Dead Star Dockyards

128 The Seeds of the Future

Upon returning to her abode, the Arboreal Maiden did something she had likely never done before, she flopped down onto a sofa. It was ridiculous, she thought, that she acted so prim and proper in privacy for so long. Surely nobody would hold it against her even if they found out, would they? What would they even say though?In the end she just laughed it off as ridiculous, sitting back up just in time to see Mercedes slide across the smooth wooden floor through the door way.

"Hel-lo Mercedes." Try as she might to treat the dog as she would a person, she simply could not bring herself to resist the temptation of speaking like a child. "Have you been having fun with the Skwiven?"

The Skwiven acted as Mercedes' caretakers and playmates whenever the Arboreal Maiden was away to take care of official business. They might not be a match for the canine in the fields of endurance and speed, but their number and their ability to climb the tree-like appendages in the inner Sanctum meant they could keep her occupied for hours. They would swing their tails from the low branches, taunting her to jump up and catch them.

The Arboreal Maiden had even seen them get caught a few times, however as was normally the case with the Skwiven, she had no idea how they never ended up hurt. Sure, Mercedes was smart enough to know to be gentle with them, but it still didn't change the fact that she was yanking them from their perches with her teeth.

Mercedes managed to stop her lateral momentum in time to prevent crashing into the wall, however her new direction promised trouble.

"Here we go again. . ."

Mercedes jumped up over the Arboreal Maiden's head, quite a feat considering the elevation of the couch, only to slam face first into the wall behind her. This had been a somewhat frequent occurrence these past few days, apparently Mercedes had learned how to use Split, though only when it applied to jumping.

By the time she was starting to fall to the ground, whimpering and moaning from the sudden impact, the Arboreal Maiden was already standing up in a position to catch her.

"I didn't tell them because I thought it might discourage them, but I still can't believe how fast you learned to enhance your strength. Was it the Skwiven? Did the Skwiven teach you how to jump like that?" The Arboreal Maiden had placed the dog on the couch, and was in the process of playfully chastising her for going overboard when a Skwiven scampered in. "Already? Impressive. Let's see what you have for me."

- - - - -

"Bribes, evidence tampering, witness and jury intimidation. . . my oh my, I really have dropped the ball here haven't I?" The Arboreal Maiden pinched the bridge of her nose with her fingers, she was in for a rough couple of weeks. She was going to have to be the one to lead the round-up of those who violated her trust, albeit with the assistance of her subordinates, but it had to be organized in such a way that would ensure nothing slipped through the cracks. The Sanctum's reputation wouldn't allow it. "I may have to introduce a fourth Grand Elder just to ensure that nothing like this happens again. You are free to go."

As the Arboreal Maiden sat down and thought about how she should carry out such an operation, she couldn't help but run her fingers through the now much less enthusiastic Mercedes' fur.

For the Sanctum, an institution which held 'neutrality' as one of its core tenets, corruption was a deadly disease. Corrupt institutions were inherently biased, primarily towards those who held the power to corrupt, and generally did not look good. What was worse for the Sanctum was the fact that it was their judicial system, the body which served to root out corruption everywhere else, that had become tainted.

She couldn't help but worry about what else was left unnoticed.

Fortunately for her, there were a few ways she could spin this to maintain the trust of the galaxy at large, however the Sanctum's reputation might take a hit. That might be a bit problematic, but their current efforts to completely restructure that system should improve their reputation in the long run.

The biggest ordeal she knew for certain she was going to have to face was the backlash of those currently using the corruption to their benefit. Sure she could just tell them off, but some of them might genuinely believe that corruption was actually a neutral action. Though, now that she thought about it, it had been a  long time since she openly flaunted the Sanctum's power, even longer since she herself took a firm stance against external parties.

Was an expedition really in order after all?

"Could I perhaps even use it to. . . no. I shouldn't go that far. I could definitely influence where and what they do so that it will be of some benefit to them, however I cannot give anyone a reason to believe I am offering them undue assistance."

She was considering having the Sanctum's fleet 'stumble across' and dying planet full of 'people who were in desperate need of evacuation'. That was almost certainly a step too far, however she could see a few of the more morally concerned individuals among the armed forces volunteering to assist them once they learned of their plight.

"I suppose it might be alright if I made it clear that there was a certain degree of independence to their actions, nobody would really be hurt by them assisting in the evacuation, nor would it be clear that someone would be receiving help. The only issue would be getting them to understand doing so is allowed. . ."

Try as she might, she couldn't think of a good way to accomplish all of her objectives without her neutrality being under threat of coming into question. She wanted to save that good will for when Donovan and Diana really needed it, like when they were being threatened by some party  of the Sanctum. People were an important part of their growth strategy, that much could not be ignored, however the total number of Nekh that a handful of ships could transport for a frankly limited amount of time did not amount to much in comparison to the saved headache from a few bigger problems.

"I don't even know if it would serve as good cover for their operation either. I can't help but suspect it would only draw the attention of the surrounding nations." Even when she ignored the damage it would do to the Sanctum's image, it did not seem like a very good idea. It might catch the attention of a few good Samaritans, few in number though they may be, but it was far more likely that the Nekh's more hostile neighbors would see their weakness and make life difficult. Slaving was a decent industry, and the smaller powers were always salivating for the chance to claim easy glory.

The weakened Nekh were too easy target at this point. If anything she should be actively avoiding them. Perhaps if the Nekh's star was on a ten year timer she could set something in motion, some political ploy to justify the Sanctum aiding the Terrans in the salvation of the Nekh, but any seeds she planted now would not have the time to ripen into fruits by the time they were well and truly done for.

"There's just never enough time, is there?"

There was a vine wrapped around her leg now. She had noticed it a while ago, but she didn't feel the need to react. After all the time they had spent together, they were practically a single organism.

The Arboreal Maiden smiled. It would seem that the Terrans were having more of an effect on her than she had realized.

An image of a race with what she now considered to be feline traits was injected into her consciousness.

The Arboreal Maiden sighed. This was another thing to deal with.

All

The Arboreal Maiden sighed once more. In theory, they had already gotten over the most difficult hurdle for this stage of their plan, finding someone viable, but every single time they reached another she couldn't help but feel it was going to be just as if not more difficult. Every time she got that feeling though, they would come through stronger than expected. That could be a problem in its own right though, making them overconfident in their abilities.

The Arboreal Maiden ruffled Mercedes' fur once more. She wondered what it was like to have a relationship like one the dog and Donovan had. She knew from watching that her current bond with the dog really only ran skin-deep.