. Santiago is patient and intelligent. If he turns out to be a tyrant,

he is at least no fool.



Now to the structure of their self-made government. We spent some time grilling them on this. By their own

evaluation the Judges are a Judicial and Executive body. They do not seem to make new law at all, but only

oversee their application and settle disputes about them. Written shortly after the colony's separation from

the Unification and subsequent isolation, their Charter details their entire legal system. Part community

covenant, part legal enumeration, it appears to be a simple moral code taken almost verbatim from the

Judeo/Christian scriptures. It is not a constitution in the traditional sense in that it doesn't allow for the

creation of new laws. This renders their system static and inflexible, but they seem to regard this as a

strength. But then religious fundamentalists always are resistant to change be it social, cultural or political.



The original Charter was inscribed on clay tablets (they were without paper in the first days of the

secession), signed by the leading men of the community, and then baked hard for permanence. They are

still prominently displayed under a weather cover on the street outside the Da Silva Mission. In this they are

a combination Jewish Ten Commandments and Roman Twelve Tables. The Judges insist they are

displayed publicly as a statement of the rights and responsibilities of Shiloh citizens. They didn't appreciate

my suggestion that they are a potential threat to religious non-compliers.



Their system does allow the Judges Council to make rulings on such nuts-and-bolts issues as property

rights, community projects and allocation of public funds as they are needed. We are informed that there

are no taxes per se, either corporate or private, but that there are duties imposed on the use of communally

owned natural resources. In practice this means that farmers granted land as part of Shiloh's homestead

act must pay a 3% fee on their net farm income in perpetuity. The same flat rate also applies to businesses

that harvest trees, mine rock or sand/clay, and take game or salt from the lake. This doesn't generate much

revenue, but according to Hector Santiago government only has one prime task: enforcement of the law.

He is quick to add that public works are also a legitimate role of government and points to Solomon's Israel

for precedent (as if they needed any). The colony's roads, docks, canals, water/sanitation systems and

public gardens are built and maintained with public funds, but a sizable fraction of it goes to police/fire

services and the minor expenses of operating a government office and court. The Judges themselves are

paid no salary, but do receive some compensation if their duties take them from their livelihoods. As a body

they only meet a half day once a week. Even the office of the Civil Authority is small; a half dozen clerks and

civil servants working out of a building the size of a small town city hall. Human services are entirely left to

the churches.



This does not mean that Shiloh is completely apolitical. Their Charter does lay out a system for the annual

selection of Judges. They are allowed to serve only one year terms that cannot be served consecutively.

We take this to be their attempt at internal checks and balances. Instead, each year's body of Judges

chooses a new seven to serve the following year and submits them to a multi-stage approval process to

ensure qualification. The emphasis during nomination and confirmation seems to be on moral qualifications

rather than any particular administrative skill set. This is reflected in the approval process. Candidates

chosen by the Judges must receive statements of affirmation from a series of ever widening social circles:

family and personal affiliations in a series of confidential interviews; members of their churches and local

communities by vote; and finally from a colony wide vote. Voters have yes/no vote opportunities, but cannot

bring candidates of their own choosing to the process. Successful candidates must demonstrate

confidence margins of at least three to one at every level to be awarded a seat with the Judges. Votes are

secret and results are not revealed until the end of the entire process. In the group's words, the process is

one of "prayer and reflection". They insist there is no campaigning or lobbying for position and that

candidates chosen for the Judges are generally reluctant. I realize this is political boilerplate, especially in

dictatorships. Still, the fact that Santiago hasn't held office of any kind for three years is not what we would

have expected. Perhaps he isn't the power broker we anticipated inside the colony. At any rate, he is the

Speaker for the Judges at this juncture and we'll proceed with that in mind.



We spent an hour submitting our intentions to the Judges; offers of Unification aid and development, plans

for readmittance to the Unification, and the beginnings of negotiations on concessions. To add a sense of

urgency (and some implied teeth) we also announced our plans to examine Shiloh for compliance with GU

mandates. In my opinion our initial gestures were competent and measured.



The reactions of the Judges, on the other hand, were absolutely inertial. Where our emphasis was on the

future of Unification relations with the colony, they kept returning to what they called "unresolved issues",

primarily the results of the trials of Antonio Edwards and the GU Peacekeepers. Though I assured them

that both had been dealt with by Legal Complex eight years ago, they would hear no more about

reestablishing relations until they had received an answer on the verdict and sentencing. According to

Santiago himself, "Justice is the first purpose of government, and if the Unification cannot demonstrate itself

in this, then we can trust it for nothing else." This terse statement served as the conclusion of negotiations

for the day. If Legal Complex can send me the status of Edwards and the Peacekeepers as soon as

possible, I will pass it on to the Judges Council.



Nevertheless, at my request Dr. Santiago did agree to meet with me privately for a short time afterward. I

questioned him on a number of points such as how Shiloh has been able to survive in the absence of

outside aid or trade; the peoples' rights and freedoms; why so few have been allowed to leave Shiloh; and a

chronology of events since the secession. Invariably, when asked for details about their apparent

successes, his reply was "The Lord has provided," or "We trust and He works," and the like. He must have

anticipated my questions because when I pressed him on the topic, he smiled and presented me with a

thick pack of papers; personal journals, newspaper pamphlets, government minutes, city records. In short,

the low-tech record of Shiloh's history. There were even a few sermon texts that I suspect were thrown in

for my benefit. I have begun working through the material and will give you an analysis within a few days.



Dr. Santiago has also agreed to cooperate with our diplomatic and investigative effort by making himself

available for tours and interviews as needed, or at least in end-of-day debriefings on our findings. Though

we will be wary of any attempts by him to influence our work, particularly in interactions with the residents

here, his presence may well speed up the process. And I can't help the feeling that Santiago himself is the

center of mass of this entire secession. If I can find a crack in the man, the whole edifice may come down.

He will not be a pushover, but I will do what I can in the course of my work with him.



S.

Nov. 30, UY 14



TO: Consul, Administration Complex, Rome

Consul, Global Relations and Diplomacy, Beijing

Consul, Security Complex, Moscow

Consul, Economic Complex, New York

Consul, Developing Nations, Lagos

Consul, Media Complex, Los Angeles

Consul, Human Services Complex, Mumbai

Consul, Science and Technology Complex, Tokyo



RE: Tour of Shiloh



This afternoon my team leaders and I were given a tour of the interior of the isolation colony by three Shiloh

representatives, including Hector Santiago. I agreed to travel by their bamboo trikes in order to minimize

attention from the locals, and we were given complete latitude in direction during the tour. We were gone

over six hours, enabling me to assemble a good cursory profile.



The Republic of Shiloh has a current population of just over ten thousand. We get this number from

the Judges Council itself. They say they completed a census just two months ago and that the

figure is reliable. If this is true, the population here has grown by almost 30% since the embargo. I spoke

briefly with Santiago about this and questioned him on whether they had any provisions for population

control given their near lifeboat situation. His answer, predictably religious in nature, seemed to indicate

that they welcomed, even encouraged population growth. Vague references to "arrow quivers", "population

the glory of a nation" and "loaves and fishes" were tossed liberally. He indicated, in a rather resentful tone,

that perhaps the Unification would rather resort to "more clinical means" to keep the "masses" from

overpopulating. Typically fundamentalist opining.



We were given an accurate map of the colony that aided our tour considerably. There are two

"large" towns in Shiloh, Aracaibo Town on the eastern end of the lake and Shiloh City at the

western shore. Each of these have populations of about 2500 and together make up half the

total population. These are the centers of industry, such as it is, and traffic between them on the

roads and lake is the heaviest. The towns themselves are very compact, each less than a half-kilometer

wide and the city layout is planned in a rectangular grid pattern. The ground floor of some of these houses

are businesses and workshops; weaving, woodcarving, pottery, sewing, bakeries. Zoning between

residential and commercial is clearly loose.



TRANSPORTATION: Given the small size of the colony, foot traffic is standard. It only takes four hours or

so to walk the compound from east to west. Still, the central location of the lake makes it a bit of an obstacle

so the locals have devised vehicles. First let me describe the trikes. Their frame is pine and bamboo

members lashed together in a reclining, reversed-tricycle design. The front two wheels provide stability and

drive, while the rear wheel is for steering. The drive chain is a tough rope net fitted over toothed drums at

the pedals and front wheels. The thin wheel rims are rope-bound presumably for strength. The rope is then

wrapped with glued layers of canvas to protect and soften as a sort of tire. There isn't a scrap of metal on

the whole thing and it can do 15 kph on paved roads. Because the frame is flexible wood members lashed

together with cord, the whole body acts as a spring. The ride is surprisingly smooth. The thing is tool age,

but it works... there are hundreds of them on the roads dressed up in a spectrum of pennants, awnings and

tassels.



Equally ubiquitous are light two wheeled carts which are pulled by everything from teams of dogs to llamas

to people. On the streets and roads we have observed them carrying farm produce, scrap fuel and

household goods to families on the way to church. Interestingly, the dogs are all German Shepherd Dogs

(GSD’s). They appear to be a used as draft animals as much as the llamas.

The heavy tractor vehicle we saw is one of two in the colony. They are used as de-facto locomotives pulling

lines up to four wagons long. This prevents them from making tight turns, so they are confined to the

highway that encircles Shiloh. The paved inner lane of that highway is in effect the "track" where they

always retain right-of-way. There are elevated depot stations at frequent intervals on the highway for

loading passengers and cargo. In the mornings and evenings they act as passenger trains moving workers,

while through the day they haul freight. Structurally, these "chug-chugs" as they are called are composed of

a frame of heavy wooden beams enclosing a steam engine. Like the trikes, they have three wheel

assemblies: two large front wheels bound with rope-tires and a narrow double-wheel assembly in the rear

for control. The steering is manual; a simple system of levers and ropes, as are the brakes. Brake

operators, who double as cargo loaders on each wagon, apply them on a signal whistle from the engine



We visited the docks here in Aracaibo Town to examine their sail-barges. They are long, narrow and

keel-less, using moveable lee boards to maintain stability. Their draft is less than 30 centimeters which

allows them to move on the lake and canals deep into the dry season. In the absence of a keel the frame is

strengthened with a bow-to-stern rope hawser and the hull planks are "sewn" on with tar soaked cord. Their

large oar-type rudders and triangular sails allow them to tack against the wind and they are not difficult to

row or pole in the absence of it. The short mast can also be laid down when passing beneath canal bridges

and their anchors are simple rope and stone affairs. During the driest months when water levels are very

low on the shores and canals they are superseded by road traffic, but these vessels are the backbone of

transportation in the colony.



INFRASTRUCTURE: The encircling highway and town streets are paved with layers of rubble, sand,

crushed rock and a fixative slurry of mud. They are hand-built but we have found them to be mostly level,

hard and smooth. Roads in the country are not as developed, but at least have a layer of sand or crushed

rock to provide traction during the rainy season. Where roads cross canals or irrigation ditches, small wood

or stone bridges have been constructed. Painted yellow signs control traffic on the outer roads while police

direct traffic at the busy town intersections. Though low tech, the degree of order and infrastructure we see

is astonishing. I still find it difficult to believe that I am writing these things about an isolation compound.



As I noted earlier, drinkable water supply appears to be a function of rainwater collection. Nevertheless the

two major towns have a crude system that brings lake water by clay piping to community wells in each

neighborhood. While not drinkable, this water is used for toiletries, bathing and washing. Sewage, on the

other hand, is deposited each day into slab-covered, stone-lined trenches via sealed hatches. During the

rainy seasons runoff from the streets flushes out these trench sewers to composting pits and drainage

fields.



Community life is surprisingly lively. In the evening there are clusters of people on the houses' street fronts

engaged in a variety of activities; barbecuing over earthenware firepots, laughing and singing in groups,

sketching on pads, reading, people-watching from chairs. Row house café’s spill out onto the street fronts

with diners and live music. Certainly a more vibrant community life than would be expected from a cult or

dictatorship. And surprisingly, we have seen none of the images of leaders here that are so omnipresent in

other totalitarian states. No Santiago, no anybody. There are colorful banners and hand-carved wooden

signs on businesses and restaurants, and even a few candle-lit blue glass globes in the evening, but no real

pictures or posters anywhere. I've been in every developing region in the world and even in the poorest

there are always beer, soft drink or athletic shoe billboards. Here, nothing. It's going to take a while to get

used to.



For dinner Santiago directed us to a street front restaurant named “Manny’s”. Inside, the place had an

atmosphere somewhere between a English pub and a taco stand. Candlelit ceiling lamps illuminated

raucous tables of diners and game players blowing off steam after work. Hand-made foosball tables were

getting quite a bit of attention, as were the “skittles” tables; rather like old fashioned American pinball

machines that use cord-pulled tops and tiny knockdown pins. A gaming café inside an isolation compound?

Santiago found us a table and ordered a platter of fried crayfish, locusts (!) and snails with a side of biscuits

and herbed sauce. We knocked it down with a small bottle of blackberry wine (which was somehow

cooled). It’s worth noting that when I ordered a second, our waiter politely declined. Santiago explained

that Shiloh customs allow only one drink per customer at a public place. I also noticed there was no

wagering going on at the game tables. More evidence of theocratic moral codes. Still, the fact that a place

like this even exists here is unbelievable. I have been in notable restaurants in Chicago, Paris and Seoul

that had inferior food and atmosphere. No doubt this was Santiago’s point in bringing us here. During

dinner my team and I tried to work Santiago and his men for information, but they refused. “No talking shop

after work,” Santiago laughed. Instead they peppered us with questions about our personal lives and

families. I was even forced to play a round of skittles with the police chief. It was impossible.



Eventually, though, we did leave and visited a large market in Aracaibo Town. It takes up a gated dead-end

street and is covered by a canvas tent roof suspended between the buildings on both sides. Even in early

evening, just prior to closing, there were still well over a hundred milling around inside. On the tables and

benches were a variety of products completely original to Shiloh: rugs and blankets of llama wool; wicker

baskets and furniture; boiled oil & lye soap; homemade cosmetics; linen garments; wood and bamboo

furniture; hand-crafted toys; beeswax and tallow candles; clay crockery; stone hand tools; glass blades;

simple jewelry; hand carved wooden articles; leather shoes and gloves; handmade musical instruments;

bolts of cloth and paper; stacks of dried sunflower stalks; urns of oil; glass bottles; piles of brick, stone,

bamboo and lumber; and racked pans of food. None of these things existed here prior to our withdrawal.



Called simply the Shiloh Market, the place is privately owned and seems to be the sole retail

institution in the colony's economy (though we are told that there is a smaller competing market in Shiloh

City now as well). Apparently it was founded by the residents of the row houses that surround it and who

still operate it today. The business caters to both buyers and sellers and is apparently an elaborate

bartering center (independent barter remains a mainstay of commerce in the colony even now). Customers

can bring anything of value and either sell it directly to the Market or place it on consignment there for a

markup. This is how the small cottage businesses market their wares. In return for their goods, sellers are

given credits for other items in the Market. In this way, wholesale supply and retail distribution are all

handled directly by the private customer. Abacus-armed clerks keep track of the transactions in ledgers

and each customer has an account with a specific value in credits. They even have a circulation of paper

certificates that are often exchanged outside of the Market between individuals; the closest thing to a

currency that Shiloh has. The yellow paper bills show a variety of images: sunflowers, the GSD’s, llamas,

the nation's flag insignia and a Spanish monk from the colonial period.



This is nearly the entirety of Shiloh's rudimentary financial system, though I should mention that the Market

also acts as a sort of bank. It offers loans to qualifying private parties with the principal amounting to credit

in the Market. Shiloh law forbids interest greater than 7% or repayment terms longer than seven years,

however. This effectively limits all credit to simple interest. Compound interest just doesn't exist.



Outside the big towns, farmland takes up nearly all the remaining space. Right now the fields are

carpeted in growing sunflowers. Scattered among the fields are dozens of small villages, clusters of farm

homes wedged together at the mutual ends of their plots. These serve as communities that share irrigation

ditches, agricultural equipment, grinding mills and physical help as needed. Rather like the Israeli

kibbutzim. They have their own home churches, postal boxes, village names and go so far as maintaining

sporting rivalries with one another.



The security perimeter is a constant presence. With the compound so narrow, a large portion of the colony

is within sighting distance of the 4 meter electric fence. As farms predominantly abut the perimeter, most

have set up hedges and woven fences inside it to prevent animals (and people) from coming into contact.

Some farmers have mentioned that they don't like the scrutiny they feel from the drones, and prefer the

privacy of an inner fence line.



The overall sense inside the colony is definitely compact, but not swarming. Tokyo, Singapore and

New York are far more densely populated than Aracaibo Town or Shiloh City. One detail that does highlight

the precious nature of land area, however, is that there is no cemetery in the colony… the deceased are

either buried sans coffin in their home gardens or are laid to rest in the lakebed.



Tomorrow we will begin a series of surveys and interviews within the general population. Santiago and the

Judges say they invite the opportunity. We'll be going to the Market, factories and businesses, the streets,

park, waterfront and individual homes. The psych team we assembled will not be easy to deceive. If there

is any systematic indoctrination or intimidation, they'll find it.



Meanwhile we will turn our attention to a detailed examination of Shiloh itself and the mechanisms that have

enabled it to survive the isolation and embargo order.



I await that information from Legal Complex.



S.



post-script: This morning I was able to sit in on a meeting of the Judges Council. It was short, less than an

hour, but it did afford me a brief glimpse into the practical workings of their system. The substance of the

convening was small-claims disputes between Shiloh residents. The bulk of it was non-descript decisions

from the Judges that would have been identical in the Unification. One of the cases, however, was between

a pair of brothers trying to divide their father’s livestock (a small herd of llamas) after his recent passing.

Their tone was increasingly hostile as there seemed no way to divide the animals that was satisfactory to

both of them. Finally Dr. Santiago “rendered” his judgment. The older brother would divide the animals any

way he saw fit, and the younger brother would get first choice of the two herds. I had to stifle a laugh… the

case was closed. Afterwards, when I conferred with him on the decision I complimented him on his

shrewdness, and he made an odd remark about the shrewdness of snakes. And he added, “how blessed it

is when brothers dwell in unity.” No doubt the vague religious statements are just getting started.

Dec. 1, UY 14



TO: Consul, Administration Complex, Rome

Consul, Global Relations and Diplomacy, Beijing

Consul, Security Complex, Moscow

Consul, Legal Complex, Washington



RE: Shiloh Security



Karscatov and her team spent yesterday examining the security apparatus here. While we would have

accepted nothing less, the Judges Council granted us unlimited access to their people, facilities and

records for this purpose. They act, of course, as if they have nothing to hide. Nevertheless, I instructed

Karscatov to inspect where they have not led and question whom they have not introduced. While it

represents only a day's inspection, her work was exemplary and I present it here in summarized form.



The short analysis is that "Shiloh" does indeed have a robust security apparatus that answers directly to the

Council of Judges. It includes a rather severe legal code, an armed police force, a prison, an inner-inner

control perimeter preventing exit through our access gate, and even a navy of sorts. In my debrief with

Santiago this evening I questioned him about his ominously armed government. His quick reply was that

the primary role of government is the suppression and punishment of "evildoers". He didn't seem defensive

at all.



We've encountered the police force already at our landing. It is composed of fifty uniformed personnel with

a simple three-level organization hierarchy: captains, sergeants and duty officers all sharing patrol and

office work equally. There are also a dozen in Lake Patrol that I will describe later. The Shiloh police have

law enforcement jurisdiction over the entire isolation colony and maintain offices in both Aracaibo Town and

Shiloh City. Patrolling by foot and trike, they are a regular presence on the roads. While authorized to use

force, they report that their mandate requires them to use non-lethal means. This may seem suspect but an

examination of their weaponry appears to bear this out. They appear most like British Bobbies of the 20th

century, carrying a weapon that Karscatov calls a fustibal. It is a bamboo rod topped with a cord sling,

capable of being used as either a staff or missile weapon. The slugs they use for such are leather wrapped

stones meant for stunning rather than killing. During her visit to the police headquarters in Aracaibo Town,

Commander Karscatov witnessed a squad going through a rigorous PT regimen on the front lawn. After a

considerable number of pushups and sit-ups, the garrison practiced unarmed combat. Their method was

unfamiliar to her, a mix of wrestling, throws, blocks and submission holds that they call Benaiah. After a

short sparring session with one of their officers, she noted that it was surprisingly formidable and polished

for a homemade fighting technique.



Along with their enforcement duties, the police also serve as paramedics and front-line firefighters as well,

in a somewhat combined civic protection role. Both police stations house a water wagon with hand-pumped

hoses and a sand wagon with buckets for on-site volunteers. Both can be towed by a team of llamas as

needed. They also carry a small pack of first aid supplies on their belt. If this is a totalitarian police force,

they seem to be a rather non-violent lot. And this is what they maintain themselves. After the colony's

experiences with Edwards' drug militia and the disastrous encounter with our Peacekeepers years ago,

they apparently have little interest in deadly force of any kind. There was some mention of the "sacredness

of human life" and such. So, in terms of law enforcement, these non-lethal means have become their

compromise solution.



The police maintain two patrol vessels on Lake Aracaibo! They are nine meter, triangular-sailed

catamarans, the Michael and the Gabriel. Easily the fastest craft on the lake, they share the duties of lake

patrol and guarding the island prison (more on that later) but primarily respond to water safety emergencies.

Each ship is armed with what I can only describe as a medieval ballista between its bows. These are

constructions of wood, rope and thick torsion springs of coiled animal tendon that can hurl a missile and line

over 100 meters. Harpoons vary as needed: a flotation device of inflated animal bladders on a pole, or a

heavy wooden grappler for capturing law-breaking watercraft.



