The Temple of Capitalism

Consider this: the largest free standing building in the world was built in 2013. It is so large it could contain within it three (count em three) Pentagons (the US military building in DC). Inside is a water park, hotels, and, of course, lots of shopping venues. It is a grand memorial to the power of capitalism but it is its location that is the irony. It is called the New Century Global Center and it is located in Chengdu China! That's right, communist China.

Now consider this: In medieval times towns were constructed near rivers or near hills for protection and trade but the highest point of any hill was left for the church and its tall spire. From the distance, the thing that was seen first was the church and it was lifted above all other buildings. Look at skylines now. What buildings are seen from the distance? What is lifted above the others? Most often it is the bank and insurance buildings.

That is the vision of the people of the island of Kethix as well. Their tallest building is a temple dedicated to the worship of the corp ceorans–the bosses of the companies that control the lives of nearly all the people on the island. There is no pretense here. The ceorans encourage a kind of faithful devotion similar to evangelical preachers–without the snakes, fortunately. But now that revolution is in the air, that devotion has been shaken.

Map of Kethon

Kethon is the capital city of Kethix and the location of the Kethix Ceoran Temple.

Map of Kethix

The Island of Kethix

Possibly one of the most historic and fascinating of the Greek islands is Rhodes. It once was the site of the world famous colossus of Rhodes which was a gigantic statue of the sun god Helios. Before its destruction by an earthquake it stood 98 feet into the air above the passing ships. I've you've seen Game of Thrones then you may have seen the Titan of Braavos–a close approximation to how the colossus of Rhodes may have looked in size. Rhodes is also famous for being the home and base for the Knights Hospitaller who developed the island and built many of its famous fortifications.

The Greek islands are the basis for many of the islands in Pa'Kevutu and Rhodes is the inspiration for the Island of Kethix where the people have stormed the temple and are seeking change to the currently repressive form of government. The revolution has come to an abrupt standstill, however, with the appearance of security troops.

Map of the Constantia

The KES-106 Constantia

In October of 1957, the Soviet Union launched an  unmanned satellite called Sputnik. It seems like such a harmless thing to us today. It was only about the size of a beach ball with several spikes radiating from it and it was designed mostly to make atmospheric measurements but its impact went far beyond its size. The fact that a powerful nation like the USSR could manage such a thing meant that they might also be capable of launching weapons into space–a place with virtually no defenses. The race to the moon was a romantic cover for the race for future domination of space. It is a silent war still being played out today.

The Constantia is Kevutu's first exploration ship. In fact, it's their first space ship of any kind and the only reason they were even able to develop it is because of the science left behind when the Ganshions fled the planet. Now they are using it to explore very small asteroids in the hopes of mining them for valuable resources–something that is being reduced rapidly on the home planet. But, like Sputnik, peaceful missions can become preludes to aggression. Tools, after all, are only tools. A hammer can be used to build a house or smash a skill. It is in the hands of the user to determine the outcome. A ship is just another tool but with a lot of people within.

Cluster Map

Today I reveal the secret of the title of the collection. The Milleran Cluster is a collection of asteroids of moderate size and in close proximity to each other. The map is below.