Zhodani in TNE

Steven M Bonneville writes:
>After all, the Zhodani Consulate is now humaniti's biggest living
>government, and the Regency is the second largest.

David Johnson writes:
}The idea of a Zhodani-Regency alliance is intriguing.  (If the
}Federation and the Klingons can do it in 80-some years why not the
}Zhos and the Denebians?)  Scott Kellog has been posting some
}*very* original stuff on the K'kree.  Maybe we could do something
}similar for the Zhodani and *finally* flesh them out into `real'
}human beings.  Except for the Imperial psionic bias that we all
}bought into back in the heydays of the 5FW, can anyone come up
}with a good reason not to see the Zhodani in a postive light?

Ahem.  Thank you.  But as I have often said, there is a reason why
my nickname is "2G"  I hope to correct miss-spellings of Kellogg.
[Come on!  It's on your breakfast table every dang morning! :-]

As to the Zhodani not being "Real" human beings, I haven't done
that yet for TNE.  However, if you want to read about "Real"
Zhodani in action, I suggest that you go back to the archives and
find the (unfinished) chapters of "The 4.5th Frontier War".  A
series of adventures I wrote (and perhaps one day will finish)
involving a crew of Zhodani wandering about in Iakr Sector (Foreven
to you Imps) during 1102, trying their damndest to solve a mystery
while the Spinward Marches boils up to a war fever.

[Basically, a SORAG "True Believer" defector was trying to ignite
the 5th Frontier War by playing the Zho navy off the Imperials]

Yeah, I know I wrote it, so I'm at risk of blowing my own horn, but
it is the ONLY treatment of the Zhodani I have ever seen that takes
them seriously to my satisfaction.  One day, perhaps I'll get
around to writing up the last 2 chapters.  Not at the moment
however.

So what are the Zho's up to now?  Well, as Steve noted, they have
"Won" the series of frontier wars by default.  The Imperium is
gone.  The Regency is not a threat to them.  As we have learned in
MegaTrav, the Zhos didn't really want to try to absorb the entire
Imperium after all.  All they wanted was to scare the Imps into
never invading the Consulate.  Now they never will.

However, it would indeed appear that the Zhos will absorb the
Regency after all.  Though, not militarily.  As has been noted, the
Regency now has begun to accept psionics.  You can be a psi in the
regency and *not* get lynched.  This will of course weaken the
interest of the Zho military (and the common Zhodani) who wanted to
make the galaxy safe for psionics.  The Regency just isn't the
threat it used to be.

What they will do is to increase trade with the Regency and thus
expand their interests in it.  That will provide a broader power
base from which they can begin to move the Regency toward the
acceptance of a Psionic upper class, and when that notion is
accpeted, they will mold and promote that psionic class toward the
image of the Zhodani psionic "noble".

Note the manipulations already ongoing:  The Regency is not only
accepting psionics, we are told is becoming more and more
democratic.  Remember, the Consulate *IS* a democracy.  [The vote
is limited to the Psionic upper classes.]  But it is democratic.
It won't be long before the citizens of the Regency will look
toward their psionic citizenry to start molding their society.  [We
look to psych/sociologists for social planning, wouldn't one tend
to give more creedence to a psych/sociologist who is also a
telepath?]

As to what's going on in the Consulate?  Well, mostly a
technological explosion.  The Consular Navy needs weapons to fight
the virus.  There will undoubtedly have to be Regency cooperation
to keep the virus at bay.  Thus there will be some technology
transfers, but there don't need to be that many.  The Consulate in
1120 was a TL14 Borderline TL15 society.  Zhdant (the homeworld was
the only TL15 world in the Consulate).  That technology will be
called upon to fight the virus.  The jump from TL14 to TL15 will be
a very swift one.  My guess is that in 1200 the Consulate would
have several TL 15 worlds near the borders of the Virus (Spinward
Marches) and on those worlds will be a growing development of TL16
items.  Thus the Consualte of 1200 will be about on par with the
Impierium of 1120.

I would also speculate that the cooperation of the Regency in
fighting the virus (shared intelligence at the very very least)
would begin to see some authorizations of TL16 Technology Transfers
from the Imps to the Consulate.

Regency/Consulate Trade?
Well, the Regency is now cut off from Imperial markets.  They need
someone to trade with.  Consulate Traders will find growing
acceptance in Regency markets as the psionic prejudices wear away.
[Investors!  Put your stocks in inter-face trade lines!]

Take a look at history:
WWII.  The US provided arms, equipment, & manpower to the fight,
while never being actually attacked at its industrial sites.
Result:  The US became the major industrial force on the planet and
dominated world politics for many years before the Russians began
pushing to compete in the cold war.  The standard of living in the
US was the highest in the world for years after the war.

The Consulate has never been hit by the virus and is providing
arms, equipment and manpower to fight off the virus at the
Regency's borders.  Think what it must be like at home in the
Consulate...

Back to Zhodani Technology:
Someone suggested (I forget who) that the Zhos would pick up the
neural interface technology from the Imperials.  Well, note that
the "Neural Jack" as described is only TL13.  The Zhos already have
it.  Indeed Neural Interface Technology would be a LOT easier for
the Zhodani.  Consider:  To make a DNI (Direct Neural Interface)
you need a hyperaccurate map of the human brain.  Not only that,
but of the individual's brain in particular.

Imagine how much easier would this be if you are a telepath.

The Zhodani probably developed Neural Interface Tech at a much
relatively lower level than the Imperials.  I'd say that a DNI
would be TL 11 or 12 (possibly even lower) to the Zhodani.  Indeed,
while the Zhodani may have been TL14 overall in 1120, their psionic
technologies would be somewhere around TL16-17-18 relative to the
Imperials.  [That means Neural Rifles, Neural Scanners etc.]  Note
that while only a fraction of Imperial worlds had a psi-institute,
*EVERY SINGLE PLANET* in the Zhodani Consulate had at least one.
They are way ahead of this game and will stay that way.

Summary:
The Zhos appear to be manipulating the Regency just as the Hivers
are doing so to the RC.  With the huge resources of the Consulate
vs the Regency, plus the fact that the Consulate is far less
exposed to Virus.  There will be little to keep the Consulate from
doing whatever they wish.  But they don't need or want a war.

They've already won.

That won't stop them from expanding their interests tho.

Scott 2G Kellogg