Now about their security structures. While the dual GU security perimeter prohibits general entry or exit, the

access gate has always been open to defectors from the colony. We have come to find out that Shiloh has

erected an internal gate of its own some 30 meters inside the GU gate. It is a palisade arrangement of

vertically placed and sharpened bamboo poles lined by dense thorn hedges. It is constantly manned by a

squad of four armed police. When Karscatov grilled them about the purpose of the structure, they insisted

it was not for preventing voluntary emigration, but to stop escaping criminals. They maintain that a number

of violent offenders escaped justice by fleeing there in the early months of the embargo. Whether this is

true may be difficult to determine, but if I recall correctly there have been exits from the colony even in the

last eighteen months. It would be difficult to imagine them getting past this low-tech but formidable barrier if

they were illegal defectors. It is curious that our permanent security detail at the main gate made no report

of this structure previously.



The island prison I mentioned is built on a quarter hectare rocky island in the central and widest part of the

lake. It is known simply as The Castle. Composed of brick walls, towers, and stone blockhouses the name

is a good visual description of the structure. At night, burning tar-pots on the towers and shore double as

security lighting and navigation lamps for twilight boat traffic. If a police state exists in this isolation colony,

the proof of it would be here. Karscatov shrewdly demanded access. In the course of her examination

(which went well into the evening) she inspected the courtyard, guard facilities, prison cells, living

conditions, schedule and records. She spoke with both guards and prisoners. Let me relay her findings in

detail.



There are currently nineteen prisoners in The Castle serving time for violent crime: all of them various forms

of assault. Their sentences are severe indeed: sentences range from five to forty years, depending on the

extent of injury to the victim. Rape convicts' sentences are even more radical: life. But the lifetime of the

victim. The logic here, according to the prison authorities, is that as long as a rape victim suffers with the

consequences of a crime, the criminal must suffer as well. Unorthodox to say the least.



Notable was the absence of both petty criminals and murderer convicts. The simplistic Shiloh legal code

breaks crime down into three major categories; property, violent offenses and murder. Restitution is the

sentence for property crimes (including negligent damage) with the offender paying back the victim four

times the value of the loss. If full payment cannot be made at the time of the sentencing then a very

demanding payment plan is worked out that will deprive the convict of partial income until restitution is

complete. There are a couple of noteworthy distinctions in this legal model. First, the underlying philosophy

of law is that crimes are committed against individuals, rather than the state. This starting premise makes

available restitution as a legal recourse. The staff Karscatov spoke with insisted that this was why their

prison was so small. Victims can, of course, decline to press charges on minor offenses, and can negotiate

monetary restitution in some violent crime. This keeps minor altercations from becoming producing prison

sentences. Second, there are no civil lawsuits. Criminal trials for restitution are instead pursued for matters

of negligence or breach of contract.



Now about the murderers. The reason there were none in the prison is that Shiloh gives the death penalty

for all murder convictions (not including manslaughter, of course). Karscatov spent quite a bit of time

questioning the prison staff on this point and they reported that it has only been used a handful of times.

Even if this is true, it seems strange that a religious community so committed to the "sacredness of life" that

their police use non-lethal weapons would also wield capital punishment. I brought up this seeming

inconsistency with Santiago tonight and his reply was that while God had given them no responsibility to

protect themselves, he had given them one to do justice. Nevertheless he maintained that death should

always be a reluctant last measure and one taken with "awe and solemnity". He was adamant, however,

that the only just consequence for taking a life was losing a life. He then went on to back up his position

ad-nauseum with references to the Judeo-Christian scriptures. I will have to spend more time with him on

this point for clarification. An active death penalty would represent a serious breach of Global Unification

law and may constitute grounds for direct intervention on our behalf. From what I have seen, this might be

our best opportunity for such so far.





The island prison itself does not present us with any significant human rights issues for the purposes of

intervention. The cells are clean and larger than those in some maximum-security GU reconditioning

facilities. They are rather like prison cells from the ancient world: a high narrow outside window, a heavy

wooden door and exterior bolt with wooden lock pegs. A couple of the cells are deep pits for holding

dangerous convicts or solitary confinement types. The prisoners do wear a literal "ball and chain", a stone

ball on a short bamboo-encased rope. This is to discourage "swimming" and physical assaults on guards. I

don't think there would be much utility in this as a human rights issue. The guards in the courtyard carry

staff slings and their odd wooden guns while those in the four towers wield heavy crossbows loaded with

"stun slugs" (leather wrapped wooden balls). The prisoners told Karscatov that a hit from one will "bust ribs"

and "lay you out for days". Their version of sniper rifles?



The prisoners get three adequate (though bland) meals a day, which is necessary considering their

demanding work regimen. The convicts work a variety of jobs including growing their own food in the prison

garden, mud brick and mortar making, and construction on the prison site itself. Crews are regularly taken

to the sandstone mine onshore where they assist in heavy labor. They are not allowed to use tools of any

kind for security reasons, so stones are shaped by simple and repeated pounding with other stones.

Karscatov described the work as exhausting. Convicts are entitled to a few half-hour rest periods in the

courtyard each day, and are required to attend daily religious instruction classes as well. They regularly

receive visits from "charity workers" who will read or sing for them, and bring small gifts at Christmas.

Evidently even the Judges visit from time to time. Karscatov describes the attitude of most (not all) of the

convicts as surprisingly honest and cooperative. She remarks that there were a number of religious

"enthusiasts" in the group who by their own words had gone through a "conversion" inside the prison and

were eager to tell about it. These led the other men in singing during work and praying loudly throughout

the day. Seeing that these had apparently conformed to the religious expectations of Shiloh culture,

Karscatov asked the prison staff why they had not been released. Their terse answer was that they had not

yet completed their sentences. The concept of punishment is instructive here, because that is primarily

what Shiloh law presents as their corrective system. While they of course indoctrinate their prisoners with

religion and force a rigorous "work ethic" on them, Shiloh leadership sees justice in the form of punishment

as their first duty. "Blows for the backs of fools," says Santiago. Perhaps the smiling religious veneer is

beginning to come off.



Now to the most important point for our purposes. There were a minority of prisoners (nine) that

complained to Karscatov about their conditions and the injustice of their incarceration. These uniformly

stated that they had been imprisoned for philosophical and political reasons and not for real crimes. They

insisted that they had merely failed to conform to Shiloh religious codes of conduct and had been silenced

by the Judges Council (in this they echoed the statements of most of the previous defectors). In fact,

several appealed to Karscatov for GU intervention to free them from prison. When she checked with the

staff about these claims she was shown each of their convictions and sentences from the prison files.

Without exception they were violent criminals. Some even had their sentences extended for further

assaults while in prison.



This leaves us with a decision to make. It may well be that Shiloh does send internal dissidents to The

Castle, and if so it could well provide all the evidence we need to directly intervene, or at least demonstrate

the entire isolation colony as a cultish oligarchy. I spoke with Commander Karscatov about the matter at

length yesterday and her impressions of both sides. In her opinion, given her career experience in dealing

with the violently criminal, she leans toward these "dissidents" as being real felons. She points to their

personal bearing and body language, their emotional tone and their interactions with the other prisoners

and guards. As a lot they also showed characteristic signs of deception in their answers. Further, she

points out that several of these were nearing the end of their prison terms and were scheduled to be

released within the next year. Why would Shiloh leadership release subversives back into society if they

had not been successfully brainwashed? And why wouldn't they simply be executed instead of imprisoned

in the first place? Or perhaps "unfortunately killed" in a drowning or construction accident at the prison? On

the other hand, Karscatov was impressed with the professionalism of the prison staff and police she

interacted with, even if their philosophies were hopelessly religious and outdated.



What we will do with this opportunity, if it really is one, I will leave with the Directorate. I will continue to

supply you with information as it comes in.



S.



postscript: Today when I informed the Judges Council about the legal actions taken against both Antonio

Edwards and GU Peacekeepers, they were angry but not surprised. They clearly were not satisfied with a

dishonorable discharge on the part of the Asian peacekeepers. I decided not to mention the political

delicacies of their nation's disposition toward the Unification. There is no way they would understand. And

as far as Edwards' still pending trial, they almost laughed. When they pressed me about his current living

conditions I only admitted that he was in a minimum security facility. They didn't seem to need me to

describe it. This is clearly going to hurt us again.



post-postscript: I feel compelled to report something Commander Karscatov informally noted while visiting

the police station today. In the course of meeting with police leadership, one of the officers she briefly

spoke with seemed vaguely familiar to her. While she said nothing of it at the time, after further

consideration she reported to me that he bore a significant resemblance to Carlos Garribe. While

Karscatov admits that many of the man's features were different (facial hair, extra weight, etc.) she thought

that the eyes and nose in particular were a close match. While the likelihood that the man is Garribe (in this

isolation compound of all places) is infinitesimal, let me assure Security Complex that we made no efforts at

further observation or contact. Even Karscatov urged no intervention for safety purposes, as a precaution

against the tiny chance that he may have somehow made his way into the colony. But this does bring up an

issue none of us considered: with the isolation order in effect, Lake Aracaibo has become a bubble isolated

from GU Security and Law. If a terrorist, assassin and mercenary with a resume' like Garribe's wanted to

evade GU enforcers, there would be no place on the planet safer than here. When the embargo and

isolation order are finally lifted, it may be prudent to have a high security team on hand for verification of the

man's identity, as a mere precaution at least. At any rate, we will be careful. If it is Garribe, we all know how

dangerous that would be.

Dec. 3, UY 14



TO: Consul, Administration Complex, Rome

Consul, Global Relations and Diplomacy, Beijing

Consul, Security Complex, Moscow

Consul, Economic Complex, New York

Consul, Developing Nations, Lagos

Consul, Media Complex, Los Angeles

Consul, Human Services Complex, Mumbai



RE: Shiloh's Recent History



I have finished studying the stack of background documents given to me by Santiago and let me report that

it has been revealing. They go back to his arrival at the Lake Aracaibo slum and record the events leading

up to the secession, and after. It might be questioned how legitimate these documents are, but I lean

toward their authenticity. There was simply not enough time for them to be fabricated after our arrival, and

if they are merely accumulated internal Shiloh propaganda they seem to accurately explain the

circumstances we have seen so far. So what follows is a condensate of that record, sticking to the details

germane to our purposes.



According to his own journal entries (which are shot through with continuous religious verbage) when he

arrived in the Lake Aracaibo area over ten years ago, the "community" was a crime riddled slum. He makes

note of the power held by Antonio Edwards and the slave-plantation like conditions of his hemp fields.

Nevertheless, instead of a high profile confrontation with Edwards, Santiago takes the position of Rector at

the ancient and crumbling Da Silva mission in Aracaibo Town. Until that point the church had been led by a

World Faith Council appointee, Luis Jimenez. Upon Jimenez' resignation, Santiago applied for the position.

Being something of a celebrity in Belaguay, and a man who had spectacularly cheated death, the locals

jumped on the offer. The WFC saw no problem (perhaps they should have looked more closely) so the

assignment was cleared with no further recommendation.



Dr. Santiago then begins, for lack of a better phrase, a personal war to undercut the authority of Edwards

and the Unification and solidify his own position in the community. He does this through a two pronged

strategy. Gone is his meddling directly in political affairs. Instead he concentrates on public service;

feeding, housing, and medical care, as well as a very aggressive public platform of preaching. In the case

of the former, using a combination of his own considerable personal wealth and donations from

underground outside sources, he sets up a clinic in Aracaibo Town. Soon it is seeing more patients than the

GU medical center. He also begins a twice daily soup line, which he personally serves on, and opens the

mission to homeless children and single mothers. Within a few weeks it is sleeping 500 at night. He also

directs his personal salary and operating budget to unemployed men for work on repairing the mission. His

goals here are deliberate and tactical; to move the poor in the area from dependence on Edwards and the

Unification, to dependence (or at least loyalty) to the church and himself. And he gets a better facility as a

platform for his agenda to boot.



His preaching, on the other hand, is the most puzzling part. His messages are tough, almost brutal in their

condemnation of immorality and compromise. Using liberal references from the Judeo/Christian scriptures,

and often highlights from his "old" life, Santiago blasts the evils of dishonesty, laziness, violence and

promiscuity in the strongest terms. Yet at the same time he continually reminds the people of another

identity that they possess; "the image of God" is a term he uses frequently. With his name recognition the

Da Silva mission is packed every time he speaks, and that's three or four times a week. That is to say

nothing of the half-dozen other churches that have been built or rebuilt. These represent a variety of

denominations: Catholic, Anglican, Mainline Protestant and a few of the independent fundamentalist

varieties which are unrecognized by the WFC. During the course of these events most of these churches

are cut off, or voluntarily cut themselves off from their parent affiliations. "Differences in philosophy" is the

phrase most often used. In reality they are becoming wildcat congregations more in line with Santiago and

each other than with their mainstream denominations worldwide. Ironically, these religious bodies that now

work together so closely were previously a frustration to the WFC for their infighting and ineffectiveness in

cooperating with GU aid programs. Still, Dr. Santiago is adamant that each church body is independent and

no mere extension of Santiago or his church. He also says there is plenty that they continue to disagree on

theologically, but that this no longer prevents them from "serving the Lord together". This may be true.

Some of the newspapers I have read contain "friendly" doctrinal debates between church leaders here,

including Hector Santiago, and I would not say that he dominates them.



Further, even back at that initial stage it appears he has attempted to link the people's economic and social

woes to an over-dependence on external authorities. What he means by this is of course Edwards, but he

does not stop there. He often points out that Belaguay has sought government as its "lord, protector and

father" for generations. In this he condemns the previous UN involvement, the brief "socialist front

democracy", the Red Glory revolution that his father served, and even dictatorships going back to the 19th

century. During these addresses he does not have the tone of a man trying to win friends and admirers. Of

course he always uses the pronoun "we" when criticizing the people, and he still hides behind religious talk

"trusting men more than God", but he is far too blunt for a politico making a play for the people's allegiance.

He is difficult to read and I will have to study him further.



He details a litany of offenses by Edwards and other local outlaws including deprivations of his workers'

basic living needs, physical intimidation and violence on dissenters, robbery, numerous assaults and

disappearances and even the taking of young women for the sex trade. All of these should come as no

surprise from a warlord like Edwards. What is disturbing are Santiago's petition letters to Security Complex

sent on behalf of the Lake Aracaibo community. Eight of them all dated prior to the secession. It is no

wonder we began to lose the trust of the people here. And that is not all. In a series of minutes taken during

unauthorized community meetings at the Da Silva mission is a record of other perceived GU aid failures. A

few highlights:



- The Unification clinic in Aracaibo town is inept and useless for treating real illnesses and injuries. Eleven

had died there in the previous year from infections or botched care. The facility is widely viewed as a mere

abortion provider for population control purposes.



- Of the food and clothing aid that was delivered to Lake Aracaibo, the bulk was corporate overstock sent to

third world consumers for liquidation. Evidently much of it was useless (rancid baby formula, powdered

imitation cheese sauce, vanilla-raspberry soft drinks and the like), of low value (prepared food mixes of

negligible nutrition) or was totally inappropriate. A story is famous here of a shipment of "GU Clothing

Assistance" that was comprised of pallet after pallet of the short, gauzy, pop-star emblazoned blouses

popular with teen North American girls. These they ended up stitching into mosquito netting.



- The two Unification funded schools were viewed as inept and propagandistic. The staff was composed of,

according to Santiago, "GU agents more interested in global thinking than reading or mathematics". It is

reported here that primary students had an hour of human sexuality a day, but that no practical classes on

carpentry or metal work were offered to secondary students. While this may have its place in established

urban settings, here it was a mistake.



- Our tech insertion, meant to close the gap on emedia access among the poor, was considered a

laughingstock. Of the three hundred solar-powered microcomps distributed here nine years ago, only

eighteen were still operational after a year. Even so it mattered little when the machines were delivered with

software packages that didn't amount to much more than game demos and links to sex outlets. It would be

worth checking on the corporate supplier that was awarded that contract.



Right in the middle of these aid failures an independent development team calling themselves “The

Samaritans” arrived in the Lake Aracaibo area. Santiago calls them missionaries and it was at his invitation

that they came. There were twenty four of them, from Argentina, Korea, Ethiopia, Canada, Scotland and

Poland. They apparently represent an underground "church network" not recognized or endorsed by the

World Faith Council. When they arrived in Aracaibo Town they brought livestock and seed, medicines,

hand tools, religious and educational materials as well as technical skills ranging from organic farming and

construction to water conservation, dentistry and traditional hand crafts. The group was clearly chosen for

these skill sets with the objective of increasing standards of living and beginning self-supporting economic

ventures in the area. Perhaps even more importantly, they dealt with the serious malaria problem at Lake

Aracaibo. Just ten years ago, about forty died annually from exposure to Lake Aracaibo mosquitoes, and

nearly four hundred were infected with the illness. While GU Ecological Mandates precluded the use of

insecticides, the Samaritans brought a drum of mosquito fish that were released into the lake. These

quickly multiplied and brought the mosquito population (and malaria) under control.



Within a year, itinerant workers in Antonio Edwards' fields were starting small sunflower plots of their own

on soil too poor to be used for hemp. The seed was then shipped to market at New Siena and sold for profit.

Many of the shacks were cleared and replaced with more substantial houses made from the materials at

hand. The rudiments of infrastructure began to take shape as irrigation canals, roads, covered trench

sewers and rainwater cisterns were set up. This was the start of the transformation that would produce the

self-contained colony of Shiloh that I stand in today.



These gradual changes did not at first garner the attention of either GU fieldworkers or drug lords. But when

the independent aid workers opened private schools in the churches and organized a grass roots food

distribution program based on voluntary sharing of garden surplus, the local GU administrator took notice.

Attendance at the Unification schools had dropped to zero and aid shipments received little attention.

Antonio Edwards evidently did not appreciate the newfound independence of his workers either. It is

strongly suspected by those who live here that a quiet arrangement was worked out between the local GU

administrator and Edwards to bring pressure on the residents to return to their dependence. Of course such

a thing is preposterous, but the matter is a settled fact in the minds of the people here. I will speak with

Santiago about it when I see him next. What is factual is that Edwards’ militia did begin to put pressure on

the locals: beatings, armed robberies, food confiscation, field burnings. Several attempts were made on Dr.

Santiago's life by Edwards' hit men, but every try inadvertently missed him by minutes or meters (which only

added to his reputation as the "unkillable man"). It was during this time that Santiago made a series of

formal appeals to the Unification for law enforcement. It is unclear how those appeals were lost in Security

Complex, but a thorough investigation of the bureaucratic failures might go far in repairing our image here.

See what you can do.



Finally, when Edwards' thugs resorted to systematic rape, the locals decided to take action themselves.

Interestingly, Santiago's words here were of restraint. He seems to discourage conflict even in

self-defense. In the end they hit upon a defensive plan that even the pacifists could agree to: they would

quietly acquire and train guard dogs to defend their community. They pooled what little money they had and

sent a group to New Siena where they bought out the entire stock of an unlicensed puppy mill. Santiago

remarks that they hinted at reporting the inhumane conditions of the place to get the price lowered. They

got nearly a hundred GSD’s. Over the next few months these were fed and trained (without any technical

knowledge) to confront the bandits non-lethally. My friends in Security Complex will marvel at the ambition

of this plan, considering they had no experience with K-9 military or police protocol. And the investment of

wealth and food for this effort must have been taxing for them in the extreme.



They kept the dogs a secret from Edwards' men for several months, waiting for them to come up to weight

and complete their training. During this time the community had to endure a handful of harassments, but by

August of that year they were ready for a confrontation. It finally came when eight of Edwards' armed

regulars descended on a girls' church school in Aracaibo Town to "recruit" for one of their brothels. The

word was quickly passed through the streets and the decision was made to commit the "defense force". In

minutes the criminal militia was met by thirty snarling dogs on the leashes of handlers. After a tense

stand-off, the intimidated thugs made a hasty retreat to their vehicles, to the delight of the crowd. The

people here in Shiloh consider this an important event in their independence, and commemorate it with a

holiday every year. There is an engraved brick pillar in the city park here recognizing their canine war

heroes.

It didn't take long for Edwards to respond. Thirty hours later he returned in force; sixty paramilitaries with

automatic weapons, a small convoy of vehicles and a helicopter. His intentions were no longer to intimidate

but destroy. The people tried to defend themselves with dogs, clubs and thrown stones, but a bloodbath

ensued. Over a hundred of the locals and most of the dogs were killed, scores of buildings destroyed and

farm fields burned. The villagers and dogs did put up a fight though, injuring ten.



A few days after this "apocalypse" as Santiago called it, an event took place that seems to have been

defining for the Lake Aracaibo community. It is only mentioned obscurely in the records Santiago gave me,

a huge public religious gathering in the streets around the Da Silva Mission, led by Dr. Santiago and the

other church leaders and involving nearly every person in the Lake Aracaibo area. Santiago refers to it in

religious terminology; "repentance", "brokenness", "revival", "Ebal and Gerizim"... whatever that means.

Whatever it is called, it evidently became a catharsis for the colony here, and loyalties became cemented on

a community level. The stubborn religious mindset we see everywhere here was crystallized at this event.



Meanwhile, Antonio Edwards had reached too far. The sheer magnitude of the slaughter finally got Security

Complex attention. Within three days he and most of his men were in custody. The Lake Aracaibo region

got a permanent security detachment as well. This was an opportunity to rebuild our tattered presence with

the people here, but again it was botched. Three months later an officer and five enlisted men were

removed from duty for the rape and murder of a sixteen year old girl.



