They call it the Playhouse of the Inner Sphere. It is a world devoted to pleasure, a world that trades in luxury, sensuality, and indulgence, where everything is for sale and anything can be yours if you have the money. This is Galaina (pronounced Ga-LINE-a), the ninth planet of the Alioth system, the Pleasure Planet of the Universe. Though part of the Lyran Commonwealth, Galaina is no slave to narrow prejudices, and freely welcomes the rich and pleasure-seeking of every state, planet, house, and kingdom. Here they gather to revel in luxury and indulge in sensuality, to feast in the restaurants, gamble fortunes in the casinos, dance for hours on starlit terraces and then retire to cool, scented rooms to taste the delights of beautiful, skilled, and compliant women. All the Successor Houses have condemned Galaina. To Hanse Davion it is "a market town that turned into a brothel." Takashi Kurita has called it "a sink of depravity, the single clearest proof of the decadence of the Lyran Commonwealth." Even Katrina Steiner, evidently embarrassed by this disreputable presence in her domains, once labeled it "a parasite world." Yet in spite of its reputation, Galaina has been left in peace, free to pursue its peculiar business as it has for centuries. It remains a paradox: a world of luxury in an age of poverty, of truce in an age of war, a world despised, yet tolerated. For years I had heard about Galaina, but like most people I had never been there. Recently, however, I was on Summer VI on a low-level mission, and when negotiations wound up sooner than expected leaving me with a free week, I grabbed the chance and took the next JumpShip for Alioth. Alioth Station The Alioth system is located in the Federation of Skye, within easy reach of all the Successor States. We arrived at the JumpPoint and transferred to Alioth Station. After the usual formalities of immigration and passport control, we were herded into a reception area where a pleasant young woman displaying the green and gold emblem of the Galaina Friendship Committee (sort of a combined Ministry of Tourism and security police force) invited usto check all our personal weapons at the security desk. The only protest came from a scarred, looming, unshaven brute who explained that hell, ma'am, he didn't go nowhere without a piece, it didn't seem right. The young woman was polite but firm, and in a few minutes he dutifully handed over a submachine gun, a laser pistol, a pair of throwing knives, and a set of brass knuckles. There are two DropShip lines that carry passengers from Alioth Station: the Abendstern Line and the Star Ferry. Both are owned and operated by the Galaina Friendship Committee, but they nevertheless keep up a brisk competition with posters and brochures extolling their luxury features, convenient schedules, and low rates. One option the traveller does not have is to travel to the surface of Galaina by any means other than one of the two official lines. No private DropShips or aerospace vehicles are allowed on the planet. It seemed like an obvious security precaution--the authorities wouldn't want a strange DropShip to land and disgorge a company of 'Mechs in downtown Galaina Ventura--but when I mentioned this later to an official, he shook his head. "Invasion, no, we're not worried about that. It's just that, well, some of these warrior boys, after all. Those years out there," he waved his hand vaguely to indicate all the worlds within JumpShip reach where 'Mech companies might be stationed and battles taking place, "by the time they come here, they're a little, well, rough. We like to make them, feel secure, relaxed, get in the mood to have a good time." The soonest available flight was on the Star Ferry. My fellow passengers were a varied collection. The warrior I had seen surrendering his personal arsenal was there with four of his buddies, mercenary soldiers on furlough, flush with the profits of a successful campaign and ready to spend their little stake on a wild weekend. Theywere a dirty, unshaven lot. One had a viscious scar that ran from his forehead to a black patch covering his eye and down to the edge of his jaw. Another wore a tee shirt bearing the printed slogan "Rip out their lungs." They whispered among themselves and seemed a little in awe of their surroundings and the smiling attendants who brought them drinks and food and inquired about their comfort. There was a party of six talkative women in fashionable traveling clothes who spent the flight playing cards. In the seats across from me were a slight, pale, expensively dressed young man and his stunningly beautiful female companion. They were attended by a retinue of personal servants who spent the flight scurrying back and forth on errands. There was also a suspiciously inconspicuous traveler in a dull brown business suit. I thought I had seen him before--one of those low-level officials with innocuous sounding titles who always seem to be 'attached" to embassies. What would bring him to Galaina, I wondered. Perhaps the possibility that fashionable ladies and dissolute young aristocrats might inadvertently let slip a scrap or two of information picked up from their more conscientious husbands and fathers? Making a note to be careful of what I said, I thanked my lucky stars I had left my work papers with a colleague and was carrying nothing more incriminating than a toothbrush. The City They say no one is truly prepared for his first sight of the city of Galaina Ventura. After stepping off the DropShip and retrieving my luggage, I made my way through the chaos of the terminal searching for transportation to my hotel. Already I was a target for a horde of peddlers who surrounded me, talking rapidly in shrill, coaxing voices, imploring me to buy jewelry, earrings, combs, gloves, shoes, pins, wallets. Others shoved business cards at me and expounded the merits of this or that hotel or taxi company. In spite of the crowding I felt good. The air--the fabled air of Galaina--was clear, clean and pleasant, the .8 G gravity gave a spring to my step. In front of the terminal there were buses, taxis, peclicabs, luxury ground cars, hovercraft, all available at astronomical prices. I grabbed a pedicab and gave the driver the name of my hotel. Soon we were riding through the treeshaded downtown streets, past architecture of every conceivable style of the past 1000 years, the snow-covered southern mountains forming a spectacular backdrop. My driver kept up a continuous stream of chatter over his shoulder. He knew a good hotel, much, much better than the one I was going to, they were just rip-off bastards there. He knew a good place to exchange my money, good rates, the best, couldn't do better. And did I want something nice? Music, exciting holoplay, massage, nice girl? We rode down Alioth Boulevard, past a Consolidation-era tavern bearing the proud sign, "McKenna slept here," past the imposing facade of the Kredit