Chapter 9

The following new character appears in this chapter:

Anusak Kongiang

Professor of Comparative Religion, 5’-7’’ tall, 150 pounds, late 40s, black hair going gray, brown eyes

The following characters reappears from previous stories:

Major Greg Roanoke

Formerly Captain, Space Marines Liaison, 6’-0’’ tall, 190 pounds, 32 years old, short black hair, blue eyes

Captain Rodeo

Supply Officer, S-4, 6’-0’’ tall, 200 lb, 34 years old, blond hair, blue eyes

The briefing at Special Operations Headquarters was again at 1300 hrs. Trish and I had all of the Section Leaders, the Team Leaders, and the XO with us to attend the briefing We were welcomed by Colonel Royal before the briefing began.

“Welcome to the briefing on the problem on Owen’s World. Unlike your previous assignment to Parthas, Owen’s World is a member of the Unity. There are some Unity government personnel and offices there, but no Army units are stationed there as it has always been a peaceful world. Until recently, that is. We will start the briefing now,” he told us. I noticed that he didn’t mention what the problem was, and wondered why?

The first briefer covered Owen’s World itself and the system it was part of.

“Owen’s World circles a type G3V main sequence star. The star is a bit cooler and smaller than Sol. It is also a bit younger at about 4.3 billion years. Because of this, Owen’s World is a bit closer to its star than Terra is and has a year of 340 days. Each day is 23 hours in length. The planet has an axial tilt or obliquity of 11 degrees compared to Terra’s 23.5 degrees. As a result of this, the seasons aren’t too different near the equator, but the north and south poles experience colder weather, but not many real extremes.

“Owen’s World is the second planet in the system. The first planet is devoid of life and has a carbon dioxide atmosphere. The third planet is outside the habitable zone and rocky. There are three gas giants further out in the system and some large asteroids that have been captured and circle the sun on the outer limits of the system. None of them are important to the mission.

“Owen’s World is just a bit smaller than Terra (Earth) with a gravity that is 98% of standard. It has a slightly higher oxygen content in its atmosphere. Otherwise, that is close to standard also. There are three continents and a number of islands and island groups.

“The main continent is the largest. It is centered on the equator and extends for 30 degrees north and south of it. In size, it is the equivalent of Asia and the Middle east on Earth. There are mountain ranges in the northern and southern parts of the main continent. There are numerous rivers that water it and plentiful rain most years.

“The two smaller continents are located a good distance from the larger main continent. One is in the northern hemisphere and the other one is in the southern hemisphere. They are not near each other. About 84% of Owen’s World is covered in water. The two smaller continents are more rugged and mountainous than the main continent, but each has a good size lowland area that is located towards the equator while the mountains are located toward the poles.

“There are two medium size moons that each have some effect on the tides of that world. Their effect is greatest when the two moons are lined up together, and the least when they are in opposition to each other. That concludes my portion of the briefing,” the briefer told us.

The next briefing covered the settlement of the planet.

“Owen’s World was settled some 250 years ago. The settlers were composed of a number of different ethnic groups from several regions of Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia. Although most were Buddhist, many local beliefs infused this major religion. There will be more on this during the briefing on Buddhism.

“About half of the settlers were lowland rice farmers from the three countries. The other half were from the highlands or mountains of those countries and consisted of the following minority ethnic groups: Kreug, Kavet, Broa, Lum and Lao peoples mainly from Laos and Cambodia. Additionally, there were Karen, Hmong, and Shan people from Northern Thailand and adjacent areas of Greater Thailand.

“Many of these people still speak Khmer, Thai, Lao, or Hmong. Others still speak the ethnic language of their tribe. Standard is widely spoken in the major cities, but is spoken less out in the countryside and the mountains where the people’s original languages are still spoken. There is also Chinese spoken in the major cities by a number of merchant families. Interpreters are usually easy to locate and hire.

“The majority of the lowland settlers remained on the major continent with some on the lowlands of the smaller northern continent. The highland, or mountain peoples, have mainly settled in the mountains of the main continent along its northern and southern edges. There are also many in the mountains in the northern areas of the smaller northern continent.

“To add to the complexity of the situation, there is an indigenous intelligent species that has a farming civilization. They inhabit the smaller southern continent and a portion of the lowlands of the smaller northern continent. Their main crop is similar to the variety of rice grown by a number of the Human settlers. We are unsure of what language they speak at this time.

“Many of the original settlers emigrated to keep alive their traditional ways of life. Over the last 250 years, many of their descendants have changed their views and adopted the latest methods and techniques of rice farming on Owen’s World. There are still those who cling to the old ways, but they are a minority now and are located mainly in the more remote mountain areas of the two continents. Rice production has been the major industry of Owen’s World for some time now, although other crops are also grown as well as many fruits, vegetables, and flowers. Owen’s World is a major grain exporter and helps to feed several other worlds,” he finished and stopped there for a short break, so we could all get something to drink. He resumed shortly.

