Re: Pantropists/OU connection

> > You've got around to designing the Pantropists, have you?  Posted
> > anywhere?

> Well, perhaps “designed” is putting it a bit strongly.  “Made notes
on”, and “scrawled
> some modeling ideas about” would be more accurate.

> When
> the Pantropists produced a pair of 8 year old children with gills,
designed to live and
> thrive underwater, the outcry was tremendous. 

Now *that* is interesting. It would explain a very small minority of the
population of the OU. A lot of whom on Earth live in undersea habitats,
and there have been rumours that some of them are a little different
from the rest.
(I must publish "The Secret History of the OU", which I e-mailed to Jon
Tuffley awhile ago...) Certainly the OU would be the obvious places for
descendants to settle, without causing a fuss.

> Within a matter of months, the Society had
> been effectively wiped out.  The more prominent members had been
arrested, and the rest
> (including some very skilled geneticists) had been driven underground.

Again interesting. One of the mainstays of the OU's defences before the
Universal Vaccine was the threat of retaliatory BioWar (according to the
Secret History). Genetic Manipulators R Us. It was the invention of this
great boon to humanity that allowed the Indonesian Commonwealth to
strike without warning or fear of reprisal. Were the Pantropist
Geneticists mainly from the OU? Did the OU take them in after the
pogrom?
 
> The society limped along for a few more years while FTL travel was
being developed.  One
> by one, the Pantropists fled-off world, bankrolled by supporters who
had managed to keep
> their connection to the Society a secret.

Large scale immigration would have to be kept secret, and remain so. Now
which minor power is reticent to even discuss when they first started
into space?

> Over the next several decades, the Pantropists established colonies on
five different
> worlds.  None of these planets would be considered suitable for human
life, but the
> Society has managed to produce children perfectly suited to these
hostile environments.

It looks to me like the OU is secretly controlled by the Illuminati
through their Pantropist agents, rather than directly (as all other
powers are). Because the OU has for many decades taken a
more-than-casual interest in such places.

> The Pantropists will specialize in hit-and-run attacks and commando
raids, hoping to
> disrupt fledgling colonies. 

Now I *know* they've infiltrated the OU, because this is the form of
warfare that is the OU's trademark. They do property damage to
out-of-the-way large industrial complexes rather than massacring small
colonies though - the idea is to cause maximum pain to the hip-pocket
nerve, with minimum opportunities for enemy propaganda. Then again, the
facilities they hit are the ones that have the most environmental
impact...

> For DSII and FT, the Pantropists don’t have enough forces to really
game with.  Their
> “fleet” is a handful of converted yachts and merchant ships, and
would be blown to atoms
> in moments if it came to a stand up fight.

Sounds like they should be using ships that are merchies one week, fully
functional fleet ships the next. Modular ships if you will. Now which
minor power do we know produces these?

I'd like to leave the question open of how far the infiltration of the
OU by the Pantropists has gone. But overwhelming evidence is there. 

The only remaining question is, is the OU covertly allied with the
Pantropists, are they actually the Pantropists Secret Masters, or are
they the Pantropists unwitting Vassals?