Do fences really make good neighbors?

x0x0's having a wall built around the Destiny enclave within the confines of Blue Sun's leased land on Hale's Moon. The official story is that Blue Sun's taking full responsibility for the enclave, making it less of an independent sub-colony and more of a corporate back yard. There was an unofficial story as well, of course, but that was mostly kept between x0x0 and myself. The townsfolk didn't need to know what she had planned for the compound. It was probably best they thought the wall was more to keep them out, rather than to keep the residents of the compound in. Would people believe the official story?

Did it matter?

Given what she had planned, there were times I honestly wondered why she didn't just have Blue Sun buy Hale's Moon. Literally. Pay off all the five or six hundred odd residents, give them funds enough, and transportation, so they could set up in at least as nice a setting on another colony out here on the Rim. It wouldn't have been that expensive. At least not when you considered the sheer amount of cash flow through Blue Sun's accounts. Buying off the colony would be cheaper than, say, building an orbital facility from scratch.

Locals who wanted to stay and work for Blue Sun could, just as they already had. Those who wanted out, could get out. In the end, Hale's Moon would go back to being a company world, as it had under Weyland Yutani. Only, this time, instead of a mining colony, the whole thing would become a Blue Sun research facility. Safely air-gapped from the rest of the 'Verse, so no kurutta orokamono would do something mind numbingly stupid.

It would never fly, though. It wasn't a matter of coin. Blue Sun could afford to buy everyone here out. Possibly even including the KHI orbital. No, it was a matter of principle. Some of the newer colonists would walk away, and some of the old timers would be willing to trade their homesteads for a suitable pile of coin. But some of these folks had worked the mines since the Weyland days. They were stubborn. Chance of them taking coin to turn their backs and walk away was slim to none.

Did I entirely approve of what x0x0 had planned? No. I didn't. But it wasn't my place to tell her no. I could, and had, told her my concerns. That was all I could do in any of my several capacities. The wall itself was partially because of my concern for the colonists who'd chosen me to lead them. She'd take suitable precautions and she was keeping me in the loop. At least on some levels, since I didn't actually want to know all the details.

Regardless of outside appearances, my relationship with x0x was deeper, and far more complex, than it appeared. There were ties between us on levels, and through individuals, that defied logic or exposure. And, deep down, I was honestly fond of her. I couldn't foresee how all this was going to turn out. But I would do what I could to make sure it was as good as could be expected for all involved.

Buddha help us.

Let there be coffee

Corrine doesn't look especially happy. We've been having these meetings infrequently since giving her the initial briefing, usually at a coffee house somewhere where we won't really be noticed. Today, she looks mildly annoyed. Not so much at me, it seems, but at life in general. Or, perhaps, more specifically, the continuing situation in her patrol sector.

"Seriously, Seana. Why are my men still playing babysitter? Three colonies now. All of them low population, low risk, low priority. No offense."

I waved off the apology with a faint smile. "None taken." We both know the way of things out here. Hale's Moon, for all intents and purposes, should have been a low risk, low priority, colony on anyone's list. By Rim Districts standards, we should have seen a four man patrol boat maybe once a month. They wouldn't have even ponied up for a hired security force. The colony was just that small.

"There's nothing on Hale's Moon preventing us from giving control of the colony back to your local people. Nothing. Except the Department of State won't sign off. Same with the other two colonies we're shepherding. Liaison's aren't hearing anything from their brass and our's are silent, so we keep patrolling."

I could sympathize, nodding over my coffee, seeing the frustration. Silvermane was a good officer. More level headed and cognizant of the needs of the people in her patrol sector than most. Her original idea for Martial Law had been to dispatch the platoon stationed on the IAV Abraham Sinkov, who was already patrolling our space, and have them work directly with the town elders. They wouldn't have been here to supplant our authority, but to augment it.

It just hadn't worked out that way. She'd been ordered to take over and, rather than directly do so, she'd gotten a Department of State liaison to stand between her people and ours. It was a move I readily concurred with, letting her maintain the working relationship she'd developed with the locals without directly disobeying High Command.

"Wish I knew, Corrine. What's up with the other two colonies? I'd seen the reports, but hadn't dug into them very far." Which was perfectly true. I'd seen the reports in passing, but they hadn't been flagged. Either I'd missed something setting up the Expert System that handled report mediation or there really wasn't anything standing out on those two colonies.

"Even less reason to put boots on the ground on either of those worlds than on Hale's. Both colonies were in the two to five thousand resident's range. One had an earthquake that left a handful of people homeless. Other had a couple of raiders come in back to back and clean out a fair bit of their supplies. Neither of them justified imposing Martial Law, or even a full contingent. Been up to me I'd have sent an Engineering unit to one and a couple of patrol boats to the other. But High Command said full martial law. Best I could do was get another Diplomat to try and smooth things over."

"Curious." Which was, of course, a major understatement. There had to be something deeper going on, but it hadn't popped up high enough to hit Intel's radar. Gut suspicion was someone in Parliament, possibly with Loyalist leanings, setting up for a power play. Either trying to get a heavier influence in the sector, or setting wheels in motion that'd get Colonel Silvemane transferred.

Either way, I'd do what I could. It was to our advantage to keep Silvermane militarily in charge of the sector. She'd earned more respect from the Rim worlders than most Alliance officers could claim. No small feat given the Independent leanings of most folk in the Kalidasa system. That, and I'd come to trust her. At least as far as I could ever trust anyone in her position.

Just wish there was less on my plate. . .