In which Gregory lands in the Republic.
After the antiseptic gardenlike sanity of Legena the Republic is a striking contrast.
We got our first taste of this as we boarded one of the sixteen 'railheads' in orbit that anchor the 'sky-bridges' that are sole legal means of getting to the surface.
The Republic does not allow any flying below its final wallscreen.
The crowds in the station were numerous and diverse. Bald headed Arturians mixed cheek by jowl with Carthaginians , Idian Azi mixed with the descendents of SPQR slaves and a contingent of Manbots rubbed elbnows with Trianian Homo Bellici.
They had to the Republic for freedom of worship, to escape economic and political oppression or just to get a new start.
Mixed amongst the immigrants were residents come to meet them or on the way to shuttles off planet.
We saw all this but didn't mix. We were with the President and so Republican gendarmes cleared the way for us.
The President had his own rail car and we were soon aboard.
The railcar was luxurious with thick carpets, a comfortable lounge, a dinning area and sleeper units.
Human servants circulated offering drinks, food and choice of entertainment.
The trip was a long one. The train has to go just over 22,000 miles to reach the surface. At 200mph it took just over 4 days,
In addition to talking and other entertainment there was the view.
As you may know the planet is one vast city. As one draws closer it begins to take the appearance of a spherical checkerboard. Each square was a enclosed environment based along the same lines as an O'Neil. The average population in each is around 25,000 though this varies widely depending on the borough (as the blocks are called) Between the blocks are clear spaces given over to the Republics high speed railways.
Much of this was explained in some detail by RKO Smith-the president's political rival- who as a matter of fact emigrated here from Legena about thirty years ago.
"It drove me crazy at first." He admitted to me. "So many people and so many types. I was in culture shock for almost a month. Fortunately I came as a naval officer and was posted to a ship. The contrast was still there but military order dulled it."
I struck up a kind of friendship with the man. He is really the Republics leading military man and so our conversations worked with the purposes of my visit. He gave me an excellent account of his experience directing the resistance to the siege.
I don't care that much for the President but he was always friendly and willing to answer questions. He served as part of the Lunar-Republic fleet and had some acute observations on the breaking of the Id siege.
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We disembarked at the station closest to the Republics government complex. We left the President and Smith with promises to get back together later.
Short, Argyle and I took a first class carriage to our Hotel.
Actually a better word would be a 'resort'. The hotel occupied an entire borough and included gardens and even a beach on an article lake.
This brings up the matter of the Republic's social system in a way. The rich are very rich and the poor are very poor. Almost 60% of the income is paid to the top 10% of the population. The middle class is fairly small and largely made up of Professionals. Most of the rest of the population work as menial or factory labor.
This is why they use people instead of robots for servants here. There are so many people so willing to work it is cheaper then paying for robots.
So why isn't there more social unrest? Mostly because people remember what it was like when they were back home or when they were growing up. Part of it ,to, is the generous though informal dole system run by the political parties and many church groups. The Government runs plenty of make work projects as well.
Republican love to work or at least feel obligated to do so. They work long hour's often-mixing jobs with micro businesses. Most of them believe they can become wealthy one day and those that are rich deserve what they have.
Much of this feeling comes from a stringent inheritance tax and high income taxes. Most people only pay an almost nominal sales tax.
Clothing in the Republic (on the street) is formal and prudish. Most of the body excepting hands and head are covered. Most people f both genders wear hats. The colors are bountiful but high-class clothing ironically tends to be the least colorful.
Men and women wear their hair long with men having beards, Those who can't do this naturally will buy Whigs or even undergo surgery trying to plead in.
A special case is Arturians who are almost completely hairless. Those that have joined the middle class or are intent on 'melting in' will wear such disguises. Others through poverty, apathy or militancy will not. This group is the object of much low level discrimination. The trains stood waiting. There are three classes with the cheapest having bench like seats and the most expensive having separate room where a maximum of four passengers would be seated.
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We ventured out on the second day taking a train to a public shopping borough. Big shops mixed with kiosk businesses that sold everything from food to handcrafts.
One of the best of the street food was a sausage and mustard concoction served in a thin sweet bead wrap.
Everybody was in a hurry. Republicans can't seem to slow down. They are rude cue jumpers and several times I saw Gendarmes breaking up altercations.
That brings me to the police and crime. Violent crime is rather rare or least the lethal sort of it but property crime is quite large. There are lots of gendarmes and they are everywhere with a watchful eye but despite these pickpockets and purse-snatchers are a constant hazard.
Crime tends to be by stealth since the penalties of hurting somebody are rather dire and immediate. While the police are often corrupt they can't as a rule be bribed if someone is a victim of violent crime.
Punishment is rather immediate and crude though not life threatening.
The Gendarme is also a judge in most cases. He rounds up a jury of six people and then interviews witnesses, makes a judgment and administers punishment all within an hour after capture.
Punishment usually consists of pain. The culprit is then released.
Repeat offences may be referred to a regular court as are more serious crimes like Murder and rape. In such cases execution is not unknown.
The least likely form of punishment is imprisonment.
It's a totally barbaric slipshod system really.
(You see what I mean when contrasting to Legena?)
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We then went to a factory. It was pretty grim. The work conditions were dark, smelly and much too hot. The noise was horrible.
Safety wasn't much of a concern at all.
The Republic does have work hour and wage laws. Workers evade these by working in several jobs but big employers do so at their own risk. Given what you have heard of the rest of the legal system I will leave that to your imagination.
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We ended the day by visiting the Presidents 'club'. Again there was the conspicuous ostentation so typical of the Republics upper class.
The President belongs to the most prestigious of the clubs: The Knickerbockers society. It is limited to the very wealthy who are also from families who can trace their family lines back three generations.
The President is himself at the peak of these qualifications. He traces his family back two hundred years and multiplied his inheritance by setting up and running a candy company.
End of the first day.
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