This was the final insult to the people here and disastrously coincided with our negotiations over the

Transaction Implants, triggering the "secession" of the community from the GU. The events following that

incident are known to all of us. The embargo and isolation order, the removal of all GU aid and so on.

During the pullout, Santiago points out that GU personnel not only removed Unification hardware, supplies

and livestock, but nearly everything else as well. When I asked him why his people didn’t merely hide their

tools, his comment was a vague reference to giving cloaks as well as tunics. By the end of the pullout there

wasn't a chicken, goat, cow or metal tool left in the community. Only the llamas were spared because,

according to Santiago, the aid workers couldn't pretend they were of GU origin.



Santiago's records shine a bit of light on the immediate events inside the isolation zone during those early

months of the embargo. According to them, it was something like a medieval siege. Existing food and

medical supplies were quickly exhausted and the people turned to whatever they could find. Remarkably,

there was no civic disorder or rioting, and only a few left the colony. What saved them were the many

lupin/sunflower farms that had been built up over the previous two years. The beans and seed were ground

for flour, as they still are today. This, along with hundreds of personal gardens and foraging/"fishing" of

Lake Aracaibo, formed the backbone of their diet and averted the famine that we expected them to

experience.



During that time the churches in the colony were the clearinghouse of food aid. Farmers deposited what

they did not require themselves and this was distributed to the rest of the people as needed. Some kept

portions of their fields open for "gleaning" on the part of the poor. It must be noted that this system was not

socialist. There was no mandate from the civic authorities, such as they were, to redistribute resources.

The churches became voluntary cooperatives offering food, clothing, heating fuel and other basic needs.

Donations came in and were given out again in a continuous flow for well over a year. I can think of no other

precedent for this in modern political or economic history. I can only deduce that the engine for this

extraordinary social system was the continuous stream of exhortations coming from the pulpits of their

churches, especially Santiago's.



This model of "charity", as Santiago calls it, apparently continued to serve them as they began to build their

infrastructure and economy. In general, those that found work, whether through farming, cottage industry

or the hastily assembled factories, supported the unemployed through the churches. At one point the

records seem to show that only one-fifth of the work force was employed and that these supported the rest

until more work was available. In time, as windmills, factories and farms were built up, the rest of the

workforce was employed and Shiloh's defacto welfare system shrank accordingly. After two years isolation,

the documents here record an economic boom inside the compound as demand for brick homes, increased

food supply, and an improved variety of goods drove a spike in employment and production. They don't

have much in the way of numbers to prove this (the Civil Authority doesn't seem interested in tracking

economic indicators of any kind) but there are plenty of anecdotal statements about this period. The shift

can be seen in the "newspaper" pamphlets that are printed periodically here. Over time they demonstrate

an increase in employment openings, retail advertisements and housing construction. Who would have

believed this was going on inside the isolation colony at the same time the global economy was beginning to

stagnate?



During this whole rebuilding process, the work on the part of The Samaritans group (all but nine stayed after

the embargo order) was invaluable. Their knowledge in agriculture, construction, infrastructure, medicine,

machinery, and education became the technical lifeline for Shiloh. They conducted classes in all of these

areas for the new farmers and craftsmen, and in many cases did some of the direct designing of roads,

sewers, windmills, factories and buildings for the colony. They are still here today, with families and

occupations. Many have become teachers in the Shiloh schools. I hope to interview some of them as well.



S.



postscript: I have gained some insight into Hector Santiago from his sermon notes. He makes routine

mention of one Pedro Da Silva, a Spanish monk of 1500's Belaguay and the namesake of Santiago's

mission. Apparently he was a social reformer who dedicated himself to the plight of the local Charrua

Indians who were persecuted by their Spanish conquerors. He wrote regularly to the Spanish crown on

behalf of the enslaved Charrua; operated a mission that fed, clothed, treated and educated the natives; and

wrote continuously on theology. So now we know who Santiago aspires (or postures himself) to be. In his

writings, Da Silva outlined an ideal society predicated on Christian principles and dedicated to peaceful

community. The name for his hypothetical utopia: Shiloh.

Dec. 11, UY 14



TO: Consul, Administration Complex, Rome

Consul, Economic Complex, New York

Consul, Developing Nations, Lagos

Consul, Science and Technology Complex, Tokyo

Consul, Health Complex, Geneva



RE: Shiloh Agriculture



Our five tech teams have been examining the resources and production abilities of Shiloh this week. What

emerges is an efficiency and resourcefulness (stewardship is what Santiago calls it) that exceeds that of

even the most dedicated Greens. When the area was first isolated seven years ago, it had no natural

resources, no industry and only a little subsistence farming, or so we thought. None of us recognized the

low-tech possibilities of the resources they already had at hand. In many details, what has transpired here

could be used as a blueprint for Third World development in hundreds of other locations. We will finish our

analysis of Shiloh's industrial capacity in the next week or so, but what follows is a summary of the colony's

efforts in sustaining its own food supply as collected by our first two teams.



Farming is the foundation of Shiloh's economic independence. In the absence of hybrid seed, chemical

fertilizer and modern machinery, the colony has successfully solved its food production problem using

organic, traditional methods. With a population of ten thousand and only 28 square kilometers of land,

farming is given the highest priority in land use. There has even been some successful land reclamation

using levees constructed out on the lake during the dry seasons (about a square kilometer's worth) and the

“floating gardens” I mentioned earlier. Shiloh farms are small, averaging about 8 hectares, but commercial,

not subsistence in nature. There are over 250 of them, most started on land grants given during a

"homesteader" program begun at the start of the embargo. They are jammed into every plot of land not

already covered by woods, water or development.



With the destruction wrought by Antonio Edwards and the withdrawal of GU agricultural support, the

collapse of Shiloh agriculture was averted (unfortunately for our purposes) by two major insertions from the

Samaritans religious aid group. On their arrival at Lake Aracaibo they brought 20 tons of sunflower seed

and 114 llamas (they are not native to Belaguay). These two pieces have effectively given them the

components of a complete, if simple, agricultural system.



Considering the colony's needs and farming conditions here, the sunflowers are a miracle crop. The seeds

are eaten as nuts, ground as a grain into a light bread flour and pressed into oil suitable for cooking, soap

making, lamps, wood finish and steam engine fuel. One breed, the Jerusalem Artichoke, is grown in lesser

quantities for the edible starchy tuber it produces. In terms of production, Shiloh farmers average about 120

bushels of sunflower seed per hectare. When pressed, each bushel produces nearly four liters of oil and 13

kg of high protein cake that can be used as feed for animals, including dogs. The leaves are stripped and

spiked in long stacks to use as animal fodder bales. The flower petals are boiled to produce the ubiquitous

yellow dye of Shiloh. The thousands of tons of stalks are pulled and dried in the sun at the end of the

harvest. These are tightly bundled in "logs" and become the primary fuel for industry, domestic heating and

cooking. A fraction of the stalks are also shipped to the textile mills at the west end of Lake Aracaibo. There

they are retted, beaten, combed and spun exactly like flax. Their fibers produce a strong, light yarn that is

the source of nearly all the cloth and cord produced in Shiloh. This sunflower linen varies in quality from

tough canvas to a light, silk-like cloth. Furthermore, sunflowers are able to thrive in Shiloh's poor soils

almost without water during the dry months. If necessary, they can even tolerate the saline waters of the

lake for germination and irrigation.



The llamas on the other hand are a combination sheep, cow and horse. Their wool is the other source of

cloth in the colony and is sometimes woven with sunflower linen to produce a composite. Their milk is

processed into a spreadable yogurt and the strong cheese that I've sampled. The animals can weigh up to

200 kg and have been successfully trained to harness. They are occasionally used to drive small mills as

well. At the end of their lives they become a source of meat, leather and by-products (bone ash, fertilizer,

glue, grease and tallow, gut and tendon). In addition they don't need metal shoes like horses and can be

grazed on scrub brush. They number over a thousand inside the compound, a growth from their starting

numbers that Santiago refers to with obtuse statements about Jacob and speckled goats. A handful of

farms operate as llama ranches, grazing the animals on the natural ground cover and breeding them for

sale.



Other native plants and animals make contributions as well. Andean lupins have been grown in this area for

generations and are a dietary staple, whether eaten as beans, dried and ground as a coarse flour (which is

lightened with sunflower seed flour), or cooked as a mash, providing important daily protein. In order to be

made edible, lupins must first be soaked in brine. Conveniently, Lake Aracaibo stands nearby. As a

legume, lupins are also the only nitrogen soil supplement that Shiloh possesses. Red beets (eaten both for

the greens and the cooked or pickled beet) and bell peppers are grown in a few farms at the west end of the

lake. Animal manure is conserved primarily for these fields.



Elsewhere considered a pest weed, the dense hedges of the common blackberry (here called the Shiloh

Grape with some irony) are the only "fruit" native to the Lake Aracaibo area. These are cultivated by

farmers along property lines as fencing. Nutritionally, the blackberries are an important source of sugar and

vitamin C and are made into syrup, jelly, juice, and Shiloh's only wine (which, I might add, is not bad).

Nothing edible is ignored: the cones of the parana pines are gathered for their edible nuts, an important

protein contributor; dandelions, mosses, mushrooms and even lake plants are foraged; grasshoppers and

large water beetles are roasted and eaten like shrimp. Weeds and herbs are grown in gardens and flower

boxes everywhere for spices and medicine.



Livestock and poultry are limited to a very few. Aside from the llama (and the occasional dog), the only

other meat animal is the rabbit-like cavie. These have been caught wild within the colony and domesticated

for food purposes. They also provide the colony with fur. Being diggers, these are kept in cages above

ground. With the colony's domesticated poultry culled during our withdrawal, the locals have captured

pigeons to take their place. These provide meat, eggs and feathers. Hunting of wild birds remains a minor

food source as well. The farmers here are also as much beekeepers as sunflower growers. Honey is

Shiloh's only other sugar source and the wax has significant value in candle making.



Shiloh agriculture takes advantage of relatively warm weather year-round to squeeze in two growing

seasons. The lupins are planted at the end of the winter dry season in September. They grow through the

spring rains of October and November and are harvested in the early summer dry season of December.

Following a foraging of the field stubble by livestock, the remains are plowed under as green manure. The

sunflowers are planted immediately afterward and grow through the warm dry season of December through

March. The seeds and flowers are harvested at the end of the dry season. During the fall wet season the

fields are left fallow and the natural herbicidal toxins produced by the sunflowers are washed out of the soil

by the rains.



While the lupins restore nitrogen to the soil, the ashes of burnt sunflower stalks are used as fertilizer to

replace potassium (the ashes are 10% potash by weight). This is applied during the dry months of June to

September. Without access to synthetic fertilizers Shiloh farmers have no way to artificially restore

phosphorus or trace elements, so a third of each farm's fields are left fallow each year to restore them

naturally. This reduces their arable land at any time by a third, of course, but they have no other recourse.



Organic alternatives to pesticides are utilized. A species of predaceous ant keeps insect pests under

control and any farmer with an anthill in his field will protect it from harm. Cats keep rodent populations in

check which generally keeps them from becoming a meat source for farm families. Baited pits are also

used to trap vermin, which are then fed to dogs and cats.

My teams have visited a number of these farms and report that their layouts are all roughly the same.

Though their shape may vary from rectangular to triangular, they are comprised of three fields for crop

rotation, crossed by irrigation ditches feeding from nearby canals that connect back to the lake. Some

utilize light windmills to move water from the canal to the irrigation ditches via a wheel-and-buckets design.

The farmhouses are small, the equivalent of the row houses in Aracaibo town. The adjacent barn generally

shares a brick wall with the farmhouse and is walled with a mud thatch of sunflower stalks. Animal pens are

fenced similarly. Each farm keeps a private garden for vegetables and herbs. Manure for this is taken

yearly from the family composting outhouse which is elevated on a brick containment bin to facilitate

removal at the end of the year.



During the rainy season, water for livestock is gathered in clay-lined ponds, but during the dry seasons this

is a problem. While the major crops can subsist to some degree on salt water from the lake, livestock

cannot. The farmers here have solved that problem by constructing their livestock ponds as dew collectors.

This requires a layer of insulating vegetable matter overlaid by thick clay and then by a layer of rock. In

practice the clay insulates the pool from the soil allowing it to stay cooler than its surroundings and collect

more dew overnight than is lost by evaporation during the day. If a tent shade covers the pond, it

accelerates the process and extra dew is captured from the shade fabric itself. They tell me this design is

ancient (I have never heard of it) and that it provides enough drinking water for a pair of llamas each day.



Farm implements include a light scratch plow, generally a sharpened beam which is itself fixed to a light

bamboo frame pulled by llama or a pair of dogs. These are equipped with a hollow seed drill tube to

maximize planting efficiency. In this case the sandy quality of the fields is an advantage, making the soil

light and workable by these crude tools. Wooden hand sickles are, as usual, fitted with glass blades.

Shovels, forks, picks and the like are wood, bamboo or stone.



Harvesting and bagging is done by hand and shipment to market is by cart, steam truck, or sail barge. As I

mentioned earlier, there must be a dozen mills scattered throughout the colony that grind sunflower seeds

and dried beans into flour with traditional millstones. Their processing speed is slow, but they are capable

of servicing the local farms adequately.



Finally, though there are no fish native to Lake Aracaibo, this has not deterred the local "fishermen". They

bring in thousands of kilos of frogs and crayfish which are cooked in a variety of ways and form another

critical part of their protein supply. There are small aquatic farms along the lakeshore raising crayfish and

tadpoles in walled pools by feeding them on insects and collected lakeweed. Their floured and fried frog

legs are rather good. And the mosquito fish, having done their duty, are netted in schools, packed in salt or

oil, and eaten like sardines. For those who crave mollusks there is some collection of snails, but these are

an acquired taste.



The lake salamanders are toxic and inedible. Further, they prey on precious crayfish and frogs and carry a

nasty bite as well. As one might expect, they are killed on sight in the lake. At first I thought this to be

potential grounds for intervention based on protection of an endangered species. A little research,

however, demonstrated that they are quite common in the Amazon basin. I also learned that the civil

authority has set up a zoological garden pond in Shiloh City as a habitat for about three dozen to keep them

locally viable. We'll keep looking.



S.



Postscript: My team was surprised to find that Shiloh has retained one small plot of Edwards' cannabis crop.

I immediately challenged Santiago on whether his faith allows the use mind-altering drugs (I couldn't resist

the question). According to him the hemp is kept for two reasons. First its fiber is used in shoes and

artificial sponges. I actually laughed at this. He went on undeterred to admit that the euphoric qualities of

the plant are really the colony's only access to a medical anesthetic (along with alcohol to a degree).

Without access to any narcotics or synthetic painkillers, this is all they have. He wishes they had other

options. He went on to quote some biblical verse about giving wine to those dying or in anguish as a moral

justification. But he did insist that the small plot is under heavy security, at least by Shiloh standards. The

sole family that manages the farm was handpicked by the Judges for their personal integrity. Carefully

scrutinized record keeping of yield and sales prevents "black market" releases and the site itself is encircled

by a formidable blackberry hedge and guard dogs. In his judgment, Shiloh has no illegal drug problem.

Unfortunately for us, this is probably true.

Dec. 15, UY 14



TO: Consul, Administration Complex, Rome

Consul, Security Complex, Moscow

Consul, Economic Complex, New York

Consul, Developing Nations, Lagos

Consul, Media Complex, Los Angeles

Consul, Science and Technology Complex, Tokyo



RE: Shiloh Technology and Industry



My other three tech teams have spent the week inspecting Shiloh's technical and industrial capacities. The

fact that these things exist in any form, considering the embargo and their starting conditions, is astonishing

in itself. There are small but developed industries here in wood, ceramics, metals, textiles, mined minerals

and even chemicals. Simple wind and steam power systems have been devised and, given the smaller

scope of their needs, seem adequate. Tools and technology are mechanical (and largely manual) in nature

but they have been resourceful in coping with limited resources. And their system exhibits sustainability;

they have been at this for over five years now and with their resources primarily renewable could continue

indefinitely.



Industrially, the primary challenge the colony has had to overcome is the near absence of metals. After our

pullout the colony was left with only 900 kg of iron and steel, testimony to the impoverished starting

conditions of the community (Santiago, by the way, considers this deprivation of resources intentional on

the part of the departing GU aid personnel). What they collectively have was scavenged from small

personal possessions, odd strands of wire, metal cans in the GU dump and rusting bits in the fields. The

iron and steel has generally been reserved for tasks requiring hardness and heat resistance such as stone

cutting tools, saw blades and glass molding implements. From the small landfill they also salvaged another

150 kg of aluminum soft drink cans and about 120 kg of copper wiring from junked electronics. The removal

of GU tools and equipment during our pullout left the compound with virtually nothing else. The one metal

source neglected during our withdrawal, however, was bell bronze from the tower of the Da Silva Mission

(even here the church "came to the rescue"). Melted down, these provided about 1600 kg of metal. Most of

the aluminum was added to the bell bronze during the melt-down process to strengthen it for industrial

purposes. So aluminum bronze has become the metal of industry here, particularly in the making of hand

tools, machine components and the colony's few steam engines. Seeing the progress that has been made,

it is incredible that it has all been accomplished with only a few tons of working metals.



As a side observation, this underscores Shiloh's commitment to efficiency. With such limited resources,

nothing is wasted either personally or industrially. Everything from machinery to clothing is used, reused,

and repaired in perpetuity. This has brought back the traditional crafts of tailors, cobblers and repairmen

that haven’t been seen in the world of disposables for decades. Every potential fuel source is burned (from

rotten wood to dried brush clippings) and material utilized (broken pottery has a dozen uses here and even

shed dog hair is used as a batting). There is no garbage collection at all. Everything is either reused,

repaired, burned as fuel or composted. In Santiago’s words, "Waste is a form of arrogance."



TECHNOLOGY

In the absence of metals, wood, ceramic, bamboo, glass and stone are used as alternatives. Many of their

implements date back to ancient times: wood and stone hammers, adzes, picks, axes, notched handsaws,

bow drills and glass blades. Glass, because of its accessibility has taken on an industrial prominence here.

Its strength, heat resistance and capacity for keeping a blade edge has made it the logical replacement for

metals.



Carved wood is used in the place of metal machine parts producing gears, screws, cams, shafts, spars, and

pulley wheels entirely from pine. Wood to wood junctions use old fashioned peg and mortise joints, or cord

tourniquet lashings instead of metal nails or screws. Wooden beams that require extra strength are

compression-wrapped with rope. Cast glass marbles are used in place of steel bearings and machine belts

are leather, canvas or rope. Heavy machinery is limited to wedges, rollers, ramps, levers and medieval

style pole and line derricks with human-powered treadmill cranes. Their simple machine tools include wood

lathes, pottery wheels and honing stones powered by hand-spun weighted wheels.



Shiloh technicians are most proud of their two homegrown steam engines. They are compact in design,

utilizing about 200 kilos of bronze each. In order to save metal, some of the engine’s piping is thick walled,

heat tempered glass tubing, compression wrapped in scavenged fiberglass optical cable. They are fifty

horsepower modular machines that can be mounted on vehicle carriages or fixed factory frames for multiple

roles. During the dry months when canal levels are too low for boat traffic they power the three wheeled

trucks as locomotives. In this configuration they burn sunflower oil as fuel. During the rainy season

following the sunflower harvest, one is mounted inside the oil plant where it powers the press. Here it burns

biomass (dried garbage, agricultural waste, timber scrap, sunflower seed shells, brush) in a brick firebox

beneath the boiler. The other is fitted with plated tractor wheels, a heavy plow stone on a boom and

wooden bulldozer blade for earthwork projects around the colony.



Equally important to industry are the ubiquitous windmills that do everything from pumping irrigation water

and turning grinding wheels to forcing furnace air and operating trip hammers. With variable winds here on

the Chaco plateau, Shiloh engineers have contrived two designs. The first is a horizontal-rotating design on

a vertical shaft. Its pivoting sails utilize wind drag rather than lift and operate on wind from any direction.

This makes it the easiest to operate as it requires no manual adjustments. It is also small and cheaply built,

making it useful to farmers for driving the wheel-and-cup pumps for lifting water from canals to irrigation

ditches. The second is the classic post-mill design with vertical sails and an external beam that can be

manually turned into the wind as needed. These are larger (up to 10 meters high) and are used for driving

real machinery: grinding mills, thread spinners, trip hammers and saws. They are arrayed along the

western shore of the lake to take advantage of the unblocked easterly winds.



MINING

Perhaps the colony's most important mining resource is the mud from the bottom of Lake Aracaibo, taken

when the lake waters recede in the dry seasons. Brick and ceramic production is centered at Aracaibo

Town on the east shore of the lake, though there is also on-site brick making at construction projects as

well. There are a handful of factories using beehive kilns to produce pottery, tile and clay pipe. The lightest

and strongest ceramics, made with animal bone ash, are used for cookware.



Several pits of good quality sand provide raw material for the brick, ceramic and especially the glass

industries. These are extracted by hand and bagged at the site.



There is, however, a genuine mine near the western end of the colony, a sandstone pit quarry about 30

meters on a side dug into the side of a mound. Quarried sandstone is used in situations that preclude the

cheaper brick: paved roads, building foundations and other places that require high compression strength,

durability or weather resistance. Their mining methods are rough and effective. With crude blasting

charges (bamboo tubes packed with black powder) and steel tools they break up the rock into rubble which

is used for building foundation or road pack. The larger chunks are shaped by pounding with stone

hammers into useable blocks (though not necessarily rectangular) and used as building stones. Crushed

rock is produced by a 12 meter swinging pile driver driven by a team of llamas.



