SID 23111.19

KEINMOND-CLASS MINING PLATFORM KEINMOND II
PLASMA DRILL TECHNICAL TEAM KTT-1
CT2 ARMIN SHALE

TECHNICIAN'S LOG

I'm tired as all gakk. Tired, exhausted. Can't seem to fall asleep, though. Been up and down for hours now. Tried to sack out around 22:00, but, no luck; tossed and turned, then finally gave up and dragged myself out of bed. Poured myself a finger of june, plopped down on the settee, threw on the holovid, and tried to zone out. Now it's 24:35, I'm exhausted, dizzy, and bored from holographic infomercials, but I still can't fall asleep.

Why? Well, I'm worried. Worried, worried. Found a little book in my locker today. Have no idea how it got there; the lock is keyed to my thumbprint and retina pattern. Someone'd have to dupe both sec-prots to get into the locker, and why would they go to all that trouble just to leave me a little book?

Yeah, about that book. Brothers & Sisters is the title. Little short hundred page story, about a close-knit family and its trials and travails. Greeting card garbage. But there's something about the writing- strange turns of phrase; sequences of words repeated multiple times throughout the story; endless, obsessive descriptions of hemp-based foods- that leads me to think the book must be some kind of coded text. From the Communion. I think they're trying to recruit me. I think I may have unintentionally signaled some kind of interest when I went into that weird hippie store those weeks ago.

Great. They think I'm a closeted Brother of the Book. All I know is I have to get rid of it. I need to dump it, but I need to dump it in a way that doesn't look like I'm dumping it. Eyes are watching everywhere, I know. Leave it in a stall in the gents? Maybe. Let someone else deal with it. I'm just worried that the Communies will continue to try to reach me. How soon before Black Legion catches on? I know there's gotta be some onboard. Those IL folks don't play around; they'll airlock you as soon as look at you. Gakk, I think I need another finger of june...