The Vice Commodore sat with his back to the wall avidly studying a data-pad spread out across his lap. A myriad lights display danced in the air before him, resolving itself into a holographic rendering composed of various economical observations and statistics provided by, and of, the Colonial Government via internal revue which had, incidentally, been requested by Lance Shipwright himself. Behind him a massive, floor to ceiling window looked out across Shipwright Shipyards and the rampant construction going on within.
He had been forced out of his own office, unable to gather his train of thoughts in the cluttered room which had become the information nexus for all activities conducted by Colonial Technologies and its host nation, the Gestalt Colonies. The piles had grown, once again, mountainous and as much he preferred to keep his finger on the pulse, his ear to the ground, it had just become too much for one man to handle. Androids could only be of so much help. On the positive side of things, however; the increased information was indicative of a steadily growing entity possessing its own economy, sociology and ideology. Regardless, the Vice Commodore had taken up residence in an out-of-the-way alcove located just aft of the primary transportation junction for the whole of the shipyards. His little box over-looked the network of conveyor belts, tractor beams and personnel lifts on one side and gazed out into the blackness of space, across the western edge of the shipyards, on the other. A steady stream of information kept updating itself on his data-pad, streamed from his own office by a crew of Delta-unit androids shuffling through the accumulated gulf of information.
This working environment, he reflected, was much more conducive to the sort of work he had done his whole life. From here he could look out and see almost the whole of the creation he helped to facilitate, to see manifested. Down below, currently on the night-side of the planet, the Capital of the Gestalt Colonies, the Seven Cities Area looked up at the stars with a face comprised of lights so bright and densely crowded that, from this high vantage, one could see the faces of the cities themselves. Gestalt I, not the first planet in the system but named as it was the first colonized, was the center of the Colonies and the Seven Cities were its heart. Off in the distance, invisible to the naked eye over such vast distances Gestalt II, the gas giant, continued its slow orbit around Primus, the Gestalt star. David Colony floated in the murky atmosphere of that planet and, aside from the Seven Cities Area, was the most densely populated center the Colonies could boast of. On the other side of the star system, almost dimorphic in its opposition to Gestalt I, was Wells Grey, or Gestalt III (among the locals). Wells Grey, much like Gestalt I, was a very habitable planet, very. Unlike Gestalt I, however; it had been set aside as a Colonial reserve. And then there was The Ring, an asteroid mining colony located amidst the cluster of debris that once, eons ago, had been a planet. The Ring, as an entity, had spread itself across the asteroid field and established cooperative branch operations on Gestalt II, refining and mining gasses alongside the people of David Colony.
Tens of millions of people, a 98% human population, lived under the banner of the Gestalt Colonies. A remarkable achievement when one considered that almost one hundred percent of that population had been recruited, previously transient or immigrant stock, from the displaced populations of a constantly war torn galaxy.
A summary report oriented itself in the air before Lance. The computer itself had begun updating its already impressive store of data and this had been streamed in by his assistants to fill the void between updates; a task usually taking no more then half a minute or so. It was a review, commissioned by someone in the Ministry of Ethics, an external review of the Gestalt Colonies conduct.
Bright words like “insular”, “isolationist” and “xenophobic” were common in the parlance of the report and he reflected on the truth of those simple observations.
Outside of Kashan, the Gestalt Colonists conducted the vast majority of their trade internally. The skill sets represented by the population reflected a burgeoning, multi-faceted economy. These were people, again mostly human, who had seen the ugliness of the galaxy for themselves and, in return, had chosen a life style less inclined to provoke outward hostilities. The Provisional (Colonial) Government upheld a strong post-Imperialistic tradition that echoed in the hearts and minds of its people.
But it wasn’t enough.
Kashan was a very, very powerful trading partner. Corise Lucerne, Commodore of the Kashan Defense Fleet, was a very close personal friend of Lance Shipwright and, by extension; their two nation-states had enjoyed an area of unbridled success and prosperity. What the Colonials could not acquire on their own, the Kashans contributed and vice versa. However, and though he was loathe to admit it, the Vice Commodore knew that their lack of diversified trade could become a weakness. The answer to the problem had presented itself on a previous occasion through an introduction made by Commodore Lucerne where in Lance was able to meet a man of similar interests.
He called up all the relevant information on Stellar Enterprises and their Chief Executive Officer, Rob Stellar.
Stellar Enterprises had been awarded multiple trade contracts with the Gestalt Colonies and the Kashans alike, but nothing on the scale that each party hoped for and knew to be possible. Current negotiations between the Colonies and Stellar Enterprises were to cover the sale and trade of multiple Stellar-constructed stationary platforms and other system/planetary defenses. In exchange Stellar Enterprises would be given increased operational freedom, trade-wise, within the Colonies as well as a substantial monies.
Vice Commodore Shipwright was not satisfied with this negotiation and he knew that Rob Stellar would not be either. It was only a microcosm, a small piece of a potentially delicious pie, and he imagined that both of them would want more in the end… because it was there to be had.
Lance smiled and tapped at his virtual keyboard and called up yet another summary report.
A small planetoid resolved itself and began to rotate slowly. The designation “MX-101C2” appeared above the planet along with a scrolling marquee which in itself seemed very interested in the mineral composition of the celestial body in question. According to the amendments it had been discovered only last week by a deep Sector Study patrol group. The Colonies had already applied for the rights under the Coalition charter, but then a better, more enterprising idea struck him.
“Get me a meeting with Rob Stellar,” he spoke into his communicator. “Set it up ASAP.”