Their excavation has revealed a seam of chalk in the sandstone. This is mined and burnt medieval-style in

pit kilns to produce lime, the basis for their whitewash, paper and glass production. This subsidiary lime

industry brings in as much profit as the sandstone itself.



FORESTRY

There is perhaps a square kilometer of trees remaining around the shore of the lake as well as a few small

forested islands offshore. The diversity of tree species is low: willow, parana pine and stands of hardy

bamboo. Cutting of the trees for fuel is illegal, though fallen branches and cones may be gathered freely.

Freed from all ecological mandates, we might have expected Shiloh to clear-cut their little remaining forest

for fuel and construction, but they have evidently made conservation a high priority (with their reliance on

natural and passive technologies, even a conservative estimate of per capita carbon footprint would put

Shiloh far below GU restrictions). Timber companies are allowed a quota of trees and a predetermined

area for harvesting bamboo, provided a portion of their profits are returned to Shiloh as duties. Replanting,

mostly of fast-growing bamboo, is pursued with surprising eagerness considering there is no legal mandate

to do so. A bamboo crop requires only three years of growth to reach a mature diameter of five cm.



Before felling a tree, Shiloh loggers first tap it a season in advance to drain its pitch, which is collected for

caulking. This also considerably dries the timber before sawing. After being felled the trees are stripped for

limbs, leaves, bark and cork all of which serve various purposes. They are then pulled to the water, roped

together in rafts and poled to the sawmill on the south side of the lake. It uses a steel trip saw, though there

is also manual splitting and cutting with hand tools. After cutting, the lumber is air-dried in loose stacks.

During the rainy season this takes place under large canvas canopies.



Though Shiloh is short on trees, it has a considerable quantity of stumps from previous years of cutting.

These represent a real resource due to their high pitch content. Using black powder charges the stumps

are blasted out, chopped up and slow-burned in sod-covered earthen kilns. From a single pit burn of a cord

they recover 250 kilos of charcoal, 260 liters of wood tar and 60 liters of turpentine, all valuable fuels.



Finally, there is a small paper mill on the north lakeshore. It produces crude paper from a pulp of retted

sunflower stalks, willow leaves and fine clay. These are ground with a stone wheel, spread on linen box

screens and pressed under heavy wooden screws. After bleaching with lime they are stretched on stacked

frames for air-drying. The result is a rough, light-tan paper not much different from modern paper towels. It

has two main purposes: printing and oil-paper for windows. The mill produces about two reams a day.



INDUSTRY

With this handful of resources Shiloh has built a simple industrial base that supplies the colony with

necessities and provides work. The industrial workforce is divided into family owned cottage industries and

factories. There are scores of the former producing a variety of household items in cloth, ceramic, wood

and wicker. My tech teams gave these a cursory examination and found that they were much like any

traditional crafts that might be found in Morocco, the Ukraine, Mongolia or Paraguay.



Their small factories, however, are an interesting study. They are typically jointly owned by the employees

with little top-down management hierarchy. Without starting capital of any kind, most of these facilities were

originally begun by a pooling of labor and resources among volunteers. This led to the cooperative model

they use today with profits split among the worker-owners. They tend to have a loose democratic structure

with workers voting the most capable to places of management.



TEXTILES

Shiloh City, the town at the western end of Lake Aracaibo, is the textile center. The facilities are a

staggered line of windmills built on the lakeshore. The raw material, as described earlier, is the stalk of the

sunflower. Their process uses the lake waters for retting, and the windmills for pounding the stalks, fulling

and combing the fibers, and for spinning the fiber into yarn. Adjacent brick buildings house wide vertical

looms and spring-loaded flying shuttles to produce cloth. A final facility utilizes 20 manually operated

sewing machines of original design. They are foot-wheel driven and use a bronze hook for stitching. They

cannot be very different from the primitive machines used in 1700's Europe. Accompanying oiling and

dyeing workshops are scattered throughout the town.



Rope is consumed in large quantities by a number of industries including construction. A handful of mills in

Shiloh City produce it from yarn, again using wind powered winding machinery.



A small hides industry also operates outside of Aracaibo Town. It produces leather from dog and llama

hides. Without access to chrome compounds and little tannic acid, tanners use concentrated lake brine and

the traditional method of brain tanning. Leather is used for machine parts, shoes, work gloves, hoses,

animal harnesses and the like, making it far too valuable for mere fashion.



MANUFACTURING

There are a cluster of factories in and around Aracaibo Town. Here the colony's sole metal smith operates

with a charcoal-fueled furnace and traditional blacksmithing tools. As nearly all of the metal available in

Shiloh is already in use, the metal works operates entirely on repair and recycling of used materials. The

shop is capable of forging, hammering and casting. A drawing wheel and stone die is also used to produce

bronze and aluminum wire. They have even contrived a welding unit using hydrogen and oxygen gas! I will

later relate more on how they obtain these, but the device they use is a simple approximation of a pressure

cylinder. It is a folding wooden frame holding skin bags of gas of about a cubic meter or less. These are

compressed under stone weights to force flow down leather hoses to the ceramic flame nozzle.



With wood more easily available than metal (though somewhat limited in its own right) woodworking shops

are common. These have received the bulk of the remaining bronze for saws, drills, chisels, draw knives,

planes and the like.



The glassworks in Aracaibo Town is the equivalent of a steel mill in the developed world employing nearly a

hundred. Raw glass is produced by burning silica sand, chalk from the eastern mine, wood ashes and

scrap colored glass in heavy ceramic crucibles. Tower-windmill driven fans force air into the brick charcoal

furnace to achieve the high temperatures necessary for melting down the flux. This crude glass is bluish

green in color and not suitable for optical uses. Instead it is cast into ball bearings, honed blades, piping,

pick points, crude reflectors, etc. The factory also uses traditional glassblowing techniques to make bottles

and jars. For casting large pieces, they achieve a heat-tempered effect by pouring boiling water over the

molding to produce the necessary rapid cooling.



A much higher quality clear glass is made using the same method, but with recycled clear glass as source

material. With supplies limited to glass bottles from the dump and recycled window glass from the churches

and demolished GU buildings (less than a ton) it is used exclusively for optical purposes: eyeglasses,

magnifying lenses and lamp globes. It is too precious to be used on windows, hence the use of oil paper

that we have seen.



There are a two facilities dedicated to vehicle construction; the cart factory in Aracaibo Town and the trike

works in Shiloh City. Again, without rubber tires or metal for a rim, they strike a compromise in the use of

tightly wrapped rope tires. My staff has watched their work on this and their method is original. They use a

circular weave to achieve an initial tightening of the tread, then wet and dry the rope causing it to shrink

further. The final product is then treated with oil as a water repellant. It is as tight as a metal rim and still

affords some cushion as a shock absorber. For heavy duty designs they use solid, three-part wheels and

rope tires. The trike factory produces two a day using a simplified assembly line process. This may seem

laughable considering the output of Toyota or Renault, but considering the lack of tools and resources, it is

a considerable number. Their waiting list for orders is two months.



CHEMICALS

The most important chemical in the Shiloh economy is sunflower oil. It is used as a steam engine fuel,

machine lubricant, soap, ink base, wood finish, water repellant, lamp fuel, medicinal base, paint medium

and cosmetic fixative. This is to say nothing of its value as a food. Following harvest, the steam press in

Aracaibo Town produces 600 liters a day from seed and ships it in ceramic jars all over the colony.



Salt is obtained from the lakebed by solar evaporation during the dry seasons. Large lime-sealed stone

ponds have been set up in the shallows at Aracaibo town to make the collection of salt cleaner and more

efficient. A valuable resource for food preservation, concentrated brine is obtained from solar ponds and

from the boilers of the steam engines at the end of a daily operation cycle.

Liquid lye is gotten by the classical method of leaching water through wood ashes. It is an important

mordant in Shiloh's textile dyeing industry and in the production of soap. Acetic acid is also used as a

dyeing mordant, and it is obtained as a byproduct in the destructive distillation of bamboo charcoal.



Finally, potassium nitrate is extracted by the thousands of kilos from piles of solid municipal waste in the

nitre pit method. The waste is mixed with sandy soil and plant mulch in long covered piles until the

potassium nitrate leaches out for collection. It is used in making sulfurless black powder with a composition

of 80% potassium nitrate and 20% charcoal. From this they make gunpowder for fireworks, blasting

charges and crude firearms. Long-burning slow matches are produced by soaking linen cord in a hot

solution of nitrate and drying.



And now about the hydrogen and oxygen gas they produce. Shiloh engineers have been stealing a trickle

charge from the high voltage security fence for several years in order to power their small hydrolysis plant.

Evidently the current they have been taking is small enough that it hasn't been detected in the security

system. At the facility they break down distilled water by electrodes in series and collect the gases in

inverted ceramic cylinders. These are then vented to gas bags for a number of uses: medical oxygen,

welding, even the small message balloons they have constructed. The plant also produces bleach by

electrolysis of lake brine, which is sold in small jars for commercial water purification. I will forward the

location of their bypass line to you as soon as I get it from them. It is interesting that these legalistic

moralists do not see this as stealing, but instead as an act of resistance in a sort of war. On the other hand,

given that we have effectively presented them with a blockade, perhaps they have a point.



LABOR

There seems to be no collective bargaining in the workforce. With businesses privately owned and

factories cooperatively owned, unions are considered unnecessary. Shiloh law mandates, however, that

every worker have one day off each week; a "Sabbath" in their terms. It further stipulates that this day be

either a Saturday or Sunday. Santiago remarks that this split was arrived at as a compromise for

denominational differences. He adds that it has turned out to be a good thing because it allows critical

services to be maintained by at least a partial workforce every day of the week. So most work weeks are six

days in length which may explain their remarkable productivity (Dr.Santiago takes pride in calling it the

"Christian work ethic"). On the other hand, a two hour midday break seems to be the norm in which workers

go home to be with families for lunch and a rest at the hottest time of the day. There is nothing here

resembling the "corporate home away from home" mindset that is taken for granted in modern urban life.



Finally, while the living conditions here are low-tech by necessity, there does not appear to be any poverty

in the relative sense. We have seen no remaining slums, the permanent presence of idle young men

common in any developing area is absent, home ownership is the norm and unemployment levels (as best

we can estimate) are less than a single percent. Though we would have assumed the dense

overpopulation of this colony would have generated massive unemployment, the chronic shortage of

technology and resources has ironically rendered human labor a precious commodity. Without the

spectrum of automation we have come to rely on in the industrialized world, Shiloh relies on human power.

Just consider the number of man-hours necessary to build a paved highway here by hand and you can see

why unemployment is so low.



On the other hand, Shiloh has little in big-ticket items or elite jobs. All the wealth present here has been

created from scratch in the last seven to ten years. The most expensive possession owned by a private

party (other than a dwelling) would be a boat/canoe or one of their trikes. Even their simple houses are

largely owner-built, using materials on hand with help from neighbors and contractors, and cost far less than

their counterparts in the developed nations of the Unification (even after adjusting for currency and

technology differences). As there was no starting wealth in the community at the time of their secession,

there is no significant wealth disparity either. Instead, this society seems to be made up of a single, broad

middle class with roughly equal access to the simple material means available. In some ways, it is the

classless society envisioned by Marx, but using means opposite of those he proposed.

Of course Santiago would be insulted by the comparison to Marxism and would most likely have a jagged

religious reply ready.



S.

Dec. 21, UY 14



TO: Consul, Administration Complex, Rome

Consul, Global Relations and Diplomacy, Beijing

Consul, Economic Complex, New York

Consul, Developing Nations, Lagos

Consul, Legal Complex, Washington

Consul, Education Complex, London

Consul, Human Services Complex, Mumbai

Consul, Science and Technology Complex, Tokyo

Consul, Health Complex, Geneva



RE: Human Services and Institutions



While we knew that we would be dealing with a theocracy here in the isolation colony, the influence of the

churches here is much broader than that. An examination of Shiloh's families, schools, hospitals, and other

human institutions demonstrates a presence on the part of the local church that can only be likened to that

of the GU everywhere else. But in place of the Complexes that oversee public services and policy for the

Unification, here independent church bodies govern, plan, fund and deliver as they see fit. There is no

provision by the civil authorities, for that matter, in any of these areas. It is simply assumed that the private

churches in the communal congregations will provide for "charity". The considerable wealth (at least in

Shiloh terms) for these church-sponsored services come by way of "tithes and offerings" according to Dr.

Santiago. In other words the general population gives at rates of 10% or more of their income to their

church bodies. I quizzed Santiago on how much of this is given under duress and his predictable answer

was "None". But he went on to point out that giving at the churches is generally done anonymously through

donations of goods or Market currency. Even labor donations are not logged or recorded by any church he

knew of. At any rate this explains why they can keep their tax rates so low.



Our findings:



Religious dogma dominates in family life and marriage. Divorce is illegal except in cases of infidelity which

must be substantiated before the Judges Council (there were a total of nine last year). This is certainly a

breach of Unification law concerning sexual autonomy, but nothing new given similar (and widely known)

laws on the books of Islamic countries that we decline to confront for practical reasons. I grilled Dr.

Santiago on other potential situations where divorce might be a valid option. He denied all of them,

including physical abuse saying instead that "The law would move to punish the offending party. Harshly."

Churches here retain the right to establish marriages, but the Civil Authority does treat them as a social

contract for the purpose of law. Santiago says that there have been cases of husbands failing to provide for

their wives and families because of alcoholism, and that they have been punished with jail time for breach of

contract ("where they learn to work", he adds with satisfaction). Surprisingly, there are no laws against

homosexuality per se. What we would call a matter of mere sexual orientation Santiago calls “sin”, but

insists that it is not a matter of punishment. He maintains that such behavior is destructive to society, but

that it is best handled through prayer, counseling and patience. So this avenue for intervention seems

closed as well.



There are no institutionalized care facilities for the elderly or handicapped. Individuals in these conditions

instead stay with families; their own if possible and if not, then another. Churches intervene with aid in care,

physical assistance and family-matching as necessary. Welfare for single mothers and children (whether

by death or otherwise) is also a matter of church oversight. Children without parents are connected with

adopting families quickly by church bodies as well. The whole system is informal and uncentralized.

Churches in the community handle situations as they come and "as the unique needs that they are" says

Dr. Santiago. If there are individuals falling through the cracks we haven’t found them yet.

Education here is inseparable from religion. There are no stand-alone schools, for instance. Primary and

secondary education is provided by individual churches both in the two towns and throughout the farming

villages. Santiago says there is “no sense in wasting a perfectly good building five days a week”, but there

is more at work here than mere efficiency. In the Shiloh system churches, not the government, retain

authority in education matters. So it is no surprise that religion be a centerpiece in classes from early

primary through secondary. Instruction in the Judeo/Christian scriptures are mandatory at every level and

are considered core subjects along with mathematics and language. Public prayer is a given in every

educational context, on the part of both students and faculty. I spoke with Santiago about this, and whether

the rights of those who do not believe were being infringed. His reply was that no one is forced to pray

against their will (which he seemed to indicate would defeat the purpose of prayer) but that there was no

need to move to a "default corporate atheism" simply because some did not share or participate in the faith.

I pressed him further on the topic, but he indicated that the offended are always free to leave through the

access gate. How true this is remains unclear.



I was able to visit a couple of their schools myself. True to Shiloh's infatuation with everything traditional,

classes are segregated by sex. Dr. Santiago assures me this is at the request of the parents and

schoolmasters who insist that it cuts down on "the interference of chemistry between genders" during

adolescence. There is a predictably deliberate effort to prevent fraternization between males and females

at this age that Santiago defends as prudent. In the cultural mores of Shiloh, relationships between young

people (especially those that are potentially sexual in nature) are controlled by parents. Even arranged

marriages are not unheard of. I suppose we could pursue this as an avenue of intervention, being that it is

a violation of the Universal Rights of the Person to interfere with adolescent relationships in these ways, but

then we would also have to go after half the nations in the Middle East, Africa and Asia as well. We won't

get much traction there.



Compulsory education begins late at age seven. There is no formal pre-primary schooling in Shiloh.

According to Santiago, children's first school is with their parents and they therefore make no effort to

interfere. Compulsory education ends at age sixteen when students are deemed to have all the necessary

basics. By these they mean mathematics through algebra and Euclidean geometry; reading and writing in

Spanish, English and Latin (a dead language!); world history through Napoleon (much of it taken from a

Bishop Ussher); Newtonian physics and a generous steeping in what they call Creation Theory. As you

would expect, any exposure to evolutionary thinking is of the "know your enemy" variety.



With only five classes every day school hours are short. This also allows children time to work their families'

farms and workshops where their labor is considered important. Their schools do not operate on a

year-round basis like GU schools. They take six week breaks centered on the two harvest seasons to allow

students to work and to give them a rest from the books. "Much study wearies the body," remarks Santiago.



Physically, the schools have limited resources. Other than an occasional paper pad on tripod there are no

writing boards, so most classes seat students around a wide sandbox as the instructor writes in it with a rod.

Textbooks are printed here in Shiloh and generally encompass an entire year's language, mathematics,

history and science in a single volume for the sake of efficiency. Their primary school literature is

composed of anti-intellectual religious and morality pieces, some of it homegrown. The texts used for their

secondary and higher education are all reprints from Hector Santiago's personal collection (there weren't

any other books available in the colony at the time of the secession!) The list is short and comprised mainly

of classics from the Christian period of European history; Augustine, Beowulf, Dante, Shakespeare,

Dickens, Hugo. Students at every level wear uniforms, even the "university" in Aracaibo Town. The

discipline is rather strict, and students can be dismissed indefinitely if they fail to conform to guidelines. Still,

the commencement failure rate is extremely low, less than a percent. Santiago says that education is

viewed as opportunity here (a new one at that) and a privilege that can be forfeited, rather than an

entitlement.



An effort has been made to raise literacy levels among the adults here as well (it was well below 50% prior

to the secession). The goal, I am told, is for everyone to be able to read their own Bible. So churches have

been offering evening reading classes for years now and the Civil Authority has funded a mobile library

wagon that brings a small public book collection to the people in their own neighborhoods. They claim to

have raised literacy to over 80% among adults.



Shiloh's only university, The Academy, occupies an annex in Santiago's church, but is cooperatively run by

a coalition of the churches in the colony. It has a staff of twelve and graduated eighty eight last year. It

delivers degrees in four studies:



Theology is their standard preparatory piece for the ministry. Women are admitted, though no Shiloh

churches allow women to function as executives. It seems important to them that training stick to the

"orthodoxies", leaving individual churches to establish their own denominational particulars for graduates.

Ancient Greek and Hebrew are the centerpieces of the program.



Engineering is a catch-all that includes architecture/construction, surveying, machine design, materials,

advanced mathematics, public sanitation, mining and basic chemistry. Its emphasis is on the simple

mechanisms and energy sources available here. There is little mention of improved technology or

expanded resources although the people are certainly aware of their existence outside the compound.



Arts is a broad study of oral and written language (through historical literature and poetry), the sciences

(astronomy and meteorology), logic and rhetoric, music, and the visual arts (sketching, painting,

calligraphy). An almost medieval set. Notably absent is philosophy. To this, Santiago predictably replies

that there is no need to reduce what is known to the theoretical. Psychology and sociology are also omitted

though Santiago insists, "They are not. We teach theology." The Academy even maintains a few research

sites in the colony as well. They have placed a crudely built refracting telescope in the empty bell tower of

Santiago's church (the highest point in the colony), for studying the moon, stars and nearest planets. They

have a small archaeological dig in a low mound on the southwest shore of the lake and are excavating

artifacts from the Charrua Indians, the original inhabitants of the area before the arrival of the Spanish. The

pieces, including earthenware vessels, bone necklaces and stone tools/weapons may well indicate a

previously undiscovered burial mound. When the compound opens up, GU archaeologists are going to

want to get at it properly. In their sandstone mine they have also excavated a couple of fairly significant

fossils: one a five meter crocodilian, the other a partial fossil of a large land mammal (possibly uintatherium,

according to a biologist on my team). These along with the Charrua relics are displayed in the Academy's

small museum with standard Creation Theory interpretations of each (references to Noah's flood and the

Tower of Babel, etc.).



Medicine is their formal training to nurses/midwives, medics and veterinarians (two years) and physicians

(four years). Using reprints of dated texts brought by the missionary technical team, it covers biology and

anatomy, as well as their own rudimentary medical resources and methods. The medical community here

seems proud of the fact that they still require the Hippocratic oath from their physicians.



The churches operate the clinics and hospital (which Dr. Santiago is quick to point out was true everywhere

a hundred years ago). The health clinic he opened here nine years ago has grown into a full hospital in

Aracaibo town. It boasts fifty beds, a staff of thirty and electricity! As with the hydrolysis plant, Shiloh

Hospital taps our high-voltage perimeter over widely spaced points for a small, undetected current. With

this it powers a number of crude lights. These cannot be much different from the first prototypes built by

Edison. Thick glass bulbs, carbonized bamboo filaments and a pressurized nitrogen atmosphere (actually

pressurized air with oxygen removed by combustion). They don't produce a great deal of light but are clean

and not a fire hazard. For surgeries they divert electric power to a single homebuilt carbon-arc lamp in the

operating room. Several hours a day the current is also diverted to a portable ultrasound machine.

Originally the device was used in Santiago's clinic to make it competitive with the GU family planning clinic,

but has now become the colony's defacto x-ray machine. It is an obsolete 2-D machine but has somehow

been kept operational by jury-rigging with improvised components (old computer monitors from the landfill,

cannibalized wiring, etc). With it, wily operators coax out information on internal injuries, tumors and

diseased organs. Santiago states that the device is rarely used for pregnancies any longer because Shiloh

law no longer makes abortion an option. I declined to take up this predictable debate with him.



