7

March 2, 2991

Federated Suns

Crusis March

Cholis

Brinestorm Spaceport

It'd been 5 months Stephan had been waiting for his people to arrive, for a journey that should have been able to take place in less than two if all factors were favorable give the new direct trade route from New Avalon, out through the regional capital of June in the Edgeward Alpha Combat Theatre, which was just the fancy name for the piece of the Crucis march that Cholis existed in, and currently ending here before the jumpships cycled back to go the other way, picking up supplies and people as they went.

Neubenn was on the other side of New Avalon, closer to the Draconis Combine border but not that close. Regular transit from there to New Avalon, then out to Cholis would be about 4 months, but part of him had hoped House Davion would pull some strings to get them out here faster by using jumpships left in place and fully charged that could pick up a dropship from another jumpship just arrived and move it along without having to wait to recharge the jump drives.

It was commonly referred to as a 'command circuit,' but there were many civilian counterparts as well, speeding up transit for special cargos while others had to wait. That made it impossible for him to get an expected arrival date, for he'd been given no information on how they would be transported here, leaving him waiting, guessing, and hoping.

While he had waited the second survey team had reported back. They'd gone out further, hitting a lot of known systems to update them as well as Stephan picking a few uncharted ones at random hoping to get some good finds. This batch he'd got none, only some partials that, with some work, could be made useful…much like the first batch, only this list was quite a bit longer, for they had been out exploring deeper.

He did not reup their contract, rather paying the final amount for services rendered, as he would be doing for the other two teams still out. The only reason he'd rehired the first team was because he hadn't yet assembled his own. That wasn't the case any longer, and one of his now 3 privately owned jumpships was out doing additional scouting of the systems around the one that contained the planet with the two massive ice caps and the habitable zone sandwiched in between them.

He'd named the planet and system Polvice…which was a combination of 'polar' and 'vice grip,' the meaning of which was obvious when anyone looked at a picture of the planet. Polvice was to be their first major acquisition, sitting some 42 light years from Cholis, meaning that was two jumps away. All three of the jumpships he now had were equipped with battery upgrades that allowed them to make double jumps after sitting long enough to charge both the capacitors for the jump drive and the batteries. It didn't actually save any travel time unless you had been sitting around doing nothing for a long time anyway, but it would allow the 'frog hop' from one safe system to another with an hour or so downtime in one of the many systems in between that they could pass through.

Those 'in between' systems, usually uninhabited or even without planets at all, were what the Beta Strider was out mapping. If he could find one that he could set up a base of operations on he'd be happy, because he didn't like the idea of sending civilian ships through systems where they could be hit near the jump points by pirates without local defense to assist them. Thought at the moment, he still didn't have any aerospace assets or naval vessels other than armed dropships, so it was a moot point for the near future, but he was always planning for down the road.

Alpha Strider was at Polvice right now with their own planetary survey team doing a more in-depth analysis of what was there and what was the best location to begin putting down roots. He didn't expect them back for months more, and the same went for Gamma Strider that was soon to jump to the uninhabited system with the abandoned mine on it. A pair of dropships with a mining/survey crew on them had lifted off two hours ago and were making their way out to the Zenith jump point where Gamma waited. Then they'd be making the single jump necessary to get to the newly named 'Drymo' system, which was also the name of the planet.

Stephan didn't like obviously humorous names, which was why he altered this one from 'Dry Mouth' down to 'Drymo.' People would eventually figure it out, but to a newcomer just looking on a map it would just be another serious name along with the rest…though some people in the past had name planets and systems ridiculous stuff like 'A Place' and other unimaginative crap that didn't do them justice.

Polvice and Drymo were soon to be the first two planets owned by House Morten, but there was a lot of prep work that had to be done first before he was going to move a single person in to either of them.

But today his thoughts of those two workloads…and money pits that were sucking even more funds out of their war chest…were put aside when another jumpship entered the system and identified itself as an unscheduled arrival, which meant it wasn't one of the jumpships tasks to run up and down the trade route from New Avalon.

And onboard this jumpship were a portion of his people from Neubenn.

It wasn't just them, but other cargo and personnel as well, so they weren't going to be setting down at the Estate…which was why Stephan arranged to be in Brinestorm when the pair of larger Overlord-class dropships set down and waited a hell of a long time to finally lower their boarding ramps.