Galaina building, built in 2736, past the block-long New Earth Trading Company building, crowded with shoppers. In the gaps between the buildings I could catch glimpses of the transmitting tower of the ComStar "A" station. My driver said, "You want a tour, excellency? My f riend, he's the best guide on the planet, he'll take you all around." Let Us Now Praise Famous Men The city is full of these self-proclaimed guides, ready for a fee to show the old buildings and to wax eloquent on Galaina's glorious past. They will tell you that Galaina was one of the first planets to be settled during the early Exodus period, that it became known at the Gateway to the Galaxy, "a shining beacon to hopeful pioneers yearning to break free." Galaina, they say, was a major station on the early trade routes, rapidly becoming a commercial center through which flowed the goods of a thousand worlds. From commercial success came military distinction: Galaina's soldiers and 'Mech regiments were known and feared throughout the Human Sphere. Ambassadors from far-flung worlds came to the courts of Galaina to pay tribute and beg for alliance and protection. There is the touching story of the legendary Lord Adolpho, Duke of Galaina, whom Ian Cameron begged to become Commander of the Star League Regular Army. With tears 'in his eyes the great Duke refused, for he knew it meant he might one day have to take up arms against his beloved Galaina. "I would rather be a Prince to my own people," he said, "than a General over strangers." Pretty stories, but totally untrue. Although Galaina was indeed settled in the Exodus period, it remained for centuries only a small backwater. Largely devoid of mineral resources, it held no interest for the mining corporations. The trade routes ran nearby, but Galaina was not even a minor port or storage depot. And although its soil was rich enough for the needs of its settlers, the mountainous terrain made large-scale agricultural exploitation unprofitable. In fact, Galaina's chief appeal during the early years was precisely that it was not a major center. The traders and empire-builders labored and sweated on such notorious hell-holes as Car Caroli V and Mizar III, but when their work was done and they looked around for rest and relaxation, they slowly realized that poor, uninteresting Alioth IX was blessed with perhaps the most benign climate in the known universe. Galaina learned to care for the traveller, to offer rest, relaxation, diversion, amusement. The banks and financial institutions that financed the exploration of space found it convenient to set up regional offices on the planet. Galaina grew rich on the twin service industries of banking and tourism. The banks financed the expansion of the hotels, resorts and casinos, and the tourists these attracted brought wealth to the banks. Contrary to the fables of the tour guides, the great names of Galaina's history have been, not military or political figures, but financial ones. Adolpho of Galaina barely rates a footnote in standard histories of the Star League, but the Greenspoon Fiduciary and Trust (founded by B. B. Stonehammer in 2449) was the major force behind the fabulous growth of Ceres Metals and (until its failure in the crash of 2576) a source of credit and capital to all worlds of the Star League. Today, Kredit Galaina and the House of Webber (both organizations are dominated by members of the Webber dynasty, the ruling house of Galaina) carry on the tradition. On the planet itself there are branches of these banks in every major hotel or casino. They freely accept all the house currencies, C-bills, even those perpetually depressed currencies that pass for legal tender in the Peripheral worlds, and always at rates of exchange that uncannily match their true value. The Best Things in Life are Free But... The reach of Galaina's banks extends far beyond the planet's surface. Although their operations are shrouded in dense secrecy, the banks are known to be active behind the financial scenes throughout the Lyran Commonwealth. It has been noted by numerous economic experts that House Steiner possesses the most stable, secure, and vigorous economy of all of the Successor State Houses, and the banking institutions of Galaina are an important pillar in that stability. That the Galainan banking houses, through interest rates and through their numerous investments in Commonwealth industry, should profit by the growth of Steiner economy, is only natural. For a number of years now, the average inflation rate for House Steiner C-bills has been only about 3%, evidence of the solid and profitable hold Commonwealth banks have on the economy. Galainan banks are known to hold controlling interest in a number of Lyran industries and important companies. Companies not controlled by the banks still depend on their loans for growth. Defiance Industries of Hesperus is a case in point. One of the Commonwealth's largest and best-known corporate entities, Defiance Industries produces numerous BattleMechs, armored vehicles (including the innovative Rommel/ Patton tanks), and military weapons vital to the defense of the Commonwealth. Greydon Brewer, Duke of Hesperus II and owner of Defiance Industries, completed the acquisition of Tolsand Factory on Furilo in 2992, an acquisition which made possible Defiance Industries' current phenomenal growth. The Tolsand buy-out was made possible by a substantial (if undisclosed) loan from a banking consortium which included both Kredit Galaina and the House of Webber. With the recent alliance between Houses Steiner and Davion, the Galainan banks have found the opportunity to extend their power beyond the borders of the Lyran Commonwealth. Reciprocity agreements between various banking institutions within the Federated Suns mean that Federated Suns tourists within the Commonwealth can always find a ready source of money changing, loans, and credit wherever there is a Galainan bank branch. One of the more visible results of the banks' activities is the city's profusion of hotels, ranging from crowded little warrens to palaces offering a standard of luxury to delight the most jaded epicurean. There is the Grand, with its cavernous lobby and crystal chandeliers, its marble floors and thick velvet curtains, its echoing corridors and obsequious, liveried staff; the Seven Suns, its tower thrusting high above the city, its glass-enclosed rooftop lounge a favorite night spot; the Excelsior with its seven restaurants and its personal casino. Pleasure Planet Galaina Introduction A Room at the Inn A Day in the Country Lord Anatol, Duke of Galaina Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Lee B. Barton Back to BattleTechnology 3 Table of Contents Back to BattleTechnology List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 1988 by Pacific Rim Publishing. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. 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