Physically the hospital is clean and well lit with skylights, windows and the electric lights. Whitewashed

walls and floors are kept scrupulously sanitary. A garden courtyard is used for both rehabilitation and

cultivating medicinal herbs. Even the potted plants scattered around the hallways and rooms are medicinal

herbs as well. Shiloh's only steam sauna is operated there for hydrotherapy and there are also several

massage therapy rooms. Surgical instruments (especially their limited number of hypodermic needles) are

reused after sterilization in flame, boiling water and alcoholic wine bath. Beds are arranged in common

dormitory rows, but linens are changed daily. While low tech, the facility is operated as professionally as

any GU facility. The religious influence is unmistakable, however. Scriptural quotations are posted

everywhere and the facility’s chapel doubles as the welcome foyer and waiting room. Doctors making their

rounds do as much praying with patients as consulting. Santiago considers this the strength of their system

and cites several "miracles" including the healing of a dozen HIV-positive newborns and several adults with

full-blown AIDS. While these kinds of claims are common among cult leaders and the old televangelists of

the last century, they would be difficult to verify. Health Complex records prior to the embargo were sketchy

at best. It is known that there were several dozen active HIV/AIDS cases logged in the area at that time, but

the identities of the infected were not recorded.



The facility is funded by patients and to a greater degree by the churches that consider this one of their

critical ministries. A new twenty bed clinic is also cooperatively maintained by the churches in Shiloh City,

and several smaller ones operate directly out of village churches in the farmlands. Physicians and

midwives here have also revived the ancient tradition of home visits in the rural areas.



I asked Santiago what they did with medical cases that they couldn't treat; leukemia, brain cancer, physical

deformations requiring plastic surgery. I didn't take "our best treatment and prayer" as an answer.

Realizing what I was really asking, he repeated that the exit gate is always available, but that my insinuating

that they would get the best medical help possible from the Unification outside was never true in the past. It

seems the residents share his views.



The most startling discovery we made, however, was an Ebola quarantine camp inside the colony. We

found it while in discussions with Shiloh doctors who happened to remark on it casually. When we

questioned them, they made no attempt to hide its existence. While we had expected disease outbreaks

given the cramped living conditions inside the colony, we were stunned to find that the infected were not

from the colony but the outside. To be brief, fourteen months ago an Ebola outbreak in Belaguay spooked

local GU Health Complex officials enough to take unauthorized measures for containment (and cover-up).

Apparently the Lake Aracaibo colony is not as secret as we had thought because they brought twenty six

infected men, women and children here for isolation. There was some preliminary contact between these

officials and the Shiloh authorities a few hours before the transfer, when Shiloh agreed to take them. The

motives of the Health Complex officials are not hard to guess, given their botched handling of the situation

(I will forward their identities to you shortly). But the risk to the isolation compound in accepting them is

breathtaking. Without modern treatment facilities or synthetic drugs, and with a congested, contained

population it could well have been suicide for all of them. In my debriefing with Santiago, all he would offer

was, "We do not choose whom God brings to us."



The internal quarantine camp was hastily set up on a small, tree-logged island, perhaps a third of an acre,

near the east end of the lake. It was equipped with a tent clinic, what medical equipment and herbal

remedies they could assemble and staffed with a handful of volunteer medics. Of the twenty six, twenty two

survived. Two of the medics died as well, and their island gravestones proclaim them as heroes. Afterward

the island was burned as a precaution against biological reservoirs for the virus. Just how they were able to

beat it without synthetic drugs is unclear and will probably stay that way. I didn't bother asking for more

details because we all know what their answer would be. Nevertheless, this is one of the most astonishing

pieces we have found so far. Of the twenty two survivors, eight left via the security gate to rejoin their

families. The rest, either without surviving relatives or taken into the colony as intact families, have stayed

and started new lives. All were poor to begin with so had little to lose in staying. The few I spoke with voiced

a sense of betrayal and abandonment by the Unification. This has turned out to be a regular theme here.



With the influence of the churches so pervasive, I spoke at length with Dr. Santiago on the compulsory

nature of religion in the colony. He insists that there is no coercion in matters of faith. He cites a small

number of Shilohans that do not attend religious services or even seem to believe in God at all (but he does

know of these by name). I asked him why these continue to stay in the compound instead of leaving for the

resources and opportunities of the Unification outside. "They have learned to not trust the GU," he replied.



But he didn't seem to approve of my statement that Shiloh is a theocracy. In his words Shiloh is only meant

to be "a community of like-minded believers.” It almost sounded like a memorized corporate motto. He

added with some mystery, "There can't be a theocracy on Earth until the one with proper authority sets it

up." The drumbeat never ends.



It turns out our surveys and confidential interviews with average Shiloh citizens seem to bear Santiago's

claims out. We have interviewed over a hundred and surveyed three hundred and can detect no presence

of a police state, forced containment or codified religious compliance mandates. Certainly Islamic countries

exhibit more of this kind of thing than we see here. Instead, the residents we have interviewed (and we

have been careful to get a good representative cross section) plainly state their thankfulness for the peace

and prosperity they now enjoy. Remember what previous conditions they have to compare with. And there

is no contrived hyper-patriotism as we have seen in cults and closed dictatorships before. There are even

minor complaints about civic utilities, downtown congestion, exchange prices at the Market and such. But

on the whole the word best used here, for lack of another, is contentment. There isn't even bitterness in the

interviewee’s tones, just a resigned distrust of the Unification.



So what we are faced with is not merely a radically independence-minded secessionist community, but a

fully realized rival social system. In it the churches usurp all the moral and service authority of the GU, vying

with us in every area of culture and civilization. When I mentioned this to Dr. Santiago, he came right back

with "Yes, but our churches have only taken back what was usurped from them." In this respect, what has

taken hold here is a more comprehensive challenge to us than the mere political insurrections of the

Anarchists and Islamo-fascists. We're fortunate it is so small.



S.

Dec. 26, UY 14



TO: Consul, Administration Complex, Rome

Consul, Global Relations and Diplomacy, Beijing

Consul, Security Complex, Moscow

Consul, Economic Complex, New York

Consul, Developing Nations, Lagos

Consul, Media Complex, Los Angeles

Consul, Science and Technology Complex, Tokyo

Consul, Health Complex, Geneva



RE: Failure of the Embargo



Shiloh celebrated the Christmas holiday yesterday. There was almost no ramp-up in a commercial sense

so my entire team and I were taken a bit by surprise. Although the frenzied shopping culture of New York,

Tokyo and Paris doesn't exist here, there was some low-key gift giving (wool sweaters, paper dolls and

soldiers, ceramic crockery, etc.) and a few quiet observances: ribboned clusters of pine boughs festooning

doorways, a Shiloh-style live nativity scene in the park with llamas and dogs, hundreds of candle-lit paper

lanterns in homes and businesses. The entire colony shut down and the churches were crowded for

holiday potlucks. I decided against intruding on these celebrations, leaving my team and I without much to

do. So we caught up on reports and, being that our task is nearly complete, engaged in some summary

analysis.



It can be concluded with certainty that our embargo on Shiloh has failed. The Christmas holiday just

celebrated here provides ample evidence for a community no longer on the verge of economic collapse.

The isolation colony has not only solved its food, clothing and shelter needs, but has reached a level of

prosperity that allows for approximations of modern conveniences and leisures. Our examination has

revealed dozens of examples that demonstrate Shiloh’s self-sufficiency, sophistication and sustainability:



Household Items: Starting a fire here is not a given so Shiloh ingenuity has contrived a sort of match. Paper

tipped wooden splints are dipped in jars of turpentine and lit with small steel/sandstone sparkers. Because

of limited steel many households simply use small magnifying lenses to light the splints with afternoon

sunlight. These are then used to light candles which burn low for several hours. Evening lamps are lit from

these.



A simple clothes washing machine is sold in the markets here. It is a large ceramic jar suspended from a

vertical, rotating, weighted wooden frame. In lieu of yeast or baking powder to leaven bread, a wooden,

hand-cranked gear-rod is used to fluff up dough for baking. Clothing, soap and water are placed in the

vessel, the gasketed lid clamped shut, and the frame spun by hand. Hand sewing utilizes awls, pins and

needles of bird bone. Springs (including those on the flying shuttles in the textile factories) are made of

coiled animal tendon. Barbers' razors are honed glass (tricky to use and actually requiring professional

barbers). Pencils are thick charcoal sticks wrapped in glue paper. Pens are none other than jars of ink and

bamboo or bird feather quills. Brooms are dried grass or bird feathers. Mirrors are as simple as a basin of

ink water or dark glass disk. Many homes keep small sundials in their gardens (which, given the colony's

position near the equator, are reasonably accurate) while ceramic water clocks are used for hourly

measurements indoors and at night. With the church bells cannibalized, a three meter glazed ceramic tube

horn in the Da Silva mission bell tower signals 6:00 AM, noon and 6:00 PM every day (and also doubles as

the fire alarm). A solar powered digital clock still exists and is used by the colony to establish official time for

this.



Interior and Exterior Lighting: Candles of beeswax and animal tallow are common, but the light source of

choice is a cleverly designed ceramic oil lamp. Five wicks in a fluted lid that allows a chimney effect for

increased airflow. It produces light equivalent to a 25 W incandescent.

The two big towns have the most creatively designed street lamps I have seen. As their sewers are only

flushed during heavy rains, waste builds up in them daily. They take advantage of this by building methane

powered gas lamps with bamboo pipes extending into the trench sewers below. At twilight the lamps are

primed with a bellows by city workers and the methane at the ceramic lamp top lit. As the gas burns it draws

more up into the line and the lamps provide light for over half an hour. On other streets and rural villages

wood tar torch pots are used atop street lamp posts.



Plastics & Synthetics: In the place of petroleum based synthetics Shiloh has gone with natural fibers. Llama

wool, sunflower linen and composites of the two serve the fabric needs of the colony. Shoes are leather,

canvas, wood and a sponge-like material of woven hemp. They are durable if not stylish. During cold

nights wool and cavie furs come out. Industrial pieces such as hoses, gaskets and machine belts are made

of leather. Even children's rubber balls are approximated with inflated animal bladders or wound balls of

sinew.



Refrigeration: To keep their foods fresh longer, Shilohans make use of a clever evaporative cooler. It

consists of an earthenware pot inside of a larger earthenware pot with the annular space filled with wet sand

and a moist cloth over the top. As long as the sand is kept wet, evaporation cools the inner pot significantly.

They say that they can cut the temp inside from 30 C on a warm day to 15 C. This allows fresh vegetables

and leftovers to keep for over a week in warm weather. They are also portable and allow produce to be

taken to market less frequently. And these devices are certainly not expensive.



Several times a year winds shift from the west as cold downdrafts from the Andes, generally during the dry

month of July. When this happens sheets of ice can form overnight on ponds and even the lake itself. I am

told that this precipitates (no pun intended) a massive gathering effort on the part of the whole colony. It

becomes a sort of spontaneous holiday. The ice is then stored in insulated pits. It lasts for weeks and is

used to cool drinks.



Industrial and Household Chemicals: Boiled oil and lye soap is used for washing cookware, clothing and

people. Bleaching of cloth is mostly done by sunlight on drying lines, though professional laundries achieve

an approximation for bleach with alternating treatments of bamboo vinegar and lye. Sand of varying

coarseness is used as both a scrubbing and grinding agent in industry. Animal glues and greases from the

local butcheries are used for industrial purposes. Paints are a simple mixture of water, glue and natural

pigments (ground plant dyes, charcoal, lime, etc).



Luxuries: Even these have approximations here in Shiloh. Herbal teas and confections like honey

caramels and blackberry tarts are heady stuff to a people that only a few years ago did not have much food

of any kind. Jewelry of oiled wood or blue glass beads seem to be the extent of tastes here. Very rarely a

pure quartz crystal or amethyst will show up in the sandstone mine. These are polished by rubbing in pairs

(bruting) and placed in the Academy museum as "national treasures". Lack of metals precludes wedding

rings, but the locals here seem to find religious significance in woven bands of three-colored cords.

Cosmetics are very simple; charcoal and plant pigments, perfumes of flower petals in oil. In fact they have

a custom that I have never seen before. Women don't wear cosmetics until they are married. Santiago

says it is because they believe "a woman comes into her full beauty in marriage". I wonder what the global

cosmetics industry would make of that proposition. Or the Feminist Studies departments of the Education

Complex for that matter.



Communications: There are printing shops in Aracaibo Town and Shiloh City. Both use 1500's style

hand-set screw presses. They print letterpress style and fold into sixteen pages from a single sheet The

moveable type are cast bronze, illustration inserts are carved wood and the ink is a mixture of furnace soot

and sunflower oil. On Shiloh's homegrown paper they print Bibles, classic books, and their newspaper

pamphlet "The Liberty" which averages about two editions a month. With limited real news (little crime or

political maneuvering to analyze) they focus on community announcements, religious essays, recipes,

sport, fiction pieces, quaint comics and the like.

Shiloh also has a mail system that is operated privately. It can deliver a letter or small parcel from one end

of the colony to the other in two days. If this is too slow there is their Signal Dispatch service, Shiloh's

telecommunications system. For a higher fee, Morse encoded messages are sent between Aracaibo

Town, Shiloh City and a few of the larger villages by heliograph. The polished mirrors and shutters are

mounted on low brick towers to get clear sun and line-of-sight to the other towers. After the signals are

received and decoded, the letters are delivered to their destinations by couriers on trikes. In poor weather,

oil lamps and telescopes are used.



Lenses: Glassworkers have constructed hand-powered glass grinding lathes. This has provided them with

corrective eyeglasses and magnification lenses, though due to the shortage of clear glass they are

expensive. Eyeglasses are set in bamboo rims.



Visual Media: In lieu of photographs, sketched silhouettes on backlit paper are popular here, which the

people can produce themselves without special equipment. A "portrait studio" in Shiloh City now produces

photo-quality images, however, using artists and the archaic "camera obscura". Images can also be inked

onto clear acetate sheets (which are made by skimming the film from solutions of concentrated wood

vinegar and lye). They have designed a crude projection system for these clear slides using a lens and an

enclosed oxy-hydrogen burning lime lamp. I am told that a local would-be "producer" has even contrived a

lengthy slideshow, "The Epic of Daniel" that is shown in the churches each year. While I haven't seen the

thing, I am told that it is a "perilous vision of wars, kings, beasts, idols and fallen cities". What else would it

be? The people here seem proud of it and are quick to point out that it utilizes "special effects" including

limited motion, fire flashes, and accompaniment by sound effects and music. It must be remembered that

these people have little experience with modern media of any kind.



Scientific Instruments: The equivalent of 1800's era scientific instruments are in use. Plant tissues are used

in place of litmus paper for testing pH. Alcohol thermometers, water barometers, low power optical

microscopes, human hair hygrometers, mechanical anemometers and wind socks, rain gauges, oil burners,

single pan balance scales and refracting telescopes have been contrived mostly for use in Shiloh's hospital

and college. Slide rules have made a comeback here as well. The only precision mechanical timepiece in

the colony is Hector Santiago's personal Rolex watch. This he donated to the Academy where it is used for,

what they consider, sensitive scientific measurements.



Medicine: Shiloh medical practices range between the middle ages and the 1800's technologically. Their

methods, by necessity, are an eclectic collection of folk medicine, herbalism, naturopathy, hydrotherapy

and massage therapy. But they are not philosophically against surgery. Local doctors conduct operations

with glass scalpels and animal gut sutures. Their sole anesthetic, as I mentioned earlier, is a concoction of

cannabis boiled in blackberry wine. I am told that it produces a powerful pain-killing and memory-erasing

effect, but that it also allows for a state of euphoric semi-consciousness which is why it is also used for

dental work.



Given the diversity in herbs and wild plants present in Lake Aracaibo's brushy ground cover,

pharmaceuticals are necessarily composed of traditional infusions, decoctions, cold extracts, tinctures in

wine, ground powders, ointments and compresses. Crushed garlic is used as an antifungal, antiparasitic,

antiallergenic, circulatory treatment and as an antibiotic with about a quarter the strength of penicillin by

mass. Extracts of white willow bark are used as a classical analgesic. Stinging nettles are used for arthritis,

asthma and nervous system dysfunctions. Dill seeds for fresh breath and heartburn. Chaparral as a tooth

decay preventive. Coneflower as a viral infection fighter, immune system booster and cold medicine. Aloe

for burns, abrasions, skin problems and as a laxative. Marsh mallow for coughs and throat irritations and

as a treatment for type II diabetes. Blackberry leaf as an astringent. St. John's Wort for depression and

thyroid problems. Dandelion for liver problems, bronchitis and osteoporosis. Fennel as a digestive aid.

Yarrow for wound trauma. Thyme as a topical antiseptic. We have been told that the curb-lining beds of

weeds and wildflowers found on the city streets are actually Shiloh's version of a subsidized pharmaceutical

program. The untended herbs (which are watered and fertilized by natural exposure) are retained for

anyone to take from as they have need. Santiago says, “Leaves are for the healing of the nations.”

Some organic drugs are extracted from animals, such as insulin for diabetics and adrenaline for asthma and

allergic reactions. Bee stings are sometimes used as a treatment for acute tissue inflammation and

infection (doesn't traditional Chinese medicine also do this?) Oxygen from the electrolysis plant is kept

immersed in inverted ceramic cylinders for emergency needs and are distributed to asthmatics for use in

home emergencies.



They are of course without the vast array of synthetic tissue and organ replacements available to modern

science, but are capable of a number of limited mechanical assistances. Bronze pins for bone fractures;

bamboo wheelchairs; crude wooden prostheses; even limited blood-banking for near-term surgeries.

Patients donate blood to themselves (if able) which is bottled and kept in a below grade ice pack for up to a

week. Without the ability to test blood compatibility factors the best they can do is self-donations. The risk

of mismatch is occasionally accepted if the alternative is certain death (with the donor usually being the

closest relative).



Vaccination methods are non-existent. In general, however, improved public sanitation and strictly

enforced quarantines have been their most effective tools against disease outbreak. Remarkably, even

with their crowded living conditions they have not yet experienced an epidemic of any kind. Many modern

cities cannot make that boast.



Limited dental operations (tooth extractions and manual cleanings) are practiced by general physicians.

Using spring-wound drills and bronze bits they are actually able to core out cavities and place fillings.

These consist of a paste of finely ground clay and wax heated until soft and pressed into the drilled tooth.

The wax prevents the clay from dissolving and the clay strengthens the wax and keeps it hard.



Aircraft: We have had the opportunity to examine the hot air balloon we encountered on our flight in. Its

skin is a light linen, but is augmented with a large parawing on a tether for greater lift. The balloon is heated

by two ceramic fire pans suspended above the bamboo gondola, which contain hot stones and coals. The

fuel is sunflower oil contained in skin bags arrayed above the fire pan and drained into it by the opening of

pinch valves. While the balloon is an airship in its own right, it is primarily used as a launching platform for

Shiloh's homegrown hang gliders. These are the standard delta-wing shapes but made from lightweight

linen, cord and bamboo. Up to two can be launched from the balloon at a height of over 200 meters. From

here the steady Shiloh winds propel them to altitudes of a kilometer above the lake. The local club that

designed, built and flies these craft calls themselves the Aeronauts. It is surprising that they have not yet

attempted to escape the compound with them.



Hunting weapons: As early food shortages and domestication have emptied the colony of wild animals, the

only viable hunting option is birds that pass over the security perimeter. Shiloh inventors have contrived a

couple of arms for this purpose. The first is what I earlier described as the medieval fustibal, or staff-sling.

Hunters here are capable of taking stationary birds with these. The second is Shiloh's singular firearm

produced by a self-taught gunsmith in Shiloh City. It is an .80 caliber shotgun made entirely of wood! It

looks like a stocky carbine with three wide barrels all bored from a single heavy cylinder, which is itself

tension wrapped with rope for reinforcement. The cylinder is manually rotated like an archaic pepperbox

revolver. The firing mechanism is a slow-burning rod driven through a breach hole at the back of each

barrel by tension springs of coiled animal tendon released by a lever. The use of low-powered black

powder charges prevents over-stressing due to firing. The barrels are fitted with glazed ceramic tubes

holding powder and pebble shot. These provide a smooth surface for firing and shield the wooden bores

from heat damage. When shattered by firing they are simply dumped out and replaced with a new one... a

sort of preloaded "cartridge". About a hundred have been produced, twenty of which belong to the police.

Their version fires a tailed leather sandbag with the same effect as a rubber bullet gun. The enforcers

Karscatov spoke with remarked on the massive knockdown and stun power of the weapons at ranges up to

25 meters. Commander Karscatov is quite taken with them and intends to keep one as a collection piece at

mission's end.

The gunpowder mill (which is surrounded by soil berms for safety) also produces simple fireworks: heavy

bamboo rockets and rather large (by GU standards illegal) firecrackers. With their "Independence

Celebration" a little over a month away, there was a brisk business in these during the Christmas shopping.







LIFESTYLE

Art: Music here is more a participatory than spectator activity. Live music is the only kind that exists here in

Shiloh, and there isn't a keyboard or guitar in the colony. But harp and lyre-like instruments are played

along with simple leather drums, bamboo flutes, glazed ceramic tube horns, and shakers of various types.

Since their music is religious in nature it seems logical that their instruments would be biblical-era as well. A

variety of bands playing folk, classical and religious pieces are heard at the park band shell in the evenings.

This is right next to our command center and there have been a few times that I have had to suspend work

for the team to go out for a better listen.