While he waited along with Carroll and his team of bodyguards that Roger had insisted go with him at all times he stepped a foot outside the Estate, including the Security Chief himself, a motorcade that was a mix of government cars and equipment haulers drove up and parked a respectful distance away from House Morten's own vehicles. Out of one of the government ones Duke Thorsen emerged and walked across the ferrocrete tarmac towards the First Lord with a spry gait for someone of his 73 years of age.

Well, at least for someone outside House Morten anyway.

"Stephan," he greeted with a firm handshake.

"Harris. I didn't expect you here."

"I know your people from Neubenn are onboard, but I've also got a representative to meet. Baron Klix has been sent to negotiate on behalf of Duke Brennard of Metarisk."

Stephan frowned. Metarisk was another small world three jumps away, but with about double the population of Cholis. Enough, apparently, to also have a Baron in it. "Baron of what?"

"An airless moon they've been slowly colonizing."

"What's he supposed to negotiate?"

Thorsen smiled. "Seems the trade route out here is finally coming through with that economic surge your companion there promised," he said, referencing Carroll who was standing on the far side of Stephan.

"I don't make promises I can't keep, Duke," she said with a smirk.

Harris bowed his head kindly, then returned his attention to the real power on Cholis. "Baron Klix has been sent to negotiate some form of economic exchange that might create a spur off this trade line to his system. He's bringing with him several merchant guild representatives who would be willing to devote a jumpship to doing that. I'm going to have a handful coming to terms with them. Economics is not my specialty, after all, and my staff is limited given I've been putting most of my efforts into the militia."

"Would you find it offensive if I offered some help in that regard?"

"Never," Harris said, his eyes widening.

"When are these meetings to take place?"

"They're probably going to start sometime today, but I can push off anything official until tomorrow if need be."

"Do that, and I'll have Paul sit in on the meetings with you as an unofficial advisor as well as an official interested party to set in place some new market opportunities later."

"Oh? You have an interest in Metarisk?"

"This doesn't go beyond you…and you," he said, glancing at Carroll, who he knew would eventually report back to her Uncle on everything anyway, "but we're in the early process of acquiring a planet for the purpose of establishing mining exports. The surrounding systems would be the natural recipients of such resources if they want them, rather than sending cargo all the way across the Federated Suns. I also like to help strengthen my neighbors in the process, so Paul will begin laying the groundwork for that if an opportunity arises. Is that satisfactory?"

"Completely. Might I ask what planet?"

"Uninhabited system one jump from here that I've designated as Drymo."

"Will you be splitting your mech force then?"

Stephan smiled. "I've got more mechs on the way. I'll have at least a Regiment stationed on Cholis at all times to protect the Estate. I know better than to spread ourselves thin."

"A Regiment! Exactly how rich are you, Stephan?" he asked with a laugh.

"Less with each passing month," he answered soberly. "It'll be a while before we can get any exports coming out of Drymo. Until then I just have a series of money pits to work with."

"I know the feeling, believe me."

"You have tax revenue, Duke. I'd have to take someone's inhabited planet away from them to get that again."

"Then I don't have to worry about you taking mine, because there's not much of it," he said with a smile as the first of the passengers began to walk off the dropship. "Looks like the Baron has quite an entourage."

"Do you mind meeting him alone? I've got other business to attend to."

"Of course. I'll speak with you later," the Duke said, putting a hand on his shoulder for a moment before walking out to meet the arriving delegation.

Carroll waited until he was out of earshot before she spoke. "Are you burning through the stipend we're giving you?"

"Not entirely, but the more staff I hire the more drain there is. It's the larger purchases that are hurting at the moment. It'll be a while before we can reverse that, but we're in no financial trouble. It's just frustrating seeing so much red in the books right now without any taxes or sales to start making up for it."

"Tell me about this Drymo. You haven't mentioned it before?"

"We've had one survey done, and I'm sending out a more thorough one on those dropships we launched yesterday. It's barren with breathable air, but no moisture whatsoever so the miners will have to live inside domes or underground. Not a nice place to be, but it's fairly rich in a variety of resources. We found one abandoned mine, and while there was nothing left to identify the former owners, we're assuming it was an off the books corporate venture that got canceled," he said, feeling generous since news of his people arriving had got to him and she was proving to be more than just an apologetic mouthpiece for House Davion.

