Epistolary Experiment (29/30)

“EILAN (CRIMSON EXPANSE) – The Third Border War, or the Core War, is finally over. In amendments to the Republic-Worlds Demarcation Convention, signed today by Minister Plenipotentiary Elyse Phylarius for the Empire and the Worlds, and Admiral Irjen Tarvil for the Voniensa Republic, the belligerents agreed to a cease-fire in place, followed in the coming weeks by a staged withdrawal to the military status quo ante bellum.”

“In the settlement, the Republic has agreed to concede the twenty-six worlds forming the trailing half of the Vonis 31 sector to the Associated Worlds, as a new constellation as yet undesignated. The primary Republic colonies at Vontok II, Vilin IV, and Tinesh III are to be granted their independence and offered conditional membership in the Accord; another five colony worlds, not self-supporting, will be assigned freesoil status. By agreement, the four Republic Protectorate worlds in the region will be assigned the status of protected planets under the Accord; in exchange for this concession, the Republic will grant all Worlds-registered vessels free port access in Uinul System, at the coreward-spinward edge of the concession area.”

“Of other viable planets in the region, the Empire, Quave Republic, and Múrast Symbiosis have claimed one each, and others will be made available according to normal Accord procedures. Former Republic governance assets including the repair yards at Manar, the fuel depot at Dantry, and the deep-space logistics station at Barresh are currently in Accord trust and will be auctioned off to the highest bidder.”

“The Republic has also agreed to pay reparations of hard goods and resources, with a value estimated at 11.3 trillion exvals, The largest part of this is intended for the Qiraf Assembly, whose territorial volumes were hardest hit by the war, but sums have also been designated for affected freesoil worlds and single-system polities, for affected corporate entities, for the war expenses of the combatants, and for loss of revenues caused by disruptions in trade and communications.”

– from the Objective Eye newsfeed

“Admiral? Admiral Tarvil?”

“Yes?” The kalatri Admiral turned, then clamped down on the double-clench of his stomach, first at the prospect of another discussion today with an eldrae, then again on observing the platinum hair and slate-gray complexion of their four-armed spacer clade.

She floated up to him, proffering a scroll-case. “Sinith Arání, VP Public Relations, Ring Dynamics. Our Directorate has a proposal for you, concerning the maintenance and expansion of your stargate network.”

“What? Ah – we’ve just come out of a war. Why are you making us this offer now?”

“Why not?” She shrugged with all her arms. “You have a need, and we can satisfy it. Trade makes peace, and peace makes plenty. It’s just good business.”

Sinith looked at him assessingly. “Also, if I may speak frankly, among the things this war should have demonstrated to you is our commitment to the freedom of transit for all our customers. We live or die by our contracts. If there’s anything behind the rumors surrounding your Propulsion Group, I should think that alone would be worth something to you.”

– from the Ring Dynamics due-diligence chaperone-log archive

From: Kenth min Gogille, Director of Research & Prospecting, Probable Technologies
To: Adm. Irjen Tarvil
Subject: Opportunities

Admiral,

I represent Probable Technologies, ICC.

You’ve heard of us, I’m sure. We’re the ruthless apotheosians’ ruthless apotheosians. We’re vultures. We pick through the ruins of dead civilizations and eschatological events for any technology or knowledge we can recover, then turn what we can into licensable intellectual property (and publish the rest). And, if you listen to most of our critics, we’re a disgrace to the good name of archaeology, albeit a very successful and academically respected disgrace.

And I’m contacting you because, according to their transparency releases, our intelligence community believes that your government is sitting on the ruins of a dead Power, and deriving your stargate technology from it. In which case, you need us.

You may not like us. Hell’s spores, it’s a damn certainty you don’t. But we are the acknowledged experts in this area, and in particular those parts of this area covering “making relics into sustainable technology” and “not getting your civilization eaten by the resurrection seeds of ancient, demonic AI gods while doing it”.

I won’t tell you that we won’t demand a share of the rights, because we will. I won’t tell you that we won’t share information with the Imperial intelligence community, either, because you wouldn’t believe it anyway, and we probably will. But I will tell you that that’s a small price to pay for the benefit that comes with understanding your technologies, and not making the sort of absolute wretched hash that your Propulsion Group, or whoever, made of the relic currently floating around Karmál System in several pieces, and all of its potential.

-KmG

Consolidated Mutual Mitigation & Surety today announced a staged normalization of shipping and property insurance rates across all affected areas of the Worlds at pre-war levels, in response to the news of the peace agreement concluded on Eilan (Crimson Expanses) earlier this week.

In other responses, Gilea & Co. and Prosperity Nexus announced an advance-loan program for corporations and governances expecting to receive reparations from the Republic, prompting similar action to be taken by several consortia of commercial banks. Meanwhile, Probable Technologies, ICC, has authorized a number of freelance prospecting expeditions into the region opened up by the border adjustments, and a number of colonial outfitters and prefab manufacturers have also reported favorable prospects.

The market as a whole responded favorably to this news, if in a subdued manner, closing up 113 basis points on its primary index.

– the Seranth Times, financial section