I shouldn't say that only live music is played here. One of the restaurants we visited had a home-built

contraption that was a cross between a bamboo xylophone and an archaic player piano. A

counterweight-driven belt turned a wooden roller with peg cams that caused the bamboo tubes to bounce to

a simple tune. The thing is famous all over the colony.



Live theater has appeared in the band shell weekly. Most are simple morality plays or comedies centered

on misunderstandings and irony (I find it oddly surprising that they would do comedy!), though a production

of "King David" that I had time to take in last week was a lengthy piece about the moral failures and court

intrigues of the legendary monarch. It was unsophisticated, but not badly done. The costumes were

gorgeous.



What I found most haunting were the original paintings and sketches in the Academy Museum. Not the

religious pieces, but the landscapes. Seas, snowscapes, rocky canyons; terrain that doesn't exist here.

And the attempts at Paris and Egypt weren't quite right. The Eiffel Tower had the wrong shape and the

Pyramids were incorrectly sized relative to each other. But here in Shiloh, this is the best they can do at

seeing the world. A poignant statement about their very real isolation, and their remarkable tenacity in

refusing the exit.



Leisure Activities: On weekends the park in Aracaibo Town is crowded with picnickers, barbecuers,

kite-flyers and lawn bowlers. A local variant on chess with elephant and chariot pieces on an uncheckered

board is played in the park as well. When I asked about it (some of you are aware of my penchant for

strategy simulations) Santiago said that it was the original version of chess as played by the Jewish king

Solomon. Even in this they are religious. I decided against debating the historical source of its origin.



On the game field they play a sport completely original to Shiloh. It appears to be a slower version of

standard football played on a pitch the size of a basketball court (space being limited for such luxuries).

Teams of five wearing padded helmets and wool uniforms play with a dense leather ball (like a smaller

medicine ball). Movement is by kick or two-handed pass and the end zone keeper has a cricket-like bat for

blocking as well. The game is surprisingly rough for these peace-minded Shilohans and allows

hockey-style body checking. I am told that they have arranged a league comprised of several private clubs,

the Academy's team and two "semi-pro" squads from the big towns. The game I witnessed, which ended in

a tie, collected a crowd of several hundred in the terraced seating around the park. The venue was

complete with vendors in the crowd selling roasted kabob and a public address system: a caller with conical

megaphone!



Shiloh City's compact "Pleasant Gardens" is even more developed. A sandy beach on the lakeshore is

crowded with swimmers on warm weekends. A foot powered sternwheel "Swan Boat" takes small groups

on lake tours. An outdoor puppet theater has been performing “Pilgrim’s Progress” to crowds of kids on

Saturday and Sunday afternoons and the collection of wooden playground equipment must be the

equivalent of a theme park for Shiloh children. It even includes a windmill-powered carousel, if you can

envision that. There is also a small zoological garden consisting of a handful of local fauna (foxes, hawks,

hummingbirds, snakes, salamanders, opossum, cavies and a wildcat) in pits and bamboo cages. Santiago

remarks that this doubles as their attempt to preserve animals deprived of habitat by development. Any

community with a zoo and amusement park is not at its end.



A portion of forest (barely a square kilometer) that is reserved for logging has hiking trails, permanent

lean-to's and tents maintained for vacationers by the civil authority. There are also a few rustic camping

sites on the small islands in the lake. These are in use nearly year-round by newlyweds and those who wish

to "get away" in this cramped little country.



What has become clear is that the people here are not anti-technology at all. They aspire to modern

conveniences but, limited by their resources, have successfully worked out low-tech approximations. The

feel of the entire colony is not one of third world, but Old World. Their achievements range between

classical antiquity and the 19th century depending on the resources available, but are invariably creative

and effective. The difference between this community now and what it was ten years ago, however, is an

intangible. Homes, neighborhoods and fields are well kept and efficiently run. In a compound short on

space and every conceivable material, one would expect a grinding pragmatism that produces bare-bones

survival means. But simple efforts at beauty are made everywhere, from flowerpots on windowsills, to

colorful pennants on doorways and vehicles, to the handmade wind chimes of bamboo and glass tinkling in

gardens. Their refusal to degenerate into the rubble of third world areas speaks of dignity. Santiago says

it's hope. Either way their standard of living, even conceding their low technology, is better than a third of

the planet’s right now. Better even than some living in developed countries.





S.

Dec. 29, UY 14



TO: Consul, Administration Complex, Rome

Consul, Global Relations and Diplomacy, Beijing

Consul, Legal Complex, Washington



RE: An Unexpected Opportunity



Before I begin, let me assure all of you that I am not losing my objectivity about the isolation colony. And let

me also affirm that I am fully cognizant of the goal of our mission here and its importance. Shiloh remains a

threat to the Unification, and all the more as our intelligence demonstrates that the independence

underground is closing in on the location of this site (they may already be in Belaguay). If my reports

seemed to have an admiring tone for the things achieved here inside the compound it is only in a clinical,

sociological sense. The idea of an isolated bubble society, using archaic technologies, and operating

undetected in the midst of the information age is, you must admit, fascinating. And the fact that I have

played a game of chess or two with Dr. Santiago merely demonstrates withdrawal symptoms on my part for

the strategy software that I spend my little leisure time on (in spite of what some members of my team may

have insinuated to you).



Nevertheless, I do have something to report. As I summarized in my last message, we are left with very

little useable political material against Shiloh, should it be revealed publicly. The colony has a better

standard of living than nearly all of Africa, its crime rates are lower than any city in the Unification, instead of

ecological violations there is a careful conservation of resources that most in the Green Parties fail to live up

to, and while a theocracy rules, it is far more even-handed than any Islamic country. Any exposure of this to

the global public would be equivalent to conceding virtually every contested point to our opponents. Who

knows how many countries leaning toward secession would be tipped by this?



But we have recently gotten a bit of luck that could change the situation. In brief, just after Christmas, a

homicide was committed in Shiloh City; a pair of brothers-in-law with a personal feud that turned violent

(Santiago referred to them as “Cain and Abel”). The names and details are not important, but what may

become very useful to us is Shiloh's policy on capital punishment. I am told that the crime is an

open-and-shut case with witnesses, murder weapon and motive. If so, we will be looking at a death

sentence and probably very soon at that. The trial is set for the weekend (no slow wheels of justice here..).

I have tried to connect with Santiago, but he has been absorbed by this development since the day it

happened. I hope to meet with him tomorrow. He undoubtedly anticipates my questions because I

received a dispatch from him today assuring me that the trial will be public and that members of my team

and I will have access to it.



If the murder trial and sentencing go as I expect, we will have to make a decision. If we intervene

immediately on human-rights grounds (to prevent the execution) we would be backed by Unification Law

and could dismantle the site immediately. But then again we are faced with the dilemma of ten thousand

successful (even victorious) secessionists free to tell their story. And none of them will have taken a

Unification Pledge or received a Transaction Chip. On the other hand, if we were to allow the execution to

be carried out, we would no longer be quashing a successful independent colony, but a killing regime. This

will be our fallback position. When I meet with Santiago tomorrow, I will make it clear that capital

punishment is a severe violation of GU law and will risk our direct intervention. I will make one last effort to

talk them into rejoining the Unification and letting our legal apparatus sort this out.



I will keep you posted as details unfold.



S.

Jan. 2, UY 15



TO: Consul, Administration Complex, Rome

Consul, Global Relations and Diplomacy, Beijing

Consul, Security Complex, Moscow

Consul, Legal Complex, Washington



RE: Murder Trial



Things have gone much more quickly than I anticipated. Shiloh's courtroom methods are streamlined to

say the least. Judges from the Council filled the roles of "legal advisor" for both the accused and the victim's

family (their roles aren't as assertive as the traditional attorney's). In this the accused was able to choose

another advisor if he wished, but he accepted the one given him (a Miles Alvarado from a village outside of

Aracaibo Town). A jury of seven was chosen by lot from the population rolls, examined by the Judges for

impartiality and given instructions consistent with the gravity of the case they would decide (along with

endless biblical quotes on justice). Of course, presiding over the trial was none other than Hector Santiago,

current Speaker for the Council of Judges. And the Shilohan judicial model invests the presiding judge with

no small authority. Instead of prosecuting and defense attorneys, the judge does the questioning of the

accused and witnesses. The legal advisors simply coach their respective charges and ask occasional

questions of the judge, accused and witnesses. Legal terminology is quite absent from their process

(except, of course for the standard biblical references) and the whole affair was carried out in plain

language. In effect, the accused is his own advocate, with assistance from the assigned advisor. The Legal

Complex would call it reckless. Shilohans call it simple and direct.



The trial took all of three hours and was held in Santiago's Church, which didn't have an open seat

remaining. The evidence collected by the police amounted to two witnesses (they seem to regard the

numbers 2 and 3 as decisive in this) and matching fingerprints on the murder weapon, a glass blade. I

found it mildly surprising that Shiloh investigators possessed fingerprinting technology, obsolete though it is

in the Unification. It was no rigged trial, however, and both Santiago and the accused's advisor seriously

questioned the veracity of the witnesses and weapon. But the evidence was undeniable and would have

stood up in a GU court as well, though it would have taken orders of magnitude more time. When the jury

returned with a guilty verdict it had taken them only thirty minutes. What wasn't considered, however, was

the degree of the murder. Evidently the man committed his crime in a fit of passion, a result of a heated

altercation. This was accepted without debate during the trial. But even nations from the last century that

maintained capital punishment would never have given the death sentence he was given today. But that is

what he got, and now we must make our decision. I will leave it up to the Directorate, but I advise against

direct intervention at this time. Let me press my point with Santiago and show him the consequences of this

course.



Santiago may be difficult to reach, however. He has gone into seclusion with the convict, along with the

other Judges, in preparation for the execution. Unbelievably, it is scheduled for tomorrow!

I was able to corner and confront him for a few minutes after the trial, both about the haste of the conviction

and sentence. His reply, and I remember every word of it, was, "When the sentence for a crime is not

quickly carried out, the hearts of the people are filled with schemes to do wrong." Almost like a corporate

motto. Another cryptic piece from the scriptures?



At the sentencing Santiago announced that they would, "deliver... to Satan for the destruction of the flesh...

that the spirit may be saved..." No doubt Santiago and the other Judges are hard at work right now on that

last point.



I will attempt to make another contact with the Judges prior to the execution which is scheduled for noon

tomorrow. If I am able to get to Santiago I will contact you as soon as I can. We are all exhausted here, and

it's going to be a long night. I still await word from the Directorate on whether I should have Commander

Karscatov prevent the execution by force, should it come to that. Any direction you can give us at this point

would help.



S.

Jan. 3, UY 15



TO: Consul, Administration Complex, Rome

Consul, Global Relations and Diplomacy, Beijing

Consul, Security Complex, Moscow

Consul, Legal Complex, Washington



RE: Execution



It is 1330 hours here in Shiloh, and the execution is over. It took place on a llama pasture at the extreme

western end of the colony, against the security fence. While we never were able to meet with Dr. Santiago

or the Judges this morning, we know something of the events that transpired since my last communication.

The Council of Judges stayed with the convicted throughout the night, "praying and pleading" with him

about his "eternal condition". When he was led to the rope and platform, a red-eyed Santiago declared to

the assembled crowd that the man had "in repentance made his reconciliation with God in Christ". Given

the context, the reaction of the crowd was the most perplexing public display I have ever seen: cheers,

shouts and "fives". One would think that Shiloh had just won the World Cup. Thinking we had just seen the

cancellation of the execution, my team and I were stunned to see the police move him into position on the

platform! Karscatov moved to intervene, but without orders from the Directorate, I stopped her. There was

nothing else to do.



Hector Santiago read a passage about a crucified thief, gave a final benediction, and they lowered the rope.

But, startlingly, below his arms... lifting him and rotating the gallows out toward the fence! When I finally

realized their intentions (how had I not seen it earlier?) I ordered Karscatov to the access gate at all speed.

With our jamming system preventing wireless communications to the security detachment, there was no

other way to get word to them to shut down the drones. When the rope was dropped inside the security

zone the convict hit the ground running. While the crowd backed away from the fence I climbed the platform

to get a better look. It didn't take long. Five hundred meters west of our position I caught sight of one of the

Gladiators closing. Behind me the crowd was cheering and shouting prayers for the man who was already

a hundred meters east. At that point a there was a flash, a sharp crack and the man went down. A proximity

mine had been triggered 10 meters to his left. Apparently only clipped, he got up and began to limp/run on

along the fence line. But the drone was in range now. The 10mm caseless repeater cut him in half with a

short burst and it was over. Santiago turned, shot me a weary look and left the platform. And I had nothing

to say to him either. We had served as Shiloh's executioner. Ironic, isn't it? I wonder how many of those

"escape attempts" terminated by our security systems in the recent past were really death penalties.



I'm not sure what more good we can do here. You have the results of our study, and now know as well as

I that no charge against Shiloh can be useful regarding this matter of their law. The team and I stand ready

to continue as the Directorate sees fit, but I feel that our work here is finished. And I don't mind telling you

that I'm finally ready to tap some of that leave I've accrued over the past fifteen years.



We await your orders.



S.

Jan.4, UY 15



TO: Consul, Administration Complex, Rome

Consul, Global Relations and Diplomacy, Beijing

Consul, Security Complex, Moscow

Consul, Legal Complex, Washington





RE: Last Details





On your orders Commander Karscatov and I met with the Judges Council most of this morning to conclude

our report on yesterday's execution and deliver the critical information you sent me last night. Their mood

was serious, but not despairing. About the execution, the Judges were now able to share freely. In their

religious (and civic) view, capital punishment is bestowed, reluctantly, on those who would devalue life by

taking it cheaply. In their opinion, this reestablishes that value by assigning an equal cost. Of course we

have all heard this argument before and recognized the irrationality of it, but I have never seen it played out

so compellingly as I did yesterday. And their use of the security perimeter for that purpose seems eminently

logical now. They place the convicted in a position of almost certain death, with the chance of escape a thin

hope. If he survives, it is God's will. If not, then I need not tell you what they mean by turning him over to

"Satan" for the destruction of the flesh. Either way, they have left his fate in God's hands. And we have

completely played into theirs.



So our little discourse on justice transitioned smoothly into the information you passed to me. The dismissal

of all of Antonio Edwards' charges did not seem to come as a surprise to the Judges. A few, including

Santiago, indicated that it took longer (at eight years) than they expected. They thanked me for the

information and said that they would pray about it. I informed them that he would be back within the week,

that his personal assets were still intact and that the land around Lake Aracaibo was technically still his

property, now that he had been acquitted. They assured me that they understood the implications. On your

orders I also emphasized the fact that Shiloh, being outside the jurisdiction of the Global Unification, could

not count on any protection from Security Complex upon Edwards' return. They thanked us again, I think

sincerely, and remarked that they would take the matter up.



Before leaving I requested a private conference with Hector Santiago this evening. We will meet in a few

hours and in that time I hope to persuade him to give me his pulpit tomorrow. If I am allowed, I will go

directly to the people here with our offer. This is the one thing we haven't tried yet, and we all know the

circumstances warrant it now.



My team is breaking down our operations center for transfer out. We have uploaded all of our files by tight

beam relay and within 24 hours there should be only six of us left here. If Santiago turns me down we will

helicopter out too. If I am given the chance to address the people here, I will update you on developments

as they transpire.



I am a bit concerned about the reaction of the people when they find out that Antonio Edwards has been

released and is on his way back. The memory of the first slaughter at his hands is still visceral here. There

aren't enough Shiloh police to maintain order if panic breaks out. There is a chance that some may even try

to run the security zone. It might be prudent to take precautionary measures toward that end.



S.



post-script: I have taken a bit of a risk. While we were in discussions with the Judges Council, I had

Commander Karscatov plant a microbug under one of the chairs in the room. I take full responsibility for

planting the bug, but I think it worth the risk. I won't be able to retrieve the recordings until I get back into the

room (our jamming system) but that should still be within the next couple of days. The information there

could be valuable if it comes down to an 11th hour negotiation.



post-post-script: Personally, I would like to see the legal reasonings behind the dismissal of Edwards. The

man is a mass-murderer (let alone a dealer in illegal contraband) and how he got off the hook is

incomprehensible. A failure of arrest protocol, no doubt. Still, if you could forward that information to me, I

would appreciate it as a favor.

Jan. 5, UY 15



TO: Consul, Administration Complex, Rome

Consul, Global Relations and Diplomacy, Beijing

Consul, Security Complex, Moscow



RE: The Da Silva Mission



The core of my team and I are still here in Shiloh and may be for a bit longer. I was able to meet with Hector

Santiago late last night and was given permission to address his church (with a congregation nearly 10% of

the population) this morning. The bottom line of each:



My interaction with Santiago was the most direct we have had. There is no doubt that he understands the

stakes given the imminent return of a revenge-minded Antonio Edwards. In his opinion the Unification has

given Edwards a blank check for that purpose. I declined to debate this point with him and instead focused

on resolution provisions for the colony, especially terms of readmittance to the GU. I restated all of our

initial conditions, promised more reliable aid and security, and laid out our final concession: exemption from

imprinting with the Universal Transaction Implants (we have almost forgotten that this was the original point

of contention in their move to secession). I reminded him of the good he had done in the past, and the good

he could still do for humanity through the mechanisms of the Unification (this wasn't mere flattery). I used

every diplomatic tool I possess.



He was unmoved by all of this. His initial answer, "faith is not grease for the gears of worldly power" sums

it up. He maintains that God has proven himself reliable during Shiloh's isolation, while the Unification

hasn’t in any context. Reviewing the events preceding Shiloh's withdrawal from the GU and its improbable

success afterward, it is difficult to argue otherwise in any practical sense. So (as has become obvious to me

over the last few weeks) this matter is a great deal larger than just the UTI's. Apparently, in Dr. Santiago's

mind, it always has been. "Treachery toward God is worse than mere loss of life" he said.



At this point our discussion departed resolution plans and became philosophical, even religious in nature.

I'm afraid that last trite religious statement was one too many. I let my professional comportment slip and

our discussion turned decidedly to debate. Perhaps argument is a better word. And I held nothing back.

Every intellectual and moral contradiction in his "faith" that had been screaming in my mind since I met the

man. I say this as a confession, and if I have failed the mission my resignation is ready. Understand that it

seemed the last diplomatic option had ended. I remember literally thinking to myself "Why not?" before

diving in.



So it was with some surprise that I received the note from him this morning inviting me to speak to his

church (we were packing up our last things for the flight out). During our discussion last night I challenged

him personally on at least letting the people of Shiloh make up their own minds on whether they want to stay

or not... they can still leave through the access gate. Perhaps this got through to him.



An hour later I was at the Da Silva Mission, as crowded as it had been for the trial a few days earlier (if this

is how it normally is, it must be the most densely seated Christian church on the planet). I didn't have much

time to prepare a statement but I was fairly sure the news of Edwards' return would do most of the work for

me. I had hoped to be given the podium first, but the church went on with its service as normal. A lengthy

time of corporate singing, a few prayers, a handful of "testimonies" from individuals about their religious

experiences, and then a reading of scripture. I was a bit surprised that there was no appeal for money (I've

always understood this to be a centerpiece of independent churches). Santiago then came forward to

deliver an hour-long message on a passage detailing a list of biblical heroes and the great faith they

exhibited. The acoustics of that old adobe building are remarkable; without any amplification his voice

carried easily over a crowd of nine hundred. And Santiago himself was serious but unruffled.

At the end of his message he had the people sit down, then he introduced me. At that point, in a

matter-of-fact tone he detailed the news of Antonio Edwards' acquittal and his soon return. There were

shouts and questions tossed from the crowd, and it took a few moments to get the place quiet. But there

was no panic. I took the podium and made our offer on behalf of the Unification. Basically all the same

things I had offered to Santiago the night before, but I nearly pleaded with the people not to throw their lives

away. When I was finished Dr. Santiago came to stand by me and then offered to take questions from the

floor.



I apologize for the drama, but I knew this was going to be the deciding moment. The first question came

from a farmer in overalls; would they all have to take the Unification pledge? Of course we could not

concede this and I told them so. I knew the Directorate would support me in that decision. What happened

next is difficult to describe in words. All the hands went down and there were no more questions. After a

lengthy pause, Santiago motioned to a singer at the side, a young woman, and she came forward to sing

(unaccompanied and, I must admit, oddly beautiful... strange that it would strike me as lovely in such a

moment). Then the whole assembly joined her. I don't remember the words, but a reference to a bloody

crown stands out. Santiago shook my hand, thanked me for all we had done and the next I knew I was

standing outside listening to their voices. I have seen protests, demonstrations and riots involving

thousands, but I have never witnessed anything like this.



If your information is correct and Antonio Edwards will be back in South America in the next few days, it

won't be long until he reestablishes his power in the area and recruits or buys a guerilla army to finish his

business here. So maybe a week remains at most. I will send back all the rest of my personnel tomorrow,

but with your permission will stay as long as I can. I know Commander Karscatov feels the same way, so I

will keep her as well. It may yet be that if I can convince even a minority to exit the compound it might start

a landslide. Either way, I still plan to check the bug I left in the Judges Chamber for any useful information,

even at this late hour.



I will request an audience with the Judges tomorrow morning as soon as I can get it. I will retrieve the data

(discreetly, of course) and see what can be done with the Judges. If it's peace they love, I will work to

convince them that it is precisely what they aren't about to get. I have a copy of the Judeo/Christian

scriptures given to me by Santiago and have been combing it for something useful for that purpose.



S.