"Do you want me to add it to our charts, or sit on it a while until you get established?"

"The latter. The Red Baron is probably pissed off at us, and I don't want to advertise our soon to be operations there."

"Wise," she offered as they both saw the Duke meet up with the Baron and all manner of pointless gestures and words began to fly. Thankfully Stephan was too far away to hear any of it as his eyes scanned the boarding ramp on the dropship for his people as a line of other passengers were beginning to depart.

"How long are you going to be stuck out here?" he asked out of the blue.

"Excuse me?" she asked, frowning.

"This assignment. You rarely leave the guest house, have no friends or family here. It must be more of a prison sentence than anything for you."

She shook her head firmly. "I'm not all that popular back home. My uncle did me a favor sending me out here. I get to be on the frontlines of something grand taking place. That makes it far more exciting for me than trading bullshit compliments like they're doing right now."

Stephan turned to look at her for a moment. "Oh?"

"I'm too blunt for delicate diplomatic work," she stated flatly. "And those are other people's words, not mine. Andrew appreciates bluntness where appropriate, and you seem to as well."

"In my limited experience," he said, cracking a joke about his own age, "I've found the people who are overly wordy without saying anything of real value are usually fakers trying to climb higher than they deserve based on appearance rather than substance."

"House Davion swims in people like that."

"Inside or outside?"

"Both, unfortunately, but everyone on the outside is always trying to pry something from us to advantage themselves. Your father was one of the few true friends Andrew had that he could trust wasn't playing an angle, and he wanted me to see if the trait bred true."

"Has it?"

She glanced up at him, brushing a lock of blonde hair aside that the windy day had dislodged from her tightly braided hair. "I've already reported back as much, even though I know you're not our greatest fans right now."

"If you got all my people out of Neubenn, I'm inclined to maybe like you a little bit."

"They're not all on this jumpship," she cautioned, "but I received word the final group departed 3 weeks ago. As far as the fired ones went. The others are still off limits to you, I'm afraid."

"Most of me has forgotten about Neubenn, but once you accept responsibility for a planet and everyone on it, those are bonds that cannot be simply severed by an order or a choice. They linger."

"You take that bond very seriously."

"Others don't take it serious enough, including your House."

"I know," she said simply. "Another reason why I like it out here. Both you and the Duke are no-nonsense people who actually care about this planet. It's a refreshing change, even if I don't have a social life to go with it."

"I'm surprised you're not married," he said, drawing an unpleasant look from her. "Your last name is currency that many would wish to trade on."

"I prefer trading it myself. And what about you? I thought it was customary for your family to have numerous children in each generation? You've 8 brothers and sisters, correct?"

"It's also tradition that we do not start having children until we pass 30, so I'm not in any rush."

"Why?"

"Kids don't raise kids well. We believe a certain amount of life experience is necessary before you start raising the next generation."

"Even your women?"

"Civilization allows people to remain healthier for longer, and when you tweak the food supply, indoor living conditions, physical and mental training, the reproductive window for women extends considerable. Even my sisters wait until they're 30 before having kids…though many are married before that. Sarah has three children already, and if something should happen to me, they'd take over eventually. It doesn't have to be my personal offspring. Our House is a family, in all respects, and as long as there are some of the children who choose active service, the House continues. I don't even need to reproduce if I don't want to."

"It's the same with House Davion, except the shifts from one line to another are not usually chosen, but dictated by assassinations and other losses."

"That's the kind of uncivilized society I'm trying to get my House away from."

"By coming out into the barbaric Periphery?" she half mocked.

"We have no intention of leaving it in its current state."

"I know you don't, but it's still ironic."

"We get to call the shots out here," Stephan said with a smile as he finally began to see some familiar faces walking off the dropship. "And that makes all the difference. If you will excuse me, princess," he said sarcastically, but with a friendly vibe as he left her behind and walked forward, waving to get the attention of some of his fellow mechwarriors.

As soon as they saw him they started running over…which his security detail about went crazy over until Roger called them off…then the reunions started with one backslapping hug after another as some 30 or more old friends worked their way off both dropships and back into the House Morten extended family.