Armored Tears by Mark Kalina Read Free Book Online Page A

wouldn't even be able to detect that they'd been spoofed; the latest
Japanese technology was expensive, but supposedly very good. He supposed he was
counting on it being better than what either the UEN and FSNA had placed in
this train, but that was probably a good bet.
    "There,"
he said. "Something like a private conversation, now."
    "Really!?
We were being...?"
    "Not
really a surprise, is it?"
    "Ah,
no," Ulla said. "I suppose not. But in Germany, it would only be
Public Security listening, and the software would only flag things like violent
speech, hate speech, that sort of thing."
    "Yes,
the same in Australia. Or in Jakarta, for that matter, these days. But in the FSNA,
things are more restrictive. But about Arcadia, you mentioned that they have no
laws. That's not really right. They have a few laws, but they do tend to obey
them. And 'anarchists' is... well, not quite right either. Or maybe it depends
on your definition of   'anarchist.'"
    "People
have no restrictions on their speech or their actions, not even when it's
outright hate speech and provocation. There's no government oversight of
contracts to ensure social equity. There's no government licensing or
certification of jobs... even for jobs that could impact public safety. And I've
even heard that civilians can be armed!" Ulla said, sounding a bit upset.
"It sounds terrifying."
    "Well,
you have the details right, but I've found that it's not that terrifying.
Enough to make me nervous, yes, but not as bad as being in a war zone or an
economic refugee camp."
    "Civilians
with weapons isn't enough to scare you?"
    "At
home, certainly. Or here. But on Arcadia, it's not.... Well, you can see the
weapons, they wear them openly, some of them. But I was there for two weeks and
in that time I never saw anyone draw a weapon or even make a threat. Not once.
It's very odd, I know, but that's how it was."
    "Well,
obviously the Arcadian government was careful with what you were allowed to see.
They probably kept you away from any violence."
    "No...
that is, the Arcadian government never even talked to me, except to make sure I
completed the UEN-required transit documents. And even for that, they sounded
like they wouldn't have bothered, except that then the UEN wouldn't allow
access on this side of the gate."
    "Like
I said," Ulla said, "anarchy. Besides which, there's the way they
treat those poor refugees."
    "Maybe,"
Aran allowed. "But it seems that they've somehow managed something like a
functional society even so. I'd say it was because there were so few of them,
but their population is up above six million now, and I've been to less
populous cities on Earth where the social situation looked... more chaotic that
it seemed on Arcadia.
    "In
fact, that's one of the things I really want to research. You know that we tend
to less stringent social controls, in the Pacific Alliance, than what you'd be
used to in Europe, say."
    Ulla
smiled wryly and nodded; the relatively relaxed social controls of the Pacific
Alliance were well known. It gave the nations of the Pacific Alliance a certain
reputation for easy-going social interactions.... Though for that matter, Aran
thought, German girls had rather a reputation along those lines as well.
    "So
the question I want to look into," he went on, "is what sort of
social controls do the Arcadians use, to get that sort of effect? My editors
and I think there's a good story in it."
    "I
see," Ulla said. "I hope there is. For my part, as soon as I get the
interviews with the two biotech companies I need, I plan to head back to Earth
as soon as I can."
    "It
will be at least a week, with the way the gate traffic works to and from
Arcadia, though," he told her. "An E-week, they call it; an
Earth-week. Just a bit more than six of their local days. Last time I was
there, I missed the first return window and had to stay a second week."
    "Do
they use Earth times, then?" Ulla asked.
    "Sort
of," Aran replied. "They mostly use Earth years, since their