Jan. 8, UY 15



TO: Consul, Administration Complex, Rome

Consul, Global Relations and Diplomacy, Beijing

Consul, Security Complex, Moscow

Consul, Media Complex, Los Angeles

Consul, Legal Complex, Washington





RE: Defense Preparations



I apologize that it has taken so long to get back to you with an update. The Judges have been in seclusion

for over three days preventing me from accessing the bug. During that time however, there have been

some real developments. Unbelievably, it seems that Shiloh is going to attempt to ride out the attack by

Edwards and his men. Every church in the colony broke the news on Edwards the same time as Santiago's.

Since then the place has gone into a state of emergency: crops are being harvested as possible, livestock

penned, loose articles and combustible materials stowed. Emergency supplies of food, water, clothing,

blankets and herbal medicines are being collected and distributed by the churches in a reprise of their old

role from the first year of the isolation. Cloth sacks and wicker baskets are being collected and filled with

soil for earthworks and building reinforcement. An emergency edition of The Liberty hit the streets two days

ago detailing the information on Edwards and providing how-to steps for stocking up on supplies, barring

windows with bamboo and giving first aid. There was also an appeal for men that would join a "resistance

group" and a general call for dogs and hunting arms (more on that later).



That's not all. Defensive works are being set up around the colony, apparently in an attempt to deter, or at

least slow Edwards' entry into the compound. Crews of volunteers and prisoners have been working past

daylight setting up road barricades, bunkers and berms, weaving fences of thorn canes and spiked

bamboo, digging trenches and pits and prepping the small canal bridges for demolition. Some of the former

Samaritans tech experts are overseeing the work. Boatloads of food and supplies are being ferried to the

prison island for conversion into a last stand fortress.



The police have been out directing defensive preparations, hastily retraining the colony's GSD’s and drilling

in combat tactics. So we know they are planning some form of resistance. Even more revealing, what looks

like a modest militia is forming. Karscatov has witnessed a group of several hundred training in a farm field

outside of Aracaibo town under the direction of the police. They wear makeshift uniforms of grays and

blacks while practicing hand to hand combat, marksmanship with their staff slings and battlefield movement

signaled by flags and whistles. They have seem to have no notion of the suicidal position they are courting.



As for the general populace, most daily work has suspended. Businesses are closed on the streets though

there is still traffic in wagons hauling supplies. The churches, however, are crowded. They seem to have

gone to a state of perpetual prayer, preaching and singing that echoes on the empty streets.



The Shiloh police have opened their palisade in front of the access gate to allow exit for anyone who wants

to leave. So far five hundred have, individuals and entire families. The security garrison here has had to set

up temporary tent housing for these emigrants to allow enough time for processing. All are being profiled,

given the Unification pledge and offered the Universal Transaction Implants (strangely, all have taken it).

Five hundred is a significant segment of the population here, but the general panic and exodus we had

hoped for hasn't happened. The rest are determined to take their chances with Edwards.



My remaining support team, except for Commander Karscatov, left at helicopter at 0825 this morning. All

that is left now is the tight beam transmitter and a small modular office. At your request we will operate from

here as long as possible. We met with the Judges this morning and informed them plainly of our intentions

to stay, to work at convincing the people to evacuate and to record the events for the Unification as they

transpire. Their initial response was concern, but ironically for us! More than once they stated that it would

not be safe for us to remain and urged us to leave.



At any rate we were able to download the contents of the microbug by infrared remote without tipping our

hands. It contained hours of verbal interaction by the Judges Council and police authorities. An

abbreviated summary:



- The Judges took the matter up immediately after our departure, but the vast bulk of their deliberations

were prayer and Bible study! They didn't even discuss specific problems or solutions until five hours into the

meeting. In fact they seemed to be reading the scriptures less for encouragement and spiritual strength

than for actual direction in their chosen course of action. They were literally looking for situational

precedents in the biblical text (this is not the first time that I regret not knowing more about these stories).



- In the course of their praying, reading and deliberating three stories seemed to rise to importance and

became, in their interpretations, the germ for plans. The Council was split on these, two Judges to each

with Santiago refraining from committing (at least early on). They were:



- those advocating a diplomatic contact with Antonio Edwards on his arrival pointed to a story about two

estranged brothers, Jacob and Esau (the latter known for ruthless violence),



- those in favor of resisting referred to the ancient Jewish warlord, Gideon, whose tiny army defeated a

vastly superior force with torches, jars and "trust in God",



- those arguing for a passive stance, and willingness to "be martyred" saw a parallel in the arrest of Christ.

In it one of his followers attacked an official with a sword, earning his rebuke. These were decidedly against

resistance in any form and said more than once that "His kingdom is not of this world".



- After hours of discussion and prayer (I had to skim it there was so much) they were still deadlocked with

each faction convinced their chosen course was "God's will". I find it oddly comforting that these "spirituals"

at times find themselves uncertain as well. At this point Dr. Santiago spoke up with a fourth story that in his

opinion could be a compromise of the other three. In it the ancient Jewish king Hezekiah is confronted with

an invasion by the Assyrian Empire at the height of its power. His solution was to prepare for conflict as

best as possible by repairing fortifications and raising an army, while "taking their trouble to God in his

temple". Prior to the siege Hezekiah's diplomats met with the Assyrian messengers at the city walls, though

no resolution was found there. Finally, resigned to their fate, they were surprised to see the enemy army

wiped out beyond the city walls by the "avenging angel". Of course the story is legend, but the Judges see

it as a historical event and workable plan. A delegation would be selected to meet with Edwards at the

palisade gate and attempt to talk the confrontation through. Meanwhile, a militia would be raised as fast as

possible, with the police acting as officers, in the event that resistance became necessary. As a

compromise between the actives and passives, the militia would be voluntary only. No one who felt it wrong

to resist would be asked to do so. Only those with a clear conscience on the matter would be allowed to

"fight". And then all newly marrieds would be sent away as well, though I don’t understand the meaning of

this strange distinction. And all agreed that no matter what eventual course of action is taken, no lethal

force of any kind would be wielded against intruders. The statement, "we're ready for eternity and they

aren't," was memorable.



I must admit that I'm astonished by the substance of their debate. They seem less interested in efficacy

than what is required of them by their faith. Has there ever been a counsel of war quite like this in human

history? But then has anything these people done ever followed the standard calculations of politics,

economics, psychology or law?



So now we see their plan in action. The fortifications, the militia army, the prayer and fasting, everything in

Santiago's Old Testament story. At the end of their meeting they apparently hastened upstairs to the

church's main hall to lay my printed communiqué regarding Edwards' acquittal "on the altar". Over the next

few days they continued to meet and pray (and pray and pray and pray) but they have also spoken with

police authorities for actual military planning. Here at last we get a detailed view of their resistance

preparations. We don't recognize all the names or voices among the enforcers, but Karscatov seems to

think that our Garribe candidate might be one of them. The most important pieces:



- Their general plan is to make the conquest of the entire colony slow enough, difficult enough and costly

enough to persuade Edwards to not finish. As there is only one entrance to the colony through the access

gate, and because they expect him to come in confidently, they will not plan for an entrance through the

security perimeter. They even seem to think that the armored ground drones will be left in place by the

Unification to prevent escape from the compound through the isolation zone. Toward this end the battle

plan will be a stalling action from east to west in layers. Defensive works, chosen resistance sites and

physical barriers will be arranged with the purpose of delay and damage. As many of the civilian population

as possible will be evacuated west to Shiloh City, or at least the women and children.



- Their rules of engagement will emphasize harassment, surprise attacks and close quarters combat.

Fighters are under orders to stay behind cover and let the enemy come to them. They realize they will

suffer a decided disadvantage in firepower, especially at range. Places of confrontation will be chosen with

this in mind: narrow city streets, sunflower fields (they are getting tall now), and narrow access points like

canal bridges or roads between blackberry hedges. Smoke screens from burning piles of damp vegetation

may be used to reduce visibility in places.



- Having put out an appeal for militia fighters, they received three hundred volunteers, after dismissals.

Exactly three hundred. That number seems to have meant something to the Judges Council, especially

those who argued for the confrontation plan in the first place. They all agreed that it was a good sign from

God. With the days remaining to them, the police would train them as quickly as possible on combat and

movement and organize them into squads of tens and companies of fifties. Of course there would be no

way to prepare them for the psychological effects of combat, but the police seemed content to rely on the

native courage of the men. It was stated that given the superiority of Edwards' arms and soldiers, every man

should expect to die in combat. When the offer was made for men to leave, none did. As many dogs as

possible were also being pressed into service again, with a number around two hundred likely.



- There was quite a bit of discussion on their rather bleak shortage of weapons. Santiago, always the

preacher, pointed to biblical wars in which the Hebrews and their inferior "slings and farm tools" won

victories over their enemies' armor, swords and chariots. That said, at the time of the meeting their arsenal

was comprised of about ninety "shotguns" and two hundred fifty staff slings, or about one for each police

and militia. Their ordnance for the shotguns would be the leather sand bags (they are hurriedly making

more of these). It was suggested that the four heavy crossbows in the prison towers be removed and used

by sharpshooters.



- With infantry arms (for lack of a better word) taken care of, there was some talk about the need for heavier

weapons, especially for use against vehicles (Karscatov thinks the person who argued for this was our

Garribe suspect... he sounded experienced). Specifically, with Edwards most likely having trucks,

automatic rifles, grenades (both hand and rocket-propelled), and perhaps even machine guns they would

need to have something to counter with. After brainstorming they decided on some makeshift arms that

could serve in these roles, could be prepared very quickly with materials on hand, and that could be used by

untrained men:

- stun/blind grenades made from small cloth bags of sand, soot and ground pepper, with a heavy

firecracker wedged inside for the explosive charge. It was pointed out that these could potentially be

launched from the prison crossbows. If so, it would give them an indirect fire weapon, even if of short range.

- continuing on the fireworks conversion theme, they would turn their heavy skyrockets into

shoulder-fired missiles by using bamboo launch tubes. While they have no shrapnel or frag effects, they

could be used at range as concussion/suppression weapons and perhaps have some effect against

vehicles.

- a blunderbuss for use against vehicles. While there is no time (or capacity) for assembling a real

rifle, the police seemed to think that a very simple smoothbore musket could be made from cannibalized

heavy bronze tubing and fitted with a wooden stock. When asked what good such a thing would be, an

officer replied that it could be made of very large caliber (twenty millimeters, he said), fitted with a reinforcing

collar at the breech and packed with a substantial charge of black powder. Firing a finned, cast-metal dart

it could potentially be accurate to 100 meters. This would make it easily the longest ranged weapon they

possess. The effect, according to the officer, would be an "elephant gun" capable of penetrating deep into

an engine compartment. When questioned whether a man could fire the thing, it was argued that it could be

fitted with a shoulder pad and firing stand. They estimated that with help from the gunsmith in Shiloh City

and the metals forge, they could perhaps make two per day.

- they plan a tripod-mounted “swivel gun”, basically a heavy wooden tube loaded with a powder

charge and their sand/soot/pepper mix. The idea is a squad support weapon that will fire a

blinding/stunning cone-shaped burst over a wide area. Their substitute for a machine gun, it would appear.

- finally, a full-blown cannon was suggested for use against vehicles at close range in urban

combat. In concept it would not be much different from those used in Napoleonic warfare, but firing stone

balls at very close range. The barrel would be bored from a single large pine-tree trunk by one of the steam

engines. In theory, a single trunk could be bored out in a day. Then the barrel would be compression

wrapped with heavy rope for reinforcement and a firing breech drilled out by hand. Santiago remarked on

hearing about such a device being tried in the middle ages by a peasant village (the Bulgarians?). Nobody

could remember whether it worked. While the thing would be a real risk of catastrophic failure, it could also

potentially disable a light vehicle in a single shot. All agreed that if Edwards' vehicles were taken away, he

would quickly lose interest. Fixed to a cart it would be mobile for ambush purposes.

- their sulfurless black powder supplies were being scavenged from mining charges, personal

hunting supplies and fireworks (fortunate for them that their independence holiday is only weeks away). A

collection drive for turpentine and sunflower oil was also being conducted to make an incendiary oil that

could be used in fire barricades.

- they will resume broadcasting on their short-wave radio, but for the first time they will make it a call

for help. They of course now realize that they are being jammed, but still plan to issue a continuous mayday

detailing their position, conditions and need for outside help. And they still have not revealed to me the

location of the radio. It's one of the few things they consider "classified".



I will pass on the intelligence that identifies Edwards in Belaguay and already recruiting a force of bandits

and mercenaries. While I doubt it will persuade them to change their minds, every diplomatic option should

be exhausted. Preparing in abstract for a potential attack by their old taskmaster is one thing; knowing it is

imminent is another.



Karscatov and I have at most two days left. We will make one final appeal to the Judges Council prior to our

pickup. I must admit that I wish to see Santiago personally one more time. To press for a satisfactory

resolution, of course.



S.

Jan. 10, UY 15



TO: Consul, Administration Complex, Rome

Consul, Global Relations and Diplomacy, Beijing

Consul, Security Complex, Moscow

Consul, Legal Complex, Washington



RE: Final Hours, and a Request



Shiloh is very quiet now. The streets are empty except for the odd llama team pulling one of their log

cannons. They managed to manufacture most of their makeshift weapons over the past few days. As we

took a final tour of the colony we found it tricky to maneuver our land cruiser through the barriers of

roadblocks, berms and pits. Defensive fortifications are still being finalized by the work teams including

bridge burnings, decoy emplacements, camouflaging with natural vegetation and pre-ranging of weapons.

The Shiloh palisade gate has also been closed and is being reinforced with timbers and sandbags as a first

barrier. Their large park flag now flies above the gate there. Secret first aid stations manned by many who

declined to fight are hidden in houses and churches. The hospital's medicines, equipment and staff have

been dispersed among these. Shiloh's lake boats have been moved to the Castle to deny access by

Edwards' men to those sheltered there. Women and children have been moved to the back of the colony

and most buildings at the east end are empty. The churches in Shiloh City are still packed with singers and

prayers, however. You can feel the storm about to break.



The militia have been assigned defensive positions, often in their own neighborhoods (a police officer

mentioned that they got the idea from Nehemiah, whoever that is). It might give them some small

advantage in terrain familiarity. If the diplomatic team fails, signal rockets and the tower horn will send up

the alarm to the militia and signal dispatch towers on the shore. These in turn will alert the rest of the

colony.



The diplomatic team has been selected and it includes two ministers, a few respected community men and

two Judges including, of course, Hector Santiago. We caught up with them at the gate this morning as they

were leaving their families and preparing to go over. They have set up a meeting tent just past the palisade

gate as an invitation to parley. My final meeting with Santiago wasn't what I expected. When I tried a last

attempt at resolution with the GU, he waved it aside and gave me a surprising, awkward embrace. Then he

handed me his personal Bible with a marker at "Second Timothy 4". He told me that his team would meet

their "opponents" without defensive cover. It strikes me how similar this is to what we were doing only

months ago. Whatever may come of the events about to transpire, it is undeniable that he is a remarkable

man. I don't think I shall see him again.



We had one more stop to make before our flight out. Karscatov and I went to the police office in Shiloh City

which is now being used as the command base for the defensive effort. It was a dangerous risk, but we

were able to isolate our Garribe suspect there and privately confront him. I know Security Complex won't

like our decision, but in my estimation it was worth it. Garribe disappeared from world intelligence radar four

years ago without a trace, and if this was him, the odds were that any further chance of verification would

die with him inside Shiloh in the next forty eight hours.



Let me assure you that we took precautions. We both wore Kevlar vests, Karscatov carried a concealed

caseless sub-auto and even gave me a 9 mm Maxi Power. If he became violent we would both get shots

off. And I must say that through the course of this mission my appreciation for Karscatov as an enforcer has

never been higher.



To be brief, the man is indeed Carlos Garribe. He confessed to it without interrogation. And he put up no

struggle when Karscatov moved to arrest him. He admitted to his crimes outside the compound and stated

plainly that he was willing to be taken in for trial. He added that he had been expecting the arrest since the

first day we arrived. His calmness during the confrontation was surreal (Karscatov had expected a death

struggle). According to him, he became aware of the existence of an "isolation community" in north-central

South America three years ago from a contact he has inside Security Complex (I won't comment on the

implications of that statement, but again it appears that Shiloh is not as secret as we had thought). He

parachuted in from a private chartered plane at night and presented himself to the Shiloh authorities as a

man looking for a home. And this was no mere cover. In his own words, he was "tired of running from the

law and wanted to rest". Of course they took him in without question. Since that time he has lived here

under an assumed name, Miguel Soriano, is married with a baby, and has ironically joined the police where

he taught the unarmed combat technique they call Benaiah (Karscatov had been wondering about that

connection for some time). He says flatly that he is through with his "evil deeds". Could it be possible that

Shiloh has domesticated even Carlos Garribe?



Consider the possibility. Where our corrections installations routinely convert shoplifters into muggers,

Shiloh has reformed the most dangerous man on the planet. And isn't it true that everything we have

worked for in the Unification all these years is, at least in part, realized here? Equitable sharing of wealth, a

brotherhood of citizens, and an end to pointless conflict? Believe me, I am no convert to Santiago's

religious convictions, but who can find fault with their results? Perhaps there is more we could learn here

and apply in the Unification at large.



That is why I must formally request a reevaluation of our policy of non-interference with Edwards when he

arrives. There is nothing to be gained in letting him slaughter these Shilohans, even if they are too

hard-headed to see their situation as hopeless. A company of GU Special Forces could stop Edwards cold.

A platoon. Even if Shiloh refuses to surrender and is completely wiped out, how long will it be kept quiet?

And if it does become public knowledge, what will that do to our carefully constructed PR and the

interdependence that depends on it so fully?



Karscatov and I will be at the pre-arranged lift point in six hours. There is still time to send in an assault

group to stop Edwards. I have never asked such a thing in my entire professional life, and you all know how

long and decorated that has been. And this is no personal favor to me. I am convinced it is the best thing

for the entire Unification and would protect us from a potentially fatal mistake.



We'll be there for the helicopter. Please consider this appeal.



S.

Jan. 11, UY15



TO: Consul, Administration Complex, Rome

Consul, Global Relations and Diplomacy, Beijing

Consul, Security Complex, Moscow



RE: Out of Time



There has been no extraction helicopter and there is no time for one now. In the distance at this moment

Karscatov and I hear the staccato crack of automatic fire. But also the deep booms of black powder

weapons in reply. There are brilliant detonations in the eastern sky and fires are raging near the security

gate. We can see the flames over the buildings from our position farther back.



The attack must have come just after 0500. The signal horn blew a total of twelve times before it was cut

off, but that was enough to alert us that the diplomatic team had failed and the attack was underway. Hector

Santiago and his team must be dead already.



We waited too long to make our exit. Commander Karscatov and I will continue to record what takes place

here, if only to document the last hours of Isolation Compound 2473 for history.



As I speak a squad of militia, a dozen men and dogs, rush past us to the front packing wooden guns and

armfuls of bombs. They quietly sing as they run. Their courage is staggering.



We will have to move back. The thud of grenades is getting close now... pillars of fire surging up only a few

hundred meters away. We can see the blocky shape of a vehicle pushing up over a roadblock backlit by

flames. It is met by a barrage of burning projectiles!



There will be no extraction, will there?



We have to abandon this position. This will be our last transmission. Karscatov and I will try to stay on the

move. If we survive it will be a miracle.





S.

Jan. 12, UY 15



TO: The Directorate, Earth



RE: Farewell



I am transmitting this to your classified code by my own modular phone. As you well know the tight beam

transmitter was destroyed shortly after we "abandoned" it. We watched the missile attack on our building

from a position nearby. But with the jamming system outside the colony dismantled by Shiloh militia over an

hour ago I no longer need it.



Right now I stand on a wreckage-strewn street in Aracaibo Town as local medics and volunteers move

through the ruins finding and tending to the wounded, both Unification and Shilohan. Others fight lingering

fires with buckets of sand and water. Although it is well past noon, the smoke from the burning Gladiators

on the streets here is casting a dark haze, turning the sun blood red. That sounds rather like something I've

read recently in the Bible Santiago gave me, but we'll discuss that later.



No doubt since your data stream cut out just after sunrise you've been anxious for news on the attack.

We've already pieced together a great deal about the course of the fight all across the colony, and I look

forward to sharing that with you. But let's first drop all the pretenses, shall we?



Of course Karscatov and I now know there was never going to be an extraction helicopter. I'm sure you

have surmised at least this. We had our suspicions when you ordered us to stay well after Santiago and the

entire colony had made their intentions clear. That is why we were nowhere near the tight beam transmitter

last night. I rigged up a hundred meter cable that allowed us to use the transmitter from a safe distance.

Turned out to be handy when that cruise missile arrived. And as for the assassination team sent for me

personally... they got close, but Karscatov and Garribe were waiting for them.



Three days ago Shiloh authorities began to suspect it would be the Gladiator drones that they would be

facing after all. It turns out that the Unification isn't the only one that keeps surveillance data. Shiloh police

keep seven observation blinds high in parana pine trees near the security perimeter to watch and record the

movement of the Gladiator II's. The observers, using only spy-glasses, pencil and paper, monitor the

positions and movement patterns of the drones for future use in slipping missionaries through. They never

considered it military intelligence though that's what it came to be. They noted that all the drones had

moved back to their maintenance facilities at that time, leaving the zone unguarded. That's never

happened before and it wasn't difficult to deduce the design behind it: refueling, maintenance and rearming

for an attack. And why not? They would be the ideal instruments for terminating the colony: mindless,

conscienceless, supremely lethal and utterly silent afterward. As I have said before, they leave no

"intelligence footprint". Supported by a small unit of elite special forces (the very ones that escorted us in,

weren't they?) the operation would be all mop-up with no leaks. Brilliant.



