The Here and Now

Life in the ‘Verse has returned to normal— leastways on the surface. In truth, no one has forgotten and few have forgiven. The Alliance now has jurisdiction over every inhabited planet in the system. The Alliances does not fully control everything within its far-flung territory,. In reality, the Alliance only has full control over the Core planets. On these worlds, the eyes of the Alliance are everywhere. Federal police can be called at a moment’s notice, and cameras record every citizen’s every move. The Core worlds have the best comforts that money can buy. ‘Course, every citizen pays for such security and comfort with more than a bit of his freedom.
The outer planets were meant to be kept under the same level of strict control, but the Alliance is short on manpower and ships. They just don’t have enough folk to keep a proper eye on things. Yes, it’s true that they hire security firms to help enforce their laws and maintain order. And they send their hulking patrol ships out into the black to remind everyone who is in charge. Still, the cracks in the system are large enough for folk to fly a Firefly through.
Take slavery, for example. Slavery is outlawed by the Alliance government, but it’s an open secret that terraforming companies, mine owners and the wealthy on the Rim regularly use slave labor in their operations, and pay big sums for human cargo. Every so often, the Alliance will bust one of these owners and free the slaves—always looks good on the nightly news. But then it’s back to business as usual. Same with indentured servants. That’s not legal, either, but most folk on the Border planets accept indentured servitude as a way of life. If you’re desperate for the credits and you got nothing to offer up as collateral except yourself, then that’s what you do. Dohn ma?