"Concerning?"
"Concerning precisely the subject we spoke about earlier. I thought it might be worthwhile to have you there. If, however, you feel uncomfortable-"
Ariel shook her head. "No. I merely wanted clarification."
"And you have it now?"
"Yes."
Setaris smiled condescendingly. "I envy you. Will we see you?"
"Absolutely."
"At twenty, then. Formal."
"Very good, Ambassador. I'm honored."
Setaris smiled thinly. "Till this evening, Ariel."
The screen faded.
Ariel leaned back in her chair and stretched. " Just how much ass-covering am I going to need?" she wondered aloud.
"I packed the standard bag, Ariel. Will it be too much?"
Ariel looked around to see R. Jennie standing there, holding the overnight bag. "I have a preliminary file on the requested material, Ariel," Thales said when she returned to Derec's apartment.
Ariel set the bag down at the door to the bedroom. "Go on."
"Nova Levis was established as a Settler's colony thirty-two years ago by special agreement between the Vas Domini Trading Company, a Settler cooperative sponsored by private endowment through the Church of Organic Sapiens, and Solaria-"
"Solaria? How do they figure in it?"
"The Tau Secordis system was originally developed as a mining franchise by three Solarian corporations which eventually became insolvent and were subsumed by the Solarian Department of Resource Development. The second planet, originally called Cassus Thole, after a modest amount of biosome intervention, is suitable for agriculture. Under the terms of a trade agreement with a limited corporation formed by six Settler worlds, Cassus Thole was renamed Nova Levis and subcontracted for settlement and development."
"Why hasn't Solaria protested the blockade?"
"Except for being the principal lien holder, Solaria has no representation on Nova Levis and has remained aloof from its operations since the first colony was established. There is still a small mining station with its own port used exclusively by Solaria. Nova Levis has for all intents and purposes represented itself as a sovereign world with rights and titles to its own territories. The colonists themselves have not even admitted to Solarian ownership and have engaged the current crisis as a duly constituted independent state."
"So it's not even common knowledge that Solaria owned the system?"
"The conditions of ownership have been allowed to grow vague. Solaria 's holding is listed in public flies as Cassus Thole. Except for the mining concession, Solaria officially conducts no business with the Settler government. Nova Levis has, since been regarded as a separate colony."
Ariel laced her fingers together and tapped them lightly against her chin. She felt foolish now at having paid so little attention to the events of the past year. The Nova Levis blockade was the first and largest aftershock from the failed trade conference last year.
"Give me a brief on the blockade," she said.
"Two years ago, Terran investigators traced a number of stolen shipments to ships making regular calls at Nova Levis. This was discovered in the wake of the Tiberius incident, which proved to be related to illegal traffic into and out of Nova Levis. Further investigation on the ground resulted in the deaths of three agents and partial evidence that Nova Levis is host to an unregistered spaceport. At this point, warrants were solicited through the Intersettlement Judicial Committee for a task force to visit and inspect all ports on Nova Levis. The governor-advocate of the colony refused and offered to conduct the investigation himself and report the findings. This was rejected. A further proposal was made that a joint task force of Spacer, Settler, and Terran inspectors be deployed, and this, too, was rejected. Fifteen months ago, motions were placed before the Committee to establish a permanent inspection base at the edge of the system with a mandate to forcibly inspect all ships entering and leaving the system. This motion, of course, was rejected in due course when the Spacer legation insisted that robotic inspections be instituted for all traffic to and from any Spacer world. The station was never authorized, but Terran military ships began arbitrarily and at random stopping and searching ships entering and leaving the Nova Levis system. A series of protests were filed. The Committee became tangled with delaying motions by the Terran legation until a Terran ship was fired upon by an unregistered freighter caught leaving Nova Levis. Upon inspection, it was discovered that the ship was carrying contraband. The crew was arrested, the ship impounded, and the 43rd Squadron of the Terran fleet moved in to blockade the planet. That was eleven months ago. Subsequent negotiations have validated the blockade, although only one Spacer world has added ships to the Terran contingent, and no Settler ships have joined it."
"That's how it stands today."
"Yes, Ariel."
"Stolen shipments…any kind of manifest on what those shipments contained, or who they were stolen from?"
"That is a protected file. It will take some time to open it. "
"Do it. What about Solaria? What did they say when all this happened?"
"They have made no official statement to date, content, apparently, to follow Aurora's lead."
"Are those Auroran ships with the Terran squadron?"
"No, they are Theian ships. Aurora is remaining militarily aloof. "
As usual, Ariel thought wryly. "And no one has brought up Solaria's past ownership?"
"No, Ariel," Thales replied.
"Not even Aurora…but Solarian ships are still entering and leaving the system. How is that possible? As I understand it, a blockade like this is enforced at the port of origin as well. Solarian ships heading for Nova Levis would be stopped or at least noted and identified as blockade runners. "
"That is how the law reads. I will look into it. "
Something else teased at Ariel. "You said there were three Solarian firms that initially had title to the system. Who?"
"Strychos, Incorporated, M39-Viavel Corporation, and the Kysler Solar Industries."
"Kysler…that sounds familiar. "
"Kysler Diversified Industries, Ariel. They are a Terran firm based on Titan, though no longer Terran-owned. The three Solarian firms I mentioned have all been subsequently purchased by the Hunter Group. Only Strychos remains as a semi-independent corporation, dealing in agricultural products."
"Hunter owns Kysler?"
"They own a controlling interest."
"What did they do? The Terran firm, I mean. "
"Primarily a holding company. Pharmaceuticals, raw material development, shipping, finance-"
"Stop. Any other correlations through their dependent companies?"
"No. However, Kysler purchased the physical plant in which Nova Levis was housed."
"Really. What became of the rest?"
"After it closed down it was split up and sold. The REtD division went to Imbitek, which folded it into a subsidiary: Captras Biomed. Various pieces of hardware went to a number of small firms."
"Imbitek owns the research and Kysler owns the shell… what did they do with it?" Ariel asked.
"Unknown. Current data suggests that the structure is sealed and unused. A retrofitting company was hired to convert it into a raw materials distribution plant a few years ago. After that I find no records."
"Thales, I want a list of shareholders for each of those three companies: Kysler Diversified, Hunter Group, and Nova Levis. Prepare a hard copy for me. Let's return to the colony. You said that a Settler cooperative took it over?"
"That is correct. Through private endowment."
"Through a church, though. What was its name?"
"The Church of Organic Sapiens. "
She thought for a moment. "That's Rega Looms' church."
"It is currently the church with which Rega Looms is affiliated. However, he has stepped down from its directorship for the duration of his senate campaign. He was not its director at the time the colony was established. "
"Did he belong to it?"