And it all could be blamed on Antonio Edwards and his thugs. In fact, if worked correctly the Unification

could even be portrayed as heroic in a too-late rescue operation, should an explanation become necessary:

A) vengeful warlord descends on hapless villagers, B) Security Complex forces scramble to stop it, C)

though too late on the scene to save the locals, GU troops annihilate the criminals. Ludicrous? We found

the trucks carrying the machine-gunned bodies of Edwards and his men just outside the gate, complete with

gear, already prepared for placement around the colony. Tidy killing of two birds with one stone.



When Shiloh commanders realized that it was going to be a confrontation with machines rather than men,

tactical preparations were changed immediately. It was decided that the only weapons they possessed that

could conceivably be effective against armored ground drones would be incendiaries. So they started

making molotovs. Collecting hundreds of household jars and linens and hundreds of liters of turpentine,

pitch and sunflower oil, Shiloh hastily assembled an arsenal of crude firebombs in just a couple of days. As

one of the Judges observed presciently, "Gideon's torches and jars". The dozen or so log cannons they had

made and many of the smaller swivel guns were quickly converted into single-shot flamethrower/anti-tank

guns by loading them with a powder charge and liters of incendiary fluid in a skin. They also constructed

lightweight, mobile, catapult-style sling launchers for their molotovs using teams of men pulling as a

counterweight to provide the throwing force. They ended up having a range of about a hundred meters and

gave Shiloh a valuable indirect fire weapon to use against the drones. Each soldier carried a slow burning

nitrated cord in a ceramic tube as a lighting source on the battlefield.



So that brings me to the details on the course of the battle itself. Clearly your intentions were to use the

armored drones to push the defenders and panicked civilians to the far western end where they could be

easily massacred. Karsactov informs me that the Gladiator II is an outstanding light patrol and recon

vehicle. With a mass of only eight tons, fully articulated 6x6 wheel drive, 20 mm auto cannon, 10 mm

caseless machinegun, 40 mm auto grenade launcher, and dual pop-up Atl-Atl missile racks it is ideal for

border patrol and interdiction. But it is not meant for heavy combat, especially in short-range environments.

One thing it lacks is a heavy, tank-caliber gun. This gave it trouble during the entire course of the battle in

blasting away roadblocks and barricades, or taking down fortified buildings. Even in the opening moments

of the fight it cost you. At the gate it took several minutes for the massed Gladiators to shoot and push

through the reinforced palisade. But the militia had already pre-ranged their catapults for just that purpose.

In that brief span they rained over fifty molotovs onto the jammed-up drones. This was the source of the

blaze we saw near the gate last night. Four of the machines never made it past that first trap. And this

pattern was repeated over and over again through the night and into this morning as the drones got stalled

crossing canals, pushing through hedges, climbing bermed redoubts and getting toppled from demolitioned

bridges. I myself witnessed the destruction of two drones when row houses on both sides of a street were

collapsed with demo charges, burying them in rubble. The compartmentalized layout of Shiloh's farmland

slowed their advance fatally. Even now, three are still stuck in pit traps as the militia sets up their catapults

to finish them off. The fighting in the streets of Aracaibo Town alone cost you ten of them and by the time

they reached Shiloh City they were outnumbered, disorganized and badly strung out.



Let me be more specific. If Security Complex ever conducts an investigation into the failures of the

Gladiator II in this fight (and they may never get that chance) they will most likely find the following:



- the Gladiators, not designed for sustained combat, were short on ammunition. Their missiles and

grenades were quickly used up in assaults on barricades and structures and even the ammo for the

autocannon and machinegun had to be rationed as the battle dragged on into the morning.



- the drones exhibited a number of vulnerabilities to incendiaries, even the crude ones used here. The air

intake for the fuel cell readily carried super-heated gases from burning oil outside the armor directly into the

power plant causing an overheating shutdown in minutes. There was no provision for shunting or cooling

these fumes. And evidently the backup oxygen tanks for the fuel cell were not installed.



- further, the heavy ballistic tires, once ignited (which did take some effort), burned furiously for hours. The

heat from these was often enough to initiate a shutdown of the onboard fuel cell.



- the external Halon fire suppression systems were not charged at the time of the attack. These would have

easily extinguished the fire bombs and made the machines nearly unstoppable. No doubt cost-saving

measures are at fault here.



- their infrared and light-intensification sensors were easily overloaded by the molotovs and surrounding

fires. Open flame sources were placed everywhere in the cities to confuse the drones’ target acquisition. It

appeared at times that they were fighting blind.



- the aluminum-polyfiber composite armor, while lightweight enough to allow airborne transport and

effective against armor piercing and explosive rounds was singularly ineffective against simple

incendiaries. As best we can tell the polyfiber component degrades badly under sustained high

temperatures. Many of the wrecked machines demonstrate buckled armor plate with gaps over a

centimeter wide... particularly over the missile racks and fuel tanks! After a half hour or so of burning we

began to see them go up in explosions. The goal then became keeping the onboard fires going.



- perhaps most importantly, the artificial intelligence of the Gladiators was not made for combat in urban

environs. While the machines exhibit digital speed responses to stimuli, they were exposed as being

dependent on human controllers at remote sites for judgment. When the militia succeeded in taking out the

Gladiators' own tight beam transmitting station outside the compound, and the Blackfly recon hoverdrone

above the colony, (more on both of those later) the remote operators in CentComm were cut off and the

machines had to go on their own innate AI. This was their undoing. Their programming had them

consistently firing on dogs and thrown rocks (and occasionally each other) while they were pelted with fire

bombs from rooftops and rubble or blasted with flamethrower guns from street front doorways at point

blank. Even the colony's two steam trucks were effectively used as rams by armoring with sandbags and

stone blocks and arming them with an incendiary cask on falling boom. Eventually the militia deduced that

the drones could be baited into stopping for land mines in the streets (inverted dinner plates) while men

slipped up to pry open their fuel ports with hand tools and slam in molotovs. In short, they became rigid,

mechanical, stupid and at the mercy of farmers and merchants. Score one for low technology.



Ironically, if you had just allowed Edwards and his thugs to hit the colony Shiloh wouldn't have lasted long.

Reluctant to use real force against people, they would have been mere targets for Edwards' mercenaries.

Introducing the drones gave them a chance, allowing them to use the incendiaries and fight without

reservation. I thought you should know that.



But just how did they shut down the Gladiators' link to the operators at CentComm, you ask. Shiloh's air

force. Just before dawn the Aeronauts launched their airship, which in turn launched two hang-gliders at

altitude. The balloon's mission was then to drift westward over the isolation zone and deposit its two militia

on the other side. These made their way along the outer security road to the unguarded tight beam relay

station in the western foothills overlooking the compound. Their mining charges and incendiary flasks

made short work of it.



This left the Blackfly hoverdrone over the colony the only backup communications link between the

Gladiators and their remote operators (Garribe had informed them that a Blackfly in recon mode over an

urban combat zone is standard GU operating procedures). Taking it down was the task of the two glider

pilots (and of course the gliders always were intended to cross over the isolation zone in escape attempts).

Each was armed with a single “swivel gun” hung from the frame. The guns were packed with glass shot and

crushed glass shards for a combined projectile and chaff effect. Dawn was chosen for the attack as the

sun's horizontal rays would reflect off the machine, making it more visible for the glider pilots. Watchers on

the ground report that it took an hour of skilled flying before the pilots could get to the elevation and range

necessary for shooting. We can only surmise that with the gliders exhibiting no heat signature the drone

never recognized them as a threat. It took no evasive maneuvers. Perhaps the gliders’ decorative bird

silhouettes confused it. At any rate it’s now at the bottom of Lake Aracaibo, its hoverfan jammed with glass.

This was the final cause of your datalink failure this morning.



When things began to go badly for the drones, the ultra-black special forces showed up in two Dragon

combat helicopters, about forty in number. While we believe they were first intended for support and

mop-up, they increasingly had to direct the drones to targets with laser painters. So the struggle became a

concentrated effort to block their access to the Gladiators. The police and militia pursued skirmishing,

harassment tactics using their staff slings, stun guns, concussion grenades and dogs while taking

advantage of terrain cover. Here the Shilohans sustained most of their casualties due to inferior weapons

but we are told that in at least one instance a Shiloh police squad actually closed for hand-to-hand with a

special forces fire team. The GU elites are in custody as we speak. Score one for Benaiah.



There were still the helicopters to be dealt with. While the drones could be fought at ground level and the

GU soldiers stalled in street fighting, the two helicopters would serve as mobile weapons platforms,

breaking up defenses and clearing resistance. But even here the Shiloh defense had a plan. The island

Castle was indeed fortified for the attack, but as a trap, not a refuge. Reports have come in this morning

from the Lake Patrol assigned to its defense. While absorbing sustained strafing and missile fire at range,

the defenders hunkered down inside the blockhouses and pits for cover. When the helicopter descended to

drop a squad of commandos in the courtyard it was greeted with a barrage of rockets and "elephant guns"

from the rubble. As it banked to evade it was shot down by a ballista-fired grappler to the tail rotor from the

Gabriel anchored on the shore. Score one for the Shiloh navy. The second helicopter was later forced

down by Karscatov in Shiloh City who put a concussion grenade right into its open day door with a crossbow

while it was hovering over an alley. And I should point out that Garribe and Karscatov made excellent use

of our sole GU Land Rover during the battle, enabling them to be at critical points all over the colony. Their

thanks.



Nevertheless, the effect of the special forces insertion was devastating on the local fighters. The militia was

forced into a continuous fighting retreat, field by field, block by block through the morning. Unification

experience and firepower, especially in snipers and heavy weapons, was beginning to dominate. Even if

the Gladiators couldn't be salvaged, the special ops platoon may well have done in the entire colony by

itself. But what then took place could not have been foreseen by any of us. The Red Mountain security

detail outside the fence, long forgotten by all, entered the compound and hit the GU forces from behind! I

will relate more on why they did so in a moment, but suffice it to say that with militia on one side and the

renegade security team on the other, Col. Mbuku of Response Team Epsilon decided to call it a day. When

questioned why they surrendered so quickly, Mbuku remarked that none of his unit felt good about fighting

soldiers who refused to kill back. To quote him, "The whole thing, the orders, everything felt wrong. The

Red Mountain guys just reminded us." Right now, to my left, their injured are being tended by their own

medics with help from Shiloh volunteers. A local pastor is preaching to them while they rest, sip water

packs and eat local pastries. And they are listening.



Now about the Red Mountain security detachment. It turns out that as their morale plunged over the last

several years due to boredom and sub-par living conditions at the site, they built up a bit of a warm

relationship with the Shiloh police on the other side of the fence. Conversation and gifts were exchanged

across the barrier, especially home baked food which was a welcome respite from their corporate rations.

In time a number of them converted to Christianity. The fact that they felt forgotten by both their corporate

headquarters and the GU made them open to overtures from these Shiloh missionaries. I had the pleasure

of interviewing their tactical supervisor, Marion "Tex" Evans. A retired U.S. Marine Corps. officer and

self-professed Christian, he came to Red Mountain Private Security ten years ago to "keep from getting

old". According to him, when the order came to send the Gladiators into the compound, he and his men

refused to comply. "We knew what the Unification was up to," he said. So they were sacked and control

was shifted to Security Complex Central Command by satellite datalink through the outside tight beam relay

and Blackfly drone. They were just packing when they saw the Special Ops Dragons fly in. In a short, tense

meeting they voted to go in with their pistols, shotguns, tear gas grenades and armored trucks to "make it a

fair fight". They certainly didn't have much to lose in a career sense. "Not bad for a bunch of donut-eating

rent-a-cops,'" Tex mentioned a few minutes ago.



So the Battle of Shiloh is over. The police and militia sustained a staggering 50% casualties. Among them

was Carlos Garribe who was killed while destroying a drone in Shiloh City. Observers say he “fought like a

man possessed". He will be buried with honors as a Shiloh war hero. And the GSD’s again gave their lives

in numbers by drawing the fire of drones and rushing GU commandos. For the Unification forces, Epsilon

Team itself lost eight men, including a helicopter pilot and the entire four man assassination team. I am told

that one of the Judges is already at work drafting letters of apology and consolation to their families. Finally,

all 36 Gladiator II drones have been torched... “Pharaoh’s Chariots,” Luis Ordonez, the new acting Speaker

for the Judges, calls them. On the scale of world history, this doesn't even rate as a skirmish. Yet when I

think about the implications, has there ever been a battle so small with so much at stake? You will analyze

the causes and effects of this defeat for decades, but to me it was Divine Intervention. Consider that an elite

21st Century force was just bested by a small civilian militia raised in a week with weapons from the 1500's.

Commander Karscatov was wounded, but survived and is now overseeing much of the mop up for the

Shiloh police (consummate soldier that Karscatov). She turned in her bars just prior to the attack this

morning. "If God doesn't stop them,” she remarked, “I will." As for me, there also is no going back. I can't

serve a Unification that I no longer believe in. I wrote recently that Shiloh presents not just a political

challenge, but an entire rival view of the world. I have come to see the world the way they do. Believe me,

that change did not come easily or without a struggle on my part... I have cross-examined my motives. I

must admit that when I reflect on the personal influences on me during this time, there have been some

potential allegiance-changers.



- The initial tremor came our first night in the colony. The humble home I stayed in that night turned out to

be none other than Hector Santiago's. I had expected him to have the Lake Aracaibo equivalent of a

palace... or maybe a trap. It was a sincere and unexpected gesture.



- I've often wondered if living in this cultural context has affected me personally. You of course know how

much lip-service we give to "Global Community", but there is a kind of community here that you know

nothing of. Being trapped inside the compound together has forced these people to know and accept one

other. If nothing else, it has revealed to me the bankruptcy of modernity; the rootlessness, the isolation, the

ephemeral promises of technology. Neighbors here are not reckoned merely by proximity. They share as

a necessity: tools, goods and labor, but also friendship. There is a loyalty inherent in permanence. When

did civilization cease to be like this?



And let me say that several weeks in a technology and media-free environment has a mind-clearing effect.

I have come to appreciate quiet, and the simple pleasures of life that I never would have in Mumbai, Toronto

or Berlin. Playing Solomon Chess while a choir sings in the park band shell is more rewarding than any of

the hectic amusements that routinely crash the Media Complex mainframes. Santiago once told me that

the absence of media in the colony was actually a blessing. "We are a people of words, not images," he

said.



- The night we confronted Garribe there was more that I did not report. While he was ready to be taken in for

justice (consider that all by itself) he requested that we wait until the battle was over. He told us that he had

been a murderer and rebel his whole life, but God was now giving him a chance to do something good and

just with his "skills"... protecting the defenseless in Shiloh. He said that if he could give his life for that, then

it would not have been a complete waste. How prophetic his words were.



- I mentioned that the data content on the microbug revealed hours of prayer on the part of the Judges.

What astonished Karscatov and I was that a significant part of it was for us personally! Many times they

prayed for the safety of our bodies and souls while their own impending destruction was days away.



- That's not all the investigating I've done recently. Careful scanning of Security Complex archives has

revealed some interesting patterns in the lives of those who left the isolation compound since the

secession. Some have since been incarcerated for violent crime in the Unification. Others live in luxury in

the Caribbean. I wonder how much of the testimony from defectors was truth and how much was a

paycheck. A surprising number of others met untimely deaths in accidents. Were they unsafe risks or too

expensive to pay off? Of the Ebola survivors that left the compound I ominously find no record at all.



- I have spent quite a bit of time examining the Bible myself recently, at first to find useful material in my

discussions with the Judges Council, and then for its own sake. You will scoff at my sincerity but some of it

is quite profound. I have more to learn, but am increasingly taken with Jesus of Nazareth. He seems to me

nothing like the religious figure I was taught to "see through" in my university courses. A King born in a

barn. A teacher washing his students' feet. Honest to the point of his own jeopardy and invulnerable to

bribery, threat or flattery. An innocent enduring a rigged trial to protect the guilty from real justice. There is

much you could learn from him.

In the end, though, it was Hector Santiago himself that destroyed what was left of my intellectual framework.

Through an entire career of working inside a Unification superstructure so committed to positional authority

I have never met anyone with such personal authority. I saw the man nearly every day for the past several

weeks, and through it observed him in a wide range of contexts, most of them high intensity. Our arrival and

the initial negotiations; our scrutiny of every aspect of the colony and the man himself; our constant

pressure on him and the Judges to concede, and the implicit threat behind it (I believe he understood this

from the beginning); the murder trial and subsequent execution; the run-up to the invasion. To say nothing

of his many routine tasks: sweeping church floors, visiting the sick, counseling the troubled. Through all of

this he showed moments of impatience, occasional flares of anger (he confessed to a temper), chronic pain

from his old wounds and sometimes, I could tell, loneliness and discouragement. He was very human.

Nevertheless, though I have worked with Prime Ministers, Complex Consuls, Presidents and Global

Representatives, I have never seen a man so rise above his circumstances. When threatened he replies

softly. When overwhelmed he soldiers on. When faced with chaos he is calm. When challenged he returns

to his convictions. Always his convictions. Whenever I spoke with you about him, I know that he was

speaking about me on his knees. He could have been the lord of a little fiefdom here, I actually wrote that

once. In reality he never even called his church "my church". It was always "our church", or even "His

church". A man of authority, yet genuinely humble. He is a lot like the Nazarene in this.



Early in the negotiations, I was reasoning with him about the needs of the Lake Aracaibo community and the

political, economic and social resources that could be brought to bear if they would work with the

Unification. His reply was immortal. "Those things can do nothing about the problems of the human heart."

I have been unable to dismiss that statement from my mind. That is why I think the breaking point came for

me that evening when I unpacked all of my intellectual objections and philosophical resentments toward

him and his faith. I mentioned it earlier, but what I didn't tell you was how he answered them. Would you

like a short sample?



Q: You're an educated man. Surely you don't believe in mythological "Adam and Eve" characters?

A: I'm a mathematical man. I don't believe in the random assembly of living cells.



Q: But which God is he? How can any religion be the only right one?

A: A man who rises from the dead has credentials on the meaning of life.



Q: So why doesn't God just show himself to us right now? What's all this hiding about?

A: That would be Judgment Day. You're not ready for that.



Q: So why does God allow bad things to happen to good people?

A: There aren't any good people.



Q: But why does God allow suffering at all if he's so good?

A: The right question is why don't we get the punishment we deserve right now?



Q: But a good God wouldn't send anyone to "hell".

A: If the human race could send God to hell, we would. We tried once.



Q: All this talk of "sin" is a psychological guilt ploy.

A: I think you underestimate your crimes.



Every classic objection in the book. Calmly (and sympathetically) he laid every one to rest. And he did

more than that. He saw through my questions to the state of my soul. I'm afraid our discussion at that point

became rather personal and I must decline to share it with you. But I will say that in it he described for me

aspects of his own conversion, and especially the things he experienced for the seven minutes he was dead

on the operating table after the assassination attempt. Suffice it to say that I no longer believe that this life

is all we have, and by extension that the Unification is not the most important human institution on Earth.

The Church is. Let me add that of all the possible afterlife scenarios, I now know that at least one of them is

bad. Terrifying. You should take warning in this.



You probably sensed it, but my final meeting with Santiago just before the invasion had nothing to do with

our "mission". I simply wanted... needed to see him once more. To apologize for my deceit and

maneuverings, and for having a hand in threatening him and his people. And to tell him that I loved him. It

wasn't he that offered that awkward embrace after all.



Hector Santiago is dead now. His emissary group was mowed down seconds after the Gladiators moved

through the access gate. They didn't even get a word out. But that does not diminish the man or his

convictions. In his view, life was meant to be spent, even in death if necessary. That he gave his life to

peacefully resolve an impossible conflict was merely his final payment. "Unless a seed falls to the ground it

bears no fruit," he told me yesterday. Ultimately, is he truly gone after all? The answer to that simple

question transcends every socio-economic principle and global initiative the GU is predicated upon.



So this is where we part ways. If my choice is between the Unification and Shiloh I will take my place with

these brave, resourceful, magnificent people. The Unification's way is cascading layers of motivation and

power, competition and wealth. Shiloh's way needs no calculations; do to others what you want them to do

to you. You will not hear from me again, but this is not the last you will hear of Shiloh. Early this afternoon,

before sending this final communiqué, I contacted every major underground Independence/Resistance

media outlet I know of (and some you don’t know of). And I gave them everything. All of our mutual

communications, data, internal memos, personal logs, digital imagery and video footage, maps, location

coordinates, identities of the insertion team (including myself and Karscatov), interviews with Red Mountain

personnel and captured GU troops, combat footage and photos of the burned Gladiators. Everything. It will

be hitting the global public even now. Your game is over. Or at least significantly more difficult from now on.

Certainly you could come in and nerve gas or napalm this whole site, but then you would just have that

much more to explain later. It's too late for that. Time has run out on the Global Unification. But then it

never really was about good for humanity, was it?



Through all the pressure to comply with our demands to rejoin the Unification, Santiago always insisted that

God would free them in His own time. That time has come. An hour ago the people of Shiloh stepped out

of the Isolation Compound for the first time in nearly a decade. The gate is open now. Their first thought

was to praise God and rejoice. There was weeping and some got down on their knees. Now they're getting

their Bibles, some provisions and gifts and heading out to do the ministry they've wanted to do all along.

There are towns within an hour's drive so they're taking the Red Mountain Security vehicles. Personally, I'm

torn. I may go with them, but then again the Da Silva Mission in Aracaibo Town will need help. They've lost

a good man. Perhaps I can push a broom, work a soup line or preach a word there. And I have so very

much to learn. On that I pledge my faith, my hope and my eternal salvation.



Seneca