“I don’t want you to get the impression from my previous statements that all the colonists took with them was plant material. In fact, they took a large variety of domestic and wild animals with them, along with numerous aquatic species. Water Buffalo were high on their list of species. So were chickens, ducks, geese, pigs and other domestic animals as well as cats and dogs. Of the wild species accompanying them, there were Tigers, several types of deer, mongooses and several varieties of snakes along with bees, other insects, and birds of many kinds. Fish, crabs, prawns, shrimp, and several kinds of mollusks were also included.

“Additionally, there were and still are a number of types of indigenous wildlife creatures where they were settling. The colonists’ aim was to create a place similar to where they and their ancestors had lived with all of those creatures and plants that they were used to. The move took several years in total, with new colonists arriving with additional plants and animals on a regular basis. Their descendants are even more fragmented now than the original colonists had been, and this is part of the problem,” the briefer finished. “I’ll be followed by the briefing on religious matters,” he added.

The next briefer was not a member of Special Operations. He was a religious expert from an off-planet university.

“This is Professor Anusak Kongiang. He is a professor of comparative religion from a university on a nearby planet and an expert on the Buddhist Religion,” we were informed. The professor was a short oriental man of about 5’-7’’ tall and maybe 150 pounds with short black hair that was going gray. He had brown eyes and appeared to be in his late 40s. He was a good speaker.

“The Buddhist Religion is one of the oldest religions still active. It originated in about 543 BCE (Before the Common Era) in India. It spread from there after a time to most of Asia and Southeast Asia.

“There are two main branches of Buddhism, Theravada and Mahayana. Theravada means ‘Way of the Elders’, which implies that it is literally what the Buddha himself taught. In contrast, Mahayana means ‘Greater Vehicle’, which is a derogatory reference that it is superior to Theravada Buddhism that is defined as the ‘Lesser Vehicle’.

“One of the main differences between them is that in Mahayana the idea is to become a Bodhisattva (Buddha to be). Buddha only referred to himself as this and left no instructions on how to become a Bodhisattva. There are sutra (writings) that cover this matter, but they were written after his death. Theravada Buddhists resist the ideal of Bodhisattva and regard their system of beliefs as being purer and closer to what the Buddha taught.

“That is the theological definition of Buddhism. In practice, there is a wide divergence of beliefs in both the Theravada and the Mahayana branches of Buddhism.

“While Buddhism covered much of Asia, it is believed that Theravada Buddhism reached Southeast Asia by the 7th century of the Common Era. It was brought by monks from Sri Lanka, where it had appeared in the 3rd Century BCE from India. It spread slowly through Myanmar, Siam, and eastern Cambodia. Some time later it arrived in Laos.

“Mahayana Buddhism spread throughout the rest of Asia at a somewhat slower rate because of the area covered. Some areas were later lost to Islam. It spread to China, Mongolia, Korea, Japan and Viet Nam along with many of the islands off of Southeast Asia.

“However, you are mainly interested in Theravada Buddhism, which is the main religion of Owen’s World. Because its settlement included so many ethnic groups, there are many different practices that were brought there and have changed over the centuries. Many of the people from Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia included their local beliefs into the practice of the main religion. These include paying homage to Hindu gods, animal spirits, ghosts, spirits of certain places such as the Jungle spirits of many of the mountain people from the southern Laos and northern Cambodia border area. Some of these minority peoples still practice animism, which is a reverence for all living things.

“Without doing a deep study of Owen’s World, I can only recommend that you consult with those in the local temples where you need to operate to determine what the locals have included in their religious beliefs. I am sure that there will be differences between those in the cities and large settlements, and those out in the fields and the mountains, as there always is,” Professor Kongiang finished. Colonel Royal took his place.

“We now come to exactly what the problems are on Owen’s World. There are several parts to the problem, but the basic cause has been the increase in production of rice and its export. The exported rice helps to feed several other worlds, which is a good thing. It brings in a huge amount of money to those controlling the production and sale of the rice. It has also raised the price of rice and other items on Owen’s World.

“Initially, rice was grown there in the traditional way using water buffalo to plow the paddy fields that were flooded by the seasonal rains. Individual farmers or their families normally controlled only small areas of land, around a hundred acres or so. It was enough to support their families, and they had moved to Owen’s World to continue their traditional practices.

“Over time, their descendants wanted easier ways than trudging behind a water buffalo to ready their paddy fields for planting. They also wanted something more dependable than the annual rains to flood their fields. This led to the introduction of mechanical plows and irrigation systems of various types to provide water for the fields from reservoirs and lakes in the various areas of the continent. This was mainly in the lowland areas of the main continent. Those in the mountains had other problems that we will get to in time,” Colonel Royal told us and took a short break for all of this to sink in.